"Hey em, phone!" Brian yelled upstairs.
she picked up the phone,"k, got it!" she waited until she heard the click of him hanging up,"hello?"
"hi...its me."
she smiled,"hi nick...whats up?"
"i was just calling to tell you that ill pick you up about 7:30...is that okay?"
"yeah, thats fine...where are we going?" she asked.
"its a surprise but dress comfortable."
"cant i have a little teeny tiny hint?" she whined.
he laughed,"nope, no hints...your so cute when you whine."
"what this....are you flirting with me mr. carter?"
"mmm....depends...are you flirting back?"
"maybe~...anyways, i better get ready..."
"okay, ill be over there in hour...bye." he said and hung up the phone.
she hung up and went downstairs where brian was in the kitchen looking for food,"brian...did nick tell you where he was taking me?"
"nope....what time is he coming to get you?"
"in an hour...i better get ready." she ran back up to her room and jumped in the shower. when she was done she dressed in some black shorts an a white tank top. she braided her hair into a french braid and put on some white canvas shoes.
"em! your boyfriend is here!" brian called.
she checked herself one last time in the mirror and went downstairs. nick smiled,"hi..."
he was dressed in jeans and a blue nautica shirt. she smiled,"...hi...where are we going? can you tell me now?"
he laughed,"nope but i can tell you that you might want to bring your bathing suit."
she stuck her tongue out at him and ran upstairs to get her bathing suit. she shoved it into a small backpack with a towel and went back downstairs,"...okay...im ready."
"okay...bye frick."
"ooh...my babies are growing up so fast...dating already..."brian said turning on the fake tears.
emma rolled her eyes,"bye brian...dont wait up for me cause i dont know what time we'll be back."
"have her back at a decent hour please nick,"brian said seriously.
nick nodded,"dont worry, shes safe with me...come on em." he lead her out to his durango and opened the door for her,"after you."
she smiled and climbed in,"what a gentleman."
he made a small bow and closed the door. he went over to the drivers side and got in. "you didnt eat yet did you?" he asked as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.
"nope...i wasnt sure if i should have or not."
nick nodded and couldnt think of anything else to say, he had suddenly become very shy. he kept sneaking glances at emma when he thought she wasnt looking.
she glanced over at him,"...whats wrong?"
"...what do you mean?"
she shrugged,"...your just being so quiet so thought maybe something was wrong..."
he shook his head,"...no im just thinking thats all."
she smiled,"okay...just making sure."
about 10 minutes later they pulled up to a small marina. nick got out and went around her side to open the door. once she had stepped out of the car nick held his hand out to her,"...come with me..."
she took his hand and followed him past a couple of boats before he stopped in front of a large yacht,"this is my baby," he said patting the side of his boat.
emma raised her eyebrows,"sweetheart...its a boat..."
he nodded,"...brians baby is tyke mine is my boat."
she laughed,"...okay...if you say so...is this what were doing?"
"yup..." he hopped on to the boat and held out both his hands,"...give me your hands..."
she put her hands in his and he pulled her up onto the boat. she looked around,"wow...this is nice..."
he smiled,"thanks, okay, the bathroom is downstairs. im gonna start the boat," he said and headed towards the front of the boat.
emma went downstairs and changed into her black and white two piece. she put her shorts back on and went back upstairs to where nick was,"...its really warm...is it always like this at night?"
he nodded and concentrated on steering the boat. she sat down next to him to watch him drive. he was concentrating so hard that he was sticking his tongue out just a little as he watched the water. she started giggling and turned to look at the water before she thought he could see her but it was too late. he glanced over at her,"whats so funny?"
she smiled,"nothing."
"uh huh...remember i know how to get any little secret out of you..."
she stuck her tongue out at him,"still not telling."
he set the boat on auto and walked towards her. he reached to grab her like he was going to hug her and started tickling her.
she screamed and started laughing,"okay okay...ill tell you! just stop!!"
he stopped tickling her but kept his arms around her. "i was just laughing at how cute you look when your concentrating...sticking your tongue out and all."
he blushed,"i was sticking my tongue out?"
she nodded and laughed,"but its cute."
he turned a little more red and went back to steering the boat. about 10 minutes later he stopped the boat,"were here."
she glanced around,"um nick...were in the middle of the ocean...."
he laughed,"i know...i thought you might enjoy it...ill be right back," he said and disappeared downstairs.
"okay...that boy has issues," emma said and went to the very front of the boat where it wasnt covered. she found a blanket on the seat and spread it on the floor so she could lean back and look at the stars.
nick came back with a picnic basket and sat down next to her,"okay...you hungry?"
she nodded,"whatcha got?"
he pulled out some stuff,"well frick told me all your favorites so i have vegetarian lasagna for dinner and strawberries for desert...."
her jaw dropped," you made lasagna?"
"um...well...kind of...aj helped a little but i did buy the strawberries myself," he said proudly.
she laughed,"that counts, okay...lets eat."
they ate their dinner and sat on the blanket for awhile talking about the group but mostly about each other. nick glanced at his watch,"...its 12:30 think we should go back?"
she sighed,"but i dont wanna...its so nice out here."
he smiled,"we could stay out here all night if you want...i mean theres a bedroom downstairs," he turned bright red realizing what he had said,"i mean if you want to stay, theres somewhere we coul...i mean you could...okay, im going to shut up now, sorry."
she laughed,"no its okay, your cute when you babble but i guess we should go back...brian is probably worried."
he nodded and stood up, pulling her to her feet,"...hey...wanna steer?"
"nick, ive never steered a boat in my life..." "its okay...ill help you...come on..." he took her hand and led her to the steering wheel. he explained to her how to start the boat and exactly what to do.
"okay...i think i got it..." she started the boat and started to turn the wheel,"okay...you know what, i would feel alot better if you did this..."
he laughed,"okay...no prob." instead of asking her to move out of the way though he stood behind her and put his arms around her waist and grabbed the wheel.
she glanced back at him,"comfy?"
he blushed,"sorry...should i move my arms?"
she shook her head,"...no, its okay."
he smiled and concentrated on getting them back to the dock. by the time they got back it was just after 1:00. nick helped emma off the boat,"wow, that wa..."she started to say as she touched ground and started to wobble.
nick laughed and held her up,"sorry, forgot to tell you you might be a little off balance."
she nodded,"just a little..."
they got in the car and headed back to brians house. nick pulled up into the driveway,"you think hes asleep?"
"hmm...probably not...hes probably sitting inside waiting right by the door just like he did after my first date..."
nick laughed and got out. he went around to her side and helped her out. they walked to the front door holding hands,"so can we go out again?" nick asked softly.
"hmm...i have to think about that," emma said trying not to laugh. "depends on where you want to take me..."
he looked at her and smiled,"anywhere you want to go..."
"okay...then yes...we can go out again...thanks, i had alot of fun."
he leaned forward to kiss her at the same time she did causing them to bump heads. she started laughing and rubbing her head,"you always this smooth with the girls carter?"
nick turned bright red,"sorry."
"no its okay...but can we try again...?"
he smiled and nodded. this time only he leaned forward and kissed her softly,"nite em, ill call you tomorrow." he turned in the direction of the door,"nite frick!" he said and walked back to his car.
emma laughed and went inside. brian was sitting on the couch trying to look casual watching tv,"oh hey em...didnt hear you guys..."
emma rolled her eyes,"im sure you didnt..." she laid down on the couch and rested her head on his lap.
"so did you have fun? did he do anything stupid?" brian asked playing with her hair.
she smiled and closed her eyes,"nope...everything was perfect...the date, the food, him."
brian smiled and kissed her on the forehead,"im glad you had fun...you look beat...why dont you go to bed?...dream about your lover boy," he said in a girly voice.
she stood up and stuck her tongue out at him,"...leave me alone."
he laughed,"nite em."
~~~next day~~~
"hey em...amandas on the phone," brian said tossing the phone to her,"why is it no one ever calls for me anymore...?" he asked tyke who was sleeping on his lap.
emma laughed,"aw poor bri...hello?"
"hey em, so how was your date...?"
emma laughed,"just get right to it huh?"
amanda laughed,"of course...so...."
"well...he wants to go out again..."
"omg!...when?!" amanda asked
emma laughed again,"you sound like me....tonight..."
"okay...well were going shopping for your date...ill be over in about 20 minutes...bye..." amanda said and hung up the phone.
emma turned off the phone and looked at brian,"looks like im going shopping..."
brian rolled his eyes,"since your in desperate need of more clothes."
"shut up brian, tell me when amanda gets here," emma said and went upstairs.
emma picked up the phone in her room and called daisy. after two rings she picked up,"hello?"
"hi daisy, its em..."
"oh hi em, whats up?"
"nothing, i was just wondering if you want to come shopping with me and amanda...were going shopping for my date tonight," emma said smiling to herself.
"thats perfect...i kind of have a date tonight too...."
"....kevy asked you out...?" emma asked hopefully.
she could tell daisy was smiling,"yup...he called earlier."
"okay...then we can help each other...amandas coming to pick me up in about 15 minutes so why dont you just come over here...."
"okay, sounds good...buh bye..." daisy said and hung up.
emma hung up the phone,"okay...what am i go..." she rolled her eyes,"it would be nice if i knew where i was going..." she picked the phone and dialed nicks number.
nick picked up after a couple of rings,"hello?" he said sleepily
"hi...im sorry were you sleeping?"
"its okay em, whats up?"
"i was wondering where were going tonight...so that i have an idea of what to wear..."
"oh yeah, i guess i forgot to tell you. i was going to take you to dinner then i wasnt sure about what we would do afterwards."
"okay, sounds good...so were you dreaming about me?" emma joked.
there was a silence on the other end of the phone for a second,"...what if i said i was...?"
emma wasnt expecting that,"...um...well..."
he laughed,"...did you dream about me?"
she decided to play with him,"yeah...you wearing nothing but whipped cream..."
there was a loud boom sound as he dropped the phone and emma started laughing hysterically. a minute later nick picked the phone back up, emma tried to stop laughing,"you still there nicky...?"
"yeah...um...i...uh..."
she laughed,"sweetie, i was only kidding...about the whipped cream part at least, i did dream about you though...not gonna tell you what."
his breathing went back to normal,"oh...in that case, yeah, i was dreaming about you and im not telling you what either..."
"fine, be that way...i better go, amandas coming to take me shopping."
"okay...see you later em..." he said and hung up.
emma grabbed her purse and went downstairs just as brian was letting both amanda and daisy in,"hey guys, im ready, lets go."
"hey, dont i get a kiss goodbye...from everyone?" brian asked sweetly.
the girls laughed,"only cause your so cute," amanda said and kissed him on the cheek.
"thats one..."brian counted off.
daisy laughed and kissed him on the forehead. "two..." he said.
"well bye bri...see you in a bit..." emma said and started walking out the door.
"....i need three..."
"kiss tyke..."
"em~~~~" brian whined.
"aw look at that face," daisy said laughing.
emma sighed dramatically,"i guess it wont kill me..." she kissed brian on the cheek. "bye brian....see you in a bit."
brian smiled,"bye guys, have fun..."
"alright...so both of you need dresses for dinner with two of the finest guys in orlando..."amanda said as they walked into the dress shop.
both girls laughed,"what are you talking about amanda? its kevin and nick, not kevin and aj..."emma said.
amanda rolled her eyes," and be thankful for that..."
daisy laughed,"...how long have you two been dating?"
"about a year and half," amanda said looking through some dresses. "we used to go out alot but its gotten harder now...aj likes for everyone within viewing range to know hes there and it gets kind of crazy so most of the time we just stay home together....i like those dates more anyways," amanda said smiling.
"thats cause ajs a camera ho," emma said laughing.
amanda laughed,"exactly...but hes my camera ho...anyways, lets see if we can find any dresses..."
they went to about five different stores before they had both picked out dresses. "do you think kevin will like me in this dress?" daisy asked as they got in the car.
amanda rolled her eyes,"i doubt kev will even notice the dress considering all he does is stare at you."
daisy blushed and amanda laughed,"sorry, its really cute though...so is the way blondie gets all red and flustered when hes around you em."
emma laughed,"no nick gets like that because hes nick..."
amanda dropped emma off first,"call me tomorrow...i want to hear every deta...well not EVERY but the good parts..."
emma laughed,"yes ma'am....daze, have fun and ill call you tomorrow, k?"
daisy nodded,"you too...and behave," she said smiling evilly.
emma laughed and went inside with all the stuff she had bought and bumped into brian,"hey em, what did ya get?"
"a dress and some shoes."
"aww you didnt buy me anything?" brian said pouting.
emma laughed,"actually i did, i wasnt sure if you had it or not..." she pulled out a wildcats tshirt and handed it to him.
he unfolded it and looked at it,"wow em thanks! this is a new one!" he kissed her on the cheek and changed his shirt right away, standing in the middle of the hall.
emma rolled her eyes,"your welcome bri, glad you like. im going to go shower and get ready for my date." she said and went up to her room.
she spent 20 minutes in the shower mostly steaming up the bathroom. when she was done she decided to work on her hair. she glanced the mirror,"...damn...blue hair is going to clash with my dres....oh well..." she put her hair up in some butterfly clips and got dressed. she had bought a black crocheted spahgetti strap dress with a forest green slip underneath and black platforms. she was just putting on a little lipstick when she heard brian call to her upstairs.
she checked her reflection in the mirror one last time before heading downstairs to meet nick.