Chapter Twelve
"That was some goodnight kiss!" Tanna commented to Drew when they were up in the hotel room.
"Yeah, well." she shrugged.
"You guys pretty happpy?" Mackenzie asked.
They unfolded the cot for Tanna to sleep on, and started to change for bed.
"Definately! He is the sweetest, most wonderful guy ever! He's thoughtful, sweet?"
"You already said that." interrupted Mackenzie.
"Yeah, well, there just aren't enough adjectives to descibe how amazing he is!" Drew retorted.
"Yes, she's one hundred percent, prime-time, beyond help!" Tanna rolled her eyes at Drew's gushing.
"Oh yeah?" Drew asked.
"Yeah."
"You don't think we've seen how moony-eyed you get over Brian? At least I have an excuse. He's my boyfriend!" Drew retorted.
"If it's so obvious how I feel, how come he won't do anything about it? And since when do you have to be going out with someone before you can get 'moony-eyed' as you call it?" Tanna shot back.
"Come on guys! What does it matter how each of you feels, if you're happy?" Mackenzie interrupted.
Annoyed at being interrupted, both Drew and Tanna turned on Mackenzie and said, "Kevin?". Mackenzie blushed and all three of them laughed. Tanna and Drew apologized to each other, and finished preparing for the night. Once they were all in bed, they talked about the day.
"So where did you guys actually go?" Mackenzie asked a while later.
"Mini-golf!" Drew answered.
"I didn't know you could play mini-golf." Mackenzie looked surprised.
"She can't!" Tanna laughed. "Neither can I! We really sucked!"
"Yup! But at least Nick and Brian could play!" Drew agreed. "They helped us out with our?technique." Tanna giggled at the innuendo.
"Am I missing something?" Mackenzie asked, frowning in confusion.
"Oh, yeah!" Drew laughed and proceeded to explain the 'lessons' that Nick had given her. Eventually, the three of them fell asleep, in the wee hours of the morning.
The next morning, around 9:00 a.m., the three girls met the BSB in the lobby of the hotel.
"So what's the plan for today?" Tanna asked once they were all gathered. Everybody threw out ideas. One that they all agreed on was to see 'Titanic'.
"Yeah, that's a good idea." Drew agreed. When everyone else nodded, she continued. "But what do we do until then? The movie doesn't start until 12 or 12:30 p.m."
"I've got an idea." Tanna said. "When you guys were here last time, did you get a chance to see Whyte Ave? It's gorgeous. And it won't be crowded on a Tuesday morning." This suggestion was met with a chorus of agreement, so they headed off.
They arrived at Whyte Ave half an hour later.
"Where to first?" asked Howie.
"Uh, I dunno. How about just walking along and looking at everything?" Everyone agreed, and they headed east. They stopped in the little stores like Flash of Insight, and Divine Decadence. They passed Greenwood's and the boys wanted to stop in. Kevin and Howie ended up buying something, eventually. Then the group started walking again.
"This is a cute place." Brian said as they walked past The Princess Theatre. "Do they actually play movies here?"
"Yeah. It's really cool inside." Tanna answered. "A few years ago, they were thinking of closing, but it's such a historical landmark that lots of people protested. So it's still here."
"Obviously." AJ interjected. Tanna rolled her eyes and stuck out her tongue at him.
"Aren't we mature." Kevin said.
"Since when is mature best?" asked Drew. "Immature is more fun!"
Still arguing and laughing, they started down the street again.
"Oh, look!" Tanna pointed. "That's where Kris works."
"Oh yeah!" Drew replied. "Is she working today?"
"I think so. I'm gonna go up and see. You guys wanna come, or should I meet you a bit later?" Tanna asked.
"Let's go up. I haven't seen where she works yet, and I want you guys to meet her." Drew urged.
"Okay." The guys agreed.
"Why not?" Mackenzie shrugged. They all trouped up the stairs.
When they first got up, the first impression that they got was that the store was empty. Then they saw a figure straighten up at the back. Tanna motioned the others to stay where they were and moved forward silently. When she got about two feet from Khryztena, Khryztena turned around and dropped the pile of books that she was holding.
"Omigod! You scared the living daylights out of me, Tanna. What are you doing here?" Khryztena put her hand to her chest in a gesture of surprise.
"We were just hanging out on Whyte, when we thought we'd visit you." Tanna answered.
"We?" Khryztena asked.
"Me, Drew, Mackenzie, and the boys." Tanna nodded over her shoulder. The other seven started to move towards them.
"Oh, cool." Khryztena said.
When they arrived, Drew started the introductions. "This is Mackenzie, Kev, AJ, Bri, Howie and this is Nick. Guys, this is Khryztena."
"Hi!" they chorused.
"Hey. I've heard a lot about you guys." Khryztena smiled.
"Oh, really?" Kevin shot Drew and Tanna a look. "What have you heard?"
"Oh? nothing really. Just how much Drew loves Nick, the truce with Howie, things like that." Khryztena said evasively. The guys visibly relaxed. "So what are you guys doing today?"
"We're being shown Whyte Ave before we go see Titanic." Howie answered.
"Titanic? Again?" Khryztena laughed. "Haven't you seen it enough times, Drew?"
"Whatever! Six times isn't nearly enough!" Drew answered.
"You've seen it six times?" Nick exclaimed. "I assumed that you'd only seen it a couple of times."
"I guess you shouldn't assume things then, honey." Drew replied in a sugar-sweet voice.
Brian turned to Tanna. "I thought I'd told you not to let her swoon over anybody other than Nick!"
"But your ground rule from the first letter was not to let Drew know anything from the letters. How was I supposed to know which rule to follow?" Tanna assumed an innocent look.
"Well? well. You're just supposed to know!" He replied.
"Oh, really?"
"Look, I'm sorry I brought it up!" Khryztena was laughing watching the scene play out in front of her.
"Okay guys, do we have to have an argument about this in the middle of a bookstore?" asked Howie.
"Yeah, get a grip!" AJ added.
"Ignoring comments from the peanut gallery!" Tanna held up her hand in his face. Then she turned to Khryztena. "What time do you work until?"
"4:30."
"Oh, that's too bad." Howie commented. Just as Khryztena started to agree, her boss came out of the back and gave her a questioning look.
"That's my cue to go. Call me later, okay?" She said, and picked up the pile of books that she had dropped earlier.
"Definitely. Have fun!" Tanna replied sarcastically.
"Nice meeting you." Howie held out his hand. Khryztena shifted the books to her other hand and shook his.
"Yeah, it's good to meet other friends of Drew's." Nick said and shook her hand as well. One by one, all the boys shook hands with Khryztena.
"Bye!" Mackenzie called as they left.
"So that was Kris. What did you think of her?" Drew asked as they walked out into the street.
"She seems nice enough, but there are just too many stairs to climb to go see her!" AJ said.
"She's not nearly as wacko as you and Tan." Howie grinned.
"Please don't call me that, Howie." Tanna asked. "It really bothers me."
"Sure, whatever, Tan!" he answered mischievously. When Tanna glared at him, he held up his hands. "Sorry, I just couldn't resist!"
Still bickering, the group crossed Whyte and headed back down. After sightseeing some more, it was time to head to the movie theatre.