We ended up spending an hour on the phone with Chin...explaining everything, and having each of the guys talk to her too. It was decided that we'd head to our house (we all shared it with another friend, yes a total of six girls in one house, but  we all chipped in and it's NICE!) later in the day, and have dinner there...the guys proclaimed that they still had the rest of their week-long time-off to "waste." AJ spent the most time on the phone with Chin, much to our surprise, but we thought nothing much of it.  The guys then went to pack up.  Jenny complained that we never used our suite, but got over it. Howie and AJ retreated to their room to pack up. Kevin went to his and asked for help so I followed. Lance and Hannah decided to walk around the hotel for awhile. Nick went to his and Brian's room and asked Julie to help him with his Nintendo stuff.  Brian held back and Jenny stayed too. He was sitting on the couch staring at some distant spot on the floor. She came and stood by him.
        "You okay...?" she quietly asked.
        "Hmm? Yeah..." Brian took a minute to respond, but still appeared fixated on the spot on the floor.
        "You sure...?"
        "Yeah, yeah, don't worry about me, anywayz, I'll pack later. I'm not as messy as...Nick," Brian attempted to smile and looked up at her. "What about you?"
        "Me? Oh I'm fine. And I don't have anything to pack. I was just a little worried about you, that's all."
        "You, worried about me ?" Brian made a goofy grin.
        "Yes YOU!" Jenny giggled.
        "Waaaiiit a sec, you're not gonna inflict some sort of pain on me, are you?" Brian raised and eyebrow at her, forcing more giggles from her mouth.
        "Noooo you idiot!" she laughed. "You are too much sometimes, you know that?"
        "Me? Too much!? Naw!" The conversation continued along those terms, Jenny trying not to laugh anymore but Brian succeeding to make her do just that.

~*~*~*(Hannah and Lance's walk)*~*~*~

        "So where are we going?" Hannah asked, hand in hand with Lance.
        "Around..." Lance answered as they continued to wander aimlessly.
        "Descriptive..."
        "Very," he grinned. They walked through the lobby and then wandered around the pool.
        "So this is where the alleged 'playtime' took place this morning," Hannah commented.
        "It could take place again..." Lance murmured. Hannah looked at him.
        "Don't you dare..." she let go of his hand and walked around him so that he was near the pool, not her.
        "Party pooper," he said, taking her hand other hand in his.
        "So?"
        "Hmph," he pouted.
        "Don't give me that, buddy!" She playfully pointed a finger at him. They exited the pool area and decided to take the stairs instead of the elevator.
        "Gotta exercise this big butt o' mine!" Hannah said.
        "It's not big," Lance innocently answered. Hannah looked at him and grinned, but then decided to act mad.
        "So what? You've been STARING at it!?" Hannah tried to pick a fight.
        "NO! It's...Um...well...See...I..." Lance stuttered, his comment had intended to be truthful and nice, but he seemed to have offended Hannah. But she smiled again.
        "Poor thing, can't take a joke!" Hannah giggled as his face contorted in confusion. "See, the girls would know what I was talking about, I'm sorry to say you were left out of the 'inside' part!" Hannah playfully pinched his cheek as if he were a little boy. She had to reach up to do so. "You're too tall, boy!"
        "You're too short, girl!" he shot back. They reached a bend of level ground before turning to take the next flight of stairs.
        "Great, ANOTHER person to call me short!" She faced him and threw her hands up in the air. Lance put his hands out and caught hers by the wrists on their way down, and kept them in. Hannah stopped her raving and looked him in the eye. "What?"
        "I like you short," Lance simply said. Lance brought their hands down midair between himself and her and gently pulled her forward a bit, still not letting go.
        "Now what are you implying?" Hannah blushed.
        "This..." he brought his head down and kissed her. He slowly and reluctantly pulled his head away after a few moments, still holding her hands, to see her reaction.
        "And that w-would mean...?" Hannah tried acting dumb while trying to hide her happiness. He let go of her hands and pulled her close so that she wrapped her now free arms around his neck and he wrapped his around her waist. He rested his forehead and nose against her forehead and nose.
        "That I like you," he whispered.

~*~*~*(back in the Boys' suite)*~*~*~
        Meanwhile, I dragged Kevin to AJ and Howie's room.  Nick and Julie noticed us walk by, and they followed.
        "Damn, woman, why you dragging poor Kev around?" AJ laughed.
        "Shhh!" I warned. AJ made his mouth into an "o" shape and covered it with his hand in mock seriousness. "I mean it! Just keep it down," I whispered. "Good, Julie and Nick, you need to hear this too," I said when I noticed them enter the room, "...I think we need to do something more for Jenny's birthday, like get her a cake, and have you guys really sing to her--"
        "Hey!" Howie pouted.
        "...Not that Howie's singing to her earlier wasn't adequate, but you know what I mean!" I said.  He smiled and nodded. "Anyway, I was thinking, we can scare her at our house, you know? All we have to do is tell Brian, Hannah, Lance, and Chin, OH and Cathy of course...when Jenny's not in the vicinity."  They all nodded in agreement with me.
        "Wait, who's Cathy?" Howie inquired.
        "Our  other friend that we share the house with," I informed him.
        "And how do you propose we set all this up with her  'not in the vicinity'?" Julie asked.
        "Well, um, have someone take her on a walk around our neighborhood..." I suggested quickly. "We'll figure that out later, okay? It doesn't have to be today...we can do it tomorrow...But we have to figure out excuses.  Make Jenny go out of the house, not necessarily on a walk, but with someone so she'll be kept busy...cuz we'll have to get balloons and cake etc."
        "Whoa, wait, a par-tay?" AJ grinned.
        "Down boy!" I laughed, "Just with the twelve of us, yes with Chin and Cathy too...But not some huge bash...Anyhoo, get it? Got it? Good. Now we'd better return before Jenny AND Brian get suspicious. It doesn't take THIS long to pack..." I said, breaking the huddle.
        "AHHHH!!!!!!" A screaming Jenny ran smack into me as I turned the corner. The force knocked me backwards onto the floor. Kevin around the corner just after me to see us both fall.
        "You okay!?" he asked.
        "What was that!?" I asked, still on my back.
        "Sorry," she quickly said, scrambling up from the floor. "Heeelllpppp meeeeee!!" she yelled as she began to run again. Howie and AJ turned the corner and she jumped into their arms. Then Julie and Nick came around the corner just in time to get a shock. I picked my head up off the ground to see Brian running towards me like a mad man with a grin, on his course of running after Jenny. I sat up.
        "Whoa Bri, slow down!" I yelled, grabbing his foot as he passed.
        "AHHHHH!!!!"
         THUD
        He landed beside me on the floor. There was a moment of silence.  But it was soon broken by fits of laughter.
        "Thank you, Sarah!" Jenny laughed. "Oh...and thank you Howie and AJ too," she sheepishly dropped to the floor. They just shrugged, still a bit bewildered.
        "If Sarah hadn't been here, you woulda gotten it, little lady!" Brian threatened.
        "I don't even wanna know...." Nick stated.
        "I have never laughed so much in one day in my entire LIFE!" I was a fit of giggles on the floor. Lance and Hannah walked in the door to find Brian and me still on the floor, with the others standing around us, all of us laughing.
        "Can't leave you guys alone for a second! Tsk, tsk!" Lance mocking scolded.
        "Geeze you guys, what did we miss?" Hannah laughed.
        "Don't ask!" Julie giggled.
        "Hey, um guys, how long will it take to get to your house?" Lance asked looking at his watch.
        "Umm, maybe two hours?" I said, slowly getting up after Brian.
        "When do you want to get there?"
        "Why?"
        "Well, it's about noon now, I didn't know if there was anything left to do here."
        "Oh, good point. When should we go, guys?" I turned to the rest of the group.
        "We can leave now, if you want," Kevin said.
        "But we came here in Sarah's mom's van that holds seven people total...counting everyone there are 10 people," Jenny stated.
        "That's why we use our rented car, little lady," Brian grinned, patting Jenny on the head as if she were a little girl or a pet.
        "What's with this 'little lady' thing?" She put her hands on her hips. "I'll have you, know mister, that you're a shorty!" She pressed a finger on his nose.
        "Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me!" Brian retaliated.
        "Um, yeah, whatever, can we go?" Hannah asked impatiently.
        The guys grabbed their stuff and we headed to the parking lot. Kevin called the bodyguards and spent quite a while convincing them to take a break and let the guys travel without "protection." It was decided that Nick, Julie, Lance, and Hannah would go in the Boys' rented car, and Brian, Jenny, AJ, Howie, and Kevin would go with me in the van.
        "SHOT! –" AJ started.
        "-GUN!" Brian finished. They glared at each other.
        "Man, get it, I said it first!" AJ defending himself.
        "You guys said it at the same time," Jenny sighed.
        "Well, I began to say it."
        "Well I'm the one who finished it!"
        "GUYS!" I shut them up and pulled a coin out of my pocket. "Okay, since AJ insists he gets the front, he gets to choose...heads or tails, buddy."  He brought his hand to his chin and attempted to make a mockery of a "serious thinker," contorting his face and mumbling to himself.
        "Bone, just pick a side!" Brian whined. "You don't want Nick and everyone to beat us to Chin's house, do you?" he mentioned, adding competition to the trip. AJ broke out of his mockery quickly.
        "Tails."
        "K," I flipped the coin. "Tails it is."
        "AW YEAH! Go AJ! Go AJ! Go AJ!" he began a victory dance, cheering himself on.
        "So get in already!" Brian huffed. AJ made a face and took his time to get into the front seat.
        "Then I get the BACK!" Brian yelled and got in.
        "Meany! That was MY spot!" Jenny yelled.
        "Kevin, go sit with Bri, I don't wanna know what chaos he and Jenny sitting together in a cooped up car ride can cause..." I suggested.  He took the advice.
        "Aw, COZ! Move you big BUTT!" Brian whined.
        "You move YOUR big butt!" Kevin laughed back.
        "Aww, the cousins are fighting!" Jenny cooed as she and Howie sat down in the middle seats.
        "Aww, what big boys we have with us today!" Howie laughed. I slammed the sliding door shut for him with a BANG.
        "ACK! Damn, woman...you coulda warned me!" AJ said.
        "Will you please stop calling me a damn woman!?" I laughed. This kept AJ silent for a moment then he laughed too.
        "Here we go," I said starting the ignition. We saw a shiny black car behind us before we got onto the highway. Once on, it pulled up beside us. We saw two blond heads; one of Lance in the front driving sitting next to Hannah, and the other of Nick in the back sitting next to Julie. Nick stuck his head out the window and motioned AJ to do the same.
        "WE'RE GONNA BEAT YOU!" he screamed.
        "ARE NOT!" AJ screamed back. Nick just grinned triumphantly as the car passed us.
        "SAH-RAAHHH!!!! THEY'RE GETTING AWAY!!" AJ screamed at me.
        "If they win, Nick'll have a big head for awhile," Brian warned from the back.
        "But they can't, they dunno how to get there...!" AJ started laughing.
        "Actually they do, both Hannah and Julie make up what you call 'they'..." I muttered.
        "NOOOOO!!!!!" AJ yelled.
        "AJ, calm down," Howie hissed.
        "Kevin, move your arm!" Brian yelled.
        "YOU move YOUR foot!" Kevin replied.
        "This is going to be a loooonnng trip," I sighed, looking into the rearview mirror.  Jenny caught my glance and nodded.

*Chapter 18 ~ It's a Long Trip When You Get Lost*
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