Baby, You're So Gone.

"Trouble?" I shook my head. "They look lost."

Paula made a smacking sound with her lips. "Annabelle, you better be right about this..." she warned.

I chuckled slightly. "Just go and help them out." I nudged her with my elbow.

She walked over to where the boys had taken their seats and gave them the best fake smile I had ever seen.

"What do you want, dears?" I could hear her voice; distant, but I could catch what she was saying.

"Well..." The one with the orange hair hesitated, but another one, a guy with medium length dark brown hair cut in, smiling at Paula.

"I'll have a...pie? You guys serve pie here, right?" he asked greedily.

Paula nodded and started listing all the pies they had.

"Cherry pie with whipped cream on top." he licked his lips. "Please." he added.

They were--the four guys and Paula--only four tables to the front of me. I could see almost every detail of their face, and my bad vision didn't help too much.

I picked at the pie in front of me, taking small bites while remaining attentive. So far, the one with medium-length blonde hair had ordered just a chocolate shake, and a guy with short brown hair had gotten a bottle of coke. Meanwhile, the guy with the interesting orange hair just stayed silent, drumming his fingers on the table.

"Ms..." the guy with the orange hair looked up at Paula, waiting for an answer.

"Paula." she said with a smile.

"Nick Santino," he answered. "Listen, our tour bus broke down and we don't know who to call and where to call." Nick chuckled uncertainly.

"Oh, well, I don't really know this kind of thing and the chef's kind of busy..." Paula pursed her lips and I saw her face light up with an idea. "I know! Annabelle; she'll help you."

At the sound of my name, I stiffened and looked down, taking a sip from my strawberry shake. I felt my cheeks heat up because I knew they were staring at me, and I hoped they couldn't tell I was blushing.

"Annabelle, dear, can you help out these boys?" Paula's voice sounded so sweet...like she actually liked them. Where was the disapproval she had five minutes ago?

I looked up, trying to look innocent. "Yeah, sure." I said, getting up from my table. I felt oddly self-conscious in my black short shorts and tomato red t-shirt, especially since all four of the guys had their eyes on me.

I walked over to them, my long auburn hair swishing in its' pony tail behind me. I stood next to Paula, towering over her. Sometimes, I disliked my 5'8 height.

"What do you guys need?" I asked, looking at Paula and then at the boys.

They all seemed to freeze--they were staring at me with wide eyes and I felt really awkward. I smacked my lips together and swayed on the balls of my feet, moving back and forth.

"I'm Eric Halvorsen." the one with the medium-length dark brown hair spoke first, sending me a small grin.

"Justin Richards." blonde hair and blue eyes boy spoke!

"Andrew Cook," the one with short brown hair smiled at me.

I nodded, taking in all their names.

"Nick Santino." he said his name slowly and precisely, staring at me intently. "And, you're Annabelle?"

I gave them all a smile. "Annabelle; but you can call me Annie, every one does."

"Alright, Annie." Eric grinned.

"So, can you help us out here?" Justin asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Depends on what you need...?"

"Our tour bus broke down. We need someone to fix it." Nick explained.

"Tour bus?" I asked, furrowing my eyebrows.

"We're in a band." Andrew piped up. "A Rocket To The Moon."

"Huh. Never heard of it." I shrugged, then turned towards Nick. "You might want to try the local mechanic; Joe. Your problem is, though," I paused, looking at all of them. "it's late, first off, and second of all, tomorrow and Monday they're closed for some refund reasons?" I looked at Paula and she nodded.

"You mean we're stuck here until Tuesday?" Eric asked, looking kind of panicked.

"Um, not only Tuesday. But let's say you're 'tour bus' takes a little more than a day to fix. It'll probably be done on Friday." Band? I couldn't believe it. I knew music, but I have never heard of 'A Rocket To The Moon.'

"You're so positive." Nick muttered sarcastically.

I beamed full out. "Why thank you."

"She's a keeper." Eric grinned.

I chuckled. "Nice to meet you, boys."

I turned around and slowly walked to my table, my cheeks heating up from the conversation. I swear, I had heard Nick say something along the lines of, "Maybe staying in this town won't be so bad."

Oh, boy, this was going to get interesting.