Give Me Envy, Give Me Malice, Give Me Your Attention

I stared at the guy descending the stairs. He had medium-length brown hair, brown eyes and a pale peach complexion. Sure, he sort of looked like Ryan but he's not. At least, I don't think so. No, that is definitely not Spencer's nerdy best friend who used to cover Blink-182 songs on his guitar. I must be imagining things. That's it, my imagination is working overtime. I mean, Ryan was cute, but this guy is... hot. I couldn't help staring in shock.

"Hey guys," Ryan greeted the others and turned to me with a weird look.

"Adrie?"

"Hi," I replied, grinning like an idiot.

"Wow... how long has it been?" Ryan scratched his head.

"6 years," I blurted quickly, suddenly wanting to hit my head on the wall. Counting the days, hours, and minutes by any chance? I imagined him saying. God, I'm such an idiot. I noticed Sam smiling and winking at me from behind Ryan. Oh great, please let her have forgotten that I am practically in love with Ryan... no, not am... was...was. After the incident, I won't allow myself to like him.

"Well, it's great to see you," he said nodding his head. We both stood there, unsure of whether or not to hug or just stand there like we already were. We compromised by shaking hands.

"Anyway," Brent started, breaking the awkward silence that followed. "Are we going to practice?"

"Practice?! Practice?! Adrie just got here and all you can think about is practicing?!" Sam yelled. That woman can go on rampage for anything.

"That's what we come here for," Brent replied, shrugging. I agree. Who would willingly come to Spencer's for anything else?

"You know what? Ever since youve started going out, you've been obsessed with spending time with Brendon," Spencer appeared at the foot of the stairs.

"I resent that! I am not obsessed! I just think we should spend the day with Adrie today," Sam winked at me again.

"Actually, I'd like to hear th-"

"To the movies!" Sam interrupted me, dragging Brendon upstairs, who whined the whole way. Brent, Ryan, and Spencer looked at each other.

"So, while we wait for Sam to come back to her senses, how about we catch up with Adrie?" Spencer suggested.

"Sure," Ryan and Brent set down their stuff and sat on the couches against the wall.

"How have you been? Ryan asked, just as Sam came downstairs.

"Come on. We're waiting in the car," Sam pushed Spencer upstairs, then came back to grab my arm and drag me upstairs. Ryan and Brent followed reluctantly. Sure enough, Brendon and Spencer were already in Spencer's car.

"I call shotgun," Brent said, sliding into the front seat. I was pushed in between Brendon and Ryan, while Sam lay on top of us. Spencer looked back at us, "I swear, if I get pulled over, you all better disappear."

"We're not magicians, you dum-dum," Sam reminded.

We all stared at her, until Brendon randomly started laughing.

"Why are you laughing?" Ryan asked.

"I just found a Dum-Dum in my pocket," Brendon held up one of the infamous tiny lollipops. We all cracked up. Eventually, Spencer turned on the car and off we went. Traffic was going smoothly until we got close to the movie theater.

"Great," Spencer muttered, collapsing in back into his seat. "We'll be here for a while."
We'd been sitting there for awhile, when, suddenly, something flew through Brent's open window and hit Spencer in the head.

"What was that?" he complained, as Brent picked whatever it was up.

"Boba..." Brent whispered, looking at Spencer wide-eyed.

"Yume," the guys and Sam chorused and looked out the passenger side window. In the car next to us was an Asian girl about our age, with short, choppy, black hair, and big brown eyes. She was waving wildly with one hand, holding a wide straw in the other.

"Hi Yume!" Sam yelled, somehow managing to stick her head out Brent's window. Brent mumbled something from under Sam.

"What'd he say?" Yume yelled.

"He said 'I thought you were working,'" Brendon answered, leaning over me as Ryan rolled his window down.

"Oh, yeah. I just got off. Where are you guys going?" Yume smiled, cocking her head to the side.

"Movies. Come with us." Sam reached for Yume's arm.

"Okay," Yume got out of her car, locked it and jumped into the backseat.

"Yay!" she cheered, somehow clapping her hands.

"Are you just going to leave your car there?" I inquired, gasping for air. Having two people practically sitting on you is not fun.

"Who are you?" she asked, pointing at me for emphasis.

"I'm-"

"She's my best friend!" Sam chimed in.

"And my cousin," Spencer added, looking back at the five people in the back and shaking his head.

"Hi, I'm Yume. What's your name?" Yume asked, grabbing my hand to shake it.

"Adrienne. Adrie for short," I replied, finally allowed to speak.

"Aww... I feel sorry for you. you're related to it," she pointed at Spencer. At that same moment, Brent found a Britney Spears song on the radio, and the guys proceeded to sing it at the top of their lungs. Needless to say, it was horrible.

When we finally got to the theatre (and relief from some interesting boys), Sam jumped out of the car, and began reading out movie times.

"How about...The Notebook?" Sam suggested to Brendon, who walked up and put his arm around her. The guys groaned.

"No chick flicks please," Spencer retorted.

"How about Troy?" Brent suggested. He and Brendon began to "sword fight" around the benches and chairs that were in their way.

"No way."

"How about Dodgeball?" Brendon asked as he "stabbed" Brent. Brent "died," collapsing onto the floor.

"Stupid guy movie," Sam muttered.

"How about Harry Potter?" Yume and I suggested.

The guys groaned again.

"Well, no one's saying anything else."

"How about we all agree to disagree and watch Van Helsing?" Ryan suggested.

Everyone agreed. We got the tickets and headed inside. Spencer began digging in his pockets.

"I am officially broke."

"Me too," Brent mumbled.

Spencer turned on his heel and looked at Ryan. "Daddy, will you buy us some popcorn?"

Brendon started laughing, "I thought we decided you were Dad, Spencer."

"Well, you and Ryan are older."

Ryan rolled his eyes. "Don't I always?"

Yume and I laughed at Spencer and Brent, who were currently deciding what they wanted and seemed to be choosing a lot of expensive movie food.

"Wow, I never knew my cousin was that pathetic." I turned to talk to Sam, but she was gone, along with Brendon.

"They have a tendency to spontaneously disappear," Yume said, in response to my confused face.

"Good to know," I nodded, rolling my eyes. I noticed Spencer was glaring at me for my earlier remark. I stuck my tongue out in return.

"Adrienne... Adrienne Manning?" a voice wafted from across the lobby. The voice sounded bitter sweetly familiar. I turned, along with everyone else, to see the last person I had ever wanted to see again in my life.