Author's Note: I'm glad many of you enjoyed One Night In Vegas. Here's the so-called sequel to it. Angie and Connor's story was just begging to be told. This is just a teaser chapter, but it sets up the story. I'm nearly finished with the next chapter. Happy Reading.~n4m.
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Eight years earlier...
"I can't believe you're leaving me to go to college!" 16-year-old Roxie Hartley pouted to her sister.
Angie laughed. "Don't worry kiddo. I'll be back for breaks, maybe even the weekends too. And if you're good, you can come and visit me at school."
"Really?"
Angie hugged her little sister to her. "Yeah, Kiddo. Seriously. I'm going to miss you so much."
Angie felt a lump forming in her throat, but she willed herself not to cry. She knew saying goodbye to Roxie was going to be tough, but she never expected this. They were really close. She couldn't remember a time when Roxie wasn't around.
"I'm going to miss you too, Ange. But I know someone who's going to miss you even more than I do." Roxie grinned at her sister.
"Oh yeah," Angie asked. "Who?"
"One Connor Gavin. Have you said goodbye to him?"
"I've been trying to this entire summer. He won't listen."
"Maybe you should stop by his house and make him listen."
"I just might. Do you want me to drop you off at Nina's? You guys can hang out, order a pizza or something."
Roxie sniffed and rose from the plushy armchair she was sitting in. "Can you? That would be awesome." She ran hurriedly from her sister's room. "Give me ten minutes."
Angie chuckled, knowing full well that ten minutes in Roxie time was at least twenty in the real world.
Glancing around the room, a pang of realization pulsated through her body. Today was her last day at home. Tonight, she'd be sleeping in her bed for the last time. At least for awhile. She waited so long for this day to come, when she'd finally leave her parents house and move on to that next plateau in life.
And now it scared the shit out of her. She was leaving her family, and the life she knew for eighteen years. She was going to miss the hell out of her little sister.
And him. Connor. Her best friend since third grade. Out of everyone, leaving him behind seemed almost unbearable. They fought like cats and dogs, but Angie knew the love she had for him was fierce and strong, just like him.
Angie couldn't place it, but it seemed that there friendship was slowly changing. Maybe it was the fact that she was leaving to go to school at a small university upstate, while Connor was planning to stay in their small upstate New York town. She knew that a lot of people who were best friends in high school sort of drifted apart once high school was over. But just thinking about that happening to her and Connor made her unbelievably sad.
Angie tried to push the bad thoughts from her mind as her the phone in her room rang.
"Hello?"
"Hey." It was Connor. It was like he had ESP. He could always tell what she was thinking, even when it concerned him.
"Hey yourself. What are you up to?"
"Just sitting here. My parents went to visit my aunt and uncle in Delaware for the weekend."
"Oh. Why didn't you go with them?"
"You know why. I couldn't leave knowing when I got back you wouldn't be here."
"Conny, you can be so melodramatic sometimes."
"Whatever. Listen, you should come over. We'll rent a movie or something."
"Well, I am dropping Roxie off at Nina's in fifteen."
"Good deal. You should definitely stop by."
"Geez. Alright already Conny. I'll stop by." Hanging up the phone, Angie was suddenly sorry that she was so short with him. She knew that he was just going to miss her.
Pushing Connor from her mind for a brief minute she ran downstairs and was surprised to see her younger sister already waiting for her by the door.
"What the hell, Kiddo" she said. "I thought only an act of God would get you to move your ass that quickly."
Roxie giggled. "Shut up, Ange. I just thought for once I'd be on time."
The sisters laughed, leaving the house.
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Connor Gavin flopped back loudly onto his bed. Staring up at his ceiling with the same glow-in-the-dark constellations that he and Angie stuck up there when they were ten, his mind raced.
Just the thought of Angie, his Angie leaving him was almost unbearable. Since that fateful day in fourth grade when he shared his chocolate cupcake with her during lunch they formed a friendship that carried them through some crazy things.
He remembered that it was Angie who comforted him when Maggie, his baby sister died from a rare heart condition at only two years old. They were twelve at the time. He recalled the way she wrapped her soft arms around him, her fingers stroking his curls as his body shook with angry sobs, crying tears that he never even felt.
They shared many laughs over the years, and gotten into so much trouble it almost seemed like the end of the world. When they were fifteen, Connor dared Angie to take her father's car for a short spin around the block. He smiled as he remembered her defiant walk as she trudged to the garage to get the spare key.
Needless to say the experiment didn't bode well. Armed with only a learner's permit at the time, Angie barely cleared the driveway before slamming her father's Ford F-150 right into her parents' mailbox.
That earned both of them at least five months of house incarceration plus some major damage control in paying for the mailbox. Connor recalled the way Angie seemed to defy her parents' severe punishments just so she could sneak out and see him.
He loved her tenacity and the way she always seemed so confident.
Connor knew that he was fighting his feelings. Their relationship was changing and any fool with a pulse could feel it. He was protective of her, yes. But the jealous rage he felt whenever she would mention another boy in his presence was intense.
He was relieved when Charlie Mercado moved away with his family to Echo Park. The guy was crazy about Angie and was an all around over-achiever. Connor desperately tried to dislike him, but the guy was so damned nice it was impossible.
Connor moved thoughts of Charlie from his mind. Instead he allowed himself to think back to graduation. Though it was August and the ceremony had been over since May, it was one of those things he'd always remember.
Grinning, he remembered how Angie nearly pitched a fit when they weren't seated next to each other. They were two people apart with Connor sitting next to Laura Garson and Angie beside Miller Halloway. With some persuasion, Angie convinced both Miller and Laura to switch seats so that she and Connor could be together. Connor sighed. Thinking about graduation led to thinking about Angie leaving and that just made him even sadder. He thought back to prom, and how gorgeous she looked in her dress.
It was weird. He was always used to seeing her in jeans and t-shirts. She was pretty in those. But that night, in that black and white dress she was absolutely stunning. The way the corset top clung to her curves and cupped her dark cleavage, how he skin seemed to glow under the lights of the ballroom. He couldn't keep his eyes off her.
Lately he had been trying desperately to find ways to touch her. He craved the softness of her skin, and wanted to feel her cottony-soft hair in his hands.
Connor knew it, though he desperately tried to fight it. He was falling for her.
He was shaken out of his thoughts by the footsteps pounding up the stairs. Angie bounded into the room, not even bothering to knock.
Connor turned his head to face the door. "Jeez, Angie knock much?" He quipped.
He couldn't be angry at her, especially with this being her last night at home. He glanced at her casual outfit of short khaki shorts and a black t-shirt with the Ninja Turtles logo on the front. Her dark brown hair was in its usual state, just brushing the tops of her shoulders and sticking up slightly in the back from her nervous fingers running through it.
Although he had seen her like this everyday, it seemed like now, more than ever she began to look even more stunning, if that was even possible.
Angie scoffed. "Why? It's not like you're doing anything important. Or anyone," she added.
"Hey, that is not true. I could have had a girl in here." He smiled at the "yeah right" look on her face.
"Okay, well maybe not. What can I say, I'm a loser." He patted the bed next to him. "Besides, hanging out with you takes up the majority of my time. I can't seem to find another girl who isn't insanely jealous of you."
Angie laughed as she got into the bed beside him. "Whatever Conny. Don't blame your serious lack of booty on me. I told you before, you're adorable. Any girl would be a fool to pass you up."
"Well, you're a fool" he said quietly.
"Say what?"
"You heard me, Ange. Leaving me to go to college upstate."
Angie grinned. "I'm sorry Conny. Tell you what, how about I don't go to college and we can both stay here in and be miserable together?"
He chuckled. "Sounds like a plan."
Angie turned on her side to look at her best friend. She wasn't lying when she said that he was adorable. Over the years Connor had developed from chubby adolescent cutie-pie to full-fledged young adult hotness.
She smiled inwardly as she remembered the day in sixth grade when Mrs. Gavin, in honor of picture day, decided to cut Connor's hair. Apparently hairstylist was not one of her skills. For two months Connor had the lovely beginnings of a mullet until Angie took pity on him and shaved off his reddish brown curls.
She didn't realize she had begun to stroke his curls until she heard him sigh. "Sorry," she smiled sheepishly. "I just love playing in your hair. It's so soft."
Connor grinned. "I don't mind, Ange. It feels nice."
"I swear you use some girly conditioner."
"Shut up, maybe I do. The ladies love it."
"Whatever."
"So, what do you want to do tonight?"
