Jared and I spend at least two hours hanging out at his house, talking and trying out my new motorcycle. It was like we were in high school all over again. Something I missed a lot since graduation. But I knew I had to get home soon and the constant ringing of Jared's cell phone told us that our visit had come to an end.

"She's been calling you ever since you picked me up," I pointed out as I watched Jared lock the side garage door. His phone blaring in his back pocket.

He pulled it out as we began our walk back to his car, "She's just reminding me of a few things that I forgot about today."

"Sorry for keeping you from doing them. You could have mentioned it sooner and I would have gone home," I told him. Feeling a little bit guilty for taking up some of his time when he could have used it else where.

"That's okay. I'm just not into this whole wedding planning thing. But, Katelyn wants us to have a shared opinion in the whole planning," he explained, walking over to the driver's side while I opened up the door to the passenger side. I could see where he was coming from. There was nothing in my memory that said that guys ever planned their wedding day like girls did. I have to admit that there are a few, but I still haven't met any.

I watched Jared start the vehicle as I buckled myself in. Pulling away from the curb we started the journey back to my house. If he wasn't going to be busy, I would invite him to hang out with me more. Also I'm sure Katelyn wouldn't appreciate it at all either.

Sadly, the trip to my house seemed to be a lot shorter than the trip to Jared's house. But I think that was due to the fact that we didn't have the pending doom of our friendship hanging in the air. Even though it was never at risk in the first place, we both still thought it would end due to Jared's decision to get married. Fortunately my thoughts on my friendship with Jared came to a screaming halt when I saw my driveway. Or, at least what was sitting in it in front of my house.

Jared parked his jeep behind one of the cars that weren't lucky enough to fit in my driveway and was sitting on the street. There was one thing I noticed instantly when I studied all of the cars, they were all the same kind. It was a model that I wasn't even sure they made anymore. All of the cars were Saturn Aruas, the color black with different accents of different colors. Proabably all depending on who their owners were.

"Looks like you have a party," Jared pointed out as he let me out of his jeep. I stepped out, staring at all of the cars. What the hell is going on? What is with all of these cars in front of my house? I was so confused.

I headed for my house without even saying good bye to Jared. He would understand why. Its not everyday you come home and see that you were having a party you didn't know about. Derik was smoking on the porch steps when I got up to the front door. His dark brown hair in full view and he wore a plain black shirt with dark blue jeans. He also had bright blue skater shoes on with neon green laces.

“Hey there pretty lady,” he said with a half smile so full of charm that I just wanted to melt. He was really good looking and his dark brown eyes just stared at me, making me speechless, “Sorry for the unwelcoming party. Word got out that David had a crush on you and everyone just had to see you.”

“Is David here?” Jared asked, suddenly appearing right next to me. I actually thought he had left by now since he was running late. All Derik did was nod before Jared went inside the house to go look for David.

Derik looked at me with a smile, “Maybe I should tell you what car belongs to who so you don't keep having that confused look on your face. I know they all look the same right now but it’s mostly the interior that tells you about it’s driver.”

Even though I was curious, the last thing I wanted to do was look at the cars. The thing I really wanted to know was who was all in my house. There was no one here when I left to hang out with Jared and now my whole driveway is full. My father was most likely going to throw a fit when he finally got home from work.

But nonetheless, I followed Derik and headed for the closest Saturn. It was black as night, but so were the others. I couldn't help but admire the vehicle. It had been so long since I saw a Saturn Arua. They had stopped making them when I was a junior in high school. Crushing any dreams I had of owning one of the cars down my driveway and on the road. But my black charger was my baby and I wasn't going to trade it in for anything in the near future.

The interior of the Saturn that we stood at had electric green with sky blue seats. The dashboard was black with light blue trim. In the back seat had skateboards that were either broken or waiting to be used. Some of them were still packed away as if they were just bought from the store.

“Is this?” I asked Derik pointing to the car.

“Yep, it’s mine. Custom designed with my two favorite colors. The radio even has some of my favorite bands already programmed into it,” he answered. Lucky jerk.

Someone had to be rich to have a custom made car. Especially a custom made car that was no longer on the market. Just that alone made me want to date Derik. But that would be a bad idea and I'm sure my father would shoot me if I ever did something like that. Never date a guy for money or the things he could get you is what he always said. He probably felt like that after my mother left him.

“My dad paid for it. You can say he’s trying to make up for past mistakes,” Derik mentioned as he held my hand and guided me to the next car, “This here is good old Ricky’s car. Not much to see, since he likes to keep it simple. Just grey and black. Boring.”

I giggled a little at how Derik described Ricky’s car. By the looks of it, Ricky was very clean as well. Nothing cluttered the inside of the car, like it did in the back of Derik’s. But we continued to the next and inside was purple and pink. It was kind of too girly for me, but there was also a car seat in the back for a small child.

“This is Amanda’s car. She’s expecting as you can see by the car seat. She’s also Mike’s wife. She’s very nice and I think you’ll grow to like her real quick.” Derik explained, “She’s only here to keep an eye on Mike since he likes to flirt with any thing that moves and that is female. Him and David have a history of terrorizing girls around the country.”

I smiled some more. I was actually enjoying the one on one with Derik. I kind of also liked the fact that Derik hadn’t let go of my hand yet. I felt like I was really forming a major crush on him, and he was just a normal guy that just knew a lot of people. He also had that kind of personality that was like mine and he was also a skateboarder, which was a plus in my book.

“And over here is Mike’s car. I call it ‘The Bee’, since its black and yellow. He even made sure that some yellow was showing on the outside,” Derik continued to show me the cars. Inside the car was pretty clean except some soda cans and fast food wrappers. He wasn’t quite as clean as Ricky, but his car wasn’t a total mess like Derik’s. Also I noticed that the metal trim of the Saturn was like a gold color.

We headed toward the second to last car. Both smiling as if we were a happy couple, talking about just everyday things. Enjoying each other's company. But Derik's smile faded instantly as we got closer to the car. I looked to see what made that happen and saw David leaning against the driver's side door, smoking a cigarette. I would say that it was not nice to see him and that his smoking habit was gross, but the damn jerk made the whole smoking thing hot. I'm sure tobacco companies would love to use him as a model to ruin people's lives.

All I had to blame was that David looked way too good for his own good. He had changed out of his clothes from earlier and wore a maroon short sleeved shirt that hugged him in all the right way. Proving one thing that just had me dripping with curiosity and lust, the guy was fit. His tight black jeans didn't help with the imagination either. The only thing that remained was the forest green beanie that he seemed to like to wear. But I still loved the image all the same.

"When did you get out here?" Derik asked defensively.

“Not even part of the family and you are already breaking the rules,” David said quietly to Derik and turned toward us. Derik just glared at him as if they were having a silent battle. I just watched them both, waiting to see what would happen, “You’re going to be a trouble maker once you accept what you are, Derik.”

Derik just continued to glare at David with an emotionless expression. I wasn't sure what was going on between the two, but it looked pretty tense. It also appeared that David's words had made Derik really angry. Or, maybe just his presence was enough. I know that it was for me. But I was also trying to figure out what David was talking about. Everything has just been confusing since all of the these people had come into my life.

David threw his cigarette on the ground. After stomping on it, he headed back to the house. Derik kept his eyes glued on him until he was out of sight. Even then he just continued to stare at where David had disappeared. The whole thing made me take my hand back from Derik, feeling awkward all of a sudden. As if I had done something wrong.

The whole thing was stupid. I should not have to worry about what David thought. But I did. I also know that I couldn't make the whole situation more awkward. Derik was a nice guy and I shouldn't let my confused feelings make thing weird between us. So with a small gesture, I told him to continue his little tour on the cars that rested in my driveway.

He must have thought that it was pointless to show me the car that David was leaning on. Derik explained that having him there explained enough on who's car it was. Still curious I looked inside the car as we went to the last one in line before going out into the street. From the quick glance I had of David's car, he had a red interior and it was neat. The only thing that really gave him away was the engagement ring that hung on his review mirror. Just seeing that ring told me that there was a big story behind it.

The last car in the driveway looked like every other car in the driveway until I noticed that it was a little lighter than the others. Looking more closely at the car I noticed that it was navy blue instead of black. The interior was different shades of purple and clothes littered the backseat. It appeared to be the most lived in vehicle besides Derik's car.

"This one is the complete opposite from her husband, but they still make it work," Derik explained as I checked out the car more, "If you aren't sure who her husband is, his car was the second one that we looked at."

There was once a teacher in my high school that liked to point out who was going to end up with who after graduation. Majority of the made up couples were complete opposites, but he would explain that opposites always attracted. The funny thing about the story is that half of those couples he made up eventually ended up together at one point after graduation. I didn't see the impossibility of it happening to Ricky and his wife. The heart just wanted what it wanted. There was no changing it.

Derik started to lead me to the car sitting in the road. The one that Jared had parked behind when he arrived. It was only then that I noticed that his jeep was finally gone. But my attention from both the car and missing jeep was taken away when I heard the sound of footsteps running up to us. Turning around, I was confronted by a very beautiful young girl. A smile on her face that spread from ear to ear. She stopped just inches from me and then threw her arms around me into a big hug.

Awkward wasn't even a strong enough word for a situation like this. I had no idea who this girl was and she was hugging me like she was seeing her best friend for the first time in years. As if sensing the situation, she pulled back. Still smiling, "Sorry, I just had to."

"You are as forward as your brother is," Derik told her. Making her smile disappear instantly.

"You know what, Derik? Fuck you," she answered before turning her attention back at me, "If my brother was as forward as I was, you wouldn't still be hanging out with this asshole."

Something was telling me that these two just didn't get along. Also the two of them glaring at each other as if they wish the other one would burst into flames kind of said a lot as well. Using this as an opportunity to learn a little something about this mysterious girl, I took in her appearance. She was slim but wasn't so skinny that it looked like she might be needing a burger and fries. Her dark brown hair fell just past her shoulders in long curls with highlights shining in the sunlight. Her face was flawless and housed dark brown eyes that held a lot of kindness. But it seemed that the more I looked at her, the more I noticed that she looked like a certain someone.

As if he knew that he was crossing my mind, David magically appeared on my front porch. A look of disapproval on his face once again. But this time it was directed to the young woman in front of me, "Maria, leave them alone and go home."

I watched the young woman roll her eyes before turning to face him, "You aren't Dad, David. I'll go back when I want to."

"I'll call Bo to drag you home," David threatened. Making her stick her tongue out at him before turning back to me.

"Better listen to him, Maria. Don't want to make your daddy worry," Derik teased.

She looked at him with so much hate that I was sure that he would be long dead if her looks could kill, "Once again, fuck you." she then turned to me with the biggest smile on her face again. It was kind of creepy to see how fast she could change her moods, "It was nice to see you. But I must go before my brother decides to call my future hubby to take me home. I doubt my dad would appreciate having one of his guards being wasted like that."

After glaring at Derik one last time, she literally skipped to the car we were about to look at. Announcing that the little of tours was now over. Deciding that there was no reason to be outside anymore, I headed for my house. David remained on the porch as if he was waiting for my approach. But went in the moment I got to the bottom of the steps. He didn't look too happy to see me, or maybe it was the fact that he wasn't happy to see Derik still following me around. Once again I felt like I was doing something wrong even though I wasn't even doing anything. I had just taken up Derik's offer to look at the cars.

With a heavy sigh, I went up the porch steps and entered my house. Laughter filled my ears the moment I walked through the door. Following the sound, I went to my living room to see two more good looking young women. The first one I focused on was the one sitting with Ricky. She leaned against him with the happiest smile on her face. It was as if she was at the only place she ever wanted to be in the world. There was no doubt that she was married to Ricky, her love for him just glowed around her.

Her hair was dark and perfectly straight. Her skin was flawless and pale but was mostly covered up by her olive green jacket and dark blue jeans. Then she noticed I was in the door way and looked at me full on. To my full surprised I knew who she was, "Ashley?"

"Hi Leah. It's been a long time. I believe you were five the last time I saw you," she responded, still smiling.

There was no way that it could be her. Ashley should be well into her late thirties to early forties by now. The Ashley in front of me still lo0ked like she was still well into her twenties. There was no way on Earth that she couldn't have aged the way she did. But then I thought of that one celebrity that still looked like she was twenty-five when she was actually forty-five. But would Ricky be married to someone who was twice his age? For some odd reason, I didn't think so.

I ended up only saying the one thing that could form in my mind. Only because nothing was making sense anymore. Confusion seemed to be the only thing I had been feeling since I woke up yesterday morning, "How are you the same Ashley?"

"I guess we have some explaining to do," Ricky said, removing his arm from being wrapped around the woman who looked like my old babysitter. He then stood up and walked up to me. Placed both hands on my shoulders and guided me to the nearest chair, "You are going to need to sit down for this."