Chapter 2

I was so totally going to tell John and those two other big men the truth when I got the chance. Honestly! I didn’t want to go live at somebody else’s home for who-knows-how-long - even if that house belonged to my idol. But they kept the little window thingy that separates the back half of the limo from the front half closed, so I had no chance on the way to Kari’s house.

I thought about telling them when we got out of the car, but then they would be mad at me for letting them bring me that far already that they might break me in half. I could just see them grabbing me up in those big hands of theirs and snapping me in half like a twig. That wasn’t exactly how I wanted to die.

It’s the only opportunity I’m gonna have before I get too involved here, I reasoned in my mind. If I risk death and live, I’ll be able to tell my grandkids about it. That’s the kind of stories kids like, right?

Well, just as I had gotten up enough courage to tell them I wasn’t Kari Reed, the car stopped and my courage drained instantly. I’ve always been wimpy. I can’t help it. I have a hard time asking guys their names. That’s how wimpy I am.

But the car stopped and I heard John and the other guy get out. My door opened and I saw John standing there, waiting for me to get out. I did. Just as he shut the door, I managed to get one ounce of courage back and I was planning on using it well, but as soon as I saw that house, all thoughts of telling who I really was vanished. That house was freakin’ huge! It was a very light blue and the shutters were almost navy, but not quite. It was pretty.

“Come on,” John said with a laugh. “Don’t just stand there, acting like you’ve never seen it before!”

I gave him a pitiful fake laugh and we started up the sidewalk. If I was ever going to tell him the truth, now was the time to do it. He’d probably like it if I told him now and not later.

“John, I-” I started, but didn’t have the guts to finish.

“Yes?” He asked as we continued walking.

“I, um….” I fished around in my brain for something to say that would sound completely stupid. “I like the tie you have on today.” How stupid can I possibly get?!

“Um, thanks,” he replied uncertainly. It was obvious he was thinking I’d been breathing in too much “mall air.”

I gave him a quick smile before turning my head the other way and allowing a panicked expression to take its place. How the heck was I going to get out of this? I was way too wimpy to tell him the truth, which I know is what I should have done back at the mall, and I kept imagining his huge hands squeezing the life out of me if I did. That’s what I call a courage zapper.

“You have your key, right?” John asked as we reached the door.

“Uh, no, this isn’t my-” I started as I pulled my purse forward to show him it wasn’t Kari’s. As I did, I glanced down and noticed it wasn’t mine. It actually was Kari Reed’s purse! I must’ve picked it up by accident when I dropped mine at the mall. Again thinking quickly, I fished around for another explanation. “This isn’t my….favorite color!” I’m an idiot…

John gave me a quizzical look as I quickly began searching through the purse. I felt like I was violating Kari’s privacy, but if I didn’t want to die, I’d have to. I finally managed to present the key to him after mumbling about needing to clean out my purse like any woman would do. He took it and unlocked the door and held it open for me. My jaw dropped open at how amazingly casual and normal the living room looked. There were two couches, a TV, a coffee table with magazines all on it, and a carpet in a sunken down area and a path behind it that was a normal level led on into the rest of the house.

“Here’s your key,” John said, handing it back to me before closing the front door behind me.

“Uh…” I said dumbly to the closed door. “Thanks?”

Suddenly I heard the sound of dogs nails hitting the floor and a little bell jingling. I turned to see a small, white, fluffy dog running up to me.

“Aw!” I cooed down at it as it sniffed my pant leg. “You must be Jingles!”

Jingles’ wasn’t paying any attention. She was busy sniffing my leg hesitantly. I suddenly realized this could present a major problem if the dog started acting like it didn’t know me, which it didn’t. I was a complete and total stranger that just happened to barge into her house.

I reached down to try to pet her and distract her from the fact that I wasn’t her actual owner, but she backed up and growled. I jerked my hand back just as she started barking like crazy.

“Shh, Jingles!” I whispered, trying my best to calm her. Just then, the sound of a bigger dog rushing to the scene reached my ears. I jerked my head up to see a Doberman pinscher with bared teeth rushing to the aid of Jingles. “No, wait, wait!”

I turned and tried to open the door when I felt the Doberman jump onto my back. Its weight sent me flying to the floor. It was soon on top of me and Jingles was standing in front of me, taunting me with little yips. I tried to move, but the dog on top of my back growled at the slightest movement. Needless to say, I didn’t go anywhere.

And so I laid there.

And laid there.

And laid there, trying to figure out a way to get out from under this monster on my back.

“Moochie!” Came a high pitched cry and the dog on my back immediately jumped off.

I quickly stood so the dog, whose name was Moochie, apparently, wouldn’t get back on me. There was a woman with short, blonde hair petting the dog and laughing at me. “Honey, I told you if you ever laid down he would jump on you!”

“Uh…” I stuttered, trying to place where I had seen this woman before. “He must’ve been so happy to see me that he jumped on me.”

“But you were only gone a little over an hour,” she pointed out and walked over and gave me a hug. “I’m glad you’re alright. John told me all about what happened over the phone.”

I laughed nervously, finally recognizing this was Kari’s mother. “Yeah…good ol’ John.”

She laughed along with me and took me by the hand. “Come on, let’s get you some lunch.”

I allowed her to lead me into the dinning room, Moochie growling quietly at me the whole time. He was obviously not happy with my being in his house.

Mrs. Reed set a plate down in front of me and sat down at hers. She immediately began chattering on about the most random things like how she needed to get her hair colored again and how Kari’s sister went over her minutes on her cell phone, which really wasn’t a big deal in my opinion. I mean, really, these people are rich and can afford going over their minutes on their phones! I, on the other hand, get grounded if I do such a thing.

I sighed and began eating. Millions of girls would give their right arm to be in my position right now and I was trying to get out of it. I’d never get a chance like this ever again so why not enjoy it, right? It was right there I decided to ride this out as far as it would take me, even though I knew I should tell the truth. My conscious has always been annoying like that.

“Mooch,” Mrs. Reed said, addressing the dog by his nickname, “quite growling!”

The dog whined before laying down near my feet, still watching me closely. Jingles, on the other hand, was sitting loyally at my side like we had been friends forever. I knew she only wanted some food, so I discretely gave her some. Well, what really happened was that I accidentally knocked half my food onto the floor. Mrs. Reed didn’t notice, but both dogs did. They rushed to my aid and began cleaning the mess as quickly as possible.

They cleaned it up very nicely. I had just finished when they finished when they did. Mrs. Reed then poured them some dog food (why she didn’t before, I’ll never know), but they weren’t interested.

“Mooch, are you sick?” She knelt down to the dog’s eye-level. “You always eat your food…”

Moochie stuck out his tongue and licked her face in response.

“You’re breath smells like…” she pondered the thought out loud.

“Mom!” I quickly jumped in, now holding Jingles. She seemed to see me in a new light ever since I fed her. “Where’s Kayla?” Kayla being Kari’s older sister by three years.

“She went to see a movie with Jason, remember?” Mrs. Reed looked at me sort of funny.

“Oh…” I scrambled around in my mind for something else to say. I was sure doing a lot of thinking for a Saturday. “Did she take John with her or….someone?”

“Kerry went with her,” the woman still looked at me funny, but didn’t try to question me.

I nodded slowly, looking around the dinning room. Finally, I said, “I’m going to my room.”

“Alright,” Mrs. Reed looked back down at Moochie.

I had no clue where Kari’s room was or whether I’d be able to tell it apart from Kayla’s or not, but I was about to find out. I automatically assumed it was upstairs because that’s where mine was back at my house, so I hurried up the stairs and found myself in a light blue hallway with carpet. I walked down it, looking at all the doors, trying to find the one that was supposed to be mine.

“Guess it’s not down this way, Jingles,” I said to the dog I was still holding. I turned around and spotted a door just to my left that had a sign on it that said “Kari’s room!” I turned the knob and mumbled, “Oh…duh…”

Her bed set against the far wall and a desk took up most of the wall behind the door. A dresser with a big mirror stood next to the door. Two glass doors were next to the bed and a small deck with a couple chairs laid beyond them. A big TV stood next to the dresser and two couches were in front of it. A door stood open past that and led to a large bathroom. A closet door stood a few feet away from the TV. I just knew it would be a walk-in closet.

But the best part, the part I loved beyond words, were the zillions of Johnny Depp posters that covered the wall. All of them were of him dressed as Jack Sparrow.

I immediately dropped Jingles on the bed and stared up at the ones that even covered the ceiling. My breath caught and a tear almost came to my eye at the gorgeousness that is Jack Sparrow.

“I’m in heaven…” I sighed and flopped down on the bed next to Jingles.

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A/N: Sorry for taking so long to update! I almost lost inspiration for this, but I might have it back. Don’t expect this story to be too long. I don’t have an exact number of chapters for you to expect yet, so yeah…Thanks and please review!