Chapter 4

“Come on!  Where are they?” I hear Mary exclaim from the kitchen.  I make my way down the hallway to see her buried in the fridge, digging around for something she is clearly having a hard time finding.

“What are you looking for?” I ask, perching on one of the bar stools that surround the island. 

“The strawberries!  I know we had some last night but now I can’t find them.”

“Strawberries?” Nicole asks, sheepishly walking into the kitchen.  “You needed those?”

“Yes.  Please tell me you know where they are!  I need them for my dessert I want to make for tonight.”

“Um…” Nicole mutters, pointing to her stomach.  “I kinda ate them earlier.  I’m sorry!  I had no idea you needed them.  But we still have time”, she says, quickly glancing at her phone.  “They aren’t coming for another hour and a half.  Plenty of time for us to quick run to the store and be back to finish up the dinner and dessert.”

“Let me go grab the car keys from Rachel and Nicole and I can get your strawberries for you while you finish up here”, I say.

“No, I’ll come too.  I need the strawberries to be perfect”, Mary says.  We all pile into Rachel’s silver BMW and make our way to the store. 

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 Of course on our way home we hit traffic and pull into the driveway at 5:07, giving us only a little over twenty minutes to prepare for our secret guests. 

“Rachel!  We’re home!” I exclaim, stepping into the entranceway, tossing the keys on the side table.  “You wouldn’t believe how busy the store was and all of the…” I trail off as I make my way to the living room and see my red-headed cousin along with two adults and three blonde and two brunette heads turn to look at me. 

“Elizabeth!  Meet my neighbors!  This is the Lynch family”, Rachel says, gesturing to the people scattered around the room, grinning from ear to ear.  I can sense Mary and Nicole standing behind me, still as can be.

“Hi”, I blurt out, throwing my hand up in a quick wave.  “We, uh, are going to help out Mary in the kitchen, so, uh, yeah.”  I turn and head towards the kitchen, close on my friends’ heels.  Nicole sets the strawberries on the counter and slowly turns to look at us.  The sudden shock quickly changes to joy as I begin smiling and giggling.  Nicole and Mary join in as we all start whisper-shouting at each other.

“R5!  R5!  R5 is in the living room!  R5 is the next door neighbor!  I can’t believe this is happening!” Mary squeals.  One of the reasons as to why we all became fast friends was because of our similar interests.  We were all fans of the band R5 and became even more obsessed with them after we became friends, being able to fangirl together.  When we came to Los Angeles, we all imagined what it would be like if we randomly ran into them in the city but it had never crossed my mind that they would live near Rachel, let alone be next door neighbors!

“Do you think Rachel was aware that we would know them?” Nicole asks as we begin to calm down. 

“She had to!” I reply.  “We were blasting their music earlier today, remember?  And I showed her a picture of them when she asked.  She didn’t show any sign of recognition but she was obviously faking it.  And did you see her grinning out there?  She was excited for us to meet them!”

“I can’t believe this!  This is going to be the best summer ever!” Mary squeaks.  We gather all of the ingredients and begin preparing the dessert, too nervous to go back out in the living room and meet the boys we have dreamed about for the past three years.  I have about half of the strawberries sliced for Mary when I hear someone clear their throat behind me.

“Do you girls need help with anything?” Ross asks.  I slowly turn around to see the tall blonde leaning up against the wall and hold my breath as I watch his eyes quickly look up and down my body.  Something I would have missed if I had blinked. 

“You don’t have to help us”, Mary finally stammers out.  “You’re the guest!”

“But what if we want to?” Rocky asks as he rounds the corner.  I glance over at Mary, waiting for her to answer the question her favorite R5 member had just asked.

“If you guys really want to I’m sure we can find something”, I say.  Mary finally composes herself and gets the boys set up, chopping up fruit and mixing ingredients together.  We all work in silence for a few minutes until Ross breaks the silence by singing their newest hit single.  I quietly join in until the chorus where my voice gradually builds.  Ross glances over at me, one eyebrow raised in question while I smile sheepishly.

“Yeah, we, uh, are huge fans of R5 and had no idea you lived next door to my cousin until we saw you guys earlier in the other room which is why we kind of left quickly because we were so shocked and excited and nervous to meet you guys but we’re all good now”, I finish, watching the two boys, waiting for their reaction. 

“Cool!  Now we have some new people to hang out with this summer”, Ross says, winking at me.  I feel my cheeks flush pink as I smile to myself and continue helping with the dessert.  A few minutes later I glance up to catch Ross watching me intently.  He smiles, realizing he got caught while all I can do is silently freak out inside my head.  First, he looked me up and down.  Then he winked at me while imagining our summer together.  And now he’s watching me?!  This is seriously going to be the best summer ever!