Brown Girl

Undercover Martyn.

"Didn't show up, huh?" Joey asked as he plonked beside Alisha at lunch.

"Nope. It's been a week, Joe." Alisha sighed, as they waited for the rest of the gang to show up.

"Did you go by his house again?" He suggested.

"Gee, I didn't even think of it." She muttered sarcastically.

"Well, you should've." He rolled his eyes.

Her eyes narrowed. "I did. His grandmother opened the door again and said he was out."

"Oh." Joey chuckled sheepishly. "Just wait it out, Al. He'll come around."

"You sure, Joe?" She asked.

"Yeah!" He enthused. "Now pass me that plate of nachos."

~

"So, what plans for Friday night, people?" Joey asked as they all chilled on the football field, waiting for the last period bell to ring.

"We have a dinner date." Colt spoke for him and Mira, giving Mira a wink as he said it.

"Wow, that was a surprise." Christina commented dryly.

"What plans have you got, Al?" Joey asked Alisha.

"Well, I planned to watch a movie." She said.

"With who?" Alex asked.

"Alone....?" It came out more as a question.

"Way to be a loner." Joey chuckled.

"Hey, it's fun!" She defended.

"Yeah. Sitting at home and watching a movie all alone? Sounds real fun." He nodded.

She scoffed. "What are you planning on doing?"

"Nothing." He shrugged.

"Not that anyone asked," Alex said. "But I also am doing nothing."

"What about you, Chris?" Alisha asked, ignoring Alex's comment.

"I...um, kind of have a date?" She bit out.

"What!?" All heads turned. Christina going on a date is like finding a unicorn. Impossible.

"Yeah." She grumbled. "You guys know Josh right? He's been bugging me since his party and following me around all the freaking time!"

She jerked her head towards the stands where, indeed, Josh was sitting who waved when he saw all of them look.

"So," she continued. "I agreed to go out with him to get him to stop stalking me."

"Oh, so once he sees how rude and cynical you are, he'll back off." Colt nodded slowly.

She gave him a flare stare.

"Then it's only the three of us?" Joey asked looking at Alex and Alisha.

"Can we have a horror movie marathon!?" Alisha jumped up, making both the guys groan at her movie-crazed personality.

~

The door creaked as it opened and shut with a bang making the woman turn around to see who's there. With a loud gulp she stalked towards the door when she heard the cupboard door bang. Turning with a scream, she now made her way to the cupboard.

She twisted the knob slowly, opening the closet door at snail's pace.

Just then, Alisha's phone rang making Joey scream and spilling the popcorn all over the couch.

"Joey!" She and Alex groaned. They were at Joey's house, having a horror movie marathon. Joey was snuggled into Alisha, using her as his pillow to scream into and Alex was on her other side, his arm behind her head on the couch. Now, she felt like the dressing between a sandwich.

She got her phone out and answered. "Christina?"

"I need help!" Christina whisper-screamed.

"What? Why?" Alisha asked, pausing the movie, making the guys groan.

"I have been the most cynical and sarcastic b***h on this date and Josh just seems to be liking me more and f*****g more!" Christina groaned.

"Why don't you just climb out the bathroom window?" Alisha suggested. This got Joey's and Alex's attention.

"Wow, I would've never thought of that." she muttered sarcastically. "There's no window in the mother freakin' bathroom!"

"Okay, calm down and let me think!" Alisha screamed right back. Joey tapped her shoulder cautiously, asking what happened.

"Josh doesn't seem to be getting the hint that Christina doesn't like him." Alisha explained to them.

"Then why don't we just go there and accidentally bump into them, if you know what I mean..." Joey winked.

"Joey, we always know what you mean." Alex chuckled.

"How does that sound, Chris?" Alisha smiled evilly.

"That sounds kick-you-in-the-crotch-spit-on-your-neck perfect." Christina smirked.

~

Joey and Alex walked with Alisha in the middle, towards the restaurant in slow motion. You could almost hear the 'Backstreet's Back' playing in the background.

"Joey, remove the sunglasses. It's night time." Alisha groaned.

"What!?" He protested. "They're cool."

"They're dumb." Alex commented making Joey scoff and get rid of his sunglasses.

They entered the restaurant and went to the lady in the front.

"Hi! I need a table for three?" Alisha asked with a smile.

"Yes, right this way." She smiled and led them in. They spotted Christina and Josh and stopped at a booth opposite to them.

"You know, we'll just sit here, actually!" Alisha clapped her hands and the three of them slid in the booth.

"Okay..." She looked at them weirdly and walked away.

"Okay, guys." Alisha began, whispering. "Just follow my lead."

"Okay, but why are we talking like we're planning a MI6 operation?" Alex whispered back sarcastically.

She ignored his comment. She looked at Christina and spoke out loud. "Oh, my god! Christina!?"

Alisha got out of her chair and went towards them. She screamed and pulled Christina into a hug, who was screaming too. Josh looked uncomfortable at all the attention.

"Never doing that again." Christina muttered in Alisha's ear.

"Me too." Alisha scoffed.

~

They joined tables to accommodate all five of them. The dinner was going fantastic for Christina but horrifying for Josh.

"So, Josh, how's Cathy?" Alex piped up.

"Cathy?" He genuinely looked like he had no idea who she was.

"Cathy, man! The one that you scored with at your party, the one that slapped you the next day at school, the one tha-"

"Cathy!" Josh laughed uncomfortably. "She's...Cathy's just fine."

"That was you? The guy who never called her back after sleeping with her?" Christina pretended to be mortified.

"It's not like that...." He trailed off.

"Seems to me like it is." Joey commented, making bubbles in his coke with the straw.

Josh glared at him. "It's not. It was a misunderstanding...."

"A grave one at that." Alisha snorted.

Josh shifted his glare to her. "Cathy and me were nothing."

"It's 'Cathy and I'. Never thought an Indian would correct you in English, did you, eh, Josh?" Alisha smirked making him sigh in frustration.

"So, after this, you and Christina would be....nothing?" Alex asked.

"Hey! Now, no one does that to our Chris!" Joey protested.

Josh sighed. "It's not like that."

"You seem to be saying that way too much, bro." Alisha rolled her eyes.

"So what do you plan to do after this date? Score with me?" Christina raised an eyebrow.

"No!" He said in an instant. "I plan to take you on a second date."

"And that's only if she doesn't sleep with you, right man?" Joey glared. "Well, you and I are going to have a little talk outside later!"

Josh banged his head on the table.

~

"So, you were the guy who was caught naked on Heather's balcony!?" Christina asked, trying to control her laughter, while Josh had a pained look on his face as he re-lived that time.

"Wow, you're a bigger man-w***e than Joey." Alisha commented.

"You don't have to insult little Joey!" Joey scoffed.

"Joe, it's not a proud thing to be called a man-whore." Alex rolled his eyes.

"Okay...." He trailed off. "Then you continue insulting Josh!"

~

"Thanks for dinner, man." Alex said to Josh as the three guys walked a bit behind the girls.

"I wasn't planning on paying for a group of five, but you didn't leave me much choice." He shrugged.

"You really like her, don't you?" Joey asked.

Josh looked at Christina who was talking to Alisha. "Yeah, I really do. I heard she's bi, though."

"Yeah, she is. You gotta problem with that, punk?" Joey glared.

"No, not at all." Josh raised his hands.

"I think it's sexy."

"We do too." Joey grinned like a kid, before threatening him. "But just don't do any hanky panky with her."

Josh chuckled. "Okay."

"He's serious, bro. You do it and your balls are gone to dogs." Alex nodded seriously as Joey glared down at Josh.

Josh gave them a terrified look and said in a meek voice, "Please don't kill my soldier."

~

"Thanks for tonight, Alisha." Christina thanked Alisha as they walked ahead of the guys.

"Don't start the sentimental crap with me." She warned.

"Yeah, we'll leave that to Mira." Christina rolled her eyes.

"You are going to say yes to Josh if he asks you out on another date, right?" Alisha asked after a moment.

"I don't know...." Christina trailed off.

"Chris, that guy just spent an entire evening getting humiliated and insulted by friends of the girl he hardly knows. And after all that, he is still being civil. No guy does that if he just wants to get into your pants." Alisha explained.

"You're right..." Christina looked at Josh. "He's not so bad, anyway."

Realisation dawned on Alisha. "Oh, f**k. You like him! Now it all makes sense! You started liking him and you called us over here to see if he would bear with us because if he would, then that would prove that he really does like you and is not just trying to score with you. And plus, you wouldn't go on a date with a guy who's stalking you just to get rid of him! You would punch him in the face, instead! I know, it sounds crazy and f****d up but it makes sense! It's true, isn't it?"

Christina looked at Alisha like she had two heads. "Are you mentally challenged!?"

"It's not true....?" Alisha asked biting her lip.

Christina looked at Alisha for a long, hard moment and sighed. "Ah, what the hell! It is true!"

~

Joey stopped the car in front of Alisha's house as they headed back from the restaurant. Christina left with Josh after a lot of insisting from Alisha's side and the three of them went in Joey's car.

Alisha was fast asleep, curled up in Alex's lap at the back seat. Alex tried shaking her but she mumbled something and drifted off again.

"I think I'm going to have to carry her." Alex sighed.

"Like that's a problem for you." Joey smirked.

Alex rolled his eyes and got Alisha's head off his lap as he got out the car. With a lot of difficulty, he got Alisha to sit up straight and out the car. Not trusting her to walk, he carried her bridal style.

"Bye, Joe." Alex grunted, closing the door with his hip.

"Bye, man." Joey waved.

"Take off, Jowy beans." Alisha mumbled making Joey smile.

"Your parents home?" Alex whispered to Alisha as Joey sped off.

Alisha snuggled into him and gave a sigh. "Are they ever?"

He shook his head. "Can I put you down?"

Alisha shook her head vigorously and clutched onto him harder.

Alex sighed. With no option, he placed a sleeping Alisha on the pavement and looked for the key under the mat. He unlocked the door and lifted Alisha up again and inside the house.

He carried her upstairs and gently placed her on the bed, crouching beside her. He placed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear as she clutched onto the pillow.

"Oh, Alex," She mumbled into the pillow. "You've got...."

"I've got what?" He prodded, curious.

"You've....you're a..." She trailed off again. He tried to ask her again but got no response. Sighing, he placed a kiss on her cheek and got up. His face beamed when he saw a soft smile etch onto her face as she felt the kiss.

With a goofy grin, he was about to walk out when he heard her.

"Alex?" She called out.

He turned back to her bed, crouching down. "Yeah?"

"Can you stay tonight?" Her eyes were still closed. "I don't want to be alone. I can't do this alone. Just don't go."

He stroked her cheek, wondering why she sounded so broken. "Yeah, sure."

As if relieved by his answer, she moved aside on the bed, giving him space.

He chucked his shirt on the floor, got his shoes off, and locked her bedroom door before sliding beside her. Wouldn't want her mother walking in on them like that in the morning.

He pulled her close, sliding a hand across her waist. She snuggled into his chest and buried herself there. Stroking her hair, he thought of all the times his brown girl was left alone, when she badly needed someone to be with her but she had no one to turn to. Just the thought of it, made him pull her closer, to let her know that he would always be there for her.

----------------------------