CIMORELLI : All Powered Up

EIGHTEEN : Flashbacks and the LurveShack

"Amy, Tony, smile!" Dani said, aiming a disposable camera in my direction.

"EIIIIIIGHT!" Anthony said as he smiled at the camera.

Dani pressed the shutter and the flash burst into the night.

"Oh gosh! My eyes!" I squinted hard, the harsh light leaving bright spots in my vision. I rubbed them 'til the spots were gone.

"Why'd you say 'eight'? Shouldn't it be cheese?" Lauren asked, a small grin forming in the corners of her mouth.

"Saying eight makes the smile look more natural compared to when you say cheese..." Tony replied, Lauren looked at him, and said "You're weird." And Tony lit up, "Aww, thanks, you're weird too." and we all burst out laughing.

It was the night before the concert, and Christina thankfully allowed us to take a break from the all day rehearsals. Everyone including Bee and Angel was sat by the pool, my little brothers cannonballing from time to time. It was a nice night, the stars were out, the crickets chirped, the air was cool and fresh with a constant breeze, and best of all, I had Anthony sitting in the lounge chair next to me.

We'd been talking nonstop about the most random things, me asking about Filipino culture, and his job as a pilot, him asking me about Nashville, music and how I survive having so many siblings and whatnot, it was really nice talking to him, he was a great conversationalist, and he really cared about what I was saying, which was a rarity in the male race.

"So are you stoked for tomorrow?" He asked, running his hand through his hair. It took time for me to answer, I kept remembering the other day when we went to the mall...

flashback

"Amy for the love of Pete! Run! We're gonna be late for church!" Christina bellowed

"Leave Pete outta this, I'm coming!" I said, panting as I silently cursed my short legs.

Blazing through the long and wide corridors of Bee's house, I questioned her choice in living space. Why did it have to be a huge, sprawling one story house?! Gaaahd.

Finally, I could see the front door, I reached for the doorknob but my momentum, combined with the door opening from the outside resulted in me, my head and the door colliding with each other in an epic crash.

BAM! BANG! THUMP!

I fell to the floor, a little dizzy, my view of the ceiling fuzzy around the edges.

"Holy, crap! I am so sorry!" A familiar voice said. I heard him run from the door to me.

I was too dazed to move, but slowly a head popped up into my line of vision, his concerned face looking at mine, checking for any injuries, and suddenly I was being hoisted up by the waist by this tall boy- man, back on my feet. I looked up at hhim regretting it immediately as I felt a sharp ache in my neck.

"Ow, that hurt..." I said, mostly to myself. I rubbed my nape and shook my head.

"God, I am such an idiot, are you okay?" He asked, "Hey, do you, erm, remember me? I'm--"

"Anthony de la Merced, pilot boy extraordinaire, of course I remember you.." I said with a chuckle, "You didn't hit my head THAT hard." I told him, somewhat surprising myself, normally, I wasn't this smooth around boys. Especially cute boys. Maybe the hit to the head was a good thing.