Irreconcilable Differences

+++++++++



Jason hurried around to the other side of the limo, the cameras already flashing. He held out his hand, helping his sister out. Kelly squinted slightly from all the flashes. She tried not to frown, knowing that Clive had something to do with all the reporters being there. She felt a warm hand on her back that was too small and too soft to be Jason's. She looked to find Carrie standing on the side of her, smiling for the cameras that were now flashing like crazy.



"You ready?" Carrie asked, keeping her voice light.



She's good, Kelly thought to herself.



"You're touching me," Kelly smiled back, but her meaning quite clear from the look in her eyes. Carrie quickly removed her hand. "Let's go," Kelly said, walking towards the waiting reporters, stopping at the first group that were throwing questions their way.



"Does this mean that the war is over?" a man asked, shoving the microphone in Kelly's face.



Carrie quickly responded with a fake laugh, "War? There was never any war. It was all just blown out of proportion. Kelly and I are only sorry that we let it get as bad as it did before putting a stop to it."



Kelly couldn't help but frown as more questions of their budding friendship were asked. She silently walked away, leaving Carrie to deal with them as she met with the next group.



"So is it true that you and Carrie are best friends again?"



Kelly raised an eyebrow. Since when had they been best friends in the first place?



"Carrie and I are here to support all the hard work that the drivers and the people behind the scenes have put into NASCAR this year. We are glad to be able to be a part of something that does so much good for the community," Kelly replied with a smile, turning the attention back to the real reason why they were there.



The reporters took the bait, and immediately began to ask her things like who was her favorite driver, and what was it like to be a part of something so huge. Kelly relaxed, becoming her normally talkative self as she answered their questions before moving on. Carrie quickly caught up with her, but Kelly ignored the taller blonde.



"What's your problem?" Carrie hissed as they smiled for the photographers.



"This night isn't about you and me," Kelly reminded her as they walked up to the last group of media. The ones from all the sports stations and magazines. Kelly couldn't help but smile as they eyed the rest of the reporters carefully. She knew exactly how they felt.



"These are mine," Kelly warned her, motioning for Jason to follow her. He smiled widely.



"Hey y'all," Kelly greeted, shaking a few of their hands. "Having fun yet?"



A couple of the reporters laughed, relaxing in the pop star's contagious smile.



"Kelly, what has been your favorite part of this past year?" a reporter asked.



"Just getting to hang out with my friends and family. That's something I promised myself I would do more often, and partnering up with NASCAR has been the perfect way. They've really been great to me," she answered sweetly.



"Is it true that you didn't get paid for any of this?"



Kelly smiled uneasily, never liking to talk about money, "Yea, it is. It's never about the money with things like this. I mean, I get to have fun while raising money to help people. Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel that's selfish enough as it is without getting paid."



The reporter smiled at her in awe.



"So who's your date?"



Carrie immediately stepped forward, but Kelly linked her arm through Jason's, "This is my brother, Jason. He has always been a huge sports fan. If it wasn't for him telling me what was going on, I'd be so lost during all the games and races we watch," she laughed, causing the reporters to laugh with her.



The reporters then asked Jason a couple of questions which made his smile grow even more. Kelly couldn't help but beam, knowing that she had made up for having to drag Carrie along on their night of fun.



"Thanks you guys," Kelly said, giving them a slight wave as they were ushered inside.



+++++++++



"Thanks for the introduction," Carrie frowned as they sat at their table.



"Don't you think if they would've known who you were, then they would've spoken up?" Kelly asked, smiling as Jason pulled out her chair for her.



"What is that supposed to mean?"



Kelly rolled her eyes, "Those guys are sports nerds. They don't care about who's doing whom or whose album is number one, which, come to think of it, is probably why I love them so much."



"They seemed to know you."



"Well, yea, because of all the work I've been doing with NASCAR and the NFL. Even before that, I was involved in a lot of different sporting events."



"So have I," Carrie responded.



"Yea, but I doubt we'd ever see you playing catch with a quarterback. Unless of course, it was pre-planned to make sure you didn't look like a complete idiot or something," Jason broke in. "That's why they love Kelly so much. She doesn't care about looking like a dork, or being one of the guys, as long as she's having fun."



Kelly winced. She knew her brother meant well, but bringing up the whole playing catch thing, probably wasn't a good idea, seeing as whom the quarterback had been.



Carrie rolled her eyes, not catching the reference, "Sorry for being classy."



"Classy?" Jason laughed. "More like boring. Besides, I wouldn't call running my mouth in all those magazines class."



"Jay," Kelly said, placing her hand on his arm. "It's alright. Just drop it."



"But you can't let her--"



"It's fine," she assured him. "Tonight is supposed to be fun, remember?"



Jason nodded, giving into his sister's request.



+++++++++



"And what can I get you all to drink?" the waiter asked, walking up to the table.



"Water," Kelly replied.



"Coors," Jason said.



"I'm fine," Carrie answered. "Water?" she questioned Kelly's choice as the waiter walked away.



Kelly just shrugged in response.



"I thought these things were all rednecks, pickup trucks, and a nice cold one."



"I'm not a beer kind of girl," Kelly answered simply, not wanting to get into this conversation, despite knowing that she held the upper hand.



"Not a drinker?" Carrie laughed.



Kelly smiled, "I didn't say that."



"So then, what's Kelly Clarkson's poison?"



Kelly looked her up and down, sizing her up. Carrie subconsciously shivered under her gaze.



"You can't handle it."



"She's right," Jason agreed.



"You forget I was a sorority girl."



"Kelly grew up in a bar."



"I did not grow up in a bar," Kelly laughed. "I was a cocktail waitress."



"Let's have it then," Carrie smiled.



"You asked for it," Kelly replied, waving the waiter back over. He smiled as he approached them. Kelly signaled him to come close, whispering something in his ear. He stood, looking at Carrie, and shook his head sadly, causing Jason and Kelly to laugh.



"Here you go," the waiter returned a few minutes later. He handed Jason his beer and Kelly her glass of water. He then placed two shots on the table, one before each of the girls, and stood, watching in amusement.



"This is it?" Carrie laughed, looking at the tiny glass.



"Yea," Kelly nodded.



"You first," Carrie smiled.



Kelly just shook her head, downing the shot with ease. The warmth of it in her throat, soothing her, but the liquor having no effect whatsoever.



"Your turn," the waiter said, excitedly.



Kelly tried not to laugh as Carrie threw him a pair of eyes.



"You might want to just sip it," Kelly warned.



Carrie smirked as she lifted the shot glass in her hand, bringing it to her lips, tilting her head back, downing it. The tears were evident in her eyes as she choked back the substance. Her throat burning, her mind already growing fuzzy from the alcohol.



"What the hell was that?" she asked, grabbing Kelly's water and downing it.



"I'll get you another water," the waiter laughed, walking back to the bar.



"Chivas," Kelly shrugged.



"Straight?"



"Well, yea."



"God, I feel like my throat's on fire," she gasped.



Jason could only laugh.



"I warned you," Kelly smiled.



"How can you drink that?"



"I love it," Kelly replied, honestly, accepting her new glass of water from the waiter, "Thanks."



"You're crazy," Carrie said.



"Not my fault you can't handle your liquor."



Carrie's eyes narrowed, "Is that a challenge?"



"Hun, didn't we just go through this? Do you really wanna go there again?"



Carrie eyed the empty shot glass before her, still feeling the bite from the whisky and frowned.



"Thought not," Kelly smiled, relaxing in her chair as the speaker stood up to start the banquet.



+++++++++



Carrie groaned as she lay down in bed, exhausted. She didn't realize how hard it was going to be to be best friends with somebody she hated. That and the fact of how strange the other girl actually was, just sent her mind reeling. Just when she thought she had the girl figured out, she goes and slips this homeless guy a couple hundreds as the limo stopped at a red light. She didn't understand how she could be so happy and carefree about everything while everybody was at her throat. Then again, she also couldn't understand how Kelly could appear to be so nice and down to earth, yet say all those things about her.



Carrie just sighed deeply, hoping she would find sleep some time soon.



+++++++++



"So how bad was it?" Ashley asked as she and Kelly walked around the city a couple of days later, wanting fresh air, but soon realizing that it was impossible to find in L.A.



"It wasn't that it was bad," Kelly replied. "More awkward, really."



"Does she really hate you?"



"I'm not sure. At times, I would say yes. I mean, it really looks like the girl wants to kill me," she laughed.



"But..."



"But other times, I don't know. She seems like when I first met her--just relaxed and enjoying herself--but she never lets those times last long. I actually called her on that when we were in the bathroom before we left," Kelly said as they stopped at a magazine stand.



"Really?"



"Yea, I asked her why it seemed like she had to remind herself to hate me."



"What'd she say?" Ashley asked, glancing over all the front covers.



"Something about she didn't care what I thought, and that she wasn't there to make friends," Kelly said, smiling at the vendor as she paid him for the magazines Ashley had picked out.



"And you?"



"What about me?"



"Kelly, I know you. I know how much you hate having people mad at you, especially for no reason."



"So?"



"So are you in this to make friends?"



"Honestly, at first, that thought did cross my mind," she admitted. "I mean, maybe if I actually got the chance to talk to her, then we could at least straighten this all out."



"However..." Ashley smiled, loving that Kelly was so easy to read.



"However," Kelly laughed. "I don't think it's worth it. Seriously, there were times last night where I could see why she was grouped with all those famous for nothings. She could just be so rude and almost snobbish."



"Well, then I guess what you read about her is true after all," Ashley replied.



"Yea, I guess so," Kelly frowned.



"Check this out," Ashley said, handing her a magazine. A picture of her and Carrie from the banquet was on the front cover with the headline, "Is the feud really over?"



Kelly rolled her eyes, handing it back to her friend. Ashley laughed, flipping through the article, reading it out loud to Kelly.



"So, it seems that you and her appear to be working on your friendship. However, it may not be going so well," Ashley informed her.



"Why not?" Kelly asked, wondering what new quote they would come up with now.



"You walked out in the middle of an interview?" Ashley questioned in surprise, looking sideways at her best friend confusedly.



"What? No, I mean, yea, but it was her fault," she argued.



"What happened?"



"We got there, and there were way more reporters than should have been, and I just knew that Clive had something to do with it. So, the first group is asking questions about me and Carrie and the whole war thing. Nothing about the banquet, you know?"



Ashley nodded in response.



"And Carrie, of course, just goes along with it, urging them on. I don't know what happened; I just got so fed up with it all. I walked away, going over to the next group."



"Well, I know that you meant well by it, but it's not coming across that way," Ashley said, returning to the article.



"Have I mentioned that I don't care?" Kelly sighed.