December 30, 2002
I woke up the next morning at 7:30am. "Noooooo." I croaked in my lovely morning voice. I was still exhausted, but I wouldn't be able to get back to dream land. I got up, saw that Rachel had already left for class, did all the necessary morning stuff, and sat down to watch TV. I planned to start packing for the trip to Lance's house at about 9:30am, then meet the guys at 10:00am. "Maybe if I watch a boring show I'll fall asleep." I concluded out loud to myself. I flipped to the Weather Channel. My plan worked, but just as I was about to leap into the mysterious world of dreams, I was startled awake by a knock on the door. "Go away." I pleaded, sounding like I was half crying. "Crystal? It's me." Lance announced through the door. I jumped up and swung the door open. "Hi." he greeted without his usual smile. "Hi." I replied in the same manner. "I just wanted to . . ." "You can come in and sit down you know." I smiled, interrupting him. He cracked a little smile and sat down on my bed. I sat down beside him, looking into his beautiful eyes. "I just wanted to apologize for last night." ‘It's not your fault that you're the most awesome guy in the world . . .' "It wasn't your fault . . . it was all mine. I made the first move and I shouldn't have." "No, it was my fault. I didn't wanna make any trouble for you, but I messed up royally." ‘I wish she'd just break up with him.' "Alright, it was a mutual fault, but it's over now and we don't have to worry about it ever happening again. It was a mistake." I concluded. He turned his head away from me and looked out the window. ‘That statement was a mistake you moron!' I scorned myself in my head. "Lance, I didn't mean it that way." I sighed. He looked back at me, waiting for an explanation. "I . . . I like you Lance, but I like JC too. I can't cheat on him with one of his best friends. I'm so confused about my feelings right now, so I think we should just leave things the way they are, and the things that are meant to be . . . will happen." We stayed totally silent for a minute. "I'm glad we got this all sorted out." he smiled. "Me too." I smiled back. "You've always got all the answers." "Oh my, not always." I laughed. We hugged, he left, and I started packing.
"Howdy." Lance smiled as I approached the guys in an area of the airport that was blocked off. "Howdy yourself, cowboy." I giggled. I gave JC a hug, greeted the other guys, and then followed them onto our plane. I slept for the entire plane trip and fell asleep again in the limo, with my head on JC's shoulder. In my first dream, JC found out about my feelings for Lance, got mad, and broke up with me. The second dream consisted of JC proposing to me in front of the rest of the guys and Lance getting mad and storming out of the room. Neither dream ended the way I had hoped. No matter who I end up with, I want to remain friends with both of them. "Rise and shine!" Chris exclaimed as I opened my eyes. "I don't wanna go to school mommy." I mumbled sleepily, then giggled as the guys laughed. JC got my duffle bag out of the trunk, refusing to let me carry it myself for the whole fifteen steps to Lance's front door. When Lance got the door unlocked and opened, Chris ran into the house and disappeared with Joey and Justin not too far behind. "What are they in such a hurry for?" I giggled. "They're probably gonna go jump in the pool." JC replied as we finally made it in the front door. JC, Lance, and I stood there in an awkward silence. "I think I'm gonna join the others in the pool." Lance announced and slowly disappeared down a hallway. "You ready for the grand tour?" JC asked with a smile, holding his hand out to me. "Sure." I smiled and put my hand in his. He took me through the second floor of the house first, still carrying my duffle bag. "You could have put that down you know." I giggled as he showed me into a room. "Now I can. This is where you'll be staying." he smiled and set my bag on the bed. "Thank-you kind sir." I smiled. He continued smiling and held his other hand out to me. I put my free hand in his. We stood there, both of my hands in his, looking into each others eyes. I was in a fantasy world! Just a week ago, I was watching this guy on TV, and now I was sharing a ‘moment' with him. It just didn't seem real! He took a step closer to me, lifted my hands onto his shoulders, and wrapped his arms around me which pulled our faces closer. I smiled and ran my fingers through his hair. His big glowing grin slowly faded into a small seductive smile and his baby blues burned right through me. ‘Whoa . . .' is all I could think. He slowly moved his face closer to mine as I kept mine still, not encouraging and not discouraging him in anyway. He continued moving closer until I could feel his breath on my lips. I pulled away a little, being reminded of the incident with Lance the previous night. "Is everything ok?" JC asked, kind of confused. "Sorry . . . I'm not exactly used to this." I smiled nervously. This time, I started leaning toward him first and he followed. I closed my eyes and continued even slower. ‘So my first kiss is gonna be with . . .' "Hey, are you guys gonna . . ." Lance's voice broke the silence. Startled, I gasped, pulled my arms away from JC, and turned around quickly to see Lance standing in the doorway in shock. "Sorry!" Lance exclaimed and disappeared from the doorway. Yeah, that's right . . . I said FIRST kiss . . . guys take one look at me and run the other way, so I'm eighteen and have never been kissed. Kinda sounds like the movie, huh? They never even give me a chance! JC chuckled and I forced myself to smile. "Let's finish the tour." JC smiled and reached for my hand again.
After we finished the stint, I excused myself to settle into my room and unpack, while JC put his swimming shorts on to join the rest of the guys. I put my clothes into the bottom drawer of the dresser beside the bed, placed all my self-maintenance things on top of it, threw my notebook and pen into the top drawer, and pushed my bag under the bed to finish up. I slowly headed to the back door, hoping that I wouldn't get lost on my way there. When I finally approached the back door, Chris and Joey were doing a cannon ball into the odd shaped pool while Justin, JC, and Lance were trying to get out of their way. I smiled, not surprised that the guys were exactly the way I thought they would be. I opened the door, stepped out onto the [patio], and sat down on a chair. "CHICKEN FIGHT!" Joey exclaimed. "I'm out!" Lance announced immediately and darted toward the steps. It was time for one of those slow-motion, too-good-to-be-true, dream type sequences. He walked toward me with his hair matted to his head, water rolling down his perfect torso, his dark blue swimming trunks slightly clinging to his legs, the water rolling down his legs to his cute, but manly feet, and he had that adorable shining smile stretched across his soft, inviting lips. ANYWAY . . . he grabbed his towel off the chair beside me and sat down. "All unpacked?" he asked as he ran the towel over his drenched hair. "Uh-huh." I replied with a smile, "Why aren't you playing?" "It's not enough of a challenge for me, seeing that I'm so much stronger than all the other guys." He held his arms up and flexed his biceps. "Oh really?" I giggled. He put his arms down and slumped over a little. "Nah. I'm just a big wimp . . . and we play it all the time, so I'm kind of bored with it." "Ah, I see." I smiled, then turned to watch the others. "You know, if we had one more person I'd play." Lance hinted. "Just a few problems there. One, I don't look good in a bathing suit. Two, I'm not strong enough to hold you on my shoulders and I'd break your back, and three, I didn't bring my suit along." "One, looks don't matter. Two, you would NOT break my back, and three . . . that sucks." We both laughed. "You really shouldn't put yourself down like that." Lance sighed. "And why is that?" He leaned closer to me. "It's not very attractive." he whispered. "It's not possible for me to be any less attractive." I whispered back. "Stop it!" he laughed. "I can't help it! It's all true!" "No it isn't, I think you're attractive." he stopped laughing and smiled at me. ‘Aww!' I squealed in my head. I looked down at the ground because I felt my cheeks start to burn, and figured that I was blushing. "Thanks." I replied, timidly. "Woo hoo!" Joey squealed loudly, holding his fists up in the air. JC did a little victory dance, then gave Joey a high five. "I'd say Joey and JC won." I giggled. Lance smiled at me, stood up, ran toward the pool, and did a perfect cannon ball, splashing all four of the guys. When he surfaced, all the guys ganged up on him and dunked him a few times to get him back. I felt like I was watching a movie that featured the guys . . . it was so unreal.
After the guys got out of the pool and dried off, we all went inside and ordered some pizza for supper. I sat silently on the couch as the guys goofed off and started a food fight."I'll be right back." I announced quietly as I stood up. Joey must have been the only one who heard me because he's the only one that stopped what he was doing and turned to look. I walked toward my temporary room, stopped outside of the door in the hall, and slid my back down the wall to sit on the ground.
Joey could immediately tell that there was something wrong, so he told the guys he was going to the bathroom and instead, started searching the second floor for me. He didn't have to look very far. "Hey Crystal." he smiled. "Hi Joey." I smiled back. ‘At least it's not Lance or JC.' "This seat taken?" he asked as he pointed to the floor beside me. "Yup . . . by you." He chuckled as he slid his back down the wall to sit beside me. "So, is everything ok?" "Peachy." I sighed. "That bad huh? Anything I can do to help?" "I wish." We sat in silence for a few minutes. "I'm in love with Lance." I finally confessed. "I didn't realize it was THAT kind of thing." "Huh?" "Well, I knew that Lance liked you, but I didn't know you liked him too." "Joey, what am I gonna do?" I whined. "Do you love JC?" "Yes, but when I'm around him, all I think about is Lance and when I'm around Lance, all I think about is not hurting JC and when I'm around both of them it's overwhelming because I don't want Lance to be disappointed if I show affection toward JC but then JC will be disappointed if I don't show him any affection and I hate myself for loving them both so much!" I rambled quickly in one breath, getting loud by the end of my monologue. "Wow . . ." "Don't hate yourself . . . you can't choose who you love." JC stated as he stepped around the corner. ‘Uh-oh.' Joey thought. ‘Crud.' "I'll be downstairs." Joey blurted as he jumped to his feet and jogged away. JC helped me up and kept hold of my hands as he looked into my eyes. "Crystal, the reason I was coming up here was to tell you that . . . I've been thinking about my ex a lot since we broke up and it makes me feel like I'm using you for a rebound . . . which I'm not! Don't get me wrong, I really do love you . . . it's just . . . I don't think it's fair to you that I think about her." "I understand." I smiled, holding back a giggle. "What's so funny?" JC half chuckled. I pointed behind him where Chris had been making faces for the past thirty seconds. JC spun around quickly and Chris darted off. "I'll get him later." he laughed as he turned back to me. "You know? This is the way all breakups should be. No one gets mad or hurt, and you end up walking away laughing." I giggled, as he put his arm around my shoulders. I put my arm across his back and we started to walk down the hallway. "I'll still be calling you at all odd hours of the night, you know." JC smiled. "Not if you value your life." I playfully threatened. He stuck his tongue out at me, so I stuck mine out right back at him. We laughed and re-joined the others in the living room.
That evening, when everyone had finally settled down and gone to bed, I laid in the guest bedroom, staring out the window at the stars. (*Last night, I laid on my bed, looking up at the stars, and thought to myself . . . ‘Where the heck is the ceiling?!'* Love that quote!) After an unsuccessful hour long attempt to fall asleep, I realized that my throat was incredibly dry and decided to help myself to a drink from the kitchen. I slowly and carefully felt my way along the wall in the pitch dark hallway. I safely made it down the steps and into the kitchen, but then couldn't find the light switch. I fumbled around a little and ran my hand along the wall. All of a sudden, my hand brushed up against something cold and wet. I jumped a little, jerking my hand away which caused the object to fall to the floor. As soon as I heard the noise it made, I knew it was a spoon from our ice cream feast earlier that night. I decided to give up and head back to bed. I reached my hands out in front of me to make sure I didn't run into anything, but touched something. I patted it a few times, trying to figure out what it was, when the light flipped on. "Ow." I squinted my eyes so they could adjust. "Hey." Lance chuckled. "Hi. Sorry for waking you." I giggled back and reopened my eyes to see that I still had my hands on his chest. I quickly crossed my arms. "You didn't . . . I got hungry." he smiled, then headed for the refrigerator. I picked up the spoon I had knocked down and placed it into the sink. "You want anything?" "Can I have a glass of water, please?" "Of course." he replied from behind the refrigerator door. After giving me my drink and getting a cold piece of pizza, he leaned up against the counter. He slowly picked at his pizza, taking the pepperoni off and eating them. "Want one?" he asked, holding one up. "Sure." I smiled and reached out but he pulled it away right before I touched it. I reached for it again, and he pulled it away again. I put my hands on my hips and looked at him with a smile. He stared straight back at me with a playful look in his eye and one side of his mouth half curled into a smile. He held the pepperoni a few inches from my mouth. I quickly snatched it out of his fingers with my teeth. "Thanks." I giggled. "You're welcome." he chuckled. "So . . . you have any plans with JC tomorrow?" "Didn't he tell you? We broke up." ‘Yes!' "Really?! What happened? Are you ok?" "I'm fine. There was no argument, no hurt feelings . . . nothing. It was a mutual agreement." I smiled. "I don't understand . . . you two were a cute couple." ‘Shut-UP, you moron!' he scolded himself. I explained exactly what happened with Joey and JC. "The reason I asked if you had any plans is because I was wondering if you'd like to go to the movies with me." "I'd love to." I grinned. "Cool." He hopped up to sit on the counter and I sat down on the floor across from him, leaning up against the island. We started talking about our favorite movies, actors, and actresses, to find out that we had the same tastes. "Ok, what's your all time favorite movie." Lance grinned. He seemed so interested in what I liked. "My all time favorite movie is DEFINITELY ‘On The Line.' You were awesome in it!" "Oh my gosh . . . I was horrible!" he chuckled. We debated his acting skills for a while until we ended up laughing so hard that we forgot what in the world we were talking about. We lost all track of time and before we knew it, sunlight started to creep into the kitchen. "Maybe we'll have to save the movie for another day . . . I have a feeling we'll both be sleeping until it's time for the party." Lance laughed. "Good idea." I yawned then laughed. "I think that's the longest conversation I've ever had . . . with anyone." "Me too . . . and there was never a dull moment." I giggled. We both stood in the doorway. "So, I guess I'll see you later today." he laughed and flipped the light switch off. I heard his light footsteps as he started to walk back toward his bedroom. I took slow, shuffling steps, running my hand along the wall. Then I felt Lance take hold of my hand and give it a little squeeze. I smiled and followed his lead. "Careful . . . we're at the steps." he whispered and continued to lead me safely up the steps and to my room. I thanked him and he gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Later, love ya, kay-gotta-go-bye, and all that shtuff." I smiled. "Night." he smiled back.
December 31, 2002
"Come on guys, leave her alone!" I could hear Lance whisper as I woke up. I still had my eyes closed. "It's not like we're gonna hurt her!" Chris whispered back. "We're not very good hosts." JC laughed quietly. "It's tradition! Every one of our guests will get the same treatment on their first night." Justin announced in a hushed whisper. "I just hope, for you guys' sake, that she can take a joke." Joey chuckled. Then, I felt someone moving my hand and putting something cold and wet in it. ‘It's whipped cream . . . THAT old trick!' I concluded. The next thing I knew, my nose was being tickled. I reached my clean hand up to my nose and pretended to still be asleep. "Put it in her other hand!" Chris whispered. Justin followed Chris's directions, putting my hand back down onto the bed and spraying sticky whipped cream into it. I felt the tickling on my nose again. I lifted my one eyelid, just enough to see the two shadows hovering over me. I quickly took both of my whipped cream covered hands and smeared it in Chris and Justin's faces. Lance, Joey, and JC cracked up laughing as Chris and Justin yelped in surprise. "That'll teach you to mess with me." I giggled, now fully awake. Lance, JC, and Joey couldn't stop laughing. They thought it was the funniest thing in the world that someone beat Justin and Chris at their own game. Joey and JC left the room, still chuckling, with Chris and Justin close behind. "You go girl." Lance grinned and held his hand out for a ‘five.' I shrugged and gave him what he was looking for, then giggled when he was reminded of the whipped cream on my hands. He smeared some of the whipped cream on my cheek before I could jerk away. I laughed and smeared a streak down the whole length of his nose. "I have other ways of making people pay for messing with me." I playfully threatened, holding my fists up, ready to dodge him if he tried anything else. He acted like he was scared and ran out of the room. I giggled and followed him to the bathroom to clean up.
After cleaning up, I got changed and went downstairs where the guys were doing some finishing touches for the party. I was helping Lance hang some streamers when the doorbell rang. JC jogged over to the door and peeked out as he opened it slowly. "Hi Ashley." he greeted loudly so Justin would hear. Justin let go of the balloon he was inflating and it zoomed around the room as he sprinted to the door. "Hey Punkin." he grinned. "Hey Shweets." Ashley smiled back. I jogged over to the door, pushed past Justin, and gave Ashley a hug, then noticed Amber timidly standing behind her. "Hey! I wanted to be the first person to do that!" Justin scolded jokingly. "Hey Amber! . . . Justin, you're just gonna have to settle with second for once." I giggled and stuck my tongue out at him. He made a sad, puppy dog face, acting like he was going to cry. "Aw!" Ashley giggled and gave him a hug. I rolled my eyes, walked past them, poked Amber in the side, and gave her a hug. "Hey Crys." she laughed. "Hey little sis." I smiled, "Come on in. We're finishing with the decorations." I grabbed the nebulizer out of her hand and carried it inside for her. "Guys, just in case you don't remember, this is Amber." I announced, "And the one that Justin's hanging all over is of course, Ashley." We all laughed. I showed them into ‘my' room and I sat on the bed while they unpacked. They were only staying one night, so they didn't have too much stuff. "So, are they just like we thought they'd be?" Amber asked. "Even better." I grinned. "How did everything go last night?" Ashley asked as she crammed a t-shirt into a dresser drawer. "Well, it's kind of hard to explain." I giggled, "but, JC and I broke up." Ashley and Amber stopped what they were doing and gave me shocked looks. I laughed, and then explained everything that happened since I had arrived there, including the whipped cream incident that took place only hours before. "Oh my gosh!" Amber cackled. "I would have given anything to see that!" Ashley laughed. "Since ya'll are done, we might as well get downstairs and hang out with the guys." I announced as I stood up. Then a black streak flew through the hallway past our door. "What the . . ." Amber started, but was interrupted by the same action in the opposite direction. By the third time, I recognized what it was. I peeked my head out the door. "AUGH!" Chris screamed, then darted off. We about died, laughing.
When we got back downstairs, Chris was sprawled out on the couch, breathing heavily. "Gee Chris, are you out of breath? You act like you just ran laps . . . in the upstairs hall." I giggled as I went back to helping Lance. Joey started to wiggle his butt from side to side, bumping his hip into Amber's. "Celebrate good times, come on!" She joined in the dancing as she laughed. "Celebration." Lance joined in, singing the very deep part and giving me goose bumps. "Holy low note!" I exclaimed. Everybody laughed.
We all put the finishing touches on the decorations as the other party guests began to arrive. Amber and I danced our little hearts out while Ashley and Justin chatted, sitting in a corner on the floor. After an hour of not seeing any of the guys, Chris bounced his way over to us. For some reason, he was just hopping around like a kangaroo. "Did you just eat Mexican jumping beans, or do you have to go to the bathroom really bad?" I giggled. "It's my new choreography!" he smiled, then stopped hopping and did the robot move. By the time Chris did a few more awkward dance moves, Amber and I were laughing so hard we couldn't dance or breath anymore, so I followed Amber upstairs to talk to her while she used the nebulizer. "Is it just me, or is this party dragging on forever?" I asked with a giggle. "It's just you . . . it feels like I've only been here for five minutes!" she replied, being muffled by the mask and loud droning of the nebulizer. "You haven't talked to the guys very much." "No . . . it's not like I'm gonna walk up to one of them and just start a conversation." "Well they're not gonna do that to you! . . . guys are intimidated by beauty . . . that's why they can talk to me so easily!" I laughed at my own joke. She smacked me in the arm. After a few minutes of ‘silence,' Amber decided to rekindle our conversation. "So, you broke up with JC and rebounded with Lance, all in one day?" "No! . . . well, I guess . . . NO! First of all, JC and I came to an agreement, and second of all, Lance just asked me to go to a movie . . . it's not a date . . . or at least not to my knowledge." I giggled. She just laughed. ‘She brought up a good point . . .' I thought as she shut off and packed away her nebulizer. "I've got it . . . it's not a date because we're not going to dinner. If we were going out to eat, THEN it would be a certified date." I smiled. She just laughed. When we got back downstairs a few people shouted, "Five minutes!" I stopped on the stairs, searching the crowd for the guys. First, I spotted Chris who was bothering Justin and Ashley in their corner, then Joey caught my eye . . . he was holding his young daughter, Brianna, while flirting with Dawn, who must have arrived late . . . I couldn't find Lance or JC anywhere, but I saw Wade Robson, Ashley and Dan of O-Town, Sandra Bullock, Pink, and all three girls of Destiny's Child. "Amber!" I squealed. "What?" she half laughed. I pointed to each non-NSYNC celebrity. "Dudeness! Ashley's gonna flip if she sees Sandra!" "The guys didn't tell me there were gonna be other celebrities here! I thought it was just gonna be their non-celebrity friends!" "Looks like little Miss Spears didn't make it." "She's probably with her family, telling them how horrible Justin is for breaking up with her." I giggled. "Oh mommy, it was terrible!" she said in her best Britney voice. "Augh! That sounded like her!" I pretended to gag, then we both burst into laughter. "Is it really that revolting to you?" ‘Ok, now that wasn't Amber . . .' I thought to myself. I turned to see the owner of the voice. "Hi Britney." I smiled, trying not to laugh. "You know what?" she asked, looking rather mad. "What?" I replied half mocking her, and not believing my courage at the moment. "The only reason you make fun of me is . . ." "Because I'm fat and ugly and I'm jealous of you and your fame?" She looked half shocked at my interruption. "Um . . . I have to go." Britney replied looking down at the floor, excusing herself. Amber and I let her pass and she disappeared into the crowd and then we busted up laughing again. Amber punched me in the arm, then held her hand out to do our ‘secret hand shake'. "I never thought I'd have the nerve to do that." I laughed. Just then, JC and Lance walked out of the kitchen, through the crowd, and to the snack tables, each carrying a bag of Doritos. "There they are!" I exclaimed. "Who?" "Lance and JC." "Oh . . . them." she giggled. "Come on!" I exclaimed, as I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her along behind me. We dodged through the people and made it to the other end of the room safely. When we approached Lance and JC, their backs were to us, so I tapped them both on the shoulder, then turned around quickly to Amber, pretending I didn't know they were standing there. Then, someone's hands covered my eyes. "Guess who." Lance said as deep as he could. I giggled, then ducked under his hands and turned to see him smiling. I gave him and JC a hug. "So, are you two having fun?" JC asked. "Of course!" Amber exclaimed. "We had a little run in with Britney." I giggled. "A run in, huh?" Lance chuckled. "Yeah . . . we were making fun of her and she just kind of happened to show up behind us. Then I think she was gonna try to make fun of me to get me back, but I beat her to it and she ran off all embarrassed." The two guys just laughed. "So your protection mechanism works, huh?" Lance chuckled. "Like a charm!" I exclaimed. The music got quiet as the DJ was switching songs . . . to ['Why Are We Still Friends?'] by 98º. "Hey . . . don't you owe me a dance?" ‘It's about time! I've been waiting for this all night!‘ "Oh yeah! I forgot about that." I lied with a giggle. He took my hand in his and led me to the middle of the dance floor. I couldn't speak throughout the entire dance. He just smiled and looked in my eyes, sometimes singing along while I was totally, completely, and utterly lost in his beautiful eyes. You know how some people say they feel like they're dancing on air when they dance with someone they love? . . . well, it's VERY true . . . and it's the most awesome feeling in the world.
It was getting closer and closer to midnight, and by the time we had five minutes left, all five guys, and we four girls were in a big group, dancing, and goofing off. Chris disappeared during all the commotion, but then came running back. "They're gonna play it!" he shouted over the music. "Play what?" I asked. Just then, The Chicken Song started. Everybody cracked up and danced their hearts out. "One minute until 2003! Time for everybody to find who they're gonna kiss at midnight!" The DJ announced after the song was over. I giggled, thinking about the New Year's incident in a story I had written. "Hey Ashley . . . my story." That's all I had to say to get Ashley laughing. "Story?" Lance asked. "What story?" Justin chipped in. "One that I wrote." I smiled. "You'll have to let us read it sometime!" Lance exclaimed. "Noooooo way!" I laughed. "Why not?" Justin whined. "Because it's rated NC-17 and we're in it." Joey joked. "Ew!" I exclaimed and we all laughed. "15 seconds! . . . 10 . . . 9 . . . 8 . . . 7 . . . 6 . . ." We counted loudly along with the DJ. "5 . . . 4 . . . 3 . . . 2 . . . 1 . . . Happy New Year!" everyone yelled. Justin grabbed Ashley, gave her a big hug, then kissed her right on the lips. After he backed away, Ashley's eyes and smile were the widest I had ever seen. I laughed at her reaction. Then a young woman with a camera came up to us. "Everybody smile!" she exclaimed. She held the camera up to take a picture, when suddenly, Chris was kissing my left cheek and JC was kissing my right cheek. The camera flashed as I was giggling. "We'll be seeing that one in a magazine this month!" Ashley exclaimed. Little did she know, that the same woman had snapped a picture when Justin kissed Ashley. There were hugs and kisses on the cheek for everybody.
About an hour later, everybody else had left, and Lance assigned us different cleaning up duties. I yawned as I curled up on one of the leather couches in Lance's cozy little [in-home theater.] No, I wasn't being lazy . . . I was already finished with my job. "Hey! The party isn't over yet!" Joey exclaimed. "For me it is." I giggled. "Aw, come on!" Chris whined and jumped up and down on the couch. "Nooo . . . sleepy time now." My voice was being distorted from Chris's bouncing. As he was jumping, he started to turn around. On one of his rotations, his foot got caught between the cushions, causing him to fall over the back of the couch. I gasped, afraid that he got hurt, but when I heard him laughing, we all laughed along with him. He sat up on the floor where he had just crashed. "That was fun!" he exclaimed with his eyes crossed, then fell backwards as if he passed out. Everyone laughed again. "Hey, where did Ashley go?" Amber asked no one in particular. "In a bedroom somewhere, making out with Justin." Dawn announced casually. Everyone laughed, then went back to doing their previous duties. Dawn's statement about Ashley and Justin was half true . . . they WERE in a bedroom, but they weren't making out . . . they were just talking. Now, I know what ya'll are thinking, and Ashley isn't like that. Justin's another story . . . but Ashley keeps him straight. They were all talking and goofing off while tidying up. The next thing I knew, I awoke to the sounds of . . . silence. It was probably around 3:00am, so I didn't even bother opening my eyes, but instead stretched, then curled back up. "Noooooo!" I jumped at the sudden burst of noise and my eyes flew open. "Shhhh!" Lance hissed. "Sorry!" Chris whispered. Lance and Chris were sitting on the floor, playing a video game on the X-box. I grinned slyly when I caught sight of the remote, which was lying on the floor beside the couch. I reached down slowly and pushed the ‘off' button, then quickly, but silently, moved back to my previous position. "What the . . .?!" Chris exclaimed as he and Lance looked around the room. When they saw that I was still asleep and no one else was there, they turned the TV back on and continued playing. I smiled and opened my eyes. I reached down to push the button again, then got back into position and closed my eyes. ‘Wonder if the TV's gone bad? It shouldn't . . . it's practically brand new! So, what could it be?' Lance pondered to himself. ‘I was sooo close to winning! . . . for once! Dang it!' Chris scowled. I tried to keep a straight face, but my lips started to curl into a smile. I wiped the grin off my face as quickly as I could. Lance caught me smiling and grinned. "She's awake!" Lance lipped silently to Chris as he pointed at me. I started to wonder why it was so quiet, so I opened my eyes. They had disappeared. I leaned up on my side, propping myself up with my arm. ‘Where did they . . .' All of a sudden, four hands reached over the back of the couch and started tickling me. "Nooo!" I giggled and tried to protect myself from the torture. Unfortunately, over the time I had spent with the guys, they discovered where most of my ticklish spots were . . . feet and sides . . . but there was still two that they hadn't found yet (knees and neck). I quickly buried my feet into the cracks between the cushions and hugged a pillow to my one side as I pressed the other into the back of the couch. "Ha!" I giggled triumphantly. "Cheater!" Chris exclaimed. Lance just laughed. "Wanna play ‘Halo' with us?" Chris asked. I wrinkled up my nose. "No thanks." "Aw, come on . . . we won't shoot you . . . too many times." Lance grinned. In response I gave him a little shove. "Will you play if we play a different game? . . . Please?" Chris pleaded. "I guess." I sighed with a smile. We all agreed on a racing game and played it for a few hours. It was a blast! We got really competitive and I whooped their butts most of the time . . . until they started ganging up on me. Lance started leaning over on me, hoping to mess me up, but it didn't work. Chris joined in, only he put his head in front of my face to block my view. I craned my neck to peek over his head and won another race. "Guess who won again boys." I giggled. "I demand a rematch!" Chris exclaimed, for the fifteenth or sixteenth time that night. I laughed, "Whatever you say." and set up another race. In the middle of the race, I was concentrating so hard that I didn't notice Lance and Chris scheming against me behind my back. Suddenly, they both lunged at me, knocking the controller out of my hands and tackling me. We ended up being in a pile, on the floor, laughing hysterically. We rolled away from each other, sat up, and started laughing again. As our laughter slowly faded, Lance stretched and yawned. "Wow . . . am I tired or what?" he chuckled. "You've gotta be, after staying up so late last night . . . I know I would be if I hadn't had that nap." I giggled. "Yeah, it's not fair . . . so I'm gonna head off to bed now." he smiled as he stood up. "Ah, party pooper." Chris folded his arms over his chest and pouted like a little kid. "I'll stay up and go a few more rounds with ya . . . if you think you're up to the challenge." I taunted playfully. "You're on!" he shouted and grabbed for a controller. I jumped up quickly, took a step toward Lance, and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Later, love ya, kay-gotta-go-bye, and all that shtuff!" we said in unison, then laughed. "I did it!" he chuckled. "And it was perfect too!" I giggled. "The race is starting!" Chris exclaimed. I practically dove onto the floor beside Chris to pick up my controller. "Night kids . . . don't stay up too late." Lance chuckled. "Don't worry daddy." I giggled back. He laughed as he left the room. "She's so cute." Lance smiled to himself as he walked into his room. "I love her little sayings." He threw his shirt into his open dresser drawer. "I love her laugh . . . all of her different laughs." He chuckled as he threw his jeans on top of the shirt he had just discarded. "I love her bright, brown eyes." He sighed with his small, crooked smile while he peeled his socks off. "I love her . . ." He stopped and looked at the picture on his bed stand of me giving him bunny ears when we had been at the bowling alley. "Wow . . . I LOVE her." He stared at the picture for a few more seconds as a smile spread across his lips. "God must have spent a little more time on you." Lance sang softly to the picture, kissed it, then laughed at himself as he slipped under his covers. ‘Who wouldn't love that girl? . . . Well, I guess any jerk that won't give her a chance, just because she has a little more meat on her bones than Britney . . . jerks . . . they're the ones missing out . . . jerks . . .' His thoughts faded as his breathing changed to the slow, deep breaths of sleep.
