January 1, 2003
There was a lot of commotion in the kitchen when Lance finally stumbled in. "Hey sleepy!" Joey exclaimed. "Hey dopey." he mumbled back sleepily. "And here comes Snow White!" Justin smiled as Ashley stepped in to the kitchen. She gave him a confused look, then shrugged and gave him a hug. "We've got a Snow White theme goin' on here this morning." JC laughed. "Wait . . . why does Ashley get to be Snow White?" Dawn whined. "Because you're more of the evil witch type." Joey chuckled. Dawn punched him in the arm. "Ow! See! I told ya!" Everybody laughed. "So Lance, what did you and Crystal do after I left?" Chris chuckled quietly, so only Lance could hear, and elbowed him in the ribs. "Say what?" "That whole ‘scared to death' routine was great . . . you'll have to teach it to me sometime." "What in the world are you talking about?" They gave each other confused looks. Chris explained his side of the story as everyone carried on their own little conversations. "It must have been because of my nightmare . . ." Lance said, thoughtfully. That's when Amber walked in. "Looks like Grumpy has decided to grace us with her presence." Ashley announced. "Very funny." Amber stuck her tongue out. "Where's Crys?" "I'm right here." Chris replied. "Nooo . . . Crystal." Everyone laughed. "She's probably still sleeping." JC suggested. "I'll go get her up!" Chris exclaimed as he ran out of the kitchen.
I stretched and opened my eyes to see Chris hovering over me. "Talk about a rude awakening." I joked with a smile. "That was mean!" he exclaimed, then completely changed his tone, "Wanna play X-box?" "Maybe after breakfast." I laughed. "You mean lunch." ". . . or that." We laughed. "So, what went on after I went to bed last night?" I cleared my throat and explained how Lance was acting . . . minus some of the details. "Oh . . . he doesn't even remember us being in the room." Chris chuckled. I just blinked. "You mean . . . he must have been talking in his sleep then." I sighed. "Something wrong?" "Well, he tried to kiss me . . . but I pulled away before he could . . . he just kinda ignored it and laid right back down . . . that was it. I knew something weird had to be going on." "I see . . . ok, I'm gonna go and let you change so we can play X-box!" he exclaimed, gave me a kiss on the cheek, and sprinted out of the room, closing the door behind him. I shook my head and laughed as I got out of bed. 'Good idea to get them into the kissing routine Crystal.' I smiled to myself.
"Man, that nightmare sucked." Lance yawned, as he sat on a stool at his kitchen island beside Dawn. "What was it about?" Dawn asked, seeming to be interested. "Well, all these reporters were swarming around me, saying bad things about Crystal. I tried everything in my power to beat ‘em down, but nothing worked. All I could do was yell. Then Crystal walks up behind me and taps on my shoulder. I turn around, grab her by the shoulders, and say 'Crystal?! Are you ok?!' and she just replies real calmly, 'I'm peachy . . . I'm used to this and it doesn't hurt me anymore, so don't let it bother you.' I didn't know what in the world to say, so I just hugged her. Then, we're standing in my [sun room] . . . where NO ONE is ever allowed . . . NO ONE . . . anyway, we were in there, holding hands, and I try to kiss her. Right before our lips meet, it flashes to a concert. My dancer was Crystal . . . but yet it wasn't . . . well anyway, it was a weird dream." By the time Lance was finished, everyone was listening in. "You STILL haven't told us . . . why aren't we allowed in your darn sun room?" Joey demanded. "Hey, there are plenty of other rooms." Lance chuckled. Chris skipped into the kitchen. "She's up." he announced with a smile. "Guys, don't tell her about my dream." "Tell me! Tell me!" Chris exclaimed. "Alright, it started like this . . ."
I walked in to the kitchen to find everyone in their separate conversations. "Mornin'!" Joey exclaimed when he saw me standing in the doorway. Everyone looked at me and said good morning. "Hey everybody . . . what's for breakfast slash lunch?" I giggled. "Whatever you can find." Joey chuckled. "Wow . . . it's dark outside . . . looks like it's gonna rain." I announced as I looked out the kitchen window. "God said let there be light." Lance said deeply as he flipped the light switch. Everybody laughed then went back to their conversations as I searched the cupboards. When I came across a loaf of bread, I took two pieces out, put the bag back away, jumped up to sit on the counter, and watched everyone chat while I ate my breakfast. I tried to listen in on what Lance was telling Chris, but I could only hear a few words . . . one of those being my name. "That's just weird man." I could hear Chris's replies since he has such a big mouth. "Are you gonna tell her?" "Eventually." Lance chuckled. Chris and Lance looked up at me at the same time, so I smiled and waved. They waved back and laughed. "Ready for X-box?" Chris asked. "I guess." I giggled. He jumped up, ran over to me, grabbed my wrist, pulled me off the counter, and pulled me toward the theater room. I was forced to play ‘Halo' once again, just because Chris knew that it was the only game he could beat me at. After Chris mercilessly slaughtered me a few times, everyone started to file into the theater to watch us and talk. That's when the quiet patter of rain and a loud boom of thunder could be heard. Justin gasped and clung to Ashley. "Help!" he yelped. "Aw, it'll be ok." Ashley giggled and ran her fingers through his curly locks. "What a baby." Dawn laughed. "Hold me Dawnie!" Joey whimpered and wrapped his arms around her waist. "Stop tryin' to cop a feel!" she giggled. After everyone sat down, I aimed my sniper rifle and shot at Chris. "My head!" he exclaimed. "I won!" I squealed, "I finally won!" "Oh well . . . it's only one time." Chris shrugged. "Care if I join in?" Lance asked. "I wanna play too!" Joey exclaimed. They both dove onto the floor beside Chris and I, picking up the two extra controllers. "Everybody gang up on Crystal!" Lance ordered. "No! That's not fair!" I whined. All three of the guys started to come after me, so I immediately searched for shelter. Luckily, I was right near a large boulder, and ducked behind it to find a stealth thingy, which makes your player invisible. I ran back out into the middle of the field, got out my bazooka, and took all three of them out with one shot. The thunder boomed, perfectly in synch with the explosion of the shell. "What just happened?" Joey asked confused. "What the . . ." Chris questioned. "Where were you?!" Lance exclaimed. "Invisible." I grinned. "That's sooo not fair!" Chris whined, throwing his controller into the air. "Ah, you guys are just sore losers." I giggled. "JC, do you think that was fair?" Lance turned to ask his band mate. "Uh, yeah . . . if it's in the game, it's fair." JC chuckled. "Not the answer I was looking for . . . Amber?" "I don't know!" she laughed. "What about you Dawn?" "More fair than you guys are being." she giggled. "Gah! Does anyone think it was unfair?!" he exclaimed. "Me!" Chris huffed. "I say we make a bet . . . put something on the line . . . Joey, pick your prize." Chris beamed, thinking he had a great idea. "Naw man, I'm out . . . ya'll are too competitive for me." he chuckled. "Crystal?" Chris moved on. "You said ‘on the line'." I giggled and everyone laughed. Thunder boomed once again, startling everyone, and Ashley ran her fingers through Justin's hair again. "Shweets, you're shedding." Ashley giggled as she shook a detached curl from her fingers. "Sorry Punkin." Justin chuckled. "Alright, fine . . . I'll start then. If I win, I want . . . hm . . . oooo, I know!" he leaned over and whispered in my ear, then backed away and smiled. "Alright, fine." I giggled, knowing that I was going to win. 'Wow . . . she wasn't even reluctant . . . wonder if she'll really kiss me when I win.' Chris thought. "Ok Lance, what about you?" I smiled. "Um . . . I guess I'll just take the same as Chris." he chuckled. "Well, if that's the case, it's every man for himself!" I announced. "Let's get this party started!" Chris exclaimed. I was almost anxious to lose! . . . mainly to Lance, but I love Chris to pieces too, so I wouldn't mind either way. My heart was beating fast as I hid behind my boulder again. Fortunately, the stealth wasn't there anymore. "My stealth disappeared!" I exclaimed, faking my frustration. "That's because I took it!" Lance replied triumphantly. 'Yes!' I tried not to smile. Then I noticed that I was in view on Lance's part of the screen, and he was getting ready to shoot. I started running. "Don't you DARE shoot me James Lance . . ." Before I could finish his name, I was dead. "Nooo!" I made a big dramatic death scene and fell backwards onto the carpet. "Woo hoo!" Chris exclaimed. I watched the screen nervously. Lance aimed his sniper rifle at Chris's head and used the scope to follow him while he was trying to run away. I chewed on one of my finger nails. Just as Lance moved his finger to push the ‘shoot' button, there was a clap of thunder and everything went dark. Everyone gasped. "Noooooo!" Chris, Lance, and I exclaimed. We all carefully got up and shuffled toward the kitchen where the little bit of light from outside would be coming in. "You know what? According to what was going on before the power went out, I won." Lance smiled as we each filed into the kitchen. "Nuh-uh! I was running, so you could have missed and then your invisibility would have worn off and I would have shot you and won!" "Oh, come on. Which scenario is more likely?" "Mine." "No . . ." "Whoa, stop." I giggled, "First of all, Lance, you don't even know what you're fighting for. Second, I don't think this ‘reward' isn't worth fighting over, and third . . . I guess that since I died first, you can both have this little ‘reward'. I didn't really wanna do it that way, but we have to now . . . unless you wanna call it off." "No! Why would I ask for that, if I didn't think it was a good reward?" "I don't know! . . . Maybe because you couldn't think of anything else." I giggled. "Crystal, when are you gonna accept the fact that we all love you for you? Not looks, not money, not the illegal drugs you supply us with . . . it's your personality . . . the only thing that matters." "You're such a sweetheart." I giggled. "Hey . . . Ashley and Justin disappeared again!" Amber exclaimed. "They're makin' out again." Dawn giggled. "Well, since there's no electricity, we might as well make the best of it . . . hide and seek!" Chris exclaimed happily. "Or we could play cards!" I suggested, trying to sound as enthusiastic as him, then giggled. "All in favor of hide and seek, raise your hand." Joey demanded. Everyone raised their hand except for me. "Lance and Crystal are it and the kitchen is base!" JC announced. Everyone ran out to find the perfect hiding spot before anyone else took it. "Maybe we should get some candles out while we're waiting." Lance suggested. "Good idea." I smiled. He headed over to a small cupboard, started pulling candles out, and placed them onto the counter, in front of me. I took two at a time and strategically placed them around the kitchen. "So, what's this reward that you owe us?" Lance asked with a smile. I accidentally dropped a candle onto the counter. "Where's the matches?" I asked, pretending I hadn't heard his question. He pulled out two packs of matches and threw one to me. As we were lighting the candles, he asked the question again. "Everyone's probably wondering where we're at." I giggled. He hopped up onto the counter beside me, resting on the heel of his hands on the edge and leaning forward. "Crystal . . ." I looked up at his face and made eye contact. A few moments passed by, and Lance just suddenly smiled. "What?" I smiled timidly. 'I love you.' He shook the thought, hoping those words wouldn't slip. "Did you know, that when you smile, your eyes sparkle? . . . And this dim lighting . . . makes it . . ." He stopped talking and reached his hand out to brush a stray hair from my cheek. He started to lean closer to me, gently placing his palm onto the side of my neck to pull me closer. 'Whoa . . . is he actually gonna . . . well, third time's a charm . . .' I took a step closer, allowing him to pull my face a little closer to his. 'Keep your mouth shut this time, Crystal . . . uh, figuratively speaking anyway.' My heart skipped a few beats as he lightly brushed his thumb across my lips.
"I love you." Justin smiled and kissed Ashley. "I love you too." she giggled back. "I love you more." "No, I love you more." They had been sitting on the bed, going back and forth, saying ‘I love you' for at least twenty minutes. Suddenly, JC burst into the room. Ashley screamed and fell off the bed. They all busted up laughing as Justin helped Ashley back up. "Don't do that!" Ashley exclaimed breathlessly, still half laughing. "Sorry." JC chuckled, "That's almost as funny as Crystal throwing a bowling ball backwards!" "Shut-up!" Ashley pretended she was crying. "Aw, come here Punkin." Justin cooed as he wrapped his arms around Ashley and pet her head. "You two even act the same!" JC exclaimed. "So what brings you here?" Justin asked. "We're playing hide and seek in the dark. Childish, huh?" he chuckled. "Can I play?!" Ashley exclaimed excitedly. They laughed. "I don't have any objections." JC smiled. "Oh Justin, can I?!" "I suppose so." he laughed. "Thank-you!" she exclaimed, gave him a big kiss, and ran out of the room. "Guess I'll play too then." Justin chuckled, "Maybe I can get Ash to hide in a closet with me! . . . HEY PUNKIN!!" Ashley darted back into the room. "Wait for me hun." Justin grinned. "Sorry." she smiled, "Who's ‘it'?" "Lance and Crystal." JC replied. "Oh geez . . . they'll never come looking for us!"
'I think she's actually gonna let me kiss her . . .' Lance thought as he inched closer and closer. When I could feel his breath on my lips, I closed my eyes. Next thing I knew, his soft warm lips were locked with mine. My first kiss was everything I had expected and so much more. It was passionate, yet gentle, sweet, warm, and oh so perfect . . . until he started with the tongue. I jerked away quickly and he fell off of the counter. We both laughed as I helped him back up. "I'm sorry." I giggled. "It's alright." he chuckled, then cleared his throat. "Um . . . so . . . what's my reward for shooting you?" he grinned. "Uh . . . a kiss." I hesitated. "Oh . . . so that was . . ." "No! . . . i-it was real." I interrupted him and blushed. He smiled but then got a confused look on his face. "Then why . . ." "It was the, uh . . . tongue." I giggled. "Ah, I see . . . I'll remember that for future reference." he chuckled. "It's alright . . . I'm just . . . not used to it." He smiled at me for a few seconds, in silence. "I think we should go look for everyone now." I smiled. "Yeah. I think we gave them enough time." he chuckled.
About an hour later, Amber and I were officially dubbed ‘it.' "So when are you and Lance going on that ‘non-date' of yours?" Amber asked. "I don't know . . . but you know where I wanna go? . . . to an award show." I giggled. "That's not gonna happen." she laughed. "Sure it will! If the guys invite me to any, I'm gonna invite you." "What about Ash?" "What about her?" We both laughed. "Duh, J-Dawg will invite her." I smiled. "J-Dawg?" she giggled. "Yeah, yeah, shut-up." I smacked her in the arm. "I just remembered something!" I gasped, "You'll never guess who I saw walking by the reflecting pond at school a couple of days ago!" "Lance Bass?!" she exclaimed. "Shut-up! . . . It was Shmoe." I grinned. "Oh my gosh." she laughed. "Yup . . . I've talked to him there before, but this time he asked me if I wanted to go for pizza." I giggled. Ryan Tremmel (Shmoe) was my biggest crush from high school . . . honestly, Shmoe was my biggest crush EVER . . . not counting ‘da guys'. The girls and I had a bunch of crushes whom we ALWAYS talked about, ALL the time . . . so we came up with nicknames for them so no one would know who we were talking about. We had some REALLY weird names and REALLY weird reasons why we called them what we did. We had [Shmoe], [Booya], [Boo2], [Charlie], [Cookie], [Zippy], [Model], [The Fish], [Crushed Pineapple], [Dream Boy], [Hubby], [Superman], and more. I had quite a few conversations with Shmoe throughout high school and college. In high school, he was in english, chorus, and chamber singers with me. He was funny, sweet, handsome, and to top it all off . . . wow, could he sing! I was a puddle on the floor when he started singing . . . "Crys?" I snapped back to reality. "Huh?" "I said, did you actually go for pizza with Shmoe?" Amber giggled. "Oh . . . yes I did." I grinned proudly. "You went on a date with Ryan Tremmel?!" she squealed. "Amber! It was just pizza!" I exclaimed. We both laughed again. "And?" "And what?!" "Did you have fun?" "Yeah. It was great." I giggled, remembering some of the jokes he had cracked during our ‘non-date'. "I still don't know what you see in him." Ashley shook her head as she walked in to the kitchen. "He's funny, sweet, hot, and he can sing." I smiled. "Alright, who's talking about me?" Lance asked from the doorway. We all laughed. I blushed, when he smiled at me. Shmoe could make me melt when he sang, but Lance could make me melt just by talking . . . or singing . . . or smiling . . . heck, just thinking about him made me go weak in the knees! "Ash, can I talk to you for a sec?" I asked. "Sure." She followed me out of the kitchen. "What's da dilly-yo?" she smiled and took a drink of her water. "How can one girl love so many guys so much at the same time?" I giggled. "Oh geez . . . you mean there's more than just Shmoe and Lance?!" I nodded. "I heard my name out here!" Lance exclaimed as he peeked his head around the doorway. "Stop snooping." I giggled, putting my hands on his chest and pushing him back in to the kitchen. "Wait a second . . . why are you two out here?" I asked with a laugh. "I came out to get a drink." Ashley admitted, "I'll go hide again now." She put her glass down, then dashed out of the room. "Me too." Lance smiled as he tried to escape. "Oh no you don't!" I giggled, pulling him back by the shirt. "Um . . . I came out to get a drink too." he grinned and headed for the refrigerator. "Liar." Amber giggled quietly. Lance stuck his tongue out at Amber playfully. "He just likes being here with us girls." I laughed. "Yeth, I am now the Ladyth Man." Lance imitated The Ladies' Man perfectly (only much deeper) and we laughed. "I don't like being ‘it'." Amber sighed. "You can go ahead and hide . . . I'll stay and help Crystal." Lance volunteered. "Thanks!" she exclaimed and disappeared in to the dark house. "Looks like it's you and me again." Lance grinned. "Guess so." I giggled. 'What in the world has gotten into that boy?' "And you still owe me my reward." he grinned slyly. "If you really want it." I blushed and shrugged. 'Oh, I see now . . . he's gone insane.' He smiled as he took a step closer to me and kissed me on the lips again. Another perfect kiss. "You're a great kisser." 'NOW what's he saying?!' " . . . Huh?" "I said, you're a great kisser." "Oh . . . uh, thanks." I blushed, "I must be a natural then, seeing that you're my first kiss." "You mean . . . that . . . was your first . . . kiss?" he asked, astonished. I nodded slowly and blushed again. 'Ok, I'm blushing too much . . . I wish I knew what the heck is going through his mind.' ‘I'm her first kiss! How could that be? She's almost nineteen!' "Come on you two!" Chris exclaimed from the doorway, scaring the crap out of us. "Looks like you're ‘it' next round, since we found you first." I smiled. "That's not fair! You two always take too long! . . . wait, I thought Amber was . . . oh, never mind! Just get on with it!" Chris sighed and disappeared back into the darkness. I giggled and walked out of the kitchen with Lance close behind.
Later that night, the storm still raged on, which meant that all flights would be canceled . . . including Ashley, Amber, and Dawn's. They called their moms (to our surprise, the phones still worked) and explained that they were all going to stay until they could book seats on another flight. We eventually ended our game of hide and seek, and decided to move on to more mature activities . . . like duck, duck, goose. Ashley, Amber, and I watched Dawn and the guys play about three rounds, until they realized how stupid it was. Chris was tired of trying to come up with things to do. "Alright, ya'll are on your own." he sighed. Dawn, Joey, JC, and Amber headed off to the music room and Justin and Ashley headed back to a bedroom, all of them carrying a couple of candles and matches. "Hey Crystal, can I talk to you?" Chris asked when everyone except Lance was out of sight. "Sure." I smiled and put my hands on my hips. "Uh . . . alone?" he chuckled. "Oh, sure." I turned to Lance and smiled. "I need to talk to you too, so I'll wait for you in the kitchen." he chuckled and headed off to the kitchen. 'I feel so loved!' "What's up?" "Just wondering if I could have that little reward of mine now." he winked. 'What have I gotten myself into?!' I knew there was no use in protesting. He was a little more . . . aggressive, than Lance, but he was still a great kisser. 'I went from never being kissed, to being kissed three times in two hours.' Chris headed down the dark hallway with a big smile on his face and I walked in to the kitchen, holding back laughter from Chris's reaction. I looked around for Lance, but all I could see were candles. I turned to look back out into the living room, thinking he had snuck out to eve's drop on Chris and I. "Hey." I heard Lance's voice from behind me. He was laying on the floor behind the island and all I could see was his adorable face. "What are you doing down there?" I giggled. "Oh, just waiting for a friend." He yawned and sprawled out on his stomach. "Ah, I see." I hopped up on to the opposite side of the island and moved around, dangling my feet over his lower back. "What did you wanna talk to me about?" I giggled as I kicked him in the butt. He chuckled. "Well, I just wanted to tell you about the dream I had last night." "Oh really?" I smiled, remembering how he had thrown his fist into the air and made himself fall off the bed. "Chris told me that you two came in and that I made you stay there with me or something." "Yeah." I giggled. I told him everything that happened on the other side of his dream. He laughed when I told him about falling off the bed. After I finished, he took his time telling me about his dream, trying not to make anything sound . . . mean toward me. 'I'm not telling her the sun room thing . . . she'll think I'm weird.' he thought to himself when he paused in his dream description. "That's basically it." he shrugged. "Hm . . . sounds like you can predict the future through your dreams . . . except for the dancer part." I giggled, referring specifically to the part about the reporters. "The only thing I can promise that WON'T happen is the attacking reporters . . ." He rolled over onto his back to look up at me. "I won't let it." he said sternly. "I wish I could have known you for my whole life, because then I . . ." I stopped myself, looked into his eyes for a minute, then smiled. I poked him in the stomach with my big toe. He immediately slapped his hand over his stomach, then got a sly smile. He reached up and started to tickle my feet, so I quickly pulled them up and tucked them under my legs to sit indian style. "Ha." I grinned and stuck my tongue out. "That's not fair." he chuckled. "Sure it is." I re-situated myself to lay on my stomach, dangling my arms over his stomach. "NOW it's not fair!" I giggled and started tickling him. "Augh!" he laughed, curled up into the fetal position, and moved out of my reach. "Ha." he smiled and stuck his tongue out to mimic me. "That's not fair." I mimicked back. "Sure it is." I was afraid that he was going to continue to copy me by making the situation unfair, so when he started to get up, I quickly re-situated myself back to sitting indian style. To my surprise, he just hopped up onto the island to sit beside me. We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the candles flicker. "You know what?" Lance asked slowly and quietly. "Hm?" "I have never felt this . . . comfortable with a girl who isn't a family member." he confessed slowly while staring at a candle, then looked at me with a serious expression on his face. I wished with all my heart that I could say the same to him, but I wasn't going to lie. I was totally and completely a nervous wreck around him . . . always trying to make sure I never did anything wrong while he was watching. I looked up and made eye contact. 'Why can't I just tell him that I love him? . . . it would make all of this soooooo much simpler . . . then maybe I would be more comfortable with him . . . maybe.' ‘I wish I could tell her I love her . . . but it might just make things weird if she doesn't feel the same . . . especially when she obviously doesn't feel the same about being comfortable with me . . . things are great the way they are.' He suddenly gave me a big grin. 'He's so cute.' I giggled, then looked down at the floor. "I still say you're an awesome actor." I giggled, rekindling our little ‘argument' from two nights before. "Nooo!" he chuckled, "Oh, and speaking of movies, we need to decide on a movie time for tomorrow." Thunder boomed from outside, reminding us that it was still storming. "If the electricity is back by then." I giggled. We agreed on a movie and an approximate time. "You wanna grab a bite to eat before or after too?" 'Date alert, date alert!' "Um . . . sure." I smiled. "Great, it's a date then!" 'Nooo! I was just trying to convince myself that it wasn't!' We basically had a re-enactment of two nights before; talking about our likes, dislikes, inside jokes, favorite jokes, quotes, and more.
January 2, 2003
Lance was the last one in the house to wake up the next morning, and came outside to find everyone else sitting in the sun on the patio. "You've gotta be caught up on sleep by now." I giggled. "Finally." he yawned, then smiled. The storm had ended, the electricity was back, the sun was shining bright, there was a warm breeze blowing, it was a gorgeous day, and I was at Lance Bass's house, hanging out with three of my best friends and the handsome men of NSYNC . . . could it possibly get any better?! Later in the afternoon, Lance and I went into the kitchen to call the movie theater for times. They told Lance that a utility pole nearby had been struck by lightning and broke in half . . . therefore, they still didn't have electricity and just recently got the phones back. "Well, that's not cool." I commented. "Now we can't go at all." he sighed. "Why?" I asked, confused. "Uh . . . we have plans." he smiled.
