January 3, 2003
"Wake up!" Chris exclaimed loudly. I gasped and jumped as my eyes flew open. "Morning sunshine." Joey grinned. I looked at the five very happy, very awake guys standing beside the bed. I groaned, rolled over, and covered my head with the blankets. It was quiet for a few seconds as the guys took their positions around the bed. "Now!" Justin exclaimed. Joey ripped my blankets away as Lance and JC quickly moved in to hold my arms and legs as Justin and Chris tickled me. "Noooooo!" I giggled, now fully awake, "I'm up, I'm up!" They released me as they all chuckled. "Hurry up and get ready!" JC urged. "Why? What are we doing?" I yawned. "Just hurry up!" Chris exclaimed. "Everyone else is already ready!" Joey squealed. "Well you kinda hafta leave before I can get ready." I giggled. "Don't take too long." Lance smiled, finally speaking up as he followed the other guys out of the room. 'What in the world are they up to?' We split up into two groups and rode in two SUVs with heavily tinted windows. "Why no limo today?" I asked no one in particular. "We gotta change it up a little . . . we can't do the same things all the time!" Justin chuckled.
When we got to wherever we were going, the guys hopped out quickly with me and the rest of the girls following behind slowly. I put my hands on my hips as I looked at what I thought was some type of movie production studio and then caught sight of a small camera crew. 'What the heck?' "Hi MTV!" all the guys exclaimed as they waved at the camera. 'MTV?!' Ashley, Amber, Dawn, and I looked at each other excitedly. Each of the guys grabbed our hands, pulling us over toward the MTV people. "This is Crystal, Dawn, Ashley, and Amber . . . the newest members of NSYNC!" Joey exclaimed. "Hi." We all smiled and waved timidly, at the camera. "Um . . . what's going on?" I giggled. "Welcome to the filming of our newest video!" Justin announced, with a cheesy smile. My eyes widened. "Oh my gosh!" Ashley exclaimed and threw her arms around Justin's neck. The rest of us gave the other guys big hugs, not knowing much about how to react. I would have to say that THAT day was probably one of the most memorable days of our lives. I had a total blast! A few hours into the shoot, some problems showed up with the video concept, so the guys took a lunch break. Joey took it upon himself to call N.Y.P.D. Pizza and get them to deliver some pizza to the studio. That was the first time in our lives to have N.Y.P.D.'s pizza and we all agreed that it was the best pizza we had ever tasted. After lunch, the director, Wayne Isham, nor the guys had come up with anything for the story line gap. "We'll just have to film as many scenes as we can, and hopefully, we'll solve the problem by tomorrow." Wayne sighed. Wayne, the guys, and some of the crew were in a huddle, trying to straighten some things out. Amber and Dawn had left to explore the building . . . and to find a bathroom. Ashley and I stood off to the side, not wanting to intrude on the huddle. "Hey Ash, you wouldn't happen to have a piece of paper and pen on you, would ya?" I asked quietly, then laughed. "No, why?" she smiled, expecting to hear something funny. "Story idea." We both laughed. "You two are always whispering! Stop making fun of us!" Lance chuckled, as he approached us. "We're not making fun of you! . . . ok, we are, but would you happen to have a pen and a piece of paper?" I grinned. Ashley laughed. "Nope, but I can get ya some." he smiled. Things around me have always sparked ideas for stories, so I had to have pen and paper handy, or I would forget them. I quickly scribbled down the idea, gave the paper to Ashley to read, and gave the pen back to Lance. "What's that?" Lance asked. "Oh, just a, uh . . . story idea." I replied as Ashley handed the paper back to me and I quickly shoved it into my pocket. Ashley and I giggled again. (We were really giddy because of the fact that we were at an NSYNC video shoot together.) "Giggly girls." Lance rolled his eyes, gave us a big smile, then went back to the little "meeting". "He's so adorable!" I squealed in a hushed whisper. 'I should write everything down from my experiences with these guys and write a true story! . . . naw, it'll be too unbelieveable . . .'
Ashley and Amber had been rescheduled to the same flight as Dawn, and the guys made them all ride in the limo to the airport. "Thanks for everything guys!" Dawn grinned. "Come back soon!" the guys exclaimed in unison. Justin gave Ashley one last kiss on the lips as I gave them all a hug. "Crystal, you better behave yourself with all these guys around." Amber giggled. I smiled slyly and raised an eyebrow at her. "You should be telling US to behave with Crystal around." Chris grinned. I rolled my eyes and shook my head as everyone laughed.
"I'm so hyper now!" I exclaimed when we walked back into Lance's house, "And ya'll are draggin'." I giggled. "Well, what do you expect after dancing and acting and singing and dancing all day." JC yawned, then chuckled. "I expect you to be as hyper as me! . . . but since you're not, I'm going to bed." "Later, love ya, kay-gotta-go-bye, and all that shtuff!" the guys exclaimed in unison, then laughed. They all gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek, then went their separate ways. Justin and JC went to the theater room to crash on the leather couches, Chris and Joey headed to a spare bedroom, and Lance turned toward the kitchen to get a drink. "Goodnight Lance." I smiled and waved as I passed the kitchen. "Night." he replied. When I got back to my room, I turned on some music and discovered that the "Celebrity" CD was in the stereo. I re-started the CD and let "Pop" play. I started to dance along with it. I forgot some of it and laughed at myself, then waited for the next dance part.
'Guess I could have offered her something.' Lance thought, 'She'll still be awake . . .' He grabbed two fudge-cicles out of the freezer and headed toward my room. When he got to the door, he noticed that it was cracked open and decided to peek in. He saw me standing in the middle of the room, singing along with the CD. 'What is she doing?' he suppressed a little chuckle. Just when he was about to knock to come in, I started dancing again, so he stopped and watched. 'She's not too bad . . . if she would work a little bit with a choreographer . . . ah, I don't think Johnny would got for it.' I stopped dancing and plopped down to sit on the edge of the bed. I continued singing, putting all of my hyper energy into my singing so it sounded half good. When the song was over, I talked to myself. "I'm such a retard." I laughed to myself, then yawned. I sighed and reached over to the dresser to get my pajamas out. Just then, I heard a knock on the door and it crept open slowly. "Hey Lance." I smiled. "Hey. I thought you might like a fudge-cicle." he smiled back and held one up. "Sure, thanks." He handed it to me and sat down beside me. "So . . . I heard some music when I was walking down the hall and . . . " "Sorry." I giggled. "It's ok . . . I just can't believe you're into that boring, boy band, pop crap." he chuckled. "Oh, shush." I giggled. "I could hear you singing some too . . . but, I couldn't hear you very well, so will you sing for me?" 'That's better than asking me to dance!' "Um . . . maybe some other time . . . my voice is all messed up because of this fudge-cicle." I quickly pulled off a small part of the fudge pop with my lips and let it melt in my mouth. "Oh yeah, NOW it is." he chuckled. I just smiled. "What did you write down earlier today?" Lance asked, breaking the silence. "Just an idea . . . nothing interesting." I smiled. "It's not like I'm gonna laugh at you . . . pleeeease?" He stuck his bottom lip out and gave me the puppy dog eyes. "Don't do that!" I giggled and covered my eyes. He laughed as he pulled my hands away from my eyes, trying to make me look at him. "Alright, fine." I sighed and pulled the paper out of my pocket. I watched a smile spread across his lips as he read it. "This would fit perfectly." he smiled, sounding amazed. "Fit what?" I giggled. "The video concept gap." "Oh . . . yeah . . . maybe." I shrugged. "Come on, you've gotta have more confidence." "I didn't think it was that great . . . I was just gonna use it for one of my stories." "It's a great idea . . . but if you wanna keep it for your story, then . . ." "Nah, it's alright. If you really want it, you can have it." I smiled. "Thanks. I'm gonna go now . . . we've got another big day tomorrow, so later, love ya, kay-gotta-go-bye, and all that shtuff." he smiled, sweetly. "Night." I giggled. He gave me a quick kiss on the lips and left. 'Well . . . I could get used to that.'
January 4, 2003
The next day, Lance rechecked with me to make sure he could share my idea with the rest of the guys. After a small debate, we agreed that he would explain my idea, but claim it as his own . . . just in case they rejected it.
"There is no way you could have come up with an idea like that!" Joey exclaimed jokingly when Lance had finished explaining. "It's better than any of the ideas I came up with . . . let's use it." Wayne announced. "Great! . . . and Joey's right . . . I never could have come up with an idea like that, but Crystal did." Lance grinned. Every few minutes, during rehearsal and filming, the guys asked for my opinions. Oddly, they did everything exactly how I had pictured and didn't need to make many changes. After they finished filming the scene, the guys let me announce the famous line, "that's a wrap", and all the film was sent to be edited into NSYNC's newest video.
"So now what?" I yawned, when we got back to Lance's house. "I'm gonna go work on some songs . . . gotta get the girls ready for their new album." JC was the first to reply. 'The girls? . . . Ohhh . . . Wild Orchid.' "I think I'll go take a dip in the pool." Justin chuckled as he wiped the sweat from his forehead. "I'll race ya!" Joey exclaimed, then ran down the hall with Justin close on his heels. "I need to look over some new FuMan fashions and approve or disapprove them." Chris grinned. "And I have to check my e-mail to see what's going on with the prod co and Meredith." Lance stated. "Prod co?" I asked confused. "Production company." he laughed. "Ohhhhhhh. Alrighty, then I'll just wander around the house aimlessly." I announced, with a giggle. The guys laughed, then replied in unison. "You can come with me." "Thanks for the offer guys, but I think I'll go write." I smiled, then headed off to my room.
"Hey JC, did you know that you were Crystal's first boyfriend?" Lance asked curiously. "What?! Isn't she nineteen?!" JC exclaimed. "Eighteen . . . she'll be nineteen in three months." Lance corrected. "Dude, are you serious?" Chris joined in. Lance just nodded. "Which means she's probably never been kissed before, therefore, that's why she was nervous when I tried to kiss her." JC stated, thoughtfully, finally figuring it out. "Oh, shi . . ." Chris started to gasp, but Lance interrupted him before he could finish his words. "Yeah Chris . . . when you made that little video game bet, she had never been kissed." "So Chris ruined Crystal's first kiss with a stupid bet?" JC asked, confused. "Um . . . " Lance blushed, feeling a little guilty. "Hey man, it was a nice kiss . . . in fact, judged by her skills, I thought she was a veteran." Chris chuckled. "Oh sure, she'll kiss you because of a damn bet, but she won't kiss her own boyfriend? Let me guess, she kissed you too?" JC pointed at Lance, starting to get angry. "Actually, I was her first kiss." Lance replied, being timid. Before JC could start yelling, Lance interrupted him. "I think she just needed a while to get used to any kind of physical contact . . . like when you danced with her in the club . . . she tensed up when you put your hands on her hips, right?" JC nodded, letting Lance's words sink in. "She didn't do it because she doesn't like you, she did it because it surprised her that a guy would do that without being forced to . . . and no, I'm not pulling this out of the air . . . she told me." Chris and JC just looked at Lance. 'I can't tell them everything . . . she confided in me.' "Ok, let me start from the beginning . . ."
I walked into my room, turned some music on, set it on shuffle, laid down on the bed, and stared up at the ceiling. I quietly sang along with the stereo. "Something happens when you look at me, I forget to speak. Something happens when you kiss my mouth, my knees get so weak. Could it be true this is what God has meant for me? 'Cause, baby, I can't believe that something like you could happen to me." I sang as a tear came to my eye. I growled at myself and pressed the 'next' button on the remote to change songs. "Can this be true? Tell me, can this be real?" "Ergh!" I growled and pushed the button again. "When the visions around you . . . " "NO!" I yelled at the stereo, shut it off, and tossed the remote. I crossed my arms and pouted for a minute, then busted up laughing at myself. 'See where lying gets you Crystal?!' I scolded myself. 'I need to tell Lance the truth about how I feel . . . ' "And I know exactly how to do it." I smiled and sat up on the bed.
"So, to sum it up, she didn't feel comfortable with kissing me because she loves all five of us the same, but she could kiss you two because she wasn't dating either of you? . . . That makes no sense at all." JC said, more confused than before Lance tried to explain. "That's basically what she told me . . . then she changed the subject real quick." Lance shrugged. "Ok, I need to stop trying to figure this out and go work." Chris announced, with an odd expression on his face. "Believe me, I'm just as confused as you guys." Lance chuckled. "Women." JC sighed and shook his head slowly. They laughed, then went their separate ways.
Lance sat down at the computer and waited for it to start up and sign onto AOL. 'Maybe I should take the chance and tell her . . . but I'll wait until the time is right.' Music floated down the hall to where Lance was checking his mail. 'She's listening to us again.' He chuckled, then started singing along with ["God Must Have Spent"], until it stopped. He turned around to look down the hall, to see what was going on, when ["This I Promise You"] started. He turned back to the computer, and started singing again, until it also stopped. He shrugged and continued singing anyway.
I stood up, took the Celebrity CD out of the stereo, and headed down the hall to where I had seen the computer desk. I stopped when I could hear Lance's voice. I listened for a few seconds, until I figured out what he was saying, then walked up behind him slowly. "And I will take you in my arms . . . " "And hold you right where you belong." I joined in quietly. He stopped and turned around quickly, then smiled. "Hey." he grinned. "Hi." I smiled back. "I'll start over and sing my harmony part . . . you sing melody." Before I could protest, he hummed the first note, and waited for me to start. I shrugged and sang the best I could. Our voices fit together perfectly . . . even more perfectly than I had thought they would . . . so perfectly, that I got goose bumps. "This I promise you." I finished. "You have a beautiful voice." he smiled. "Thanks." I blushed, suddenly feeling too shy to say anything else and stared down at the floor. He just kind of sat there, smiling brightly, and I just plain stood there. His smile faded a little. "Is there something wrong?" he asked, sounding concerned. "Nope. Everything's peachy." I smiled. "Now I KNOW there's something wrong . . . you always say that it's ‘peachy' when there's really something wrong." "I've GOTTA stop doing that!" I exclaimed. We both laughed. "Ok, here's the deal . . ." I sighed. I stepped toward the computer tower, popped the CD in, grabbed the mouse, set it to a certain song, clicked play, and backed away a little. ["Something Like You"] started. Lance looked at the computer for a few seconds, then turned to me with a confused expression. I couldn't look at him, for fear of crying, so I looked down at the ground shyly, as he tried to figure it out. "Crystal." I looked up at him, expecting to see the same confused expression, but in place of it, I saw a sweet smile. Just like the words in the song say . . . he looked at me and I forgot to speak . . . well, it was more like, I COULDN'T speak . . . the only thing I could do was smile. Lance stood up slowly, took a step toward me, took both of my hands into his, and looked deeply into my eyes. "Crystal . . . I love you." Lance spoke with a totally different tone, and a completely serious expression. My breath caught in my throat as I tried to take a deep breath. I had always had a hard time telling people I loved them, but I tried to show it as much as possible without saying the actual words . . . even Lance knew that from one of our late night chats. "I . . . I love you too." I smiled as the words came out of my mouth. He smiled brightly, leaned his face to mine, and kissed my lips softly. This kiss felt different . . . it just felt more right . . . more comfortable . . . just . . . more. "You said it." Lance smiled, proudly. "Because it's true." I giggled, "And maybe I'll feel more comfortable around you, now that you know the truth." "So, THAT's why you weren't comfortable around me." "Well, that and I'm afraid of screwing up or something . . . making the wrong move, saying the wrong thing . . . and then having you think of me differently." 'Wow . . . I never thought it would feel this good to let him know everything.' "Crystal, no matter what, I'm still gonna love you . . . nothing can change that." I suddenly got butterflies in my stomach . . . not the nervous kind . . . the kind that show up when you find out that someone you love, loves you back. It‘s one of the most awesome feelings in the world. I just smiled at him, looking into his dreamy green eyes and he returned the exact facial expression. After staring at each other for a few moments, I moved closer to him and gave him a big hug. He squeezed me back tightly, then let go and backed up for a second, holding up his forefinger, telling me to wait a second. He reached down to the computer mouse, clicked a few times, then turned back toward me. "Something Like You" started to play again. "May I have this dance?" Lance smiled and held out his hands. "Of course." I smiled back happily as I put my hands in his. He tugged on my hands, bumping me up against him, making me giggle a little, and put my hands on his shoulders. Then he put his hands on my hips. 'I didn't tense up!' I squealed happily to myself in my head. We swayed back and forth for a while until Lance pulled me a little closer, wrapping his arms around me. I kept my hands on his shoulders and laid my head on his collar bone. "Looks like this is our song, huh?" he asked quietly. "Definitely." I sighed with a big smile.
After our little slow dance, we kissed again . . . the longest of all our kisses up to that point. "Would you like to join me in the hot tub? I need to get these kinks out of my muscles." Lance asked as he massaged one of his biceps. "Uh . . . I'll come out and keep you company." I smiled. "I'll go put my trunks on and meet you out there then." He gave me a quick kiss, then jogged down the hall. I decided to go to my room and slip my bathing suit on, just in case . . . yes, I told the guys before that I hadn't brought it with me, so I told a little fib. I hooked the back of my suit, threw my clothes back on over it, and quickly walked out to the patio. I walked along the edge of the swimming pool until I got to the adjoining hot tub. I rolled up the bottom of my capri's (I refused to wear shorts) and sat down on the edge of the tub to put my feet in, just as I heard the screen door click quietly as it closed. "How's the water?" Lance asked as he approached me. "Warm." I smiled, taking a handful of water and tossing it at him. He chuckled as he jumped out of the water's path and it splashed onto the concrete. "Missed me." He stuck his tongue out playfully as he stepped into the circular tub, then sank down into the steaming water. He opened his mouth slightly and wrinkled up his nose, making an ‘ow, that hurts' face. "Ok, it's a little too hot." he winced. "You make the cutest faces." I giggled. "Thanks." he grinned as he laid his head back against the side. He closed his eyes and left out a sigh. I stood up, took a few steps, and sat down behind Lance, putting a leg on either side of him. "Sit up a little." I smiled. He opened his eyes, a little startled that I was suddenly behind him, then did as I said. I put my hands on his shoulders and started to give him a massage. "Mmm . . . you have very good hands." he sighed, relaxing under my touch. "Thanks." I smiled. I massaged in all the places that the muscles felt tight, kneading them into mush, getting some moans and sighs out of Lance. After I finished, I stood up and moved back to my previous spot. "Thanks. That was . . . wow. If you had kept that up much longer, I would have been so relaxed I wouldn't be able to move." Lance smiled. "No problem." I smiled back as he stood up and sat on the edge of the tub beside me. A few moments passed before Lance made an odd expression. "What's wrong?" I asked. "Is that your bathing suit? I thought you didn't have it with you." He pointed to the strap that was visible from the neck of my shirt. "I fibbed so I wouldn't have to blind you guys." Lance rolled his eyes. "You have to get in now." he smiled. "But bathing suits aren't my friends." I giggled. "Aw, come on Crystal." he chuckled, "What's it gonna hurt?" "Your eyes." I replied then busted up laughing at my own joke. 'Sometimes, I hate you Crystal.' "You're such a brat." he chuckled, "Just get in . . . from what I can see, you have nice legs, so it won't kill you or me to let me see you in a bathing suit." he smiled and squeezed my knee. 'AUGH! He touched my leg!' "Yes it will." "Then I'll just have to rip your clothes off." he smiled slyly. I looked at him with wide eyes for a few seconds, then we both busted up laughing. "Pleeeease?" He made the pouty, puppy dog face. I sighed and looked at him for a minute. "Stand up." I ordered with a smile, thinking that I had come up with the perfect plan. He stood up on the pavement, putting his hands on his hips and waiting for the next directions. "Turn around . . . and on the count of ten, you can look." "Fair enough." he smiled, turning around and keeping his hands on his hips. My plan was to strip down to my bathing suit, then quickly hop into the tub before he saw me . . . I would devise a plan later for getting out, when the time came. I turned my back to him and started counting. "One . . . two . . . three . . ." I pulled my shirt up over my head, then threw it to the pavement. "Four . . . five . . . six . . ." I unfastened my capri's and bent over to push them down my legs. "Cute butt!" Lance exclaimed and pinched my butt. I jumped up and yelped, then turned around quickly and smacked him in the arm. "Ow! What was that for?" he chuckled. "You're so mean!" "What? I gave you a compliment!" he smiled innocently. "I mean turning around early! . . . and pinching me too!" I turned around and quickly dove into the swimming pool, ignoring the hot tub. When I surfaced, Lance was no longer standing on the concrete. I treaded water as I started to look around for the missing hottie. Suddenly, I felt a pair of familiar hands on my shoulders, pushing me down into the water. I took a deep breath, right before my head was submersed. As soon as I was under, the hands let go and I re-emerged. I wiped the water from my eyes and opened them to see Lance treading water and smiling at me. I smiled back, then suddenly splashed him. "That's for turning around early." I splashed him again. "That's for pinching me." Then, as he was wiping the water from his eyes, I swam over and put my hands on his shoulders. "And this is for dunking me!" I dunked him, just like he dunked me. When he came back up he laughed, "Ok, ok . . . I deserved it all . . . but you DO have a cute butt." "Thanks." I blushed, "And I said I'd be more comfortable around you . . . but not necessarily comfortable enough to let you touch me . . . like that." I made an ‘I hope that came out right' expression, then giggled. "Sorry . . . I just couldn't resist." he smiled and gave me a kiss.
I found that my earlier statement was the exact case . . . I felt more confident and comfortable around him after he knew the truth. I think it helped knowing that he felt the same way about me. Everything was finally working out . . .
January 5, 2003
My time with the guys flew by so quickly. I really didn't want to go back to Pennsylvania, but I had no choice . . . unless of course I wanted to drop out of college, and that was definitely not an option! The guys rode along to the airport to say their good-byes. "How are we supposed to live without you?" Chris asked, pretending to cry on my shoulder. "I'm sure you'll manage." I giggled and patted him on the head. "Easier said than done." JC smiled. "Aw, come on. You guys are acting like you'll never see me again. I'll be spending a couple months with ya'll starting in June . . . I'm still touring with you guys during the summer, right?" They all looked down at the ground sadly. 'This can't be good.‘ "Johnny said that it would make us look bad if we had a girl traveling with us, even just as a 'friend'." Joey sighed, using air quotes. "But I've seen girls travel with you before . . . like on behind the scenes TV shows." I admitted, a little angry. "Yeah, and magazines started with the rumors, so Johnny said, no more. We tried to convince him anyway, but he wouldn't sway." Lance explained. "There are ALWAYS some kind of rumors going around about you guys . . . why is this any different?" Before any of them could say anything, I continued. "Oh, I know why . . . it's because of my weight." I snapped. "What?!" they exclaimed in unison. "It would be bad publicity for the handsome, perfect, guys of NSYNC to be seen with some ugly, fat girl." I turned around and started to storm off to board the plane. They all yelled for me to come back, and tried to follow me, but a few airport employees stopped them. "You cannot enter the walkway unless you have a ticket." They sternly enforced the rule. "Crystal!" Lance gave one last attempt, but their voices were already inaudible to me. I jogged the rest of the way onto the plane, then slowly made my way to my window seat. 'My weight is always a factor when something bad happens to me.' The usual thought crossed my mind, as I looked out the window and started crying. I had convinced myself of that thought very early in my life, and have always stuck to it.
"Ergh!" Lance growled loudly in frustration. "Talk about sensitive." Justin announced, surprised and disappointed by my reaction. "Shut-up! She has problems, ok?!" Lance yelled angrily. "Dude, calm down!" Chris exclaimed. Lance took a deep breath then sighed. "Sorry, Justin. Guys, she's had some rough times, and knowing what they are, I can see why she's so quick to blame everything on her weight. I wanted to try to help her . . . to convince her that bad things happen to everybody. It's so hard to change the way people think." He ran his fingers through his hair as he shook his head and looked at the ground, then headed toward the airport exit. "We gotta talk to her and try to calm her down." Joey demanded. "We could call her cell phone." Chris suggested. "She won't wanna talk to us right now." JC stated, matter-of-factly. "I'll call Ash and get her to talk some sense into her." Justin commented. "Right!" JC, Joey, and Chris agreed. They all caught up with Lance at the limo and told him the plan.
January 6, 2003
"But Ash, why else would they not want me with them? They were always saying how great my personality is . . ." I argued with Ashley over the phone as I was walking to my third class of the day. "They DID want you to go! They just weren't allowed to take you along, because of the rumors!" she exclaimed into the receiver. "You're starting to sound just like them." I sighed. "Why can't you believe what they said?" she asked, almost pleading. "I gotta go . . . class will be starting here soon. Bye." I hung up, shut my phone off completely, shoved it into my pocket, and sat down in my seat.
'Maybe Dawn can beat it into her.' Ashley thought to herself, then let out a little giggle as she dialed Dawn's number. "You are sooo lucky you didn't call a second earlier." Dawn laughed as she answered her cell phone. "Hi to you too." Ashley laughed. "The professor said 'see you all tomorrow', and the next thing everyone hears, is my phone." "Perfect timing . . . you have a long lunch break, don't you?" Ashley changed the subject. "Heck yeah . . . like, three hours." "Do you have any plans for today?" "Nooo . . . why?" "Come to the campus and talk to Crystal . . . she needs some sense knocked into her." "Why? What did she do now?"
After my class was over, I turned my phone back on. No sooner than I pushed the button, it was ringing. Dawn's number showed up. "Dawnie!" I squealed. "Crys!" she squealed back. "How's it goin'?" I asked cheerily. "Peachy keen! What about you?" "Just peachy." There were a few seconds of silence. "Ok, when I say it, it's good, but when you say it, I know there's something wrong." "Everyone knows that now." I laughed. "Wanna have lunch together?" "Sure! Where we goin'?" "I'm comin' there . . . we'll go to McDonald's." "Alright, meet me there in a half an hour." "After while crocodile!" "Bye." I laughed and put my phone away. 'Maybe she'll be able to take my mind off things.'
"Ok, now what's up?" Dawn asked as we sat down at a table with our food. "I don't wanna talk about it . . . I was hoping that we could talk about things to take my mind off of it." I sighed. 'I'm not gonna force her . . . and I'd rather laugh anyway.' "Oh my God, I was hangin' out with my [Kewl-Ade] the other day . . ."
We spent two hours laughing our butts off, making funny and perverted comments, and throwing food at some people I knew from my biology class. "Thanks Dawn, I needed that." I grinned as we exited the fast food restaurant. "No prob, chica!" We hugged and headed back to our separate campuses.
"Well?" Ashley urged. "We didn't talk about it . . . she said she wanted to get her mind off of it, so we just laughed the whole time." Dawn giggled. "At least she felt better for a little while . . . maybe Steph could help out . . . but I gotta go to class, so can you call her?" "It's all gravy, baby." "Alright, lata." Ashley laughed. "Byes chica!" Dawn called Steph right away to relay the message. "Yes ma'am. I'll call her right now!" Stephanie exclaimed, hung up, then called my number.
When I got back to the campus, I headed to the [Slep building] to study my newest assignments. As I got situated in my usual spot, on a couch near a computer, some movement from outside caught my eye. When I looked up, there was Shmoe, jogging on the brick walkway along the reflecting pond]. He was wearing a baggy PSU hoodie with a pair of baggy navy blue shorts . . . he always looked so adorable in that outfit. I smiled, watched him for a minute longer, then reluctantly propped my feet up on the couch to open my Education Theory and Policy book. As usual, my thoughts strayed in every direction but toward studying. 'I'm so glad that I'm past all the general education stuff and can just focus on my major . . . I love kids . . . I can't wait to start a new job and be called Miss Dodson . . . which reminds me that I need to get another job soon . . . during the summer would be a good time, seeing that it's completely unoccupied now.' "Hey Crystal." A voice snapped me back into reality.
