Panic
“Oh my God! You’re N’Sync!”
“Actually, I’m Chris,” said Chris grinning good-naturedly. “Nice to meet you,” he said, holding out his hand. The girl shook it eagerly.
“I am such a big fan of yours!” she cried, practically jumping in excitement.
“Well, it’s always nice to meet a fan,” said Chris with a smile.
The girl paused, as if unsure of what to do next. Quickly realizing that she was attending him at a video rental store, she grabbed the movies off the counter, checked them out, and handed them back to him. “Here are your movies, Mr. Kirkpatrick,” she said, her nervousness apparent.
“Thank you very much,” said Chris with a smile as he leaned backwards against the door behind him to open it. “See you around.” As Chris stepped out, he could hear the girl break out into hysterical giggles.
Chris smiled to himself as he made his way back to his car. With the hiatus N’Sync was currently on, it was nice being reminded that their fans were still loyal.
Getting into the car, Chris placed the movies on the seat beside him. He pulled out his cell phone, anxious to talk to someone, preferably someone able to give him sane advice regarding the “Melanie situation”. The way that Jason had treated her the night before wasn’t very promising of a healthy relationship; not that it ever seemed that Melanie had a healthy relationship with Jason to begin with.
He needed advice. And in his mind, those better suited to giving good advice were women, therefore, he quickly dialed the number of the first person he thought of.
Unfortunately for him, Jen apparently had other plans. The phone rang in a continuous strain until the answering machine picked up. Deciding that it wasn’t important enough to leave a message, he hung up and made a quick decision as to who to call next.
“Hello?” giggled a female voice.
“Hey Mags… you busy?” asked Chris.
“Chris?” she asked, suddenly serious. “Um… no, not at all… why? What’s up?”
“Maggie, you can tell me if you’re busy,” said Chris.
“No really, it’s fine,” said Maggie reassuringly. Chris could hear rustling in the background, but he disregarded it and continued.
“I need your advice,” he said.
“My advice?” said Maggie, her grin apparent through the phone line. “On what?”
“On…” began Chris, suddenly hesitant, realizing the consequences of asking for Maggie’s advice.
“On what, Chris?” she urged.
“You know what? It sounds like you’re a little busy… I’ll just call Jess,” said Chris.
“Don’t be stupid, Chris. I’m not busy, and you’ve got me on the phone. What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” said Chris.
“Good grief, Chris!” cried Maggie frustratingly. “It’s not like this is over a girl or something, so you can tell me!”
Chris bit his lip in anxious silence.
“Oh… my… God,” said Maggie flatly. “It is about a girl, isn’t it?”
“So what if it is?” said Chris defensively. “Believe it or not, I am attractive to some members of the opposite sex!”
“You have a girlfriend and you never told me?” she squealed.
“Well, um… she’s-“
“She’s not your girlfriend?” deadpanned Maggie.
“No.”
“Are you dating?”
“No.”
“Does she even have a name?” asked Maggie skeptically.
“Yes,” said Chris defensively. “Her name is Melanie.”
“So have you asked Melanie out?”
“No,” said Chris softly.
“Oh for the love of… Chris! Why are you talking to me then? Call her and ask her out, for God’s sake!” cried Maggie.
“It’s not that easy, Mags,” said Chris, maneuvering his car into his driveway and getting out.
“Why the hell not?” cried Maggie. “It’s easy, Chris! You dial her number and you- wait, do you at least have her phone number?”
“She has a boyfriend,” said Chris flatly.
“You didn’t answer my question,” said Maggie.
“Wha- did you hear what I said?”
“Yeah, of course. You said she has a… ooh!” said Maggie, slowly coming to the realization of Chris’s comment. She paused, processing the information. “Man, Chris, you just had to choose a girl who has a boyfriend!”
“There’s more…” said Chris slowly.
“More?” asked Maggie in surprise. “What? Does she have a kid?”
“Well, no,” said Chris slowly. “She-“
“She has multiple kids? Chris!” she cried. “You’re a home-wrecker!”
“Maggie!” cried Chris. “Shut up for a minute and let me talk!”
“Sorry,” she muttered.
“Anyway… I think he’s abusing her,” said Chris finally.
Maggie was silent for a moment before she dared to speak. “Abusing her? How do you know?” she asked softly.
“I don’t,” said Chris. “That’s the problem. But from what I’ve seen, he treats her pretty badly. If there’s no physical abuse, it’s definitely mental and verbal abuse.”
“Oh God…” gasped Maggie.
“Yeah,” said Chris. “So now you see my dilemma. How do I get someone out of a situation like that?”
Maggie paused, deep in though. “You need to get her to see someone… like one of those health centers or the police.”
“And how do I do that?” asked Chris with a sigh. “She thinks things with Jason are just how they should be… that all relationships are like that.”
“You’ve got to remember… Melanie thinks she’s in love with Jason. She doesn’t realize that he’s hurting her.”
“So how do I get her to wake up?” asked Chris.
“I don’t know, Chris… I really don’t,” said Maggie. “Maybe showing her that you care is the best thing you can do right now. She’s going to need you.”
Chris sighed, pondering Maggie’s words. “Thanks Mags.”
“You’re welcome, Chris,” she said. “Take care of her, alright?”
“I’ll do my best,” said Chris.
“Hey Mags,” came a deep voice in the background. “Can you help me with this?”
Chris arched an eyebrow in confusion. “Who’s there?” asked Chris slowly.
“No one, why would you think that?” asked Maggie quickly. “Well, I’ve got to get going, Chris… bye!” The click on the phone line signaled the end of the phone call. Chris furrowed his brow and placed his cell phone down on the table, too preoccupied with thoughts of Melanie to analyze Maggie’s strange behavior.
Madison sighed and ran a hand through her hair, staring down at the pages in front of her, highlighted in many different brightly colored shades.
“You ok?” came a voice. Madison jumped slightly in her seat. Despite being in a close to silent library, she’d been too involved in her studies to hear any footsteps approaching.
“Oh, hi David,” she said, smiling weakly. “How are you?”
“Alright,” he shrugged. “You ok? It looks like you’re having a bit of trouble with whatever you’re studying there.”
“Oh, well… yeah,” she confessed. “It’s statistics. I hate general education requirements.”
“Don’t we all?” said David with a smirk. “Need any help? I took stats a couple of semesters ago, and I think I remember a thing or two.”
“Just like you remembered the date of Dr. Prince’s exam, right?” she teased.
“Honest mistake, I swear,” said David, holding up his hands.
“Well, make it up to me,” she said, pushing her books towards him. “Help me understand this stuff.”
David grinned and pulled up a seat beside her. “Could you watch my stuff here while I make a quick run for the bathroom?”
“Sure. It’ll give me a few minutes to review anyway,” said David with a grin.
“Thanks,” said Madison, beginning to walk away. “I’ll be right back.”
David watched her form until she disappeared from sight into a corridor. He smiled to himself and looked down at the statistics book in front of him, scanning the pages, trying to remember the bits and pieces of statistics he did remember.
The sudden rhythmic sound of vibrating interrupted his study. He looked up and saw Madison’s cell phone vibrating on the table. He quickly grabbed it and read the screen.
“TEXT MESSAGE RECEIVED”
Overcome with curiosity, David quickly pulled up the message.
“MADS-
STUCK IN MEETING WITH JOHNNY. WILL BE LATE FOR OUR DINNER TONIGHT. I’M SO SORRY. I MISS YOU LIKE CRAZY.
MY LOVE ALWAYS, JOEY”
David scowled, skillfully manipulating the menu. The next message to come up on the screen was the one that pleased him.
“MESSAGE 1 DELETED.”
“It’s too revealing.”
“It’s too tight.”
“It’s too plain.”
“I agree. It needs more bows.”
“It doesn’t need more anything!” cried Jessie, stepping off the small pedestal she was modeling her dress on. “I love the dress as it is!”
“It is nice,” said Mrs. Bass gently. “But not what we were thinking of.”
“Exactly. It’s lacking the true wedding dress features,” said Mrs. Landers plainly. “It’s too plain.”
Jessie let out a groan and stomped back into the dressing room, the store attendant following closely behind. Moments later, Jessie emerged, dressed in her street clothes. The dressing room attendant held the dress in question folded over her arm.
“Oh there you are,” trilled Mrs. Landers. “We found the perfect dress for you.” Beside her, Mrs. Bass held up an immaculately decorated gown, covered in bows, frills, and layers of stiff tulle.
Jessie stared, completely dumbstruck.
“Well, don’t you like it?” urged Mrs. Landers.
“I… um…” stuttered Jessie. “It’s very nice… but-“
“I knew she’d like it!” exclaimed Mrs. Bass.
“But I want to wear mine,” said Jessie.
“Oh nonsense,” said Mrs. Bass, waving her hand dismissively. “It’s just pre-wedding jitters.”
“It’s not anything!” cried Jessie. “I want to wear the dress I chose!”
“Stop acting like a child, Jessica,” said Mrs. Landers, more firmly.
“Quit taking over m wedding!” screamed Jessie, abruptly leaving the wedding shop, letting the door swing widely behind her.
“That was a great take, J.”
“Thanks Brian,” said Justin with a grin, stepping into the control room. “I had someone special in mind with that take.”
“As always,” teased Brian.
“Hey, I can’t help it if I’m in love,” shrugged Justin.
“Here we go again,” said Mike, one of the producers, with a sigh, leaning back into his chair.
“Leave the kid alone,” said Brian. “He’s in love. So? It’s not like you ain’t.”
Justin looked to Mike with a mischievous smirk. “Oh yeah?”
“Yeah,” said Mike sheepishly, doing a horrible job of hiding his smile. “Teresa… we met sharing a taxi.”
“Oh how cute,” teased Justin. Mike threw a wad of paper, successfully hitting Justin in the arm.
“What’s your story?” asked Brian. “With your girlfriend, that is.”
A grin spread over Justin’s features as he thought of Jen. “We met when we were kids.”
“My wife would be swooning by now,” said Brian with a shake of his head. “She loves those childhood sweetheart stories.”
“Actually, it took me fifteen years to get my act together,” said Justin. “But I’ve got her now and I ain’t letting her go,” he smiled. “Speaking of which, I’m going to go call her.”
As Justin left the room, Mike began making the distinct sound of a whip. Justin turned around, grinning brightly. “Hey, is that Teresa down the hall?”
“Where?” cried Mike eagerly, jumping out of his seat. Justin chuckled and let the door close behind him. He pulled out his cell and quickly began dialing the familiar number.
One, two… four rings later the answering machine clicked on. Justin furrowed his brow, glancing down at his watch. Jen was usually home from work by now.
“Hey sweetheart, it’s me-“ began Justin.
Suddenly the machine stopped. “Justin?” came Jen’s voice.
“Hey baby,” said Justin with a smile. “What’s up? You screening calls or something?”
“Oh,” said Jen uncertainly. “No… why would I do that?”
“I don’t know,” said Justin slowly. “That’s why I asked.”
“Oh, well, I’m not,” she said quickly. “So are you done with your songs yet?”
Justin arched an eyebrow in confusion. Jen was acting strange, to say the least.
“Not yet, but we’re doing great,” he explained. “Hey Jen… is there something you want to tell me?”
“N-No…” stuttered Jen. “What would I need to tell?”
“Jen?” asked Justin slowly. “What’s up? You’re acting really weird.”
Jen let out a slow sigh. Lying to Justin was never one of her strong suits. At least she could tell him something true. “I just miss you, is all.”
Justin sighed. “I miss you too, Jen… more than you know.”
Jen smiled. That was all she needed to hear.
Lying beside her on the table sat a black and white photograph. A photograph that Jen pushed away from her as she spoke in an effort to momentarily free her mind of it. It was a photo of she and Justin walking down the street, hand in hand. Only, Jen’s head was cut out of the picture. Jen had torn the photo in half, along with the envelope in which it came.
JC frantically read the instructions on the back of the carton, his eyes jumping back and forth between the glass on the counter, the mound of chocolate powder scattered over the tiled counter, and the open microwave door, inside of which sat a measuring cup, over flowing with a dark brown foam.
“Josh, honey?” called Alex from upstairs. “Is everything ok?”
“Yeah, sure,” called JC distractedly.
“Do you need any help?”
“No, I’m fine,” called JC. “It’s just hot chocolate, not brain surgery,” he said, looking down at the mess he had created.
“Well because you’re taking a while…” called Alex. “Do you want me to come down and make my own hot chocolate?”
“No!” cried JC. “You heard the doctor! You stay in bed!”
“Oh fine,” she groaned. He could almost hear Alex rolling her eyes in her signature look of annoyance. JC smiled at the thought.
His thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. Tearing himself away from the mess in the kitchen, JC headed to the door. He opened it, revealing a very confused looking Tyler.
“Hey Ty,” said JC, opening the door wider. “What’s up?”
“I stopped by to check up on Al and fill her in on the latest office scandals, since she always loves to hear about stuff like that,” said Tyler with a shrug. “Hey, do you guys have any friends who live around here?”
JC furrowed his brow. “No… why?”
“Well, on my way here, I saw Lance driving in front of me and I thought he was on his way here, but he turned a street early,” said Tyler. “So I thought he was visiting someone else.”
JC raised an eyebrow in confusion. “Strange. Lance is always complaining about how Alex and I living miles away from civilization.”
Just as JC finished his sentence, a car came screeching up the drive; Lance’s car. JC and Tyler walked out to the drive just as Lance stumbled out of his car.
“I need your help!” he cried frantically.
“What? What’s wrong?” asked JC, catching his friend by the arms as he stumbled towards him.
“It’s Jess,” said Lance, tears stinging his eyes.
“What? Is she hurt? Is she ok?” asked Tyler.
“She’s- she…” stuttered Lance.
“Take a deep breath, man,” said JC. Lance did just that but all it served to do was bring the tears that had been building up sliding down his cheeks.
“She called off the wedding,” gulped Lance. “She broke up with me.”