CHAPTER 4
Ali walked through the door. Everyone had been torturing her for details about the concert. But she didn’t dare tell anyone about her encounter with JC. When they asked her about the necklace, she said she bought it the night of the concert. This was going to be her secret.
As for her and JC, things were going pretty well. He kept his promise, and called her when the group got into Ft. Lauderdale. They must’ve talked for at least two hours.
“I told you I’d call,” he said with a laugh.
“Never doubted it”, Ali replied.
“You sure about that?”
Ali grinned. “OK, I was sort of testing you.”
“Its OK. I couldn’t imagine you actually sitting by the phone.”
That made Ali blush, because she would’ve definitely done that if she hadn’t been so dead tired from the concert antics. “Believe me…the thought crossed my mind”. Now she couldn’t sit down. She kept wishing that she could talk to JC face to face, but she finally settled and slumped into her recliner. “So how much are you making your parents spend on this phone bill this time?”
“Enough. Besides, they already know about you. I talked to them the night we left.”
Ali nearly fell over. “WHAT?” Then she regained herself. “You’re kidding me right?”
“No, not at all. My mom even told me to tell you she says hello. My parents aren’t too picky about who I see. They trust my judgement. They said you sounded nice and pretty cute too.”
Ali rolled her eyes. “Oh jeez. I’m cute now.”
“Cute is a good thing, trust me”. That made Ali laugh. The rest of their conversation had a bit of goofy stuff in between, like “I can’t wait to see you again” and “I’m starting to miss you”. But things were going to be OK. As she hung up the phone she heaved a big sigh. His parents even knew about her, and she was still on his mind. She didn’t know what to think of it all. But then she remembered what he told her that night. I’m human too. I have nothing to hide.
The funniest part was when Lance called Rose when they got into South Carolina two days later. Rose nearly fell out of her seat when she answered the phone. “Hey Rose, how’s it going?”
“Wow. Hi, Lance. So, what’s the occasion?” she asked.
“Just saying hello. I told you I’d keep in touch,” Lance said.
Rose laughed. “You’re just making sure I keep those pictures to myself”.
“Nah…I’m sure you’re too sweet to do that”. He muffled a laugh, but Rose heard it any way.
“Keep talking like that and you’ll see just how sweet I can be”. She smirked at Ali, who was watching TV, and let out an evil giggle.
“You’re a sick woman, you know that? One of these days, maybe when we get to Virginia where we have about two days between shows, we’ll get you and Ali down here. I had fun hanging out with you guys that night. Besides that, something tells me that JC is starting to miss her.”
“I’m not surprised. I got an earful about the conversation they had the other night.”
“We’ve been torturing him about it too, but it’s all in fun. You should’ve seen him on the way to South Carolina. We were cracking jokes and goofing around and he was just kind of staring into space. He kept taking the phone number out of his pocket over and over again. I was like he wanted to call her, but then he got nervous. That man is usually so ready to take a chance. I’d don’t know what your friend said or did, but you can tell he’s got it bad.”
Rose looked at Ali and grinned. “Smurf’s got JC hooked! You go girl!”
Ali blushed and the girls laughed. “Oh shut up.” Then she smiled. “But then again, that will teach you to never underestimate the power of a little person. And tell Lance that if he tries anything I’ll have my own field day with those pictures.” She grinned evilly.
“Be nice.” Then she looked at the clock. “Dude, Ali we have to go. The movie starts at 7:15. Lance, we’ll catch up with you guys later. Let us know when you get closer to Virginia.”
“Sure thing. We’ve got about three or four shows before we hit Virginia Beach, which will probably be next Tuesday. We’ll give you guys a ring as soon as we can. Besides, Chris wants a rematch on that pillow fight from the other night.”
Rose relayed the message to Ali. “You’re on”.
Lance laughed. “So what movie are you going to see?”
“I’m not telling. It’s a chick flick. It’s a girl thing. Any way, tell JC and everyone that we said hello. And tell Chris to try and remove himself from the Playstation for one minute. Time him.” Ali heard Lance on the other end. Then they hung up.
**The next day**
“Man, I’m stuffed.” Ali held her stomach as she and Rose left the neighborhood pizza place. “Remind me never to eat three slices of pepperoni and mushroom on a rush like that”. But of course, she couldn’t stop thinking about JC. He called her right as they were walking out the door. Their conversation was normal, but it was laced with cute stuff in between. Ali was just surprised that he kept his promise and called her. Rose was right. JC was hooked. I can’t believe he told his folks about me. They had to be surprised.
Rose jolted her out of her daydream. “Ok, snap out of it. We all know you’re just dying to see JC again. But they won’t be in Virginia until next Tuesday.”
“I know. That don’t mean I can’t think about it.”
“I can’t believe he told his parents about you. He must really like you.”
Ali nodded. “Yeah. That was pretty cool. I’m just curious to see what happens if the public finds out. I have this funny feeling that the same thing that happened with Lance and Danielle is going to happen here.”
Rose shook her head. “I doubt it. You’re not a celebrity, so it’s not like everyone knows you. You know that the media doesn’t usually make a big deal out of it if its just a regular somebody. But either way, JC has a right to date whoever he wants.” Then she grinned. “Even if he does have a liking for little short blue people”.
Ali smacked her in the head. “Forget you. I can’t wait to see what we end up doing when they fly us in. We probably won’t see much of them, with all the promotional stuff and everything.”
“I don’t know. Lance said that they had a few shows, but he didn’t mention anything about any extra stuff.”
Ali rolled her eyes. “Rose, this is the music biz. There’s always extra stuff”.
“Well, you never know. We might get lucky”. Rose nudged Ali and winked.
“You’re a goof. But let me tell you, it will be so good to see JC again.” She looked down at the necklace.
“You haven’t taken that thing off since we got back from the concert. You must really have it bad.”
Ali blushed. “I don’t know what it is. He’s not like I imagined. He’s not like most guys. Even though he’s famous and all, he doesn’t have a swelled head. And on top of that, he came to me and he didn’t pull this ‘don’t you know who I am’ game. He was himself. And the craziest part was that he played along. I mean, come on. How often does a scenario like that happen? That in itself was what swept me off my feet”.
“Not to mention the fact that you practically need a bib every time you look at him.”
Ali rolled her eyes. “I don’t even want to hear it. Don’t think I didn’t see you drooling over Joey after he came out of the bathroom with no shirt on. He saw you looking to because he came by me, then glanced over at you and smirked. He was like ‘I think I scared your friend.’ I was like ‘What makes you say that?’ and he said that he’s never seen a girl’s eyes get so big after seeing him shirtless. He took it as a compliment”. She nudged Rose and cracked up laughing.
Now Rose was blushing. “Joey’s cool. We goofed around for a little bit while you and JC were in your little corner. You were looking too, so don’t even try to play innocent.” She shot Ali a smudge look and then grinned. “Besides, the man was buff. You know that’s my weak spot”.
“Doesn’t take much for you anyway”, Ali laughed.
“Quick change of subject…what time are you due home tomorrow?”
“Probably around six. I have to work until five but you know I never get out of there on time. Why, what’s up?”
“I was thinking that if they’re going to fly us out next week, we need to start packing. Most of my clothes are totally worn or need to be washed. I also am guessing that we’re going to be going out some, so I was thinking we could do some shopping.”
“With what money?”
“Ah, dear Ali. Never underestimate the power of a woman with a Visa card”. The two cracked up. “So are you game or not? I’m sure the guys will want to do some clubbing, and I have a feeling that JC is planning on taking you out…”
“Don’t jinx me!” Ali laughed. “I like surprises”.
“Any way, we need some presentable stuff.”
“Sure thing”, said Ali. Then she grinned. “I’m going make JC worship me…or at least not want to leave my side”.
“Weirdo.” Then Rose perked up. “Judging by the looks of it, it won’t take much”.
Well, the best is yet to come”. Then they looked at each other as she said that and laughed as they drove off.
* * * * *