CHAPTER 7
Sweat beaded on Lances brow as he moved to the beat with a determined look. He quickly glanced over at Justin who was gliding effortlessly through the moves. His green eyes focused back to the empty concert hall. His body cried out in pain but mostly weariness as the group continued to dance. Lance tried to keep the count in his head as he mouthed the words to the song but it was hopeless. Finally the songs beat ended with a few intricate steps. Breathless and exhausted Lance sat down on the stage. J.C., also tired, glanced at the hunched over bass. He faintly smiled understanding completely how worn down they all were. He picked up two bottled waters and strode over to Lance.
“Here,” J.C. said to Lance extending a bottle, “ you look like you could use something cold.”
“Thanks.” Lance murmured as he took the bottle. J.C. sat down next to him and opened his own bottle.
“J.C., I need to ask you something,” Lance said looking directly at J.C. with glazed eyes. Surprised, J.C. took the bottle of water away from his mouth.
“Shoot, I’m all ears.”
“Okay, uh, this is hard to ask but… do you think Justin is falling for Vanessa?” Lance asked in a hurried voice. As soon as the question was out of his mouth he looked down and scratched the back of his head. J.C. stunned by the question hesitated but finally answered in a cautious tone.
“I think that Justin is the only one that can answer that question.”
Lance looked back at J.C. and slowly nodded. He stood up making sure to grab his water. He walked towards the side of the stage that Justin was on. As he approached, Justin turned around. The look on his face was guilt and he started walking towards the already moving Lance. The two met about center stage and Lance spoke first.
“We need to talk.”
“Yeah I agree. Lets go back and talk in the dressing room.” Justin answered in an emotionless tone. The two of them walked in silence to the dressing room. As soon as they were in the dressing room with the door closed Justin spoke up.
“Look man I’m sorry about last night. I should have just left you and V alone.” He said with sincerity gushing from every word.
“It’s okay, what’s done is done. Anyway I needed to say something about last night.” His features hardened, “I’ve noticed how you and Vanessa have been very friendly lately and I was wondering how you feel about her.” Lance finished staring intently at Justin.
“If your asking me if I’m crushin’ on V, then the answer is no.” Justin retorted with defense, “We’re just friends.” Lance looked at Justin with a relieved face.
“Sorry, I’m sorry. I didn’t want to sound like I was accusing you, I…”Lance was interrupted by the door opening. Vanessa walked in carrying a clipboard. She glanced up and jumped, startled by the two standing in the room.
“Oh my gosh, you guys scared me!” She said, out of breath.
“Sorry V, we were just talking about the show tomorrow.” Justin said looking at her and smiling. Lance smiled too and walked over to Vanessa.
“So what are you up to?” He questioned.
“Just making sure that there is a storage closet for all your things. After tomorrow night’s show were leaving and directly driving to… uh, where ever.” She answered, finishing with a smile.
“Oh man! Only one day till we leave and I still haven’t seen UNC or the Tarheels!” Justin said with a disappointed look. Vanessa smiled softly and snickered to herself.
“Is the practice over?” She asked.
“Yes!” Justin and Lance said in unison.
“Good, I’m done too. When will the van be here?” She said checking her watch.
“It should be waiting outside.” Lance answered studying the grin on her face. He loved the way her pouting lips could curl up into a dazzling grin in no time.
“Com’on then, lets go get the rest of the guys.” Vanessa said as she whirled around and walked out of the room. Justin looked at Lance, shrugged, and followed Vanessa. Lance followed Justin as all three of them made their way onto the stage. Joey and Chris were talking about new choreography and J.C. was stretching his legs. All of their faces lit up as Vanessa walked out on to the stage.
“Hey Vanessa!” Joey said sporting a smile, “What’s up?”
“Not much, I just finished my days work. So who’s ready to leave?” She said running her hand through her honey colored hair.
“I think I speak for everybody when I say, ME!” Chris said raising his hand with enthusiasm. He grinned and motioned for everybody to follow him. J.C. jogged over as they all turned to leave. He fell into step next to Lance.
“So did you ask him?” J.C. asked not hiding his curiosity.
“Yeah, I did. He says they’re just friends.” Lance replied as the group emerged outside. The sun shone bright and the air was clear. Breathing in deeply Lance followed Chris to the van and hopped into the very backseat with Justin and Vanessa. Neither noticed him as they were in deep conversation about basketball. The van pulled away from the concert hall and cruised towards the hotel.
“North Carolina had a good season last year but this year they should be explosive.” Justin explained to Vanessa. She shook her head in agreement.
“Yeah, they had the best recruiting class this year.” She said. The van pulled into the hotel’s parking lot and parked in the back lot. J.C. opened the door and climbed out. Everyone followed his lead and got out of the van.
“Okay you guys we should really get some rest before tomorrow. I’m going to take a shower and then hit the sack, you should do the same.” J.C. said with a fatherly tone. They all nodded their heads to please him. The group made their way into the lobby of the hotel.
“Hey you guys go ahead, me and V are going to get a soda.” Justin called to the others as they veered off in another direction. Lance felt a twinge of jealousy as he watched the two of them walk away. He shook it off and made his way into the elevator. He sighed as the doors slid shut with a silence that swallowed his thoughts.
********
“Are they still sleeping?” Vanessa asked a freshly showered Justin as he exited his room.
“Yeah, so where are we going?” Justin asked as he looked down the hallway nervously.
“Relax, we are not going to get in trouble. Drew is going to drive us.” She said smiling as she mentioned the bodyguard. Her eye caught an untied shoelace and she bent down to retie it. She was dressed casually in a loose white tee shirt and a pair of black jean shorts. She finished tying the laces on her right Nike tennis shoe and stood up.
“Why did you ask me to wear my basketball shorts?” Justin asked as they began walking down the hall. Vanessa thought for a second and then she answered as they reached the elevator.
“Cuz you look good in them.”
“Oh, well thank you.” Justin said flashing a smile as he pushed the elevator button. She smiled back and the doors opened. They stepped inside and Vanessa pushed the button for the lobby. The buttons lit up counting down the floors they passed. The doors opened with ‘ding’ and the two of them stepped out of the elevator. Vanessa spotted Drew in the black van from this afternoon sitting in front of the hotel. She led the way out to the van. Drew climbed out of the van and walked over to Vanessa. She whispered something in his ear and he nodded. The tall muscular bodyguard handed her the keys. Justin’s eyes widened when he saw this.
“Now I’m really worried!” He said as the petite girl climbed into the driver’s seat. “Where are we going?” He asked as he climbed into the passenger seat and closed the door. She adjusted the seat and ignored his question. As she pulled out into the flow of traffic Drew handed Justin a cassette. Justin shrugged and popped the tape into the player. Mariah Carey’s voice drifted through the van’s speakers and Justin smiled. Absentmindedly Vanessa began to softly sing along as she pulled onto the freeway.
“I can’t be elusive with you honey…oh, Justin are you tired?” She said as she glanced over at him. He shook his head and smiled.
“I’m too excited to be tired!” He said with a grin. She laughed softly and focused back on the freeway. Justin started singing and Vanessa joined in. He didn’t notice the sign that said Chapel Hill above the off ramp as Vanessa pulled on to it.
“So we’ve been driving for a half hour and I still have no clue as to where we are going.” Justin said looking out the window.
“We are almost there, I promise.” Vanessa said signaling a left turn. She pulled on to a street that had cars lining its sides. Justin searched for a sign as Vanessa drove down the street. He looked up at a banner as she came to a stop sign. His eyes grew wide as he read the banner that was hung on lampposts. It said ‘GO TARHEELS!’
“You’re kidding me! We’re going to the game?” Justin asked practically jumping out of his seat with excitement.
“Yup, I called my cousin and asked her to get four tickets. She’s a student so it was easy. I can’t wait to see her, it’s been almost two years since we’ve seen one another.” Vanessa said with a grin. “You’ll love her she’s an expert on the Tarheels.”
“Wow! Thank you so much Vanessa!” He said as the van pulled into a parking lot. “Hey, how old is she?”
“Uh, she will be nineteen in February. So I guess she’s eighteen.” Vanessa said as she parked the van and shut off the engine. “Okay here’s the deal Curly, you have to wear a hat at all times or else I have to answer to Drew.”
“Sure anything, I wouldn’t want Drew to rough you up!” He said with a smile. Vanessa glanced back at Drew who was laughing. She chuckled and hopped out of the van. Both Justin and Drew jumped out and slammed their doors. Vanessa pushed a button on the key chain and the van let out a honk. She walked over to Drew and handed him the keys. He handed her a white baseball hat with a baby blue bill, which she handed to Justin. He took the hat and slipped it on backwards. Drew shook his head and motioned for Justin to turn it around. Justin smiled sheepishly and turned the hat around. It was a Tarheels hat with the logo on the front.
“You look good.” Vanessa said as they walked towards the crowd of people. Vanessa searched the crowd for her cousin. Suddenly her eyes spotted a tall brunette.
“Hey! Lynn! Lynn we’re over here!” Vanessa called out waving an arm. The tall brunette turned towards the voice and smiled. She jogged over to them. As she reached them Justin’s mouth dropped open. She was about 5 foot 10 with deep aqua eyes. Her beauty captured him.
“Hey Jellybean! I missed you!” Lynn said as she hugged Vanessa. Justin smiled and looked at Vanessa.
“Jellybean?” He said with laughter. Vanessa shrugged.
“Lynn this is one of my best friends, Justin Timberlake. Justin this is my cousin Lynn De Luca.” Vanessa said eyeing Justin’s gaze.
“Hey Justin! So Jellybean here tells me you are a huge Tarheel fan.” Lynn said extending a hand.
“Yeah, I am. It was great for you to get us the tickets. Thank you very much!” He said taking her hand and shaking it.
“Oh no problem. You must be Drew.” Lynn said spotting the bodyguard. She extended a hand to him, which he shook. “It’s great to meet you both. We better get inside before the game starts.”
They walked towards the gate. Lynn handed the tickets to the gates man and all four of them walked in. Drew followed close to Justin as he started a conversation with Lynn. Vanessa noticed how they were looking at one another and she snickered. Justin was attracted to Lynn and it was obvious that Lynn was interested. They walked out of a hallway and Vanessa’s eyes lit up. The game was packed and the crowd was bursting with energy. Lynn led the way down to the student section. They spotted their seats and hurried over to them. Vanessa, Lynn, Justin, and Drew on the isle sat down and waited for the game to start. The announcer came on and introduced the starting line up. Vanessa eyed Justin and Lynn. She sighed and thought silently ‘I wish Lance were here.’
********
“That was a great game and your cousin was amazing!” Justin said as the elevator ascended. “It must run in the family. Thank you so much, tonight was the best!” He said with a grin that stretched ear to ear.
“No problem. I’m glad you and my cousin hit it off. Did you invite her to the concert tomorrow like I told you?” Vanessa asked as the doors of the elevator opened.
“Yeah, she said she would call and tell me if she could come. I hope she can.” Justin said as they walked down the hall towards their rooms. Vanessa looked at her watch. 9:45.
“Oh no! J.C. is going to kill me for keeping you out this late.” Vanessa said as they reached Justin’s room.
“Nah, I’ll tell him I slept in the car on the way home.” Justin said with a smile. “ Anyway I better go in and face the firing squad. Thank you again. Goodnight.” Justin said. He gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek.
“Sweet dreams, Curly. Goodnight.” Vanessa said as she broke away from the embrace. Justin fished in his pocket and pulled out a room key. He opened the door and waved as he walked in. Vanessa waved and turned towards her room. She walked up to the door and noticed that a light was on in her room. Thinking nothing of it she opened the door with the key and walked in. She turned around and shut the door. As she set the key down on the dresser next to the door she noticed breathing behind her. She turned around and was startled. Sitting slumped in a chair was Lance. He was wearing his pajamas, a shirt and some red sweatpants. Vanessa walked over to him. He was sleeping heavily, his face peaceful and calm. Vanessa let out a small soft chuckle and walked towards the dresser where her duffel bag sat. She grabbed the bag and headed into the bathroom. She walked in and closed the door behind her. Ten minutes later she emerged in pajamas with a freshly scrubbed face and brushed teeth. She set her bag back on the dresser and put her hair up in a bun with a claw clip. She turned to face where Lance was still sleeping, and decided to try and wake him. Walking over to him she softly began to call his name.
“Lance? Lance, are you gonna wake up? Lance?” She waited a second. Silence. ‘Okay’ she thought ‘What now?’ Suddenly an idea popped into her mind. She walked over to the bed and pulled down the covers. Taking the heavy quilt off the bed she set it on the floor. She picked up one of the pillows and threw it down on the quilt. She walked back to Lance and shook his shoulders softly. He shifted and moaned. Vanessa giggled and spoke softly.
“Lance stand up, it’s time to start the concert.” She said trying to suppress laughter. Lance nodded but did not open his eyes. Vanessa pulled him up out of his seat. He stumbled for a second but Vanessa helped him balance on her shoulder. She began walking over to the bed and he half walked half stumbled over to the edge. Sitting down on the edge of the bed, Vanessa pulled Lance with her. He flopped on to the bed. Vanessa slowly laid him down on his side and picked his feet up making sure to set them down softly. As soon as he was situated she pulled the covers up over his body and set them down just short of his neck. Sighing with relief she stood up and stretched. Vanessa shut off the lamp sitting on the bedside table. She lay down on the quilt and fluffed the pillow under her head.
“Goodnight Lance, sweet dreams.” Vanessa whispered as she closed her eyes.
********
“Rinnnnng, Rinnnnng!!!”
Vanessa opened her eyes. The phone rang again as last night came rushing back to her. She sat up grabbing the phone off of the table with the lamp.
“Hello?” She murmured still half asleep.
“Jellybean? Is that you?” Lynn’s voice projected from the phone.
“Yeah, it’s me. What’s up?” Vanessa said after clearing her throat.
“Not much. I just got out of Biology and wanted to call and tell you that I’m coming tonight.” Lynn said with a trace of excitement.
“Oh, okay well we’re staying at the Hospitality Hotel. Do you know where that is?” Vanessa said stifling a yawn.
“Yeah Jellybean I know. When should I meet you?”
"Meet me in the lobby at four.”
“Okay Jellybean, I’ll see you then. Bye”
“Bye Lynn see you tonight.” Vanessa hung up the phone and yawned. She replaced the phone on the table and stood up. She looked at the bed and smiled. During the night Lance had rolled on to his stomach and the covers had covered everything but his eyes and above. Vanessa decided to not wake him up yet. She walked over to the dresser and picked up her key. She slipped into the breast pocket of her silk pajama top and fixed her hair. She clipped the bun and walked out the door making sure it didn’t slam. She made her way down the hall and stopped in front of Justin’s door.
“Knock, Knock.” Her fist hit the door twice and she waited for a response. Slowly the door swung open and J.C. stood in front of her.
“Morning Vanessa. Do you want to come in?” J.C. said as he scratched his back.
“Yeah, thanks.” Vanessa said as she walked into the dim room. “Are you the only one awake?”
“Unfortunately yes I am. Due to a headache I couldn’t sleep. So what’s up?” J.C. asked rubbing his temples.
“Oh I’m sorry to hear that, do you want some aspirin? I have some back in my room.” Vanessa said with concern on her face.
“Oh, really? Yeah, that would be great. Let me get dressed and I’ll be right out.” J.C. said grabbing a few things out of his bag quickly and walking into the bathroom. He only took a few minutes to throw on some jeans a tee shirt and a baseball hat backwards. As they walked out of the room Vanessa looked down at her maroon pajamas and giggled.
“Guess I should get dressed sooner or later. Uh, about last night J.C., I’m sorry I kept Justin out so late. We planned to be back sooner but the traffic was heavy.” Vanessa finished and looked over at J.C. He was smiling.
“No need to apologize. He had a good time and was in bed by 11:00 so it was good for everybody. Well almost everybody, Lance was worried about you guys because he had no idea where you went.” Vanessa nodded and sighed.
“Yeah I kinda figured he was worried when I walked in my room last night and found him asleep in a chair waiting for me.” Vanessa said as she pulled the key out of her pocket. She opened the door and they walked in quietly. Vanessa pointed to the lump in her bed. “See, I put him into bed because I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Wow, I hope Joey knows he’s here or else he’ll think Lance was albino-napped.” J.C. said in a humorous tone. Vanessa walked over to the dresser and fished in her bag. She pulled out a big container of aspirin and handed it to J.C. “Thanks, you are a life saver!”
“No problem. So should I wake sleeping beauty?” Vanessa said in a hushed voice. J.C. shook his head and motioned for Vanessa to follow him. She grabbed the key once again and followed J.C. out into the hall.
“Lets get everyone else up first, then we’ll wake him up. We should go out to breakfast today, what do you think?” J.C. said as they walked back to his room.
“Yeah that’s a good idea, except you will have to disguise yourselves. Lance and I went out to breakfast yesterday and he had to wear a hat and sunglasses.” Vanessa said as J.C. fumbled with the key and finally opened the door. They walked in and Vanessa shut the door. Her eyes spotted some curly blond locks of hair peeking out from under the covers of a bed. She walked over to the bed and peeled back the covers. Justin curled up into a tighter ball.
“Justin, oh Justin. Lynn is here to say hi.” Vanessa said softly with a laugh. Justin rolled over and opened his eyes slowly.
“Lynn? Where’s Lynn?” Justin asked in a mumble.
“Just kidding, she’s not here now but she’s coming tonight.” Vanessa answered in a chipper voice.
“Well then I need my beauty rest.” Justin said as he wriggled down to the bottom of the bed and grabbed the covers. Vanessa laughed and stood up. Being careful not to jump on the sleepyhead she began to bounce on the bed.
“You best get up boy before you get squished!” She said giggling. By this time J.C. had woken up Chris and he was smiling at the three-ring circus going on in the next bed. “Just-in, Juuuuuuust-innnnnnnn!!! Jellybeans gonna jump on you!”
“Aiight, that’s it! Come here!!!” Justin yelled as he sat up. Vanessa just stuck her tongue out at him and laughed. He smiled and grabbed her legs out from under her. She flopped onto the bed rear end first with a shocked look on her face. Before she could recover Justin reached over and tickled her. Vanessa erupted with loud boisterous laughter as she squirmed to escape Justin.
“Say Justin’s da man! Say it if you want me to stop!”
“Never!!!”
“Fine Jellybean, I won’t stop.”
“Yes you will!” Vanessa managed to squeeze out through her laughter. Suddenly she rolled over and sat up right next to Justin. She smiled and started tickling him. He doubled over with laughter and tried to push her hands away. Vanessa dodged his hands and kept on tickling.
“Say supercalifragalisticexpialodocious!”
“What?” Justin said laughing even harder.
“Never mind, say Jellybean is the greatest!”
“No way! Wait,” He said out of breath. “All right, I’ll say it! Jellybean is the greatest!”
“Yes, I agree she is!” Vanessa said laughing. Justin shot her a mad look but then his face softened and he began to laugh also.
“Ohhh, my sides hurt from laughing so hard!” Justin said as he rubbed his sides.
“Mine too!” Vanessa said with a smile on her face.
“Well mine too and I wasn’t even in on the action!” Chris said getting out of bed. Vanessa smiled devilishly and looked at Chris.
“So does that mean you want to be in on the action? Cuz I’m still ready to tickle!”
“Don’t even step within two feet of me or else I’ll kung-fu you like Bruce Lee!” Chris said as he turned and walked to the bathroom.
“Touchy!” Vanessa said with a grin.
“It’s cuz he’s old!” Justin said stretching his arms out.
“You know what? I’m really sick and tired of the old jokes!” Chris said turning around and staring at Justin. Justin, shocked by the comment, dropped his arms.
“You know I am only joking around, I really don’t mean what I say.” Justin said with a pouty face.
“Yeah I know, but you sure do look hilarious when you apologize!” Chris said bursting out with laughter. Everyone laughed everyone except Justin who was too busy scowling at Chris. J.C. cleared his throat and looked over at Vanessa. He mouthed ‘Joey’ and Vanessa nodded.
“Well, I better go get dressed. See you guys in a little while.” Vanessa said as she walked out the door with J.C. not far behind. He closed the door and she turned to him.
“I was wondering, do you have extra keys to all the bedrooms?”
“Yeah, why?” J.C. asked puzzled by her sudden question.
“Well I wanted to know how Lance got into my room.” Vanessa said with a smile. They walked across the hall to Joey’s room and J.C. pulled out a key from his pocket. He undid the lock and opened the door.
“Joey?” J.C. said as he stuck his head into the room. With no response they both walked in. Vanessa smiled as she saw one made bed and another inhabited by a snoring body. She walked over to the snoring and smiled.
“He even smiles in his sleep, what a cutie!” Vanessa said as she sat down on the bed next to Joey. She softly laid a hand on his shoulder and shook it. His eyes slowly opened and he rolled up on his side. Vanessa smiled as she realized that his smile was widening.
“Good morning, Joey.”
“Morning Vanessa. I’m glad to see you are back and okay.” He said sitting up. “Lance was so worried he couldn’t sleep.”
“Actually he could and did, except it was in my room.” She said as Joey got out of bed and stretched. He laughed as he looked at the empty bed.
“I guess he really was worried. How did he get in?”
“He must have grabbed the key last night when we were in my room playing Mortal Kombat.” J.C. answered. Joey nodded and turned to Vanessa.
“Where were you and Justin last night?”
“My cousin and I took Justin to a Tarheel’s game. You’ll probably meet her tonight at the concert and hear about her all day long from Justin.” Vanessa said with a smile. Joey’s eyebrows raised and he laughed at the last comment.
“Well see you in a little while but right now I should go get dressed. I’ll send sleeping beauty back to his room after I wake him up.” Vanessa said opening the door. Joey waved; she walked out and closed the door. Vanessa walked to her room again and opened the door. She walked in and shut the door, to her surprise Lance was still sleeping.
Vanessa approached the bed slowly and quietly. Her face stretched into a smile as she looked at Lance. He had rolled over on to his back and slung one arm over the edge of the bed. His face still held its tranquility. Softly as she could Vanessa sat down on the bed and picked up his hand. It was warm to the touch and her heart beat as she remembered what had happened on the bus. All the feelings rushed around in her heart as she wondered what would have happened if Justin would not have walked in. ‘Would we have kissed?’ her mind asked; her heart was quick to answer with a ‘Yes’. Her head quickly shook off that idea, ‘Don’t be silly he said he didn’t mean for it to happen’. Lance suddenly stirred and her train of thought was broken. His hand tightened around hers and he exhaled a heavy sigh. Vanessa inhaled sharply and her heart beat faster. His eyelids flickered open to reveal his meadow green eyes. It took him a second to focus on the figure sitting next to him but he realized it was Vanessa. His eyes grew wide as he realized he was still in her room.
“Good morning sleepyhead.” Vanessa said trying to keep her heart from beating out of her chest.
“Vanessa, I can explain…”He said chewing on his lip.
“Joey already explained that you were worried and J.C. said that you probably got the extra key from his room.” Vanessa said, her hand still clasped with his. He looked at his feet sheepishly.
“I was worried, nobody knew where you were. I asked if you were at the concert hall but there was a concert last night and nobody would let me go out and look for you.” His voice was passionate as he described his worry. Vanessa suddenly felt very guilty for not telling him where she was going.
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get you so worried. Are you mad?” She asked frowning.
“No, of course not! I’m glad you are okay and safe here with me- us, safe here with us. Uh, is Justin all right too?” Lance finished trying to cover up.
“Yeah Justin’s okay. You better go get dressed, J.C. says he wants to go out to breakfast.” Vanessa said loosening her grip from Lance’s. He looked down and smiled at the sight of their hands together. Vanessa blushed and pulled her hand away. She stood up and walked over to her bag. Lance sat up and pulled the covers off his legs. He set his feet down and stood up. Stretching, he walked over to Vanessa who was fiddling with nothing particular in her bag.
“Thank you for putting me to bed last night, I just wish you wouldn’t have slept on the floor.” He said looking at her. She brought her gaze away from the bag and focused on him. His face was in the soft crooked smile that Vanessa loved so much. She felt a rush of heat come over her body and her heart jump up into her throat. Lance’s mind brought back the memories from the bus and he broke the gaze. He hugged her quickly and then walked to the door. She let out a heart broken sigh as she watched him walk out the door and close it. Her heart dropped to her feet and her mind tried to convince her ‘It was not meant to be’ but somehow she could not hold back the tears that crept into the corners of her eyes.