It had been two years since Nsync went to Europe. In the past two years, Joey has called me about six times and after that, we just lost touch. This past year he had come back home once in a while to visit. I had always missed him since I was busy with my first year of college.
The time apart finally got me over my obsession. I had wasted to much of my time on him. To tell the truth, I wasn't so sure why I liked him that much anyway.
Now they were done with recording and touring and were finally coming home for good. I was going to pick Joey up at the airport tomorrow around noon.
I wasn't sure why, but I was a little nervous. Maybe because I haven't seen him for two years? How was I supposed to act? I guess I'd find out the next day.
I had an exam coming up on Thursday so I needed to study. I pulled my books out of my bag and sat down on my bed. I opened my notebook and started reviewing my notes. A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door.
"Come in," I said, without looking up.
"hey, person." Lynn said and stuck her head in the door.
I looked up, "Oh, hey. What are you doing here?"
"My mom came by to see your mom so I thought I'd come too," she said, shutting the door and sitting down on my bed.
"JC comes back tomorrow, I'm so happy!" she said.
"Uh huh..." I answered, looking through my notes.
"You're not happy?"
"Why should I be?" I asked.
"Um, hello!" she cried, giving me a look.
"I am SO over him!" I insisted.
"Yeah, right," she replied, skeptically.
"I am!"
She laughed, "I know. I'm just playing."
I rolled my eyes and went back to studying.
"So tell the truth. Are you the least bit happy?" Lynn asked.
"I guess so." I admitted, "I've haven't seen Joey for a long time now."
"Now that sounds like the real Sam."
"No, listen to me. I like him as a friend. That's all." I said, irritated. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I took my bagel out of the toaster and started spreading cream cheese on it. I had to eat fast because I had to pick up Joey soon. I took a big bite and sat down.
"Slow down, honey. Joey will still be there," my mom said.
"Yeah, but he'll kill me." I insisted, taking another bite.
"Don't worry, I'll protect you," my 14-year-old brother said, sitting down next to me.
"Oh yeah. That makes me feel MUCH better. Thank you." I laughed.
"You're welcome," he replied.
I finished my bagel and gulped down a glass of juice, then grabbed my keys and walked out the door. I unlocked the door to my car and climbed in. I pulled out of the driveway and headed to the airport.
Half an hour later, I pulled into the parking lot and got out. I opened up my pocketbook and pulled out a slip of paper that I used to write what terminal the guys where in. I stuffed it back in and went into the airport. I pushed my way through the crowds until I reached the terminal. Desiree, Lynn, or anyone else who would be picking up the guys weren't there yet. I sighed and leaned up against the wall.
A while later, someone tapped me on the shoulder. I jumped in surprise and looked at Desiree. I rolled my eyes.
"Hola." she greeted me, waving.
"Hi." I said.
"What's up?" she asked, leaning against the wall and snapping her gum.
"Nothin', just chillin." I said with a laugh.
"Ohhhhh." she nodded.
"You happy about Justin coming home?" I asked a few minutes later.
"Yeah!" she cried.
"Cool."
"Is the plane gonna land soon?" Desiree asked.
I looked at my watch, "I think so."
"Dude, I can't wait to see Justin!" she said happily.
"I know. You've been telling me for the past week." I said in an irritated tone.
"What am I missing?" Lynn asked, walking over.
"She's pissed." Des said, pointing to me.
"No, I'm not. You're just annoying sometimes." I said.
She stuck her tongue out at me and turned back to Lynn, "When's the plane gonna land?"
"Hopefully in ten minutes," she said, joining us against the wall.
"They're always late though." I added.
And I was right, almost half an hour later, an announcement was made over the speaker that the plane was landing soon. Lynn and Desiree screamed and I was happy, too, just not as happy as they were.
The plane landed and the passengers started pouring off. The guys walked off and looked around for us. They saw us and started walking over.
I was in shock at how much they changed. Justin grew about a foot, Lance looked more like a guy now, Chris had his hair in braids, JC looked the same, and then there was Joey. He used to be kind of scrawny looking, but now he put on some weight and had muscles. I didn't know someone could change that much.
Desiree ran and jumped on Justin, almost knocking him over. JC went over to Lynn and gave her hug and kiss. Joey stood there, looking at me.
"Can I have a hug?" I asked, spreading my arms.
He smiled and came over to hug me, "You look great."
"You, too." I replied.
"How have you been?" he asked.
"Fine. College is kinda hard, but other than that, everything's cool."
"I came home every chance I could but you were always busy."
"I know. Sorry about that." I apologized.
"That's all right. I'm just glad you came to pick me up." Joey said, "Can we go get my bags so we can get home?"
"Yeah, let's go." I said.
We left the waiting area and started walking down to pick up his stuff. We stood there watching bags go around on the carousel.
"So, um, what courses are you taking?" he asked, trying to start conversation.
"The usual, but I'm focusing on film and photography." I said.
"That's cool."
Joey and I stood there, not saying anything.
"Hey, is that your stuff?" I asked, pointing to a bunch of bags.
"Yep," he said, and grabbed some bags as they went past him.
I picked up the last one and dropped it on the floor.
"What the hell do you have in here?!" I asked, trying to pick it up again.
He laughed and picked up the bag, "Just some stuff I got. I've been there for two years, you know. Do you think I wouldn't come back with more stuff?"
"Oh, yeah." I said quietly.
"Here," Joey said, handing me the lightest one of his bags, "You take that one and I'll take this."
"All right." I agreed.
Joey made a noise as he tried to lift up all four bags, "I think you're right, these are heavy."
I put my hand over my mouth to stifle a laugh.
"Where did you get five bags from? You only left with four." I pointed out.
"I had it packed in one of the others in case I need it," he said.
"I guess you needed it." I said.
He nodded and dropped one of the bags.
"Give me this." I sighed and picked up the bag. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
We walked out of the airport and into the parking lot.
"Do you have enough room in your car for this?" Joey asked.
"I hope so," I said, taking out my keys, "Cuz otherwise I'll have to tie you to the roof."
He laughed, "Shut up and open the trunk."
I opened the trunk and he threw the bags in. I shut it and looked at him.
"Ready to go home?" I asked.
"Hell yeah," he said.
"Well, let's go" I said and we got in the car.
"As soon as I get home, I'm going to sleep." Joey said with a yawn and leaned on the back of the seat.
"Tired?" I asked, laughing.
"Ya think?" he asked, sarcastically.
"The yawn kinda tipped me off."
"Just drive!" he said and hit my shoulder.
"Okay, okay. I'm going." I said and starting going down the ramps.
"Hey, man, don't fall asleep here. I can't carry you into your house." I said, glancing at him.
"I'm awake..." he mumbled.
I pulled up in front of our houses half an hour later.
"We're here." I announced as I shut off the engine.
Joey just laid there.
"Come on, get up." I said, pushing him.
He swatted at me and turned over.
"Joey!" I cried as I started beeping the horn.
He jerked his head up and looked around, "What? What happened?"
"You wouldn't wake up." I laughed and got out of the car.
"You didn't have to do that, though." Joey said, climbing out.
"Yes, I did." I said.
I walked to the trunk and popped it open. We picked up his bags and walked across the lawn to his house.
"Thanks for the ride," he said as we walked up the steps.
"No problem." I said.
I took his keys out of my pocket book and handed them to him. His mom had given me the extra set to give to him since she wasn't going to be home.
"There ya go." I said and put down his bags
"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow." Joey said unlocking the door and going into his house.
I walked down the steps, across the lawn, up my stairs, and into my house. I went into the living room and collapsed into the arm chair.
"Everything go okay?" my dad asked as he walked into the room.
I looked up, "Yeah."
"Sit right," he said, hitting my legs that were hanging over the arm of the chair and picked up his keys on the coffee table.
I kicked off my shoes and sat up straight.
"Where are you going?" I asked.
"To watch Danny's game," he answered.
"Oh, okay. Tell him I said good luck and stuff." I said.
He left the room and went out the front door. When I saw him drive away, I sighed and swung my legs back over the arm of the chair. I reached over and picked up the remote. I started flipping through the channels until I came across MTV and started watching the Real World.
Halfway through the second episode, the doorbell rang. I put down the remote and walked to the door. I opened it to see Justin.
"What are you doing here?" I asked, surprised.
"I came by to see Joey but he was asleep so I figured I'd come see you." Justin said.
"Oh. Come on in." I said, stepping aside.
"Thanks." Justin said and walked in.
I shut the door behind him and we walked into the living room. I sat back down in the chair and he stretched out on the couch. I turned off the TV and turned to him.
"So tell me about Europe." I insisted.
"Man, it was so cool!" he began.
"Oh, really?" I laughed.
"Yeah. We went everywhere! It was so cool. I took pictures so I have to send them in to get developed and then I'll show you. Anyway, everyone knew who we were and they were asking us for autographs and they couldn't even speak English half the time and so many people came to our concerts and..." he rambled on.
"Woah, slow down." I commanded.
"Sorry." Justin took a deep breath and began again, "The concerts were so cool. It was such a rush, I can't wait to do it again."
"Cool. Tell me everything that happened."
"Um...well, I went in a store to buy a CD and there were posters of us there! It was so strange! Then the girls there started screaming and ran up to me to get an autograph.
Then another time when we were in Spain, we were walking down the street to eat or something and we got trampled! The girls were trying to take our clothes and they were grabbing our hair and everything. The security guards were there, thank God."
"Sounds awesome. What single did you release?" I asked.
"I Want You Back. We sold so many records, it's so cool. People who couldn't speak English even bought it. We made a video, too. You really should have been there," he said.
"I wish I could have gone, too." I said.
Justin spent the next hour telling me about the concerts, what living in a hotel was like, and everything else that happened. It sounded amazing, I wish I could have went with them.