Symone sat on the bus with the side of her head pressed against the window. She recalled the look of betrayal on Justin’s face when he realized where he was. ‘I guess he really hates me now’ she thought, and sighed. She leaned the entire weight of her body against the cold glass pane, and fell into the only slumber she now knew- restless.
Terri saw the pain that Symone wore so plainly in her eyes. Yet, she had never cried, at least in front of them. She almost wished that Symone would show some kind of emotion. As the drivers neared the hotel, Chris’ phone rang.
“Hello,” he answered. “Oh, hey JC…Where are you now…Oh, OK, I see…Tell him we’re really sorry about the way it turned out…Yeah, see you in the morning.”
Terri leaned over to her fiancee. “What’d Josh have to say?”
“Justin doesn’t want to come back to the hotel tonight, so the rest of the guys are trying to stick with him until he comes to his senses. They took the security van, and Lonnie and Mike are with them, so they should be all right.”
She nodded. “What are we going to do about Symone?”
“I think we should let her sleep. Put her in Justin’s room, since he won’t be using it tonight.”
“OK.” Terri replied, as they pulled into the hotel and Chris once again picked up Symone and carried her inside. They rode the elevator to the 16th floor, careful not to wake the sleeping teenager. Chris and Justin had been sharing a room, but Lance traded his solo room to Chris and Terri, so they were now next door. Chris still had his keycard, though and let himself into the room. Quietly, he lay her on the bed, under the covers that Terri had pulled down. Suddenly, Symone’s eyes popped open.
“Where are we?” she asked, groggily.
“At the hotel sweetie.” Terri told her.
“WHAT? No, guys, I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to see him, I don’t want him to see me, I don’t…”
Chris cut her off. “Woah chill out! I think its time to take your Ridilin girl! You have nothing to worry about, Justin is not coming back here tonight, and he is spending the day with his mom tomorrow, so you won’t be seeing him, OK?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Symone replied, still not totally convinced.
“You should get some more sleep.” Terri added soothingly and Symone nodded, laying back against the pillows and closing her eyes once again.
Justin drearily stumbled into his room with Lance following. The older man grabbed his things, and for the second time that week switched rooms. He was going to stay with Joey and JC, because Justin needed some time alone. Lance moved so quickly that he didn’t even notice the sleeping form in Justin’s bed.
Justin ran his hands through his gelled hair, and gazed at his reflection in the mirror. He looked tired, he looked angry. But, mostly, he looked confused. He started the shower as he heard the door gently close, signaling Lance’s departure. Though he had just taken a shower a few hours before, he felt he needed it again. The club that he and the guys went to was smoky and loud, and the girl he danced with had the most nauseating perfume on. Her name was Jennifer, or Jamie or something like that, and she was the exactly opposite of everything Symone was to him. Translation: exactly what he needed. Justin scrubbed his body until the last traces of her smell were washed down the drain. He turned off the water and grabbed the towel from the rack. Just as he was wrapping it around himself, the door flung open. “What the hell?” he exclaimed in disbelief.
Symone ran down a hallway, trying to find the exit. “I have to find my way out of here!” she screamed into the silence. Doors began appearing on her right and left, and she desperately tried to open them. Most were locked, but as she came to the 5th door on the right, the handle turned easily in her hand. Inside stood Justin. “What are you doing here?” he asked. “I don’t know! I just want to leave! I feel so trapped.” “Well, leave then. That’s the way out.” Justin said, pointing to the door behind him. Symone walked past him quickly, and opened the door. She found herself standing at the mouth of a waterfall, beautiful and serene. Justin came behind her and stood. “Come to apologize?” she asked. “Hell no. I came to do this-” he said, and pushed he violently off the cliff. As she fell she heard his words echo through the air. “That’s what you deserve slut!”
Symone awoke in a cold sweat. Another nightmare concerning Justin much like all of the others. The waterfall had been a new twist, but they all ended in him saying the one word she never wanted to hear again. As her senses came back to her, she noticed that the water was running in the bathroom. ‘Shower, waterfall, makes sense,’ she thought. Then a more terrifying thought came to mind. ‘Who the hell is in the room!’ Symone searched for something to defend herself with, skipping the obvious solution of going to get Chris. She was a tough girl and she always took care of herself, although lately she was a blubbering pile of mush. She didn’t see anything around that wasn’t nailed to the furniture, and hitting someone over the head with the Bible was out of the question, so she reached for the best thing she could find. A plastic hotel pen. ‘I’ve seen Grosse Point Blank enough, I know how to turn this thing into a deadly weapon!’ She walked slowly toward the door, and as she was about to turn the handle, the water shut off. She took a deep breath, and with all of her willpower flung the door open. The person she saw terrified and relieved her all at the same time.
“What the hell?” Justin yelled. His hair was wet and clung to his forehead, and he was wrapped only in a small hotel towel.
“Oh, shit, Justin, you scared the crap out of me! I thought you were a murderer or something!” In her relief, she almost went to hug him, but then remembered that she wasn’t talking to him.
Justin was a tad bit annoyed, but Symone looked so cute that he didn’t want to remove himself from her good graces by asking what she was doing in his hotel room at 3 AM. “Nope, just me,” was the best he could come up with. The tension hung in the air after that, neither knowing what to say.
Symone ultimately broke the soundlessness. “Well, it’s obvious that this is your room, so I am gonna go. Sorry about scaring you and all.” She turned and began to walk out of the bathroom.
Justin, after making sure he held the towel on correctly, trudged to her, closing the distance with two even strides. He grabbed her by her wrist and pulled her back into the bathroom. She looked up at him questioningly, but he silenced any questions she may have voiced by pressing his lips softly against hers. Justin could tell she was shocked, at first, but then she began to respond. He had thought of doing this so many times consequent to meeting her. And, just as he had imagined, it felt so right.
Symone didn’t know what to do when Justin kissed her. She had wanted it for so long, and even more so when she thought he liked her and thought she had a chance. She began to kiss him back with the force and intensity that had been built up inside her. ‘Just think, you could have been doing this all along…if only…’ Images of his angry face when he formed the word flashed in Symone’s mind. ‘NO!’ her brain screamed, so loud that she formed the word against Justin’s mouth. He didn’t seem to notice, so she pushed him away- hard.
Not knowing what hit him, Justin staggered back, and his knees hit the tub, causing him to fall backwards, and lose any hold he still had on his towel, revealing the physical effect the kiss had on him. His head hit the wall, not too hard, but just enough to leave a bump. Before he had time to respond, or even cover himself, Symone began to yell.
“DO YOU THINK THAT CHANGES SOMETHING JUSTIN? DO YOU? YOU, BIG IMPORTANT POP STAR, KISS LITTLE OLD ME AND I AM JUST SUPPOSED TO FORGET EVERYTHING YOU PUT ME THROUGH? ALL THE NIGHTMARES, AND ALL THE WONDERING WHAT I DID WRONG, AND ALL THE TEARS? MY GOD, I CRIED OVER YOU! AND THAT IS ALL SUPPOSED TO JUST GO AWAY BECAUSE YOU DECIDE TO DO THIS? TAKE PITY ON ME, THE LITTLE SLUT WHO CAN’T GET A GUY ON HER OWN? I KEEP TELLING YOU ALL, I AM NOT A CHARITY CASE! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING IDEA WHAT YOU PUT ME THROUGH, DO YOU? yOU JUST DON'T PLAY WITH PEOPLE LIKE THAT, TIMBERLAKE. YOU MESSED WITH MY EMOTIONS AND NOW YOU THINK YOU CAN MESS WITH ME PHYSICALLY, TOO? TO HELL WITH THAT!” Symone had begun to cry, and she felt defeated because she was letting Justin see how much he’d hurt her. Neither of the pair had noticed the rest of the people that had made their way into the bathroom during Symone’s monologue.
They were all shocked at the display before them. Justin was sprawled out in the tub, completely naked, and Symone stood over him, yelled because he had tried "to make everything better by doing"...something. In this situation, they could only imagine what Justin had attempted. And, sad to say, they were imagining the worst. Terri took the first steps of initiative, and walked over to console the sobbing Symone. The guys helped the bewildered Justin out of the tub, and after he had put his towel on, they sat him down on the bed to ask what happened.
“I’m not sure. One minute it was awkward, and then we were kissing and then she pushed me.” He replied, rubbing his sore head. (NO SHAI, NOT THAT ONE:)
“You weren’t…um…” JC tried to word the question delicately.
“You didn’t try to bang her did you?” Joey, the eloquent one, said bluntly.
Justin’s face changed from confusion to shock. “NO! Did she say that? That is IT! I never want her around me ever again, do you hear me?” The rest of the guys sat shocked, and Justin walked into Chris and Terri’s room without giving them a chance to respond. ‘I cannot believe she would say that! She doesn’t deserve my time anymore.’ But, in spite of himself, he couldn’t help thinking how right the kiss had felt.
Symone told Terri the whole story through her tears. She had been doing that more often than not in the last few days- pouring her heart and her tears out. Terri listened intently, and knew how hard it was for Symone to cry in front of her. Terri had been the same way when she was Symone’s age. But, a broken heart can do strange things to you.
“…I just don’t want to look at him again for a long time. He really hurt me, ya know?” Symone finished, as Terri’s arms wrapped around her.
“I understand. Give it time, and then let him have a chance to apologize. Then you can both forget about the whole thing.”
Symone nodded, but remembering how right that kiss had felt, she knew there were some things she wouldn’t be able to forget, no matter how hard she tried.
