CHAPTER 4
A few days had past since that night with Justin and Joey. Anya had started working at the hospital and was looking forward to seeing the children everyday. She hadn't said anything to Lisa about that night and hoped she wouldn't bring it up. Lisa knew what was going on and didn't need to ask. She hoped Anya would talk to her about it but knew when the time was right, she would open up to her. Lisa had known about Anya's problems and feared that she would never get past them. She didn't want to push Anya into another relationship especially after she saw the way she freaked out with Justin. Please let her get through this. She doesn't deserve any of this. Please help her.
It was Wednesday morning and Anya had to be at the hospital early to prepare everything for a party for some of the kids. Someone famous was going to be stopping by and meeting with the kids. Anya didn't know who they were but knew it had to be someone big because the kids were all excited. Probably Barney, she thought. She was laughing to herself when she entered the playroom of the children's ward. She noticed the other workers, some nurses and the children all huddled around, what looked like 4 or 5 people. She couldn't tell if they were boys or girls. It wasn't until she heard one of them say her name that she recognized who they were.
"ANYA."
She turned to see Joey making his way through the crowd of people and over to her. "Hey, Joey, what are you doing here? You know some famous people are on their way here. Maybe you can get an autograph if you're good." She said with a grin.
He laughed at her and went to hug her. This time, she let him. She had been so embarrassed by her outburst in front of him and Justin that she swore she wouldn't do that again. Although she liked Joey and felt comfortable around him, having a man's arms around her again frightened her. She quickly got out of his grasp and tried to change the subject so he wouldn't suspect anything.
"So, I didn't know you guys were going to be here today." She tried to act as if nothing had happened.
"Yeah, we like to do stuff like this as often as we can. Hey, come on, I'll introduce you to the others." Joey grabbed her hand and led her over to the table where the others were sitting. "Guys, I would like you to me Anya. This is Lisa's roommate."
"Which ones Lisa again?" One of them said.
"Ha. Ha, very funny, Chris. Just ignore him and maybe he'll go away." Anya tried to stifle her laugh by coughing.
"Nice to meet you, Chris. And let me guess, you must be Lance?" She said as she turned to the blond haired guy beside him.
"That would be me. Nice to meet you Anya. Justin's told us all about you."
Her face dropped. Oh no, I bet they think I am some nut case or something. Great, I need to go hide under a rock now. "He did, did he? Well don't believe everything you hear."
"Believe me, we don't." Lance said with a smile. She liked him immediately. He had a warm smile a lot like Justin did.
"Hey, Anya."
She turned around to find Justin standing before her with another guy. Man he is hot. Justin doesn't look too bad either. "Hey Justin. How are you?" She hadn't seen him since that night at her apartment and she was still embarrassed about the whole thing.
"Fine. How are you doing?" He could tell she was trying to avoid his face. He wanted to ask her about the other night but they were in the middle of visiting the kids.
"Um…I'm fine. Thank you for asking." She turned her attention to the man beside him. "I guess by elimination you must be JC." She extended her hand to him.
He took it and shook her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Anya. I've heard a lot about you." Again, with the talking about me, don't these people keep anything to themselves?
"So I gathered. Justin, exactly what have you been telling your friends about me?" She was starting to get upset with him. She didn't like people talking about her and because nothing good had happened when they met, she knew he told them awful things about her.
"I only told them about how you helped nurse me back to health after Joey landed on me at the park, and that we had a good time with you and Lisa that night." Was he serious, he didn't tell them about me freaking out?
"Oh, sorry, I must have jumped to conclusions. Please accept my apology." She extended her hand to him. He immediately took it and she felt much better. She thought he wasn't lying and knew he didn't tell them everything. She made a mental note to thank him later.
He and the others were soon whisked away by the staff to other parts of the ward to visit those children that couldn't make it out of their rooms. Anya went back to her work and didn't think she would see them again. When her shift was over, she went to the parking lot and was about to get into her car when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She screamed and jumped back, ready to hit the person behind her.
"Woah, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."
"Justin, you scared me to death. What are you doing here?"
"I saw you leave and thought I'd catch up with you and see if I could talk to you for a minute."
"Let me calm down first and then we'll see." She breathed deeply to calm her nerves. When she felt better, she turned to him and said; "okay, what did you want to talk about?" She hoped he wouldn't bring up the other night.
"I was just wondering if you weren't busy if you and Lisa wanted to come over to my house for a Bar-B-Que I'm having on Saturday?"
He didn't mention the other night, thank goodness. "Um… I'll have to check with Lisa but I'm sure it would be okay. Thank you for inviting us." She smiled at him.
He wanted to ask about the other night but seeing her smile, he knew it wouldn't last if he brought the subject up. He let it go for now. "Great. Joey has your number. I'll give you a call later and give you the address."
"Okay, I'll talk to you then." She said as she climbed into her car and took off for home.
Saturday came and Anya and Lisa were on their way to Justin's for the Bar-B-Que. They didn't know what to expect and were surprised when they got there. Instead of a huge fancy house with all the trimmings, he lived very modestly for someone with his kind of money. There were several cars in the driveway and Anya became apprehensive.
"Don't start freaking out now. It's probably just the rest of the guys, that's all." Lisa knew what Anya was thinking.
"I'm not freaking out. I'm just wondering who all the people are."
"Yeah right. How long have we known each other, since birth or something? I know when something is wrong and when you are about to freak out, so don't give me that 'I'm alright' look." Lisa really did know her too well.
"Fine, so I'm feeling a little intimidated that's all. What if there are other people here I don't know? I just feel uncomfortable around strangers."
"I know you do but you are going to have to get over that and move on. These guys are very nice and they want to be our friends. Let loose, have fun, be young." She raised her hands in the air and started dancing in her seat.
Anya had to laugh at her. "Be young? Did you not notice that with the exception of Chris, you and I are the oldest ones?"
"Yeah, so, haven't you ever heard the phrase, age is just a number. You're 24 not 90 so let's PARTY!"
"You are too much, you know that?" She continued to laugh at her friend. "Say, what is up with you and Joey? Are you guys hitting it off or what?"
"No, we are just friends and I'm okay with that. I don't know if I would like to date a pop star. Having millions of teenage girls wanting my head on a platter is not my idea of a good relationship. Besides, Joey is too much of a flirt to settle down with one girl. He needs his space. I'll go out with him but we are just friends. Hey, before I forget, I have a date tomorrow night."
"What, not again? Who is it this time, Nick Carter?"
"Very funny. No it is this guy named Jeff. He is the brother of one of the girls I work with. She is setting me up on a blind date with him."
"He wouldn't be Jeff Timmons of 98 degrees would he?"
"No. What is with you and your pop singers?"
"I'm just giving you a hard time. Sounds like fun. But don't go playing matchmaker on me. I don't want to go on a date anytime soon." She could read Lisa's mind and knew that was going to be her next question.
"I wasn't even going to ask."
"Sure you weren't. Now, let's get in there and, as you said, PARTY!" Anya did her best Lisa impression with hands in the air and all.
"That's my girl. Let's go!" With that, the girls exited Anya's car and went to the front door.
JC met them at the door. "Hey, Anya, right?" She nodded. "It's good to see you again. This must be Lisa." He extended a hand to Lisa and she took it. Man he is hot.
Anya leaned over to whisper in Lisa's ear. "He's hot, huh?"
All Lisa could do was grin. They were going to have a great time today.
The afternoon went by without any major problems. The guys in the group were there, along with some other friends. Together there were about 20 people. Anya felt relaxed for the first time in a long time. She liked all the guys and their friends. She couldn't believe that her and Lisa were in the middle of the all this. She didn't look at the guys as stars. She looked at them as friends she wanted to get to know better.
She looked around the backyard and wanted to just sit and watch the others. There was Joey and Lisa fighting over a can of Coke. Those two deserve each other for fighting over a drink. Then there was Lance, who had just finished talking Anya's head off about something to do with managing or business or something like that. She tried to concentrate on him but was distracted by Chris and his friends who were trying to push people into the pool. She tried to contain her laughter so Lance wouldn't think she was laughing at him. Justin was off playing, what else, basketball with his friends. As she watched the other people around her, she felt a tap on her shoulder. It was JC.
She really liked him. She found JC the easiest to talk with. There was something about him that made her feel at ease right away. "Hey you. How's everything going?"
"Not bad. Just thought I'd come over and talk, if that's okay?" JC asked.
"Yeah, that would be nice."
"So, are you having a good time?" Anya knew JC was hiding something. He looked a little too nervous sitting beside her.
"JC cut the bull, what is it? I can tell something's wrong." Anya folded her arms over her chest and stared at him.
"Well, I was just wondering how you were doing?" She continued to stare at him. "Okay, Justin told me, and only me, about last weekend at your apartment. You know how he was trying to tickle you and you got upset with him. I know we don't know each other very well, but if you want to talk about anything, I'm a pretty good listener." He hoped he wasn't going to make her mad at him.
She took a deep breath before answering him. She wanted to be honest with him but it was too soon and it hurt too badly. "JC, I have a lot of stuff going on in my life that I am trying to deal with. I would love to tell someone about it but I can't right now. Please understand. I know we don't know each other very well but I do feel comfortable with you and maybe one day I can share it with you."
"Does Lisa know?"
"She knows, she just can't help. This is something I have to handle myself. She has opened her home to me and given me all the support I need but there are some things I have to do alone."
He understood completely. Although he lived and traveled with his four best friends, there were some things that he needed to keep to himself and deal with on his own. "I understand. Just remember, if you need anything, let one of us know."
"I will. Thank you JC, that means a lot to me." She reached over and grabbed his hand. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand.
"Anytime."
Just then, she felt someone grab her and pick her up. Before she knew it, she was thrown into the pool, fully clothed. Justin heard her scream and ran over to the pool afraid that she would freak out again. When he got to the pool, he was surprised at what he saw. She had pulled Chris in the pool with her and both of them were laughing their heads off. He had to smile at the sight. It was nice to see her smile and laugh.
"Hey, I have a rule about this pool, bathing suits only." Justin said, trying to hold his laughter back.
"Birthday suits? Is that what you said? Okay if you insist." Chris started to take his shirt off.
"Oh my Lord, I'm out of here." Anya said as she swam over to the edge. Justin was right there waiting with a towel for her.
"I can't believe you got Chris in there, too."
"Hey, you throw me in, you're coming with me." She laughed. Her laughter was contagious and soon Justin followed.
"Come on inside, I'll give you some clothes to change into." He led her into the house and up to his room. He gave her a shirt and shorts, obviously too big, but anything was better than being soaking wet. "Sorry, this is all I have."
"I'm sure they'll be okay, thanks." She noticed that he wasn't leaving the room. "Um…I guess I should change now."
He realized what he was doing. "Oh I am so sorry. I wasn't even thinking. Okay, I'll leave now."
She had to laugh at him. He is too cute.
Anya returned outside a few minutes later to find several people already gone. She walked up to Justin to ask him if he needed any help cleaning up. "Hey, thanks, that would be great."
They gathered all the plates and cups then began to clean everything up. While she was picking up some garbage, the shirt she was wearing came up a little to show a scar on her back. It wasn't too noticeable but Justin had been close enough to her that he could see it. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but how did you get that scar on your back?"
This was the wrong question to ask her. She stood up straight, handed him the trash and walked over to Lisa without saying a word to him. "We need to go now."
"What's going on, Anya, you don't look so good."
"I said NOW. Please I need to leave." With that, Lisa said her good-byes and the girls were heading out to Anya's car.
"Wait up." They heard someone shout.
Lisa turned around to see who it was but Anya yanked her by the arm. "Hurry up, I can't do this right now."
"Anya wait, please, whatever I said I'm sorry." They heard Justin say as he approached them.
Anya stopped walking. She turned around to face him. "Justin, listen, I'm sorry I just left back there but I can't do this, please don't ask about my scars again."
He could see she was on the verge of tears and he let it go. He didn't like to see people cry. "Okay, sorry I said anything. Listen, can I call you later? Maybe we can do something later in the week?"
"I don't know, Justin, I'll have to see." She turned back around, got into her car and left.