"I don't know...like before, technically, I'm not legal yet...so yeah." She said shifting her head so it lay on his chest.
"Ugh...Well only about a month now." He said.
"Yep." The two were silent for a moment.
"I'll be right back." He said getting up and walking outside of the poolhouse.
"Hey! I was comfortable!" She yelled causing JC to laugh.
About ten minutes later, JC came back and found Kristina asleep once again. He kissed her forehead and carried her into the house, placing her in the den on his bed. He stayed in there with her setting a single red rose on the pillow.
**Back with Justin**
Justin kept walking towards his room trying to avoid the person who stopped him and might have possibly overheard him talking to himself. He got to his room and closed the door behind him hoping the question would stop. He walked over to the bed and fell back covering his face with a pillow.
"Please don't say anything!" He said outloud.
Just then the adjoining door to the bathroom opened. Justin had the slightest clue someone else came in.
"Care to explain what happened down there?"
Justin jumped off the bed startled to see who came in. He knew he had to give in and explain his actions.
**In the Living room**
Chris and Audrey sat on the couch waiting for the others to get ready. JC walked out of the den and put on a flannel and sat with Chris.
"Where have you been?" He asked.
"With Kristina." He said with a smile.
"Kristina? Where?" Audrey asked. Just then three more people entered the living room.
"Ready to go?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, hold on. Jc was just about to tell us something." Audrey said.
"Anyway, she was in the poolhouse sleeping after she made us breakfast.
She's in my room still sleeping."
"Okay well that's good." Chris said. "Are you three all ready to go?"
They nodded their heard. "Where's Justin? Isn't he coming? What about..." JC asked.
"No, they are both upstairs doing something more important I guess. They really didn’t' want to go." Audrey interrupted.
"Hey, can we leave NOW?" Joey asked getting impatient.
"Yea, we can leave." Chris said followed by Joey and two others.
"What aren't you going with them?" JC asked Shelley.
"Oh, I don't know. I wanted to be here when Kris wakes up."
"Okay, cool." The two sat and watched t.v.
**In Justin's room**
"Explain what?" He said trying to play it off.
"Explain what you were talking about on your way back from the poolhouse."
"I was just thinking, that's all. Nothing more than that, why are you so curious anyway?"
"Because it's not like you to act like this. You're being secretive and you're not like that."
Justin stared at the ceiling and sighed. He didn’t' think for a moment that someone would eventually notice his actions around Kristina.
**Back in the Living room**
"Wonder what Justin is doing?" JC asked.
"He's talking to..."
Just then Kristina walked in with the rose in her hand. Shelley walked over and gave her a hug then sat across the couch so she could sit with JC.
"How are you?" Shelley asked.
"Well rested! One thing's for sure...Cory's out of my life FOR GOOD."
"Thank goodness." JC exclaimed.
"Yeah well don't get overly excited." Kristina said leaning back against JC.
"I'm not. I'm just glad you're home." He said kissing her head.
The three sat and continued watching t.v. Several minutes later a big noise rang throughout the house startling the three. "I should go check on that." The other two looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders.
**Back with Justin**
"Thanks for caring but I'm pretty sure I can make it on my own." Justin said picking up the basketball he threw at the wall.
"Justin, just let it all out. I know something is wrong. I won't tell anyone else, you know me."
"That's not what I'm really worried about."
"Then what's bothering you?"
"I'm just confused. I think I'm...falling in love with..."
"With Shelley? That's great. I'm happy for you!"
"NO! That’s not who I was going to say!"
"What?"
Just then the door opened, no one in the room noticed. "I wonder what those two are up to. How about I just stand here and eavesdrop."
Justin saw the shocked expression appear.
"Who are you referring to then?"
"Um... I just don't think I could ever feel this way about Shelley like i do about her. The more and more I think of it, it makes sense. I love her."
"Who JUSTIN? WHO are you talking about?"
**Outside the door**
"Oh my god. I'm not hearing this. I'm going back downstairs."
Running down the stairs caused a collision. "Ouch! Kristina said hitting the floor.
"I know same here. I didn't see you coming." JC said pointing in the directions the two were coming from.
"Likewise, you came out of nowhere!" She said laughing.
"Well whatever, let's go join Shelley in the living room!" He said getting off the floor and helping Kristina up.
Shelley, Krisitna, and JC sat and watched the tube as Chris and his group came waltzing through the door.
“Um…back so early?” Kristina asked. “From what I was told, you left like FIFTEEN WHOLE MINUTES AGO!”
“Yeah, we couldn’t decide where to go and eat so we gave up and drove home. Besides we all want to know what happened with you. We can fix something up here or order out.” Audrey said sitting next to her.
**Back in Justin’s room**
“Please Justin, tell me who you feel this way about! Maybe I can help.”
“How? How can you possibly help the way I feel? You can’t! No one can help me! I love her and tell me HOW you are going to fix any of this!”
“I’m sorry, I thought I could help.”
“Just don’t say ANYTHING to anyone.”
“You’re going to tell me?”
“Yes! I love Kristina… I LOVE HER!” There was silence in the room. Justin spoke once more. “I care about her so much. Since the day I followed her to the roof till now. She makes my day complete when I see her smile. Not a day goes by when I don’t think about her. There are days when I am wishing I could hold her and kiss her and be with her all the time. The scent of her perfume, the way she runs her fingers through her hair, the way she stresses over the smallest of things, all those things mean the world to me. And when she left the airport, I was crushed to see her in so much pain. I would never put her through that…I care about her way too much.”
“But what about Shelley? You two share something special.”
“Do we? I care about Shelley, but will my feelings about her ever compare to the feelings I have for Kristina? NO.” Justin saw a shocked but emotional look. “Please, keep this between us. I don’t know how everyone would act if this comes out.”
“I will.”
“Especially JC…he cares so much for her and he will wait for her until she turns 18 and will probably make it official. I see those two together and it hurts me to see how happy they are together. I can’t lose her to him.”
“But…J…”
“What?”
“Nevermind. I think I hear Chris and Audrey downstairs. Maybe we should join them.”
“Okay. Before they start worrying. Thanks for listening.”
The two walked out and joined the others downstairs. “Hey you two.” Kristina said hugging Justin. “I’m so glad all of you are here now.”
“We’re glad you’re home.”
Kristina sat around talking and talking, explaining the previous night. They shared outbursts of laughter while eating pizza. Justin sat watching Kristina closely. He noticed so many things about her and it was killing him more inside to see her wrapped in JC’s arms, laughing and crying. Kristina turned her head and caught Justin looking at her. She turned a little red and got out of JC’s arms and looked over at Shelley for permission. She nodded her head and Kristina sat in Justin’s lap and rested her head on his shoulder as she kept talking. Justin wrapped his arms tightly around Kristina sweetly.
“What are you doing?” He whispered to her.
“Being with you. You’ve been the absolute best throughout all this and I’m glad we are such good friends, you’ll always be my best friend. I love ya.” She whispered back to him.
Best friends. Justin thought. Hopefully that will soon change.
Everyone watched as the two close friends sat and talked amongst themselves. You could see how they interacted with each other, and how close of friends they are; little did they know that Justin had feelings more than that of just friends for Kristina.
A couple hours later, everyone was getting ready that they all needed a break from all the problems in the world. They all decided to go to Disney World and since it was Monday, there wouldn’t be a big crowd. JC called in and asked to keep the park open a little after closing hours to have the theme park to themselves. The manager agreed and were settled to meet at the park at around 7:00 p.m.
It was 3:00 and the group still had hours to kill. Kristina began to notice how Chris and Audrey were acting towards each other. Out of nowhere, she started talking. “Are you two going out?”
Chris and Audrey looked at each other and blushed. “Well?” Kristina said enjoying all of this.
“Yeah…are you?” Julie asked.
“Yes we are.” Chris said hugging Audrey tighter.
“He asked me last night and we weren’t really going to say anything till tonight, but Kristina over her didn’t take long to figure it out.”
“I know, I’m good.” She said laughing.
“And that you are.” Justin said tickling her. Everyone shared even more laughs. JC began to notice the way Justin was acting towards Kristina. He didn’t think much of it then and continued talking with everyone else.
“I’m going to clean this all up,” JC said looking at the empty pizza boxes and soda cans that were left. “Julie, Lance help me out here.”
“Okay.” They both said and trucked over to the kitchen to dispose of the boxes and gather up the paper plates and what not.
JC seemed a little tense after the thought of Justin and Kristina being together. He was off in one corner cleaning up. Julie and Lance were crushing the soda cans with the crusher. One of them walked up to JC.
“Hey, what’s wrong?”
“Oh nothing.” He said trying to fight off his emotions.
“Yes there is. I know.”
“Know? Know what?”
“I’m not suppose to say anything but I will because I can’t see you like this, just like I couldn’t see him stressing and if he hates me for it then let it be so.”
“What are you talking about?” JC said.
“Justin and Kristina.” JC’s eyes lit up at the sound of her name. “What about the two?”
“He…”
“He what?” JC said getting irritated.
“He loves Kristina.”
“I know he does…everyone does.” JC said trying to ease up his tension.
“NO! He loves her like someone would love their soul mate.”
“WHAT?” JC said trying so hard not to believe what he was hearing.
“Keep it down.”
“Sorry. How do you know this? HE told you?”
“I over heard him talking and I got it out of him. PLEASE, you can’t let him know you know something.”
“I won’t. Thanks for letting me know though.”
“Welcome. I guess. Now I just feel terrible. I promised him I wouldn’t say anything!”
“Don’t worry, I’ll make sure you don’t get in trouble.”
“What’s everyone talking about?”
“Oh nothing anymore. Let’s go out.” JC said followed by Julie and Lance.
Kristina had left Justin and was back on the couch sitting with JC. She noticed how tense he was and ran behind the couch and gave him a massage.
“Better?” She said whispering into his ear.
“Mmmm…much. Thank you.” He said.
It was nearing 4:00; everyone had dispersed into his or her own rooms to get ready for Disney World. Since half of the group stayed home the showers were all taken and from anywhere in the house you could hear someone pounding on the door to hurry up. It was total chaos to try and get nine people all ready for the night.
Chris and Audrey had gotten ready earlier that morning after breakfast and were downstairs on the couch with their arms wrapped around each other. They were happier than ever. Audrey felt so good about her own being and has been just as content with her life since she got custody of Kristina.
“What are you thinking about?” Chris asked kissing her cheek.
“You actually. And my life since we met.”
“And…”
“And I know that this is the best part of my life. You are.” She said returning a long awaited kiss.
“I just want you to know that I’m here for you. I always have been and always will be...” He said.
They sat and talked some more. The world around them didn’t matter. They were finally with each other and to them, that was enough. Those few minutes that the two shared on that couch would stay with them for the rest of their lives. A new connection was being made one that can’t be broken. They reminisced about their trip to Hawaii and how much fun it was. Chris watched as Audrey ranted on about the jet-ski experience and the luau where they danced underneath the moonlight. Nothing could ruin such a perfect moment between the two.
Kristina walked in on the two all ready to leave. She stood at the bottom of the stairs observing how happy they are. She saw Justin and suddenly remembered what happened early with her. She walked over to the kitchen to join him at the counter.
“Anything you want to talk about?”
“What do you mean?”
“Um…” She said, not wanting him to know that she sort of eavesdropped.
“Well…”
“Nothing, I was just worried because I overheard some of your conversation with…”
“You what?”
“I’m sorry. I went to go check on the loud thud we heard downstairs and I heard you talking so I kind of got curious to know what you two were babbling about.”
“I can’t believe you listened in on our conversation! It was meant to be private. PRIVATE!”
“Okay. I’m sorry.” She said walking out of the kitchen nearly in tears. “I heard one line from your FREAKING conversation. ONE LINE!”
Justin sat there trying to register what Kristina had just said. “Kristina, WAIT!” But Kristina was already headed for the door covering her ears, trying to block out Justin’s voice.
Audrey and Chris had gotten up to see what was happening. The door swung open and hot Chris, causing him to fall to the floor. Kristina walked out aggressively and into the den where JC was. She plopped down on his bed and started crying softly.
“Hun, what’s wrong?” He said walking over to her.
“Nothing, nothing anymore. Just stay here with me until we leave.” She said taking a pillow and crying into that.
“Of course.” He said pulling up the ottoman and sitting next to the bed watching her.
**In the kitchen**
“Justin, what happened in here?”
“Nothing. She told me something and I took it the wrong way and raised my voice a bit.”
“You know this is a hard time for her right now. She didn’t deserve being yelled at.” Chris said.
“I know. Hopefully at Disney World, I can settle things.”
They walked out of the kitchen and waited for Joey, Julie, Shelley and Lance to finish getting ready. They were all silent, not saying a word to each other. Julie and Lance had walked down the stairs together. It seemed as if something was wrong with them also.
“Please tell me nothing is wrong with the two of you!” Audrey said getting tired of everyone having problems.
“Uh…no, we’re good.” They said looking at each other, obvious to them that they were lying.
Shelley and Joey had come down. Shelley walked over to Justin and sat in front of him on the floor by the couch. She also noticed how Justin was rather quiet but didn’t do a thing about it and waited with the others for JC and Kristina.
“I should go get them. Too much time has passes by and we have to be there in 45 minutes.” Chris said.
He walked into the room and saw JC sitting next to Kristina. “Hey man, we’re leaving now.”
“Okay, we’ll be right out.” Chris walked out and JC turned to tell Kristina they were ready to leave. She was already up and fixing her make-up.
“Do you want me to stay with you tonight?”
“As much as I would love that, it would seem too obvious that something is wrong. Just be the friend I know you’ve been lately.”
“Okay.” He said running his fingers through her hair. “Shall we?”
“We shall.” She said taking his extended hand. They walked hand in hand outside to meet the others. They were already in their cars, honking the horns for the two to come out. The two ran through the door. Kristina stopped jerking JC back to her.
“What is it?” He said not noticing who was still in the living room. He looked inside the house to see Julie sitting on the couch with a worried look on her face.
“Jewels, we’re leaving.” Kristina said.
“Huh?” She said seeing JC and Kristina standing above her.
“It’s about what you…” JC started.
“Yeah… but don’t say anything because well…” Julie said hinting over in Kristin’s direction.
“O…Kay. Look, let’s go they are all waiting for us.” Kristina said getting more and more confused. They all walked out and locked the front door behind them.
“We’re coming, we’re coming! Goodness people!” JC said running outside with Kristina and Julie closely behind. Julie jumped into Justin’s car eyeing him as she sat in the passenger side next to him. He knew she wasn’t too happy with what she heard in the room. Kristina stopped when she saw that they had to go in separate cars. She looked at JC pleading with him to work something out. He knew that she didn’t want to be in the same car as Justin the whole ride over there, from everything he was told in the kitchen he really didn’t want to either.
“How about I move?” Joey said thinking that the two just wanted to be together, being totally oblivious to the situation between them and Justin. “I kind of want to leave.”
“Thanks, Joe. I love you!” Kristina said hugging him. “You’re my knight in shining armor.”
“Yeah, yeah. Now let’s roll.” He said getting in Justin’s Benz. They drove off to Disney World right on schedule.
To Be Continued…