“Good morning, Lance.” She said rubbing her eyes.
“Morning.” He said noticing how red her eyes were from the previous night of crying. “You’re eyes are all red.” He avoided the fact that he knew something was wrong and that he knew she was crying over it.
“They are? Well do you have any Visine?” He pointed to the drawers. She got up and excused herself telling Lance that she’d be down in a second. He nodded his head and went downstairs. When he got there, he noticed that Joey had managed to get off the floor and get his rear downstairs. Kristina had come out of the den acting as if she had just woken up. JC, too, had woken up and was fixing his bed so he can change the bed back into a couch. Julie walked in and noticed Lance looking at her. She assumed that he was just making sure she was okay. He gave her the look telling her that they needed to talk. She nodded her head. Kristina sat in Joey’s lap as JC struggled with the bed.
“It’s a little too late to have breakfast, don’t you think.” Joey said bringing Kristina closer to him to keep him warm.
“Yeah, he’s right. How about we cook you girls some lunch.” Chris said. The four girls looked at each other with worried looks on their faces. The thought of the guys cooking the food was terrible. After much deliberation, the girls gave in and allowed the guys to cook for them. While they were waiting, the girls set up the table in the poolhouse out back. If the guys were going to cook, they wanted their eating environment to be different, since the guys cooking was strange enough. An hour and a half, one really messy kitchen, and five tired guys later their lunch was finished…finally. They moved all the cook food into the poolhouse amazed at what the girls had done to the room.
“Girls, this looks awesome.” Lance said. He took his seat next to Julie.
“Thanks, we didn’t do much to it. Just moved some stuff over and cleaned up a bit. Oh yeah, the lighting is pretty good, and the flowers, oh and look, those are nice too.” Shelley said referring to the candles in each corner of the room. Everyone laughed and dug into the food. The girls were a little hesitant at first being as this was the very first time the guys every cooked anything for the girls. They saw that they were still healthy and breathing so they started devouring the food. Justin avoided talking to Julie, let along looking at her. He did a good job at it. An hour later everyone had finished eating.
“That was delicious!” Shelley said sinking in her chair. “Yum!”
“Glad you liked it.” Justin said. Kristina and JC were playing billiards with Chris and Audrey. Joey was passed out on the couch from eating too much. Lance and Julie offered to clean up. They took the dishes and cooking ware back to the house and into the dishwasher.
“Remind me to thank the person who invented this wonderful machine.” Julie said patting the door of the dishwasher.
“I think that person is dead.” Lance said laughing.
“Oh…well thank you dishwasher man.” She said looking out the window seeing Justin. She got quiet.
“What’s wrong?” He said noticing her silence.
“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong. What makes you think something’s wrong?” Julie said avoiding having to talk about earlier in the bathroom.
“Julie, don’t give me that. Please, tell me.” He said looking into her eyes. She felt weak at the knees and pulled Lance towards her. She hugged him and led him back outside.
“What are you doing?” He asked puzzled.
“I’ll tell you. But right now I have to figure things out for myself.”
“Okay, I’ll give you that.” Lance said, walking hand in hand with Julie back to the poolhouse. Inside, the energy in the room could be used to light up an entire town. Even though, they were out till 3 in the morning and woke up so late in the day, they were still pumped because they were with each other. Kristina was the silent one today and it was driving everyone crazy. She still didn’t have a voice from Disney World. Her words came out muffled and very hard to understand. They had the radio on and everytime one of her favorite songs would come out she would throw a fit because she couldn’t sing to it. Everyone had to laugh at her efforts.
“Kristina!” JC said. “You should have told us you lose your voice easily. I can’t stand this silence coming from you. You just look so sweet and innocent watching us.”
Kristina just smiled. She was surprised she’d get more attention when not speaking. Audrey, Shelley, and Julie laughed.
“What’s so funny?” JC said.
“Oh, it’s just that we knew this whole time and yet we said nothing!” Shelley said.
“Thanks girls. You’re the best!” He said sarcastically.
“We know.” They all said in unison. Kristina was getting frustrated because everyone had stopped playing pool. She was jumping up and down trying to get JC to pick up his cue and take his turn. JC looked at her with a strange look on his face. He finally realized it was his turn and Kristina smacked him upside his head.
“Thanks, Kris. I love you too.” Kristina could only smile.
Hours later, everyone had taken their showers and gotten ready for a very unplanned day. They had no clue what to do next. The guys didn’t have anything scheduled so they have the whole day to themselves with the girls. Julie was upstairs fixing the beds; a few tears had fallen from her eyes. Lance walked in to see what she was doing.
“Why are you doing that?” He asked helping her out.
“Um…well it’s okay. I don’t have a problem with it.” She said hurrying up with the bed she was making so she could leave before Lance said anything.
“Whoa, slow down!” He said. He walked over to her and took her hands in his. She looked up and saw the sincerity in his eyes.
“I take it you want to talk.” She sat down on the floor at the end of the bed. Lance sat on the bed looking down at her.
“Yes, now will you please begin.”
“Um… okay… It all started yesterday…” She started telling Lance about the day. Lance listened to every little detail Julie was giving him. She would stop momentarily trying so hard not to shed a tear. Lance wouldn’t push her and waited till she was ready to talk again. He held her hand through the majority of the conversation. “Then last night…he…he yelled at me.”
“He what?” Lance said getting defensive.
“He yelled at me and told me he never wanted to talk ever again. He even had the nerve to tell me that I don’t exist to him.” She said starting to cry more than ever. Lance sat down on the floor and cradled Julie in his arms.
“Julie, don’t believe him. He didn’t mean it.” He said wiping her tears away.
“Yes he did. Did you see him in the poolhouse? He didn’t say a word to me. Again if looks could kill, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. He hates me. I should have never said anything to JC. I wish I could have never overheard Justin talking to himself. I messed up badly. I just hope I get accepted to college soon so I can leave this horrid place.”
“Julie don’t listen to Justin. It’s his fault. Look at what he’s doing to you, you’re a nervous wreck. You can’t be scared of him. You’re just letting him get to you. Don’t! If he yells at you again it’s because he’s insecure and has no other way out. You’re better than that. The last thing I want is for you to feel lower than Justin is. C’mon, you can outsmart Justin with the best of ‘em. Don’t let this bother you.”
Julie looked up at Lance and kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it.” He said kissing her hand. “Just ignore him. Don’t try and be friends with him again. He has to learn from his mistakes. He’ll regret saying those horrible things to you and in no time he’ll be in the palm of your hands again.” This caused Julie to show that evil smile Lance always loved seeing on her when she came up with devious plans.
“I’ve always had control of Justin didn’t I? Suits him. Too bad he won’t talk to me anymore. Oh well, thanks again for listening.”
There was an awkward silence when Lance realized something Julie had said. “…Wait did you just say accepted to college? What do you mean?” He said looking at her.
“I took a year off from any school whatsoever and started applying to colleges a little before Christmas time. When I get accepted to a college I’m leaving. It’s not like I’m really living at home. I’ve been over at Audrey’s house and she’s welcomed me with open arms. My parents know I’m staying there are for what I know, they don’t really care. I haven’t told the girls that I’ve been applying to colleges yet. I needed to find the perfect opportunity and I haven’t found it yet.” Julie looked up at Lance and could see the hurt expression on his face.
He got up and walked towards the door. “Wait. Lance say something.”
“Julie, you can’t leave.” He whispered.
“Why? Why not?” She said.
“Because…” Lance said. Kristina was calling the two of them from the bottom of the stairs. The group was going to decide what to do and need those two to be there. “Look, I’ll…Later okay.”
Julie nodded and walked down. Everyone sat around. Julie saw that Justin and JC were sitting on the opposite side of the room. Kristina was sitting on Joey’s lap again. Chris and Audrey were cuddled together on the floor. Shelley sat in between Justin and Lance. Julie sat on the other side of Kristina.
“So where are we going?” JC asked. Julie and Justin both began to speak at the same time. He shot a look towards her; Julie shut herself up instantly. Justin continued talking.
“I was thinking that maybe we could just stay home. I mean the girls are going back to school next week right? We should just spend some quality time here.”
“Well Julie and I don’t have school.” Audrey said.
“Oh that’s right. Well, okay. So I take it you two will be hanging around here?” Chris asked.
“No, I think we’ll be at my apartment. So someone’s home when Kristina comes home from school.”
“Okay, I guess. Kristina doesn’t drive to school?” He asked.
“Not anymore. I took away her driving privileges. Not because she got in an accident, because she’s well…”
“A bad driver! I’m kidding. Audrey’s just worried that’s all.” Shelley said. “That’s why I drive her home.” Everyone laughed. Kristina shot a look at Audrey and Shelley. “Okay, I’m sorry, geez!”
“We still don’t know what we are doing today?” JC said getting irritated. Just then his cell phone rang. “Hello?” he said walking out of the room.
Everyone continued talking. JC came back a few moments later. “Okay, so we do have something to do. We have a surprise photo shoot to go to ASAP. We need to be there at 3:00.” He looked at his watch and it was already 2:45.
“Looks like we have to go girls. Wait, do you want to come with?” The girls looked at him strangely.
“Do you really have to ask?” Audrey said. They all got up and went into their cars. Once they got there, the photographer asked that the girls be seated behind the cameras. They did so and watched as the guys were ordered around. The girls have never been to a real photo shoot before and it was a sight to see. About twenty minutes later, the guys came out with their wardrobe. In the background, they could hear the girls whistling and cheering, causing the guys to laugh.
“Would you just look at how cute they are!” Shelley said.
“Yep, I know. I’m dating one of them!” Audrey said laughing. Shelley agreed. Julie and Kristina just sat there silently watching the guys. Just then a voice rang through the loud speakers.
“I need the *NSYNC guys in wardrobe for the next shoot.” The girl said. “Adaria will be here in a second.”
The guys followed a lady into a room and were seated in their own seats. Adaria, the hair stylist, came in to re-vamp the guys for the next shoot. She walked in wearing a black knee cut skirt and a baby blue halter-top, immediately catching the guys’ attentions. She walked over to JC’s chair and started messing around with his hair. JC stared into the mirror with such awe in his eyes. He noticed her deep brown hair and her reddish highlights. Her blue eyes captivating him as she ran her gelled fingers through his hair. She was finished with his hair and went over to Justin not taking her eyes of off him. She reached over for a bottle of water to spray down his curls so she could fix his hair. Instead, she reached a bit too far and got the orange hair dye spray in her hands; her glance still fixated on JC. She started spraying the dye in Justin’s hair. Adaria had sprayed so much in Justin’s hair that it started dripping down the sides of his face.
“Oh my god!” Justin yelled. “You’re turning my hair ORANGE!”
Adaria came back to the world of reality and noticed that she had reached for the wrong bottle. “I’m so sorry, Mr. Timberlake!” She wiped off her hands and ran out of the room.
“This better come out! I need a NEW hair stylist!” He said storming out of the dressing room. Joey, Lance, Chris, and even JC were laughing uncontrollably. Kristina and the girls walked into the room also laughing. They had seen Justin raving about his hair outside with the main hair stylist. Adaria had come back into the room to apologize to Justin. He wasn’t in the room so she waited with the others. Audrey kept looking over at Adaria. She walked over to her and started conversation.
“I know you from somewhere, don’t I?” Audrey asked. “My name’s Audrey.
“Um…I’m Adaria.” She said trying to remember her. “I’m not sure.”
“Wait. You went to Monroe College, didn’t you? Or still do?”
“Yeah I still do. Are you…Audrey…Conners?”
“Yeah.”
“The Audrey Conners! The one who went out with Steve?”
“Yep, that’s me.” She said blushing. She saw Chris’ reaction and had to laugh.
“Oh man, when you broke up with him, before you graduated, that was the talk of the school. FINALLY someone set him straight. No one really talks to him anymore. And it’s all because of you!” Adaria said happily.
Audrey smiled as she and Adaria reminisced about the years they shared while Audrey went to that college. Justin soon came back into the room, his hair still orange. “You are still here?” He said. He wasn’t having the best couple of days and he was sure showing it.
“I came back to apologize to you. I wasn’t really paying much attention. So I’m sorry.” She said eyeing JC. JC looked over at Adaria, eyeing her up and down. They never once took their eyes off of one another.
Kristina saw this and walked out of the room without anyone noticing. She walked outside and let herself into Justin’s car. She sat there thinking if JC was being serious about Adaria.
Justin looked at Adaria and realized how completely obnoxious he has been. “I’m sorry too. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. Just please tell me this will come off.” He said realizing that he’s yelled at a lot of people lately.
“It will. Sit over there and I’ll wash it out for you.” Justin walked across the room and sat in the chair, leaning back and waiting for Adaria to rinse out his hair. She slowly walked over there, swaying her hips from side to side, making sure JC was taking it all in. He looked up at her as she did. They made eye contact once more as she started to run the water and wash Justin’s hair. She broke their stare and concentrated on Justin’s fro. She was all finished and the main hair stylist came in to finish what she had started. Justin looked at the mirror’s reflection and saw everyone sitting, talking to one another. He didn’t see Kristina anywhere.
“Guys, where’s Kristina?” He asked getting the finishing touches on his Afro.
“Um…right behind m…” Julie said turning around and not seeing her. They looked around the room and didn’t see anyone. He got up out of the chair and ran outside. The photographer saw the five guys all come out and assumed they were ready for the next shoot. He hustled them over there and began shooting. The guys were forced to stay there while the girls went out to look for Kristina. It was time for their individual shots. After JC had taken his, he went back into wardrobe to see if Kristina came back in there. He looked inside and only saw Adaria. She walked up to him and gently kissed him, catching him off guard. He pulled away.
“What are you doing?” He asked.
“I thought this is what you’ve been wanting.” She said leaning in for another kiss. “You’ve been staring at me like you needed that.”
“No it’s not. Okay, so I was staring, but that’s it. I looked but didn’t want to touch. I have a girl I’m going after so back off.” He said. He looked over her shoulder and saw a someone standing there.”
“Care to tell me what is going on?” Adaria’s boyfriend was standing in the doorway. “Babe, is this guy bothering you?”
“He just kissed me!” She said turning the whole situation around.
“What?” He said. JC was asking the same thing. Her boyfriend walked up to JC and punched him leaving a hefty bruise on his right cheek. The two walked out of the wardrobe room, leaving JC on the floor. Everyone came back to see what all the commotion was and saw JC on the floor. The guys came into the room to get JC for the final shoot. They saw him on the floor and helped him up. The bruise was already swelling.
“JC, are you okay man?” Joey said. “I’ve had my shares of girls hitting me but this is ridiculous.”
“It wasn’t a girl, it was the girl’s boyfriend. Adaria kissed me thinking it’s what I wanted. Turns out her boyfriend was standing right there and she turned it around making it look like I kissed her and he just punched the daylights out of me.” JC said getting some ice on the bruise.
“A guard told me he saw Kristina leave for my car, she’s out there waiting.” Justin said. “We should hurry and get you into make-up to see if they can cover that. Then we’ll go home.”
Everyone agreed and waited till the guys finished up. A half-hour later, the guys were all ready and they trucked out to their cars. Kristina was sleeping inside the Benz. Justin woke her up and told her everything that happened inside. She felt guilty for believing JC would go to someone else. She waited until they got home to talk to him. She was sitting on his left side and didn’t see the bruise. They reached Justin’s house an hour later after stopping by and grabbing some burgers at McDonalds. They sat down around the coffee table in the living room talking. Kristina and JC walked into the kitchen to get everyone drinks.
“Oh my god!” Kristina yelled seeing JC’s bruise. Her voice was scratchy and still hard to understand. “What happened?”
“Adaria’s boyfriend punched me.” He said. He started to explain to her the whole situation.
“I’m sorry I just left the room. I just got a bad vibe and couldn’t stand being in there any longer.” She whispered; her voice was coming back ever so slowly.
“That’s okay, Kris. Just shows that you do care about me.”
“I do? Yeah right!” She said walking out of the room with the container of ice. She turned around and looked over her shoulder and smiled sweetly at JC, who returned the smile. He walked out after her carrying the drinks. JC was having the hardest time eating his food. He’s open his mouth and shriek out in pain. Kristina ended up feeding his him food little by little. The light dinner had ended and everyone sat around talking. Joey, Shelley, JC and Kristina went back into the poolhouse to play some more billiards. Chris, Audrey and Justin were inside chatting. Julie was upstairs with Lance; they had to finish the conversation from before.
“So…” She said sitting on the floor next to him.
“Yeah,” He said.
“Okay, I can’t keep this in any longer. Why can’t I leave Lance? Why?”
“Because…” He started. He couldn’t find a valid reason why she couldn’t leave.
“If you can’t seem to find a reason then don’t say anything and just let me tell the girls about my decision. I know they will let me leave, they want me to be successful in life. But because you have to say ‘because’, I’m hesitant to leave. I’m scared to. This is the only family I’ve really grown to love, this one. Just the nine of us.”
“Julie, you’re one of my best friends. I mean it has to mean something that the first time we met we hated each other. Tell me that has no significance to it?”
Julie laughed. She remembered her hatred for Lance and when everything was settled, she began to remember all the fun times they’ve shared in the past couple weeks. The late phone calls to each other while he was in Hawaii. Their rendezvous with the late night snacks, everything the two have been through together was coming back into her memory.
“Yes, there’s a big significance. Lance, look, you’ll always be that special friend. The one I can count on to pick a useless fight with. Nothing will change. And if I do go to college, I probably won’t be leaving till mid-session and that’s next January.”
“Oh, well in that case.” He said with a grin. “I give you permission to leave for college.”
“Thank you, Lance.” She said kissing his cheek again and bringing him closer for a hug. They walked back downstairs into the living room where Audrey, Chris, and Justin were.
“What have you two been up to?” Chris said adjusting his seating position so Audrey could be more comfortable.
“Upstairs talking. I had something on my mind that I had to tell him,” Julie said.
“Oh okay, well when the guys leave, I’m all ears, if you still need to talk.” Audrey said.
“I know.” Julie said. She caught Justin staring at her. It made her very uneasy. She tried to go with what Lance had said but his stare was too much. She got up, took Lance’s hand, and walked to the poolhouse with the others. Justin got up and followed Julie, hoping he could talk to her.
Chris and Audrey sat in the living room stunned. “Even at home, we’re left alone! I thought it was only at Disney World. Why? No one loves us anymore, Chris!” Audrey said laughing. But then again she couldn’t complain; she was with Chris and they had more time to themselves. Chris got up and remembered something he had gotten for her while in Hawaii. He excused himself and walked upstairs to his room.
“Great, now even my own boyfriend is leaving me! What is this world coming to today? Is it ‘leave Audrey hanging week’?” Audrey said sinking into the couch.
To Be Continued…