“Hey! Glad you can come, Audrey!”Chris said kissing her cheek as a welcome.
“Glad to be here,” she said almost blushing.
“So where’s Kristina?” he said looking behind Audrey.
“She’ll be here. She’s bringing along a friend of hers, if that’s ok. It was kind of short notice and well Kristina wanted to bring her along.”
“Yeah that’s ok! I’m sure Justin won’t mind,” Chris said walking with her towards the rest of the party.
Justin looked over and saw Audrey and immediately ran to her and picked her up. “Justin Randall Timberlake put me down now!!” She screamed making everyone turn their heads.
“Justin, I think you should. She just used your whole name!” Joey said laughing.
He put her down and she smacked him upside his head. “Ouch!” Justin said rubbing his head.
“Oh I’m sorry. It’s just that I haven’t been feeling all that well and I’ve been trying to get better so I could go here. I’m still a little woozy,” she said.
“Awww, Audrey’s sick. Here you can have my seat,” Chris said standing up again.
“Thanks Chris.”
“Audrey, where’s Krisitna?” Justin said trying not to sound anxious.
“Well she’s coming up here with a friend of hers. She’s driving so if ya hear screeching noises outside it’s probably her.” They all laughed at the thought of Kristina driving. Although they hadn’t seen her drive an actual car, only go-carts, they knew to watch out.
JC came in to see what all the commotion was and saw Audrey. “Hey girl, what’s up!” he said giving her a hug. “How’s my fave gal?”
“Umm ... JC, do you want something?” Audrey said laughing.
“Nah, I’m just glad to see you that’s all. So where’s my babe Kris?”
Justin overheard JC saying something about Kristina to Audrey so he went to join in their conversation. “Well Kris isn’t here yet. She went to go pick up a friend and so she’ll be here soon, hopefully in one piece,” Audrey said realizing Justin standing in between her and JC. “Yes Justin you can talk with us,” she said sarcastically.
“I’m sorry. I just needed to do something til Kristina gets here,” he said.
Just at that moment, Kristina’s car came screeching through the streets. “She’s here!” they all said in unison.
Kristina got out of her car and dragged her friend along with her. They got to the door to see everyone standing there waiting for her. “Glad you can finally make it,” Joey said giving her a hug. “How many traffic violations did you make this time?”
“Excuse you, I was perfectly fine this time,” she said laughing. “Besides I wasn’t driving that fast.”
“Uh huh sure, so try and explain the tire marks over there,” Lance said pointing out to the street.
“Ok give it up. I know you don’t like my driving, so can it already!”
“Yes ma’am,” Chris said saluting Kristina.
“There’s my babe,” JC said. Kristina saw him and ran to him. They had gotten really close in the past two months of knowing each other, something Justin really noticed. Every time the two were together they were inseparable and Justin was hating every minute of it.
“JC!!!” she yelled jumping up and giving him a hug.
“How are ya Hun?”
“Good good, you?”
“Better now that we can party together!” he said leading her away.
“Ahem,” Kristina’s friend said.
“Oh my god Hun, I’m sorry!” Kristina said trying to get out of JC’s arms. “Guys, this is Shelley. She’s one of my best friends and she had nothing better do to tonight so I invited her myself to come here.” They five guys all greeted her with the kindness they have. Justin was the last to see her. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Shelley. She was beyond cute to him.
“Hey, I’m Justin,” he said realizing how stupid that must have sounded.
She laughed at his greeting and introduced herself. “I’m Shelley. Thanks for having me here.”
“No problem,” he said leading her to meet the other guests.
“I see Justin’s met a new chic,” Chris said sitting down with Audrey.
“What do ya mean?” Audrey said a little lost.
“Oh c’mon don’t tell me you haven’t seen Justin acting a little weird around Kristina, especially when she and JC are together.”
“I dunno, Chris, I mean maybe she just wanted to be better friends, not that they aren’t already, it’s just that ...” Audrey said. “Well whatever, it’s not like Kristina’s going to get with JC anytime soon. He seems to respect that fact that she is still a teenager and just wants to make her years memorable.”
“Yeah I guess you’re right, that could explain why they are so close.”
Audrey was coughing up more than usual. She excused herself and left for the bathroom. Chris sat there and waited for her. Lance was getting beat and went to sit with Chris. “Hey man, you enjoying the party?” Lance said seeing the blank stare in Chris’ eyes.
“Huh, yeah sure. I decided not to party as much. I’ll be keeping Audrey company for the rest of tonight since she’s not feeling all to well, ya know.”
“Yeah, that’s cool man. Well she said that she and Kristina were staying the night and I guess Shelley too, so you’ll have all night to stay with her,” Lance said.
Audrey came back and sat on the couch. She didn’t want to get the guys sick, let alone anyone else. Chris saw her come back at sat near her. “Chris what are you doing? I moved over here so you guys wouldn’t get sick.”
“Well tough luck. I’m keeping you company and that’s final. Besides I wouldn’t mind getting sick, if that means a break for me then bring it on.” Audrey laughed and found herself cuddling with Chris to get warmer. Chris wrapped his arms around Audrey and began thinking to himself.
Audrey’s the greatest. We’ve been really close, closer than I thought we’d ever get. Ever since the kiss in the park, something I will never forget, she’s been a little hesitant but then she has her moments and she’ll just open up to me. How can I tell her that I have feelings for her? I’ll give it some time. Maybe at the Christmas party before we leave for Hawaii.
Audrey felt a warm feeling run through her body. She felt safe in his arms. He wanted her to get better and he was helping a lot. She stayed in his arms til she was needed.
It was nearing 12 midnight the majority of the guest had left already. Justin and Chris were by the door saying their good-bye’s to the last of them.
“Hey JC,” Kristina said lying on his stomach. They were out on the lawn in the backyard talking.
“Yeah?” he said.
“Where are Justin’s parents? I mean this is Lynn’s house and well shouldn’t they be home now?”
“Yeah they should but they’re not cuz Lynn’s in New York with her lil group. She won’t be back for a week so we have the whole house to crash. Don’t worry, she knows we were having this lil get together, just as long as we clean up we’re fine.”
“Ok, I was wondering that’s all,” Kristina said shifting so that she was facing JC who was already staring down at her. There was a moment of silence between them. Kristina couldn’t help but stare into his deep blue eyes.
God he’s so amazingly HOT. If I were a couple years older I’d go out with him in a flash. But then again he couldn’t like me, we’re just good friends that’s all. I love spending all this time with him and the rest of the guys. All except for Justin, something about him is different. I get a strange feeling when I’m near him, it’s not a bad feeling just it’s weird. Then I notice him draw back when he is near me and I’m with JC. It’s only with JC, not with any of the other guys. I’ll find out sooner or later what’s up with him. He’s been acting more himself since Shelley came into the picture. I guess that’s a good thing.
“Kristina?”
“Hmmm ....”
“What are you thinking about?”
“Oh it’s nothing really, hey, wanna go back inside, I’m getting a little cold.” Kristina said getting up from her position.
“Yeah, let’s go. I’m sure the guests are gone now,” JC said taking her hand.
Lance and Joey were both upstairs wiped out and in bed sleeping. Chris was on his way back on the couch to Audrey. JC and Kristina made their way inside the house. Justin was with Shelley talking.
“So ...” Justin said trying to make conversation.
“Yeah so ... Oh would you come with me to Kristina’s car? I need to get my things out and I might as well get hers too since she’s kinda busy.”
“Yeah sure let’s go,” Justin said walking for the door.,p> “Kris!!! I’m getting out things now!” Shelley yelled following Justin.
“Huh? Ok then! Bring them up to the second room on the right Shel,” Kristina said.
~*~ Outside ~*~
“So how long are you and Kris staying?” Justin asked.
“Umm ... probably as long as Audrey is I guess, I’m not sure, but we packed a whole lot of clothes so maybe the entire weekend and into Tuesday,” Shelley said.
“Tuesday? What no school?”
“Yeah, I guess you can say that. The school gave us Monday and Tuesday off so they can repair some electricity problems.”
“That’s cool. I’ll get to spend more time with you then,” Justin said starting to blush. It was a good thing there wasn’t any lights or Shelley would have probably seen it. “Yeah, that would be nice,” Shelley said returning the compliment.
Justin carried the majority of the bags in. “Damn girl who’s bags are these!”
“Those would be Kris’,” she packs a lot, ya know just in case.”
“Geez, I guess!” Justin said struggling to get to the door.
Shelley opened the door for the two of them and walked inside. Chris saw Justin having some trouble and helped him out. “Thanks man,” Justin said. “Kristina!!!! Get your sappy butt in here!”
“What? What I do?” Kristina said confused.
“What the hell is all this? You’re only staying here for four days and you have this many bags!” Justin said practically screaming.
“Dang, Justin calm down,” Audrey said. “You obviously don’t know her very well. This girl packs like there’s no tomorrow! She’s got an extra pair of everything in those bags.”
“Yea, Aud’s right. We went on a camping venture this past summer and Kristina packed for a whole tribe!” Shelley said.
“Thanks guys, I mean it. Aud, Shel, yeah I love you too!” Kristina said grabbing her things and heading for her room.
Everyone was laughing at Justin for his complaining. Shelley got her bags together and followed Kristina to their room. There were only four rooms in the house so that meant Audrey was going to bunk with someone unless someone slept in the room downstairs. “Umm guys, where’s everyone sleeping?” Audrey said.
“Well we haven’t thought of that yet,” JC said.
“Kristina and Shelley are in one room, Joey’s in one room, Lance is in one room, so there’s one more available room left. Unless one of you two want to bunk with Joey or Lance, then someone’s sleeping down here,” Chris said.
“I’ll bunk with Lance, he’s quieter than Joey,” Justin said.
“I think I’ll leave Joey to sleep on his own. I’ll have the room down here,” JC said heading for the den.
“Alright, that doesn’t work either. Audrey I guess you can have the room upstairs. I’ll stay on the couch tonight,” Chris said heading to get his things.
“No, Chris wait. I know this may sound weird but will you sleep in there with me. I kind of have this thing about staying by myself when I’m sick. You can say it’s like a security measure. So if you’d just stay in there with me, even until I fall asleep, I’d really appreciate it.” Audrey said.
“Aud, that’s ok. I’ll stay up until you go to sleep,” he said going down a couple steps and giving her a hug.
“Thank you,” she said looking up into his big brown eyes. “This means a lot to me.”
“Anything for you,” he said kissing her forehead.
They made their way upstairs with JC following. He needed clothes. “Oh don’t worry about me. I’m just getting some sweats to change in to.”
Kristina and Shelley were staying in JC’s room. Kristina was smelling the sweet scent of his cologne, savoring every breath. She heard the door open and went back to her bag so she wouldn’t look stupid. “Umm hey, I just need to get some sweats to wear,” JC said walking to his dresser.
“Sure go ahead this is your room. You don’t have to ask,” Kristina said.
“Yeah ok,” JC said. “Where’s Shelley?”
“Oh she’s using the bathroom, getting ready for bed I guess.”
“I see, well I’m going to be downstairs in the den if ya need me, k?”
“Oh ok then. Good night, JC,” she said kissing his cheek.
“Good Night, Kris. I hope you sleep well.” He said looking into her eyes.
Just then Shelley walked out of the bathroom seeing the whole thing. “Ahem,” she said.
“Oh yeah well I’ll be going now Kris. Good Night Shel,” JC said in a hurry.
“Yeah, uh huh. Good Night to you too JC,” she said patting him on the back. “Kris, what was that all about?” Shelley said.
“Oh it’s nothing. Just being nice, that’s all,” Kristina said going back to her bag.
“Sure, sure, whenever you want to spill your true feeling towards him I’ll be right here,” she said lying on the bed.
“Whatever Shel. It’s not like I can’t see your new feelings towards a certain Justin Timberlake,” Kristina said heading for the bathroom to change. “What feelings?!?!?!”
“Oh so now you get all defensive? You just gave yourself away girl.”
Kristina shut the door behind her and Shelley began thinking about what Kristina had just said.
New feelings? For Justin?? Yeah, sure whatever she says. Maybe she’s right. Then again, when is Kristina the romance expert? If I do go to someone it’ll probably be Aud.
She cleared her head and began sleeping.
~*~ The Next Morning ~*~
It was 9:00 a.m. Kristina was one the first ones up so she decided to make breakfast. She dragged Shelley and Audrey with her to cook something nice for the guys. Kristina was already downstairs while Shelley and Audrey were still making their way down. They tried to be as quiet as possible so as to not wake JC in the den.
“Kristina, did you really have to drag the two of us down here?” Audrey said rubbing her eyes.
“Yes, I had to. I only know how to cook eggs and you know practically everything else,” Kristina said almost pleading.
“Then why the hell did you wake me up Kris?” Shelley said whispering loudly.
“Because well you organize tables pretty well and so yeah, that’s your job.”
“Oh my god are you serious?” she said sarcastically. “I can’t wait!”
“Very funny, Shel, really now get working.” Kristina said throwing her the towel.
About an hour later, breakfast was ready and waiting on the table. All the girls needed were for the guys to wake up. Chris woke up on Audrey’s bed. “What the hell am I doing here? Where’s Audrey?” He made his way downstairs following the aroma of food that was in the dining room.
“G’mornin’ Chris,” Audrey said getting the last of the glasses out. “Morning babe,” he said sitting himself down. “Wow the table’s never looked better.”
“See Shel, your efforts are appreciate,” Kristina said.
“Of course they are,” she said smiling.
Lance and Joey had also woken up a few minutes later. They made their way downstairs for food. “Good morning everyone,” Lance said.
“Good morning,” Audrey said. “To you too Joey.”
“Yeah, Good morning,” he said reaching for the bread.
Kristina saw him and smacked his hand. “Joey, can’t you wait til Justin and JC wake their happy butts up?”
“What??? You expect me to wait til 3 p.m.?” Joey said rubbing the back of his hand.
“Oh c’mon, they won’t be that long. I’ll go over there and wake JC up.” Kristina said walking towards the den.
“Yeah, and I’ll wake Justin. It shouldn’t be too hard,” Shelley said walking to the stairs.
“Good luck,” the three guys said together.
“We’ll take you ladies out today if you can get them out here in less than 10 minutes,” Chris said.
“Ohhhh, sounds fun. You three better takes us somewhere nice,” Kristina said opening the den door.
She opened the door to find JC sleeping peacefully on the futon. She really didn’t want to wake him up and disturb his dreams. Hesitantly, she walked over to the other side of the futon and slightly nudged him on the shoulder. He didn’t even twitch. “What is going to wake this boy up? What if he’s cold?” With that said she ripped the blanket from him and threw it on the floor. He noticed it gone and went in search to find it. He kept reaching around himself for the blanket til he got to Kristina’s leg. He grabbed it and pulled her to him.
“Thought I was sleeping huh?” JC said yawning. “Actually yeah,” Kristina said shocked. “How’d you know?”
“Well I guess it was the extra voices I heard in my head. I heard your voice then you ripped the blanket off me and I knew it was you,” he said.
“Well get up. I need you in there now. The other guys told us if Shel and I got you or Justin up in ten minutes they would take us out. So here I am.”
“Well good job. It’s harder for them to wake me up, let alone Justin, but you figured a way to get me up,” JC said walking with Kristina to the dining room.
~*~ Meanwhile Upstairs in Justin’s room ~*~
Shelley quietly opened the door to Justin’s room. She was trying to figure out how she was going to wake the 18 year old. “I hear it’s really hard to wake you up,” she said talking to his peacefully sleeping body. “Too bad there isn’t any cereal that I can stuff into your mouth so you’d eventually chew and wake up.” Justin was obviously not getting the picture because he was till fast asleep. “I wonder if Kris got JC up yet? I can’t believe this, he sleeps like a log!” Just then Justin turned around so he was lying on his back. “He looks absolutely .... I don’t know the word, but it’s something good.” She was so lost in his features that she didn’t realize that she was caressing his cheek. A few seconds later she snapped back into reality. “What the heck was I just doing?” Shelley said pulling her hand back. “How did this happen?” She thought about it and was lost again in the curves of his face. She bent over and listened to his heartbeat. “God, he’s gorgeous,” she said looking back up at him. Without thinking she leaned down and kissed his lips ever so lightly. Justin opened his eyes to see Shelley’s brown eyes looking back at her.
“Hey you,” Justin said. “Was this a dream or did you just kiss me?”
“I kissed you,” Shelley said blushing bright red.
“Well, that was nice,” Justin said sitting up.
Shelley told Justin the reason she was up there in the first place and soon headed downstairs. “Hey, Shel,” Justin said.
“Yeah?”
“I think you should wake me up more often,” he said walking with Shelley. She grabbed a hold of his arm and walked in the dining room.
~*~ Back in the Dining Room ~*~
“Well, well, well, one down and only one more to go,” Chris said.
“It wasn’t that hard,” Kristina said taking her seat.
“Funny guys, I was sleeping peacefully but now that I’m awake I want food.”
“We can’t got to wait for Shel and Justin,” Joey said pouting.
“Awww, is Joey hungry?” Audrey said laughing.
“Whatever guys, so Kris, how’d you wake him up? Did you kiss him?” Chris asked.
Just then, Shelley and Justin walked in and stopped right where they were once they heard what Chris just asked.
“Here’s the other two now!” Chris said.
“Oh nothing,” Shelley said taking her seat next to Justin.
They ate their breakfast rather slowly because of the many conversations going on. It was 11:30 when breakfast finally ended. The guys offered to clean up while the girls got ready for their free day out. The three made their way upstairs to prepare.
“Hey, so tell us, how did the girls wake you two up?” Joey said rather eagerly.
“Well, Kris went in there, I guess talking to herself about how to wake me up. Then kinda ripped the blanket off me and I woke up! That’s all to it,” JC said.
“What about you, Justin?” Lance said.
“Umm, well I kinda just woke up on my own. I woke up and found Shelley right in front of me. Maybe it was the warmth I felt from her sitting so close that I woke up. I’m not really sure,” Justin said knowing it was a lie.
If only the guys knew the real reason I woke up.