“Hey, Soph. What’s up?”
“I think the sky but I’m not sure. I just woke up.”
“Haha. Very funny. Can I talk to Justin or JC?”
“Hold on.” I covered the mouthpiece. “Justin, its dread boy.”
Justin grunted then took the phone. “Hello?”
“What’s up buddy?”
“Get to the point, Chris. I’m trying to sleep.” I turned over and snuggled close to his bare chest.
“I asked Lou about that one thing and he okayed it.”
“That’s great. Thanks buddy. I owe you one. Bye.” Justin hung up before Chris could say anymore put the phone on the nightstand.
“What did he want?” I asked still snuggled close to him.
“He just had to tell me something.”
“Why do you owe him one?”
“He did me a favor.”
“What?”
“Nosy aren’t we? Why don’t you get your beautiful head up here so I can look into those amazing eyes of yours.”
That only made me snuggle closer. “I’m pretty content right where I am.”
“I can tell.” We laid in silence trying to go back to sleep. After about 20 minutes it became evident that we were up for the day. I brought my head out of Justin’s chest. Justin looked at me. “Now there’s the girl I love.”
I looked up at him. “I love you too.” I crawled up in the bed till I was even with him. I decided I was going to be bold. He was lying on his back so I crawled on top of him so I was straddling his hips. I leaned down and kissed him. My hands found their way to his chest. His hands found their way to my hips. I was feeling very bold so I deepened the kiss by slipping my tongue into his mouth. We finally broke the kiss. I laid my head on his chest. He rubbed his hands up and down my back. As soon as my breathing slowed down I started to get off him. He held me tightly to him.
“Where are you going?”
I looked at him. “No where. I was just going to get off you.”
He smiled. “I like you just where you are.”
An idea popped into my head. “Oh really?”
“Yup.”
“Well, you know this gives me easy access to do this.” I grinned evilly then started tickling his stomach. He immediately let go of me. I tickled him for a few more seconds then started to get off him. Before I even had a chance to get halfway off him, he rolled over so he was on top of me. He had this gleam in his eye. “Justin, don’t! Please!” I begged. Before he could say or do anything I grabbed and pulled lips to mine. What was supposed to be just a kiss to stop him turned into one of the most passionate kisses I’ve ever experienced. My hands seemed to have a mind of their own, exploring every inch of his bare chest and back. I felt his hands on my face, then in my hair, then on my sides. After a few minutes his mouth left mine and went to my neck. As his lips explored every inch of my neck, my hands ran through his curly hair. He moved from my neck to my shoulders kissing them through my shirt. He kissed down one arm and up the other one. He lifted his head and looked into my eyes. I again brought his lips towards mine. I wrapped my arms around his neck to keep him close to me. Just then there was a knock at the door. Then I heard it open. We didn’t have time to move.
“Oh….I’m sorry,” Bri said. Then she left as fast as she came. I started laughing. So did Justin. He laughed so hard he collapsed on top of me with his head on my chest. We both laughed for a good ten minutes. Finally I got up.
“I’m going to take a shower.” I grabbed some clothes and headed to the bathroom. Justin laid in bed thinking about what had almost happened.
Bri closed the door and stood there for a minutes. She had thought they would be asleep. She walked downstairs and sat down on the couch. About five minutes later JC poked his head through the kitchen door. He was making breakfast. “Are they awake?”
“Oh boy are they,” Bri mumbled to herself.
“What?”
“Yeah. They’re getting dressed. Do you need any help?”
“Nope. I have everything under control.”
“Ok.” JC went back into the kitchen and Bri went back to staring off into space. About 15 minutes later I came down and saw her.
“Bri, are you ok?”
She looked at me. “Yeah. I’m fine, just thinking.”
“Yeah.”
I sat down beside her. “Bri, what you saw upstairs wasn’t what you think.”
“Soph, what you and Justin do is none of my business.”
“I want to explain. All we were doing was kissing. Nothing else was happening. I’m not even close to being ready for that.”
“Soph, can I speak freely?”
“Yeah. I want you too.”
“I’m glad nothing else was happening. You both are too young for that. Hell, I’m too young for that and I’m 3 years older than you.”
“I know, Bri. It’ll be a long time before I’m ready for that.”
“Good. Now lets go get something to eat. JC’s making breakfast.”
“Should I trust him in my kitchen?”
“I’m not sure. Let’s go check on him.” We walked into the kitchen to find JC setting plates of food down on the table.
“Morning ladies. I hope you’re hungry. We’ve got lots of food.”
“I see that. Who were you cooking for? Us or the army?” Bri asked. We all laughed.
“Well normally when I cook, I cook for 5 guys.”
“Enough said. That explains it all.” I said laughing.
“Funny, Sophie,” JC said.
“I thought it was.” Bri laughed.
“Where’s the curly wonder?” JC asked.
“He should be coming. Let’s start. He’ll be here soon.” The three of us sat down and started eating. Justin came down about 10 minutes later.
“Thanks for waiting.”
“It was all her idea to start without you,” Bri said pointing at me. I kicked her under the table and smiled sweetly at Justin. “Ouch! That hurt!”
“Sit down and dig in, honey.”
“I think I will.”
“So what’s the plan for today?” JC asked.
“Well I have flag practice at noon.”
“Oh man. It’s been forever since I did that.”
“Why don’t you come? Justin is.”
“Do you think she’d mind?”
“No. Come on, Bri. It’s you.”
“Don’t start that again.”
“I wasn’t going to say anymore.” We ate in silence. “I vote males do the dishes.”
“I second that.”
“Fine we’ll do them, but you have to put them away,” JC said smiling.
“Why?”
“Because we don’t know where anything goes.”
“You got it out to make it, but I guess we can put them away.” For the next half an hour the guys washed and dried and us girls put away. It was 11:30. “Guys we better get going.” I grabbed my keys and purse. We all climbed into my car. I put in my Jessica Simpson CD and sang along. By the time we got to the school it was 11:45. We walked into the gym. We were the first ones there. My flag coach is also the choir teacher so she remembered the guys. They all sat down along the wall. I grabbed my flag. I began practicing. Since I was the captain I wanted to set a good example for the rest of the team. Within the next 10 minutes everyone else had shown up. We started practice promptly at noon. We perfected our state routine. Our music was Cup of Life by Ricky Martin. The whole team was pretty sick of the song since we had all heard the song everyday for the past 2 months. At 1:00 we took a break. I walked over to Justin.
“Show me how to do something,” Justin said. I showed him how to do a simple push spin. I stood back and watched him. Both Bri and I broke down laughing. “What’s so funny?”
“Nothing. You just look so cute.”
“JC, try this. It’s cool.”
“No way man. I’m not going to have them laugh at me like they did you.”
“Ok. We’re starting again.” I took my flag from Justin and kissed him on the cheek. We practiced until 2:30. I walked over to Justin. “Are you ready to go?”
“Yeah. My butt’s asleep.”
“Thanks for the info, Justin, but we really didn’t need to know,” Bri said.
“Come on guys. Lets go.” We headed for the door.
“Sophie, can I talk to you for a minute?”
“Yeah.” I pulled my car keys out of my pocket. “Here are my keys. Go ahead out to my car. I’ll be right there.”
“Ok,” Justin said taking them. They left.
“What do you need?” I asked walking up to my flag coach.
“I don’t know what to tell ya. I’m probably just nervous about state. I want to do really well.”
“We will. Don’t worry about it. Get some sleep. You have bags under your eyes.”
“I will. I’ll see ya Monday.”
“Bye.”
“Bye.” I walked outside to see Justin sitting on the hood of my car. I didn’t see JC or Bri anywhere so I figured they were in the car. I walked up to Justin.
“What are you doing?”
“Oh, nothing. Just waiting for my girlfriend to get here.”
“Really?”
“Uh huh.” He stood up. I wrapped my arms around his waist and held him tightly to me. When I heard a car pull up I looked up to see Lindsy and her clan. I let go of Justin, but he kept one arm around my waist.
“Sophie. How nice to see you.”
“Hi, Lindsy.”
“Hi, Justin. Nice to see you again.”
“Nick to see you to, Lindsay. What are you up to?”
“Nothing. Just hanging out. What are you doing? Maybe we can hang out?” She was flirting with him and he didn’t seem to notice.
“Actually we have somewhere to be,” I said.
Justin looked at me. “We do?”
I heard a car door open and close behind me. “Yes, Justin. We need to get going,” Bri said.
“Ok. Well it was good to see you again. Bye.” Justin turned around and looked at Bri.
“See you on Monday, Sophie,” Lindsy said sweetly.
“Yeah. Looking forward to it.” Lindsy left wheels squeeling.
“Justin you get in the back with JC,” Bri said.
“Why?” Justin was confused.
“Because I said so.” He did what he was told. When he closed the door Bri turned to me. “Are you ok?”
“Yeah. What is she trying to do?”
“Who knows. It’s Lindsy. I hate to say this now, but I have to. You need to tell him. He will understand.”
“I know. I just don’t want to burden him with my problems.
She put her hand on my shoulder. “Just tell him.”
“I will. Now lets go.” We both go in the car. I drove them back to my house. When we got to my house I got out of the car and headed to the house not waiting for Justin. He could tell there was something wrong. When we got inside I looked at Bri and she nodded her head. I took a deep breath. “Justin, can we talk?”
“Yeah.” He followed me up to my room. He closed the door. “What’s up?”
I sat down on the bed and patted the spot beside me. “Sit down.” He did. “I have to tell you something.”
“Ok. Go ahead.”
“Alright. Remember when you dropped me off 3 weeks ago and you ended up singing for the choir?” He nodded. “Well by lunch the whole school was talking about it. At the end of the day Lindsy corned me and asked me about it. I told her that we were just friends.” I looked down at my hands. I couldn’t look at him. “She said she couldn’t believe that. She thinks I paid you to come and pretend that you’re my friend. She can’t believe that guys like you would have anything to do with a girl like me. Well Lindsy’s pretty popular and the whole school believes her.” We sat in silence.
“Sophie, look at me.” I couldn’t. He put his hand under my chin and pushed it up so I was looking at him. “We both know that non of that is true. I love you so much and I’m sorry you have to go through that. I’m the one who doesn’t deserve you. You are a brilliant person. Don’t listen to them. Who cares what they think? I don’t. Do you?” I shook my head. “Good.” He brushed his lips against mine. In one swift motion he stood up and picked me up. He smiled at me and I could see the love in his eyes. He gently laid me down on the bed and he laid on top of me. We kissed passionately and continued kissing until I felt his hand go up my shirt. I stopped him by putting my hand on top of his and backing it out. Then I intertwined my fingers with his.
“I’m sorry, Justin. I’m just not ready. I want to, but I can’t.”
Justin rolled off me so he was laying beside me. He propped his head up on his hand. “Baby, it’s ok. I don’t want to push you. We’ll do it when you’re ready and not before. I’ll wait. I’ll wait forever for you.”
I looked down at our hands, still intertwined. “I love you!”
“I love you!” We laid there in silence just being together.
After Justin and I had gone upstairs JC and Bri went out back to the pool. They sat there with their feet dangling in the water. “Do you think she’ll tell him?” JC asked.
“Yeah. She knows she has to because after that, if she doesn’t then I will.”
“I thought it wasn’t our place.”
“He deserves to know. Maybe he can do something about it.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Something. Anything.”
“I know what you’re thinking. He would if he could, but he can’t. It’s not his fault and it’s not hers.”
Bri looked at him closely. “How do you know he would if he could?”
“Because I know how much he cares for Sophie. And I know he would because I would too.”
“JC, that’s so sweet. I want you to know I understand. I can handle it. I don’t want to hurt you or your career in any way.”
“I know, that’s why I like you so much. You’re such a caring person.” He rubbed her cheek softly. He leaned forward until his lips brushed hers. All of the sudden he lost his balance as he was leaning over too far. He fell into the pool pulling Bri in with him. When they surfaced they both started laughing. “Sorry.”
“Sure you are. You just wanted to see me all wet.”
JC moved closer to her. “It’s not a bad look on you.”
“You don’t look half bad either.” He looked into her eyes. He put his arms around her waist and lifted her up till she was at eye level with him. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his neck.
“Now where were we?”
“I think we were about her.” She kissed him gently on the lips.
“Oh, yeah. I remember now. I was about to do this.” He kissed her passionately. His hands ran up and down her back. After a while Bri pulled back.
“We need to talk before this goes any farther.” She unwrapped her legs and arms and got out of the pool. JC stood there and stared at her. “I’m going to change into dry clothes. I’ll meet you in the living room in 10 minutes. Then she walked away still sunned from what happened he got out and changed. When he went down to the living room, she was already there. He sat down beside her.
When she didn’t say anything he spoke. “Bri, what happened? Did I do something wrong?”
She turned to him. “No, babe. You didn’t do anything wrong. I just think we need to talk.”
“Ok. So talk to me.”
“Ok. Here goes nothing. JC, I have a very strong stance on sex.” JC nodded his head. “I believe a person should wait until they know for certain they are in love. And if that means waiting until marriage then so be it.”
“I agree. A person should be sure of their feelings before they jump into something as big as sex.”
“Good. I feel better now that that’s out in the open.”
“Me too.” JC laid down and Bri laid down beside him using his chest as a pillow. They soon fell asleep.
At 6:00 I woke up. Justin was still asleep. I gently got out of his arms and got up. I walked quietly down the stairs to see JC and Bri asleep on the couch. I smiled. They really did make a cute couple. Since everyone was asleep I decided to take a nice, long bubble bath. I ran the bath water and got in. I laid there just listening the silence enjoying it very much. I had been laying there for about half and hour when the door opened. I looked up to see Justin standing there. I quickly covered myself as well as I could. He turned away. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were in here.”
“It’s ok, Justin. You can use the bathroom downstairs.”
“Ok. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s ok. Now go.” He closed the door and left. I got out and got dressed. I walked downstairs to see JC and Bri kissing on the couch. I tried to walk through unnoticed, but Bri saw me.
“Hey, Soph.”
“Oh. Hi, guys. Did you have a nice nap?” They nodded their heads. “Good. Are you hungry?” Again they nodded their heads. “Have you seen Justin?”
“Yeah, he just sprinted through here about 10 minutes ago. He seemed like he was in a hurry.”
I nodded my head. “Where do you want to eat? There’s no way I’m cooking.”
“How about we go to Frank’s and then we can stay at my place tonight.”
“Sounds good to me,” I said.
“What sounds good?” Justin asked walking into the room.
“We’re thinking about going to a restaurant called Frank’s and then staying at my place,” Bri said.
“Sounds ok to me.”
“Well lets go get our stuff together and get going,” I said. The guys and Bri packed their stuff up and I grabbed some clothes and necessities. I went downstairs to find everyone waiting for me. I grabbed my purse and keys.
“Are you driving?” Justin asked.
I nodded my head. “Yeah, so I have a way home tomorrow.”
“Smart thinking,” Bri said. Bri rode with JC in the car he and Justin rented, and Justin rode with me. We were silent for a while.
“Justin, is something wrong?”
“No. I was just thinking.”
“Do you want to tell me what about.”
“You.”
“ME?”
“Yeah. I was thinking about how wonderful and beautiful you are and how much I don’t want to leave you.”
I couldn’t say anything. I just took his hand and kissed it. Our hands stayed joined all the way to Frank’s. We pulled in behind JC and Bri.
“What kind of place is this?”
“It’s a steak place.”
“Cool.” We went in and sat down. After we ordered it was completely silent at the table. We sat in silence until the food came. We ate in silence and rode to Bri’s house in silence. We were all thinking about tomorrow and what would happen. When we got to Bri’s place we decided to watch a movie. We made the guys watch Drive Me Crazy.
“That was a good move. It would have been better if someone else had sang that song,” Justin said.
“But I thought you and Britney were friends,” Bri said.
“Believe me, we are far from friends.”
“So what do you want to do now?” I asked.
“Sleep sounds good,” JC said.
“That’s all you ever do is sleep,” Justin said.
“What can I say? I’m a tired person.”
“Actually, sleep sounds good,” I said.
“Oh no. We have another JC,” Justin said.
“Well we’re going to my room. Soph, the guest room is down the hall, first door to the right.”
“Ok. Night.”
“Goodnight.”
“See ya in the morning.”
“Night.” They went to Bri’s room.
“Do you want to go to bed?” Justin asked.
“No. I just want to say here in your arms.” We sat there for half and hour before anyone said anything.
“What are you thinking about?” he asked.
“I was just thinking about how much I love you and how much I don’t want you to leave tomorrow.”
“Don’t worry. I’m only a phone call away.”
“I know. I’m just going to miss you.”
“I’m going to miss you too.”
“What were you thinking about?”
“I was thinking about how beautiful you are and how much I love you.” A picture of earlier popped into his mind.
“You are too sweet. Are you ready for bed? I’m getting tired.”
“Yeah. Let’s go.”
Just before we went to sleep I asked him a question. “What time are you leaving tomorrow?”
He wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close. “We have to leave at 3:00, but don’t think about it.” He kissed the back of my neck and I drifted off to sleep.
The next morning I woke up alone. I felt around the bed for Justin, but soon realized he wasn’t there. I rubbed my eyes then went in search for him. I found him sitting in the kitchen with Bri and JC. I walked up to him and sat on his lap. I wrapped my arms around his neck and buried my face in his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around me. “Tired?” I nodded my head. “Why did you get up? You could have stayed in bed.”
“I know, but I couldn’t sleep without you next to me.” I felt his arms wrap around me tighter. “What time is it?”
“About noon.”
“How long have you been up?”
“Since about 9:00.”
I looked up at him. “Why didn’t you wake me up?”
“You looked so cute, I couldn’t bear to wake you.”
I looked over at JC and Bri. “Morning.”
“Morning. Nice pj’s,” Bri said.
I looked down at what I had on. I was wearing my Tax boxers and a t-shirt. “Thanks. Aren’t they cute?” Everyone laughed. I got off Justin and headed for my bag so I could get dressed.
“Hurry up! JC and I are making lunch,” Justin said. I went to the guestroom and threw on a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt. When I walked out to the kitchen JC and Justin were at the stove and Bri was sitting at the table. I sat down beside her. We didn’t say anything for a while. We just watched them. About half an hour later they put the food on the table, macaroni and cheese and hot dogs. Bri and I started laughing. “What’s so funny,” Justin asked.
“It took you 2 people and half an hour to make that?”
“Yeah. Justin here isn’t the best cook.” Justin hit JC’s arm. “Owww. Man, I was just telling the truth.” This made us laugh even harder.
“Would you two quit laughing and eat,” Justin said getting frustrated.
“Honey, come and sit down. I’m sure it’s wonderful,” I said patting the chair beside me. He sat down and put some food on his plate. It took us forever to eat because Justin and JC kept joking around. Bri and I washed and put away the dishes while the guys watched us. We were about done when I felt arms wrap around my waist. Justin set his chin on my shoulder.
“Are you about done?”
“Yeah, just about.” I dried the last dish and handed it to Bri to put away. I turned around. “All done.”
“Good. Let’s go for a walk.” He took my hand and started pulling me towards the door.
“Justin, be back here at 3:00. We cannot be late.”
“I’ll be back at 3:00. Don’t worry.” We left the building and headed down the street for a long ways. I finally saw a beach at the end of the street.
“Are we going to that beach?”
“Yup?”
“Why?”
“Because at this moment I was to be alone with you, completely alone.” We walked in silence the rest of the way. We walked down the beach for a long time. Finally Justin stopped. We stood looking at the ocean for a while. Then Justin turned towards me and slipped his arms around my waist. I put my hands on his shoulders. I looked into his eyes and just about started crying. I pulled him close and hugged him tightly. I tried to stop the tears, but they came anyway. “Shhhh. It’s ok. I’m here. Don’t cry.”
“Yeah, but you won’t be here tomorrow.”
“Don’t think about that. Just think about right here, right now.”
“Ok.” I stopped crying after a while. “I’m sorry. I told myself I wasn’t going to cry.”
“It’s ok. I know what you’re feeling.”
“Just hold me.” He held me tighter. We stood there just holding each other for a long long time. I pulled back and looked at him. I kissed him over and over again. He finally pulled back.
“Slow down, girl. I can’t keep up.” We both laughed. “Now that’s what I love to hear.” I smiled. “You know I love you right?” I nodded. “Then also know I’ll always be hear for you. Now that I’ve found you I’m not letting you go.”
I looked at my watch. “We better be heading back. It’s 2:30.” Justin nodded his head and we started back. It was exactly 3:00 when we got back. JC was waiting at the car. He had all their stuff packed up. Bri was standing beside him. She looked like she’d been crying. I hugged Justin one last time. “I love you so much. I’m going to call or email you everyday.”
“I’ll be looking forward to it.” He kissed her. JC kissed Bri. Then they got in their car and drove away.
To Be Continued…