"KRIS!"
"What?"
"Is it just me or is *NSYNC sitting on our couch?"
At that point, Lance stood up and walked towards Julie.
"Hi Jewels."
"Hi," she said back, holding out her hand to shake his. He looked at it for a second and then reached out his. They shook hands and suddenly Lance pulled on her hand and gave her a big hug.
"Sorry I haven't written in so long. Justin has been planning this for weeks and he knew I'd let the secret out since we're so close and it would've ruined the surprise," he said softly with the cute, sideways smile she loved.
"You're forgiven," she smiled and hugged him back. Lance turned around and started to wake up all the other guys. Justin was the only one besides Lance who was awake.
"Hey girl! Wass up wit you?"
"Good morning to you too, Justin," Julie said, giving him a strange look.
"What's that look for?"
"Look in the mirror, poodle butt."
"What? You dissin’ my hair!"
"I don't know, maybe."
"Hey! No more arguing!" Lance interrupted with a smirk. Julie and Justin laughed for a second and then he leaned forward and gave her a kiss on the cheek and a big hug.
"You're so mean to me," he joked.
"Yeah I know," she said back sarcastically.
"You go girl! That's what I'm talking 'bout!"
"Hi JC," she laughed.
"Hey," JC also gave her a hug.
"HEY! I want one too!" Joey screamed, running up to her and giving her a huge bear hug.
"Chris needs one cuz he's the best!"
"Haha! OK Chris, come here."
Chris ran up to Julie with open arms. Julie gave him a big hug.
"Justin, we have to hurry. It's getting late," Lance said.
"Gotcha. C'mon Jewels, let's go," Justin grabbed her hand and started for the door.
"Hold on Justin," JC said quickly, "nature's calling."
"Would you hurry up?" Justin told him. JC ran down to the bathroom.
"So, where are you taking me?" Julie asked.
"Can't tell ya. That's a secret," Justin told her. They all walked out and piled in Justin's car and drove off.
***Meanwhile, back at Kris' & Julie's apartment***
Kris was setting the table and getting everything ready for the breakfast she'd worked so hard on. Everything looked great. She went to the living room to call everyone over for breakfast. When she walked in, she couldn't believe what she saw. Everyone was gone! A couple seconds later, JC walked in from the bathroom.
"Hey! Where'd everybody go?" JC asked, looking very confused.
"That's what I wanna know!" Kris replied. They made eye contact and something happened...
***Back at Justin's car***
Justin was driving nearly eighty miles an hour when Julie screamed.
"OMG! Justin, STOP!" she yelled. Justin slammed on the brakes.
"What, Julie, what?" he asked, being a bit shaken for having stopped so fast.
"We forgot Kris and JC!"
"OMG! He was in the bathroom wasn't he? And Kris-Oh NO! She was cooking us breakfast! Oh man I can't believe we did that!" Lance said frantically, "Shouldn't we go back?"
“Well, not if we don't want to be late," Justin replied," We're almost there and it'll take over an hour to go back to get them and then come all the way back and I told our friend we'd be there at 9:30 so she could leave."
"What?" Julie asked, confused, "I don't get it. So, you're saying we can't go back for Kris and JC?"
"Exactly," Chris said impatiently, "Now can we go now? Please?"
"Chris wants to see his girlfriend! Chris wants to see hi-" Joey sang, getting interrupted by Chris punching him in the stomach, "OW Chris! That hurt!"
"Awwww...are you gonna cry Joe?" Chris teased.
"Would you two stop?" Lance told them, a little embarrassed that he hung out with such goofs, "I swear you two can be such nimrods."
The two got quiet.
"Well, if you call Kris do you think she won't be as upset?" Justin asked Julie.
"Maybe. I mean I think she might be a little upset but not too much. I mean, come on, after all, we did leave her with JC."
"Yeah, we sure did," Joey said. All four of the guys looked at each other with a "we've-been-through-this-before" look.
"Umm...Is that look supposed to mean something?" Julie asked, getting a little freaked out...
***Back at the girls' apartment***
JC was the first to break the silence.
"Umm...Kristina right?"
"Yeah. Well, you can call me Kris." JC nodded.
"Well, do I get any breakfast?" he asked, not knowing what else to say out loud. In his mind however, he was talking a mile a minute.
Man she's beautiful. I wanna kiss her so bad! Oh no! I hope she doesn't see me staring. What do I do? What do I say? I don't wanna do or say anything stupid. What a great impression that'll be! Oh! She's walking away. Where's she going?
"I worked so hard to make breakfast for everyone and no one ate. So basically we have all this food to ourselves," she said partly to JC and partly to herself.
JC followed her into the kitchen and they both sat down at the table. JC was planning on sitting at the head of the table, but when he saw that Kris sat on one of the sides of the table, he changed his mind and sat next to her. "Hope you like it," she said as she handed him a plate of food.
"I know I will," he said looking into her eyes.
"Excuse me?" Kris asked giving him a strange look.
I know I will? I know I will? How stupid and corny was that? I can't believe I just said that! Why is she looking at me like that? What do I say now?
BBBBRRRRRRRRIIIIIINNNNNGG!
The sound of the telephone made them both jump. Kris got up and answered it.
"Hello?"
"Hey Kris, it's me"
"JULIE! OMG I'm gonna kill you!"
"Kris, I'm sorry. I really am. If it's any consolation, we won't be able to go back for you so you'll get to spend all afternoon with JC"
"All afternoon? But Julie he's-" she turned around and whispered so JC couldn't hear her, " he's...weird!"
"Weird?"
"Yeah"
"What do you mean?"
Weird? Did I hear the word weird? Oh no! I hope she's not talking about me. She probably IS talking about me. Oh PLEASE don't be talking about me!
"I mean, he's acting weird! Gazing into my eyes, saying stupid, corny stuff, and Jewels, I caught him staring at me!" she said still in a whisper.
"Oh no"
"'Oh no'? What do ya mean 'oh no'?"
"Oh man. Kris, JC likes you"
"WHAT?" Kris screamed. She put her hand over her mouth as soon as the word came out. She turned and saw JC sitting there with a startled look. At the sight of her, he cracked a small smile. She smiled back and then turned back around.
"What?" she asked Julie again in a much softer voice.
"I said, JC likes you. The guys warned me about this. You see, when he likes a girl, he starts doing exactly what he's doing now and it always freaks girls out and so they think he's weird and want nothing to do with him."
"So, you're saying him acting like this is a good thing?"
"Well, for you it is. He IS your fave *NSYNCer right?"
"I'm not too sure after the way he's been acting, but yeah he's my fave"
"OK then. Look Kris I gotta go cuz we're pulling up to wherever it is they're taking me and Justin wants his phone back"
"Umm...yeah OK but-"
"Bye Kris"
"Uh.Bye"
Kris hung up the phone and turned around and smiled at JC. Yes! He likes me! And I get to spend all afternoon with him!
***Back in Justin's car***
Julie hung up the phone and handed it back to Justin.
"So, what's with JC?" Justin asked her.
"He's going through his weird phase"
"Kristina and "Joshie" sittin' in a tree."
"Joey!" Justin said in a "this-is-a-warning" type voice.
"Sorry," Joey said softly.
"Well, I hope Kris doesn't hurt his feelings. The only good thing that'll come of that is long nights at the recording studios and really depressing songs," Justin said, shaking his head.
"Oh believe me, she won't," Julie said, positive that "Kris and JC" would always be "Kris and JC."
"I hate to be the one to interrupt this discussion of JC's love life, but it's cramped back here and we'd like to get out." Lance said, getting a little impatient. He always got uncomfortable whenever the topic of love came up.
"Oh, Lance I'm sorry," Julie jumped out of the car and pushed the seat forward so the guys in the back could get out.
"It's OK," he smiled.
They all piled out of the car and headed inside the building. Right before they walked through the door, Justin put his hands over Julie's eyes.
“Justin! I can’t see!”
“Shh! Just walk forward,” Julie did as he said and once they were through the door, Justin pulled him hands away.
“Oh, wow! This is great.” She looked around the room and admired the ice. A girl with short, red hair was skating ever so gracefully. When she spotted the guys, she ran off of the ice towards them. She looked a little funny running with skates, but Julie held her giggle inside.
“Hey guys.” She told them. “You’re a little late.”
“We’re sorry,” Chris said entranced by the girl standing before him.
“Well, I have a few minutes before I have to go so…”
“Okay,” Chris interrupted, grabbing her hand. He pulled her over to another room.
“There he goes again.” Lance said, teasingly. “Those two are something else.”
“Well, let’s go have some fun.” Justin ordered.
**Back at the Girls’ apartment**
Kris sat back down next to JC and began eating.
“So, JC, do you have a girlfriend?” She asked, trying to get to know the real, “not weird” JC. The question caught him off guard and he started choking on the piece of food in his mouth. Kris started patting on his back and he swallowed.
“Thanks.” He told her; now feeling more embarrassed than ever. “Please don’t tell the guys about this. They’ll tease me about it forever.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Kristina said sweetly. “I do it all the time. About two years ago I did it in the middle of class and they’ve never let me forget it.”
JC smiled and felt a lot more comfortable. They ate and talked for nearly an hour. When they finished, they decided to do the dished together. They had their hands in the soapy water, when JC, feeling a little playful, splashed the water. The water hit Kristina in the face.
“JC!”
“Oops! Sorry.” He said through his giggles. Kristina splashed some water back at JC.
“Oh that’s it!” He said. “It’s on now!” He grabbed a handful of soap and started chasing Kristina all around the apartment. He caught up to her and rubbed the soap on her cheeks. She rubbed it off and tried to put it on his face. He grabbed her hand and pulled her toward him. At this point, they were face to face, less than an inch away.
**Back at the skating rink**
Justin, Joey and Lance had already hit the ice. Julie was a little hesitant at first so she just sat in the bleachers with some breakfast she got from the snack bar. After a few minutes, Justin noticed Julie wasn’t on the ice.
“Jewels, what aren’t ya out here?” He asked.
“Um…I don’t know how to skate.” She said in a soft whisper.
“What? You can’t skate!”
“Yep!” She said feeling embarrassed.
“Well come here, I’ll help ya out.” He said with the smile Julie couldn’t resist.
“Okay, okay.” Julie said walking out to the ice very slowly and cautiously.
Justin met up with Julie and started to guide her towards the middle of the ice. His hands were placed at her waist and soon both were gliding across the ice. Julie’s legs were constantly getting in the way and just made Justin smirk and laugh out loud.
“What’s so funny?” She asked struggling to stop and face him. Justin already had a big grin on his face.
“Oh nothing. You just seem so darn cute skating and all.” He said, adding in his charming laughter.
“Well at least you know how to skate. I’ve never been on ice so don’t laugh.”
“Aw…is my Julie sad.” Justin said. “Poor baby.”
“Whatever babe,” she said attempting to skate away from Justin.
Joey and Lance were getting some breakfast and so Julie and Justin had the rink to themselves. Justin went back to the bleachers to get something he wanted to give to Julie since earlier that morning.
“Justin!” Julie yelled.
**Back at the apartment**
Both Kristina and JC froze. No one knew what to do next.
As awkward as this may seem, I don’t think we should kiss. I know, “What the heck are you talking about Kristina” Okay, I need to get to know him more. Will I last? God I hope so.
Kristina let go of JC’s grasp and headed for the living room, leaving JC standing near the hallway.
Why did she pull away? Maybe I am being “weird” love she said earlier. I should have made the first move! But I may seem to be progressing to fast for her. So I guess it was a good thing I didn’t go any further.
JC walked over and sat near Kristina. Both were silent for a few minutes. Kristina was clueless on what she should do next so she reached for the remote and started channel surfing. JC didn’t have a good view of the television so he moved next to Kristina.
“Cartoons, cartoons…oh look, more cartoons.” Kristina said.
“I’m guessing ya grew out of the cartoon stage?” JC asked.
“Oh no, I love cartoons. It’s just these newer ones don’t really compare to the ones several years ago.”
“Yeah that’s true. I enjoyed the older ones a lot more.” JC said thinking about how much they have in common.
Just as JC ended his sentence, Kristina began to freak out. She was screaming and laughing at the same time.
“Kris? What is it?” He asked getting a bit scared.
“Look at the screen!” She said turning his head.
Playing on the television was a cartoon from a few years back that Kristina loved. “Oh my god they are re-airing Pokemon!” She said laughing. “I haven’t seen this since it ended last year!”
Kristina was in the happiest of moods. JC sat back mesmerized at another side of Kristina he was seeing. Kristina looked over while watching Pokemon and caught JC staring again but this time it didn’t freak her out.
“What?” Kristina asked playfully.
“Oh, nothing. I like this side of you.” He commented.
“Thanks, I guess. I’m like this a lot, just takes me a while, ya know once I meet the people,” she explained.
Kristina and JC felt more comfortable with each other. They had so much in common already.
If I acted like myself from the beginning, she may not have thought of me as weird. I’m just glad to know that I can be myself, she seems more comfortable like that.
**Back at the Rink**
“Oh my god, Julie. What?” Justin said out of breath.
“Huh? Oh nothing! I was just thrilled that I actually skated on my own without you and you were the first person I saw so I yelled for you!” Julie said with a smile.
“Goodness, ya got me all scared and worried about you!” He said grabbing her and hugging her close followed by a sweet innocent kiss.
“Wow, I can only imagine now what you’d be like if I were in any real danger.” She joked.
“Haha, very funny!” Justin replied. “Don’t try it! You’ll give me a heart attack!”
Joey and Lance had come back with food and called Justin, Julie and Chris over the speakers. Chris came back moping because his girlfriend had to leave. The guys ate their food and they all skated around a bit more before heading back to Julie’s apartment.
**Back at the apartment**
“So what now?” Kristina asked. “It’s almost 12.”
“How about we watch a movie?” He suggested.
“Nah, I’m to stressed to watch a movie.”
JC knew the perfect way to ease her stress and to also get to know more about Kristina. “How about the two of us talk a walk down at that park I saw down the street, that’ll de-stress you.”
“You know what JC…” She began.
For some reason, JC took that as a bad sign and got up to leave for another room.
“…Wait where are you going?” She asked.
“It’s a bad idea, forget it.” He said.
Kristina got up from the couch and turned JC around. “No actually, I’d love a walk through the park. We could also get to know more about each other.” She said cheering him up.
“Okay, let’s go.” JC said reaching for the knob.
“Let me leave a note in case they come home while we’re gone.” Kristina mentioned.
It barely took five minutes to walk to the park. They spent the entire time laughing and talking about their embarrassing moments.
She’s so caring and fun to be with. I’m a bit shocked at how close we’ve gotten and how much we actually have in common. It’s so amazing…
“JC?” Kristina said. “Um…JC!”
It was too late, JC had run into the branched leaving scratch marks on his forehead. He fell back onto the grass rubbing his forehead laughing.
“Oh my God! JC, are you okay?” Kristina said trying as hard as she could not to laugh.
“Yeah, I think so. Just some scratches but I’ll be fine.” JC said. “Kris look out!”
A couple people on rollerblades were jetting through the park. Nearing Kristina. JC got up and pulled Kristina towards him causing both to hit the grass. Laughter came form the two.
“Thanks JC.” She said a bit shaken.
“No problem.” He said looking into her eyes.
Wow, he’s gorgeous. Me and my life and death experiences. Look where they get me!”
“Hey Kris, wanna get some food, some lunch?” JC offered.
“That would be great, let’s go.”
“Well, first you need to get off me.” JC said.
“Oh…sorry!” She said blushing.
“It’s okay.” He said taking her hand and walking towards the city.
**In Justin’s car**
Justin was so thrown off when Julie yelled for him that he forgot about the present that he wanted to give her. The car was approaching the apartment when they spotted JC and Kristina walking hand in hand.
“Stop!” Julie yelled. “There’s Kris and JC! Oh my god, they’re holding hands, how cute!”
“I’m guessing she doesn’t think JC’s weird.” Lance said.
The car started following the two. JC saw the car through a shop window and wanted to pull a fast one on them.
“Kris, Justin’s car is right behind us, don’t look back, once we turn the corner, jump into the restaurant.”
“Okay.” Kristina said.
The two reached the restaurant’s corner and luckily for them the door was open. They walked in and closed the door behind them.
“What the…? Where’d they go?” a confused Joey asked.
“Oh well, let’s go back to their apartment.” Chris said.
“Yeah, I’ll call JC’s cell phone later and tell them we’ll be here.” Justin said.
“Okay let’s go!” Julie said.
To Be Continued…