“What was that all about?” Kris asked, confused.
“Oh nothing. Let’s just get something to eat”
“Sounds good”
They waited to be seated, and once they were at their table, they started conversation. “So, do you recommend anything?” JC asked, glancing through the menu.
“Everything here is good, so it’s whatever you’re in the mood for”
Wow!, JC thought to himself, while watching Kris make a decision on what to order, She is so great! I wonder how she feels about me. Wait- we’ve only known each other for a few hours! She couldn’t possibly have feelings for me.
His thoughts were interrupted with the ringing of his cell phone.
“I’ll be right back,” Kris announced, standing up. JC nodded while trying to answer his phone. Kris turned and headed for the restrooms. Her heart was thumping so hard it hurt.
Oh my goodness! Should I tell him how I feel? He’s so amazing! Why am I so nervous? I’m never nervous!!
“Hello?” JC asked into his phone.
“Hey JC, it’s me”
“Justin?”
“Yeah. So where are ya?”
“Did you read the note Kris left?”
“Yeah”
“OK then”
“We saw you there but we lost you”
“Why? Were you following us?”
“ ‘Us’? Already it’s ‘us’?”
“Justin, shut up”
“::laughing:: I was kidding”
“Whatever. So are you guys just hangin’ in the girls’ apartment, or are you going somewhere else?”
“Well, we’re all kinda hungry so we’ll probably go get some food”
“OK then. Kris and I should be home in an hour or so”
“Alright. That should give us time to meet back here so we can all go out together”
“Fine. See you in an hour”
“Bye”
“Bye”
Kristina walked back and sat down in her seat across from JC just in time to catch the last part of the conversation. “Was that one of the guys?”
“Yeah. They’re back from the rink. They’re going out to eat and they’ll meet us back at your apartment in an hour and we’ll all do something together”
“Cool beans”
“Cool beans?”
“Yup”
“OK,” he smiled.
Just then the waitress came up and took their orders. Ten minutes passed when a voice disturbed their conversation. “What are you two doing here?” They both looked up to see Julie and the guys.
“What are we doing here? What are YOU doing here?” Kris asked looking really confused.
“Justin told JC we were going out to eat”
“Yeah well I didn’t think you guys meant you were coming here to eat”
“You want us to leave?”
“No. I’m just surprised to see you, that’s all”
“You’re not mad at us for leaving you are ya?”
“No way,” Kris said out loud. Inside she was thinking, Are you kidding?! I just spent hours with one of the greatest guys ever and you think I’m gonna be upset?!?!
“You wanna join us?” JC offered, “We have room for two more” The second he finished his sentence, he regretted it.
Oh man!! Why did I invite them to sit with us?!?! Now I won’t be able to talk to Kris!! Kris also regretted it. Why did he have to invite them? Why? Does he not like me anymore now that he’s getting to know me?? “I’ll sit with you,” Joey and Chris said together. JC and Kris scooted over to make room for the guys. Chris sat next to Kris and Joey sat next to JC.
“I guess you and Lance are the lucky guys who get to sit with me,” Julie teased.
“Very funny,” Lance said sarcastically.
“Yeah,” Justin said pulling Julie towards him, “besides, you’re my girl and no one else’s”
“Oh really now?”
“Yup” He leaned forward kissing her softly.
“Can we sit down now?” Lance said, getting uncomfortable again.
“Oh, yeah,” said Julie, pulling away from Justin and heading for the table a few feet away. Justin and Lance followed. Justin, being the southern gentleman he was, pulled the chair out for Julie before sitting himself. “Thanks,” she smiled.
“Welcome,” he smiled back. As soon as they ordered their food, Lance left for the restroom. Relax, man. If you keep getting all nervous and worked up like this, it’ll give it away. I have to keep it a secret. No one can know! Lance was really stressed out.
Back at the table, Justin took this as the perfect opportunity to give Julie the gift he’d been waiting to give to her. “Jewels,” he said, looking into her eyes, “I want you to have this” He handed her a small box wrapped in light blue paper with a small white ribbon. Julie wasn’t quite sure what to think. She wasn’t expecting this. She could only imagine what was inside the box.
“Thank you,” she whispered. She delicately unwrapped the box, wondering what would be inside. “A ring,” Julie said bluntly, as if disappointed.
“Read what it says,” Justin told her.
“ ‘Together Forever’,” she read, “Justin I can’t accept -”
“Oh no no no no,” he interrupted, “ it’s not what you think it is”
“What?”
“It’s just a gift to show how much I care about you. Nothing more” Justin removed the ring from its place in the box He took Julie’s hand in his and placed the ring on her finger. Lance walked up right at that moment. He suddenly didn’t feel so good.
“Umm...guys, I don’t feel good”
“What’s the matter Lance?” a concerned Julie asked.
“I don’t know. I just don’t feel very well”
Julie stood up and put her hand on his forehead. “You’re burning up Lance. We need to get you home. Justin, can I use your car?”
“Uh...ummm...yeah sure,” he answered hesitantly. Julie leaned forward and kissed him sweetly.
“Thanks babe” He just smiled at her.
“C’mon Lance,” She lead him out to Justin’s car. When they got to her apartment, she took him to her bed and checked his temperature. “Holy cow! Lance, you’ve got a temperature of 102.4! No wonder you feel sick”
“That’s not why I’m sick,” he mumbled.
“What?” asked Julie.
“Nothing. Oh man, my head hurts”
“Maybe you should eat something. I’ll be right back” She walked to the kitchen to make some soup. Lance, lying down on the bed, was trying to relax and collect his thoughts. OK, I can’t let anyone know how I feel. No matter how bad it hurts, I have to keep it inside. No! No! I have to tell her!! Well, let’s see...she hasn’t given any hint or clue she’s interested in me. But, what if she does have feelings for me but just keeps them inside? What am I saying?! That’s it! I’m NOT telling her! I just can’t!
“Here ya go” Julie walked in with a tray containing some soup, crackers, and some juice. Over her shoulder was a hand towel that was a bit damp. She put the tray on Lance’s lap.
“Thanks,” he said quietly, “ Jewels, you didn’t have to do all this”
“I wanted to,” she told him, handing him some aspirin, “this is for your headache”
Lance held out his hand. Julie dropped the pills in his hand. Lance lifted his hand up and grabbed her fingers. He looked deep into her eyes. Not knowing what to do, Julie looked away and broke the silence. “Here, put this on your forehead or on the back of your neck. It should cool you off some”
“OK,” Lance said looking down. He took the towel from Julie.
“I’ll come back and check on you in a few minutes”
Lance nodded as Julie walked out of the room closing the door behind her. She headed for the phone and dialed Justin’s number. “Hello?” she heard on the opposite end of the line.
“Justin? It’s me”
“Hey sweetie what’s up? Is everything all right?”
“Yeah, everything’s fine. I just needed to hear your voice again. Sorry for leaving you at the restaurant”
“That’s alright. Lance looked pretty bad”
“So, are you guys eating now?”
“Yeah. We should be done in a few minutes”
“Oh wait! How are you getting home? I have your car, remember?”
“Oh don’t worry about us. We’ll walk. It’s not that far”
“Are you sure?”
“Yup. We’ll be fine. Kristina is here so we won’t get lost”
“OK. See you soon”
“Bye babe”
“Bye”
Julie went back to the bedroom to check on Lance. She couldn’t help but smile and giggle to herself when she saw him. Lance had fallen asleep with the tray still in his lap. Julie moved the tray to the foot of the bed. She slowly pulled one of the pillows away from behind him so he could lie down. Then she covered him with the blankets. She took the tray back to the kitchen and while she was cleaning the few dishes on the tray, Justin, Kris, Joey, JC, and Chris returned.
“Hey baby,” Justin whispered in Julie’s ear, kissing her gently on the back of her neck.
“Hey,” she whispered back. She turned and faced him, giving him a small peck.
“Where’s Lance?” Justin asked looking around.
“Sleeping. In fact, that’s what I wanna do right now” Justin nodded.
“Oh wait,” he said, “I brought you some food”
“Oh thank you. OK then, I’ll eat this and then take a nap”
She sat down and ate the lunch Justin had brought her. Meanwhile, Kris and the guys were in the living room watching television. After she had finished, she went into the living room to let them know she was heading for bed. “OK guys I’m taking a nap now alright?”
“Alright,” they all said together, sucked into the TV.
“Kris, can I use your bed? Lance is in mine” Kris kept staring at the screen. “KRIS!!” she yelled.
“What? Did you call me?”
“Yes! Can I take your bed?”
“Yeah sure. Anything else?”
“Yeah. Can you check on Lance in a few minutes?”
“Okey doke”
Julie headed for Kris’ room. As soon as she lay down, she fell asleep. After about half an hour, Kris went to check on Lance. She was looking for the thermometer to check his temperature again when he woke up.
“Kris?” he said, sitting up.
“Hey Lance. How are you feeling?”
“Fine. I’m fine now. Where’s Julie?”
“Asleep in my room. Why?”
“Just wondering” He got out of bed and walked down the hall. Kris assumed he was headed for the living room, so she made her way to the living room too. But when she got there, she didn’t see him.
“How’s Lance?” JC asked her.
“Fine. He’s all better,” she replied.
“Then where is he?”
“Bathroom, I think,” she answered unsure. JC nodded.
Meanwhile, Lance was in Kris’ room. He stood just inside the door debating whether or not he should wake Julie. She looks so peaceful. I don’t know if I should wake her up. What do I say to her? ‘Hi Julie! I just woke you up to say I want you to dump Justin for me’? No way! I must be crazy. Forget it. Why even bother? Lance turned to open the door to leave. The door had somehow gotten stuck so he pulled as hard as he could. The door flew open unexpectedly, causing Lance to lose his balance. To keep himself from falling, he threw his hands on the bed making the bed shake. The movement made Julie wake up. She was surprised to see Lance standing at the foot of the bed.
“Lance? What are you doing in here?” she asked, rubbing her eyes.
Oh my God!! What do I tell her?!?! Lance looked around frantically. “Uh...I was...just..” out of the corner of his eye, he spotted Kris’ car keys sitting on her dresser, “...getting Kris’ keys. Yeah. See, cuz I was gonna ask her to drive me to the store...yeah, see, cuz umm...you’re running low on aspirin...umm..yeah, so I was gonna go get some in case I get another headache”
“Umm...Lance, couldn’t you have taken Justin’s car? I mean, wouldn’t it have been easier?”
“I...I don’t like Justin’s car,” he answered.
“Oh. OK,” Julie said giving him a weird look.
“Sorry I woke you up,” he said, trying to change the subject.
“Oh that’s alright. I should probably get up anyway” Julie fixed the bed and headed out the door.
“Julie wait!-” Lance blurted out without thinking. Oh no! What did I just do?!?
“Yeah?” Julie stopped and turned around. Lance took a step towards her and looked into her eyes.
“Julie, I-,” he took her hands in his, “I…want to tell you...umm...thank you. Thank you. You know, for taking care of me this afternoon. That was sweet of you to baby me like that. The last person who did that for me was my mother when I was about 12 years old”
“Your welcome,” she smiled, “I just wanted to make sure you were taken care of.” She gave him a little kiss on the cheek and a hug. “Glad you’re feeling better”
“Me too” They walked into the living room to find everyone still watching TV. Lance found a seat on the floor while Julie squeezed next to Justin on the couch.
“How’s my sleeping beauty?” he teased.
“Just fine now that my Prince Charming is here,” she played along. He put his arm around her and smiled.
The rest of the afternoon pretty much went on without anything happening. Around 5:30, Justin grabbed the remote and pushed the power button. “Hey!!” everyone shouted in unison.
“Sorry,” he said, “but it’s time now.” All the guys got up mumbling and grumbling to themselves.
“C’mon Kris,” JC grabbed Kris’ hand as they all headed for the door.
“What’s going on?” she whispered.
“Shh...I’ll explain later”
“Where’s everybody going?” Julie asked.
“They’re going out while we stay in,” Justin said with a smile. Once everyone had left, Justin got up and went into the kitchen. He pulled a clean dish towel out of the drawer.
“Justin, what are you doing?”
“Hold still,” he told her as he tied the towel around her head as a blindfold, “Now, stay right here”
She could hear his footsteps going down the hall. She couldn’t figure out what he was doing. After a few minutes, she heard his footsteps coming back. “OK,” he whispered, “stand up.” He helped her to her feet and led her down the hall with his left hand on her back and his right hand holding hers. They stopped at her bedroom door. Justin opened the door and lead Julie inside. He sat her down on the bed and picked up her discman and headphones off her dresser. “Here,” he instructed her, “I’m gonna put these headphones on you and I want you to just sit here and listen to music and I’ll be back in a few minutes. And don’t even think out taking off that blindfold”
“OK,” she laughed. Justin carefully put the headphones on Julie and walked out of the room. Soon Julie had music ringing in her ears. She sat patiently listening to the music. The album was nearing its end and Julie was starting to wonder where Justin was. She was about to take the headphones off when Justin walked in. He took the headphones off and told her to stand up. He turned her around and once she was facing the bed, he removed the blindfold from her eyes. “Oh my goodness!!” she said excitedly as she looked around to see the room surrounded by red roses. Rose petals covered the bed and floor. At the foot of the bed, where her hope chest sat, was a tray with a plate of fettucine alfredo and candles.
“I’ve been wanting to do this since the day we met,” he confessed.
“This is amazing!” she said, nearly in tears, “Oh, Justin, I don’t know what to say”
“Don’t say anything”
***In Kris’ Car***
“OK, so are you going to tell me what’s going on now?” Kris asked impatiently once they pulled into the parking lot of the club.
“Justin prepared a special dinner and a whole romantic special night thing,” Lance said, rolling his eyes.
“You don’t seem to happy about that,” Kris said, taking the key out of the ignition.
Oh, great way to keep it hidden Lance!, he scolded himself, OK, what excuse do I use now? “Oh, no, it’s not that,” he fibbed, “it’s just that I’d rather be at home relaxing, that’s all”
“Well, let’s have fun since we’re here alright?” Kris said, trying to make the most out of the situation.
They all got out of the car and headed inside the doors of the club.
***Back at the apartment***
“Justin, stop it,” Julie giggled, playfully pushing Justin away from her. They were lying next to each other on the bed. She had her back to him and he had his arm around her as they watched the small TV screen sitting about 2 feet away from them. Justin kept kissing her along the back of her neck.
“I’m sorry,” he said, pretending to be sad, “I just can’t help it. You’re just so beautiful”
“Oh please,” she said, switching positions in order to face him.
“What? You don’t believe me?”
“Nope. Sorry,” she smiled. She leaned forward and gave him a short, but sweet kiss. “Thanks for dinner,” she whispered.
“No problem. So, what happened during the 3 and a half weeks we didn’t talk to each other?”
“Oh nothing much, just school and work. The only weird stuff that’s worth talking about is what happened today”
“Heh- yeah, well I guess us showing up at your door unexpectedly this morning was a little weird”
“Well, not only that, but Lance has been acting extremely strange”
“Strange?” Justin asked confused, “What do you mean?”
“Well, you know that Lance and I are really close friends, right? Well, today he’s barely talked to me and he won’t even look at me. But when he does, it’s a long gaze. It’s kinda freaky in a way”
“Wow, that IS weird”
“Yeah I know”
“There’s only one logical explanation for why he’s acting like that, but it’s a little far-fetched”
“What? What is it?” Julie asked anxiously.
“Have you ever kissed him?”
“JUSTIN!!!!”
“What?”
“ ‘Have you ever kissed him?’ What kinda question is that?!?! Today was the first time we’ve seen each other since the day we met last summer! The only time we were alone together was when I brought him home from the restaurant!!”
“How do I know nothing happened?”
“I can’t believe you!!!” Julie was shocked that Justin was actually saying this. She got off the bed and picked up her shoes.
“What are you doing? Where are you going?” Justin asked, also getting off the bed.
“I don’t know. I’m just getting out of here”
“In your pajamas?” Julie stopped and looked down. She realized she was still in her pajamas and threw down her shoes on the bed. Justin could see her frustration. “Jewels-” he said putting his hand on her arm.
“DON’T TOUCH ME!!” she yelled, moving her arm away.
Justin made his way to the other side of the bed. With his back facing her, he sat on the edge of the bed. “If you’re going to go, then go,” he said sternly.
Julie picked up her shoe and threw it at Justin, hitting him in the arm. “I DON’T HAVE TO LEAVE!! I LIVE HERE!!” she screamed angrily, “YOU LEAVE......NOW!!”
Justin walked towards Julie apologetically. “Jewels, I didn’t mean to accuse you of anything. Will you please forgive me?”
Julie looked down at the ground and remained silent.
“Fine,” Justin said softly, nodding his head, “I understand”
He quietly left the room.
To Be Continued…