Chapter Two

Lance Bass chewed on his pencil nervously. The teacher was just about to announce History partners. Please let me get a good partner! Lance prayed. He was practically begging it. He needed a good grade for History, or his parents would kill him.

"Lance, you're with Michelle," Mr. Berkley announced, looking at the both of them. Michelle threw Lance a pretend dirty look. He chuckled to himself. He liked it when Michelle pretended to be aggravated. She looked so cute when she looked mad.

Mr. Berkley finished announcing all the pairs. "Everyone, sit with your partners and start discussing on how you will be presenting your exhibition," he replied to the students. "I don't want any fooling around. Your project is due in three weeks."

"Three weeks?" Lance hissed to Michelle. "That's a lot of time."

"Well, working with you I'd say it would be very little," Michelle taunted. "With the way you goof off half of the time."

"I do not goof off!" Lance said defensively. "I just have a big sense of humor."

"Well, we're going to get a good grade on our exhibition," Michelle responded, "right?"

"I hope so!"

"What do you mean you hope so?" shrieked Michelle. "I am not doing this alone! You are going to help me, right?"

"Do I have a choice?"

"Not really."

"Well, there you go," Lance replied with a smirk. He sat back in his seat. "You leave me with no choice but to work on this with you."

Michelle rolled her eyes. "Oh, God…"

"I'm just joking!" Lance burst into laughter.

Michelle had to laugh too. "I thought you were going to beat me up there for a second."

The bell rang. "Okay, you know your partners," Mr. Berkley replied, "so I hope you started making plans for your exhibition." Students started packing up and exiting the classroom.

"I'm going to start on some notes tonight," said Michelle, as she slung her backpack over her shoulder.

Lance nodded.

"Well, bye!" she said with a grin as she left the room.

It was Wednesday night. Britney sat in one of the booths in The Rave, waiting for JC to arrive. He had called her and told her to meet her there at seven. Britney's heart race at the sight of JC entering the The Rave. JC was four minutes late. "A little late, huh?" Britney scolded with a smile as her boyfriend approached her. She patted the seat next to her. "Come, sit."

JC took his seat nervously. It had been his idea for them to meet, but know he didn't know what to tell her. He wanted to discuss their relationship.

"So," Britney replied in an worried voice, "what do you need to tell me that's so important?"

"Um…uh…" JC began not knowing what to tell her. Just be straight forward. Tell her the truth.

"Uh, do you want to get something to eat?" Britney shot him a look. "I know you're trying to change the subject, JC." She exhaled in frustration. "Just tell me."

I can't do this! JC thought. This was killing him. Britney will be so hurt if I break up with her. But he knew it was the right thing to do. He hated having to break another girl's heart. He had already broken Jana's. "I came here to tell you…" he stopped, closing his eyes, "…to tell you something…" Britney looked scared. Her hand was trembling on the table, and she gulped. She was dying to know, he could tell. "Would you go to my school's prom with me?" JC blurted out. Why the hell did you just say that! he screamed angrily at himself. You idiot!

At first, Britney gasped, but then a huge smile came to her face. "I-I-I'm…shocked," she said, startled. "Of course I will, JC!" On impulse, she hugged him tightly. Then she kissed JC passionately. JC felt the electricity course through his body. The sensation was awesome. He had forgotten that Britney was a terrific kisser. JC kissed her back, but Britney pulled away, out of breath. "I feel like the luckiest girl in the entire world," she gushed, her eyes sparkling. "Oh JC, baby, I thought you were going break up with me or something."

I can't believe that I just asked her to my prom, JC said, regretting asking Britney. What was I thinking? Big, big mistake! It had been one of Jana and JC's promises to each other to go to the senior prom together. I don't believe myself. I hate myself. I am so stupid, so-ugh!

Britney toyed around with JC's collar. "I think we should celebrate this by going to my place," Britney said in a low voice. The sound of her seductive voice pleased JC and sent shivers down his spine in delight. JC's tension eased. Maybe right now wouldn't be such a bad idea after all.

Michelle sighed in frustration as she searched for her project notes. She had been looking for them for at least five minutes, with no luck of finding them. "Ugh," she groaned. She rested her head on the table in defeat. "Where the hell are you?"

"Need help?" a friendly voice from behind her inquired. Lance closed the door behind him and walked towards her.

Michelle turned around wearily. "Oh, hi, Lance." She gave him a half-hearted smile. "I can't seem to find my notes for our project. I mean, I did them last night! I am so…so…angry with myself."

"Don't worry about it," assured Lance. He pulled up a stool next to her and sat down. Then he started searching through her pile of papers. "Sometimes, when you look too fast, you miss it." He pulled two sheets from the pile. "Is this what you're looking for?"

Michelle's face lit up. "Yes, those are it!" she cried happily. She grabbed the papers from his hand. "Thank you, Lance."

"No prob." Lance smiled. He looked at his watch. "Hey, do you want to start on our project after school? We could combine our notes and start planning out the timeline."

"Yeah," Michelle responded. She fixed her pile into one neat stack. "That would be good."

"I have my own notes too, that I took last night," said Lance, pulling out a thick bunch of papers.

"Oh my God," said Michelle, amazed. "That's a lot."

"Remember, we gotta combine our notes."

"Oh, that's right," said Michelle in mock annoyance. "Thanks to you, I wouldn't be surprised if we finished at seven," she joked.

"Ouch," Lance returned in mock hurt. Just then Mr. Berkley entered the classroom.

"Well, hello, Michelle and Lance," Mr. Berkley replied, walking to his desk. "Aren't you kids hungry? Class ended fifteen minutes ago, and it's lunchtime."

"We're just discussing our exhibition," Lance explained. "We already started taking notes."

"I'm please to hear that, Mr. Bass." Mr. Berkley smiled in approval. "How long will you two be in here?"

"Oh, for about a few minutes more and we'll be out," Michelle told him. Lance nodded.

"Okay." Mr. Berkley grabbed a few file folders from his desk and made his way out the door. "See you tomorrow."

"Bye," called Michelle, as he exited.

Jana was finished up her Science homework when the telephone right next to her rang. The first thought that came her head was JC. "Hello?" she said into the receiver, hoping it was JC.

"Hi, may I speak to Jana?" Justin's voice asked politely.

"Oh, hey, Justin," Jana responded. Oh well, so it isn't JC. Not like I care or anything! she thought. "What's up?"

"Nothin' much," said Justin. "Um, I hope I didn't interrupt you or anything," he said.

"Not at all," she assured him. Hmm, how'd he get my number? Oh, it doesn't matter. I'm glad that he called.

"You're probably wondering how I got your number, huh?" Justin questioned. "Michelle gave it to me."

"Oh, okay."

"Hey, listen," Justin began. "You know how we were going to make plans sometime? Well, on Friday my neighbor, his girlfriend, and me are going to Daytone for dinner. I was wondering if you'd like to come?"

"Um, I'd love to," Jana said honestly. This was the perfect event to keep her mind off of JC! A date with Justin would be ideal.

"Great," Justin replied, beaming at the other end of the line. "It'll just be a friendly date. I hope you won't mind my friend and his girlfriend playing tongue-hockey in the backseat."

Jana laughed lightly. "Don't worry about it," she said. "You'll probably keep me occupied telling those cheesy jokes of yours."

Justin chuckled. "Well, I can't wait until Friday," he whispered softly into the phone.

"Me either," Jana agreed. "Well, I am sorry, but I must go now. Thanks for inviting me, Justin."

"No, thank you!" Justin chimed. "Talk to you later. Bye."

"Bye." Jana hung up the telephone. She grinned to herself. I have a date! her mind cheered joyfully. It's time to get over JC completely! No more feeling sorry for yourself. She had never been so proud of herself. Friday was just around the corner-two days. She walked to her closet and started picking out which outfit she would wear.

It was the third day in a row Michelle and Lance had worked in the library after school. They were trying to finish their History project.

"Now, I am planning to see a big fat A on my paper," Michelle reminded Lance, as she wrote furiously on a piece of paper.

"Ha, like you ever get anything lower than that!" Lance scoffed.

"Actually, I have." Michelle smiled astutely. She continued writing.

Lance looked at the library's clock. "Jeez, it's almost five! Can you believe it? It's Friday after school, and we're in the Library. No one else is in here. We're insane."

"This will pay off," said Michelle. "Believe me."

"But aren't you hungry?" Lance insisted. "My stomach is growling!"

Michelle giggled. "When does your stomach ever get tired of eating?" She flipped to a page in her textbook. "Hmm, we can leave here by six. Is that a deal?"

Lance looked like he was going to cry. Michelle smirked at him. "Well?"

"Fine!" he agreed, opening his textbook to the page she was on. "But-you have to promise that we can stop by Daytone to pick up food. I can't survive if I don't eat!"

"All right, all right," said Michelle. She sank back in her seat.

"You know, I am exhausted! I never realized how hard we've been working on this darn project these last three days." She looked at him in disbelief. "All I can say is that you've been doing an excellent job of keeping our notes organized."

"Thank you, Lance," said Michelle. "I just knew you couldn't handle the job."

"Hey!"

"Ha, ha."

"Very funny." Lance sat up. "You know what, you-"

"Shh!" Michelle teased as she hushed him. "I am trying to work now."

Lance glared at her. He saw her stifle a laugh, and she turned away from him and continued writing away. "Michelle-" Lance tried again.

Michelle faced him, grinning. "Excuse me, Lance. I told you, I am trying to work. Please don't interrupt me."

Lance smiled evilly. "Oh yeah?" he said, his arms reaching out for her. Before Michelle knew what was going to happen, Lance started tickling her. Michelle shrieked, and both of them started laughing hysterically.

"Okay, don't be nervous," Jana told herself, pacing around the living room anxiously. She had been doing that for the last ten minutes. She was extremely nervous about her date with Justin that night. Jana had decided on a long slinky black skirt, platforms, and a beige spaghetti-strap top. She plopped onto her couch, breathing in and out heavily. "Why am I so nervous?" she asked herself aloud. "I just want everything to go smooth. No screw ups-nothing!" She checked her watch. "He said six thirty. It's six-twenty-six." She had spent the last half-hour preparing for her date. That meant showering, blow-drying and fixing her hair, applying light make up, and choosing the perfect outfit to wear. After ten minutes, Jana stood up. Justin was late. Had he stood her up? Was he playing games with her? "This better not be some kind of joke," she fumed.

A car horn honked from outside. With a sigh of relief, Jana rushed from the living room to her front door. She found Justin sitting in the front seat, waving. Not bad, she thought, checking out his jeep. She gave him a grin and locked the door behind her. As she approached his car, her heart stopped. There was JC, sitting with his girlfriend, in the backseat. She was too stunned to say anything, and horrified. They were chatting. She slowly managed to get into the jeep. "H-hey," she said to Justin.

JC's eyes widened in panic as he saw Jana sit down. "Jana!" he said in a whisper. What was she doing here? Was she Justin's date?

"First, I'm sorry that I'm late," Justin replied. "Secondly, I'd like you to meet JC, my neighbor, and his girlfriend, Britney." Britney just stared in shock.

JC didn't look Jana in the eye. "Nice to meet you," JC said in a low voice.

"Same here," Jana responded, as civil as possible. She thought she was going to lose it any minute. Oh my God, this cannot be happening, she thought crossly, as Justin stepped on the gas. This was going to be a long night.