I Will Still Love You

Chapter 9

February/99

"...and because of the witches' predictions, Macbeth ignored the messenger and sent him away. Meanwhile, Macduff and Malcolm were marching towards Dunsinane with a huge army to destroy..." Mrs. Revell leactured the class.

Joanna was looking at the teacher, but her words made no sense. Don't get her wrong, she loved Senior English class. Mrs. Revell was the greatest teacher ever, she made the most boring topics into so much fun to learn. But today was different. Joanna was on her own world dreaming about Justin. On this very day, four years ago, they started dating. Four wonderful and unforgettable years. She was imagining what he was doing at this time. Probably recording some tracks for the next album in New York. She looked at the clock, 10 minutes remained. And Mrs. Revell kept on talking...

"...and Macduff finally told Macbeth that he wasn't born of a woman..."

The classroom door opened and a man entered.

"Hello, Mrs. Revell. How are ya?" the voice said

"Oh my... Joseph? Is that you?" the teacher asked. He nodded his head yes.

"Come here and give me a hug, will you?! It's been what? Four years?" she asked

"Since graduation ceremony." he responded, giving her a hug

"I know you're doing perfectly fine, so I'm not even gonna ask." she said

He just laughed at her remarked and said: "Thank God. And you? Are they treating you alright?" he questioned

"Nothing that I can't handdle. This is my best class, my Business Academy and Honors kids." she answered

"Ah, just like I was." he concluded

Mrs. Revell turned to the class and said:

"Guys, this is Joseph, I mean, Joey from 'N Sync. He was my student a while ago, class of '95." Joey said hi to everyone. The girls couldn't keep their mouths closed and the guys didn't care.

During all the conversation, Joanna was still day-dreaming. At the mention of the name 'N Sync, her breath was taked away and her eyes grew wider. She stopped and looked at the teacher, then at the guy beside her. It was Joey. She couldn't believe it. What was he doing in her class? Her school?

At the same time, Joey's eyes were wandering around the room, scanning through the unknown faces. Suddenly, he spotted something familiar.

"Hey, what are you doing here?" he said, pointing to Joanna

"Learning?!" she answered smiling. He walked towards her and enveloped her in his arms.

All of the people in the room just looked in amazement, including Mrs. Revell. Joanna never said anything about knowing Joey. She never bragged about knowing someone famous like many would. When she became captain of the volleyball and soccer teams, some tried to be friends with her just because of that, which bothered her. She never asked or wanted to be popular. She just wanted to be recognized as a good and honest person. And for that, she was. She had few friends that were loyal, but that was more than enough for her. She knew she could always trust them.

"I missed you." Joanna said

"I missed you too. We all missed you, especially Justin." Joey said

"What happened? You guys were supposed to stay in New York til the end of the month and then go to Jacksonville for the concert on the third." she said

"Change of plans." he responded

"Is everyone here?" she asked

"Yup, just outside waiting for you. I better go now before the bell rings, 'cause if I don't, I'll be in trouble." he said

"Ok, I'll see ya in a few." Joanna told him

He kissed her on the cheek, hugged Mrs. Revell saying that he would come back on another day, said bye to the rest of the class, and left. There were still five minutes to the end of class, but it would be nearly impossible to lecture about Macbeth, so the teacher just let the students talk about whatever they wanted. When the bell rang, everyone stood up and walked out of the room. In the hallways, all the girls approached Joanna. Some wanted to know how she met them, others asked for their phone number, and many just gave her an envious look.

Finally, when she got outside, she saw a crowd of people surronding some guys, so she figured it was them. They didn't see her, so she got closer and asked one of them for an autograph. The guy was Chris, so she decided to have some fun.

"Hi, can I get your autograph?"

"Sure thing. What's your name?" Chris asked without looking at the girl

"Chip." she responded, referring to the nickname he had given her. She was Chip and he was Dale.

He just stopped writing and looked up at her who was smiling at him. He started laughing, picked her up, and started spinning her around. Finally, when Chris put her down, the other guys came up to greet her.

"Joooo, the reason of my late night phone calls!" JC joked while approaching her

"How are ya?" she said hugging him

Then, it was Lance's turn: "My partner in crime, I missed you." he said while she just laughed. "They don't let me listen to country music on the bus anymore, not without you to there support me." he said. She just laughed even harder and hugged him.

"Gimme some luv!" said Joey.

"Ha, you already got some today, baby. No more." she gave him a kiss on the cheek and went up to Justin. Joey just bit his lower lip and made a puppy dog face.

"Hey, Curly Boy." she said

"Hi, Baby Jo. Did you miss me?" he said kissing her on the nose. She just nodded her head. "Let me just finish the signing so we can go somewhere, ok? I have a surprise." he said. She just stepped back and let him do his job.

After some more autographs and pictures, Joey, Chris, JC and Lance got into Joey's car while Joanna and Justin hopped into his Mercedes. When both cars got to Sand Lake Road, each went their separate ways. The guys went to JC's new apartment to chill while Justin took Joanna to a very special place.