Ever since I've known Justin, I've felt comfortable talking to him (even through that strange "maturity" time-warp). He's a great listener and always give people they advice they need, and right now, I need all the advice I can get.
"So, what do you think I should do?" I asked Justin, after telling him the whole story about the Backstreet Boys from when Rachel and I met Brian and AJ on the wave runners to when Chris, Rachel, Maribeth, and I had left them on my boat.
"Well," he said. "First thing's first. Do you really like Brian that much to go out with him after this little charade of theirs ends?"
"You see, that's what seems strange to me," I said. "Usually after someone does something like this I just break-up with them without even a second thought. For some reason, it's different with him."
"You must really like him, then."
"I guess so." I said. "I have a question. Is there a reason they don't like you guys or is it just the boy-band rival thing?"
"Actually," Justin explained, "they're mad because Jive Records signed us. I think it's against their contract or something. I don't get it, really. It's not like they make any less money or get pushed out or something like that. The only real difference is that Jive makes twice as much money as they did originally."
"Wait," I said, freezing in place. I was finding this very hard to believe. "They don't like you because of some stupid record deal?"
"Yep," Justin said. "I can't really think of any other reason we've given them to hate us. You?"
"I couldn't even think of that reason in the first place," I said. I shook my head clear and continued walking. "Unbelievable . . ."
"What's so unbelievable about it?"
"What's so unbelievable is the fact that someone can be so stupid as to hate another person because of something so stupid."
"That's the way some people are," Justin said, shrugging his shoulders.
We walked along the dark golf course in silence for a few minutes, then Justin put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close as I started to cry. He stopped walking and embraced me in a tight, comforting hug. You see, this was an unusual situation for both of us. I'm not one for crying and he's probably the only person that's seen me cry. I don't judge people when they do, but I don't exactly cry at the drop of a hat. I've really only cried once or twice in my life before this. I usually just beat the heck out of people who stand in my way (figuratively speaking). It's just that this is one situation I don't know how to handle, which is pretty new for me. This was not a fun thing to go through. I mean, imagine if you had to chose between your best-friend and your boy-friend. Though my decision was pretty obvious to me . . . yet it was still hard.
After what seemed like hours (though it was only minutes) of crying, I wiped my eyes and looked up at Justin. He smiled at me and gave me one more quick squeeze before he let go
"Where to now?" He asked, knowing I didn't want to talk about what had just happened.
"How 'bout we go back to Chris's boat," I said. "They've probably stooped so low that they're watching Tommy Boy for the twenty-thousandth time."
"Okay," he said. We started walking back the way we came. "Alex?" Justin asked.
"Yeah?" I said.
"You gonna be okay?"
I thought for a second, then looked up at him and smiled faintly. "Yeah, I'll be all right."
"Yippee!" He said, going back to his hyper state. I laughed at the sudden transformation, though I was surprised he'd been able to stay calm for that long.
When we got back to the boat, he let me on first. I went downstairs, smiling happily once again.
"Everything okay?" Rachel asked. She was seated next to JC on the couch. Maribeth was laying across the long part of the couch, her head on Joey and her feet on Chris. Lance was seated comfortably on the floor.
"Yeah," I said, joining Lance. He gave me a sympathetic smile.
"Where's Justin? Did you ditch him?" JC asked hopefully.
"Like she would ever ditch me!" Justin said, scrambling down the steps and sitting on Lance, who shoved him off. He went sprawling on the floor.
"So," Justin said, still laying awkwardly on the floor, leaning his head on his fists, "What are you guys watching?"
"Tommy Boy," Rachel and Maribeth moaned. I glanced at my watch.
"Umm, guys," I said, turning to look at Rachel and Maribeth. "It's almost 2:30 in the morning and we have to be up at the picnic area by nine to help set up. I think it's about time we go."
"Okay," Maribeth said. "I'm tired anyway. You guys coming tomorrow?"
"Yeah," Chris said. "We're helping set up, too."
"We are?" Joey said, looking confused. "Nobody told me about this."
"Okay, we'll see you then," Rachel said, ignoring him. She got up and walked up the steps.
"Bye!" Maribeth and I called as we walked up the steps and joined Rachel on the dock.
We talked the whole way back about the information we had gotten. Like I said earlier, if we have a problem, we fix it. Fast! As soon as we got to the boat, we went inside to find Joanne and Jamie sitting on the couch talking.
"Hey!" Joanne said. Jamie raised her hand a waved quickly before she covered her yawn.
"So, what'd you guys find out?" Jamie asked after she had finished yawning.
"Record deal with Jive," Rachel said.
"Elaborate please," Joanne said.
"Apparently, the Backstreet Boys are still mad about the fact that Jive signed N'Sync, but I can't really understand why they'd be mad. It's not like they're losing any money."
"From what Kevin said," Joanne explained, "it looks as though signing N'Sync was against they're contract. I think they're mad at Jive as well." Joanne put her hand up to stop Maribeth from saying something. "Don't even bother to ask why because they couldn't even explain it."
I shook my head, confused. "But that doesn't explain why it was in their contract that Jive couldn't sign N'Sync. That's being a little selfish, don't you think?" I asked.
"Oh well," Rachel said. "We'll just have to wait 'til morning to figure it out because I'm going to bed. I need my beauty sleep," she said dramatically.
"Not even sleep will help you," Joanne said, teasingly. Rachel threw a small pillow at her.
"Good idea," Maribeth said. "Night everyone!"
"Night," we all echoed.
"Wait a minute," I said. Everyone stopped and turned to look at me. "No hard feelings, right?"
"Right,' they all agreed. Joanne saluted to me.
"Okay, now everyone has to be ready by 8:45," I said, going to my room and closing the door.
"Yes, mother!"