“So what are you going to do on this lovely Friday night?” JC asked cheerily. Julia stood up from her bed and walked over to her vanity. She sat down at it and picked up a brush and began to run it through her hair nervously. “Actually I’m getting ready to go out right now,” she answered. “Oh really, are you and Morgan doing something?” JC asked. “Um, no...I have a...I have a date,” Julia answered quietly. JC’s eyes widened in shock, he hadn’t even thought about Julia dating anyone.
“Oh,” was all he could say at first as he struggled for words, “Who...who are you going out with?” “A guy from my English class. We’ve talked in class all semester and yesterday he finally asked me to hang out,” Julia explained. “Well that’s cool, I hope you guys have fun,” JC said happily, and Julia couldn’t help but think it sounded a little fake. “Yeah, thanks,” Julia replied and there was suddenly an awkward silence. “Hey I’ve gotta go get something to eat, so I’ll talk to you later. I’m kinda busy but I’ll try to call you sometime this next week, okay?” JC said quickly, trying to sound like he was in a hurry. “Okay, bye,” Julia said hanging up.
Julia sighed and looked at her reflection in the mirror for a minute as she thought to herself. She was wondering why JC had sounded so strange when she told him she had a date. Things had been going really well since they’d become friends again but they hadn’t talked about dating other people. She knew JC was probably meeting all kinds of girls on tour so she had tried not to think about it too much. She shook her head quickly, “You are not going to ruin tonight by thinking of JC the whole time. Jason is a great guy and you should go out with him and have fun and don’t worry about JC,” she tried to tell herself, but for some reason she didn’t think it was going to work.
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“Aren’t you hungry JC?” Justin asked when he noticed that JC had barely touched his dinner. “No, not really,” JC said pushing his plate away and resting his elbows on the table. “Well you should probably try to eat something, you’ll need your energy for the show,” Justin suggested. “Julia’s going on a date tonight,” JC said simply, looking up to Justin. Justin’s eyes widened, “How do you know that?” he asked. “She told me. I just called her and she was getting ready to go out with some guy from one of her classes,” JC explained. “Well that’s cool, I mean, that she’s going out with other guys, isn’t it?” Justin asked, trying to be positive.
“Yeah, of course it is,” JC said, nodding, picking up his water bottle and playing with the cap. Justin watched him for a minute, “For some reason I get the feeling that you don’t think it’s so cool,” he said. JC shrugged, “Well I never really thought about her dating other guys, so I guess I always thought I’d be okay with it. But now that it’s happening, I don’t know what I think.” “It might take a little while to get used to,” Justin said. “Yeah, I guess so,” JC said shaking his head. Just then Justin’s cell phone rang loudly. He grabbed it out of his pocket quickly, “Oh hey Brit, what’s up?” he answered. JC got up to throw his trash away, he knew Justin would be awhile.
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“So what movie would you like to see?” Julia’s date Jason asked her on the way to the movie theater. They had just finished eating dinner and Julia was actually having a really good time. “Oh I don’t care, I’ll watch just about anything,” she replied with a smile. “Okay, we’ll just go to the first one playing,” Jason said brushing the back of her hand lightly with his fingertips. She smiled up to him before looking out the window. “If JC would’ve touched your hand like that your stomach would be doing a million flip-flops right now,” she thought to herself.
Julia had been having thoughts like that the whole night, no matter how hard she tried to push them out of the way. Jason was a great guy, he was tall with dark hair and brown eyes and great smile, and he made her laugh...but he wasn’t JC. “Are you okay Julia? We don’t have to go to the movie if you don’t want to,” Jason asked, snapping her out of her daze. “Oh no, I’m fine. It’s just been a long week, that’s all,” she said with a smile.
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A couple hours later Julia plopped down on her bed and sighed. She rolled over onto her stomach and grabbed the phone to call Morgan, like she had promised she would. “Hey Morgan, I’m back from my date,” Julia said. “Okay, give me details girl,” Morgan said immediately. Julia laughed a little at her, “It went pretty well. Jason is really sweet,” she said. “Why don’t I believe you?” Morgan asked. Julia played dumb, “I don’t know why you wouldn’t believe me, Mor, I’m telling the truth. I really had fun with Jason.”
“I believe you that the date went okay, but I know there’s something you’re not telling me,” Morgan insisted. Julia sighed and rubbed her forehead, “Yeah, I guess you’re right. As great a guy as Jason is, I couldn’t help but compare him to JC the whole night. Jason doesn’t drive with his hand resting on the gearshift like JC does, Jason doesn’t hum or sing along to the radio, Jason doesn’t let me order first at the restaurant, Jason doesn’t walk me to the door after the date. JC does all that,” Julia said sadly.
“You loved JC alot, and he was the last person you dated. I think it’s only natural that you’ll compare him to Jason and other guys you date for awhile,” Morgan suggested. “Yeah, maybe you’re right,” Julia agreed, “but do you think it means that I’m not over JC?” Morgan thought about that for a few seconds, “It might mean that. But I thought you said you were over JC and you were happy just being friends?” she asked in confusion.
“That’s what I thought. I am happy having him back in my life and being friends with him, and I thought that would be enough for me, but maybe now it isn’t. I spent the whole movie tonight thinking about this. I tried to picture myself with Jason or someone besides JC for the rest of my life...and I couldn’t do it,” Julia said with a deep sigh. “Wow,” Morgan said in surprise, “I didn’t expect that.” “Neither did I. I really thought I was over him, and I thought going on this date would help me move on, but I think it just made me realize how much I still love JC,” Julia confessed as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
Morgan’s eyes widened in surprise and she didn’t say anything for a minute, “You need to tell him that,” she finally said. “No, no, I can’t do that,” Julia insisted. “Why not?” “Because I just got him back in my life and if I tell him I still love him it will just scare him away again,” Julia said. “You’ll be miserable if you just hold it inside and don’t tell him,” Morgan replied. “I’d rather have him as a friend than not have him at all. And it’s better for both of us if I don’t tell him, I know it is,” Julia said, even though she didn’t sound too sure of herself. “Okay, if you say so,” Morgan agreed, still unsure. “It’s been a long day so I’m going to bed, but thanks for listening,” Julia said. “It’s no problem, goodnight,” Morgan said before hanging up.
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“Alright, what was up with you tonight JC? You missed so many dance moves and you forgot half the words to ‘Tearin’ Up My Heart’. We’ve performed that like a million times, you shouldn’t forget the words to that,” Chris scolded JC on the bus after the show that night. “I know, I’m so sorry, I just had some stuff on my mind,” JC said running his hands through his hair. Justin looked up from where he’d been rummaging through his backpack, “Stuff like Julia on a date with another guy?” he asked with a sneaky grin.
JC rolled his eyes at him before giving him a look of warning. “Julia went on a date with another guy?” Lance asked in surprise. “Yeah, she had a date tonight with some guy from one of her classes, it’s no big deal,” JC said grabbing his backpack and sitting down. “You wouldn’t have messed up so much tonight if it wasn’t a big deal,” Justin said matter-of-factly. JC sighed loudly, “Okay, so it was kind of bothering me, so what?” “Well we need to find out why it’s bothering you so much,” Chris replied.
“How about we just don’t worry about it?” JC said in annoyance. “It’s not bothering you because you still have feelings for Julia, is it?” Justin asked seriously. All the guys’ eyes widened and they sat down and waited for JC’s answer. JC just shook his head and pretended to look for something in his bag, “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mumbled. Justin pulled JC’s bag away from him, “You do know what I’m talking about, and I’m right,” he said.
JC sighed loudly again and rubbed his hands over his tired face, “It’s just kind of hard to picture her with another guy, that’s all,” he whispered. “Do you still picture her with you?” Lance asked quietly. JC shrugged his shoulders, “Yeah, maybe...sometimes,” he said, still barely speaking above a whisper. “So you still love her?” Justin asked. JC looked down to his hands and didn’t say anything for a minute. He finally sighed quietly, “Yeah, I do,” he said so quietly that the guys barely heard him.
Justin smiled slowly, “Well this is good! We can get you guys back together!” he said happily. JC looked up quickly, “No, no, we can’t do that,” he insisted. Joey looked at him in confusion, “Why not?” “Because we’re just friends now and that’s all we’re going to be,” JC said stubbornly. Justin rolled his eyes, “That’s the biggest bunch of crap I’ve ever heard!” he exclaimed, “If you love her and if she loves you, you guys should obviously be together,” he said.
“How do you know she still loves me?” JC asked. “I can just tell,” Justin replied and the rest of the guys nodded in agreement. JC shook his head slowly, “I don’t know,” he began to protest but Lance stopped him. “JC, you and Julia are made for each other. You’re both miserable without each other and it’s so obvious that you still love each other. Now you have two choices. You can either sit on your sorry pathetic butt and not do anything about it and be miserable forever, or you can do something about it and tell her. Which one is it going to be?” Lance asked. JC thought for a few seconds, “Tell her,” he finally whispered.
*Chapter 44*
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