"Justin!" Chris yelled as he dribbled the basketball down the court. "C'mon! Let's play!"
Justin looked up from his latest project: trying to get a red Spree from the bottom of the wrapper. "Huh? What did you say?"
He didn't wait for Chris to respond and trotted out onto the court. "Want my purple Sprees? I'm trying to pick out all the red ones."
Chris pouted. "But the red ones are the best!"
Justin grinned at Chris, keeping the candy out of his best friend's reach. "And that's why I'm giving you the PURPLE ones."
"I don't want your reject Sprees!" Chris said as he whipped the ball toward the basket at the other side of the court. He held up his arms until the ball hit the back board and bounced off. "Aww... I bet YOU couldn't make that shot."
Justin handed Chris his Sprees and ran down the retrieve the ball. "Watch and learn, Shortie!" he called, jogging back to Chris and taking aim.
He threw the ball and it sailed all the way across the court and into the net. "Oh, yeah!" he cried as he did a little victory dance around Chris.
Chris rolled his eyes. "Show off."
"Yeah, you WISH you could make a shot like that!"
That's when Chris realized that he had Justin's Sprees. "Looks like you'll be eating purple Sprees from now on," he smirked, popping a red one into his mouth and strutting off the court.
"Hey!" Justin yelled after him. "Give me my Sprees!" He watched as Chris opened the door to the house and walked it.
That's when he heard a ringing noise from the bench by the side of the court. His head snapped toward the sound to see a black cell phone.
"Must be Chris'" he mused out loud as he stepped toward the bench and picked the phone up. He examined it, running his thumb down the side. A small, green light was lit up. Dare he answer it?
Justin looked up at the house. Chris wasn't in sight, so he turned his gaze back to the phone. He could answer it... by the time he got inside the house, the person might have hung up.
He took a chance and pressed, 'send'. "Hello?" he said, raising the phone to his ear. "Chris' cell phone."
"Justin?" came a female voice. "Is... is that you?"
The voice sounded familiar, but Justin just couldn't link the voice with a name or a face. "Yeah..." he replied, suspiciously. "Who is this?"
"Um... I really need to talk with Chris."
Now, Justin was extremely curious as to who this girl he was talking to was. "No, really... who is this?"
Suddenly it dawned on him.
"Gracie?" he said, barely above a whisper. He could feel the tears coming to his eyes, making the trees that surrounded him into a big green blur. Why was she calling Chris? Hadn't he broken things off with her last year?
"Please, Justin... I need to talk to Chris," Gracie's voice came back, this time pleading.
Justin felt his face turning red with anger and he got the sudden urge to stomp into the house and beat the hell out of his so called best friend. Chris had LIED to him! In no way did he deserve to talk to Gracie.
After Justin had made his decision, he turned off the phone and set it back down on the bench. Last year he would have walked into the house and hit Chris so hard that he bled, but today he had a better idea. He wouldn't let Chris know that he knew about Gracie. He would get back at him and make him feel the same hurt that he felt.
Slowly, he followed Chris' trail up to the house. He let himself in and found himself staring at Chris who stood at the kitchen counter making a sandwich.
Chris didn't turn to look at Justin. "Want one?" he asked, hearing the door close.
"Sure..." Justin answered as he took a seat at the kitchen table.
There, in front of him were his Sprees. He shot an angry glance at Chris' back and then swiped them up, shoving them into his pocket.
"What kind of sandwiches are you making?" he queried, flicking a crumb off the table as he contemplated his next move.
"Turkey," Chris replied. "What do you want on yours?"
'Your head,' Justin contemplated. "Um... cheese and lettuce are fine," he said out loud.
"All right." Chris reached towards the refrigerator and pulled it open. He grabbed the lettuce and set it next to the turkey and cheese.
Justin stared at the table, tracing the wood swirls with his index finger. Now, how could he make Chris hurt? His eyes lifted and he stared out the window above the sink. 'Wait now... Chris 'gave up' Gracie for ME... I'M the one who can make him hurt. This will be too easy.'
Chris glanced at Justin, who seemed to be lost in thought. Something was on his mind, Chris could tell... but what was it?
"Justin?" Chris said as he put a plate in front of his friend. "Is there something that you want to... talk about?"
Justin watched Chris take a seat across from him. He tried not to glare... Chris would get suspicious...
"No," he said, covering up the anger and showing no emotion at all. "I was just thinking about this girl that I talked to earlier." Now, that wasn't a lie. He HAD spoken with Gracie earlier.
Chris swallowed and grinned. "Oh!" he exclaimed. "Aren't you gonna tell me about her?"
Justin decided to play along. His mind immediately went to a blonde haired girl he had met a few days ago. "Her name is Sarah," he told Chris. "She has blonde hair and blue eyes. She gave me her number."
Chris was truly happy for his friend. Justin hadn't gone on one date since... since... Gracie. "Wow, are you gonna call her?"
"Of course I am!" Justin faltered. "She's really nice and SO beautiful."
The truth was, he had only talked with Sarah for five minutes and he hardly knew anything about her. But Chris had lied to him so why couldn't he lie to Chris?
"Yeah, we're going out tomorrow night."
"That's great!" Chris said as Justin took a bite from his sandwich.
Then it got silent as they both sat there eating their lunch.
Deep down, Justin felt guilty, but he kept telling himself that this was Chris' fault. If Chris hadn't lied to him in the first place, then none of this would be happening. For Christ's sake, he would have let Chris HAVE Gracie! But Chris had to LIE... and THAT'S what make Justin so angry.
Gracie sat in her apartment staring at her phone. She hoped that she hadn't gotten Chris in trouble... who would have known that Justin would pick the phone up?
She had been on their web site and they were coming back next week... it had been a year and she just wanted to make sure that Chris would keep his promise. She just HAD to see him again...
"The bus is here!" JC yelled up the stairs. He grabbed a few bags and set them closer to the door.
The first hour of the bus ride was silent except for the sounds of Joey and Lance's video game.
Justin sat by himself at the table while the rest of Nsync lounged in the entertainment area. He looked out the window, watching the scenery as the bus passed by, his mind on Chris and the little secret his friend had kept for the past year.
Gracie.
Chris didn't tell his very best friend that he hadn't cut all ties with her. Now it was on. Justin's mind raced to a plan and his brow furrowed, the outdoors blending into a single color as everything came together.
Meanwhile, in the entertainment room, Chris was also thinking of his best friend only his thoughts were of concern. In his mind, it didn't make sense.
Suddenly, Joey let out a whoop and Lance groaned.
"I win! I win!" Joey called, raising his hands in the air and cheering.
JC laughed at his friend's enthusiasm before he traveled to the kitchen area to grab a glass of orange juice.
Sitting there at the table, leaning against the window was Justin... and he had the weirdest look on his face... one that JC had never seen before. Without thinking, he slid into the booth across from Justin and set his orange juice down. "What's up?"
Justin didn't respond. He seemed to be fixated on a point outside... but there was one problem... Land was whizzing by quickly and Justin's eyes remained stationary.
"Justin," JC said in a louder tone. "Are you okay?"
Justin's head turned to look at JC, but JC felt that he wasn't looking at him. He was looking THROUGH him. He waved his hand. "Hello?"
Justin blinked. "What?" he asked, his brow still furrowed in thought.
JC matched Justin's look as he glared right back into his friend's disturbed eyes. "What's with you? You... you look like..." his face broke into a small smile and he chuckled at the thought running through his mind. "Like you wanna KILL someone," he joked.
Only Justin didn't laugh. He didn't even crack the tiniest smile.
For Justin, time blurred into nothing and before he knew it, they were in the city where they would perform the first concert of the new leg of their tour.
He kept a watchful eye on Chris. This was where Gracie lived and Justin knew that Chris hadn't forgotten.
Late that night, Chris wondered why Justin declined to share a hotel room. Because of it, he had gotten stuck with Joey this time and he knew for certain that Joey wouldn't be coming back to the hotel until at LEAST two AM.
His eyes wandered to his cell phone, sitting at the foot of his bed. He wished it would ring. He wished he could hear her voice. What was wrong? Last time they'd talked, she'd told him that she'd call him the day before he came to her city. She hadn't.
Praying that her number hadn't changed, he picked up his phone and carefully punched in the number that had been purposely embedded in his memory for the past year.
Gracie rolled over in bed and peered at her alarm clock. It was almost one AM. Suddenly, she realized why she had been woken up. The phone.
Groggily, she reached for her night stand, groping until her hand felt an object that resembled the cordless.
"Hello?"
"Gracie, it's me. We're in town."
It took a few seconds for his voice to register. "Chris? Why are you calling so late?"
"I was worried when you didn't call."
"But, Chris... I DID call-"
Without giving Joey a chance to say anything, Chris leapt out of bed and flew to the door. He slipped on his shoes. "See you later, Joe. I'm going out." And he was gone.
"Where?" a clueless Joey wondered after the door closed.
Justin could feel himself getting angrier and angrier by the minute and in a way, it scared him. He had never felt so strongly about hurting another person... much less his best friend.
JC was on his bed suffering from a pounding headache. "Justin..." he groaned. "Can you go get me some ice water?"
"Yeah..." he replied absent minded as he got out of bed and made his way into the hall.
Chris was walking towards the elevator and as he turned the corner, he ran right into someone. As he stumbled backwards, he focused and realized who it was.
"Where are you going so late?"
"Where are YOU going so late?"
Justin gave a sigh. "JC has a headache and he wanted some ice." He paused, studying the expression on Chris' face. "You?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
Chris didn't have time to think of an excuse. The truth was... before he literally ran into Justin, he didn't think he would need one. What were the chances? "I have a sudden craving for tacos," he told Justin quickly.
Justin almost laughed. 'Bull shit, you had a craving for tacos,' he thought. 'I'm not stupid... you're going to see Gracie.' He decided to play dumb. "Oh. Okay, well... bye." and with that, he walked around Chris and disappeared.
"That was strange," Chris muttered to himself once he had stepped into the elevator. His mind wandered to the last time he'd seen Gracie and he sighed involuntarily. It stung his soul to know that he could never have her.
However... what if Justin were over her? What if he wouldn't MIND if he got together with Gracie? But what if he DID?
Chris pulled his hat further down on his head and hunched his shoulders. No one would spot him if he were careful. He hopped into the rental car, starting the engine and taking off. Over the past year, he had gone over the route from the hotel to Gracie's apartment in his head over a million times. He could have gotten there in his sleep.
Once at her apartment complex, he punched in the correct number and was buzzed in. He walked up the stairs and stood in front of her door. He wondered why she hadn't come out to meet him.
Just as he was about to knock, the door swung open and there she stood. Her hair was shorter but she was still as beautiful as ever. Chris felt his knees go weak in her presence and he suddenly lost the ability to speak.
She took his hand and led him inside. "Hi, Chris... it's late."
"I know. I had to sneak out. Justin thinks-" he stopped, realizing that he had said Justin's name. "They think I'm getting tacos."
"What place is open so late?"
"I don't know."
She pulled him down on the couch and they looked at each other.
"Chris, I missed you." She ruffled his hair and smiled. "You're hair looks really nice."
He smiled back. "Thanks. I missed you too... but Justin... he... he can't know that I came here."
Gracie thought about telling him that Justin had picked up the phone when she called him, but that might create problems between him and Justin... and she didn't want that. Besides, maybe Justin had already told him and they worked it out by themselves. "I won't tell him. We haven't talked since..." she trailed off.
"Yeah..." Chris mused, looking away from her and at a picture on the wall.
Suddenly, his head turned towards hers and he moved in closer. "You have no idea how badly I want you right now," he said, just above a whisper. Then, just as suddenly as he had moved in, he backed away. "But this can't happen..."
Gracie sighed as she grabbed his shirt and pulled him back. "Why not?"
"Because I promised him that it wouldn't," Chris explained, refusing to look into her eyes... he knew that if he did, she'd have him under her spell.
"But he'll never know."
"But I'LL know," he countered. "Gracie, I have to see him everyday... he's my best friend. When I look him in the eyes I don't want to think about how I screwed his ex behind his back."
"That's not what it'll be," she told him softly. "It's more than that..."
"I know! But as far as he's concerned... it doesn't matter."
Chapter 2
Identities
Chris {Fiction}
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me: irishgirl982@yahoo.com