It was almost eight thirty when Justin stepped up into the bus with his carryout. He grabbed a Coke from the refrigerator and sat down at the table.
The silence was eating away at him as he opened the Styrofoam cover and looked down at his food. Quickly, he stood up and flicked on the radio, found a station that came in and then sat back down. When he took a bite of his chicken, a song started.
Usually, he didn't listen to that type of music, but for some reason, he didn't get up to change the station. The song was a slow, dancing, good-bye song that made his heart ache. It was all about giving up, letting go and moving on with your life.
Notebook in hand, JC stomped down all twelve floors, steering clear of anything that resembled an elevator. Earlier, he'd heard Justin say that he was going to the restaurant, so that's where he was heading. When he reached his destination, he shot the host a frazzled look. "Have you..." he said, placing a hand on the wooden podium and looking into the host's green eyes, "seen a man with blonde, curly hair around here?"
The host had obviously recognized him. JC could tell by the look in his eyes. "Um... you mean..."
He nodded. "Yeah."
"He ordered takeout and then was on his way."
JC nodded again. "Thanks," he said and then turned around in Justin's pursuit. He walked all the way back up the twelve, torturous floors. When he knocked on Justin's door, and found Chris with a cell phone on his hear, holding up his finger in a 'hold on a second' gesture, he looked around for Justin.
No sign of him.
Without waiting to chat with Chris, he shut the door and walked back down the hallway and towards the stairwell.
If Justin wasn't in the restaurant, and wasn't in his room, then maybe he was outside.
*****
The sappy music was getting to Justin and he almost took off his shoe so he could throw it at the radio. Instead, he calmed himself and got up to change the station.
Guilt was building up inside of him and those songs weren't helping. Justin planned out the words, taking a deep breath and then pushing his Styrofoam plate away from himself. When he heard the bus' door open, he jumped, surprised that someone had found him.
Justin turned his head and looked towards the entrance.
It was JC... and he was holding the notebook tightly in his grasp.
"I know," he said, his voice shaking. "I know it was you."
"What was me?" Justin wondered while he prayed to God that JC didn't mean what he thought he did.
"You went through my notebook, didn't you? Justin, you were the only one in my room all day."
"No, I didn't," Justin said, half truthfully. After all, he didn't go through the WHOLE notebook. "What are you talking about?"
JC fell down into the booth across from Justin, irritated. "God, Justin... I wish you'd just STOP!"
Justin reached down into his pocket, wrapping his fingers around his room key and looking down at the tabletop, trying to decide how to approach the conversation. "Stop what?"
"Lying!"
He sighed. Maybe JC was right. Besides, he needed to talk to someone about what was going on and at that time, JC seemed like the perfect person. "Okay, okay... I kept seeing you with that notebook and I was dying to see what you were writing in there."
"Justin! My privacy! Don't you understand that there are some things in a person's life that aren't meant to be shared?!"
Justin frowned. "Look who's talking, JC. Practice what you preach."
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but wasn't it YOU who was doing the preaching not so long ago? I think I remember the words, 'mind your own business,' leaving your lips reccently."
"Okay, so I invaded your privacy. So I read a page in your-" JC raised an eyebrow. "A page?" he flipped open to the page where his song would be and held it up in front of Justin's nose. "Was it HERE, Justin? Huh?!"
"I don't know!" Justin exclaimed, matching JC's tone. "Chris was the one who ripped it out!"
JC fell back into his seat, staring at Justin, who noticed his face turning an odd shade of purple. "What?" escaped JC's lips in a thick whisper.
"Um..." Justin could feel his cheeks getting hot. Maybe he shouldn't have said that. "Um... I said that I didn't look while I was tearing out the page."
JC let out his breath. "That's not what you said before..."
"Yes, it was," he answered quickly.
"No, you said that CHRIS tore out the page."
"Well, when I said CHRIS, I meant ME. I tore out the page, I swear to God, JC."
JC took a deep breath, averting his eyes away from Justin in a quick attempt to lose some of the anger that had welled up inside of him. "I REALLY wish you'd stop LYING to me," he said, his teeth clenched.
"Okay! Chris tore out the page!" Justin almost yelled, and JC looked back at him. "He read it too."
"Where is it?" JC asked so quickly, that Justin wasn't sure if he heard him correctly.
"Um, he kinda still has it."
"CHRIS has my SONG?" and with that, he flew up from the table and stormed out of the bus.
"JC!" Justin called after him, but it was too late. JC was on a mission and Justin knew that he wouldn't turn back for anything... but maybe he would if he heard the real story about everything was going on. After all, JC was always wanting to know what was going on... and Justin needed someone on his side.
He got up and ran to the bus' door. "JC!" he called. "Wait! I have something really important to tell you!"
JC spun around on his heels, the cold cement warming under the friction and he looked back at Justin with curiosity. "What did you say?" he asked, narrowing his eyes. "'Cause I thought that I heard something come out of your mouth that sounded like you were ready to tell me everything that's been going on lately. Is that what you meant?"
Justin gulped, nodding his head slowly. He wasn't doing this to keep Chris safe from JC's wrath, he was only doing it because he felt like he had to. When everyone says that it hurts to keep things hidden deep within yourself, they're right. He should have listened.
JC was back up into the bus before Justin could say a word. "Seriously?" he asked in disbelief. "You're going to tell me?"
He nodded again. "It might sound a little crazy, Jace, but you're going to have to believe me when I tell you that every word coming out of my mouth is the God's honest truth. I swear to it!"
JC crossed his arms. "You've been having trouble with the truth lately..." he commented, only to get an angered look from Justin.
"Look, if you don't want to know, fine," he turned away, knowing that JC would never walk away from a statement like that.
"Okay! I'll believe you. Just tell me already!"
Justin sniffed as they sat down across from each other at the booth. "It all started last year-"
"You've already told me this story," JC said impatiently, anxious to get the scoop on the scandal that had been unfolding in their lives. "
Do you want the whole story, or not? Do you actually think that I told you EVERYTHING before?"
"I THOUGHT you did, but now I'm starting to have second thoughts."
"Yeah, anyway," Justin rolled his eyes and then continued, "It didn't happen just like that. Chris didn't just fall in love with Gracie. Something happened... something that forced him to be with her more than usual... more than I was."
"I don't understand."
"I didn't expect you to. I don't really expect you to believe me when I tell you this next part... but I'm going to tell you... just because I'm sick of keeping it between me, Chris and Gracie."
JC leaned forward. "What?"
"Like I said before... something happened. Something BIG... and something that you'd never expect."
"Quit making this sound like a narration to a television mini-series and get on with it!"
Justin could tell by the look in JC's eyes that he was really excited to hear the whole story. "We switched places," he said simply.
The most confused look that Justin had ever seen, spread across JC's face. "What do you mean? Do you mean that you and Chris just decided to be each other? Where was I?"
"We didn't decide. It just happened."
"I don't understand. You're making this all really confusing."
"That's because it IS confusing. Now, listen to me when I tell you this. I was Chris, Chris was me. We literally switched bodies." Justin saw that JC's mouth was hanging open, speechless. He guessed that JC was either going to pass out or start laughing hysterically. "I'm not kidding you," he added.
JC wiped the expression off his face and gave Justin a crooked smile. "Be serious, now," he chuckled. "I thought you were going to tell the TRUTH."
"I am," Justin replied in all seriousness. "I woke up, and there I was... I mean, there HE was... but it was me... only him."
"You're not making any sense."
"It makes perfect sense to me."
JC looked around the bus. "Where are those straight jackets when you need them?"
Justin frowned. "I'm being serious here. Don't make jokes."
He looked back at Justin with a straight face. "Who said I was joking?"
"And who said I was joking?"
"I did."
"Fine, JC, if you don't want to hear this, then I don't have to sit here and watch you make fun of me." He moved to get up but panic hit JC and he jumped up, pushing Justin back in his seat.
"Are you honestly... HONESTLY serious about all of this? Don't get me wrong, Justin, I want to believe you, but you've gotta admit that your story sounds like a load of bull. I mean, come on... changing bodies? That sounds crazy, to me."
Justin gripped the cushions underneath him. "Sounded crazy to me too..." he said slowly, looking at JC with narrow eyes. "Until it happened."
"Quit being so dramatic and continue with the story."
"But that's just it, JC. It's not a story. This is REAL."
"And I'm being serious when I say GET ON WITH IT!"
"Okay. Just don't rush me," Justin took a deep breath as he contemplated on what to say next. "We were shocked. We didn't know why it happened, but it did... and it was scary. You can imagine what it felt like to be in Chris' body. Not pretty. Sure, at first, I was kinda... well, interested. I went out and got drunk because Chris is over twenty one. I was Chris."
JC raised an eyebrow, trying to place Justin's tale with a time and a place. "I think I remember," he interrupted. "My God..." he suddenly realized that Justin's story might actually be true. Now that the words were being said, and he could place it, he felt kind of spooked.
"Let me finish. If I was Chris, then Chris was me. Well, we just happened to be in Gracie's hometown when this all happened, and of course, she was attached to him, thinking it was me the entire time. As you know, Chris and I are different... and supposedly she picked that up and decided she liked this NEW Justin better. Well, I saw them... talking about something that I didn't want to hear... and I got angry so I told her what was going on, only she didn't believe me... not until she called who she thought was me by Chris' name and he answered her." He looked over at JC to see how he was taking the news, but his friend's face was washed over by confusion. "Are you getting all this?"
JC nodded as he moved his hand to his face and ran his thumb down his jaw line, stopping at his chin. "You're being serious, aren't you," he spoke up. It was more of a statement than a question.
"That's what I've been telling you this whole time," Justin confirmed. "But that's not all."
JC looked at Justin. "But I know what happened after that."
"Well, kinda... but you don't know what happened just recently. I didn't tell anyone for a long time. Only Gracie and I knew... and we didn't even tell Chris. JC..." he looked up for a sign to continue.
JC nodded slightly.
"I was mad. I was really upset at him, and I stepped over the line."
"What did you do?" JC asked, his eyes widening.
"I..." he looked down at his hands. "I tricked Gracie. I pretended that it happened again... that Chris and I had traded places... only we didn't.... and I..."
"Justin, what did you do?"
When Justin looked up, there were tears in his eyes and his jaw was clenched. It hurt to think of what he had done to both Chris and Gracie, and it certainly didn't feel very good to admit it. What would JC think?
"You can tell me. I won't tell anyone, I promise. Not even Chris."
"Chris knows," Justin said in a hurt voice. "Trust, me... he knows." He placed two fingers on his fat lip and cringed when the oil from his skin entered the tiny wound, stinging.
"You don't have to say it," JC told him, putting two and two together. "I think I can guess what happened."
"But that's not it. There's more," this time, he whispered, "She's pregnant."
Chris had just finished reading the words to Diane and he felt great. Diane had agreed that the song would be a hit if it got the right melody and then she assured him that she'd find it. When he hung up the phone, he was actually smiling. Well, his knuckles were still a little sore, but that didn't matter anymore. Now he couldn't wait to tell Justin. But where had he disappeared to?
JC's jaw almost hit the tabletop. "Pregnant?" he gasped. "You've got to be KIDDING me!"
"I'm NOT!" Justin practically yelled. "I'm being so serious that it hurts me to say the words. She's pregnant, JC. She's really pregnant and chances are..."
"The baby's yours," JC finished for him. "You told Chris... and... he's mad."
"Yeah, he's mad. Wouldn't you be?"
"Hell, yeah, but Justin... he'll come around. I mean, you were really angry when it happened. You couldn't have been thinking clearly."
"That's not an excuse."
"Besides, are you absolutely positive that this baby is yours? She never slept with Chris?"
"Well, sure she did... but we didn't use protection. She said that they did." His eyes fell back to his hands, and he tried to pick away at the plaster at the edge of the table. "I was so angry... I know I wasn't thinking clearly. I really do care about Chris... but if that's true, then how could I do it? How could I turn around and stab him in the back just when things had finally gotten back to normal? HOW, JC?"
JC sighed, not knowing how to answer Justin's question. "I'm sorry," he finally said. "I'm sorry that this all had to happen. I'm sorry Gracie's pregnant and I'm sorry that Chris is mad at you."
"You know, none of this is your fault. You have nothing to be sorry for."
He shrugged. "Well, I am. This is all tearing us apart... and I..." he paused, gazing over at Justin's teary face and giving another sigh. "And I really don't know how to fix things this time."
"Wait," Justin suddenly said. "There's something else... and you can help me with this one. Please? Will you?"
"First you've gotta tell me what it is. I'll do everything I can."
Justin sniffed. "I did something, JC... I couldn't take the guilt anymore, so I just did it... and now he thinks that someone else did it and it's KILLING me! At first I thought it might help pull us back together... if he knew... if he knew about what happened between me and Gracie... then... it would be okay once we talked. JC, I couldn't tell him, so I did something else."
"What did you do?" JC leaned forward in anticipation. Justin was sure full of surprises tonight.
Identities: The Truth Within
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Chris {Fiction}
Justin {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
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