JC ws leaning against the soundboard on the far side of the room, talking on his cell phone, sorting through some minidiscs. When I walked in, he waved and mouthed, "Hey." then spoke into his cell phone, "I'm sorry, JC isn't around. No, I can't give out his home number. Yep, I'll tell him Tammy called. Uh-huh, bye." He closed his phone, then looked up at me, "Well, time to change my cell phone number again!" I replied, laughing a little, "That would be a downside to selling 7 million CDs! So, what'd you get for us to play with?" I finished, setting down my purse, and falling into the big leather chair next to where JC was leaning. "A whole bunch of goodies!" he said fanning the discs. "Mandy Moore, gotta love her, PYT, your lil Tampa girls, Don Phillip..ooh, jackpot!!" he said grinning slightly sarcastically. "What?" I asked jumping up from my seat. "Just our new single!" he smiled. "Somebody's got a major ego problem!" I said, grabbing the PYT disc and shoving it in the machine before slapping his shoulder, laughing. We both sat down and played around with the songs until the door opened. "Hey, Meg?" "What?" I asked not looking up. It was Jon. "When're we leaving?" I glanced at the wall clock. it said 4:25. "OH my gosh!!" I jumped up out of my chair, landing with my legs crossed and almost falling on the floor. "what?" JC asked, as he caught me in his arms. I stood up, laughing. "I'm so totally late for Jon and Kyle's soccer practice! Don't you dare tell Lynn!" I warned. "Never." he said, and I flew out the room, Jon and Kyle at my heels.
That evening, after we'd made a deal not to tell Lynn about the incident, I got a phone call. It was Christyna, my best friend from New York. Paul was best friends with her dad, so we kept in pretty close touch, but we hadn't talked on the phone in probably 2 or 3 years. Christyna's mom had died right before Paul and I met them through my school. Paul and Scott, her dad, were the only single fathers in the kindergarten class.
"Tina?" I screamed after she said hello in the way only she could. "Yeah, oh my gosh! I can't believe it's you!!" she screamed back. We were both laughing, and Justin was making faces at me mouthing "Tina?!!" and acting like a ditz. I just stuck out my tongue and walked to the library and fell back onto the tan over-stuffed couch. "It's been like forever!! So what's up?" I asked, anxious to hear about New York. "Actually, I'm coming to Orlando with my dad in 5 days!" she said excitedly. I screamed again, "Oh my gosh, Tyne!!" By the way, Tyne is pronounced like tea with a n. like a TEENager. "Whoa, now you can see my house and my puppy, and meet my stepmom and step brothers. Oh my gosh!! I'm so excited girl!" "I know!" sje screamed back, "I haven't seen you in forever! I cannot wait to see your house!" Then the thought hit me. She didn't care about meeting my stpebrothers because she had absolutely no clue my step brother was the guy that was probably on the posters on her wall. I decided to let it slide. She'd find out soon enough. "So tell me what time your flight get's in.." I demanded, and we talked for almost 3 hours before my dad came in and told me to get off the phone. My family was pretty excited to hear she was coming. Even though I hadn't seen her except once since I'd moved to Florida, I always was talking about her and my NYC. I am such a city girl!
Five days later, my dad and I drove to the airport. We went, just the two of us because we wanted some catch-up time with Scott and Christyna. We got to the gate just as they got off the plane. I only recognized Scott, because he looked the same. Christyna had changed so much. I mean, I had to since second grade, but she had changed SO much. She could've passed for a 23 year-old. As she smiled running towsrds me, I couldn't help but stare at her black dress pants and scarlet silk twin set. I was wearing over-alls and a white spaghetti strap tank top. I brushed the thought to the back of my mind and hugged her when she reached out her arms to me. I almost cried, but not quite! "Oh wow, I can't believe I'm here!" she said, still holding me. "me either!" I said, smiling. As we walked back down the terminal I said hi to Scott and Tyne and I caught up on all the big things. Like our old school, and which boys had turned ot to be the hotties. "Matt Greene?" I asked almost shouting. "Are you serious??" "Yeah!" she laughed at my reaction. He was the nerd who always would follow me around. "He is so fine, I brought the yearbook from last year. We can look at it." "Ok!" I smiled, glad to have a link to my past. We put the luggage in the car and drove to lunch downtown. I knew Tina and I still had at least one thing in common. Neither of us could pack light!! She had packed 3 suitcases for 4 days. "You never know what you'll need! Plus I brought some stuff for you!" she said innocently. "Ok, then pack as heavy as you need to!!" I answered. I always fell for gifts. When we finally got home it was almost 4 o' clock. As we walked in, I realized I still hadn't told Tyne about Justin. I could hear Jon and Lynn in the kitchen, and I could hear Justin's voice on the phone in the library. I made a quick right and pulled Christyna towards the stairs. "Um, I need to tell you something about my step family." I said, no knowing where to start. "Are they weird or something?" she laughed. "Well, no, have you ever heard of NSYNC?" I asked, trying to be calm. "Yeah" she asked getting confused. "Ok, well my step mom is Justin's mom. So he's my uh.." "Stepbrother?" she almost shouted. "Yeah, shhh!" I said. "Just please don't act to shocked. He'll hate it!" she grinned and brushed her hair back from her face. "Me, shocked, neva!" and she walked off Broadway-style, swaying her hips. I laughed, and we walked into the kitchen.
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