"Hi." I heard Justin say as he wraps his arms around me.
"Ha, love the look in the morning." I say as I pet his hair.
“Very funny." He scowled.
"Oh, does someone need his cereal?" I joked leaning forward to kiss him.
I walked to the cupboard, and grabbed two bowls and a box of cereal. He got the milk and spoons, and we sat down for breakfast.
"What were you thinking about when I came over to you before?" He asked.
"Oh nothing, just how beautiful the sunrise looked this morning." I answered.
“It’s even more beautiful with you in it." He said before another bite.
"Thank you." I blushed.
We continued to eat at the others slowly got up.
"Are we almost there?" Chris asks.
"Two more exits." James replies.
*** At the house ***
I was excited to show Justin where I lived. The guys were hungry, of course, so the girls and I made them lunch. The guys grabbed the basketball and headed for the court behind my house. The phone rang.
"Amber, it's T.J. How did he get my number?" I ask.
"I gave it to him, because I was going to be here." She said taking the phone from me and went out on the deck.
She talked until we had finished making lunch. I thought I saw Justin talking to him, but I wasn't sure. Since it was a nice day, we decided to eat outside. Halfway through the food fight which had broken out between Chris and Joey, the phone rang. Before I got to say hello the voice said,
"Tell Justin it's all set up."
"What's all set up, Melinda?" I ask their scheduler.
"He'll know. I have to go."
"Good bye." I reply quickly.
The food fight was over by the time I returned, and Chris was the obvious winner.
"Justin, sweety, Melinda says 'it's all set up'. What does that mean?"
"It means you lovely ladies need to go shopping." He replied.
A questioning look passed between us.
"James knows the plan. Go, we'll clean up." J.C. instructs us.
"All right, we're going."
*** In the bus ***
"James, what are they doing to us?" Amber asked.
"I know nothing. I’m supposed to give you these and drive. That's all." He hands us all thick envelopes.
We rip them open and read. Simultaneously, we start to laugh.
"What does yours say, Amber?" Krystl asks.
Through giggles, she gets her message out.
"Like night and day, There's a difference between straight and gay. Find a dress that is very hot, to find out if I'm yours or not."
We all laugh as Michelle reads hers aloud.
"Beautiful and yet Elegant. Find a dress for A night you'll Never forget."
"Aw, that's sweet. Let me read mine." Chrissy says.
"When I look at you, I see a heart of gold. Would you give me your hand to hold? Find a dress, if you dare, to match my flaming red hair."
The laughter rolls for a while. Marta wipes a tear from her eye and through giggles reads hers.
"As you walk down the catwalk, I can't wait for the next time we talk. Even though it's not from a famous designer, Find a dress that proves you are finer."
"We're almost there." James says passing the Southpark Mall signs.
"Ok Krystl, you go." Amber says.
"Chris, Krystl, we are practically one, together we have a lot of fun. Find a dress that won't put you in danger, because, after all, you are my angel."
A collective "Aw" came out of us. "Man that was good. How about yours Amanda? Can you top that?"
"With whip cream and a cherry. Listen to this."
'All my life, I've searched for a love, to hold in my arms and fly on the wings of a dove. You, quite possibly, are the one, So find a dress that will let you have a lot of fun."
The sighs and the laughter were still being uttered when James drove into the parking lot.
"Off you go ladies. I'll be back for you in a couple of hours. Call me if you have any problems."
"I doubt we will, but thanks." I reply as he starts off.
“Hurry up, Amanda. We've got some serious shopping to do." Marta says as she puts the money from the envelope into her purse.
We all head to Cache where we know we'll find the one perfect dress for each of us.
"Wow, look at the colors!" Amber explains as we see display.
From front to back, the store is filled with a rainbow of colors.
“They’re so pretty." Chrissy says as she walks through the store.
I head immediately for the baby blue ones, Justin's favorite color. Suprisingly, there were a lot of them.
"Guys, this is going to be harder than I thought. There's so many blue's."
"Yeah." Bean added as she made her way to the navy blue dress section.
"I've found my stack to try on. Hurry up guys, I want to see yours." Krystl says as she heads toward the dressing room.
"Got mine, too." Amber says following her.
“How can you guys be ready so soon?" I shout.
"We know what our men want." Krystl replies with a smile.
"I've got mine." Chrissy says.
"Flaming red, good choice." Bean says.
"Okay, I'm coming out." Krystl says. "What do you think?"
She emerges in a long silver dress.
"Too much?" She asks worriedly.
"Little too plain. Try again." Bean answers.
"How about mine?" Amber asks.
"Perfect!" I exclaim as she models a short green dress.
"Oooh. Here's mine." Bean says as she runs to the changing rooms.
"What do you think about this one?" Krystl asks about a long silver dress with black trim.
"Try again." Bean says from behind a fitting room door.
"Ready or not, here I come." Chrissy says as she models her long, shiny red dress.
"Joey will love it!" Amber exclaims as she heads towards the shoes.
"How's this one?" Krystl asks coming out in a long black dress.
"Nope." I reply.
"Wow! Lance is gonna have heart failure when he sees me in this!" Marta yells as she passes by me into the changing rooms.
She pauses momentarily to say,
"Amanda, we're going to be old ladies by the time you find a dress."
"You might be, but remember, I'm the baby of the group." I interject.
"This one?" Krystl asks frustrated.
"Reject." I answer.
She utters a frustrated sigh as she heads back in. At the same time, Bean exits in a short navy blue halter dress.
"I look bad, don't I?" She asks with a worried look on her face.
"You’re a beauty queen, baby. J.C. is gonna love it." I reassure her.
"Now?" Krystl asks.
"That's one's just hideous." Bean answers.
"Thanks." She says with a half smile.
"I give up. Chris is just too hard to please."
"No he's not. You just look really bad." I call.
"Wow!" Amber says as she sees Marta's dress a little while later.
Marta had chosen a short spaghetti strap dress with a little slit.
"Okay. This is the last one. How bad is it?" Krystl asks.
She came out in a silver topped dress with a puffy black bottom.
"Nice." Chrissy says walking around her.
"Oh, watch this!" She says untying the bow and letting the skirt fall to the floor.
The silver top turned out to be a short dress.
"Amanda, we need to leave. James is probably waiting for us." Amber says.
“And Justin might want you dressed."
"He might not." Chrissy adds. I found the perfect baby blue dress in my size and headed to the register.
"Aren't you going to try it on?" Marta calls.
"No, I know what it will look like."
*** At the house ***
"Put there on." James says handing us blindfolds.
"This must be really big if the guys don't want us to see." Marta said.
The thought excited us. With our many thoughts running through our heads, we get out of the car and put the blindfolds on. One by one our alms are grabbed and we are swept into Krystl's house. We were lined up right inside the doorway.
"Good afternoon, ladies. I hope shopping went well." We hear Justin say from Across the room."And, no, Amanda, you may not take off your blindfold." He said gently, sensing my anxiety.
"We'll be taking you and your dresses upstairs." Chris interrupts.
"James will outside guarding the hallway. You may come down only when we are ready for you."
"Please, tell me what’s going on." Krystl whined.
"No." Chris replies as he found her arm and her dress. "Careful on the stairs, sweety." He says gently to her.
*** Upstairs ***
"Krystl, they're not ready for you yet." James says as he sees her head poke out of the door.
"But, I want to know what they're doing!" She whined as she retreated into the room.
"Finish getting dressed." Amber instructs. "Look, your hair is still in the curlers."
*** Later ***
A gentle knock is heard from the door.
"Ladies, are you ready?" James asks.
"YES!!" We well in unison, with mounting anxiety.
"Then come downstairs and wait in the hallway. And no running, please."
We slowly walk down the stairs.
"Now stop here, " James says as we stop in front of the closed den doors.
The lights went dim and the doors flew open. There were the guys all dressed up. The room was full of lit candles and flowers. All was silent, until Justin started singing to me.
"Can this be true, tell me can this be real. How can I put into words what I feel?" Never missing a word, he slips a baby blue and white rose corsage on my wrist.
One by one, the guys came forward, singing, and put a corsage on us. Even T.J. was singing. All the time, we stayed quiet. We wanted to treasure this simple gesture forever. They finished singing and we were escorted out to the limo, which was also decorated in candles and flowers.
"Would one of you say something already?!" Chris said as he broke the long standing silence.
"Wow." Amber said. "I never knew you could sing, T.J."
"I just didn't want to stand there like an idiot, so I joined in."
"The newest *NSYNC hottie!" Amber giggles.
"Baby, you look so good." Justin says, staring at me.
"Thanks." I say, before I indulge myself in his delicious lips.
"You all look beautiful." Joey said breaking up our kiss.
"Will you tell us where we're going already?!" Krystl begged.
"No. It's a suprise. Don't worry, you'll love it." Chris says reassuringly.
"We're almost there." James said.
"Good. I can't wait any longer." Krystl says.
We all watch out the windows as the limo pulls up by the lake. Slowly, an open air cruise ship pulled up.
"Okay, everybody out." James said.
We were escorted to the ship, which was beautifully decorated in hanging ivy and white Christmas lights. The guys took us upstairs, which had an elegant table set out for us. The boat started up slowly, as we sat down.
"A dinner fit for our queens." J.C. said as the waiters brought forward our food.
Everything was perfect. The guys even behaved. I was suprised they didn't break into a food fight, but, there were times when we couldn't stop laughing. It went by so fast.
"Okay. Now let's have some fun." Chris says as he took Krystl downstairs.
Loud dance music began to play below.
"You ready, Amber?" T.J. asked hopefully.
"I've been ready for a while." She replies.
One by one, the rest of us join them downstairs.
"Amanda, wait." I hear from behind me. His strong arm pulls me around.
"I just want to be alone with you for a while. Just us." He gently says.
"It's such a beautiful night." I say commenting on the stars.
"You make it beautiful."
"This night is so wonderful. Who's idea was it?"
"Chris and I wanted to make it up to you, from the time we said you were just friends. I wanted a quiet dinner, he wanted dancing. We combined the ideas."
"Well, it's a night I'll never forget." I say.
"I won't either."
He says before he kisses me slowly. We were alone for a while, until we hear Chris yell from below. We rush to see what the problem was.
"Wow! This dress just gets better and better." He says seeing Krystl without the black skirt on.
"I thought there was something wrong!" Justin said.
"Nope. Anyways, you guys need to dance."
Justin turns to me, “May I have this dance?"
"Of course." I reply.
For the rest of the night, we are in each others arms. One time, J.C. called for a switch and I ended up dancing with Lance.
"So are you two official, yet?"
"No." He says sadly.
"What are you waiting for?" "Nothing, I just don't want to rush things."
Finally, I got back to Justin. As the boat docked, Krystl said,
"This was worth all the secrets."
"I knew you'd say that." Chris replied.
When we got back to Krystl's, we changed quickly and went to bed. Chris and Krystl headed for her room, while J.C. and Michelle, T.J. and Amber, Joey and Chrissy all headed for the spare rooms. Justin and I found a love seat and Marta and Lance shared a couch.
*** Next morning ***
I was aroused from my sleep, by the smell of breakfast in the kitchen.
"How can you be awake this early, Krystl?"
"Coffee. Want some?"
"No thanks."
"Aren't they so cute?" Krystl asked pointing to Lance and Marta.
"Ya. I hope they get together soon."
"Hey, Amanda, there's a football game at school today. How about we drag the guys to it?"
"Sounds like fun."
"Here, go wake up your man. This will keep him from being a crab."
She says handing me a tray full of breakfast food. I walk slowly up the stairs, partly because I didn't want to spill anything and because I was not fully awake yet.
"Hey baby. Wake up." I say as I put the tray down and kiss him.
"Huh? Oh good, breakfast."
"Nice to see you, too."
"Sorry baby." He says kissing me.
"What would you say if I wanted you to come to a football game with me today?"
"Sure." He says chowing down.
I saw Krystl carry 5 trays around to all the couples. After breakfast, we all get ready and head for the cars.
"Where are Amber and T.J.?" Marta asks.
"They were still tired."
"Ya, sure." Chris says with a smile.
We arrive at school a little while later. The game had just started. Justin looked good, even half asleep. Chris spotted an open spot in the bleachers and ran to claim it. As we follow him I hear from behind me,
"Hello, Miss Bell."
I turn to see Shaunte, my only school enemy, standing there with the rest of the cheerleaders.
"Hi." I reply, trying to walk away from her.
"Amanda, the seats are up there." Justin points to where Chris is.
"Justin, I'd like you to meet Shaunte." I say proudly wrapping my arm around his.
"Hi." He says.
Shaunte's jaw dropped and the look on her face was so priceless. For once, she was speechless.
"Oh, and we're going out." I say spitefully.
I kissed him with such passion.
"Let's go sit down." I say to Justin.
We sat down, but not before long, I had to go to the bathroom.
"I'm going to the bathroom, anyone else need to?" Bean jumps up.
"Now that you mention it, I do too."
"Don't be long." We hear Justin say.
*** Justin ***
Not even one minute had passed, before Amanda's seat was taken over by Shaunte.
"Hi, Justin."
"Hi." I respond.
"Just wondering, but how did you and Amanda meet?"
"She came to our concert with some friends." "
Okay. Now, J.C., how did you meet Michelle?"
"Why do you want to know?" he asked.
"I was just wondering, that's all."
I saw out of the corner of my eye, Amanda and Bean running up the stairs.
*** Amanda ***
"That bitch! What is she doing sitting next to Justin?" I said as soon as I saw her sitting next to him.
We ran back to our seats as fast as we could.
"What do you want Shaunte?" I asked, squeezing myself between her and Justin.
"I just wanted to know what these cute guys were doing with dogs like you."
"Why you!" I wanted to punch her, but Justin held me tight.
But, J.C., couldn't hold Bean back. She punched her so hard she fell over onto the benches below us.
*** Michelle ***
It felt so good. She needed her lights knocked out. My adrenaline was rushing so much, I turned around and kissed J.C. passionately.
"Sorry, baby. I know you hate violence."
"She deserved it." He replied.
At half time, Chris, Lance, J.C., and Justin went for a snack run, while me, Chrissy, Bean, and Marta headed for the bathrooms.
*** Krystl ***
Everyone had left me and Joey in the stands.
"You cooked a mean breakfast, Krystl."
"Thanks. I thought you guys might like it."
"I was just amazed at how much energy you have. I bet you have a lot of energy pent up for something else."
He says leaning in to kiss me.
"No, Joey. Wrong person. I'm not Chrissy."
"I know, but you are just as pretty."
"And that gives you a reason to hit on me? I don't think so."
I say heading down the bleachers.
“Wait, Krystl. All I want is one little kiss."
"No." I say, but he had already kissed me. Chrissy broke in and yelled,
"You bastard!" and slapped him.
I run away from them and meet Chris halfway in front of the bleachers.
"What's wrong, Krystl?"
"Joey was hitting on me."
"WHAT!?! Let me at him!" He yelled and ran toward Joey.
They started punching and fighting.
They had rolled onto midfield by the time J.C., Justin, and Lance had come to break them up.
"Justin, you take Chris in your car, I'll take Joey." J.C. said in the parking lot.
We all piled in the separate cars. Chrissy, suprisingly went with Joey.
*** Chrissy ***
"Joey, I think we need a break from each other. At least for a little while." I said in a calm voice.
"But, why?"
"Do I really have to answer that? That display at the game should be one reason. Secondly, you are constantly flirting. How do you expect me to trust you?"
"I just play. I never mean anything."
"Ya, sure. And the kiss?"
"I was bored."
"Inexcusable. That was not playing."
"Yes, it was." He argued.
"I don't think so. But, I still think we need a break from each other. You are too big of a flirt to tell whether you are playing or not."
"I guess you're right." He says sadly.
The rest of the car ride was quiet. I thought I saw a tear fall from his cheek, but I was probably imagining it. I didn't want to hurt him, because it also hurt me. I never wanted to see Joey in pain, but if he learns his lesson, it is worth it.