After shooting wrapped for the day, Rachel, Lance, Justin, Liz, and Joey headed over to Montgomery Mall to grab a bite and talk. Justin and Joey had arrived at the set once they finished recording for the day, and Liz had come with Rachel form school. JC was still busy in the studio, Elyssa had field hockey, Erika had diving practice, and where Chris was, was anyone’s guess. They got to the food court and Rachel immediately headed towards Sbarro. The others followed closely behind. Everyone was starving. After they had all gotten their food they pulled a few tables together and sat down. Rachel sat facing Justin and Lance was on his right. Next to Lance was Joey. Liz was next to Rachel, and she was busy playfully flirting with Joey.
“Mmm, a large slice of deep fried cheese soaked in oil, delicious!” Rachel said as she took a huge bite of her pizza.
“I hear ya, this stuff is great!” Justin said.
“I can feel my arteries clogging as we speak.” Rachel said before taking another huge bite. Lance looked back and forth between the two of them before looking back at his pizza like it was gonna bite him. He carefully slid it towards the center of the table.
“Ugh, thats disgusting. I think you guys have just convinced me to go on a diet.” Joey, Rachel, and Justin all reached for his slice at once. He turned to Liz and she rolled her eyes at him.
“We have got to get some new friends.” She said.
“Hey! I heard that!” Justin whined.
“Aw, you know you love us!” Rachel said, flashing a quick grin. Joey was busy working on Lance’s pizza, so he just nodded and kept eating.
“Oh, did I tell you guys? Bryan is taking me to...”
“WE KNOW!!!” The four said in unison. They had listened to Rachel go on and on about Bryan all afternoon.
“ok, ok, I’ll stop. Jeez, you’d think you guys’d be happy for me.” she pouted. Liz just rolled her eyes.
“Were all happy for you, but I don’t think you’ve gone 5 minutes without mentioning this Bryan dude.” Joey said, sounding slightly apologetic.
“Yea, besides it hurts poor Joey's ego, he’s used to being the one girls go crazy over.” Justin said, trying to look innocent. Joey glared at him.
“I wouldn’t be talking, your fro-ness. I think the only thing bigger then your hair is your ego.” This remark caused Lance to spit out his Pepsi, he was laughing so hard. Liz and Rachel were trying very hard not to laugh, but when Pepsi came out of Lance’s nose they lost it. Justin gave them a wounded look.
“Ow, man. That was uncalled for. Why does everyone go for the hair?” He whined.
"Because, my dear Justy, Its such an easy target.” Rachel said it with a straight face. As soon as the words were out of her mouth she was giggling again. This made everyone laugh, even Justin.
The group decided to look around the mall a little so they could do a little shopping. They were walking along when Rachel saw a really cute halter top in the window at Gap.
“How cute is that?” she asked. Without waiting for a response, she walked in and headed towards one of the racks. Justin was right behind her. The rest just shrugged and headed in. Rachel walked over to the dressing rooms with her halter, plus some pants and a skirt, and found that Justin was already there. She saw that he was holding an armful of clothes.
“Justin, how did you manage to find all that? We have been in here for all of five minutes.”
“I have mad shopping skillz.” He replied.
“uh huh, sure you do. How do you explain this monstrosity?” she said, dangling an orange checkered shirt in front of his face between her thumb and forefinger.
“um, sabotage? Yea, thats it. Someone snuck this in with my other stuff, uh huh, yea...” Justin said.
“yea, sure.” Rachel called to him through the door. “ok, how does this look?” She walked out of the dressing room in a lilac halter that showed just a tiny sliver of stomach and pair of vintage looking jeans.
“Aren’t you gonna model it for me?”Justin suggested playfully. Rachel laughed and modeled the outfit for him, using the hallway as a runway. “O yea, it looks great on ya’. You have to get it.” he told her when she walked back over to him.
Just then a girl who looked about 16 walked over to use one of the dressing rooms, and she froze when she saw Justin. He quickly pulled his hat down so it mostly covered his face, and tried to look inconspicuous. The girl walked up to Rachel and tapped her on the shoulder.
“I’m sorry, but is that Justin Timberlake?” she whispered. Rachel burst out laughing.
“Are you joking? Thats just my cousin, um, Trevor.”
“oh, sorry.” she said, looking embarrassed.
“Don’t be, I’m sure you made his day.” Rachel said.
“by the way, whats with the hat? He has his whole face hidden under that thing.”
“oh, yea. well you know, he has some acne problems.” Rachel whispered to the girl, but loud enough for Justin to hear. He buried his head in his hands, and Rachel had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing.
“oh, I see. Well nice meeting you, and you too Trevor.” As soon as she turned the corner Rachel burst out laughing. She was leaned up against the wall for support..
“Aw, come on, acne? That was cold Rach.”
“oh the irony, I bet the almighty Justin Timberlake never had a pimple in his entire life.” This made Rachel laugh even harder. She slid down the wall and was just sitting on the floor laughing. Just then, Joey, Liz, and Lance appeared. They just looked over at Rachel like she was crazy.
“Whats so funny?” Joey finally asked.
“Justin.” Rachel said once she had calmed down.
“I am not funny.” Justin pouted.
“oh, I beg to differ.” Rachel said as Lance helped her to her feet. She raised her eyebrow at Justin and started singing, “everybooody! yea....Rock your...” That was as far as she got before she started laughing. This time Liz and Lance joined in.
“I still don’t get it.” Joey said.
“Did I forget to tell you? Justin here does a great Nick Carter imitation.” They quickly filled Joey in on Justin’s performance.
“oh man, next time you guys gotta bring me with you!” Joey said.
“sure.” Rachel was about to say something else when she saw Joey checking out a red head who was standing a few feet away. Rachel watched as the girl casually glanced over her shoulder at Joey. Rachel nudged him lightly. “What are you waiting for? Go talk to her.” Joey nodded and walked over to introduce himself. He returned 20 minutes later triumphantly displaying her number.
They wandered around the mall some more. Liz and Rachel managed to drag Joey and Lance into LVLX with them, while Justin ran off to Sam Goody. Liz came out of the dressing room in a plaid mini skirt and a white oxford that looked about a half a size to small.
“Hmm, I think this is a little too ‘Baby one more time’ for me,” She thought aloud.
“Oh,you mean you weren’t going for the Britney-wannabe look?” Rachel asked in an innocent voice. Liz smirked and flicked her off.
“Love you too.” Rachel said, as she returned the gesture.
“Man, there are some strange ways of showing affection, but this takes the cake.” Joey sounded amused. The girls turned and gave him the finger simultaneously. “Aw, I feel so loved.” He said, smiling. Rachel rolled her eyes and turned to face Lance. She was wearing a black keyhole halter that stopped just below her ribs. It was a little on the skanky side, but she could pull it off. Besides, everyone should own a few skanky things, just to make life interesting.
“I’m not feeling the love over here. You already flicked off Joey and Liz, so I wanna know, where is the love for Lance?”
Just then Justin walked in, carrying a few new CD’s. ‘oh damn, why do they always wait until I leave to try on the really hot stuff’ he thought when he saw what Rachel and Liz were wearing. Just then Justin saw Lance say something to Rachel, and she flicked him off in response.
“Great Lance, what did you do to piss her off now?” Justin asked as he walked across the store to join them. The four all turned and raised their middle fingers at him in unison.
“What? Why is everyone flicking me off?” Justin asked.
“Why? because we love you!” Rachel said in her best, most perky Disney voice. Rachel, Lance, Joey, and Liz all cracked up at that. Justin just stared at them all like they were crazy.
Then Rachel remembered that she had a date that night.
“oh my god, I gotta run! I need to go home and get ready. I’ll talk to you guys later, ok?” Rachel said hurriedly. “oh, don't forget, Sunday is movie night at my place. Remind JC and Chris for me, will ya?” She and Liz quickly hugged them all goodbye and left.
“Justin, what do you think of Rachel?”
“what do you mean?”
“You got a thing for her?” Joey asked, bluntly.
“No...why?” Justin looked confused. Why did everyone think there was something between them? It was starting to get slightly annoying. There wasn’t anything more then friendship between them, was there? Sure they were always play fighting, and it might look like flirting to an outside observer, but it was totally innocent. Ok so maybe it WAS flirting some of the time, but it was playful and friendly. He had only met Rachel and her friends a week ago. They were cool girls, and they had clicked almost instantly. The guys had quickly accepted Rachel, Liz, Erika, and Elyssa into their group, and Rachel had become a very good friend. But thats all there was, friendship. He knew it, and Rachel knew it, but that didn’t stop the guys from trying to play cupid.
“I hate to break it to you guys, but I think your sensors are a little off. There is nothing going on between me and Rachel, and there probably will never be.” Justin insisted. When the guys still looked skeptical, Justin continued. “Where you guys not here today? She has a boyfriend. I think that makes it obvious that neither of us is looking for anything more.”
The guys took in what Justin had said and realized that he was probably right. They decided to drop it, for now. Justin paid for his shoes, and they left.
“Be sure to have her home by eleven.” He said. Rachel rolled her eyes at him.
“I’ll be back by midnight, and please, no lecture.” Rachel looked at her father pleadingly.
“I promise I’ll be a perfect gentleman.” Brian said. Her dad looked hesitant, but finally agreed.
“Well, alright. Have a good time, and be back by midnight. No later.” He said sternly.
“Night daddy.” Rachel said. She gave him a peck on the cheek before taking Bryan’s arm and walking to his car. He opened her door before running back to his side and getting in. He started the car and they were off. They chatted about nothing in particular during the short ride to the restaurant. 15 minutes later they pulled up to it, and Bryan handed his keys to the valet before leading her inside. Bryan couldn’t have picked a better place for their first date. It was a very nice restaurant, and the candlelight and music created a very romantic atmosphere. The food was amazing, and the date was going really well. So far there had been now embarrassing moments or awkward silences. This is definitely one of the best dates I’ve been on, Rachel thought, smiling. This was definitely worth waiting for.
“So, what do you want to do now?” Rachel asked. They had just finished dinner, and they still had 45 minutes before he had to take her home. Then Rachel spotted the Starbucks across the street. “Oh! Thats it!” She grabbed Bryans hand and pulled him towards it.
“Um, Rachel, where are we going?” He asked.
“You took me to dinner, so I’m taking you out for coffee.” She said simply.
“Rachel, you are something else.” He said, smiling, as he slipped his arms around her waist.
“Why thank you.”
“How was it?” Erika asked.
“Hmm, how was dinner at an expensive and incredibly romantic restaurant with a gorgeous guy, followed by a moonlight stroll and a kiss under the stars? It wasn’t to painful.” Rachel said. Liz and Erika could hear her smile over the phone. “It was great! I can’t think of a better way for it to have gone. I honestly can’t.”
“He kissed you?” Liz asked.
“yeah, he’s a really good kisser.” Rachel said dreamily.
“I gotta ask, were there fireworks?”
“well, no, not really. But it wasn’t a passionate kiss or anything. Totally PG rated. But there were sparks. Definitely sparks.”
“Wow Rach, I’m so excited for you. Liz, you know we’re gonna be hearing about this for the next week. Ugh!” Erika said. Liz laughed.
“I seriously doubt anything she did with Bryan was PG rated, but hey...”
“Hahaha, lets all make fun of Rachel!” Rachel said. “I have to go. Filming starts bright and early. Ugh. God damn all morning people, especially Lance. Don’t they no getting up before nine on Saturday is just wrong?”
“Those poor people, I fear for their safety.” Liz cracked.
“I hear ya. Maybe we should say a prayer for them or something.” Erika joined in.
“Thanks guys! Love you too.” Rachel said.
“Bye Liz, Bye Erika.”
“Bye”
“Bye”
They waited until they heard Rachel’s phone click off before continuing the conversation.
“A romantic dinner? A kiss under the stars? Is it just me, or is she living in a bad chick flick?” Liz asked.
“I know what you mean. And, sparks? With the way she goes on and on about him, you’d think they would have some passionate, earth shattering kiss. Go figure?” Erika wondered.
The two girls gossiped for a few minutes before saying their goodbyes and hanging up.
on to chapter 8, i gotta see what happens next!
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