"Man, I am STARVING!" Joey said, filling his already heaping plate with some more potato salad.
"Yeah, well I don't think you need anymore food there fatty." Tressa said dryly, eyeing his torso.
Joey pretended to look hurt as he sat down next to Ashlee at the table. After everyone was about done eating, the guys suggested playing a game of basketball or something.
"Hey Curly, you wanna play?" Rachel asked, turning to the baby faced young man sitting next to her. He was sitting there peacefully, staring across the table, his gaze locked with Jordan's.
"Huh?" Justin said, turning red. He gave Rachel a confused look. "Sorry, I wasn't listening. What was that?"
"Yeah, I could tell, what were ya lookin at anyhow boy? You were practically drooling in your food there. Something pretty catch your eye...or have the citronella candles mesmerized you into a trance?" Rachel prodded his arm with her forefinger jokingly.
"Ohh...nevermind, so what was it that you wanted to do?" he asked, sneaking a glance at Jordan, who was watching him talk to her sister.
"Play some basketball baybee!!" she shouted, startling the entire table.
"Whoa Joey, bout drop your drink there?" Ashlee pointed out, giggling.
After finishing up and clearing their plates, the two groups decided to play each other in a short game of basketball. "It's N Sync against Eternity! May the best MEN win!" Chris said, hopping on Justin's back playfully as they made their way to the court.
****
"Awww yeah, it's like butta baby!" Justin said, throwing up his arms after swishing the winning basket.
"Whatever." Rachel pouted as she stomped off the court.
"You guys cheated. The teams weren't even!" she protested.
"What do you mean the teams weren't even? We are stuck with LANCE!" Justin shouted back.
"Hey, that's not fair, I try!" Lance commented.
"Well, fine then smart one...me and you. One on one, we'll see who's better." Rachel replied, turning back to Justin, who was still standing on the court.
"You got it." he said, running forward and scooping up the basketball from the place where it landed after his shot.
The rest of the girls and guys sat around the court on the grass as Justin and Rachel began running up and down the court in a heated game of one on one.
****
"Ow!! Shit...that hurt woman!" Justin fell to the ground in a heap after jumping up to block Rachel's shot.
"Aww poor baby. Want me to go get your mama?!" she laughed, finishing off the shot and ending the game.
Jordan looked over at the court as she walked out of the sliding glass doors. She had gone inside to get a sweatshirt, since it had started to get chilly when the sun began to set. She saw Justin sitting on the court, just underneath the basket, and Rachel laughing as she finished shooting the ball. She squinted against the glare of the setting sun, trying to see if he was ok.
As she neared the court, she noticed Justin was clutching his ankle, and JC was inspecting it closely. "What happened?" Jordan asked, kneeling down next to Justin. She gently put her hand on his arm as she tried to see his ankle over JC's shoulder.
"Aww nothin, I just hurt it when Amazon Woman over here knocked me down." he said shrugging, but happy that Jordan seemed concerned.
"Well, it looks ok, maybe just take it easy for the rest of the night." JC said, bossy as always.
"Aight, I think I can handle that." Justin said, his frown showing his unhappiness.
"Well maybe we should put some ice on it." Jordan suggested.
"Yeah, good idea...do you want to help him out?" JC asked her quietly.
"Sure" Jordan smiled as she grabbed Justin's other arm, and along with JC, helped him to his feet.
After getting to his feet, Jordan and Justin began walking toward the house to get an ice pack. As they made their way across the lawn, Joey walked toward the blonde who was still standing on the court, grinning over her win.
"Hey Rachel...do you want to go jetskiing with me before it gets dark? I'm bored." Joey said to the tall blonde who was dribbling the basketball, seemingly unconcerned about Justin's possible injury.
"Huh?" she looked up at him confused. "Ohh, sure yeah, let me go change into a wetsuit." she dropped the basketball and ran toward the house to change.
***
After they had been out on the water for about ten minutes, Joey sped up as he began his turn to go back toward the house. He was in a hurry though, and because he was going so fast around the turn, he ended up dumping the jet ski over into the water.
"You MORON!" Rachel sputtered as she glared at him. "I can't believe you just did that. This water is FREEZING!"
Rachel continued to yell at Joey, as he made his way closer to her. She was in the middle of screaming at him when he grabbed her and kissed her gently.
"What was that for?" she asked, still a bit of anger evident in her voice, although now the anger was mixed in with surprise.
"I don't know...I just felt like it I guess." Joey shrugged as he began trying to upright the jet ski so they could continue back to the house.
"Yeah well forget about THAT ever happening again." Rachel mumbled to herself. "I should just swim back to the house!" she gave Joey a disgusted look as he helped her back onto the jetski.
***
Justin flopped down on the plush couch in Johnny's living room and began flipping through the channels, while Jordan began getting some ice for his ankle. "Hey woman! Hurry up..." Justin looked back into the kitchen where Jordan stood by the freezer.
"ExCUSE me?!? Did you just call me woman?" she teased. "In that case, you can get the ice yourself boy!" Jordan stuck her tongue out at him as he grinned and turned his attention back to the tv. He had stopped on MTV, which had cut away to a news clip.
"Transcon's newest pop sensations, the girls of Eternity, are on fire...hitting the charts at number one with their newly released single, 'Confessions of Love'. Eternity has surpassed their labelmates and hottest boyband of the minute's single, N Sync's 'I Drive Myself Crazy' on the Billboard charts. Disney has just offered the girls a concert special, which Transcon hopes will rocket these girls into stardom even quicker than the boys of N Sync."
"OHMYGOD!!! Did you hear that?!" Jordan dropped the bag of ice she was holding. She started screaming for her friends as she ran outside to tell them the news.
"You guys will not believe this!" Jordan bounded out of the house, running toward her groupmates and Johnny.
"Believe what girl?" Leigh said, looking up from her card game, slightly confused.
"HOLY SHIT!" Jordan gasped, flustered because of her excitement. "Our single debuted at number ONE on the Billboard charts!!"
"Oh yeah baby!! WOOHOO!" Rachel ran up and started hugging Jordan, her wetsuit still dripping from her recent jetski mishap.
The other girls began jumping around like maniacs, screaming and carrying on. Johnny smiled at the five women in front of him as they hugged each other tightly. "See girls, we knew you could do it!" he said brightly.
"Kick ASS!" Tressa shouted into the now dark Florida sky.
"Congratulations ladies," Lance stated calmly, "but where's Justin?"
"Oh shit, he must still be inside. I kinda just dropped the ice when I heard it, and then I ran out here." Jordan shrugged, still obviously giddy from the news of their success.
"Well this is reason for all of us to celebrate. He should be out here too." JC said as he began walking into the house, "I'll be right back."
As JC entered the house, he saw Justin in the living room. Justin sat on the couch still engrossed in what was onscreen.
"However, besides igniting the Billboard charts, Eternity seems to be heating up a few things outside of the recording studio. Labelmates Justin Timberlake of N Sync and Eternity's Jordan Bishop were seen getting friendly at a club last night in Orlando."
Fades away to show picture of Justin and Jordan in a liplock from the previous night.
Justin's jaw dropped as he realized that the flash he had seen during their kiss at the club was that of a media photographer's camera. "Holy shit..." he trailed off as he noticed a figure standing behind the couch. He turned to see JC standing there, a disapproving look on his face.
"Hey man, wasup?" Justin flipped off the television as he turned toward his friend, hoping JC hadn't seen what was just on the screen.
"Why don't you tell me?" JC asked, concerned about what he has just seen on tv.
"Uhh...nothin, just forget bout it." Justin said, trying to hide his embarassment after realizing JC had seen the photo.
"Ok, well, if you want to come outside, the girls are pretty excited bout their single doing so well. You might want to congratulate them." the dark haired man stated before he turned his back to his friend, and walked back out onto the deck.
Justin sighed, and then got up from the couch, following JC outdoors. 'Man, I sure hope Lou didn't catch that news clip, cuz if he did, both my ass AND Jordan's will be grass.' he thought, shaking his head as he walked over to the girls, who were still giddy with excitement.