"Jordan, Justin...can I have a word with you two please?" Lou said sternly, interrupting N Sync and Eternity's rehersal for their upcoming tour.
"Uh..sure Lou." Jordan said, shrugging as she followed the large man out of the practice room, Justin close behind her.
Lou turned and entered his office, sitting down in a plush chair. "Come on in." he said, gesturing for the two to have a seat.
Jordan and Justin exchanged a look as they settled back in chairs of their own. "So what's up?" Justin said, running his fingers through his hair.
"Well, basically I just wanted to remind you two that although dating within the company is not prohibited, it is looked down upon...for various reasons. I am not going to condone a relationship between you two, or anyone else under my management. However, I do ask that if you continue to persue it, that you keep it behind closed doors. It WILL damage your careers if this continues in the public eye. Rumors fly as it is, and I don't need picture proof of any relationships floating around." Lou stated calmly. "That is all...you can go back to rehersals now." he said as he motioned them to move along.
Jordan and Justin got up simultaneously and left the room, not saying a word. Once back in the practice room, they threw themselves into their dancing, avoiding the questioning looks they were receiving from their groupmates.
***
"Are you ready to go girl?" Rachel screamed down the hall from her room. Jordan jumped slightly, her sister's voice surprising her. She closed the photo album she had been looking at, and quickly brushed the tears from her eyes. She sighed, got up off of her bed and grabbed a hat off her dresser.
"What is TAKING you so long?" Rachel said, peering into Jordan's room. "I've got the keys...I'll start the car and meet you outside." she said, snatching the keys off of the table.
Jordan made the drive to Justin's house in silence. "What is wrong with you girl? JC finally removed that stick from his ass and shove it up yours or somethin?" Rachel asked as they pulled into Justin's driveway. "Now cheer up! It's the 4th of July...maybe Joey will light his hair on fire after getting out of hand with a sparkler or something...look on the bright side!" she giggled, getting out of the car.
Jordan smiled, imagining Joey lighting his hair on fire. "You are a nerd, you know that?" she said playfully, forgetting about what had upset her earlier.
"Well hey, after all that overprocessing, it HAS to be pretty freakin flammable, dontcha think?" the blonde said as she rang the doorbell repeatedly, and began peering in the side window.
"We don't want any!!" the two girls heard Chris say as Rachel continued to ring the bell.
Rachel screeched back at him, laughing, "Well that's not what you said last night!!"
After a few seconds more of Rachel ringing the bell, Lance opened the door for the two girls. "FINALLY! It's hot out here guys...we were dyin!" Rachel stated, fanning her face as she walked into the airconditioned house.
Shortly after Rachel and Jordan had joined the boys in the kitchen, they heard a car door slam. "That must be the rest of the girls." JC said, getting out of his chair to go open the door for them. He opened the door to find the three girls coming up the walk, Leigh walking behind Ashlee and Tressa.
"Yeah, well you need to get your snotty little nose out of the air. I mean please, you have everything handed to you on a friggin silver platter from your mommy and daddy. Do you appreciate it? NO! You always are flaunting it around, and it's starting to make me sick. You need to get OVER yourself." Tressa shouted at Ashlee as they walked toward JC, who was standing there with a confused look on his chiseled face.
Ashlee continued walking, her pretty face seemingly set in stone. "Ya know what Tressa? I am really getting tired of your 'someone feel bad for me' spiel. It's getting really old, and frankly I don't want to hear how hard things were for you. Also, I am beginning to wonder if you are really that petty, not to mention jealous of me..or if you just do it for attention. End of discussion." she stated, entering the house and plopping down on one of the chairs in the kitchen. "WHAT?" she said, exasperated, after noticing everyone staring at her in wild disbelief.
The others exchanged wary looks as they began talking, trying to forget about the arguement that they had just seen played out in front of them. Tressa sat in the living room pouting, and after a few minutes of letting her cool off a bit, JC ventured in to see what was wrong.
"Hey.." he said quietly, sitting down beside her on the couch. "What's wrong with you? What happened between you and Ashlee?"
"Nothing" Tressa said, tears welling up in her eyes...not from sadness, but from anger. She bit her lip to hold back the flood of tears that was about ready to erupt onto her cheeks. "I really don't want to talk about it." she stated firmly, before getting up and walking into the kitchen.
"Fine..." JC muttered, leaning back on the couch and sighing.
***
"Yay! I want a sparkler too Joey!" Justin's little brother Jonathan shouted excitedly. The tiny blond watched Joey in awe as he lit the sparkler. The yellow firecracker began sizzling as Jonathan squealed with happiness, and began running around the table where the rest of N Sync and Eternity sat.
"Hey...be careful with that!" Lynn said, a tone of warning evident in her voice, as she stepped out onto the deck. "That boy is gonna put his eye out Joey, and then what are you gonna do? Jonathan!! Don't run with the sparkler please!"
Jonathan giggled wildly as he continued to run with the firecracker. Lynn gave Justin an exasperated look as she swatted Joey on the back of the head gently. "Hey! What was that for?" he said, surprised.
"For giving Jonathan a sparkler, and then letting him run with it." Lynn said, as Jonathan ran by her, followed closely by Justin.
"Sheesh..it's the fourth of July. Let the kid live a little." Joey replied.
"Get back here you little munchkin!" Justin said as he scooped up a squealing Jonathan, whose sparkler had just faded out. As Justin swung the tiny boy onto his broad shoulders, the sky lit up with the first of the fireworks that would be displayed that evening. "Look buddy.." he said to his brother, pointing upward.
Jordan sat still on the edge of the deck and smiled as she watched Justin and Jonathan gazing at the night sky. Jonathan's tiny mouth hung open in awe as he oohed and ahhed over the brilliant colors lighting up the dark sky. Justin was smiling and pointing as he talked to the young boy on his shoulders.
"Don't they look so cute together?" Leigh said, interrupting Jordan's thoughts as she sat down beside her.
"Yeah, they really do. Jonathan is such a doll...a mischevious one, but still a doll. Don't you suppose that Justin was just as much of a handful when he was that age?" Jordan questioned thoughtfully.
"I can only imagine." Leigh said, laughing gently.
"So what's up with you girl? You seem awfully quiet."
"I dunno. I am just really tired...stressed about our special coming up, as well as the tour. I just hope we are ready." Jordan said carefully, not telling her friend about the tears that she had shed alone that afternoon.
"It'll be fine." Lance said in his southern drawl, interrupting the two girls. "Don't worry...you guys are doing phenomenally on the charts, and your special will help push you guys through the roof."
"Yes, please join our conversation Lance...I would love your input." Jordan said sarcastically, shooting Lance a quick smile so he knew she was joking.
"Actually I was just lookin for Leigh." he replied shyly.
"Oh." Leigh looked surprised, and glanced at Jordan.
"Aww that's cool. I will just go get something to drink, and hang out with the other guys." Jordan stated, hopping up and leaving Lance standing awkwardly next to Leigh.
"So what's up?" Leigh asked, a questioning look in her eyes.
"Nothin, I just wanted to catch up on stuff. Just kinda wanted to see if you guys were getting excited for the tour. We start in a couple weeks ya know." Lance said, business as always.
"Oh.." Leigh looked down, disappointed. "Uhhh, yeah we are getting excited. Jordan seems really nervous about it...but I think it may be just because she is worried about the Justin rumors again. Ya know, with us touring with you guys and all. She has been avoiding him ever since Lou talked to them a couple weeks ago."
"Yeah...I noticed that too." Lance commented thoughtfully.
***
"Hey! Wasup?!" Justin said, plopping down in a chair next to Jordan. The fireworks were over, and everyone was just messing around and talking.
"Umm. Nothing really." Jordan stammered, still feeling awkward around Justin. "Just watching Lance and Leigh." she gestured toward the side of the deck where the two sat, deep in conversation.
Justin's gaze followed where Jordan had pointed, and he smiled when he saw Lance and Leigh talking intently. "They are so much alike it's scary." he muttered.
"Oh, you're telling me. I think they have gotten to be pretty close lately. Seems like every time we are all together, and we ask a question, they answer simultaneously. It's freakin weird." Jordan stated, brushing her bangs out of her eyes gently, changing her steady gaze to Justin.
"Soo..." Justin trailed off, not knowing how to word what he was thinking.
"So what?" Jordan inquired curiously.
"Nothin, I was just thinkin."
"Thinking about what?" she pushed.
"Well," he began blurting out, "I just really don't know what to think since we had our talk with Lou. It's driving me nuts, cuz you are avoiding me and I think we need to talk about this. I think Lou was wrong in intruding like that, but I don't even know if there was anything between us to intrude on. Does that make any sense?" Justin finished, and leaned back in his chair. He looked up at Jordan who was staring back at him, her pretty face expressionless.