"Whoo hoo! They are coming toward us." Jordan squealed excitedly.

"Seriously though girl, what if they're trolls?"

"They AREN'T..I couldn't see very well cuz of the smoke machine crap..but he looked sooo hot. Didn't you see him glance up here?"

"Yeah, but I was blinded when the strobe light caught that sparkly thing that he is wearing. What the hell is that thing anyhow? It's lookin pretty tacky from here, so I can only imagine what it looks like up close and personal."

As the two guys got closer to the girls, they struggled to see the men's faces. "Can you see if they're cute up close?" Leigh asked her friend, who was a little bit taller than her.

Jordan squinted her eyes, straining to make out their features as they neared. "Damn!" she said, turning her back to the boys, facing Leigh. "The lights flashing around like that make it too hard to see. They are close to us, but their features are hidden cuz of the darkness when the lights flash on and off. When the strobe lights come on, their faces are still shadowy, ya know?"

Leigh nodded, frustrated with the fact that they couldn't tell if the guys were hot BEFORE they approached them. "Well, who knows. I guess we will find out in a second when they reach us...." Leigh trailed off, digging in her purse.

"Yeah I guess we will. Let's just hope they aren't ugly then. Haha. Ya know, that damn hat factor gets me everytime." As soon as she finished her sentence, Jordan felt a tap on her shoulder, and a tall presence near her.

"Hey wasup?" a familiar male voice said behind her.

"Not mu--" Jordan turned around, cutting her reply short when she saw who the man she had admired was.

Leigh looked up as Jordan stopped what she was saying so abrubtly. "What's wrong with you gi--?" cutting off just as shortly as Jordan had when she noticed the two men standing in front of them.

The guy in the baseball hat turned a brilliant shade of red, which was noticeable to Jordan even in the flashing lights of the club. The spikey blonde waved to Jordan and Leigh shyly as he poked his friend in the ribs and began to laugh, whispering something to him.

"Justin...such a...surprise to see you and Lance here." Leigh finally coughed out a response after almost choking on her gum.

"Yeah..how are you guys? We didn't even...uh...recognize you." Jordan responded, her cheeks flushed with embarassment. 'Man, how embarassing is this? Although I had no idea that was Justin, he is looking pretty good.' She quickly shook her head, thrusting it out of her thoughts. 'Just stop Jordan, it'll be nothing but trouble' she rationalized in her mind.

"So what's goin on?" Lance asked Leigh, leaving Justin and Jordan to make awkward conversation.

"Not much, we were just lookin for somebody to dance with. Ya wanna dance with me? I'm in the mood to get out on the floor."

"Um...sure, I guess." Lance shrugged, as Leigh grabbed his hand and started walking toward the catwalk.

"Soo..." Justin said, breaking the awkward silence between them. He stood there uncomfortably, gazing at Jordan, who was looking out onto the dance floor at Joey. "Hey, are you ok?" he asked, brushing her hair away from her face, so he could see her better.

"Huh?" Jordan felt a hand brush her cheek, her face becoming flushed when she realized it was Justin's. She turned her face toward him, and he looked down at the ground, shoving his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, I'm fine, why do you ask?"

"I dunno. You just look really thoughtful...it's hard to explain." he replied carefully, not really knowing what to say.

"She is such a dork, I don't know WHERE she gets it. Certainly not from me." Jordan said, quickly changing the subject. Justin shifted his gaze from the brunette next to him, and looked where Jordan pointed on the catwalk. Rachel was up there, doing the butterfly like a lunatic, her hair still bouncing crazily.

"Haha, yeah she does look pretty funny." Justin smiled. "Watch this." he said to Jordan as he strided over to Rachel on the catwalk. When he reached the blonde, he began laughing and gesturing with his hands as he talked.

"Girl, what do you think you're doin? The butterfly is MY move!" Justin bumped Rachel out of the way with his hip, and started grooving to the music. Jordan, watching from where she was still standing, was laughing hysterically at Justin's antics.

As Jordan was hyperventilating from laughing so hard, Justin ran over and grabbed her hand. He pulled her onto the catwalk, although she struggled to free herself from his grip. "Justin...seriously, this isn't funny. I don't wanna dance with you!" she laughed, trying to get away.

Justin pouted, "Come on, just one dance? I promise I won't do the butterfly." he pleaded with her.

"Fine, ONE dance, and that's all you get boy! I have much too much love to spread round this club, and you can't have it all." Jordan joked with her friend.

Just then, a slow song started playing. Justin pulled Jordan close, putting his arms around her waist. She loosely threw her arms around his neck, as they began swaying to the music.

"See, I am a master con-artist. I just turn on the ole Timberlake charm, and away I go. The ladies fall at my feet. You couldn't resist it...that's how I got you to dance with me."

"Um..Justin, I think you better stop right now." Jordan smiled up at him.

"What do you mean?"

"Your head's gonna pop if it gets any bigger!"

"Haha, you're SOOO funny. You're just jealous." Justin joked, looking down into Jordan's hazel eyes with a crooked grin on his handsome face.

After Justin's comment, Jordan didn't say anything. The two stood there, silent, close because of the slow song they had been dancing to.

'Man, he is so unbelievably perfect.' Jordan thought, still gazing up at Justin's gorgeous features.

'She looks so sweet, so beautiful. Practically perfect'. Justin thought to himself as he smiled down at Jordan.

"Hey Jordan!" a loud voice interrupted her thoughts. "Maybe if you kiss the frog, your prince will hop out. Or something like that...hahah."

Jordan groaned as she knew exactly who had disrupted this perfect moment with a retarded comment like that. "Rachel...you have impeccable timing. I was just about ready to ask YOU if you had kissed your frog yet."

Jordan turned away from Justin's grasp, and pointed a very confused Rachel's gaze to the dance floor. "See that red head down there?"

"Yeah..." Rachel said, looking doubtful. "Don't think he's the prize I'm lookin for though."

"Well, you haven't seen his face yet." Jordan turned to Justin, who was standing beside her and Rachel at the railing. He looked at Jordan, confused. She winked at him and continued talking to Rachel. "I think he's JUST the thing you're looking for. And I DOUBLE dare ya to go kiss him. Ya know, for kicks."

Rachel looked down at the red headed guy, and then back up at her sister. Her eyes sparkled mischeviously. "A dare? Fine, I'm there. Consider it done." she said, never one to back down from a challenge. She turned and began making her way from the catwalk to the dance floor, leaving Justin and Jordan laughing behind her.

When Rachel got down to the dance floor, she looked for the bright red hair she had seen from the catwalk. Finally, she found it...mostly cuz it wasn't too hard to spot. She walked about halfway up to him before realizing that it was Joey. 'Ugh', she thought. 'Not HIM!'. She rolled her eyes in utter disgust as she thought about bailing on the dare. She looked up at the catwalk, catching Jordan's eye. Her sister gave her a look that screamed, 'Do it!'. So she continued toward him, and upon reaching him, tapped him on the shoulder gently.

"Oh man!!" Jordan squealed, laughing. "She's really gonna do it!" She stared down at her sister, not noticing that Justin wasn't interested in the dare being played out. He was full on staring at Jordan, watching her, his blue eyes intent on her features.

Down on the floor, Joey turned around to see his friend. "Hey was--". He couldn't complete his greeting, because Rachel grabbed his face and thrust a kiss upon the Italian. "What was that for?" he shouted after her as she walked away hurriedly toward the bathroom to rinse out her mouth.

"That was CLASSIC!" Jordan said out loud. She shifted her gaze away from the dance floor, and turned toward Justin. "Did you see..." She trailed off as Justin leaned in and kissed her gently, his soft lips pressing firmly against her own. 'Wow' she thought, as he wrapped his arm around her and pulled her in close. As the pair continued to kiss, Jordan noticed a flash of light out of the corner of her eye. The two pulled away quickly, and Jordan looked to the side where she had seen the flash come from. She wasn't sure if it was a strobe light, or a camera flash. From the look on Justin's face, Jordan knew he was wondering the same thing.

They both looked down at the ground, searching for something to say or do to remedy the awkwardness of the entire situation. Finally Jordan spoke up, "Uh...Hey, I am gonna go find Leigh, and then go home. Are you going to Johnny's tomorrow night for that barbeque?" she asked. 'Man I feel sooo dumb' Jordan thought as she looked at Justin. 'That was like THE most awkward moment of my life.'

"Yeah, all the guys should be there." Justin said, frowning slightly. 'She hates me. I can't believe I just kissed her. I made a complete fool of myself...not to mention in front of a million people at this club.' Justin thought.

"Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow then." Jordan said, embracing the tall young man in a tight hug. "Bye.." she whispered in his ear, before turning away to search for Leigh.

***

It was about 1:30 in the afternoon when Jordan stepped out onto Johnny Wright's driveway. She turned and waved at the guys', who were getting out of Justin's Benz and JC's Jeep.

"Hey girl wasup?" Chris asked Jordan as they made their way into the house, where Ashlee and Tressa were already waiting.

"Not much." she mumbled, her face turning a subtle shade of red as she noticed Justin walking up.

"Maybe you can figure out what's buggin her. She's been in a weird mood since we left the club last night dude." Leigh said to Chris, looking at Jordan with concern. "I don't know WHAT happened last night, but she's got something on her mind.

Justin walked up to Chris and the three girls, who were slowly making their way toward the front door. "Wasup guys?!" he asked, trying to make conversation. Everyone looked at him, saying hello, except Jordan who kept her eyes focused on the ground.

They all started to make their way into the house, Jordan lagging behind with Lance, JC, and Joey. Johnny's wife Donna greeted them, and told them Ashlee and Tressa were already changing. She showed them where they could get into their suits, and then left them alone to change.

Chapter 9