He was very quiet and then sighed heavily, “This sucks. Everything is a mess and I’m taking it out on you.”
“That’s what I’m here for.”
“How was your dance thing?”
“Eh.” She shrugged.
“Eh? Eh isn’t great.”
“I’m starting to realize I have nothing in common with these people.”
“Were they mean to you?” He instantly sounded defensive.
Morgan laughed and shook her head, “No. They weren’t mean. A girl recognized me as your friend and wanted an autograph and then told some whacked out story about Chris and your shoes...”
“HEY! I want those back! Idiot gave a fan my shoes and Lance’s sunglasses. Didn’t give away any of his own shit!”
“I thought she had made that up.”
“I wish! Those are hundred and fifty dollar shoes. He claims she wanted my underwear.”
She burst out laughing, “Wouldn’t surprise me. She wanted my autograph and South called her a stalker freak.”
Justin chuckled, “Nice.”
“It was getting a little uncomfortable.” Her fingers began to absently pull on a loose string hanging from the hem of her shirt.
“So what else happened?” She could hear him settling back into his pillows.
“Frat Boy Bob got hammered, tried to kiss me and then passed out cold on my bed while I was in the bathroom changing.”
“Tried to kiss you?”
“He’s wasted. Now I get to sleep on the floor in the living room while he snores away in my room.”
“Wake his dumb ass up and kick him out.”
“His friend is busy hooking up with South right now. So I’m sitting in the hall outside of our apartment on the floor talking to you.”
“Throw him out! Make him sit on the floor in the hall!”
“Nah. I’m used to it. It looks just like a hotel. It has cheesy red carpet and yellow walls. There is even a red velvet bench at the end of the hall down by the elevator.”
He laughed, “Sounds like all of the lovely places I have dragged you.”
She smiled softly, “The places you have dragged me have steadily gotten nicer and nicer.”
“Speaking of dragging you places, are you still going to go to LA for Thanksgiving?” His voice seemed strangely nervous.
“I wouldn’t miss it for anything! I’m hoping to reconnect. I miss everyone.” She wanted so badly to tell him she missed him, to tell him that she missed him more than she ever thought possible.
“Good. But here’s the thing, I don’t want to stay at JC’s...cause of everything. I mean, I feel like I’d be betraying Lyn if I stayed at JC’s. Plus we got invited...”
“Oh God. You’re gonna say her name aren’t you? You are going to ask me to sleep under HER roof aren’t you?” Morgan knew instantly who had invited HIM to stay at her house.
“We don’t have to...we could stay in a hotel. I think Lance and Stasia are staying at a hotel. And I know Joey and Angela are gonna stay at a hotel, so we can do that.”
Morgan took a long deep breath, he never would have brought it up if it weren’t for the situation between JC and Lyn and she knew he was feeling like he was stuck directly in the middle, “You know what? I’ll be fine. It’s no big deal, we can stay at Britney’s house. Who knows, maybe it’ll be...fun.”
“Did I mention she is going to be in Louisiana? She just offered to let us use the house because she knew things would be tight at JC’s. Turns out it won’t be crowded there, but whatever. I think Chris and Dani will stay at Brit’s with us.”
“You suck.” She laughed, “You did that just to see how I’d react didn’t you?”
“Nah. You just jumped in assuming it was Britney. Then it got interesting when you started freaking out, so I just rode it out and waited to find out what you were going to say.” She heard him laugh quietly.
“I’m looking forward to it...Thanksgiving I mean. It should be fun. The wedding weekend wasn’t long enough, and the way it ended was just...horrible.”
“Yeah.” There was a pause, “He says it isn’t what we all think. He said he can explain. I want to believe him.”
Morgan hated hearing the pain in his voice, JC had been one of his best friends for what seemed like forever, “So believe him. I know it sounds insane, but he has never lied to you before and he has never given you any reason to distrust him. I know you’re feeling protective of Lyn, and I don’t think you should betray her trust, but you KNOW JC, trust him.”
He sighed heavily, “I know you’re right, but kissing Bren?”
“Think of it this way...this ought to be one HELL of a story.”
“True. Very true.” He laughed and then yawned, “I did something...”
“What did you do?” She was very afraid of what he was going to say.
“I guess some part of me knows that I should trust him...so I sent her something.”
“Selfish?”
“Yeah. She should know it’s her song.”
“I thought everyone knew. I mean...I thought you told everyone.”
“I told you at the time, and I JUST told Lance, after we split his head open I felt the need to fill him in on some stuff...guilt I guess.”
“Yeah, I guess so. I think it was the right thing to do. It will mean a lot to her being able to read his thoughts.”
“I hope so.” He sighed, “Well, Morgan Ann, it’s way past your bed time. I think you need to drag Frat Boy Bob out of your room, lock the door and go to sleep.”
“I think Frat Boy Bob is down for the count. Looks like the floor for me. I really need to use that gift certificate from Stasia to buy a couch.”
“Want me to send a couch?”
Morgan burst into laughter, “Shut up Justin! No I don’t want you to send a couch. I can go get my own couch. But thank you.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” He yawned again.
“Go back to bed. You sound beat, and I need to get some sleep.”
“Yeah I am pretty beat.”
“Night Justin.”
“Good night.” She was just about to hit end when he stopped her, “Hey Mor!”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks for calling me back.”
“Thanks for not hanging up on me.”
“No problem.” He laughed, “Night.”
Turning into the parking lot, South eased into a space and grinned, “One hour on the button.”
“I was unaware that Boston was so close to school.” Mor checked her bag for Stasia’s giftcard, “I’ve never been in Ikea before, have you?”
“Nope...it’s very...blue.” South tightened her ponytail as they walked into the building.
The two of them stopped short, stunned at the vast space in front of them. They slowly turned to look at one another and Mor began to laugh, “Well what the hell? Where do we start? What do we do?”
South slowly shook her head, “I have no freaking clue.”
Morgan slowly spun around in a circle, “OK. OK. OK. There has to be a system or a person or a...”
“Sign.” South pointed at a huge sign explaining how to go about shopping.
Taking a moment to read the sign Morgan took charge, “You grab the bag, I’ll get the pencil and paper.”
They wandered around, wide eyed through the display area. They were standing in front of a white couch discussing it’s pros and cons when Mor’s cell phone rang, “MORGAN ANN... WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK WE BOUGHT THAT GIFT CARD FOR... SO IT COULD SIT IN YOUR WALLET AND LOOK PRETTY?"
Morgan held her phone out at arm’s length and laughed. Returning it to her ear she grinned, “Hey Stay, calm down. South and I just walked into Ikea.. We are a little confused. How the HELL do you shop in these places?"
"You’re asking me? Remember I am the one that had Jess furnish my house! If I can’t pick up a phone and have it delivered, I can’t help you."
Morgan laughed and pointed at another couch, which South went to inspect, "Alright I think I am going to go and try to figure this out... thanks Stasia. Say hi to Lance for me. I'll call you soon."
"Love you!" Stasia was obviously happy to hear Morgan was finally getting some furniture.
"I Love you too! And I promise I am being careful...I KNOW those were the next words to come out of your mouth."
South flopped down on a couch, “North, how are we going to do this? I don’t get what we are supposed to do once we decide we like something. FYI this couch was on the last season of Real World.”
“Hell if I know. I guess we better go look at the sign again. Yeah, the chairs over there were in a hotel in Germany. Justin knocked Chris into one of them and we had to pay for a new slipcover.”
“You can’t go one hour without mentioning Justin in conversation...” South cocked her head when there was a voice over a loud speaker, “Morgan Northrup, please come to the Customer Service Desk. Morgan Northrup, please come to the Customer Service Desk.”
“Now THAT is strange.” Mor offered her hand to South and yanked her up off of the couch. Once the found the Customer Service Desk, she smiled and said, “I’m Morgan Northrup. I was paged.”
A woman in a blue polo shirt with an Ikea logo on it smiled brightly, “Hi. I’m Deb. I’m here to help you through the process here. I’m your personal shopper.”
Morgan raised an eyebrow, “But how did you...”
“Ms. Blake called and explained this was your first time in our store and you could use a little assistance.”
South laughed, “Stasia right?”
“Yep.”
“What are you in the market for today?” Deb picked up a clipboard and began taking notes, “Oh, and how about I scan that card to see what kind of budget we’re dealing with here.”
Morgan handed her the card and watched as she slipped it through the card reader and jotted down another note, “We need a couch.”
“And?”
“And...the cover for the couch. I’ll make up the difference in the cost in cash.” She patted her bag, reassuring Deb she did indeed HAVE the cash.
“Miss Northrup...”
“Morgan.”
“I’m sorry. Morgan, You have more than enough room on the card to buy a couch, and whatever else you need. We’ve got a five thousand dollar budget to work with.”
South began laughing hysterically and Mor’s jaw dropped, “Five THOUSAND dollars?”
Deb nodded, “Yes, five thousand dollars.”
South snorted and gasped for air, “Five grand for a college apartment, that is HYSTERICAL!”
Dropping down onto a plastic covered sofa and watching as the deliverymen brought in the second sofa to face the one she was lounging on, South shook her head, “North.. I love your friends... I can't believe the gave you a $5,000 gift card for Ikea....don't they realize we could’ve furnished all six of Justin's houses with that much at Ikea?”
“He only has three.” Morgan sat down next to her, “Does this couch seem short? I think it seems short.”
South held up a bag containing four legs, “It is short, we have to put the legs on.”
Morgan nodded, “Oh.”
The men carried in a buffet, a new table, eight dining chairs, two living room chair, a chair for each bedroom, a glass cabinet for the living room, a coffee table, end tables, pillows, rugs, vases and frames. It seemed as if they would never finish. Finally, one of the men walked through the door with the rug for the living room floor and a clip board, “This is the last of it. If you’ll just sign here, we’ll get out of your hair.”
Morgan stood up and jogged over, “Thank you SO MUCH!” She scrawled a signature on the form and closed the door behind him.
Standing there with her hands on her hips she took in the mountain of boxes and plastic covered furniture, “This is unreal.”
They began sorting through the boxes. Morgan turned up the stereo and they were singing loudly. They both jumped when someone knocked loudly on the door. South crawled over from her spot on the floor and pulled the door open. Bob walked in followed by Jack, Chad and Betsy.
Bob looked stunned, What the hell happened in here?”
Betsy giggled, “It looks like someone went to Ikea!”
Bob shook his head, “It looks like Ikea threw up in here!”
Morgan smiled, “We did a little shopping. The lawn chairs were getting a little old.”
The phone rang and South picked up the cordless, “Hello!...Oh hi....yeah, she’s here, hang on.” She put her hand over the mouth piece, “Mor it’s for you.”
Morgan took the phone, “Hello?” She laughed, “They just finished delivering everything. Uh huh. Thing is Stay, this place went from empty to completely full in a matter of twenty minutes. Five grand went incredibly far. You guys are insane, this was WAY too generous. You and...your boyfriend...are way too generous....oh, everyone? Well either way, it was too much.” She was quiet for a few seconds, “Yes Stasia, I swear I’m eating enough. You can check when you see me in LA. I love you too. Bye.”
She hung up and immediately saw Betsy bouncing up and down clapping her hands, “Was that Anastasia?”
Morgan and South exchanged panicked looks. Betsy raised both eyebrows in anticipation and Mor finally nodded, “Yeah, that was Stasia.”
The guys exchanged confused looks, “Who’s Stasia?” Bob asked as he tried to navigate to a clear area of the living room.
“A friend from home. I mentioned her last night at the party.” She gave Betsy an annoyed look.
“So who gave you five grand to spend on this junk? Do you have a sugar daddy you forgot to mention?” Bob sat down on the floor and began inspecting throw pillows.
“No, I don’t have a sugar daddy...a whole bunch of my friends chipped in together. Apparently they though out lawn furniture wasn’t cool. I thought we were making a statement. We were doing the minimalist thing.” Morgan began unwrapping one of the couches.
Jack had moved over to help South unwrap the other. They were smiling and talking quietly. Betsy was wandering down the hall and Chad was flipping through a magazine.
Bob leaned back on his elbows, “So do you guys need a hand with all of this?”
Rolling her eyes, Morgan shook her head, “I think we can handle it. Really it’s just a matter of unwrapping everything and putting the slipcovers on.”
There was a high pitched squeal from her bedroom. Morgan looked down the hall and growled, “I’ll be right back.” Jogging to her room, she found Betsy clutching the picture of Justin and his brothers in the pool.
“This is unreal. I’ve never KNOWN anyone who knows famous people before. This is too cool.” Betsy giggled.
Morgan sat on the edge of her bed, “Here’s the thing Bets, to me, they aren’t famous people, they’re just my friends and I would do anything to protect them. It’s really important to me that IF they ever come to visit it doesn’t turn into some major thing, and if you go around telling everyone who I’m friends with...that’s what’s gonna happen. I really wish you wouldn’t makes such a big deal about all of this. They are just normal people.”
“HARDLY! We’re not talking about Bill who works at grocery store here, we’re talking about JUSTIN TIMBERLAKE! I mean seriously, LOOK AT HIM!”
“I’ve seen him before.” Morgan was beginning to get annoyed, “Listen, I don’t want to be a bitch about this, but you’re really freaking me out here. I’d really rather you not mention this and I’d really rather have you put down Justin’s picture. And while we’‘re doing things I’d rather have done, I’d like Justin’s shoes and Lance’s sunglasses back.”
“Chris gave me that stuff.” Betsy hugged the picture frame.
Morgan stood up a pried the frame out of her hands, “Whatever, just keep in mind it won’t bode well at your competency hearing if you have a room full of their stuff.”
Betsy looked at her strangely and then began laughing, “You have got the best sense of humor.” With that, she left Mor’s room.
Orlando didn’t have fall, not like this. The trees looked as if they were on fire, the reds, oranges and yellows blending together to form a perfect picture. The Northeast was like a magical time capsule, so much rich history surrounded the area. There was never a time in her life that Morgan had ever taken the time to notice what the seasons were really all about, she suddenly felt more in touch with nature. She was so focused on the sound of the leaves crackling beneath her shoes, and the smell of winter quickly approaching in the air, she didn’t hear the sound of approaching footsteps.
She jumped and covered her heart with her hand when his voice interrupted her thoughts, “Lost in dreamland, North?”
“Jesus Frat Boy Bob! You scared the SHIT out of me!” Pushing her backpack further up on her shoulder she shook her head, “Why are you lurking in the shadows?”
“I wasn’t lurking, you were daydreaming.” He nudged her with his elbow, “Where are you headed?”
“Home. I just finished my last class for the day. Where are you going?”
“I was gonna go grab a cup of coffee, wanna join me?”
Glancing at her watch she shrugged, “Sure, why not?”
Bob was quiet until they sat down at the table in the coffee shop, “So North...”
“Bout what?” She munched on the bean.
“About being all drunk and stupid the other night. I didn’t mean to be like that, and I really didn’t mean to kick you out of your own bed.”
She laughed, “It’s no big deal. We’ve all been there...hell I have a tattoo to show for one of my drunken nights.”
He looked up with shocked eyes, “You do NOT!”
“I do too.” She turned and pulled up her sweater a little in the back and pushed the waistband of her pants down slightly, exposing her tattoo.
“N...you got an ‘N’?”
Morgan blushed deeply, “Yeah...I got an ‘N’.”
He shook his head slowly, “OK...you win. I don’t have any ink.”
She laughed, “Yeah, that one pretty much takes the cake.” He went back to looking into his cup and she poked his forearm, “Is that it? Cause seriously, it’s not a big deal.”
“So are you WITH the guy in the picture?”
She looked at him with confused eyes and then realized he was talking about Justin, “With him? No...not really...no.”
“You want to be with him?”
Now it was her turn to inspect the contents of her glass, “That’s a harder one to answer. He’s been my best friend forever, and this summer...well before this summer...I started feeling different about him.”
“So he doesn’t know?”
“That’s the strange part. He told me he wants more, but I don’t believe him, I don’t think he knows what he wants...”
“Oh.”
“Can I ask YOU a question?” She looked up at him.
“Yeah.” He sipped his coffee.
“Why do you care if I’m with Justin?”
He swallowed hard, “Isn’t it obvious?”
She nodded slowly, “Is it ok if you and I are just friends? I like hanging out with you...but I’m really not in any position to let there be anything more than that.”
He smiled weakly, “No. That’s totally cool.” He shrugged, “That guy always wins.”
“Justin?”
“His type.”
Morgan shook her head, “You’d be surprised, you’d be very surprised.”
~Chapter 11~
~Main~
