Justin stopped Lance on the deck and hugged him. “Have you heard from Lyn, J?”
“She and JC are on the same flight from Ireland. They should be here in a couple of hours.” Justin smiled.
“Has she told you anything?” Lance’s eyebrows drew together in concern.
Justin ran a hand over his head and sighed, “I don’t think it’s going to work out man. She was still throwing stuff. She has a major temper, and he really screwed up, I really thought the journal would help.”
“So did I.” Lance nodded.
Justin smirked, “Why are you talking to me right now? Shouldn’t you be asking your amazingly beautiful girlfriend to marry you? If you wait much longer I’m going to knock you over, steal that ring and ask her myself.”
“I better get in there then.” Lance smiled brightly.
Justin patted Lance’s arm, “This is cool. Thanks for letting us all be here.”
“Thanks for being here. OK...I’m gonna go do this before she comes outside and sees all of this.”
Justin watched as Lance ran up the hill into the house to ask the most important question of his life. Part of him was remarkably jealous, Lance had found the woman who was a perfect fit for him and he wasn’t going to let go. He glanced at his watch and flipped his phone open. Hitting speed dial he waited for the call to be answered.
“What’s up?” Her voice was full of laughter.
“He just went in the house to ask her. They are going to be engaged in like five minutes.” He couldn’t help but be happy.
“This is the coolest thing EVER, and it is SO Lance and Stasia. I swear, they are perfect together.”
“We’re all here. I really wish that you didn’t have class. I wish you were here with us. It’s like a major piece of the puzzle is missing.”
She sighed heavily, “Please don’t make this any harder. I feel awful for missing it, like I”m a horrible friend. I shouldn’t be missing this.”
“You are NOT a horrible friend. It isn’t your fault that you had two exams today. Trust me, I’ll give you the play by play.” Walked toward the pool, waving Dani over, “Right now, we’re all in the back yard. Lance just went up to their bedroom with the ring in his pocket. Momma Bass brought it here today. He had it locked in the safe in the office.”
He heard Morgan settle into the couch, “She doesn’t know?”
“Nope. She doesn’t know we’re here. She doesn’t know Lance has a diamond the size of a doorknob in his pocket.”
“Have you seen it?”
“No. Only his mom has seen it, but this is Lance we’re talking about.”
“True. It may be bigger than a doorknob. When it comes to Stasia, the sky is the limit.” She laughed.
Dani made it over to Justin and bumped his hip with her’s, “Is that Miss Morgan?”
“Yep.” Justin nodded.
“Great!” Dani snatched the phone out of Justin’s hand.
“HEY!”
Dani waved her hand, dismissing him. Justin laughed and went to find Chris, “Hey girl! How are you?”
Morgan laughed, “I’m good Dan. How are YOU?”
“Giddy as hell! They are up there getting engaged, I mean seriously, isn’t it a good day when any one of us is getting a diamond?” She giggled.
“I should say so. Have they come downstairs yet?”
“Nope. Have seen or heard a thing yet...but really he just got up there...and it’s Lance, I’m sure there is a big speech about love and family.”
Morgan laughed again, “You’ve got a very good point there. I wish I could see what was going on. We should have done a live feed!”
“Sure. We could have set up a camera in the room while he asked!”
“Now THAT would have been a good plan! Why didn’t you think of it sooner?” Morgan laughed.
Chris walked over and kissed Dani’s neck, “Who ya talkin’ to?”
“Mor.”
Chris lit up, “OOO give me the phone!” He grabbed it and ran, “Morgan, honey, babydoll! How’s my favorite college student?”
“I’m great Chris. How are you?”
“I’m worried.”
“Worried about WHAT? You KNOW Stasia is going to say ‘yes’!”
Morgan laughed, “Heard about that huh? It’s not as if I was in the bed WITH him! Besides, now I have a house full of furniture, so I won’t have to sleep on the floor anymore.”
“I can beat him up.”
“No need. He apologized. It won’t happen again.”
“Better not.”
“I love you, you idiot.”
“I’d rather be an idiot than a DORK!”
“IDIOT!”
“IDIOTIC DORK!”
“DORKY IDIOT!”
“I’ve missed you!” He sighed.
She couldn’t help but love Chris, “Thanks. I’ve missed you too!”
Angela walked over and asked, “Is that still Morgan?”
“Yes it is still Morgan, and no you can’t have the phone, I’m talking to her.” Angela stomped hard on Chris’s foot and then held out her hand. Chris squeaked and sighed, “Morganana, I have got to go. Angela would like to speak to you.”
Morgan laughed, “OK then. Bye Chris.”
Angela snatched the phone and giggled, “MOR! HI!”
“Hey Ang! Anything exciting happen yet? No screaming or crying you can hear?”
“It’s all quiet up at the house. But we’re down around the pool, so they’d have to be screaming pretty loud for any of us to hear anything. Justin is busy making sure Joe and Chris don’t sneak up to the house to spy.”
“Keep an eye on Justin, he could be helping them.”
Angela walked away from the group and lowered her voice, “Hey Mor?”
“Yeah?”
“Are you mad at Justin? Is that why you wouldn’t come down for this?”
“HUH? Mad at Justin? No. I had two exams today, I couldn’t reschedule. Why in the world would I be mad at Justin?”
“Well...ah...it’s just that the last time we were here, he sort of....left you hanging...and I thought that maybe it had upset you...”
“Ang, I know why he left, and it was NOT his fault. I would have done the same thing, any of us would have.”
“Oh GOOD! I was so worried about that and I didn’t want you thinking he WANTED to leave without telling you....”
“I know. It’s fine I swear to you.”
“I’m happy to hear that.” Angela glanced toward the pool and waved Joey over.
He ran over, “What’s up babe?”
Angela smiled, “Mor, Joey wants to say hi too!”
Joey grinned and took the phone, “Hey hot stuff!”
“Hey yourself! I’m feeling extra popular today, how are you?”
“I’m great! It’s great here. The weather is warm, the sky is clear, our friends are getting engaged! I’m a happy camper. Not a care in the world.”
“You are just Mr. Optimist today.” Morgan laughed.
“Yeah, I’m just....” He glanced up and saw Lance and Stasia walking down the stairs from the balcony, “Mor! They’re coming! Lance and Stasia are coming!”
“EEEEE! Do they look happy? Do they look in love? Are they glowing?”
“YES! YES! And YES! I wish you could see Stasia! She looks, amazing!” Joey gushed as he jogged up the hill toward Lance and Stasia, “Everyone is hugging them and looking at her ring. We’re almost there!”
“Hurry Joe!”
Joey made it over to the group and leaned down to scoop Stasia up into his arms, “Important call there Joe?” Stasia giggled.
“It’s Mor! She’s getting the play by play.”
Morgan began bouncing in her chair, “Let me talk to Stasia! Let’s me talk to Stasia!”
Stasia could hear her, she threw her head back and laughed, “You better let me talk to her.” She took the phone and Joey set her down. He moved over to hug Lance as Stasia took a few steps away from the crowd, “Morgan?”
“HI!”
“Hi!”
“Describe it! Tell me every last detail! I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there!” Morgan squealed.
“OK, the ring is an emerald cut solitaire, set in platinum. It is AMAZING!”
“Huge?”
Stasia glanced around and then whispered, “Mor, it’s RIDICULOUS! I mean, it’s GIANT!”
“I KNEW IT!” Morgan laughed, “How’d he ask?”
Stasia sighed dreamily, “He said, ‘I love you and I never want you to go anywhere.’ THEN he said, ‘Anastasia, my Millie, will you marry me?’ THEN he pulled out the ring and I started crying!”
“SO LANCE! This whole thing sounds PERFECT! Congratulations! I am SO happy for both of you!”
“Thank you so much! I’m still stunned, I can’t believe this is happening to me. I never thought it was possible to be THIS happy.”
“No one deserves it more than you do! I wish you nothing but happiness!”
“Thank you so much. You have no idea how much that means to me.” She beamed as Lance walked over and kissed her forehead.
“Rumor has it Miss Morgan is on the phone.” He brushed Stasia’s hair back over her shoulders, “Can I say hi?”
Stasia looked up into his eyes, “YOU can do anything you damn well please. Mor, Lance wants to say hi.”
Morgan laughed and waited for Lance. Her ears were suddenly filled with his deep laughter, “Hi Miss Morgan!”
“Hey! Stud!”
“Guess what!”
“What?” She laughed.
“I’m getting married!”
“Congratulations! I’m thrilled! You know I love weddings! I cannot WAIT to see you two!”
He smiled, “You’re the only missing piece, but getting to talk to you makes it much better!”
Morgan groaned, “Lance I feel like a major ass, but I have to go take an exam.”
“You go ace your test. We’ll call you back later.”
Walking up to Stasia’s garden, Justin sat on a stone bench nestled between two ancient trees. Looking around he smiled, Lance’s house had always been cool. When he bought it, it was because he wanted a party house, and it had been. There had been some huge parties at this house, but when Stasia had entered the picture, all of the finishing touches had fallen into place. Stasia had turned Lance’s house into THEIR home.
He looked out at the yard at his friends and smiled. As happy as the sight of Lance and Stasia beaming at one another made him, looking just past them to JC where he stood with his arms wrapped tightly around Lyn’s shoulders. He stood behind her, holding her tightly against his chest with his chin resting on top of her head. One of her arms was reaching back holding him tight against her back, her other hand was holding his.
Things suddenly seemed to be falling back into place. When Lyn had left in the middle of the night, and Justin had missed his opportunity to talk to Morgan, everything in their little world seemed to have gotten out of whack.
He flipped open his phone and smiled at the familiar voice at the other end, “What took you so long to call back?” Her voice was full of happiness and laughter.
“You will never guess what I’m looking at right now.” He shifted so he could lean against one of the trees.
“I’m guessing you’re looking at Lance and Stasia making moon eyes at each other.” She laughed.
He couldn’t help but smirk, “Well, that too, but right now, I’m watching JC kiss Lyn and she’s kissing back.”
“SHUT UP!”
“Swear to God! They are here, and they are together, REALLY together. I guess it happened two weeks ago.”
“TWO WEEKS! Why didn’t they tell us?”
“They wanted some time to just be together, and figure out all of the crap that happened with Bren.”
“What DID happen with Bren?”
“We don’t know yet. Lyn knows, and I guess that’s enough for now. We’ll all hear the whole story soon enough.”
“I suppose you’re right. WOW! What a day, huh?” He could hear the shock still laced through her voice.
“You have no idea.” He shook his head.
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m tired. This is suddenly so much to take in. You think things are starting to settle down and get back to normal?”
She laughed, “Well, as normal as possible for us.”
“Good point.” He chuckled, “So how’d the afternoon exam go?”
“Cake.”
He smirked, he could picture the cocky look on her face, “Good to hear.”
“You expected less?”
“Of course not.” He laughed.
“Where are you now?”
“In Stasia’s garden...you know, up by the side of the deck?”
“What are you doing up there by yourself?”
“Calling you.”
“Justin, go hug Lyn and JC for me and have some fun. You have to party for both of us.”
“Party like a rock star?”
“Well, at least like a pop star.”
“Shut up.” He chuckled.
“It’s the truth. Now go have fun, and call me tomorrow morning.”
“YES MOM!” He rolled his eyes, “I should go back down though.”
“So go. Have fun.”
“Going. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Love ya.”
“I love you too. Night J.”
“Night.” He flipped his phone shut, smiled to himself and stood up, “Everything is working itself out again.” He jogged back down the hill to his friends.
With her feet propped up on the long wooden table stretched out in front of her, Mor reached for her highlighter. She looked up and grinned, this was exactly what a library was supposed to look like. The library was the oldest building on campus, and it showed it’s age. The dark wood floors echoed and squeaked as you made your way through the vast maze of dusty books. Long wooden tables were lined up down the center of each floor, with green reading lamps every few feet down the center of the tables and each table had six wide chairs down either side.
It was always completely quiet and smelled like only a library could, a mix of wood polish, dust, old paper and autumn leaves. The huge, pained, floor to ceiling windows with their arched tops let in natural light and let it spill out across the floor between the stacks. The massive columns the marched down the room, supporting the wrap around balcony upstairs had been painted white year after year, there had to be at least eighty years worth of paint built up on them.
This place was nothing like UCF with it’s new buildings. This place had history, a history that is seemed to whisper it’s secrets to you as you sat in it’s buildings. The library at UCF had been all brick and angular, industrial carpet and vinyl chairs.
For some reason, she loved the library here. She liked wandering through the stacks, letting her fingertips over the musty old volumes, many of which were decades older than she was. This place was restful, peaceful. She smirked and turned back to her textbook, she hadn’t meant to procrastinate, but that was exactly what had happened. Flipping the page, she gripped the cap of her highlighter between her teeth and yanked the pen away. She ran the day-glow pink across the passage she was interested in and then began to scan the page again.
“Hi.”
Looking up over the edge of her book she raised an eyebrow, “Hi Betsy.”
“Looks like you have Dr. Graham’s class.” Betsy sat across the table from her.
“Ah, yeah.” Mor nodded.
“I took it last term. He can be tough.”
“I noticed. I wrote a great paper and he gave it a 3.0. He sucks, so I’m studying for the next exam, I’m determined to get a 4.0.”
“I still have my notes if you want to borrow them, I’m sure they’d help some.” Betsy offered.
“I would really appreciate that.” Mor nodded.
“If you want, I’m just over here in Lord. If you want we can run over and grab them now.”
Mor cocked her head and then shrugged, “Yeah, that would be good.”
Betsy stood up, “Well let’s go.”
They crossed Main Street and made their way into the dorm. Betsy lead her up two flights of stairs and unlocked a door with her name on it in a pink flower. Morgan rolled her eyes and silently thanked Justin for making it possible for her to never have to live in a dorm. Cheerful flowers and puffy paint we not exactly her thing.
Stepping into the room behind Betsy, her jaw dropped, “OH. MY. GOD.” She found herself in the middle of the biggest NSYNC shrine she had ever laid eyes on. Literally every square inch of wall space was COVERED with posters, pictures, concert tickets, meet and greet passes, every t-shirt Mor could remember being made, but the strangest part of all was the glass case with Justin’s shoes and Lance’s sunglasses in it.
She slowly shook her head and spun around, “I don’t believe this.”
Betsy beamed, “Isn’t it cool?!”
Mor’s eyes grew even wider when they landed on the open dresser drawer, neatly folded and lined up in tidy rows were dozens of pairs of NSYNC panties. Betsy followed her line of sight and giggled, “A pair for every day of the month.”
“HOLY. SHIT!” Morgan took a few steps back and sat down hard in a chair, covered with an NSYNC blanket, “I have never seen ANYTHING like this before.”
“I have a pretty big collection.” Betsy went to her desk drawer to dig for her class notes.
Morgan shook her head, “I have NEVER seen anything like this.”
Betsy giggled, “Thanks.”
“You have Justin’s shoes in a glass box.”
“Yeah. I don’t want them to get all dusty.”
“They were new.” Mor honestly had no idea what to say or do, her instinct was to run. She was feeling completely freaked out by her current surroundings.
“I KNOW! They smelled new.” Betsy nodded.
Mor shook her head a little, it was clear that Betsy was insane.
“I was so excited when Chris answered his door.” She tilted her head, “Come to think of it, I think you were there that weekend too. You must have been out with Justin or something. I think Chris was the only person around.”
Morgan made a mental note to remind Justin to lecture security about having someone on the floor at all times, even when everyone was gone, “Yeah. I bet you were surprised.”
“He was such a sweetie. Is he always like that?”
“Yeah. A sweetie.” She wondered if she sounded as frightened as she was.
Finally pulling a notebook out of the drawer, Betsy grinned, “HERE IT IS!”
Morgan stood up, reached out, took the notebook and started moving closer to the door, “Thank you so much. I’ll make copies and then return this to you as soon as possible. I’m sorry to run out like this, but I have to get home for dinner with South.”
“Oh. It’s no big deal, you can keep it until the end of the term if you want. I’m done with the class.”
“Betsy was loaning me her notes for a class.” Mor turned her wide eyes to her friend.
South laughed, “So you saw the room?”
“Um...YEAH! How abnormal is THAT?” Morgan nodded.
“I hate to break it to you but not all that abnormal. Ok, the shoe thing is freaking, but having their faces all over the place...pretty normal.”
“SOUTH! The underwear!”
“Huh?”
“She has a drawer full of NSYNC UNDERWEAR! ‘A pair for every day of the month.’” She mimicked Betsy in a robotic tone.
“Eww. Like Justin on Monday, Joey on Tuesday, JC on Wednesday?” South looked over at her.
“No. Just the group logo. BUT 30 PAIRS?”
“Probably 31.” South smirked.
“WHATEVER!”
South threw her arm around Morgan’s shoulders, “If you ever get mad at any of them, we could just lock him in her room and let her tear him apart.”
“I don’t think I could ever get THAT mad.” She shook her head, “The last thing I need is Chris locked in a big glass box.”
“Knowing Chris, he’d probably like it.”
“Good point. Well then the last thing I need is LANCE locked in a glass box.”
South nodded, “Yeah, that would be bad.” She smirked, “Although I bet Stasia would pay big bucks to get him out of the box.”
“True.”
“So you hungry?”
“Starved.”
“Let’s get some dinner.”
~Chapter 12~
~Main~
