“Mor, it’s me again. You’re still not home? Call me as soon as you get in. BEEP”

“Morgan, Lance said you’d be home at 7:00. It’s 7:10 and you haven’t called. Your cell isn’t on either. Call me. BEEP”

“OK. I didn’t realize he meant 8:00 our time....it’s only 6:00 there now. So yeah, we need to talk about everything. I was thinking of flying up there, but I have Blarney...I could leave her with Lance and Stasia I guess. Anyway, call me. BEEP”

“So when I talked to North she said she was leaving to pick you up and I thought you lived closer to that airport than this. I need to talk to you. Umm...bye. BEEP”

“Jesus Morgan! Where are you? Are you ok? It’s like 9:30 your time and you’re not home and your cell is still off. Call me as soon as you get this message. BEEP”

“Woman, did I forget to tell you I’m still at Lance and Stasia’s in Mississippi? I’m gonna check my voice mail at home. So yeah, call me. BEEP”

Morgan looked pitifully up at North who was laughing hard, “WHAT did you DO to him?”

“I didn’t do anything.” Morgan shifted in her chair, “There are only two more.” She pressed the button again.

“Morgan, I don’t think it’s fair that you are ignoring me. I wasn’t trying to blow you off. Please call me when you listen to this. BEEP”

Morgan shook her head slowly, “What in the hell has gotten into him?”

“Sounds like you have gotten to him.” South grinned as she flopped down in the middle of the floor to listen to the last message, “This ought to be good.” She propped her chin up on her fist.

“Morgan. Why in the hell haven’t you called me? You know, I’m not going to beg you to call. If you’re pissed off at me the least you could do is call me. You know, it’s not my fault JC lost his mind and I had to take Lyn to the airport. You know she was really upset and crying and stuff and I didn’t think she should be driving and then we had to wait for a ticket agent and then by the time I got back Lance had already taken you to the airport. My phone was off and sitting on the dresser in your room and I didn’t know that everyone had been trying to call and now everyone wants me to tell them where Lyn went and I promised I wouldn’t and this sucks and JC is locked in that room, which is good because I might kick his ass and you’re gone and we should have talked and everyone is all freaked out and you’re not here and Lance said that you were...BEEP” His tirade was stopped when the machine cut him off.

South shook her head, “So nothing happened huh? Nothing interesting, just a normal weekend? Is it normal that Justin takes Lyn to the airport, JC loses his mind, Lance has to take you to the airport, Justin wants to beat up JC and you are all spacey? You guys must throw one hell of a wedding.”

Morgan turned slowly, “So a few things happened.” She ran her hands over her face.

“So are you going to tell me what happened now?” They both jumped slightly when the phone rang. South pushed herself up off of the floor and smirked, “Say hi to Justin.” She grabbed her physics book off of the table and walked into her room closing the door.

“Hello?”

“Where in the hell have you been?”

She couldn’t help but notice the desperate tone in his voice, “We just walked through the door. There was major construction and then we stopped to get some dinner. What’s with all the calls? You know I’ll call you back as soon as possible.”

“I just wasn’t sure...you know I kind of stood you up, sort of. But it was for a good cause. Did you hear the whole story?” There was a soft jingle in the background.

“Lance and Stasia told me about JC and Brenna.” Morgan began chewing on her cuticle, “It just doesn’t make sense. He didn’t even chase after her. That’s not like him.”

“He’s an idiot. I can’t believe Lance didn’t throw him out.”

“Lance doesn’t throw people out.” She yawned.

“Mor...I wanted to talk to you about...”

“You know what? Let’s just skip that for now.” The last thing she wanted to do was hash up a bunch of confused feelings and try to express them.

“Why do we always have to skip this conversation?” He was annoyed and trying to keep the annoyance out of his voice, but she could hear it loud and clear.

“Because we keep arguing about it. I don’t want to lose my best friend, and I’m afraid if we talk, I will. Do you really want to talk about this mess over the phone Justin?”

He was quiet for a moment, “No.”

“So the next time we’re in the same place at the same time, we’ll talk. Until then, we’re both busy, don’t stress about it. I don’t plan on being consumed by it.”

“Yeah...whatever.”

“Jesus Justin! Don’t ‘whatever’ me because you’re not getting your way.”

“You know what Morgan? Maybe you aren’t in charge of this situation. Maybe I have some feelings about it too. MAYBE I WANT TO TALK ABOUT IT NOW!”

“Don’t raise your voice at me!”

“Well you won’t listen if I don’t!”

“Why can’t you just LEAVE IT ALONE? I just want to drop it and you have to keep rehashing this and making me think about it and then I get all confused and upset and I don’t know what to do or say. I don’t want to hurt you, I don’t want to lose what we have and I don’t want to miss out on what we have been doing and I DON’T WANT TO GET HURT by the person who means the most to me in this world.”

“Oh.” He said for lack of a better response. She had just dropped a bomb in his lap and he didn’t have any idea what to say.

“Yeah, ‘oh’. So we’ve talked about it, are you happy now?”

“Morgan, I didn’t want you to get upset. I wanted to talk to you last night...I wanted to kiss you again and hold you and tell you we are going to figure it out.”

“Well last night you left and we didn’t talk, you left then I left and we didn’t talk. You can’t come here because you have to take care of Lyn’s dog. I can’t go there because I have school. I have come to terms with the fact that this isn’t going to happen and you need to do the same thing. We are friends and that is more than enough for me, let it be enough for you too.” She ran her hand through her hair.

“You realize we can never go back. Not all the way back. We’re always going to be friends, but it’s different now. We’re different now.”

Tears began rolling down her cheeks, “Why does it have to be different?” She whispered.

“Because it is.” He let out a long breath and then said, “No matter how hard you try, you’re not going to get rid of me.”

She wiped her cheeks with the back of her hand, “I don’t ever want to get rid of you.”

“So stop trying.”

“I’m not trying.” She sniffled and wiped her eyes again.

Sweater weather. When South burst through her door and jumped on her bed she’d been giggly and had bounced up and down on Morgan’s bed, “It’s sweater weather! You have to get up, it’s sweater weather!”

“What in the hell is sweater weather?” Mor tried to roll over, but her friend was pinning her to the bed.

“You’ve lived in the South too long.” She laughed again, “North has been in the South too long.”

“What does living in the South have to do with anything?” She pulled her pillow over her head.

South squirmed and shifted until she was sitting next to Morgan, she yanked the pillow off of Mor’s head and tossed it across the room, “Sweater weather, my poor uneducated friend, is the the time of year when you can comfortably wear your sweaters. It only makes sense really.”

“And I have to get up early...why?”

“Because you have to get in the shower, get dressed...in a sweater of course...and go play in the leaves.”

“You have got to be kidding me.” Morgan rolled her eyes.

“Listen North, you have moping around here for almost two weeks since you got back from Mississippi. You are going to get out of this bed, get dressed and play in the damn leaves with me.” She pulled back the blankets and bounced off of the bed, “Come on.”

“I hate you.” Morgan rolled into a sitting position.

“No you don’t. You love me. Now get your ass out of bed and we’re gonna walk over to campus. Plus, you have your big dance thingy tonight. The fresh air will make your cheeks all pink.”

“Oh shit, Frat Boy Bob.”

“You forgot? You have to be pretty by 7:15.”

Morgan flopped back into her pillows and huffed, “I don’t want to be pretty. I want to eat ice cream and rent a movie. I don’t want to put on a formal dress, heels and makeup.”

“You made a date.” South crossed the room and pointed at the garment bag, “This is the dress?”

Morgan shoved herself up off of the bed, “That’s the dress! Actually you can take it out and see if it needs to be steamed.”

South unzipped the long bag and slipped the dress out of the bag, She turned the hanger and her eyes grew wide, “Does this tag say, ‘Created with great pride for Ms. Blake. With my compliments, Ralph.’ Who’s Ralph?”

“Ralph Lauren. He does all of Stasia’s dresses.”

“RALPH LAUREN SIGNED THIS HIMSELF?” South shook her head slightly, “Holy shit!”

Morgan laughed, “Her boyfriend is fairly famous right now, and Stasia is beautiful. You get her hooked on your dresses...which he did, and one of your dresses will appear at the Grammys, the Oscars, the White House and several private parties.”

“I guess that makes sense...but he signed it ‘Ralph’. That’s unreal. Like they are old friends.”

“She has his direct number and can have a ball gown on her doorstep within 24 hours.” Morgan gathered her things for her shower.

“You do realize that that isn’t normal right? I mean, calling Ralph Lauren directly, that is not normal.” She held the dress up and looked at her reaction, “This dress is amazing.”

“You should see the rest of them.” Morgan grabbed her robe off the back of the door, “I’m going to jump in the shower.” She laughed, “The shoes are in the closet.”

South’s eyes got even wider as she pulled the closet open, slipping on the shoes. “These are so cool!”

“She has great taste. You know, you can try it on if you want.”

“No!”

“Go ahead. Stasia would not care at all.”

“Seriously?”

“Seriously. I’ll call her if you want. She will not care at all.”

When Morgan emerged from the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her head and her robe wrapped tightly around her, she burst out laughing as South walked back and forth in front of the mirror in Morgan’s room, “You are so cheesy.” Morgan flipped her head over and rubbed the towel over her wet hair.

“I want to go play dress up in Stasia’s closet.” South spun around again.

Morgan straightened and cocked her head, “You should go with me the next time I go to visit. You’d love her. I can’t believe you haven’t met her.”

“That’d be cool. So I guess I can’t wear this outside to play?”

“Not so much.” Smirking Mor began digging trough here drawers. She pulled out a big oversized gray sweater and a white t-shirt to wear under it. Moving to the closet she pulled a pair of jeans off of a hanger and tossed them onto the bed next to the sweater.

South sighed heavily, “OK I’ll jump in the shower. We can go as soon as I’m dressed.”

“Cool.” Morgan nodded only giving her friend half of her attention, she had just come to the realization that the sweater she’d pulled out of her dresser was Justin’s. He was everywhere. He was more a part of her life than her own parents and she was so conflicted about her feelings toward him. The sweater reminded her of being home in Orlando and just moving around his house as if it were her own. She had undoubtedly been cold and just marched up to his room to take the sweater out of his drawer, without thinking and without asking. It no longer smelled like him, but she could see him in it, pushing the sleeves up to his elbows.

Shaking her head, she quickly got dressed, pulling the sweater over her head before turning on her hair dryer. She flipped her head over and began drying her hair.

When her hair was dry she flipped her head back over and began rummaging through her sock drawer trying to find a matching pair of socks. South laughed from the door, “It would be so much easier to find socks if you matched them when you did the laundry.”

Smiling as she found the mate to the sock in her hand Mor rolled her eyes, “It takes too long, this system works.”

“THIS is a system? How the hell does this system work?”

Sitting on the edge of the bed she pulled on her socks, “When I put all of my socks into the drawer, I keep the white socks on one side and the colored socks on the other, that way I only have to check half a drawer instead of a full drawer.”

“And that is what you call a system?”

“Don’t knock the system!” Bending over to tie her shoes she smirked again, “I can’t believe I’m going to a Fraternity dance.”

“Why not?” South picked up one of Mor’s perfume bottles. She sniffed the bottle and then sprayed some in the air, stepping into the mist she began sneezing.

Morgan laughed, “Need a tissue?”

“Nah. I always sneeze when I put on perfume. So why the shock over your big date?”

Morgan’s head snapped up, “Do you think he thinks it’s a date? I hadn’t thought of it like that. Is it a date?”

South raised an eyebrow, “Well, yeah. It is isn’t it? I mean, you’re a girl and he’s a guy and there is formal wear involved...”

“I wear a lot of formal wear and I don’t consider being with a guy a date.”

“I’m pretty sure Bob meant it as a date. Is that going to be an issue?” South sat down next to her.

“No. I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t know if I’m ready for a date. I mean I don’t know where things stand...” She turned to look at her friend.

“With Justin?”

She nodded, “Yeah. I mean we are NOT together. I suppose it doesn’t matter if I go on a date...”

“So it’s a date. But does Bob know you’re in love with someone else?” Her eyebrows went up slightly.

Morgan stood up and walked over to her dresser, looking at her reflection in the mirror she sighed, “No so much. I don’t know how you mention that in casual conversation. It’s not like I can say, ‘So Frat boy Bob, I’m in love with my best friend, who happens to be a pop star. But I don’t want to be and I don’t think he loves me, wanna get a cup of coffee?’ I’m guessing that wouldn’t go over well.”

South walked over and threw her arm around Mor’s shoulders, “You might want to polish that up a little bit.”

Throwing her head back and laughing, Morgan wrapped her arms around South’s neck, “You’re the best!”

South wrapped her arms around Morgan’s waist and hugged her back, “I told you sweater weather was the best thing ever!”

The two of them were half buried in an enormous pile of leaves at the center of campus surrounded by six of South’s friends. Just a few feet in front of them, Bob and his fraternity brothers were playing touch football. Morgan was completely relaxed, she and South had walked to campus laughing, joking and stopping occasionally to throw leaves at one another.

The old ivy covered brick buildings seemed to have a personality. They seemed to love the changing seasons and the new found excitement on campus. There seemed to be more students milling around than Morgan had ever noticed ever before. She had to laugh, everyone that walked by smiling, was wearing a sweater.

The brisk air seemed to bring everyone out of hiding. It was cold and smelled like slightly damp leaves and was causing a warm pink glow on all of their cheeks.. Morgan flopped onto her back and smiled up at the clear blue sky. She extended her arms straight up and smiled. It looked as if she didn’t have hands. The sleeves of her sweater covered her fingers and then hung slightly beyond them. She tucked her hands behind her head and leaned up slightly to watch Bob throw the football to one of his frat brothers.

South giggled, “What is your opinion on Jack?”

Sitting up again Mor scanned the guys running past them, “If you tell me which one is Jack, I’ll tell you my opinion.”

“Black sweater, brown hair, green eyes. Just got knocked on his ass.” She nodded her head in his direction.

“I think he’s hot as hell! Why are you asking?” She winked at South.

Her already rosy cheeks flushed and she shrugged, “Oh...I don’t know...I was just curious.”

Morgan pushed her over sideways, “Bull shit!”

“Twenty minutes ago he asked me if there was any way I could make it to the dance tonight.”

“No WAY!”

Nodding South smiled, “He was scheduled to work, but his boss finally caved and gave him the night off. He said I don’t have to wear a dress or anything.”

“Are you kidding! You can wear the one I wore to Dev and Ryan’s wedding. It’ll be perfect. So is this more than just a last minute favor?”

Her cheeks became an even deeper red, “I don’t know. Maybe. I hope so.”

“Well THAT’S a new development!” Morgan smiled.

Bob jogged over and sat down in front of her, “Hey.”

“Hey Frat Boy Bob, what’s the score?” She nodded toward the field where his friends were still playing.

“I have no idea. We’re not really keeping score.” He smacked South’s shoe, “I hear you’re coming with us tonight.”

“That’s the plan Stan.” South smiled.

“Glad to hear it.” He scooted a little closer to Morgan, “So how was the wedding?”

“The wedding was good...”

“But?”

She sighed, “But there was a little drama after. Some of my friends may be breaking up, which really sucks.”

“Major drama or a fight?” He looked at her curiously.

“Kissing his girlfriend’s sister drama.”

“Oh MAN! It doesn’t get bigger than that! Was he hammered or insane or something?”

“Not drunk, quite possibly insane.” She nodded.

“You think it’ll work out?”

“If anyone can work it out, they can...but kissing her sister was not a good move.”

“No, I wouldn’t think so.” He shook his head, he looked at his watch, “So what time are you going to be ready?”

“What time do I need to be ready?”

“If I could pick you up at 7:30, that would be perfect.” He smiled.

Glancing at her watch she nodded, “No problem, that give me plenty of time.”

Slipping the last hairpin into place Mor held up an had mirror to view the back of her head. She’d done a great job doing her own hair and makeup. Dani would be thrilled with her. She walked out of her room and into South’s.

South was standing on her bed attempting to see her entire body in the mirror above her dresser, she looked down at Morgan and smiled, “I love the hair!”

“Thanks.” Mor offered her hand so South wouldn’t fall off of the bed, “I’m ready, all I have to do is slip into my dress....” her head turned as her cell phone rang from her room, “...and answer the phone.”

She ran into the next room and grabbed her phone, “Hello?”

“Thank God.” Justin sounded as if her was on the verge of tears.

“Justin? What’s wrong?” She sat down on the bed and slipped her feet into her shoes.

“JC and I almost killed Lance.” He was fighting tears.

“EXCUSE ME? Is he ok? What do you mean you almost killed Lance?” She was horrified.

“Lance brought JC over here to talk to me and we were fighting in the hall and...”

Morgan interrupted, “Wait? Fighting how? Like you’re screaming at him and he’s screaming at you?”

“Well it started like that. We ended up pounding on each other on the floor and Lance tried to break it up and we knocked him over and he cracked his head open on the floor.” He sighed heavily.

“The marble floor?” She covered her mouth with her hand.

“Yeah. It knocked him out.”

“Oh God! Justin, is he ok?” Her eyes were wide and she was trying to figure out how she could get to Orlando that night, “I should come home.”

“No. You don’t have to. He’s gonna be fine. He got some stitches.”

“Oh SHIT! How many?”

“Five or six I think. I was fine until I got home and there was blood on the floor. I almost killed one of my best friends. What the hell is wrong with me?” She could tell he’d actually begun to cry.

“There isn’t anything wrong with you. You guys just let this thing get WAY out of control. Stasia is going to KILL you and JC!”

“No she isn’t, she threatened us and then told us she was disappointed and then brought us home. We made Lance bleed, LANCE!”

Running her hand over her face she shook her head, “Maybe that’s what you needed. You and JC haven’t spoken in weeks, that isn’t going to solve anything.”

“He says that we don’t know the real truth and that he’ll be able to explain it once he has her back...”

“Did you tell him where she is?”

“No. I promised. I can’t do that to her.”

“That’s the right decision. Her trust has been violated enough lately. She needs to know not everyone is going to lie to her. Justin, this isn’t your fault. You got pulled into the middle. You couldn’t just let her drive off by herself, she might have gotten killed driving like that, and he’s been your best friend forever. You have done the right things here...well up until Lance got stitches, that is not going to go down in history as your best moment!”

“I feel like shit.” He sighed pitifully.

“Well you should, you made him bleed. Apologize, do something nice for him and you’ll be good.”

“Yeah.”

South stuck her head through the door, “North, Bob and Jack have been here for like fifteen minutes...I’ve been stalling...”

“SHIT! I’ll be right there.” She pressed her fist to her forehead, “Justin I am SO SORRY, but I HAVE to go. There are three people sitting in the living room waiting for me, and I still have to put on this dress.” She slipped out of her robe and grabbed the dress off of the back of the closet door.

“Where you going?”

“That fraternity formal, with...”

“Frat Boy Bob.”She thought she heard disgust in his voice.

“Yeah. I’m so sorry. I will call you tomorrow morning.”

“Don’t bother. I’m busy all day tomorrow.” He was annoyed.

“Jesus Justin, I’m sorry! I HAVE PLANS!”

“That’s fine. Go have fun.”

“Justin...” She was cut short when she heard a dial tone, “FUCK!” She finished getting dressed and ran out into the living room, “I’m SO SORRY! I got an important phone call and could get off the phone.”

Bob stood up and smiled, “You were worth the wait. You look great.”

South winked at her and she blushed, “Wow. Thanks!” She picked up her purse and smiled, “Are we ready?”

The ballroom in the Student Union had been transformed for the party. The theme was Autumn in New York. At the end of the dance floor a replica of the city’s skyline had been recreated, complete with lights in many of the windows. Bob took her hand to guide her through the room and Morgan felt herself stiffen for a moment when he touched her.

After leading her to the table Bob went to the bar to get drinks. South leaned over and whispered, “You ok? Was that Margot on the phone?”

Mor shook her head and leaned in closer, “No, it was Justin. He and JC were fighting and pulling Lance down and knocked him out cold. They had to call 911. Lance got five or six stitches. Justin was just feeling guilty.”

South scrunched her nose, “Is Lance going to be ok?”

“Yeah. He’s going to be fine, probably pissed off at his two best friends, but fine.”

“And how about Justin?”

“He’s in a foul mood. He’s still mad at JC, he feels guilty about Lance and now he’s mad at me for having to leave.”

“Nice.” South smirked.

“Yeah.” they ended their conversation when two more couples sat down at the table.

Bob returned with the drinks and did introductions, “North, this is Chad, Mark, Betsy and Gail.”

Morgan smiled and nodded, “it’s nice to meet all of you.”

Betsy looked at her strangely, “Have we met before?”

Mor cocked her head, “I don’t THINK so...”

Betsy furrowed her brow, “I feel like we’ve met. Huh. North? Is that you’re full name?”

South laughed, “Not so much.”

Morgan smiled, “My name is Morgan, Morgan Northrup.”

Betsy’s eyes grew wide and she nodded, “I see.” She stood up, “Do you guys need to use the ladies room?”

South shrugged and Morgan nodded, “Sure.”

As soon as the bathroom door closed Betsy spun around, “Morgan Northrup? That’s what you said right?”

Mor and South looked at one another and both nodded slowly, “Yeah.”

Betsy leaned closer and whispered, “As in best friends with Justin Timberlake, Morgan Northrup?”

South began laughing so hard she snorted, “So much for your Clark Kent.”

Betsy’s eyes grew wide, “You ARE her! I knew I knew you from somewhere! Your picture has been all over the place! You’re Justin’s best friend from Orlando!”

Morgan raised an eyebrow, “I take it you’re a fan?”

“I’d never admit to it, but I’m a HUGE fan! I can’t believe you’re here! This is unreal!” Betsy flopped down on the couch, “UNREAL!”

“I can’t believe you recognized me. I haven’t had a problem so far.”

“I won’t tell anyone! I’m just so excited to meet you! Do you think Justin will come up here to visit? Or any of them? Oh my God! Is it possible Chris will come up here?” Betsy was talking very quickly.

“Chris? You’re kidding! I don’t know. I’m guessing all of the girls will come up at some point, and maybe Justin, I don’t know everyone is really busy right now. I hope they’ll be able to find the time.” Morgan smiled.

“So you’re like...hiding here? Did you have trouble going to school in Florida? Did they harass you all of the time?”

Morgan shrugged, “Not hiding exactly. I was just at a point where I really needed a change, and South was here so it was a safe change.”

Betsy turned to face South, And YOU! You never mentioned that you were friends with Justin’s best friend!”

South’s eyes narrowed a little, “I’m not. I’m best friends with Morgan, MY best friend.”

Betsy’s eyes grew wide and Morgan coughed to cover her laugh, “Oh! Yeah, I mean I know that. But I mean...I didn’t realize that North here was Morgan Northrup.” She turned to look at Morgan again, “I have seen so many pictures of you at events and stuff. You were even there when Anastasia Blake got attacked right?”

Mor sighed heavily, “I was in Atlanta, but I was out with some friends when it actually happened. I wasn’t with her.”

“Right.” Betsy nodded, “Chris was there and Justin, JC and Joey right?”

South huffed, “Jesus! How would you know that?”

“Like I said, I’m a fan. I read about it, and it was on the news. How did you NOT know that?”

“I don’t exactly follow NSYNC news.” South shrugged and walked across the room to fix her lipstick in the mirror.

Betsy shook her head, “Would it be asking way too much if I asked for an autograph?”

Morgan closed her eyes, this was exactly what she’d been afraid of. As soon as people realized who her friends were, everyone’s ‘little sister’ would want an autograph, “The next time I talk to the guys...”

“No! I meant your’s”

South began laughing, “HERS?”

Morgan stuck her tongue out, “It’s not the first time South!”

Betsy clapped, “I have Anastasia’s...

“Stasia.” Morgan corrected her.

“Right, Stasia’s and Dani’s and Angela’s. I just need you and Lyn.”

Morgan’s eyebrow went up, “OK...”

South sighed, “No offense Bets, but STALKER MUCH? Seriously, WHY would you need North’s autograph? That is really just odd.”

Morgan shook her head, “Ignore her, she hasn’t eaten yet. Sure. I’ll give you an autograph.”

Betsy smiled, “I’ll bring over a picture tomorrow for you to autograph.”

“DUDE! Seriously, this is freaky! Here!” South yanked a paper towel out of the dispenser, “Sign this! You don’t need to be coming over with pictures for her to sign! If you say you have Justin’s underwear stashed somewhere, I’m calling the cops!”

“God! No! I don’t have his underwear! I have a pair of Justin’s shoes and a pair of Lance’s sunglasses. Chris gave them to me.”

Morgan looked at her strangely, “Chris gave them to you?”

“Yeah.” Betsy nodded.

South threw her hands up in the air, “You know what? This is really freaking me out, A LOT! I want to get the hell out of this bathroom and into a large group where my best friend is NOT getting all creeped out.”

South grabbed Morgan’s arm and pulled her out the door behind her. Morgan laughed, “South, calm down! She’s harmless.”

“South, she’s harmless.” Her friend mimicked her, “Tell me she’s harmless when we wake up one morning and she’s in the kitchen boiling our pet bunny.”

“South, seriously, you’re overreacting. I promise I’ll keep an eye on her, and trust me, I plan on asking Chris about the shoes and sunglasses...that is strange.”

When they got back to the table, she couldn’t help noticing that in the few minutes they had been gone, several empty glasses has accumulated on their table. She shot South a look and her friend rolled her eye and poked Bob, “Had a drink or ten while we were gone boys?”

Jack leaned over and whispered, “Bob is responsible for all of those. I’ll keep an eye on him.”

South huffed, “Nice. North is gonna have a great time! This idiot is gonna be wasted before dinner even hit the table.”

“Scary thing is, he’s pretty much fine right now.”

Morgan watched carefully as Betsy sat down. The girl smiled brightly and whispered something to her date. Morgan was afraid that the next topic of conversation at their table was going to be NSYNC, but South quickly asked about everyone’s plans for thanksgiving break.

Bob turned to Morgan, “What about you North? What are you doing for Thanksgiving?”

Mor turned to him, “Huh? Oh, Thanksgiving. I’ll be in LA.”

South shot her a look and Morgan was ready to kick herself, “LA? Why LA?” Bob questioned.

“I have...”

South smiled, “You’re Uncle Scott is having Thanksgiving this year?”

“Yeah.” Morgan nodded and silently thanks God for sending South into her life.

The couples chatted animatedly as they ate and then moved to the dance floor. Morgan couldn’t help but notice the way South was laughing and touching Jack’s sleeve. She was excited to see her friend showing an interest in a guy who seemed really great. The way Jack rested his hand on the small of South’s back as he talked to his friends or the way he gave South his undivided attention when she spoke made Morgan slightly jealous.

Bob was busy doing shots at the bar when Morgan walked over to get a glass of water. He gave her a lopsided grin and threw his arm around her shoulders, “Hey hot stuff!” He pulled her close to his side, “Do a shot with us!”

Morgan twisted a little, “No thanks. I’m not really into shots.

“Oh COME ON!” He squeezed her very tightly and planted a messy kiss on her cheek, “Loosen up a little.”

“I don’t need to loosen up. Really, I’m fine.” She smiled and started to walk away.

Bob grabbed her arm and shoved his shot glass at one of his friends, “Wait. How about I skip this shot and we dance?”

Morgan nodded, “Sure.”

After dancing and hanging out for a while Morgan excused herself to the ladies room. When she emerged she scanned the room for Bob. She groaned whe she spotted him in the corner of the room chugging beers with four other guys. She could not believe the amount of alcohol he had consumed. It was going to be a long night.

Morgan slipped the key into the lock and rolled her eyes as Bob starred at her with heavy eyelids, “You’re fun tanight.” He slurred. Mor glanced further down the hall to where South was standing, her fingers laced with Jacks, their faces close together as they whispered. Morgan made a mental note to tell South she owed her. Bob was wasted and annoying and the only reason Morgan was letting him into their apartment was so South could spend more time with Jack.

She flipped on the lights and Bob made a beeline for her bedroom. Morgan chased after him, “Hey! Frat Boy Bob! What’cha doing?”

He was standing in her room with a picture in his hand, “Whoz dis?” His slurring was getting worse.

She cringed and took the picture, “That is my friend Justin.”

“Yer friend? Like me?” He took a step closer.

She rolled her eyes, “I suppose.”

She was taken completely off guard when he leaned down and kissed her. Morgan pushed gently against his chest and shook her head, “Bob, please don’t.”

Bob looked pitifully at his feet, “Sorry.” He took a few steps back and sat down hard on her bed, “I didn mean ta make ya mad.”

Morgan sigh and smiled slightly, “I’m not mad, I’m just not in a place where we can be doing that. I wouldn’t be fair to you.”

He held out the picture, still clutched in his hand, “Cause of him?”

Morgan nodded, “Yeah.”

He flopped back dramatically, “I can never win. Dis guy wins.”

Mor grinned, “Not always.” She turn her back on him and walked to her closet. She kick off her shoes and grabbed a pair of warm up pants and a sweatshirt, “I’m gonna go and change I’ll be right back.”

“K.” He nodded.

Morgan carefully hung Stasia’s dress on it’s hanger o n the back of the bathroom door. Slipping into her sweats, she walked back into her room to find Bob sprawled across her bed, snoring and drooling. She rolled her eyes and grabbed her cell phone, glancing at the clock on her night stand as she quietly walked through the living room where South and Jack were curled up whispering. Neither one of them even noticed as she slipped out into the hallway and sat on the floor next to their door.

She hit speed dial and waited patiently for an answer, “What?”

“I wanted to see how you were doing. Are you feeling any better?” She chewed on her cuticle.

Justin laughed cynically, “You know what Mor? I don’t have time for you right now.”