The guys waved to the crowd as the elevator doors closed and it got semi-quiet. I leaned my head on Justin’s shoulder and closed my eyes. I fought the urge to go to sleep right there in the elevator and opened my eyes long enough to go into the room I was sharing with Melinda.
Justin dropped his stuff off in the room he was sharing with JC, then brought my things into my room. Melinda was gone, trying to clear out the girls from the lobby and parking lot, and then her and Johnny were going to go over the schedule for the next few days.
I quickly changed and lay down in the bed closest to the window. Justin sat next to me and ran his fingers through my hair.
“You ok, Hol?” he asked gently.
“Yeah, I'm just thinking ‘bout some stuff. I'm fine.” We sat there in silence for a while; he kept running his fingers through my hair. “Just?”
“Yeah?”
“Will you sing to me?” I asked quietly.
“Sure, what do ya want me to sing?”
“Anything.”
“Ok.” He cleared his throat and began to sing quietly in my ear.
So many times I thought I held it in my hands/But just like grains of sand/Love slipped through my fingers. /And so many nights/I asked the Lord above/Please make me lucky enough/To find a love that lingers/Something keeps telling me/That you could be my answered prayer/You must be heaven sent I swear.
Cause something happens when you look at me I forget to speak. /Something happens when you kiss my mouth my knees get so weak. /Could it be true this is what God has meant for me cause baby/I can't believe that something like you could happen to me/(Something like you.)
Girl in your eyes, I feel your fire burn/Oh your secrets I will learn/Even if it takes forever/With you by my side/ I can do anything/I don't care what tomorrow brings/As long as we're together. /My heart is telling me/That you could be my meant to be/I know it more each time we touch…
I felt my eyes water as I lay there, staring out the window. I couldn’t understand how I could have gone from someone who beat me because I got pregnant, to Justin, who was so wonderful to me. I took Justin’s hand and pulled it around my waist so I could hold it.
Cause something happens when you look at me I forget to speak. /Something happens when you kiss my mouth my knees get so weak. /Could it be true this is what God has meant for me cause baby/I can't believe that something like you could happen to me
Something magical/something spiritual/Something stronger than the two of us alone. /Something physical/Something undeniable. /Nothing like anything that I've ever known...
Cause something happens when you look at me I forget to speak. /Something happens when you kiss my mouth my knees get so weak. /Could it be true this is what God has meant for me cause baby/I can't believe that something like you, something like you/That something like you could happen to me.
Something happens/Can't believe that you happened to me…
I turned over and buried my head in his chest. “Thanks Just, I love you,” I mumbled to him before I fell asleep in his arms.
The next morning, I heard the phone ring. I looked around and saw that Melinda wasn't in the room, so I reached over to answer it.
“Hello?” I answered, my voice cracking.
“Hey sweetie!” JC answered, laughing at the same time because of my squeak.
“Shut up! It’s too damn early. Why the hell did you call me anyway?” I demanded, finally waking up somewhat to realize that it was only 7:00 a.m.
“’Cause we have some press stuff to do in a little while, and Justin wants you to come with us!”
“Josh!” I heard Justin yell in the background. “I told you to let her sleep!”
“I might as well go, I won’t be able to go back to sleep anyway.”
“Ok, see ya in a little while, just come to our room when you get ready. We’re leaving at 8:00.” We hung up and pulled myself out of bed.
I took a quick shower, and walked out of the bathroom in a towel, my wet hair pulled back in a ponytail. When I walked to my suitcase to get some clothes, I saw Justin sitting on the bed.
“OMIGOSH! What are you doing in here?!” I yelled, pulling the towel tighter around me.
“I'm sorry, I didn’t meant o scare you. But JC’s on the phone with Hannah and I didn’t want to hear him get all lovey-dovey with her.”
“Well, since you’re in here, you can help me figure out what to wear.” I reached in my suitcase and grabbed out my tight, dark blue flare jeans and two shirts. “Ok, this one?” I asked, holding up a light pink tank top with a red-jeweled flower on it, that, when I put it on, showed a little of my stomach. “Or this one?” This time, I held up a yellow baby-tee that had a keyhole opening in the back, and had palm trees on the front.
“The pink one, I guess,” he answered.
I nodded my head, threw the yellow shirt back into my suitcase, grabbed my unmentionables, and ran back into the bathroom to change.
When I came out, Justin was now laying on the bed, his head at the foot of it, watching a football game on TV. I did my hair quicker than usual, just curling it under a little and putting some clips in the front to hold it back, then lay down next to Justin.
“Justin…” I called. “Justin, it’s almost time to go…”
“Not now baby, I'm watching the game!” he mumbled, obviously distracted.
I sighed and got up, walking in front of the TV and kneeling on the floor in front of him. “Now you can’t watch it. If you’re late ‘cause of me, I’ll be in trouble, now let’s go get Jayce.”
“Fine,” he murmured and got up, stalking out of the room behind me.
I walked into JC’s room to find he was still on the phone. “Hey Hannah, I gotta go…Yeah, we’re fixing to leave, but I’ll call you tonight before the show…Yes, I promise…Ok, bye.” He hung up and stared from me to Justin and back again. “What's his problem?”
“I wouldn’t let him finish watching his football game, so now he’s gonna be grumpy.”
“Oh, that’s all? He’ll get over it soon. C’mon, let’s go see if anyone else is ready.” JC led us out of the room and down the hall.
When we got in the elevator, Justin took my hand. I got up on my tiptoes and kissed his lips lightly, then fought the urge to kiss him again.
The elevator doors opened, but this time, there were only about 15 girls waiting in the lobby. Justin and JC joined Lance and Chris in signing autographs while I stood to the side.
Chris got through, and walked over to stand next to me. “How’s it going, Hol?”
“It’s going. I miss home already. I want to talk to Hannah, but I know if I try, Jayce will just want to talk to her, too, then I won’t get to talk that long.”
“JC’s got a thing for Hannah?”
“Yup, I introduced them the other day, and they talk on the phone constantly now. So, what this press thing you’re doing today?”
“Umm, I think it’s a photo shoot and an interview with ET. It shouldn’t last too long, because we have to be at the stadium by 3:00.”
By now, everyone had come downstairs and was done signing autographs. “Ok everyone!” Johnny called. “Let’s get on the bus!”
There was an echo of sighs and objections, but we all left the lobby and piled on the bus. JC immediately called Hannah; Chris, Joey, and Lance all went in the back room to play PlayStation; and Justin and I sat up near the front, just staring out the window.
“Hey, you ok?” Justin asked.
“I'm fine! Stop worrying about me, please,” I answered sweetly.
“Alright, sorry. Hey, I'm gonna go watch Chris and Lance race, ya wanna go?”
“Nah, I just wanna stay here.” Justin nodded and walked off, passing JC on his way to the back. “Hi Jayce, what's up?” I asked as he sat down across the table from me. “How’s Hannah?” I asked, wiggling my eyebrows.
“Haha, very funny. She’s fine, thank you very much. How ‘bout you? She was worried about you.”
“I'm fine. This takes some getting used to, the whole waking up early and staying up late, sleeping in hotels. I miss my bed!”
“Yeah, I know…We’re almost to the studio, so I better go get the guys.” He left me still sitting by the window. But after a minute, everyone was standing at the front of the bus, waiting for James, the bus driver, to park the bus.
“Hey Holly, Johnny said that you need to wait and get off the bus with him,” Justin told me when I tried to move closer to him.
“But…Justin-“ I objected.
“Just do what he says, Hol,” he said quickly.
“Fine!” I mumbled under my breath. Justin gave me a quick kiss, then left the bus.
“C’mon Holly, this wont take too long,” Johnny said a minute later as we walked into the building.
I stood in a darkened corner of the studio, one where I could see everything that went on, but it was hard to see me. I stood there for about and hour and a half before the interview was over and the photographer was called in. While the camera was being loaded and put into place, Justin tried to come over to talk to me, but Johnny stopped him.
“Justin, they need you to change your wardrobe. Go!” he practically yelled when Justin tried to push past him. Justin whispered some rude comment to Johnny, then sulked away.
That’s when I saw her come from a dressing room near the back. The wavy blonde hair, that tight leather pants, the tiny silver tube top...the whole skanky package.
“Britney!” the photographer exclaimed hugging her tightly. “I need shots of Britney and Justin first!” Justin stared at me for a second, and an apologetic look came over his face when he saw the surprise and disgust in my eyes, but then the photographer pulled him into place.
“Ok Britney, stand to the right of Justin… That’s good. And turn sideways, but face the camera. Now Justin, I need you to get behind Britney…put your arms around her waist. And Britney, put your head on his chest…GREAT!” The photographer picked up his camera and began snapping pictures.
The woman who had done the interview whispered to her cameraman and he turned on the camera. He got at least 10 minutes of Justin and Britney laughing about the silly pictures they were taking, and getting completely serious when they took “romantic” ones. The photographer called a break, and the cameraman quickly switched off the camera.
Justin quickly walked over to where I was, and luckily Johnny wasn't there to stop him (he had left to go to a meeting five minutes earlier). “Holly, I'm so sorry, I forgot that…well, see no one knows we broke up, except close friends. We didn’t think anyone needed to know.”
“It’s ok Justin. But ya know, people are gonna figure it out sooner or later.”
“I know, but see, that’s why I shouldn’t be over here talking to you right now, and that’s why Johnny won’t let us be seen together in public.”
I saw the cameraman turn on his camera out of the corner of my eye. All of a sudden, while Justin was still talking to me, I reached up and pulled him close to me and kissed him full on the lips.
I heard him laugh and he let his hands roam down to my waist, so I laced my fingers together behind his neck and pulled him even closer.
After a minute, JC ran over and took Justin away from me so they could finish the shoot.
About two weeks later, everyone was crowded around the TV in JC’s and Justin’s hotel room. Everyone wanted to see how the interview had turned out and what kind of crazy things they had caught on camera.
The interview part only lasted ten minutes, but when the credits started to roll, they showed the things they had secretly filmed.
Then it came on, the kiss that the cameraman had filmed. The shot began when I pulled Justin into me, and ended when his hands landed on my waist.
The room got silent. I could feel every eye in the room focusing on me.
“Shit!” I heard Justin curse himself.
“Alright, everyone out, except Holly and Justin. I wanna have a talk with you two!” Johnny bellowed. The room was quickly cleared out, leaving me and Justin sitting on the bed and Johnny pacing in front of the muted TV. “How could you do this? Justin, how could you let this happen?!” he demanded.
“Look, you’re the one who wouldn’t let me tell anyone about Britney. That’s why all this happened,” Justin spoke up.
“That’s no excuse Justin and you know it. You knew, you both knew there were camera’s everywhere! I left to go to a very important meeting, thinking I could trust you not to do this, and look what happened. I don’t know what I'm going to do about this!”
“Johnny, you don’t have to do anything, but tell people the truth about Justin and Britney,” I said quietly.
“If the fans knew he had a girlfriend, a lot of them wouldn’t show up,” Johnny explained. “It’s sad to say, but most of them like the guys because they are single, good-looking guys. I mean, they were mad enough about Britney, but most of them came to accept it. But you’re just some random girl, Holly. They just won’t stand for it, and I know it. And the press will eat it up, they’ll tear you apart, and I don’t want to see that happen. I have no choice but to let you go. I can’t have you on the tour, Holly; it’s too much of a risk. I’ll see to it that you have a good job. I could get you head of wardrobe on a movie, but I can’t afford to have you stay here and jeopardize Justin’s career, and the rest of the guys too.”
“Johnny, that’s not fair! Joey has a girlfriend, who’s the mother of his child, and you let her come on tour whenever she feels like it. You can’t just split up me and Justin.”
“Holly, it’s for the best,” Johnny said calmly.
“Justin, don’t you have anything to say?! Please say something!” I begged, tears rolling down my face. “Justin, I love you and you can’t let him do this!” Justin just sat on the bed in silence.
“Holly, I’ll have to put you on a plane tomorrow morning. Justin can go with you, if he wants?” Justin shook his head no, so Johnny continued. “Have your stuff ready by 6:00a.m. Melinda will take you to the airport. It’s been great having you with us, and again, I’m really sorry.”
I stared at Justin, and only cried more. “You asshole!” I screamed at him before I ran out of the room and sank to the floor in the hallway.
