A CHANGE OF HEART
By Sarah Wartman
PART TWENTY-SIX
“Is that who I think it is?” Ginger asked me.
I watched the front door and said nothing. The tall blonde sauntered into the club and took a seat at a table nearby, by himself. It surprised me he wasn’t recognized, but I guess without his four side-kicks, no one noticed.
“I’m going to go talk to him,” Ginger squealed.
“Suit yourself,” I told her as she jumped up from the table. I watched her introduce herself and sit down at the table with the guy. She pointed towards me and waved and the guy smiled in my direction. I rolled my eyes and placed my head in my hands.
Suddenly someone tapped me on the shoulder and I was looking up at Ginger and her “new friend”.
“Sarah!” Ginger nearly screamed. “I want you to meet”
“Nick Carter,” I mumbled, finishing her sentence without a smudge of enthusiasm.
“Nice to meet you too,” he said, sitting down next to Ginger.
“You’ll have to excuse her,” Ginger told Nick. “She’s kind of going through a rough time.”
I smirked at her and finished the rest of my beer.
“Rough time, huh?” Nick asked me.
“You could say that.”
“Mind if I ask what’s wrong?”
“Yeah, I do,” I said but Ginger eagerly volunteered the information.
“Oh, she’s just fighting with some friends of hers. What did you say their names were, Joey and Justin?”
I threw her a reprimanding look and nodded slowly.
“Wait,” Nick finally said, as the information slowly processed in his mind. “You mean”
“Yes,” I said, confirming his suspicions.
“So you’re the famous Sarah then.”
“How in the hell do you know me?” I asked incredulously. “You aren’t friends with them.”
“I’m Nick Carter, baby. I have my ways,” he replied in a cocky tone.
“Shit,” I mumbled. “Excuse me, I’m gonna go get another drink.”
Ginger reached out and grabbed my arm as I was getting up. “Haven’t you had enough?”
“I had thought so,” I said and turned towards Nick. “But now I’m not so sure.”
I stood at the bar and waited for my drink. I turned to see Ryan and a beautiful brunette walk in. He leaned down and kissed her and I felt a small twinge of jealousy shoot through me. I turned and quickly picked up my beer.
“What a night,” I mumbled as I took a drink.
As I was walking back over to my table, I saw Nick lean in and kiss Ginger on the cheek. I suddenly realized I was a third wheel, yet again. I walked over to them quickly and picked up my purse.
“Where are you going?” Ginger asked me.
“I’m gonna get a cab.”
“Why? Oh, stay, please!” Ginger pleaded.
“No, I’m just gonna go. I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“It was nice to meet you,” Nick said.
“Yeah, whatever,” I mumbled and turned to leave.
I carefully weaved my way through all the dancing people and found the exit. I quickly walked outside and breathed deeply, taking in the fresh air. I walked up to the curb and waved for a cab, unsuccessfully.
“Shit,” I mumbled as another taxicab passed by me.
Suddenly, someone was standing beside me. “Can I help you out?”
PART TWENTY-SEVEN
I turned to see who had said that and quickly turned back towards the street. “You’ve got to be kidding. They must travel in packs,” I said under my breath.
“Excuse me?” he asked.
I turned and rolled my eyes. “Nothing, I think I know how to get a cab, thanks.”
He chuckled and grinned at me. “Obviously not.”
“Who in the hell do you think you are?” I asked, annoyed, letting my alcohol get the better of me.
“I’m Howie D., sweet thing. I figured you knew that.”
“Unfortunately.”
“Geez, I never get reponses like that from the ladies,” he told me.
“Yeah, well, I’m kind of trying to avoid famous, over-rated boy band members for a while,” I mumbled.
“That’s because you haven’t been with Sweet D yet.”
I turned and threw him a disgusted look. “Oh please.”
Just then a taxi drove up to the curb and I smiled. ‘Thank God,’ I thought. But the four that emerged from the taxi made me think otherwise.
“Sarah!” Nicki screamed and ran to me.
“Hi,” I said, hugging her.
“What are you doing with him?” she whispered.
“I’m not with him,” I told her a little too loud and I stumbled.
“Sure you are,” Howie said and put his arm around me to keep me from falling.
“I don’t think so,” I heard a familiar voice say. I turned to see Justin and JC and Carrie glaring at Howie.
“Come on, Sarah,” Justin said and ushered me back inside the club. We all sat at a table and I looked for Ginger, only I didn’t see her anywhere.
JC stood up to go get some drinks. “What does everyone want?”
"Anything with alcohol in it,” I told him and placed my head on the table.
“By chance, how many have you had tonight?” Justin asked me.
I looked up him and rolled my eyes. “Not now, Justin.”
“Seriously, Sarah, I think you need to slow down,” Carrie whispered.
“I do NOT need to slow down,” I told them, slamming my hands on the table. “I’m just fine!”
“Oh really,” Nicki said. “And why were you leaving the club with Howie outside, getting a taxi with him?” She was never afraid to challenge me.
“Oh my God! You think I was. Wait, never mind, I don’t need this,” I said, standing up.
“Yeah, get up and run,” Justin yelled as I made my way to the door. “It’s what you do best.”
I stopped dead in my tracks. I turned and walked slowly back to the table as JC came back with the drinks. I stood in front of Justin and leaned down so I was in his face. “Who in the hell do you think you are to judge me?”
“I’m your friend, that’s who.”
“Right,” I said, standing back up. “You keep telling yourself that.”
Before Justin could say anything, I noticed Lance, Marianne, Chris and Beth saunter into the club. They talked to a couple people and made their way over to our table.
I looked at Justin and whispered, “please tell me he’s not coming.”
Justin didn’t say anything and I instantly knew what that meant. And sure enough, I looked up to see Joey walking slowly to our table. A weird look came over his face when he saw me and I suddenly felt the urge to run towards the nearest exit.
But Justin’s words came back, slapping me in the face. I smiled slightly and thought, ‘No, Justin, you’re wrong. I don’t always run.’
I took my seat next to Nicki and watched Joey sit down slowly across from me.
PART TWENTY-EIGHT
Joey eyed me cautiously as he took his seat. “Hi, Sarah.”
“Hello, Joey.”
“How are you?”
“Fine and you?” I asked quickly.
“Just fine.”
We both suddenly grew silent, not knowing what to say to each other. The whole table was quiet for a minute, waiting for one of us to say something or start fighting, but we didn’t. Joey didn’t take his eyes off me and I had to look away quickly. I looked over to see Marianne and Lance kissing, as usual.
“I see nothing has changed,” I said to Nicki, loud enough for both of them to hear. They looked up at me and Lance blushed.
“Nope, they never do,” Chris said and punched Lance. “And everyone thinks he’s the innocent one. If only they knew….”
We all laughed and just sat around and talked for a while, about nothing in particular. I avoided Joey’s penetrating gaze as much as I could. I don’t think he ever took his eyes off of my face and that started to freak me out.
I saw Ginger on the dance floor with Nick and I waved her over to the table. The second those two came up to our table, I instantly regretted it.
“Ginger!” I exclaimed. “I want you to meet my friends.”
“Oh, wow!” Ginger said. “First I met Nick, now all of you! What a night this has been!”
The guys all smiled at Ginger and said hi, but we all grew silent. You could feel the tension start to grow and JC suddenly decided to break it.
“How ya been Nick?”
“Fine. Ging, babe, let’s go dance,” Nick mumbled.
“Sure thing!” Ginger exclaimed. “Talk to you later Sar!” she yelled and slowly stumbled away.
“Well, that was interesting,” Justin said when the two were out of hearing range.
“Definitely,” Carrie said and leaned back into Justin’s chest. He kissed her lightly on top of her head and I smiled. What a good matchmaker I was. The look in Justin’s eyes told me just how happy he was and I suddenly felt very sad and lonely.
“Yeah, she’s about as clueless as you are,” I heard Joey say and I looked at him quickly.
“Excuse me?”
“Nothing.”
“No,” I said, sitting up and putting my arms on the table. “What did you mean by that?”
“Maybe when you sober up, you’ll be able to figure it out.”
But before I could respond, I was tapped on the shoulder. I looked up to see Jeremy, the guy I danced with earlier on. He kneeled down to my eye level and smiled.
“Hey, there. Would you care to dance?” he asked, throwing me a charming smile.
I looked over to see everyone starring at me, anticipating my answer. Joey leaned forward and rested his arms on the table, waiting to see what I’d say.
I looked back to Jeremy and smiled. “I’d love to.”
Justin leaned forward and grabbed my arm. “Are you sure about this.”
“Mind your business, Justin.”
“What was that all about?” Jeremy asked me once we were out on the dance floor.
“Oh, nothing,” I said and layed my head on his chest. I could just hear the lecture I was gonna get from Nicki and Justin later, but I didn’t care. You only live once, I figure. And if having fun means I go to bars and meet new people then that’s what I was gonna do.
But my thoughts were interrupted. Someone tapped Jeremy on the shoulder and we both looked up.
“Mind if I cut in?”
PART TWENTY-NINE
There stood Joey, his hands shoved in his pant pockets. The dismal look on his face made my heart ache. Jeremy looked at me to see if it was okay and I took a deep breath and nodded.
“I’ll talk to you later then,” Jeremy said and kissed me quickly on the cheek.
Joey took me into his arms and held me tightly. I noticed he closed his eyes as we swayed to the music and my eyes started to water.
“Look, Joey-“
“Shhh,” he said, opening his eyes and placing his finger on my lips. “Don’t talk. Just dance.”
And I did. I laid my head on his chest and closed my eyes. I could hear Joey softly sing the words to the song, “You’ve Got a Way” by Shania Twain, in my ear. I opened my eyes and saw Nicki and JC on the dance floor. He quickly spinned her around the dance floor and she smiled and said something in his ear, causing him to laugh and kiss her.
“No, Justin. Absolutely not, this song isn’t for dancing like that!” I heard someone yell. I turned and there was Justin and Carrie. He took her into his arms and started to tango with her. ‘That boy needs to majorly cut back on his sugar intake’ I thought. Carrie was laughing loudly, both out of embarrassment and from his goofiness. They passed us and Justin slapped me lightly on the back. I turned around to see him wink at me and continue his over-exaggerated tango dance.
“See, haven’t you missed us?” Joey whispered in my ear.
I took a deep breath and looked over at the table where Chris, Lance, Beth and Marianne still were. Lance and Marianne were in a heavy make-out session while Chris was in the middle of telling one of his jokes. He looked over to see Lance and Marianne lip-locking, ignoring him, and he grew irritated.
“Oh, why don’t you two get a room already?” he asked loudly.
Beth and Chris got up and headed towards the bar. Beth was leading, with Chris close behind, his arms wrapped around her waist. She saw me and waved and Chris nodded in our direction, smiling widely.
I looked up to see Joey smiling down at me. “I guess so,” I told him.
The song ended and I thanked Joey and quickly turned to go back to our table. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Ginger sitting alone at her table and I quickly walked over there.
“Where’s Nick?” I asked her as I sat across from her.
“In the restroom,” she told me and took a sip of her drink. “Girl, you didn’t tell me your friends Joey and Justin were, like, Joey Fatone and Justin Timberlake!”
“Yeah, well, sorry,” I mumbled and grabbed her glass and took a long swig of it.
“So, you never did tell me the story behind them.”
“Oh, Ginger,” I said. “It’s really long and complicated.”
“Oh,” she said and looked down.
I smiled at her. “I’ll tell you sometime, when I actually have a couple of hours to spare.”
She laughed loudly at my comment.
“Anyways, how are things going with Nick?”
“Super!” she shrieked. “He’s so cute and adorable and nice and…..oh wow, Sarah, you have no idea how great it is to be around someone like him!”
I looked over at the table where Joey sat with JC and Nicki. He looked over and smiled at me and I smiled weakly back.
“Oh,” I said, turning back to face her. “I think I do.”
She grinned at me. “Things going good between you and Joey?”
I shrugged. “They’re going. Hey, what time is it?”
“Quarter ‘til two, why?”
“Oh shit!” I exclaimed and jumped up quickly.
“What?”
“I was supposed to be home at one! My mother is going to kill me!”
PART THIRTY
“I’ll call you tomorrow,” I yelled to Ginger as I ran over to the table to grab my purse.
“Whoa, where you going in such a hurry?” JC asked me.
“Home,” I said quickly.
“Home?” Joey asked quickly, standing up. “Why?”
“Just because,” I mumbled and headed for the exit. I really didn’t have the time or energy to explain at the moment.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute,” I heard Joey say, following me. “You’re just gonna up and leave like this?”
“Looks that way,” I said, approaching the street.
He grabbed my arm and spun me around. I stumbled and struggled to gain my balance.
“Geez, Sarah, slow down,” Joey said.
“I can’t,” I said, turning back around to wave a cab. “I gotta get home.”
“Why? It’s not even all that late.”
“It is to my mother,” I mumbled. The tears just started swelling anticipating the yelling I was going to have to endure tonight.
“What?” Joey asked, obviously not hearing what I said. “But I thought you were having fun in there!”
“Yeah, well, I guess the fun is over,” I told him.
“Figures,” Joey spat.
I rolled my eyes and turned around. “Please, don’t start.”
“This is just like some messed up version of the Cinderella story.”
I laughed at his comment. “What?”
“Well, it’s just like you to run off. You know, like Cinderella ran from her prince.”
“First of all,” I stated, crossing my arms in front of me. “Cinderella wasn’t running from the prince, Joe. She was running because it was midnight and the spell was going to wear off. You have seen the movie, haven’t you?”
He nodded and said, “you know what I meant.”
“Yeah, I suppose I do. And you think I’m running from my prince then?”
“I know you are.”
I chuckled. “Well, what you know and what I know are two completely different things.”
Joey focused his gaze on me and shifted his weight. “How do you figure?”
“I know that whole Cinderella theory is bullshit. If you must know, I’m not running from my so-called prince. I’m running because I’m an hour late for my curfew. But I don’t expect you to understand that Joey. You and I lead two completely different lives. You’ve probably never had a curfew a day in your life. I think that’s why we fight like this all the time.”
“So? That doesn’t mean we can’t work things out.”
“You have no idea how badly I wish we could,” I told him. “But you live the high life. The Grammy Awards and famous, ritzy hotels. That’s what you know. World premieres and charity events. You have bodyguards, for god’s sake! And millions of girls who would pay money to wash your freakin’ socks! But, me? I know I have few people who care about me. I know my mother hates the sight of me and can’t wait for the day I leave her life for good. I know I have to scrub toilets and wash windows to barely get by, since both of my parents refuse to help me out with college. That’s what I know!” I yelled, pounding my fists into my thighs.
“But, Sarah-“
I put my hand up, indicating that I wasn’t finished. I looked up at him as a tear fell down my face. “And I know the sooner I get out of this town, the better.”
And with that, my taxi pulled up to the curb, perfecting my speech. I opened the door and bent down to get in.
“I really wish it didn’t have to be this way,” he told me, stepping up to close my door, a defeated look on his face.
I nodded. “You have no idea…” I whispered as he closed the door.
TO BE CONTINUED