HOW COULD THIS HAPPEN?
By Sarah Wartman
PART ONE
I rang the doorbell and sighed. This day was one of the worst days of my life. I woke up late and missed my morning classes, had a huge fight with my boyfriend of over a year and to top it all off, I got suckered into babysitting. I didn't mind too much, I knew it would take my mind off of Jared. I liked sitting for Sammie anyway, she was an awesome kid.
Pam opened the door and immediately noticed my swollen eyes. "What's wrong Sarah?" she asked me as I entered her house.
"Oh not much. The average day, missed all my morning classes and had a huge fight with Jared. You know, the norm."
"What's new?" Pam mumbled.
"Oh, I know, I just...."
"Oh, Sarah," Pam said as she hugged me. Pam was an awesome friend. We met a couple months ago at Wal-Mart. We were both in the music section and both went for the same cd at the same time. We immediately hit it off and have grown close. This house was the one I usually ran to when I got in a fight with my parents or Jared had ditched me on a weekend.
I went into the living room and sat down next to Sammie, Pam's seven year old daughter. She was busy watching TV.
"Hey Sammie, whatcha watching?" I asked her.
"Rugrats," she answered, not even looking at me and it made me smile. I got up and went upstairs and into Pam's room, where she was getting ready for her date.
"So, Who's the lucky guy?" I asked her, sitting down on her bed as she put the finishing touches on her make-up.
"Oh, this guy I met at work. Jim. He seems like a nice guy," she said as she slipped into her shoes. "I'll be home before one, is that okay with you?"
"Sure," I said. "Not like I have any hot dates tonight or anything," I said sarcastically and she smiled at me.
Pam left around 8:00 o'clock and Sammie went to bed about an hour after her mom left. I was just sitting watching a sappy romance movie, which was really depressing me. "Who can I call?" I asked myself. I picked up my cell phone and dialed my best friend's number.
I met him three years ago when I was a waitress at a local restaurant. I had only been working there a couple of days, and totally messed up their order. It was really embarrassing, since he and his friends were cute and they were joking around, giving me a hard time. They were such nice guys and he asked me for my phone number and left a huge tip. We've been best friends ever since.
I sighed as his phone rang and he answered. Right when he did, I heard Sammie call for me from her room.
"Hey, it's me, hold on just a sec, k?" I asked him as I went upstairs to check on Sammie. The poor thing had had a bad dream. "Hey, I'll call you back, okay? I'm babysitting and she just woke up from a bad dream. I really need to talk to you." I told him before hanging up.
I held Sammie and played with her hair. "It's okay sweetheart, it was just a dream," I kept telling her. She finally feel back asleep and I slowly got off of her bed, as to not wake her. I closed her door and walked downstairs and picked up my cell phone again.
"Hello?" he answered as I sat down on the sofa.
"Oh JC, how could this happen?" I asked him.
PART TWO
"How could what happen?" he asked me.
"Jared. We got in a fight, yet again! He called me this morning, woke me up and made me realize that I'd slept through all my morning classes and then he proceeds to chew my ass for flirting and kissing some guys at a club last night. I didn't even go out, I stayed home and studied!" I said.
"Oh, Sarah, I'm so sorry, want me to come over? Where are you?"
"I'm babysitting for a friend." I said. "It's kind of late anyway."
"Well, you sound pretty upset and we've got me worried. I'm coming over, where are you?" I explained how to get to Pam's house and then we hung up. 'I hope Pam doesn't mind,' I thought to myself as I picked up the remote and switched the channel.
JC knocked softly on the door and I sighed, relieved that he didn't ring the doorbell. I didn't want Sammie waking up and seeing a strange boy in the house, especially after having a bad dream. I ran to the door and opened it and fell into his arms. He just held me in the entryway, rubbing my back as I cried. No one but him knew how much I loved Jared, and no one but him knew how much I hurt when we fought. I finally pulled away and walked into the living room and slumped onto the couch.
"Thanks for coming over," I finally said as my crying subsided.
JC moved a piece of hair out of my face and smiled at me. "Anything for you SJ, you're my best friend in the whole world, there's nothing I wouldn't do for you, you know that."
I sniffed and smiled. "Don't be getting all sappy on me now, Joshua Scott."
He chuckled. "Well, I'm sorry this happens to you. SJ, you've been with him for over a year and all you two do is fight, non-stop. I hate the way he treats you."
I just put my head in hands. "I just want to forget this whole thing ever happened."
JC grew serious. "Sarah, how can you forget a whole year of bickering? I mean, really...."
I sighed. "I don't know! Just thought it was a nice idea and if I kept telling myself that he loved me and trusts me, then I'd start believing it. Thanks for bursting my bubble," I whined and started pouting.
JC laughed. "Get real SJ! You know better than that!"
I smiled. "Yeah, I guess, I'm just glad you're here."
"You know I am, girl! Besides, Joey should be happy to hear that you two are fighting again," JC said and I couldn't help but laugh. Joey had had a crush on me since the day I met him, JC once told me, but I kind of picked up on it. He was quite the flirt, always had been, even when Jared was around.
Jared was always jealous of my relationship with the guys, but it never bothered me. My friendship with JC, Joey, Justin, Chris and Lance was much more important than any relationship I had.
My thoughts were interrupted by the garage door and I panicked, not knowing what Pam would say about me having JC Chasez in her house. I knew she was a big N SYNC fan, so she probably wouldn't get too upset with me, but I wasn't sure.
Pam walked into the room and froze when she saw JC next to me on the couch.
"Sarah?" Pam whispered. "What's going on?"
PART THREE
JC and I quickly stood up. "I'm sorry, Pam, this is JC Chasez, my really good friend. My best friend. He came over when he found out about Jared, he could tell I was pretty upset. Don't worry, Sammie didn't see him and he's only been here a few minutes, I'm so sorry," I rambled.
"Oh, it's okay, I guess, just shocked me, that's all. It's not everyday someone famous comes in my house," Pam said, setting her purse down on the kitchen counter and started looking through it. She found some money and handed it to me.
"Thanks," I said, putting the money in my pocket. JC and I started walking over to the front door and Pam called me back.
"Girl, you didn't tell me you knew JC Chasez!" she whispered.
I smiled at her. "You never asked," I whispered back.
"You better call me tomorrow, you have a lot of explaining to do," she said, smiling.
"Yes, ma'am," I said, as I smiled and left the house.
JC was waiting for me by my car. "Where to now?" he asked me.
I chuckled. "JC, it's midnight. Most people sleep."
"Yeah, guess you're right on that one. You going back to your dorm room?"
I turned and smiled at him. "Where else would I go?"
"You could come over and sleep in the guest room and we'll hang out tomorrow. Do you really wanna go back to that lonely dorm room with your geeky roommate? Come on sis," he said, nodded toward his Jeep.
I sighed. "Okay," I said as I walked over to his Jeep. "I'm sure Jared's gonna call anyway, wondering where I was tonight, and I'm not in the mood to fight."
He drove back to his house and we went inside. I went to the kitchen and got a glass of water, then wandered into JC's room.
"I don't have anything to wear," I yelled as I started going through his drawers.
"You know where everything is," he yelled back from the bathroom. I found a big t-shirt and some boxer shorts. I went over to his nightstand and opened the drawer and smiled when I saw our walkie-talkie. I pulled it out and turned it on and sat it down on the nightstand. I peaked my head into the bathroom where JC was drying his face.
"Night bro," I said, kissing him on the cheek. He turned around and looked at me. "You okay, SJ?"
I forced a weak smiled. "I will be," I said, before leaving and walking to my room and closing the door. I changed and went over to my nightstand and found my walkie-talkie and turned it on.
I shut off the light and climbed into bed. I grabbed the walkie-talkie and smiled. "JC?" I asked.
It took a couple of seconds for him to answer. "Sarah, you nearly scared me to death!"
I laughed. "Sorry, just wanted to tell you thanks for being there for me."
"Anything for you. Now go to sleep!" he ordered. I laughed and put my walkie-talkie down and closed my eyes, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day than this one was.
PART FOUR
My eyes popped open as someone jumped onto my bed. I screamed and sat up to see Joey sitting on top of me.
"Morning sunshine," he said and kissed me on the cheek.
"Go away, Joey," I said as I sunk back into bed and pulled the covers over my head.
"Oh, get up!" he yelled as he pulled the covers away from me.
"JC!" I yelled. A couple seconds later, JC was standing in my doorway.
"Yeah?" he asked me.
"Tell Joey to get out of here and let me go back to sleep," I whined.
"Nope, I sent him in here, you gotta get up girl! We got big plans! The other three are in the living room, and if you don't get up, I'm sending them in here too!"
"But JC, I don't have any of my stuff!" I told him.
"You know there's shampoo and stuff in my shower. And I know you keep all of your make-up with you in your bag. Just wear your jeans from yesterday and you can borrow a shirt or something from me. Now, get up, get moving," he told me before disappearing out of sight.
I sighed and got out of bed, walked past Joey and giving him a dirty look before heading into the bathroom.
I got out of the shower and got dressed in my jeans and a fubu jersey of JC's. I walked out with a towel around my head and into the living room to see what the guys were doing. I sat down on the sofa next to JC and smiled at them. "So, what are we doing today?" asked them. I looked up just in time to see Chris running towards me to tackle me and I put my hands out just in time to stop him.
"Touch me and die," I told him.
He laughed. "You're worse than Justin in the morning." I saw Justin throw Chris a dirty look and I laughed.
"Well, what do you wanna do?" JC asked me.
I shrugged and got up. "I don't care, I'm gonna go get ready, you guys decide."
I came back after getting ready to see them watching a Jerry Springer video, groaning and laughing loudly. "Should have known," I told myself as I stood behind the sofa.
"I leave you guys for fifteen minutes, and look at what happens," I said as I walked over to the TV and turned it off. They groaned and Joey threw a pillow at me. "Okay, so, what did you decide?"
"Let's go to the park. They have basketball courts!" Justin yelled.
I heard Lance groan and I laughed. "Oh, Lance, you can swing on the swings with me," I told him.
He smiled and we all went out to JC's Jeep. "We all aren't going to fit in here," I told them.
"Well, we can take my car," Joey offered. "You can ride with me SJ," he told me smiling.
I saw JC smirking at me and I threw him a dirty look. "Okay," I said and climbed into the passenger seat. I just happened to notice a picture of Joey and I on the dashboard from one of the nights I went clubbing with them. He saw me looking at it and quickly grabbed it and put it under his seat.
PART FIVE
"So, how are you doing? JC told us about Jared...." Lance said. A few tears started flowing down my cheeks as I watched the guys play two-on-two, Chris and JC against Joey and Justin.
"I don't know," I said, looking at him in the swing next to me. "I'm just so confused right now."
"Confused?" Lance asked me.
"Yeah, I've been with him for a long time and all we do anymore is fight. I care for him and all, but I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it anymore," I told him as I wiped the tears away.
"Man, I've never been a big fan of his in the first place. He doesn't know how lucky he is," Lance told me. I didn't know what to say, I just smiled at him and started to swing again.
Sometime in the early afternoon, the guys decided they were tired of playing basketball, and started coming over to Lance and I at the swings. I stood up as they came over. Suddenly Joey ran to me, picked me up and started spinning me around.
"Ewww...." I shrieked as he spinned me. "Joey, you're all sweaty!"
He put me down and gave me a puppy dog look. He knew I couldn't be mad when he was wearing that face and I smiled at him.
"What now?" Chris asked us.
"Wanna go back and watch a movie?" JC asked.
"I can't," I said. "I gotta go get my car and talk to Pam about something. And I have tons of homework I need to do. What about tomorrow? We could go catch a movie or something."
"Sounds good to me," JC said as we walked back to the cars.
~*~*~*~
JC pulled up next to my car and I opened the door. I thanked him and started heading towards Pam's house.
"Sarah!" JC called and I turned around and walked back to him. "I just want to know if you're really okay," he said, taking my hand.
"Yeah," I said, squeezing his hand as a few tears few down my face. "I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you guys."
"Well, we're here for you," he told me, letting go of my hand to wipe my tears away.
I smiled. "I know," I said. "I'll call you tonight," I told him and went towards Pam's house.
I watched JC pull away and I waved as Pam opened her door. I turned around and smiled. "Hey, what's up?" I asked her.
"Get in here," she shrieked as she pulled me in the house and closed the door.
I laughed. "Damn, girl!"
"Why didn't you tell me you knew them! You knew I was a big fan of theirs!" she yelled.
"Sorry, it's just not something I announce across the world."
"Man," she said, sitting down on her couch. "When I walked in last night and saw JC Chasez sitting on my couch, I thought I was dreaming. I mean, really!"
I smiled. "Well, would you like to meet them?"
TO BE CONTINUED