Sunday passed quickly and Jen was so busy with school the whole week she never really had a chance to talk to Justin. Her mind wandered from her work to him all the time, and it was starting to affect her. Justin was the same; they were in the studio and also very busy, getting ready for the winter tour. His thoughts would always return to his best friend, and he was troubled as to why she wasn't returning his calls. He thought the worst, and his groupmates were worried.
"Justin, she is in school, she has lots of work. I mean, come on bud, you didn't call her this much before, and you weren't worried," JC was explaining during their lunch break. Justin had just called twice and gotten the machine, leaving two long messages. He sighed and tossed his phone onto the grass behind them.
"Is it so hard for her to pick up the phone for five seconds and say, 'Justin, I am ok, bye'?" he asked. Just then, the shrill sound of his cell phone ringing echoed outside, and he bent over to find it.
"Ten to one that's Jen right now. I know her ring," Lance leaned over and whispered to Joey. He laughed as Justin picked up the phone anxiously, bringing some blades of grass with him.
"Hello?"
"Justin, its Jen whats-" Jen started to say, but was interrupted.
"Jennifer Ann, what took you so long to call me back? Damn girl I was worried!" Justin said, scolding her.
"You wait just a minute here bud. I call and no one answers your cell, it's not my fault you don't have voicemail. Besides, I am busy here, I mean, school and all. You're the one who told me to 'keep my grades up'. Why are you so worried anyway?" Jen replied, very curious. Justin shifted in his seat, he couldn't tell her why he was REALLY nervous.
Yeah, that would be funny. 'Jen, I am sorry, I was so worried because I thought that you didn't want me and that you thought it would be weird now so we cant be friends' ok, NO, cant say THAT.
"I'm not worried, I just wanted to talk."
The guys were all staring at him, and he looked at them and mouthed, "its Jen." They all rolled their eyes and gave Justin a 'duh' look and got up from the table, leaving him alone. They shook their heads and walked back inside the building.
"So, whats up bud?" she asked, sitting in her desk chair and trying to get comfortable. She pushed her keyboard out of the way and propped her feet up on her desk.
"Nothin' really, I'm just chillin', eating some lunch cuz we got a break now," he answered, standing up and looking around. He climbed over the bench and sat down in the grass under a nearby tree and leaned against it.
"So, you've been busy I'm sure then. Are you doing something now, am I interrupting?"
"Nonono, you are fine. Besides, I wanna talk to ya anyway."
Maybe he's gonna bring the kiss up…oh boy…
Jen thought to herself and sat up in her chair. She glanced at the clock, trying to figure out how much time till Justin had to get back to work.
"Oh, ok…I want to talk to you too, that's why I called J!" she said back, her voice cracking a little bit.
Maybe she'll bring up the kiss, I mean, I want to know what she really thinks about all this…
He thought as he fiddled with the ring on his pinky finger. There was an awkward silence, as both didn't know what to say next. They both sighed at the same time and figured to just blurt it out.
"Justin about last week-"
"Jen, about the kiss-"
They both started at the same time. They stopped abruptly, amazed at how they can really be thinking the same thing at the same time.
"You go first, Justin," Jen said, squeezing the phone and swallowing hard. He nodded, but then realized she really couldn't see that, so he just jumped into it.
"Ok, Jen. Well, I wanted to talk about what happened on Saturday…you know, us kissing and everything…" he trailed off and laid down on his back in the grass, trying to get comfortable. He closed his eyes and waited for her to speak.
"Ok…so did I. Well, what do you think?" she asked.
"Well, I just wanted to let you know that I don't want our friendship to get hurt by what happened."
Jen inhaled sharply and squeezed her eyes shut. It was just what she thought; a kiss to test it out, and he didn't feel the same.
Jen, you are a fool to think your best friend would want you like that. Besides, he is adored by millions of girls, why, when he could choose millions of supermodel-looking girls, would he choose you?
"I understand Justin. You don't have those kinds of feelings for me, its not a big deal-" she started to say, her voice shaking.
"Jen that's not what I meant-" he tried interrupting, sitting up quickly and opening his eyes wide. This was NOT going as he planned.
"No no, don't try to sugar coat it for me Justin, you know I don't like bull," she interrupted again, and wiped her eyes while taking a deep breath.
"Jen you listen to me," Justin said his voice raising. "I didn't say that. What I was TRYING to say is I hope you feel the same way that I do about us kissing, which is pretty damn good."
Jen stopped what she was doing. Her eyes got wide and she stared at the floor, wondering if she heard right.
"Wait, did you say what I thought you said?" she asked, holding her breath. Justin chuckled a bit and sighed, then he leaned back against the tree and closed his eyes again.
Damn, that was intense…at least I know she feels the same!
"Yes you doof. Oy, how nervous have I been this past week…" he said and laughed again.
"Oh Justin, you have NO idea sweet. God, this has been so nerve-wracking!" Jen replied, and ran her fingers through her hair. She wiped her sweaty palms on her shorts and stood up.
"Yeah, well. So, now what?" he asked, standing up and looking around to make sure no one was listening in and reminded himself to lower his voice.
"Hmm, I dunno. Maybe we'll come up this weekend or something…or maybe I will…it doesn't matter, y'all could come here too," she said as someone knocked on her door. "Hang on a sec, J." She opened the door and Kyle was standing there.
"Excuse me, but I don't remember inviting you over," she said, putting her free hand on her hip. Kyle just smiled at her while Justin on the other end stiffened.
"Who's at the door, Jen?"
"It's Kyle," she said into the phone and looked Kyle over with a disgusted face. He smirked at her and laughed.
"Talking to loverboy on the phone, Jen? Hello Justy-wusty!" he shouted leaning into her room a bit towards her and the receiver.
"What do you want?" she asked annoyed. Meanwhile, Justin on the other end was getting angrier by the second, running his hands through his hair and pacing.
"Just to see what you were up to sweetie. Oh, and to bring you some stuff you left at my room," he said loudly, handing her a notebook.
"Thanks," she said shortly and turned around closing the door halfway. She sighed heavily and Justin immediately began to comfort her.
"Are you ok girl? What did he say? I'm gonna kill him, I swear. Is he gone?" Justin asked, wishing he was there. Jen smiled at his reaction and plopped down on the futon.
"He's gone, yeah. He was being an ass, hitting on me so you could hear, stuff like that," she explained looking at the notebook. She opened it up and flipped through some pages.
"Jen, what did you leave in…his room?" Justin asked hesitantly, he wasn't really sure if he wanted to know. She rolled her eyes and looked back down at her notebook.
"A red, fancy, spiral kinda…" she trailed off, listening for a reaction. Justin's eyes were wide, and his mouth was getting dry.
"Notebook. A notebook J, that's all!" she laughed, for the first time in a long time. He let out the breath he didn't know he was holding and chuckled back into the phone.
"ha ha, I will get you back for that one girl."
"Looking forward to it boy," she snapped back wittily.
"OK, I better get going, duty calls. So, what are we deciding on?" he asked, checking the area again to make sure no one was around.
"Um, how about we come up there and we'll spend some time together?" she suggested, smiling at an idea that was forming in her head.
"Sounds good, come around noon again ok?"
"Noon it is, seeya sweets!" she confirmed smiling.
"OK, love ya Jen, I cant wait to see you," he whispered the last bit, softening his tone.
"I can't wait to see you either. Love you, Justin," Jen replied and hung up the phone. She put it back on the charger and went to her desk to put her notebook away. She looked over towards the door and stopped. Jen walked towards it and looked outside of it, curious as to why it was open somewhat.
"That's weird," she mumbled to herself and closed it all the way, forgetting about it a second later. Her mind was focused on her "date" with Justin, she didn't think about anyone hearing her conversation from the hall.
