The hostess was just about to open the door when Lance stepped in front of her and smiled.
"Excuse me, but I think we can take it from here. Would you mind if you came back in like five minutes?" he said, polite and sweetly.
"No problem honey," the hostess replied, and looked at Jen. "You have some great friends here, happy birthday, " and she walked away. Jen smiled back at her and then turned towards Lance with a questioning look on her face. He looked back at her with a mischievous glance, and then nodded to JC who was behind her. Before she knew it, a blindfold was placed on her eyes, and the world was black.
"What's tha deal yo?" she questioned, totally surprised. JC leaned in and waved his hand in front of her face a few times to make sure she couldn't see.
"Part of the surprise," JC said. He nodded towards Lance who opened the door. Ashlee gasped and Joey quickly covered her mouth with his hand. Chris was hopping up and down, waiting impatiently for the blindfold to come off Jen's eyes. JC lead Jen easily into the center of the room and positioned her in the ideal spot. He glanced around the room, making sure everything was in order and ready to go. He then looked towards the guys and they each gave a thumbs up, their special signal. JC reached down and pulled the blindfold off of Jen slowly. She opened her eyes and they went wide as saucers. She took everything in, she couldn't get enough. The room was of course a Jungle Theme, with fake trees and animals everywhere. Then there was the guys' decorating touch, which included balloons EVERYWHERE, baby blue, purple, and silver. There was a huge banner hanging up that read, 'Happy 19th Birthday NuttySync! We love you! -the crew-'. She turned around and noticed a stage and smiled to herself. She looked some more and saw a table set up with five presents resting on it, and she could tell which present was from whom. She finally made it full circle when she noticed the table with seven place settings in baby blue and silver, and purple candlesticks. She turned to her friends and saw them watching her, trying to gauge her reaction. Jen shook her head back and forth and smiled, then ran up to the closest person to her, which was Chris. She hugged him tight and he was jumping up and down still, talking a mile a minute. Jen just laughed and proceeded to hug Lance, Joey, and JC. She hugged Ashlee for effect, and Ashlee was giggling and seemed to be having a blast. She then stopped and looked around for Justin. He was nowhere to be found, and it brought down her mood.
They went to all this trouble, and he isn't even around…what is the deal?
She turned back towards everyone and walked to the table, determined not to let her missing friend bring down her mood. Everyone followed suit and sat down, making sure to leave a seat next to Jen open for Justin, or else he would throw a fit. Jen looked up in surprise as no one took the seat next to her.
"Excuse me, do I smell or something?" she asked, looking at the guys.
"Well…" Chris started but got smacked upside the head by Joey, who was next to him.
"No Vinnie, ya don't," Joey finished.
"Well then how come no one wants to sit over here next to the birthday girl?" she said and pointed to the empty seat. She knew what they were doing. Her and Justin always sit together, it is some unspoken rule. But Justin wasn't around, she had no idea where he was and she was getting more depressed by the minute.
"JC, why don't you just scoot over one seat?"
"Oh, ok," he replied, half-heartedly. He knew he was gonna be in trouble once Justin saw him, but he had noticed Jen's frustration and couldn't make her angrier, so he slid over. She smiled and squeezed his hand in a silent thank you, and he just smiled back at her in understanding.
All of the sudden, the lights got dark and a spotlight lit the stage. Everyone looked up from his or her conversations in surprise. Jen glanced at the guys, trying to pick up anything from their expressions, but their faces portrayed surprise also.
What is going on here? Who is on stage?
Then, slowly, someone made their way out on to the stage and from the first step they took she knew who it was. Jen smiled broadly and brought a hand to her face. The figure looked over to the table and flashed his million-dollar smile that lit up his whole face. Jen smiled right back and waved a bit.
"Did ya really think I would skip out on ya JJ? I saw that look, I am disappointed in you," the figure said.
"Well Stin, who knows where you went. I thought you might have found some girl out in the restaurant to flirt with," Jen replied, and rolled her eyes.
Smooth move there girl. Accuse him of doing that when you now know he was backstage preparing whatever it is he is about to do.
"Really? Well, we'll talk about that later. And JC dude, get outta my chair before something bad happens to ya," Justin answered. The guys laughed, and JC obliged gracefully.
"Thank you," Justin said. "OK JJ, I need ya to get your lovely self up here in this chair for me eh?" He finished, pointing to the chair that was right next to him onstage. Jen stood up from her place at the table, placing her napkin in her plate and gracefully walked toward the stage, looking straight into Justin's eyes. He smiled at her and effortlessly helped her step up the stage. They walked hand in hand to the chair and she sat down, watching Justin amusingly.
"Ten bucks say they hook up before we leave," Chris whispered to everyone at the table.
"Nah, I think the next time we see her," JC commented.
"You guys are both wrong. They won't hook up period, they are too brother/sister-like," Lance added. They all turned to Joey and Ashlee to see what they thought. The two were talking quietly with their heads very close together and giggling at their own private jokes.
"Ten bucks says THEY hook up before we leave," Chris rephrased and pointed towards the two. The other two laughed and agreed. They turned their attention towards the stage to see Jen and Justin talking quietly, with Justin's microphone resting near his side, leaving them unable to hear the conversation.
"Jen," Justin started, his eyes remaining totally focused on hers.
"Yeah J?" Jen said, helping him along.
"I hope ya like what we got planned for ya…" he said, trailing off. Then he met her eyes once again and opened his mouth to speak.
"Happy Birthday," he finished. Then Justin stood up straight and looked out towards the table yet again. He nodded towards the guys and they all stood up and walked to the stage and grabbed their microphones. Justin turned back towards Jen and blew her a kiss before jumping off the stage. He walked towards his bandmates, with the spotlight following him. It came to rest as they formed a semi-circle facing Jen. She sat in the chair with a small smile formed on her face, and her hands in her lap, waiting. She saw them fiddling with their voices and counting out a beat together, and then Justin signaled to someone who started to play some music. Familiar chords filled the room and Jen's eyes went wide. This was NOT what she had expected. Then JC started to sing.
"I will never find another lover, sweeter than you, sweeter than you. And I will never find another lover, more precious than you, more precious than you."
Then Lance stepped in with his deep voice and sang, "Girl you are," and Jen stared as Justin stepped forward and started to walk towards the stage while he started to sing.
"Close to me just like my mother, close to me just like my father, close to me just like my sister, close to me just like my brother…and you are the only one you're my everything, and for you this song I sing," and then all the guys harmonized together.
"All my life, I've prayed for someone like you, and I thank God that I, that I finally found you. And all my life, I've prayed for someone like you, and I hope that you feel the same way too, yes I pray that you do love me too." [K-Ci and JoJo, "All My Life"] And then they stopped and smiled. Jen sat up there on the stage with tears in her eyes. She looked at all of the guys and held their gazes, and then she finally rested them on Justin. They just stared at each other for what felt like an eternity.
Why didn't I ever notice his eyes before?
She quickly shook off that thought. He began to walk towards the stage, with the guys not far behind. Ashlee was clapping from the table, she was pleased with the way things were turning out. Jen started to stand up from her seat, and Chris screamed.
"No No No Jenk! Stay there! We aren't finished yet!" She was startled, but she sat back down, waiting. The guys had reached the stage and hoisted themselves up. They all huddled around the chair, smiling down at Jen. Justin grabbed one of her hands and JC grabbed the other. Chris was standing in front of her, making faces and kicking her feet, and Joey and Lance were behind her, tapping her head and shoulders. She laughed and shook her head.
"I swear, totally serious one minute and goofballs the next!" she announced and looked to Ashlee, who just nodded in reply.
"AHEM!" Justin cleared his throat loudly. "Are you done picking on us yet?"
"Nah, I'll never be done Stin. Its just too easy!" she answered, giggling. He gave her a look, then shrugged off her comment. Then, they broke out into song once again, but this time she was serenaded with an off key 'Happy Birthday', which threw everyone into another laughing fit.
"NOW you can get up Jen," Chris said, kicking her feet once more. She kicked him back and stood up.
"Thanks for your permission gramps!" she joked back. He smirked and hunched over a bit.
"That's right little lady…you better respect your elders!" he responded in an old mans voice.
She hugged him and said, "You are awesome CK! I missed ya!" Everyone watched the little scenario with amusement. Jen released him from the hug and before she could stand up straight, someone had picked her up and thrown her over their shoulder. She knew who it was already, without even opening her eyes. When she did, she had a nice view of Justin' backside. So, she did what she always did, she smacked his butt.
"How did I know that was comin' JJ?" Justin asked, glancing over his shoulder.
"How did I know that you were the one that threw me over their shoulder?" she asked right back.
"Well, you know what I have to do today don't ya?" you could hear the smile in his voice. That meant trouble.
"Umm, eat?" Jen asked hopefully.
"Nuh uh…you get your patty wacks today JJ, all twenty of them, and I get to do them, just like every other year!" he replied, laughing. He set her down in her seat and pulled his chair over so he was right next to her.
"Not this year Stin. Don't you think we are getting too old for this?" She asked, hoping to get out of it. He put his drink down and looked her in the eye.
"No way girl, its too much fun, and I love to see you squirm," he answered, wiggling his eyebrows.
"Justin, aren't we kinky!" Joey yelled from across the table. Justin turned around and looked at him in shock, a bright red blush creeping up his face. In turn Jen also blushed. JC looked at the guys and lowered his voice,
"Make that twenty bucks, and I STILL say after we leave and come back."
