Chapter Eleven
Krista
ran out of the car and into the venue.
“Krissie,
hold up!” James yelled and Paul hopped
out,
“You’ll
never get her attention. Aunt Joanie’s
in town. She’s here now.”
“Crazy
Aunt Joanie’s in town? She doesn’t live
around here.” James said,
“She
was out meditating with the Navajo Indians or something like that around her
and came to see us play.” Pauley
replied said falling into step with James.
“That
woman is crazy.” James said shaking his
head with a chuckle, “Is she coming out with us tonight?” He asked and Dan caught up with them,
“Who?”
“Aunt
Joanie.” Paul answered looking over at
him before glancing back at James, “Of course she’s coming out. She promised to hustle some people playing
pool with me.”
Dan
laughed, “Aw man, Aunt Joanie’s in town?
I think I’m still recovering from that wild woman’s last visit.” He said shaking his head, “It’s going to be
a long night.”
Krista
pulled Aunt Joanie down a hallway to the guy’s dressing room, “I can’t wait for
you to meet them, they’re all so sweet.
Especially JC, he’s the one I’ve been telling you about.” She said barely keeping her excitement
in. Half of the excitement was due to
having Aunt Joanie there and the other half was due to Aunt Joanie meet the
guys, mainly JC. Krista knew that
having Aunt Joanie’s seal of approval meant the world to her. Fortunately, Aunt Joanie had a thing for
cute, young guys.
“I
can’t wait to meet them either.” She
said giggling slightly and Krista knocked on their door,
“Is
everyone decent? It’s Krista!” She yelled and Aunt Joanie giggled some
more,
“Hopefully
not.” She said and Krista laughed,
“Tell
me about it.” She giggled back and the
door opened to reveal Justin,
“Hey
Krista, we’re all good, come on in!” He
waved her in, opening the door wider to let them in. Justin was wearing a tight fitted shirt and jeans that made his
ass look like a masterpiece.
“Damn.” Aunt Joanie muttered and Krista began
laughing as she brought her into the room.
“Hey
guys!” She greeted them.
JC
jumped up and hugged her, “Hey Spunk.”
She
hugged him back, “Hey Josh, I want you to meet my Aunt Joanie.” She let go of him and pulled Aunt Joanie up
next to her. “Aunt Joanie, this is Josh Chasez, Josh, my Aunt Joanie.” ,
JC
held out his hand “It’s nice to finally meet you, Krissie talks about you all
the time. In fact I feel like I should
give you a hug.”
“I
feel the same way. I’m always up for a
hot young stud hugging me.” She smiled
and pulled JC into a hug, “It’s also nice to finally to meet the infamous JC or
Josh. I’ve been hearing about you ever
since you began this whole shindig way back in the day.” She let him go and looked at him, “Good
choice with the hair. OOO WEE, I just
bet the girls simply go crazy for a sex symbol like you.”
JC
blushed a little, “Uh thanks, I like it too.”
Krista
dragged Aunt Joanie over to the other guys, “Aunt Joanie, these are the rest of
Nsync, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, Lance Bass and Justin Timberlake. Guys this is my Aunt Joanie.”
“Whoo,
nelly!” Aunt Joanie exclaimed fanning
herself, “Is it hot in here or is it just me?
Krissie, how do you stand to he around such fine young thangs and not
faint!” Aunt Joanie exclaimed.
“Cause I know how they really are.” Krista teased making Aunt Joanie laugh
before she turned to all of the boys.
“I
assume all you fine thangs are coming out with us tonight?” The boys looked at Krista,
“Aunt
Joanie always comes out with us when she’s in town. Though she prefers pool halls and bikers.” She joked.
Aunt
Joanie patted Krista’s arm gently, “Bikers are always the nicest men I’ve
met. I have no complaints.” She grinned.
“I’m
sure we can find a pool hall around here.
You play?” Justin asked.
Aunt
Joanie looked at Krista with a sly smile, “You can say that. You up for a game with an old woman?” She winked.
“Old? You’re what, 25,26?” Justin charmed.
Aunt
Joanie wrapped her arm around his waist, “Ooo, I like this one. I think I’ll keep him.”
“Hot
mama, I’m all yours.” Justin flashed
his famous grin at the elderly woman and she grabbed his ass with a wink.
“Yes
you are honey. I’ll see you
later.” She smiled back and Krista
laughed at the slightly shocked Justin.
Krista took her Aunt Joanie’s arm and waved to the guys,
“We’ll
be seeing y’all later, caio!”
“Hopefully
sooner.” Aunt Joanie whispered to
Krista, making them both giggle like school girls as they waved to the boys and
left their room.
JC
and Krista were playing a round of pool at a local pub after their concert that
night. JC looked over to see Aunt
Joanie and Justin playing pool with two huge bikers and laughed.
“Dude,
your Aunt Joanie is a riot.”
Krista
looked over at her Aunt Joanie, “Oh I know, I’m surprised she’s still wearing
her bra.”
JC’s
mouth dropped, “Excuse me?”
Krista
walked over to him and smirked, “Hey don’t look at me, that woman is her own
person and she gets rowdy, especially when she drinks Mad Dog.” Krista nodded
over to her Aunt who was drinking like it was her job.
JC
chuckled and leaned in to Krista, “Oh man, I think Justin’s in over his head.”
Krista
smiled, “Don’t I know it. I love that
woman. I plan to live just like her.”
JC
looked at her and raised and eyebrow, “Out loud?”
“Oh
yeah.” She grinned and then stared at
the pool table sizing up her shot.
“Krissie,
you can’t get a better shot.” JC said
looking over her shoulder.
“I
was just looking.” She shrugged
innocently and bent over the table to take a shot. Suddenly she stood up and looked back at JC, while batting her
eyes, “Can you help me?”
JC
smiled, “Okay.” He went over and put
his arms around her helping her position the stick, “Hit it gently.” He coached her.
“Okay.” She said and hit the ball. It missed the socket. She turned to him with a little pout, “Guess
that means that you win.”
JC
moved around the table and took aim, “Left corner pocket.” He said and hit the ball straight in. He stood up, “I guess I do win. Wanna play another round?” He asked and her face lit up,
“Let’s
play against someone as a team!” She said
and before he could protest she went to the next table and got the guys who
were playing there. They followed her
over, “Mark, Danny, this is Josh, he’s on my team. Josh, Mark and Danny.”
She introduced and the men shook hands.
Krista chalked up her cue, “Danny hon, why don’t you rack them?” She paused, “Ooo, and lets make this
interesting. Wanna play for money?”
“Kris-”
JC warned,
Danny
and Mark smirked between them, knowing how bad Krista was, “We’re up for
that. How much?” Mark smiled,
“Two
hundred sound good?” Krista offered up
and JC walked over to her and lowered his voice.
“Krissie,
really, I don’t think we should.” He
leaned in to her, “You’re really not that good. That’s a lot of money.”
She
smiled up at him and patted his cheek, “Don’t worry, I’ve always wanted to do
this and you’re good enough for the both of us.” She looked over at the guys, “What do you say?”
“Two
hundred’s good for us.”
Krista
shook their hands, “Alrighty then, do you wanna flip for the break?”
“Ladies,
first.” Mark grinned,
“You’re
so sweet.” She smiled back and went to
the end of the table.
JC
closely followed, “Now Krissie, when you go-”
Krista
turned abruptly at the end of the table and said, “Why don’t you break
Josh?” She smiled and handed him her
cue.
“Okay.” He nodded and broke the rack of balls. They shot all over the table, but none of
them sunk into the pockets. Danny and
Mark smiled to themselves and took a shot sinking a solid ball. The next turn belonged to Krista and once
again, JC was close at her heels.
“I’d
say go for the 12 ball in the side pocket, it’s the easiest.”
Krista
looked up at him, “Can you get me a beer?”
She asked sweetly.
“After-”
“I’ll
be fine, I’ll take the shot and be done.”
“Wait
for me for the next shot.”
“Okay,
go.” She laughed pushing him away.
“Okay.” He replied and went up to the bar.
Krista
looked to Mark and Danny, “He’s such a worrier.”
“I
think he’s worried about losing.” Danny
smirked,
“I
don’t know why, he’s really good.” She
said leaning over and placing her shot, “10 ball, left side pocket.”
“But
he said-” Mark started but Krista took her shot and sunk the ball.
“Look
at that, I sunk one. Guess it’s my
lucky day.” She shrugged and moved
around the table, taking another shot and sinking the 12 ball easily. “Josh was
right, that was easy.” She laughed and
moved around the table to take another shot.
She found it and placed the cue stick behind her back as she positioned
her shot, “14 ball, front left corner pocket.”
JC
came back the table frowning, “Krissie, I told you to wait for me.” JC scolded and she looked up at him and took
the shot, ultimately sinking the ball.
“Josh,
you act like I’ve never played pool before.”
She smiled playfully and moved around the table once again. JC stood there in shock as she took another
shot and sunk two more balls.
Krista
looked at the table, “Man, I don’t think I have a shot.” She bent over, took a shot and blocked any
shot the other team had. “And look at that, neither do you now.” She smirked and the guys grumbled as they
took their shot, mixing up the balls on the table. Krista nudged JC, “Your
turn.”
JC
shook himself, took his shot and missed that as well. Then Mark missed his shot on his turn.
It
came back to Krista to shoot. She
circled the table like a vulture looking for any shot she could take. From first glance it didn’t look like she
had a shot, but she found one. The only
problem was that the 8 ball was blocking the path to her 9 ball. “9 ball in the far left corner pocket.” She said pointing to the pocket with her cue
stick.
“You
can’t make that shot.” Danny smirked.
Krista
positioned her self and took the shot, skipping the cue ball over the 8 ball
and smacking the 9 ball into the far left corner pocket. She stood up, “Guess I can.” She shrugged and eyed her winning shot. “8 ball, right side pocket.” She said and easily sunk the ball. She stood up straight, “Well, looky at
that. I think we just won.” She turned to the guys and held out her
hand, “Good game fellas, I’ll be taking that money now.”
“That,
you hustled us!” Danny exclaimed and
Krista rolled her eyes,
“I
did not. Hustling includes at least two
games and we only played one. So pay
up.”
Mark
pushed up his sleeve, “Yeah, who’s going to make us?”
Krista
went up to him and poked a finger into his chest, “I am.” She said defiantly, “I can’t believe you
guys are such sore losers. We beat you
fair and square. You made a bet, now
honor your end and be a real man.” She
said staring the man down.
“Fine.” Mark said slamming the money down on the
edge of the pool table, “You’re not worth it.”
He said and they both walked away.
Krista
picked up the money and started counting it, “Thanks for the game!” She said sweetly and walked over to JC,
“Man, that was cool. I can’t believe
they tried to get out of our bet.”
“You
hustled them and me for that fact.” He
said and she handed him half of the winnings.
“I
did not.”
“Then
what was with all that show, acting like you couldn’t play, before?”
She
gave him a coy smile; “Maybe I just wanted you close to me.” She winked sassily,
“Spunk,
I’m gonna get killed if I keep hanging out with you.”
“Yeah,
but there’s never a dull moment.” She
smirked and JC shook his head,
“That,
Krissie, is more true than anything I know.”
He laughed, “Now where did you learn moves like that?”
“At
college, one of my boyfriends was a pool shark. I picked up a couple of things.”
“I’ll
say.” He said and paused, “Wait, you
went to college?” He asked completely
surprised,
She
raised an eyebrow at him, “Uh, yeah, I have a BA in Physics.” She racked up the balls for another game.
“When
did you do that?”
“The
Klemmers didn’t form until the summer before my senior year of college. I really got into the group and the only way
my mom would let me continue with the band was if I finished my degree. So I did my last year on the road as an
independent study.” She shrugged again
and broke the rack.
“I
guess I’ll have to add brilliant to your list of endearing qualities. Why Physics?”
“I
told you that I dated a pool shark.
Pool is all about physics, which is why I did so well. In fact my senior thesis was on Physics
applied to pool.”
“Interesting,
I wouldn’t have picked Physics for you.
I would have guess music if anything.”
“Oh,
that’s what I minored in.”
“A
minor too? That’s impressive.”
“The
wonderment of an ADHD mind. It was
pretty easy because I liked it.” She
shrugged and took a shot.
JC
watched her miss her shot, “You’re going easy on me.”
“Maybe,
maybe not.” She flirted walking towards
him, “You might be better than you think.”
She winked.
“Spunk,
you’re good for the ego.” He smiled,
“Just doing my best for my favorite Nsyncer.”