Chapter Four
The
next morning Larson almost didn’t make it to the airport in time for her flight
because she had overslept. She rushed
to her gate checking in her luggage there, afraid of missing her flight.
Luckily her flight had been delayed a half an hour and she was fine. The airport worker handed her, her ticket,
“There you go Miss Smith.
We’ve already started boarding your section. Have a nice flight.”
Larson took her ticket, “Thank you.” She said and walked towards the door to the plane. She looked at the mass of people sitting and
wondered why her section was already boarding.
Coach never boarded first. She
handed the stewardess her ticket,
“Good morning Miss Smith.
Go right through the door and Jake will help you to your seat.” The woman smiled at her,
“Yes, thank you.” Larson
said still confused as she boarded the plane.
When she reached the plane, Jake the flight attendant ushered her up the
stairs to the first class section.
“Wait, I’m not up here, I’m in coach.”
“That’s not what your ticket says, Miss Smith.” Jake assured her
and she finally checked it,
“This has to be a mistake.”
She said and then she saw why she was in first class. Jake took her things and placed them away
for her. Larson turned to JC, who was
sitting in the seat next to hers,
“You know, this could constitute as stalking.” She teased as she sat down in her seat.
JC simply laughed, “Well, it was either bump you up to first class
or sit next to a rambling stranger. I
simply picked the better option.” He
shrugged,
Larson leaned back in her very comfortable seat, “Thank you, I
really appreciate it.”
“You’re welcome. I almost
thought you weren’t going to make it.”
“I almost didn’t. I guess
I stayed out later than I meant to.
Someone was very convincing.”
She teased,
“Are you blaming me for you being late?” He asked raising an eyebrow at her,
“No, not at all.” She said
sarcastically but playfully at the same time,
“I would just like to say that I was out just as late and I
managed to get here on time.”
“And you probably had people making sure that you got here on
time, in fact they probably drove you here.”
“Oh you act like no one else does that.” He rolled his eyes,
“I don’t. I wake myself up
and get ready like a big girl.” She
teased,
“I do that too. People
don’t wake me up everyday.” He half
pouted,
“Wow, that’s really impressive.
In my class you’d definitely get a gold star for the day.” She teased again,
“I’m beginning to regret this seating arrangement.” He joked,
“Nah, you won’t even notice me after we take off. I’ll be sleeping like a baby.”
“You’re a sleeper?”
“Yeah, especially in these seats.
And considering the lack of sleep I’m running on? I’ll be out before this plane even leaves
the ground.” She said yawning.
“Maybe I’ll join you in that nap.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
Larson dropped her bag in the doorway,
“Hello?” She yelled into
her house,
“Biotch! You’re
back!” Her best friend Mel shouted as
she ran down the stairs and tackled Larson.
“How was your trip?”
“The first part was boring but the second part was pretty
cool.” She smiled and Mel wiggled her
eyebrows,
“Who’d ya meet?” Larson
tossed off her shoes and walked into the living room,
“I didn’t meet anyone, rather I ran into someone I knew.” She played,
“Who would you meet that you know in Orlando?”
“A certain member of a band.”
Larson smirked,
“What band?” Mel asked and then her eyes grew wide as everything
clicked, “JC! You saw JC again! You shit head! I hate you!”
“You might hate me, but I got a present for you.”
“What?” Larson got up and
grabbed her bag. She pulled out the
autograph and handed it to her,
“This is for you, and just to let you know, I was invited to the
basketball game and then I hung out with them that night.” Mel took the piece
of paper from Larson completely shocked,
“You went to their basketball game AND hung out with them
later? You FUCKING BITCH!” She screamed playfully. “That is SO not fair! I’ve been their biggest fan FOREVER and you
get to meet them AND hang out with them!
You need to sit your ass down and give me details.” Mel said dragging her over and making her
sit on the couch. “Tell me everything.”
“Okay, okay!” Larson
laughed, “Well it all started when JC and I were staying in the same
hotel. We ran into each other on the
elevator. The elevator got stuck and we
spent an hour talking.”
“You have all the luck, you suck.”
“Yeah, almost dying, lucky me.”
Larson said rolling her eyes,
“Whatever, you were with JC, go on.”
“So after we got off the elevator, he asked me to come to their
game on Sunday.”
“So not cool, I’ll hate you if you met my Lance.”
“Well ANYWAYS, I went and he got me courtside seats. While I was there he introduced me to a
certain member of his group, blonde hair, green eyes-” Mel practically jumped
on her as she playfully punched Larson,
“AHH! I HATE YOU! Did he touch you? Where? Did you wash
it?” Larson burst out laughing,
“I hugged him and he sweated on me.” Mel grabbed the nearest pillow and hit her with it repeatedly,
“I sincerely hate you Cathleen Larson Smith!”
“Hey, Hey! Be nice too me
or I won’t tell you the rest of my story or let you meet them.” Mel stopped instantly,
“What? Don’t fuck with me
Larson!”
“Are you going to let me finish?”
Larson smiled smugly,
Mel gave up and slumped back on the couch, “Okay , okay!” She surrendered.
“Well anyways, they invited me out that night and I went and I met
all of them, but I spent most of the night with JC.”
“Get to the part where I get to meet Nsync.”
“Are you going to look at your present?”
“I want to know about Nsync and ME!”
“When you look at what I got you.”
“Fine, bitch.” She
muttered and read the paper she had been holding, “My dearest Mel….” She
started off reading aloud but then finished silently. Mel sat there for a second before shooting up and running for the
phone. Larson giggled to herself as she
heard Mel dialing the phone in the other room.
“Hello?” She asked excitedly,
“Is Lance there?!” Mel was barely
keeping her squeals under wraps, “No?
Wrong number? Are you sure that
this isn’t Lance Bass’s phone? He gave
me the number personally……Oh, okay, sorry to bug you…Bye.” Mel hung up the phone and stomped back into
the living room. “You are the biggest
bitch in the world, you know that?!”
She shouted and Larson fell onto the floor in a fit of giggles,
“I can’t believe you actually fell for it! Like JC would give out Lance’s phone
number.” Larson laughed even harder,
“Well I thought since you knew him.” Mel huffed and pouted grumpily on the couch.
Larson looked at her, “You’re not mad at me.”
“Yes I am. I’m never
talking to you again.”
“You’re talking to me right now.”
“Well you’re cut off from here on out! We are no longer best friends!”
Mel pouted, crossing her arms,
“Then I guess I can’t take you to meet the guys with me.” Larson said laying out on the floor and
staring up at the ceiling,
“Why should I believe you?”
“How bad do you want to meet them?” She played,
Mel sighed and glared at Larson, “Fine, we’re friends again, but
only if you get me to meet Nsync.”
“Okay, do you want to know about the rest of my trip?”
“Yeah, of course.” Mel
said climbing onto the floor, totally forgetting the joke.
“So I exchanged numbers with JC and then this morning JC happened
to be on my flight home. He bumped me
up to first class so that we could fly together and then he gave me a ride home
from the airport. He wants to hang out
again and he told me that Lance is spending the summer here in LA.” She smirked,
“My best friend is seeing JC from Nsync.” Mel grinned,
Larson rolled her eyes, “I’m not seeing him, we’re just friends,
please.” Larson protested and Mel
rolled her eyes,
“The man invited you out twice to see you, gave you his number,
moved you up to fly with him AND gave you a ride home! He is into you big time! Did you kiss him?” She asked eagerly,
“What? No! We’re just friends Mel, but I did ask him if
I could introduce you to Lance and he said that there shouldn’t be a problem,
plus,” Larson paused to pull something out of her coat pocket. “I got a CD signed by all of them for
you.” Mel hugged Larson,
“I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!”
“I know! I know!” Larson giggled and then pried her best
friend off of her.