Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Krista bounced around the bus as they arrived at the arena that morning. She was so excited to see Josh; it had been a month since she had seen him. Over their phone calls they had grown very close.

“Kris, geez, calm down. It’s like seven in the morning. Why the hell are you so perky?” James grumbled.

“Cause she’s gonna see, Jo-o-sh.” Pauley teased and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“I’ve missed him so what? We’re just friends.”

“Yeah right,” Pauley joked, “friends.”

“Yeah, friends, that’s it.” She retorted and Dan just glared at her as he sipped his coffee. Krista and JC had grown close over the past couple of months. He kept coming to their shows and they were always talking on the phone with each other. Why couldn’t she see that he was just going to hurt her? There was no way he would stay faithful to her, not with millions of girls throwing themselves at him. It was like she wanted to get hurt. Krista could be so naive sometimes.

“Dan? Dan! Where are you?” Krista said waving a hand in front of his face.

“What?”

“Aren’t we Mr. Grumpy today?” She teased and he smiled,

“You’re a pain in the ass you know?”

“Yeah, but I’m cute and adorable so it makes up for it. Come on we have to go check out the arena.” She said pulling him to his feet.

Dan smiled at her infectious perkiness, “Okay, want a piggy back?”

“Of course!” She said and as soon as they got off the bus she hopped on Dan’s back. The boys followed them off the bus,

“Hey Dan, why don’t you give me a piggy back?” Pauley shouted,

Krista looked over her shoulder at him, “Cause you’re fat!” She kidded,

“I’m not fat, I’m big boned!” He retorted.

“And I’m the Queen of Sheba!” She laughed,

“Hence why she gets the piggy back ride.” Dan said and she smiled,

“Yes that’s it, I’m now the Queen of Sheba the artist formally known as Krista! You must all bow down to me!” She declared and the boys all broke down in laughter.

“Nice try Kris.” James said,

“Yeah, wasn’t it?” She laughed as they walked into the stage arena. It was huge, certainly the biggest stage they had ever played on.

“Wow,” Krista said, she had seen Nsync perform multiple times before on bigger stages but it took on a whole new dimension now that they were playing on the same stage.

“Damn.” Dan said walking around with Krista still on his back.

“You can say that again. How the hell are we gonna fill up that huge space?” James asked.

“With Pauley’s ego.” Krista joked,

“Okay, Miss I’m the Queen of Sheba and everyone must bow down to me.” Pauley replied placing his hands on his hips.

“You’re just jealous that I’m cuter than you and everyone loves me more.” She teased her older brother.

Paul rolled his eyes, “Yeah that’s it.”

Krista pointed to the other side of the stage, “Dan, go over there, I wanna check out the entire stage.”

“Dan man she’s got you whipped!” Pauley yelled as Dan trotted around with Krista.

“I’m not, I offered!” He yelled back. Of course he was whipped, he thought, how could you not be with Krista? Hell he had been in love with the girl since he met her back in junior high. She was running around Paul’s house, full of energy, hair short like a boy and like a stick. Her personality caught his attention back then and when she became the beauty known as Krista Journey he knew it was what was inside Krista that he loved. Dan spun around and Krista squealed with delight and clung tighter. He loved making her happy, he’d do just about anything to keep her happy.

“Dan!” She yelled not wanting him to stop. She missed having fun with Dan. He was so solemn lately and she’d much rather have this Dan around. He kept spinning till he lost his balance and they toppled to the ground laughing. “You’re impossible Dan.” She said giggling,

“You think that was impossible?” He said and began tickling her mercilessly.

“Dan! Stop!” She spat out in between laughing and trying to get away. Dan kept her until she was finally able to get away. She sprinted away and Dan began to chase her. Pauley and James saw the two and began laughing.

“You’ll never get her Dan, she’s always been able to out run you!” James yelled as he and Pauley jogged up onto the stage where the other two were now running around. Music was playing in the background. Jimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville was playing and Dan actually caught up to Krista and instead of tickling her he took her hand and twirled her around. They began to dance around the stage together.

“No fair, Krista’s the only girl!” James said and Dan simply shrugged his shoulders and smiled.

The Nsync guys walked into the arena. They had to meet up with the Klemmers for their show tomorrow night. JC was really excited to see Krista. Two whole months of hanging out with Krista, it was more than he could ask for. There was no way he could deny that he had feelings for her. He thought that she might have feelings for him too, but he was unsure about it. He had two months to find out and make her feel the same way.

JC saw the Klemmers running around the stage area. Only he didn’t see Krista, but he heard her laughing. He quickly searched for her and found her being chased playfully by Dan. A smile crept across his face at the sight of her. Suddenly Dan caught her and twirled her around and began dancing with her. JC didn’t know quite what to make of Krista and Dan. She kept on saying that they weren’t dating, but every now and then when he saw them together, like now for instance, they had this look between them. He didn’t want to say it, but it was a look of love.

Krista turned to see the guys walking towards the stage. “Ahh!” She screamed and let go of Dan. She jumped down off the stage and ran over to them. Krista found JC’s arms first and hugged him tightly, “Joshy!”

“Hey Krissie!” He greeted her and hugged her tightly. Well that certainly made his ego feel better. She had all but dropped Dan the moment he walked into the room.

“God it’s so great to see you!” She said and let go of him, “This arena’s huge! It’s so cool! I can’t believe that we’re playing here together!” She exclaimed excitably and everyone laughed,

“Okay, who gave you the crack?” Joey joked and Pauley ran up to the group,

“We don’t let her near the stuff, she’d explode.” He teased her ruffling her hair slightly,

“I don’t know if we can handle another Chris.” Lance joked,

She placed her hands on her hips, “Hey is it pick on Krista day, or something?” Then she threw her hands up in the air, “Sheesh! I’m not as bad as Chris!”

“Hey!” Chris shouted playfully,

“Oh you know I love you!” She exclaimed nudging him slightly. Then she noticed Dan and James coming up behind her. “Boys, you guys have met Joey, Lance, Chris, Justin and JC.” She turned to Nsync, “Guys, you know my band mates, Dan, James and Pauley.” All of the guy shook hands and exchanged cordialities. There was a definite tension between JC and Dan, almost as if they were sizing each other up. “So what are you guys doing for breakfast?” She asked and James groaned covering his eyes with his one hand.

“My God, how can you even think of food at this ungodly hour? You’re making my stomach hurt just thinking about it.”

“I liked to eat, nothing wrong about that.” She replied,

“Like it? You eat like it’s going out of style!” Pauley teased and she rolled her eyes,

“I’m a growing girl, I’ve got to have my nutrition!” She teased making everyone laugh,

“Actually,” Lance spoke up, “We were just about to order some up, wanna join us?”

“Hells yeah!” She shouted and linked an arm with Lance, “Lance honey you just became my favorite Nsyncer!”

“Hey!” JC yelled from behind and caught up with her. Krista looked up at him,

“Oh, Joshy, you know I love you, but really Lance has the food, he wins. Sorry!” She grinned and he just shook his head at her.

Both groups ordered up breakfast and ate it together and got to know each other a little bit better. Pauley and James got along fantastically with Joey and Chris; it was like they were twins. Dan was the only one who sat back and was quiet during the whole thing only talking when he was asked a question or Krista made him join the conversation. He refused to like these guys, especially JC; they were taking over his Krista. He couldn’t let that happen, he wouldn’t let that happen.

JC walked around the tour buses on his way to find Krista. Earlier that day they had planned on having dinner together. She was having problems with Dan and she just wanted to get away from her band mates for a little while. He hopped up on their bus where James was reading a magazine.

“Hey James.” JC greeted and the man looked up slightly from his reading,

“Hey JC.”

JC quickly scanned the bus and didn’t see Krista. He looked back at James, “Have you seen Krista?”

James looked up at him, “Yeah, she should be in the back part. Don’t mind the mess.”

JC smiled at him, “Don’t worry, our bus gets just as dirty.” Then he noticed how quiet it was on the bus, “Is she sleeping or something? It’s really quiet.”

James shrugged, “Her and Dan had it out a little while ago. I mean, full on, blow out, fight with screaming and throwing things and shit like that. Then he just stormed out, muttering something about teaching her a lesson and being better off without her.” He shrugged, “It’s been quiet like this ever since.”

JC shot James a worried look, “She hasn’t come out since then?”

“Nope.” James shook his head, “I’ve been here the entire time. It must have been some huge fight, I’ve never seen Dan that mad before.”

“Really? Did he say anything to you about what it was about?”

“No.” James shook his head, “He just came out washed his hands and stormed off the bus.”

“Okay.” JC said slowly, “I’m going to go check on her.”

“Knock yourself out.” James said and picked up his magazine again.

JC slowly made his way to the back of the bus and stopped at the compartment door. He knocked on it, “Krissie? It’s JC.” He listened closely, but didn’t get a response, so he knocked louder, “Krissie? Are you sleeping?”

“Dude, she’s a heavy sleeper, she’d never hear you. Just go on back.” James yelled from the front.

JC sighed, “Okay.” He said to himself and slid open the door. The whole back area was completely trashed, pillows, blankets, movies, books, and other miscellaneous items were scattered about. “Krissie?” He called out cautiously as he scanned the room. Then he saw Krista’s sneaker covered foot sticking out from under a blanket. “Krissie?” He called out kneeling down besides her to uncover her from the mounds of blankets and pillows that were covering her. His movements became frantic as he tried to uncover her, “Krissie!? Talk to me Kris!” He said and then he removed the last of the blankets that covered her. He gasped, “Fuck. No.” There was this sick circle of red soaked into the blanket that Krista was laying face down on. JC shook her frantically, “Krissie? Wake up!” her limp body didn’t move and he flipped her over. She was covered in blood from head to toe, her clothes were in shambles and her face had a strange blueish tint to it. “JAMES!” JC yelled out unable to look away from the horrifying sight in front of him, “JAMES! COME HERE!” He screamed and then cradled Krista to him, “Come on Krissie, don’t be dead.” He rocked her slightly, “God no…JAMES GET IN HERE NOW!” Tears sprung into his eyes as his mind tried to come to terms with what was going on.

James walked in with a camera, “Dude, this is beautiful.”

JC looked up at James horrified, “You sick fuck! What the hell is wrong with you!” JC yelled and James smiled as he kicked the bottom of Krista’s foot.

“She’s playing dead. We were just messing with you. Come on Krissie, stop playin’.” James said to Krissie, but she didn’t move. James kicked her limp foot again, “Come on Krissie, he knows that we’re just faking.” Krissie still didn’t move and JC rolled her back a little and felt for her breath. She didn’t have one. Frantically he looked up at James, “She’s not breathing James! She’s not playing! She’s fucking dead!”

A look of horror came over James’ face and he dropped to the other side of Krista, “No, she can’t be. Dan’s really careful.” James pulled her face towards him and slapped it slightly, “Come on Kris, this isn’t funny anymore.” Krissie still didn’t respond and sat back on his heels. He ran his hands through his hair, “Fuck, this wasn’t supposed to happen. He wasn’t supposed to cover her that much so that she could breathe. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck….”

Then JC felt a giggle come from Krista and he looked down at her in wonderment…had he just imagined that? Suddenly Krista’s whole body burst out into a full fledge giggle attack. Both JC and James stared at her, wondering if they were imagining this.

Krista opened her eyes looking at the two boys who were staring at her in bewilderment. She turned her head towards the back of the compartment, “Did you get that?”

Pauley emerged holding a camera from the a back closet, “Oh, yeah, that was the best scene we’ve ever shot!”

“You fucking assholes!” James said standing up shaking his head. “I can’t believe, fucking-a!” He swore looking away from everyone.

“Can’t believe we got you, huh?” Krista giggled and then looked up at the silent JC. “Hey, you okay? Sorry bout all this, but we needed your honest reaction.”

He stared at her in disbelief, all of this was for some stupid movie. Needed his honest reaction for some stupid, dumb ass movie that they were making. “You scared the fucking shit out of me.” He said softly and she cupped his face,

“Sorry, I’ll buy you dinner to make up for it.” Hah, like dinner would make up for how hurt he was.

“What about me?” James accused and Krista laughed,

“Well, for you, I’m gonna give you…” She jumped up and started doing a funky dance, “I got you. I got you. I GOT you.” She danced around the back area and then turned to James, “In case you’re wondering, that was my “I got you” dance.” She teased,

“Next time I’m going to let Dan smother you.” He shot back at her and she laughed,

“You will not, you can’t find a better actress than me. I mean, if I can freak the shit out of you, I’m good.” She said still doing her little dance.

A little smirk played on James’s lips, “Can I see it?”

Pauley came out fully into the back area, “Oh, man this one takes the cake, it really does.”

Krista looked up at JC who was still being really quiet, “Hey, you still want to go to dinner?”

He stared at her and then got up silently, “I’m going to go clean myself up.” He replied and left the bus. Krista didn’t hesitate to run after him,

“Josh!” She called out after him but he didn’t turn around, “Josh, come on, wait up!” She yelled and ran till she caught up with him. Krista tugged on his arm and pleaded with him, “Josh, please, stop.”

He whipped around, “Why should I?”

Krista winced at the hurt in his voice, “I’m sorry I scared you. It was just a joke, honestly.”

“Well, I’m glad you got a good laugh.” He said crossing his arms, looking anywhere but her.

Krista took a deep breath, “I’m really sorry. If I knew it would have upset you this much, I wouldn’t have done it.” She said gently and placed a hand on his forearm, “I only did it because I thought you would find it funny afterwards too.”

“Well I didn’t.” He huffed.

“I see that and it won’t happen again, I promise.”

JC ran a hand over his face, “You have no idea how scared I was Krista.”

“I saw it in your face.” She replied softly,

“Then why didn’t you stop?”

Krista shrugged, “I don’t know.” She replied and shifted her weight nervously.

Justin took that time to strut out of the venue and see his band mate and Krista standing there, “What the fuck happened to you two?” He shouted out and the couple looked down at themselves before looking at Justin. Both of them had nearly forgotten that they were covered in fake blood. “Uh, guys?” Justin walked over to them when they didn’t respond. Krista looked to JC for him to respond and he simply rolled his eyes.

Krista turned to Justin, “We were making a movie on our tour bus and things got a little carried away.”

“Yeah, just slightly.” JC huffed and then Krista smirked noticing the splatter of fake blood on his face. “What are you laughing at now?”

“You have blood…” She pointed to his cheek.

“Yeah, well so do you.” He retorted pointing all over her body.

Krista looked down at herself, slightly giggling, “I guess I should go clean myself up huh? I mean I wouldn’t want other people to think that I was a zombie or something.”

JC smirked a little, “You do kind of look like a zombie.”

“You two are so weird.” Justin said shaking his head.

“Oh shut it Timberlake.” Krista retorted wiping a hand on his cheek.

He jumped back, wiping off his face, “That better be jam or something!”

Krista rolled her eyes, “Oh my dear Lord, it’s fake blood and washes off. You’re such a priss. I mean I’m a girl and you don’t see me complaining about a little fake blood.”

“Uh, Kris, a little fake blood?” JC smirked and she laughed,

“Okay, you know what I mean.” She waved off and grabbed JC’s hand as she waved to Justin, “See ya later Jay! We’re going to get cleaned up!”

“I’m gonna get you for this Journey!” Justin yelled after the two.

Krista giggled as she leaned over to JC and whispered, “I have a feeling that Timberlake’s going to be our next target.”

“Our?” JC questioned,

She glanced up at him with a huge grin, “Oh you are SO in the club. I don’t know if we can top this last movie, but with you on board, it sure is going to be interesting.”

JC smiled back at her, “Tell me when and where.” He gave her hand a squeeze and Krista suddenly realized that they were still holding hands. She liked the feeling of his hand wrapped around hers.