Chapter Nine
Krista laid in her bunk on her side after romping in
the ocean. The buses had stopped for a
break, but her back was hurting so she didn’t want to move. There was a knock on her bunk and she turned
slightly to see who it was.
“Yeah?” She called out and James popped his face
into her bunk,
“You
got a visitor, Kris.” He said and
pulled back the curtain a little bit more to reveal JC standing there.
“Hey
Josh, what’s up?” She said and waved
off James.
“Hey
Krissie.” JC smiled down at her, “Can I
come in, or is this a private party?”
He teased and she laughed,
“Come
on in!” JC took off his shoes and
crawled in next to her, “To what do I owe this visit?” She said rolling to her back as JC laid down
on his stomach next to her. This was an
unexpected visit, but she wasn’t going to complain about having JC in her bunk
with her.
“I
was bored and thought that I would come and bother you.”
Krista
checked her watch, “Are you spending the night? We leave in a few minutes.” Please spend the night. She would die to have that happen.
JC shrugged, “If you don’t mind. Apparently someone dragged me into the ocean and now I smell.” He said glancing around her bunk.
Krista
gave him an innocent look, “That was a horrible thing for someone to do to
you. You poor dear.”
JC
smirked, “I know and now none of my band mates want me around.”
Krista
laid a hand on his arm, “You’re always welcomed here, Josh. Especially since I
have a stuffy nose.” She teased.
“Like
I’d give you a choice. You’re the one
who made me smelly.”
Krista
laughed, “The ocean doesn’t make you smell bad. I was in the ocean and I don’t smell bad.”
JC
made a face, “If you say so.”
Krista
pushed him playfully, “You’re a jerk.”
She laughed, “I don’t smell bad.
You know you shouldn’t make fun of someone who being nice enough to take
your sorry smelly ass in.”
He
smiled at her warmly, “So, now I’m back to being smelly?”
“You
never stopped being smelly.” She
teased,
“And
here I thought spending time on my bus was going to make me crazy.” He teased her.
Krista
grinned back at him, “You’re not insane already?”
JC
chuckled as he shook his head, “I probably should be, right?”
“I
don’t know how I’d survive it all.” She
smiled up at him and rolled onto her back.
She winced at the pain.
“What’s
wrong?” He asked worriedly and she waved him off,
“I
hurt my back a while ago and it hurts every now and then.” She said rubbing her lower back.
“Are
you okay?” He asked and she grinned,
“Nothing
aspirin and a Jacuzzi won’t cure. I think
it’s all the traveling on the bus.” She
said still massaging the same spot. She
rolled on her side and winced again,
“You
should get your back looked at.”
“I’m
fine.” She replied and winced in pain
again,
“Do
you want me to get you aspirin?”
“Yeah,
that’d be great.” She pointed in the
direction of the bus’s kitchen, “It’s in the kitchen above the sink.”
“Okay,
hold on a minute.” JC left the bunk and
soon came back with a bottle of water and holding pills in his other hand. He dropped the two pills into her
outstretched hand and she looked at him,
“Can
you get me two more?”
JC
handed her the bottle, “What, bottles of water?” He questioned,
“No,”
She paused to take the aspirin, “The other two aspirin I need to take.”
JC
frowned, “Four aspirins? That’s not-”
Krista
interrupted him, “JC, I know my body. I
can take four aspirins. Two won’t even
touch me. I might as well as be eating
m&ms.”
“Okay.” He said and quickly retrieved two more
aspirins for her.
“Thank
you.” She said and took the pills. JC laid down next to her and began to rub
her back. Her sore back was the perfect
excuse for him to touch Krista.
Krista
purred, “Mmm.”
“Is
this the spot?” JC asked softly as he continued to rub her lower back.
Krista
arched her back into his massaging hands, “Yeah, perfect. How do you know the exact way to rub my
back? It feels so good.” She half moaned.
JC
smiled and shrugged, “Good guess.” He
leaned in and whispered in her ear, “Chill out and relax.”
“Okay.” She said stretching out on her bunk.
JC
moved up slightly to get more comfortable.
He massaged her lower back in gentle circle. “Man, you can feel the
tension in your back.”
Krista
buried her face in her arms, “You’re helping out a lot.” She replied.
JC
slipped his hands under the hem of her shirt.
Her skin was silky soft to the touch and flowed under his hands.
Krista
flipped to her side curling up into a halfway fetal position with her back
facing JC.
“Krista?” He questioned and stopped for fear that he
had hurt her.
She
didn’t move, “This is more comfortable for me.
Can you keep rubbing my back?
“No
problem.” He said curling up behind her
and began to rub her back again.
“Mmm
Josh, did I ever tell you that you were a Godsend?” She said playfully,
He
smiled at her comment, “No, but I appreciate the compliment. Glad I could help.”
“I
just might have to marry you.” She
teased,
“Well,
I’ll keep that in mind.” He laughed and
then looked past at her at the wall of her bunk. The wall was literally covered in pictures, “You’ve got a lot of
pictures.”
Krista
reached out and gingerly touched a couple pictures on her wall, “Yeah, it’s
somehow makes me feel close to my family and friends when I’m away.” She said and JC leaned over her, pointing to
one of Krista and an elderly woman.
“Is
that your grandma?”
Krista
smiled at the picture, “No, that’s my great aunt Joanie. She might as well be my grandmother. My real one died when I was like two. Aunt Joanie filled in. She’s awesome, simply the coolest woman on
the face of the earth. She was always
there for me, at any and every event I had, cheering me on loudly, with a
cowbell.” Krista laughed to herself.
“She
sounds like someone else I know.” He
teased,
Krista
nodded, “Yeah, my mom said that we shared the same soul. I would spend hours at her house growing
up. It was my home away from home. She always believed in me, no matter what I
did, in fact she was the one who taught me to believe in myself. The woman’s amazing, she’s my best
friend. I think I call her more than I
call my own mother.”
“I
hope I can meet her someday.”
“I
do too, she’s quite the experience. She
always comes to my shows when they’re close to home. I usually can’t keep a straight face because off stage my eighty
year old Aunt Joanie is rockin’ out to our music, dancing her life away. Boy, if she does meet you guys, whoo, I
don’t know what she’ll do, but I know for sure that one of your assess will be
grabbed before she leaves. She’s boy
crazy.” Krista laughed and so did JC. It was then that she noticed that JC had his
arms wrapped around her. Instinctively
she leaned back into his chest, enjoying the feeling. JC didn’t seem to notice as he pointed out more pictures for
Krista to explain. They talked well
into the night when they finally fell asleep.
The next morning Krista woke entangled in another
body. She looked up and realized that
it was JC. She giggled a little at the
fact that she had slept in JC’s arms all night. So many times had she dreamed of this moment and now here she
was. Krista simply snuggled back into
his chest, making JC groan sleepily and pull her tightly against him.
They slept for a few more hours till
the bus stopped at their hotel. Krista
woke up and nudged JC,
“Joshy
poo, it’s time to get up.” She
whispered playfully into his ear and he groaned pulling the covers over their
heads. He snuggled deeper under the
covers with her. She laughed, “Come on
Joshy, we need to get up now.”
“Mmm,
five more minutes spunk.” He mumbled,
“Don’t
make me do it, Joshy. You know I
will.” She whispered sweetly, “You know
I will.”
“Do
what?” He asked opening one eyes to
peer at her,
“I’ll
sing.” She said softly and JC opened
his eyes wide, sitting up instantly,
“Oh
God, anything but that! I’m up, I’m
up!” He said with a smile,
She
pouted crossing her arms, “You are the biggest jerk, you know that?”
JC
playfully bopped her on the nose, “Hey you wanted me up. What more do you want?”
“For
you to shut your pie hole.” She
retorted with so much attitude that JC just had to laugh,
“Make
me some pie woman and maybe I will.” He
teased back,
“Uh!
As if! I would never make your ass pie.
I only make cool people pie.”
“I
wasn’t asking you to make my ass pie.
My mouth wants it. I don’t think my ass would like it very much.”
“Jerk
and a half, you really are.” She
retorted,
“Ooo,
I’ve been upgraded.” He taunted back,
“I
am so going to beat your ass down.” She
grumbled and got out of bed.
“I’m
always ready for a spanking from you.”
He said getting out of the bed after her.
“I
really don’t know why I even hang out with you. All you do is make fun of me.”
She pouted crossing her arms and tilting her head to one side.
JC
scratched the back of his head, “Like you don’t make fun of me every chance you
get?”
She
rolled her eyes, “Yeah, but it’s really easy with you.” She smirked, “It’s like a requirement.”
“And
you wonder why people don’t want to hang out with you.” He retorted, shaking his head, as they got
off of the bus at the venue.
“You’re
still here.” She pointed out and walked
besides him.
“Only
because I get paid to hang out with you.”
He teased glancing over at her.
“Oh
really?” She raised an eyebrow at
him, “Well you should talk to the guys,
because they’ve been paying me to hang out with you so they don’t have to deal
with your picky ass.”
“I’m
not picky, I’m a perfectionist, there’s a difference.” He defended playfully.
“Yeah,
okay.” She said looking away with a
smirk and JC wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
“Breakfast,
Spunk?”
She looked up at him and rubbed her stomach,
“Mmm, you read my mind.”
“Wasn’t
hard, there wasn’t much there to read.”
He teased steering them towards the cafeteria.
“Wow,
I walked right into that one.” She
laughed as they entered the cafeteria.
“Yes,
I’d have to agree with you that you did.”
He laughed with her as they walked over to the food and got their
trays. They made their way through the
line getting food and placing it on their trays. Krista looked over her tray
and wrinkled her nose, “You know, back in school I couldn’t wait till I got out
to the real world where I could eat real food on a plate. Look where I am, still eating my food off a
tray.”
“The
food’s not half bad and you get a plate on your tray.” He pointed out piling more food on one of
his plates.
“Okay
so I’ve moved up a little.” She rolled
her eyes,
“And
you call me picky.”
“Hey
I just don’t want to carry my food on a tray to my table. I don’t think that’s
too much to ask for.” She
complained. JC snatched up the few
small plates that were on her tray and placed them on his. “Hey! That’s my food!” She complained trying to take them back.
He
held his tray out of reach, “I’m not going to eat it, calm down Spunk!” He chuckled as he took her now empty tray
and handed it to a worker. He began
walking over to a table and Krista had no choice but to follow him.
“What
are you doing?” She asked and followed
him.
He
looked over his shoulder at her as he sat down at a table, “You didn’t want to
carry your food to the table on a tray.
Quit your bitching and eat.” He
retorted placing her food down on the table next to his seat. Krista smiled at
JC before leaning over and giving him a kiss on the cheek.
“You’re
so sweet. Thank you.”
He
grinned down at her, “You’re welcome.” He replied and she sat down to eat. Krista pulled out a small container from her
pocket and dropped a pill into her hand.
She then opened up her water and quickly swallowed the pill. JC frowned as he watched her, he didn’t
think she was sick. “What was
that?” He asked and she swallowed down
more water.
“Meds.” She replied as she put down her bottle and
dug into her eggs.
“Oh,
I didn’t know you were sick.” He
replied,
She
glanced up at him, “I’m not.”
“Then
why are you taking medicine?” He inquired,
“It
helps with my disorder.” She shrugged
and played around with her food on her plate.
“Disorder?” JC questioned with concern,
“I
have ADHD, it’s to help control it.”
She said quickly and ate more of her food.
“Oh
okay.” He answered and paused for a
moment, “I thought only kids had that.”
Krista
shook her head, “Not so much. Lots of
adults have it, but it’s just their brains have created coping strategies and
deal with it.”
He
pointed his fork at her, “What about you?”
She
grinned with a shrug, “I’m one of those lucky few special cases where I need
meds to help me.”
“What
happens when you don’t take it? If you
don’t mind me asking.”
“I
don’t mind. I’m really glad to talk
about it. Trust me, it clears up a lot
of confusion.” She laughed a little,
“First
of all, don’t even try having a conversation with me, it’s impossible. I can’t focus on anything for more than a
second, maybe less. I forget tons of
things and say lots of things I shouldn’t.
It’s almost like I’ve lost control over my mind.”
He
frowned, “That’s scary, is it that bad?”
“Without
medicine, yeah.” She nodded, “It’s
weird because I see everything going on but I just can’t stop myself. I know it’s wrong, yet I can’t keep myself
from doing it. Mainly because my
brain’s on overdrive and my body can’t keep up. It’s insane.”
“Sound
like it, but the medicine helps?”
“Yeah
totally. I’m actually normal, well as
much as I can be.” She laughed, “Which
is why I take it everyday like clock work.”
“Chris
had it and just hearing you talk about it explains a whole lot.”
“Gives
you a new perspective huh?”
“Yeah,
I mean sometimes he would do things and we’d all be what the heck?”
“Oh
how I understand. The worst part is
when people label you one way, like I was always considered a flake and air
headed or stupid, when in reality-”
“You
weren’t, it was just the disorder.”
“Exactly,
my entire life changed when I went on the meds and my family learned how to
work with me.”
“Wow,
when did they figure it all out?”
“When
I was in 5th grade. My
grades when from Cs to As, it was pretty remarkable. I felt like a new person.”
“That’s
incredible and the meds are the only thing that helps?”
“No,
they’re like a jumping off block.
Everything else is basically me working hard to control it. It’s gotten easier over the years.” She shrugged, “I’m pretty good with it now.”
“That’s
cool. I have to say that you are one
interesting person.”
“Thanks,
I think.” She said giving him a weird
look.
“I
mean that in a good way.” He grinned at
her,
“Uh huh sure.” She teased with a wink.