“Hi, my name is Missy. I’m a senior here in Orlando and I’m just like most
of you. I have a problem. It started when I got into high school my
freshman year. I went to a party with my newly found older “friends” and I
tried it once. I won’t lie. I liked it. Then, I did it more and more and
now, I can’t stop.” Tears started to surface. It had been so long since she
had cried. A familiar face in the audience nodded in support to show her
that she could do this. She was strong enough. “My mom and dad knew
something was going on but neither of them knew exactly what was happening
to their little girl. They had asked me a few times if something was
bothering me and I always said no. I figured that I could stop if I wanted
to. They’re here tonight and this means a lot to me that I can tell them
this again. I love them and I never want to do something like this to the
people I love again. Here goes…” Missy went on to tell her fateful story…
“You’re late.” Athena simply said. “You were supposed to be here ten
minutes ago.” Melissa, or Missy as her friends called her, ran out of the
school to meet her friends on their usual park bench.
“Sorry, Mr. Burke was telling me how I could improve my writing skills. He
wouldn’t let me leave until I agreed to try to improve my use of adverbial
phrases.” She explained her tardiness sarcastically. “Lame stuff.”
“You guys will never guess what happened last night.” Tanya said. “Guess
what my mom found.”
“Please tell me she didn’t find your smokes.” Missy demanded. Unlike her
friends, she didn’t smoke. Tanya smoked on, basically a regular basis and
Athena had gotten got smoking pot about 4 months ago by her mom. Missy
wondered sometimes what it would be like to be a rebel and do things your
parents would kill you for.
“Yep. They fell out of my purse when I took my stuff downstairs. She threw
a fit! I told her I wouldn’t do it anymore. I think I’ll stop for real.”
Tanya replied. “Softball is starting up again and the coach will kill me if
I’m not hustling and stuff. I can’t hustle if I’m coughing up my appendix.”
The girls started to walk towards their neighborhood. They probably never
would have become friends if they hadn’t lived next door to each other.
Athena and Tanya had been friends since 2nd grade and then missy moved in to
the house in between them. They’d all been friends since 4th grade and now
they were sophomores and their friendship was stronger than ever.
“I told you that stuff was disgusting.” Athena said.
“Like you have room to talk!” Missy argued. “Whose mom caught them doing
pot? Remind me again.”
“Yeah, yeah. I learned my lesson. I’m still grounded. That makes it
almost…4 months now and I still can’t do anything with Sarah.” Athena
replied.
“Why would you want to?” Tanya asked. “The only thing she does is party.”
“Do you guys ever wonder what it would be like to be able to act like that
and never get in trouble for it?” Missy asked her friends.
“I used to.” Tanya said. “Then I got caught smoking. Guess how long I’m
grounded for.”
“A month?” Missy tried.
“Try about 3.” Tanya corrected. “If I’m grounded for 3 months for
cigarettes, how long do you think I would be grounded if my mom caught me
with drugs?”
“You’re right.” Missy agreed.
Just then, the infamous Sarah ran up to them. Sarah was a junior and part
of the “in” crowd at their high school. The party scene at their school
basically revolved around her. She had the best parties, she knew how to
get the alcohol, and she always had something new there to try. When she’s
drunk, she can be the funniest person you’ve ever met or the bitchiest
person you wish you’d never have to meet again. She has a tendency to tell
the truth—a lot.
“Hey, Melissa.” Sarah said, ignoring the other two girls. “I’m glad I
caught you.”
“Really? Why?” Melissa had never really talked to Sarah before.
“I was wondering if you wanted to get together sometime this weekend.”
Melissa was ecstatic! She had always secretly dreamed of hanging out with
Brandon Johnson, the captain of the football team who she had had a major
crush on. She didn’t want to get into trouble though.
“Really?” Missy was trying to hide her excitement.
“Yeah, gimme a call later this week. We’ll do something Friday. ‘Kay?”
Sarah was serious about the invitation. “I gotta go. My friends and I are
going to the mall. Bye!” Then, Sarah ran off down the street towards her
friend’s car.
“Bye!” Missy waited until she was out of hearing distance. “Can you believe
that?! Sarah McCuiston asked me to do something with her this weekend!”
Missy couldn’t hold her excitement anymore and then looked at her friends’
stone expressions. “What?!”
“Are you seriously going to call her?” Tanya asked.
“Seriously, Missy. What do you think her plans are?” Athena wanted to
know. “Do you really think you’re going to have fun?”
“No.” Missy replied. “You guys are right. I’ll call and tell her I can’t
go.”
“Good girl.” Tanya joked. “See you guys later.” She ran off to her front
porch.
Athena and Missy were quiet as they walked to their own houses not knowing
what to say.
Three days had passed and no one really mentioned it. Wednesday at school,
the incident with Sarah was basically forgotten. Then Sarah and Missy ran
in to each other, literally, in the halls between 4th hour and lunch.
“Oh! Hey, Missy!” Sarah realized who she bumped into. “So, how are you?”
“Oh, I’m good. Look about Friday—“ Sarah interrupted her.
“It’s gonna be so much fun! I heard about your crush on Brandon and I told
him I invited you this weekend and I asked him if he knew you were. He said
he was looking forward to meeting you.” Sarah went on before Missy could
tell her she couldn’t go. This time, Missy couldn’t hide her excitement.
“Really?! Wow!” Missy exclaimed. Then she thought about what she told
Athena and Tanya. “What time are you picking me up again?” she asked as a
look of satisfaction spread across Sarah’s face.
*** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~ *** ~~~
Walking home after school was quiet for Missy. ‘Should I tell them I’m
going or should I keep it to myself?’ she thought. She didn’t know what to
do.
“Missy? Are you okay?” Athena had a concerned look on her face.
“Yeah, I’m fine.” Missy lied. She couldn’t decide to tell or keep it to
herself and not tell anyone.
“Okay, anyway.” Tanya continued with the story Missy wasn’t listening to.
“Then Katie told us this joke about men and pantyhose and…oh, how did that
go—“ Missy interrupted her.
“Actually no. I have something to tell you guys.” She had to tell them.
“Brandon Johnson is excited and looking forward to meeting me this weekend!”
she tried to sound as excited as possible to avoid the obvious topic.
“That’s great! “ Athena said. “How is he going to meet you again?”
“Oh, well…I’m gonna meet him at Sarah’s house.” Missy acted like the
incident Monday had never happened. “He’s going to pick us up and we’re
going to the Pit.”
“Sarah’s? Pick you up? The Pit?!” Tanya exclaimed. “Run that all by me
again. I think I missed something.”
“What do you mean?! I thought you weren’t going.” A hurt look crossed
Athena’s face.
“You guys don’t have any idea how long I’ve waited for this day! Brandon
Johnson wants to meet me. ME! Do you even know how happy this makes me?”
Missy explained.
“Do you realize how much trouble you’ll get into if you’re caught?” Athena
yelled. She couldn’t get it into her friend’s head that Sarah was an arrest
waiting to happen.
“Get caught doing what?” Missy had a confused look on her face. Her
friends exchanged a glance that had the “Duh” look to it.
“Missy, you’re not that dense. You know exactly what I’m talking about.”
Athena said. She knew her friend wasn’t that stupid. “Drinking, smoking,
crank, acid, ecstasy. Ring a bell?” Missy just giggled.
“You guys know me better than that! Gimme a break.” Missy tried to assure
her friends. “I’m only going to get to know Brandon. I’m not gonna do
anything. You guys gotta give me some credit here.”
“That’s the point.” Tanya said. She’d been silent long enough. “I don’t
even know if I know you anymore. Usually, you would have turned down an
offer like that. You’re changing and I—we can’t do anything about it.”
Athena nodded in agreement.
Both girls looked to their friend for a reaction. After a few seconds, they
got one.
“Fine. You guys don’t know me anymore. If I’m changing so much, why are
you still around?!” Missy turned on her heel and stormed towards her house
before either girl could respond.
“You’re right, ya know.” Athena supported her friend after a few moments of
silence in the streets. “I noticed it, too.”
“She used to bug us about smoking and I’m afraid she’ll make the same
mistake we did.” Tanya was near tears. Missy, Athena, and her hardly ever
fought. “Athena, I don’t want to see her get hurt.”
“I know.” Athena answered. “I know.”
Two days had passed and Missy hadn’t talked to Athena or Tanya. She got
rides to and from school with Sarah and her friends and Sarah had stopped by
her house Thursday before she went to work.
Flashback
“So, are you excited about tomorrow night?” Sarah asked. “Brandon’s getting
a little edgy.”
“Are you kidding?” Missy answered excitedly. “I can barely contain myself!”
“So, what are you gonna wear?”
“I was thinking my tan cargoes with my maroon and navy Gap sweater.” She
held up the clothes. “What do you think?”
“Looks good.” Sarah agreed. “I told Brandon that you love N Sync. He was
really surprised.”
“Really? What’d he say?”
“Yeah, he figured that they were only for 10 year olds. His little sister
likes them.”
“Oh, I love them. They’re my favorite group.” A look of sorrow crossed
Missy’s face. “Tanya, Athena, and I went to their show a couple of weeks
ago.”
“Are you talking to them yet?” Sarah wondered. She never did like Athena.
If, by chance they were in the same room together, Athena took all the
attention. “You should make up with them. They’re your friends.” Missy shook
her head in protest.
“They don’t understand. They never want to just…cut loose. Have some fun.
Ya know?” Missy tried to explain. “But I promised them I wouldn’t do
anything.”
“That’s fine. Brandon rarely does anything anyway. Once in a while he’ll
throw back a couple but he’s usually the designated driver.” Sarah glanced
at her watch. “I better go. I have to go do homework then go to work. Bye!”
“Alright. See ya!”
End flashback
Missy waited in the white colored foyer as she watched for Sarah’s sapphire
blue truck. A couple minutes later, it pulled into her semicircle driveway.
“Bye, Mom! I’ll be home by 12:30!” Melissa rushed out of the house, not
waiting for a response from her mom. She hopped into the truck and glanced
at the clock. “What time is Brandon picking us up at your house?”
“Change in plans.” She simply replied. “We’re meeting him at the Pit at 7.”
The clock read 6:45.
“Then we better get going!” Missy exclaimed. It took twenty minutes to the
Pit, which was on the outskirts of Orlando. 15 minutes later, they pulled
into the rocky lot of the Pit.
The Pit was known for it’s wild parties but for some reason, no one came to
bust them. The Pit was a deserted building that was still in good shape. It
had two floors and a spot that resembled a bar where they kept the alcohol
for the night. When Missy and Sarah arrived, hardly anyone was there.
“Where is everyone?” Missy asked curiously.
“Everyone goes out somewhere before and then gets here around 9 or so.”
Sarah explained. “The only people that get here early were the alcoholics
who are here every day anyway.” She pointed out a few people already drunk
off of their ass.
“So, why are we here so early?”
“We’re meeting Brandon here at 7 and then we’re going to go get something
to eat in this diner that’s down the road.” She finally told Missy what the
plans were. “You nervous?”
“Nah.” Missy lied.
“Uh-huh.” Sarah didn’t believe a word she said. “I think that’s his car.”
Missy watched a blue Neon weave through the turns of the road leading up to
the Pit.
“Okay, now I’m nervous.” Missy admitted.
“Chill. There’s no reason to be.” Sarah tried to reassure her. “Just be
yourself. He’ll love you. Believe me.”
Brandon got out of his car and walked toward them. Missy admired
everything about him. His denim cargoes, his white shirt under a brown
plaid print button up shirt. He looked good. In Missy’s eyes, he always
looked good.
“Hi. I’m Brandon.” He reached out his hand to hers.
“I know, I mean…um, I’m Missy. Or Melissa. Whichever you like.” She had
never felt more embarrassed in her life. She extended her hand and shook
his. A jolt ran through her body as she touched his hand. She couldn’t
believe this was coming true!
“So, are you two ready to go?” Sarah interrupted their gaze.
“Oh, uh…yeah.” Missy broke from Brandon’s deep brown eyes.
Sarah got in first, letting Missy sit in front with Brandon. Missy
couldn’t help glancing at Brandon every 15 seconds. Maybe it was her
imagination, but he kept looking at her, too.
“Have you ever been to the Pit?” he asked, looking in Missy’s direction.
“No, this is my first time.” Missy couldn’t believe he was actually talking
to her! “I never thought I’d come here.”
“Really?” Brandon looked surprised at her answer. “Anyway, I hear you like
N Sync.”
“Yeah, they’re great. My friends and I went to their show a couple of weeks
ago.” The sorrowness fell over her face again, but she quickly pushed the
feeling away. She wasn’t going to let that ruin her night. “It was really
fun.”
“Yeah. My younger sister likes them. I pretty much know “Tearin’ Up My
Heart” by heart.” Brandon joked. “They’re okay, I guess. But I really like
that slow song they sing. I can’t think of the na—“
“God Must Have Spent A Little More Time On You?” that was Missy’s favorite
song.
“Yeah! That’s it. That’s a really good song.” Brandon shot a smile her
way. A minute or two passed and they arrived at Benny’s, a small diner that
was basically empty. They walked in, sat down, and ordered. They talked
more about the football team next year, Sarah’s parents (who had been giving
her a hard time), and how “strict” Missy’s curfew was. Since Brandon was
the designated driver and Sarah would more than likely be plastered by
midnight, he offered to give Missy a ride home. Missy readily accepted. At
8:45, Brandon finished his last bite and they were ready to pay and leave.
“Here.” Missy handed Brandon a five-dollar bill to pay for her food, but he
refused.
“I got it.” He simply said to her and Missy got another chance to check out
his pearly whites.
“Shall we party?” Brandon asked, offering his arm to Missy.
“We shall.” Missy was having the night of her life and it wasn’t even
halfway over yet. Another 10 minutes in the car and they were, again,
parked in the rocks of the Pit’s lot.
“I wonder what they brought for me this week.” Sarah said out loud to
herself.
“What is she talking about?” Missy whispered to Brandon as Sarah ran to the
door.
“You know John Sturm?” Missy nodded. “He brings something new for her to
try every other weekend. Last time it was angeldust.” Missy had no idea
what they were talking about until he said angeldust.
“Oh.” Missy didn’t say anything else. Brandon walked into the building with
Missy on his arm. Many girls’ heads twisted to see who Brandon had arrived
with. Some gave her nasty looks.
“Missy!” Sarah yelled over the booming Sugar Ray music. “Come here!”
She ran over to Sarah with Brandon and saw what Sarah wanted. She saw a
glass of beer in Sarah’s hand.
Missy never thought she would be the one to encounter this kind of
situation. She looked to Brandon.
“If you want to,” was all he said.
Melissa’s mind went back to Tanya and Athena and the fun they had had
together. ‘Athena and Tanya are great friends,’ she told herself. ‘Don’t
betray their trust.’ Then, the notorious “bad-twin” appeared. ‘C’mon. Cut
loose. Have some fun! What’s it gonna do? Kill ya? Only this once.’ She
agreed with the bad side.
“Bring it on!” Missy said finally. Some people in the crown even cheered.
“Have you ever drank before?” Sarah asked. Missy turned and smiled to her
new friend.
“No,” she replied. “But now is a good a time as ever.”
“That’s my girl!” Sarah exhumed pride. It wasn’t her goal to turn Missy
bad. She just thought Missy would be someone fun to hang out with. If
Missy was having fun, so was Sarah. Sarah just had a tendency to get bored
with the same friends and usually moved on to new ones within a couple of
months.
The night went on and the drinks were passed around. Sarah was drunk by
midnight, but Missy was just as bad.
“Sarah, what are we gonna do with Missy?” Brandon asked his intoxicated
friend. “We can’t take her home like this. She’ll be in so much trouble.”
“So take her to my house. Duh!!” Sarah started laughing hysterically for no
reason at all.
“Fine.” Brandon walked toward Missy and put her in the car. The car ride
home was loud. Missy wouldn’t stop talking. She was majorly flirting with
Brandon but he knew it was the alcohol. He didn’t respond to her drunk
advances because he didn’t want to do something he would regret. He started
to like her throughout the night, but he couldn’t be sure because he had
just met her. When they reached Sarah’s house, he instructed that she be
very quiet as he lead her up to Sarah’s room. He leaned over, turned down
the volume on the radio and turned it on.
“Oh, I love this song!” Missy whispered to him. “Dance with me.” She
grabbed his hand and walked to the middle of the room as “God Must Have
Spent A Little More Time On You” came softly over the airwaves. Brandon
just wanted to get her to sleep and go home. Halfway through the song,
Brandon looked down at Melissa who was fast asleep on his shoulder. He laid
her down on the bed, pulled the covers up, and silently crept out of the
house.
“Come on, Missy!” Sarah yelled up the stairs. “Let’s go!”
“I’m coming!” Missy yelled back. “Gosh, keep your shirt on!”
“Well, we’re gonna be late!” Sarah reminded her. “We have to meet everyone
at the corner at 8!” The Pit was now “out of service” because someone
finally decided to bust them after 3 years of successful high school
partying. Luckily, Missy and Sarah were out with some people they had met
from a different Orlando high school. These other new friends weren’t real
friends, as Melissa would soon discover. These new acquaintances introduced
Missy to drugs. Not cigarettes and alcohol, but more hard-core stuff. With
Sarah’s help, Mark (the biggest influence) successfully got Missy stoned for
the first time in her life about 3 and a half months ago.
Flashback
Sarah and Melissa had gone to the other school’s nightly hang-out for a
reason unknown to Melissa. Missy was hesitant when they brought out the
weed. Sarah described how good it felt to be “out of yourself” for a couple
of hours. Mark gave her a good deal. The first time was free (lucky her!).
She smelled the fumes from others who had already lit up and gagged. Of
course, everyone laughed and she let it go and laughed with them.
Naturally, Missy was afraid of many things. Getting caught, her parents
smelling on her, there were many things keeping her from trying it. But one
thing gave her all the temptation she needed to go ahead and do it. A
comment Sarah made when Missy got drunk the first time. What harm will a
little alcohol do? She had said. It didn’t do much. Missy took the joint.
Now, smoking with other people from the rival high school was a weekly thing
for Missy and Sarah.
End flashback
In fact, that’s where they we’re going tonight.
“Come on, Missy,” Sarah moaned with an annoyed tone. Finally, Melissa
appeared in the doorway
“Alright. Let’s go.” Missy said, shoving Sarah through the door. “Who all
is going tonight?”
“Mark and the usual people, I guess,” Sarah replied. “Unless he invited
someone we don’t know about. Maybe Jake will be there again.’
“Oh no. I’m not doing that again.” Missy refused. She remembered the short
lived “fling” with Brandon she had about 4 months ago. They dated for about
3 weeks then he broke it off. He said she was getting too wild for him.
“What do you mean?”
“I’m not going to start dating someone I know nothing about.” Missy
explained as she stared out the window of Sarah’s truck.
“Anyway.” Sarah left the tender subject alone. “I wonder what Mark will
bring for us to try this time.”
“I hope he has more crank. That is the best stuff I think I’ve ever
tried.” Missy told her.
“I’m sure there’ll be some there again,” Sarah replied. “Did you bring your
money?”
“Yeah.”
“Alright, let’s go.” Sarah said as the truck pulled up to the Lincoln
Navigator Mark’s parents had bought him for his birthday. Missy and Sarah
stepped out of the truck and walked toward the campfire where everyone sat.
Small talk was commenced and the drugs were passed around. Missy always
thought of the promise she made to Athena and Tanya 4 months ago before she
inhaled the marijuana. Sometimes she felt a twinge of guilt but the feeling
always subsided as the drug passed through her body. As the joint came her
way again, the same feeling came over her as usual. The guiltiness cleared
as she rose to the high once again.
After a while, Missy’s new friends and social encounters made their way
around the large school. Nice, young, clean Missy Adams is running with the
druggie crew. Different rumors with different sources were being spread.
Most of which weren’t true, but might as well have been. Melissa was
addicted to heroin, or Melissa was pregnant and the baby was from some guy
from the other school. When Athena and Tanya heard these, they couldn’t
believe how much their old friend was changing. They didn’t believe the
rumors, but they knew she wasn’t the same. They went to talk to one of
their new friends, Rachael, who always had good advice for anyone who asked
for it.
“Hey, Rach! How’s it goin’?” Athena asked.
“Oh, it’s goin’. I talked to Justin last night.” Rachael replied. “He’s
looking forward to meeting you guys.”
“Well, the feeling is definitely likewise!” Tanya exclaimed. Rachael had
just moved to Orlando from Nashville. She had gone to the same school as
Justin Timberlake from N Sync and even though he was a famous pop star, they
kept in touch.
“So, when are they coming?” Athena asked excitedly. “When do I get to meet
JC?!”
“Soon. They’re coming back for a month to work on their new album.”
Rachael said. “In about a week and a half. Oh! Have you guys heard the
latest gossip?”
“Yeah. God, why can’t people mind their own business?” Athena demanded.
“Who really believes that Melissa would really sleep with a guy just to get
drugs?” Tanya asked. “I don’t. Mel would never do that!”
“I have an awesome idea!” Athena told her two friends. “Why don’t we try to
get Mel back with us?”
“I don’t know Athena. She was pretty mad at us.” Tanya protested.
“We could invite her to come with us to meet Justin and the other guys!
That would tell her that we’re still here for her.” Athena ignored Tanya’s
refusal. She turned to Rachael and continued. “Would that be okay?”
“Sure,” Rachael agreed. “I don’t see why not. It’s worth a shot.”
“I’ll go find her.” Athena was down the clearing hallway before Tanya could
muster another syllable.
* ~ * ~ * ~
“Hey, Melissa!” Athena yelled down the hall. After 5 minutes of searching
the school, she spotted her old friend. Melissa turned and was surprised to
see Athena yelling her name. It was almost like nothing had changed.
“What’s up?” Melissa said softly.
“Well…do you know Rachael Karlin? The girl in our language arts class last
semester?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Well, her, Tanya, and I were wondering if you wanted to do something with
us next Thursday night since we don’t have school Friday.”
“Sure. What are we doing?” Melissa was happy Athena was talking to her
again.
“Well, we thought we’d go bowling, go out to dinner, meet N Sync, and go to
a movie.” She said quickly, hoping Missy caught on.
“Wait a minute.” Missy said with a strange look on her face. “Back up.”
“Go bowling?” Athena played stupid.
“No, after that.”
“Out to eat?”
“After that.”
“The movie?”
“NO!”
“Oh, N Sync?!”
“Yeah! Are you serious?”
“Yeah, Rachael used to go to school with Justin. So, what do you say?”
Again, Athena played stupid.
“Of course, I’ll go!” Missy was never more excited in her life!
“Alright! I’ll call you with the details later.” Athena told her as Missy
ran off to meet Sarah. When Missy was out of earshot, she spoke to herself.
“My friend is back.”
“Can you believe we’re actually doing this?!” Athena said into the phone.
She was talking to Tanya as she searched for something to wear when she met
Justin, JC, Joey, Lance, and Chris.
“I know! I never even in my wildest dreams thought that we would actually
get to meet them!” Tanya added.
“This is a freakin’ dream come true!” Athena shouted into the phone.
“I gotta go. My mom has to use the phone to call someone at work. I’ll see
you at 5:30, right?”
“Right. Bye!” Athena hung up and immediately called Rachael.
“Hello?” a guy’s voice answered the phone. By his voice, he sounded pretty
hot.
“Hi, this is Athena. Is Rachael there?”
“Uh, hold on.” He tried to muffle the phone with his hand, but it didn’t
work too well. “Hey, JC! Is Rachael here?” Athena almost dropped the phone.
“Is this Justin?” Athena tried to sound as calm as possible.
“Um, yeah.” He told her. “Don’t tell anyone, okay?”
“Oh, I won’t. I’m Athena. One of Rachael’s friends that you’re going to
meet tonight.”
“Oh, hi!” Justin said. “Well, I guess I’ll see you tonight. Here’s Rach.
Bye, Athena.”
“Bye!” she could hardly contain herself. She just conversed with Justin
Timberlake!
“Hey!” Rachael finally got on the phone. “How’d you like that?”
“OH MY GOSH!!!” Athena screamed into the phone.
“I heard that!” she heard Justin say in the background. Athena decided to
lower her voice.
“Is JC there?” Athena composed herself.
“Sure, you wanna talk to him?” (writer’s note: people like to play dumb in
this story don’t they?!)
“DUH!”
“Okay, okay! Hey JC! You wanna talk to my friend Athena? You’re gonna meet
her later bowling.” Rachael said.
“Sure.” JC took the phone. “Hey.”
“Uh…um, hi.” Athena suddenly slipped into shy mode. What would she say to
him?
“So, how are you?” JC was as nice as any person could be. Athena finally
popped out of her shell and chatted with Joshua Scott for 10 minutes before
they had to go pick up Joey, Lance, and Chris at the hotel. Athena went and
picked up Tanya and Melissa in her newly received Escort with her newly
acquired drivers’ license. Around 5:45, they arrived at the bowling alley.
The introductions were quick and pretty much one-sided because the girls
already knew who all the guys were. It was obvious that Justin and Melissa
automatically clicked. In other words, they kept making each other laugh,
they couldn’t talk to anyone else, and they couldn’t keep their eyes off of
each other.
Dinner was also quite eventful. Chris, being the crazy guy he is, managed
to start a food fight towards the end of the meal with Joey. Luckily, since
it was at the end of the meal, they finished their food before they got
kicked out. Finally, the movie. Of course, Justin sat by Melissa on the
end, then Tanya, Joey, Athena, JC, Lance, Rachael, and Chris. Missy was off
thinking in her own world. Did she have to tell Justin that she was a
regular at the dope parties on Fridays? She decided against it. It’s not
like they were married or together or anything. She didn’t have a real
obligation to tell him. Besides, this was probably a one-time thing, and a
one-time chance and she wasn’t going to blow it. She could feel a pair of
eyes looking at her. Melissa glanced to her right at Justin and realized
the eyes were his. He gave the sexy smirk he was well-known for. Being as
bold as she had become in the last few months, she reached for his hand in
the dark, intertwining their fingers together. This was definitely a night
she wouldn’t forget anytime soon.
The first whole week N Sync was in Orlando, they didn’t have anything
scheduled except to live it up and have fun. That Friday, Justin, Mellie
(Justin’s name for Missy), Athena, and JC decided to go to an all-age club.
Justin and Missy were shredding up the dance floor for a while when Missy
saw someone she knew and drug Justin over to meet him.
“Mark, hey!” Missy yelled over the loud music. “How are you?”
“I’m good. Who’s your friend?” Mark looked suspiciously at Justin.
“Oh, he’s my new friend, Justin. He’s visiting Rachael. Justin, this is
Mark.”
“Hey.” Justin said. He didn’t feel a very good vibe coming from Mark.
“Hey.” Mark quickly forgot about Justin. “Where’s Sarah?”
“I don’t know. I’m here with JC and Athena.” She tried to avoid anymore
comments about Sarah, which didn’t work.
“You guys should’ve come to the Bowl. It was slammin’…” Mark went on as
Melissa tried to silence him subtly. “… There was new stuff there. Man,
you’ve gotta try it.”
“Oh, we better get back to JC and Athena. Bye.” She quickly ushered Justin
away from Mark and back to their table.
“Who was that?” Justin asked curiously.
“Mark is a friend of mine from school.” She didn’t want to answer anymore
questions. “Do you wanna dance some more?”
“Sure.” Just then, “…Baby One More Time” by Britney Spears came through the
large speakers. The two, once again, tore up the dance floor and even drew
a crowd through the duration of the #1 single. Then the DJ spoke.
“I wanna say good job to the couple keepin’ it real on the floor! We’ve
been going all night so we’re gonna slow it down now. This next one’s by
some friends of Britney’s. Here’s N Sync with their new single, “I Drive
Myself Crazy”.” Justin bowed to Mellie. “May I have this dance?” he asked
as he cordially asked for her hand.
“You may.”
As they swayed to the soft ballad, Justin softly sang in Melee’s ear.
“I was such a fool. I couldn’t see it, just how good you were to me…” Missy
swooned and she knew they had a great friendship blossoming. A dreadful
feeling that she had felt in the theater came over her again. What if Justin
found out about her weekend parties? Her own family didn’t know that she got
drunk every weekend. Would this blond angel leave? Would he ever forgive
her? She finally came to the conclusion that he could never find out.
They’d only known each other for a week, but she knew they had something no
one else saw. She popped back into reality and heard Justin croon the
chorus.
“I lie awake, I drive myself crazy. Drive myself crazy thinking of you.
Made a mistake when I let you go baby. I drive myself crazy wanting you the
way that I do.”
She looked to her right and saw Athena leaning on JC as they swayed to the
music. She closed her eyes and slipped away in the moment.
Prologue
The girl got up from her chair and walked toward the platform. Her light
blue tee showed off her straight, long red hair. She turned around to face
the group of students that had formed in the medium-sized cafeteria.
Chapter 1: The Invitation
Chapter 2: The Fight
Chapter 3: The Party
Chapter 4: To drink, or not To Drink?
Chapter 5: 4 months later
Chapter 6: A new offer
Chapter 7: The Meeting
Chapter 8: The First Sign
