(~) Part 16 (~)
The two ‘couples’ had spent the evening together. JC had nonchalantly accepted Joey’s “We were both bored, so we decided just to hang out” explanation and moved onto a subject he seemed to be much more interested in...Michelle. Both Kristin and Joey had seen a drastic change in JC’s demeanor that evening. He really seemed to be enjoying his time with Shell, and Kristin and Joey used THAT fact to always redirect the topic of conversation AWAY from any possibility of a ‘them’. After just cruising the streets with no particular destination in mind, they had returned to the hotel room around 10:00 that evening; but Joey had left immediately after, to take Kristin home.
Now it was only JC and Michelle left in the hotel room.
“Ummm...” The both started simultaneously. Nervously they laughed, and then tried to start once more. “I, uh...” Again, they interrupted each other and burst out in childish giggles.
JC broke the pattern this time, though, with a somewhat serious expression. He covered her hand gently with his own and she looked straight into his crystalline eyes. “Michelle...I think I really like you. You’re funny, you’re sweet, you’re beautiful...and you like me too...” He didn’t seem finished.
“But...?” Michelle prodded.
“But I, uh...I just want to take it slow. The whole group problems and the break-up with Kristin - who I’m over, might I add...they’re both kind of tough to deal with now.” As soon as he admitted to being over Kristin...he got an eerie nagging feeling that his nose had grown about six inches.
“I understand completely, Josh...”
JC froze. ‘Josh? Only my MOM calls me JOSH anymore. Geez...what does she think she’s doing - who does she think she is?!? And why the heck am I being so ridiculous over a name...do I really NOT want to get close to her? Why do I still feel like I produced a REALLY huge lie just a few minutes ago? And, most importantly, WHY is my mind racing like this?!?’ These and a thousand more thoughts rushed through JC’s mind before Michelle finally snapped him out of his daze.
“JC? Hun...you OK?” She looked at him, somewhat concerned.
“Yeah...I’m sorry, Shelly. Look, I...I think I need to get some rest. You know how I am about my sleep!” He said with a distracted chuckle.
She gave a happy nod, like she understood completely. But, she lingered, still staring into JC’s eyes. ‘She just looks SO beautiful,’ JC thought to himself. ‘I’m probably just weary about getting too attached again. I should just go for it. Yeah...what do I have to lose?’ Just then, an eerie hissing noise started coming from the cracked window. Funny...it sounded just like...‘Chrisssssssss...’
“Chris?!?” JC blurted out, utterly confused.
“Umm, JC, Honey, Chris isn’t here. It’s just the wind. You MUST be pretty tired!” She leaned forward, suddenly, though, and pressed her lips up against his in an awkward kiss. She pulled away, somewhat upset that JC hadn’t put much effort into the kiss. But, regardless, she saw a smile on JC’s face, and figured he was satisfied - and that was enough for her. She kissed him once more on the forehead, and continued to see that mannequin-like look in his eyes. “Well, G’Nite, Baby. I’ll give you a call?”
“Yeah, yeah...call me. Uh, huh...” He continued smiling and then broke his stare long enough to usher her outside and to her car. When he returned to his seat on the couch, he heard the hissing sound of the wind once more - and it made sense. It seemed to make the same sound, but this time, it had quite a different connotation...and spelling...
“Krissssssssssss...”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Chapter 17 (~)
“You...BASTARD!!” Jen was finally able to wiggle away from Aaron’s grip. In an attempt to remove her shirt, he relaxed his hold just enough so that Jen could slip away. She screamed as loud as she could, and her plan worked. A group of rollerbladers a ways down the trail, pricked up their ears and started skating towards the two.
“Is, uh...everything all right, ma’am?” An imposing man of about 30 or so asked.
“Yeah...FINE!” Jen began nervously. “I was just yelling at...at a...bee! I hate those little buggers - he just WOULDN’T leave me alone!” She laughed tensely. “This NICE man was just helping me...” She said, a caustic edge to her voice. “I’ll be going, now...thanks for your help, sir...” She took off at a full sprint before the two men and the rest of the group could see the hot tears in her eyes. ‘Damn him...DAMN him!’ She ran and ran until she finally reached her dorm. Flopping onto her bed, she pulled out her diary and began scribbling furiously:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear Diary~
Well, I had an interesting day. I was almost RAPED this afternoon. Yes, it was that damn Aaron again - WHO ELSE? And that whole LOVELY incident was preceded by a HUGE fight with Justin. He lied...of course...All men lie. He said he wasn’t with that girl in the store. But Doug TOLD me. He said he SAW them with his own two eyes. Lying bastard. So...all in all, this was a pretty sucky day, doncha think? Yeah...first a fight with the most incredible man in the world (who is now a deceitful JERK), then an accusation of trying to actually GET WITH Aaron (uh, no...not quite...other way around, JUSTIN...), and then an attempted RAPE by none other than my dear FRIEND, Aaron. I NEED to tell someone...but he’ll kill me. He said he would. I NEED you Justin. I can’t trust you anymore, because you lied...but somehow...I need you...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
She slammed the notebook and broke out into a fresh batch of sobs. Just then a knock came on her door. “Go away...” She cried, breathlessly. The knocking didn’t cease. Finally, she got up and padded towards the door, brashly wiping the tears from her eyes. Looking outside the peep-hole, she saw a body dressed mostly in...baby-blue. ‘Oh, no. Now what do I do...’
She opened the door slowly and Justin looked at her with a tear stained face. “Why, Jen? Why did you do this to me?” He asked, desperately wanting her to say something that would just make it all right.
Jen needed Justin, but she didn’t want him. NO...NOT then. HE was the deceitful JERK. She no longer felt threatened by Aaron at the moment - she felt nothing but anger...and hatred.
“I DID NOTHING TO YOU!!! You did EVERYthing to me!!! YOU are the lying, cheating SLUT!!” She was so full of emotion - so angry, that she began to see spots of blackness in front of her. All she wanted was to throw something. She reached for the first object her hand touched and hurled it at Justin. After slamming the door in his face, she flopped back onto her bed...and spent the rest of the evening in tears.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Justin was thrown back against the wall after the heavy object hit his head. Rubbing his injured forehead, he looked down at it. “SHE is gettin’ WAY outta control. We gotta get to the bottom of this.” He let out a huge sigh as he started to get up. He continued, out loud, though: “What the...Is this...a diary?!?”
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 18 (~)
Aaron returned to Caroline’s and miserably let himself in. He didn’t get the best of ‘that BITCH’ for once and he wasn’t willing to accept that. He’d get her...
His thoughts were interrupted by Caroline returning home. She walked upstairs and popped her head into the room Aaron used while he was fighting with his parents - which was QUITE often.
“Hey, Baby! How was your day?” She walked over to him and hugged him from behind.
Aaron wiped the disappointment off of his face immediately, as to not make her question him. “It was great, Caroline! I didn’t do much, but it was fine. How ‘bout yours?”
As he turned to her, a huge fake smile crept over his face. He bent down and kissed her deeply. “Gimme some love, Caroline...”
Caroline giggled as he kissed down the side of her neck. “Alrighty...” She said with another giggle.
If he couldn’t get any from Jen, it didn’t mean he couldn’t get any from the one he was SUPPOSED to be with...
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Amy spent the next day moping around her apartment, feeling sorry for both Lance AND herself. Their once-in-a-lifetime moment was ruined...and for such a tragedy, too. A knock came at her door.
She realized that she was still wearing one of Lance’s shirts and she hadn’t showered since the day before, but she didn’t even care. Plodding towards the door, she opened it slowly and saw a ragged looking Justin standing in front of her.
“Justin! What HAPPENED? You have to stop showing up on my doorstep like this!” She added with a shy giggle.
“Bad stuff, Ames...Bad stuff. You ain’t looking your pretty self either. YOU all right?” He walked into her apartment after she ushered him in and stood in the middle of her floor. He looked down at his dirty shirt and, after giving himself the sniff-test, stripped off his shirt and beater. He had no shame anymore...he didn’t even care.
“J...?” Amy walked over to him cautiously.
He remained turned around, but began speaking in a slow, even voice. “Looks like we BOTH could use a friendly ear, huh?”
She agreed with him and the two young people spent the entire afternoon griping to each other and TRYING to make the other feel a little better.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After spending the rest of the day at Great Adventure AND that night in each other’s arms, Chris and Megan decided to pay Amy a visit. They had to thank the girl that actually set them up! They started on their way over to her apartment right around the time Justin had finally put a semi-permanent smile on Amy’s face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After quite a few rousing games of Twister (which is quite difficult with only two, might I add...), the two FINALLY smiling people sat down and caught their breath from laughing so much. Justin had brought over Jen’s diary but he refused to read it. They mutually decided to just keep it at Amy’s apartment and return it to her when she came to her senses.
Justin looked over out of the picture window and saw the familiar reddish-black dreds bouncing up the stairs. “Chris!” He ran to the door and let him in just as he was about to knock.
“J-Dog! What up, Man?!?” He gave Justin a brief hug and then put his arm promptly back around the pretty girl next to him.
“Not much,” he started, not wanting to get into the whole story at the moment. “This must be Megan, I presume?” He said, shaking her outstretched hand.
Chris nodded his head enthusiastically with a HUGE grin. “Yep! Hey, Amy!” He called to the girl standing behind Justin.
She returned to greeting, and, after hugging Megan and giving her a sly ‘I-told-you-I-was-right’ smile, she sat down on the couch - the sad look returning to her face. It just hit her that her baby was sitting in a WAKE at the moment.
“You OK, Ames? Chris walked over to couch and sat down next to her.
With a huge sigh, she proceeded to spill everything, as did Justin a few moments later.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Wow, I’m so sorry, Honey - Hon-IES!” Megan gave Amy an embrace and patted Justin’s hand. “We gotta get your mind off of this!”
The four sat in silence for a few minutes, trying to come up with something to do.
Megan jumped up with a start. “I KNOW!! My friend’s having a HUGE party tonight. We’ll go to that - that’ll be great! His house is INCREDIBLE and he’s having a DJ and a keg and everything!”
Justin laughed. “A keg...geez, could I use THAT! Naw, I’m just playin’ witcha...”
Amy nodded her head in agreement. “Hey, it can’t hurt, now can it?!?” After a stern look from her companions, she broke into a smile. “Sheesh - don’t look at me like I’m a friggin’ alcoholic! Wow!”
“Oh, you know we’re just kidding! Let’s go, then. We’ll go change, you guys can get ready and we’ll go forget about the HELLS of life for a little while.” Chris started towards the door and Megan followed. After they left, Amy hopped into the shower, followed by Justin, and the two took their time getting ready to party their problems away...well, at least for the evening.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 19 (~)
Lance sat in silence as the last of the mourners filtered through the funeral home. He had tried to be polite to all, but he just couldn’t find it in himself to be sociable. His grandfather had been like a second father to the young boy. Always with a smile, the elderly man was never without a small trinket or some piece of advice to give to ‘Jimmy’, his only grandson. No one else ever called him Jimmy - just Gramps.
He snapped out of his reminiscence when a young female voice called his name softly. Immediately recognizing the voice, he turned around quickly and produced the biggest smile he could. There, before him, was his old best friend before he moved out of Mississippi. She was around 5’6” or so with shoulder-length brownish-blond hair and hazel eyes.
“Kylie-Bug!” He exclaimed, using his old nickname for her.
“Lancelot!” She said, also using a childhood nickname.
They gave each other a long hug. “Wow, I’ve missed you, Girl...” His excitement quickly faded, though, as he remembered his reason for returning to Laurel, his birthplace.
“I’m...I’m so sorry, Lance. I know how close you were to Gramps...” Her excitement faded just as quickly - the sweet old man had loved her like his own and treated her like family whenever she’d visit.
Then, a pretty, middle-aged woman walked quietly up to Lance and Kylie. “Mrs. B! Oh, Mom, I’m so sorry about your father...” She stood up and gave Diane Bass a huge hug. Diane was nearly a surrogate mother to Kylie. She spent just about as much time at the Bass residence as she did at her own. “Dad...” She reached over and gave Jim Bass a hug as well after he joined the group.
“Sweetie, thanks for coming...” Diane started, a few fresh tears spilling over. Just then, Stacy and her husband Ford came back into the room. Kylie greeted them and shared her condolences; Lance’s family headed home for the night soon after. They had closed up the funeral home, so Lance and Kylie headed outside to catch up on some of the old times, and to try to get the grief-stricken boy’s mind onto better things.
“So, Lancelot...How’ve you been?!? How’s the guys? We haven’t talked in so long!” The two old friends sat down on the curb and Lance let out a huge sigh.
“Well, up until JC called me last night, things weren’t TOO bad, but, well, actually...they WERE pretty bad, when you consider the fact that there temporarily isn’t an ‘NSync right now...”
“WHAT? Lance, what are you talking about?!?” Her hazel eyes searched his bloodshot green ones, looking desperately for an explanation.
After another huge sigh, Lance relayed the entire story, all the way from the beginning. Kylie just sat there and listened intently, never uttering a word unless she knew Lance wanted it. That was exactly the reason the two had been such good friends - no one else knew how to listen quite like Kylie did.
“Awww, my poor little bro...” (She always bragged that she was a few days older.) She hugged him for a long time as the frustrated tears flowed quite freely. “Ya know what I think? I think...no, I KNOW, that you and the other guys will work this all out. I wish I could be there to help you with it...maybe you just need an impartial mediator there. But, of course, I’m here, and...well, you’re staying in New Jersey for the time being. Even if I wanted to leave, I can’t. I’m taking extra courses here so I can graduate early...I wanna join the Peace Corps outta college.”
He turned to her with a pained smile. “That’s great, Bugger - I’m happy for you!! Actually, there IS this girl in Jersey that’s kinda like...well, she IS my girlfriend. She’s a wonderful person AND a great listener. You shoulda seen her work with Justin when he had a bunch of problems...”
“Wai-wai-wai-wait, WHAT? MY little brother, LANCELOT, has a GIRLFRIEND?!? DO TELL! What’s her name, what’s she look like...come on, boy, I want DETAILS!” She said with a giggle.
“Nosy little bugger, ain’t you?!?” He started, but then, the two laughed, remembering the origin of her one nickname.
“Well, her name is Amy and she is wonderful. She’s REALLY tall, maybe even a little taller than me, she’s got beautiful, long blond hair, and hazel eyes, and she’s just...well, she’s my Little Rosebud. I really love her a lot...” He said, remembering her sweet face and wishing he could have brought her with him.
“Awww, Hun! You LOVE her? That’s so sweet! Wait, though, does that mean you...well, you know...”
Lance laughed at her sideways approach. “Well, that’s exactly what we had JUST done right before JC told me the news...”
“A girl saw Lancey naked, a girl saw Lancey naked...Well, except for me...” Kylie got up and sang in a sing-song voice while skipping around the blushing boy. Her reference to herself was simply their inside joke about the time she accidentally walked in on him getting out of his shower - at age six.
He eventually just laughed it off as Kylie returned to her former seat. “Well, Lance, that’s good that you have Amy there to support you. I’m sure it’ll all get worked out sooner than you think. What else could possibly go wrong?”
“You’re right...you are SO right. It’s all gonna get better, right? RIGHT!” He said emphatically.
The two spent the rest of the evening into the wee hours of the morning talking about everything under the sun. Little did Lance know, though, his worries were just beginning. A tiny, little fight within the group was nothing compared to the MOMENTOUS event that was about to occur in his life...one that NO ONE could have EVER prepared him for...one WORSE than any hurt even one of his best friends could bring him.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
(~) Part 20 (~)
Amy put the finishing touches on her make-up as Justin, Chris and Megan sat patiently in her living room. She finally emerged after a few minutes of waiting.
“Finally, Geez...WHOA. Lookin’ GOOD, Ames!” Chris let out a long whistle and Justin began cat-calling.
“Oooo, yeah, work-it, GIRL!” Justin grinded up next to Amy as she began a little dance to the beat-box he had just begun. With a laugh, the four friends gave themselves the once over. They ALL were looking pretty darn spiffy, actually. Amy was in a pair of fitted black pants, a bluish-silver tube-top, and flat black sandals, Megan wore a short gray skirt, a black strappy tank, and chunky black shoes, Chris had on a pair of black cargo pants and a dark red sweater shirt, and Justin was sporting baggy gray pants, an open baby blue button-down and a black wifebeater.
“Ready guys?” Megan prodded. “I don’t wanna miss the good stuff!”
The four took off and started the short walk to Megan’s friend, Jeremy’s house.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Hey, Jer! What up?” Megan walked up to an obviously drunk, muscular, blond-haired, blue-eyed boy and gave him a hug. He actually had quite a resemblance to Justin, but the tall young guy was too plastered to notice.
“Meggggggggg!!!” He slurred. “Who’s the duuuudddeeeee???” He asked pointing to Chris.
“I’m Megan’s boyfriend, Chris...” He started, putting his arm around her.
“Oh...” He looked quite perplexed for a minute. But then a huge smile crept over his face. “Hhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!”
“Hhhheeeeeeeeeeeeeyyyyyyyyyyyy,” Chris mocked, giving him the thumbs up sign with a chuckle. “Whoa...HE’S TRASHED! And it’s only 9:30!” He said, turning to the others.
“Yeah, well...what can I say, the boy’s a little party-hound! I’ve known him all his life, and he’s always been like this,” she added with a giggle. She was barely able to finish the statement, though, before Chris pulled her off to the dance floor.
“OKaaaayyyyy...” Amy started. “Looks like we’re on our own, J!”
“Hey, we can fend for ourselves, now can’t we? Wanna drink?” He asked as the two made their way over to the keg.
“Ummmm, yeah. I guess one won’t hurt, now will it?” She said, skeptically. She DIDN’T feel like getting wasted, but she WAS pretty tense.
“Nah...it’ll loosen you up!” He smiled as he handed her a cup and took one for himself. “I like my dance partners loose...” He added with a sideways smile.
“Oh yeah, Mr. Timberlake? I’m your dance partner?” She returned the smile.
“Yeah, well, I’m not movin’ in on my buddy, Lance...but I’ve always been kinda hot for ya - you know, in a physical way, of course! And you’re lookin’ MIGHTY fine this evenin’, Miss Amy...”
“JUSTIN!” Amy said, blushing. “Well, I guess you ain’t bad, either, though. But NOT in a...you know, ‘I want you and I’m gonna leave Lance’ type way. He’s my baby, you know that...” She added seriously, not wanting her intentions to be taken wrong.
“Not at all...I understand...I’m with ya completely - no movin’ in at all!” He turned away, but then turned back and put his hand on her waist. “BUT...there’s nothing wrong with a little dancing, now is there?” He asked, starting to shake his ‘groove thang’ to the beat coming from the dance floor.
“Uh-uh!” She chugged the rest of her drink and put the cup back on the counter. Justin did the same and looked at her with a sly grin. “Ready?”
She just nodded and, grabbing his hand, led him to the center of the dance floor. He began a steady rhythm of grinding and Amy moved in to join him. Feeling the slight effects of the one beer going to her head, she loosened even more and took her hair down. Justin pulled her flush up against him and they spent that dance - and the rest of the evening - moving as one; but as a girl and a guy in a very PLATONIC relationship.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Meggers, do you know what happened to Amy and J? I haven’t seen them in a while...” Chris broke his gazing (into Megan’s eyes of course) long enough to look around briefly.
“Yeah, they’re over th...wow, they’re pretty close! WHOA!” She had been facing them the entire evening, and they hadn’t parted once. They obviously WEREN’T drunk...they had only had time to grab one drink before the kegs were dried. There wasn’t any romance, let alone any kissing or major groping, which was a VERY good thing. As far as Megan could see - she hoped - they were just two friends trying to make the best of being away from their loved ones.
“Well, we gotta just keep an eye on them, OTAAAAAYYYY?!?” Chris and Megan, on the other hand, WE’RE pretty drunk. They planned on spending the evening at Jeremy’s as did Amy and Justin. “We’ll just have to make sure they end up in a bed...” He added, not really comprehending WHAT the heck he was saying.
“Uh...I think that’s what we DON’T want. Au contraire...WE’RE the ones that want to end up in a bed, Chrissy-Boy...” She was quite a bit more sober than he, and she pulled him even closer.
He started giggling like a buffoon. “Oh, YYYEEEAAAHHH, I FORRRRGOT!!!”
“Oh, Geez...We’re in for a LONG night!” She went in for a kiss, though, and completely forgot about the other two until later that night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
“Oh, GOD. That light is BRIGHT!” Justin woke up and found himself on a bed, facing an open window. He looked down and realized he was in only his boxers. ‘What the...? Where the HELL am I?’ He looked around and remembered the party. ‘Geez, did I get THAT drunk? How the heck did I get here? What happened to A...?’ He started out loud, “Uh-oh...What did I do?!? No...NO...NOOOO!!!”
At the last ‘NO’, something stirred behind his back. As he slowly turned around, he saw Amy laying there, wearing HIS blue button down shirt, and sporting a HORRIFIED, questioning, ‘Did we do what it looks like we did?!?’ look all over her face.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Onto the next five chapters...
Back to "Whenever You Call" homepage...
Back to 'NSync Fanfiction Connection homepage...