Chapter 11: They’re blue da ba di…

     Ding Dong, Joey rang the doorbell and waited for the ‘go away, we’re not going’ that he was sure was close behind.  Instead, the door was answered by the four blue girls decked out in silver tanks, skirts, and pants, as well as full accessories which had all been found in their respective closets.
     “We’re ready for our close-ups Mr. DeMille!  Let’s party!” Terri smiled at the shocked Joey as she and the other three sauntered over to the awaiting limo parked in the driveway.  As soon as the four girls saw the rest of *N Sync also waiting in the limo, they knew exactly what was up.  The girls took their seats across from the boys and assessed the situation.  From the faked shocked looked on the boy’s faces, it became quite clear how the blue dye had gotten into their water supply.
     “Gosh girls, you’re blue.  Is this some sort of new trend of something?”  Lance was clueless of the deviant behavior that had been displayed by his group mates.  Being the innocent mama’s boy from Mississippi, he had not been involved in this prank at all. He then heard a snicker from the seat next to him.  Justin just couldn’t keep it in.  Lance took a good look at the others and everything seemed to fall into place for him.  “Hey guys…you wouldn’t have any idea how the girls got to be this lovely shade of blue do you?  Chris, you know you’re not going to get away with this.”
     “What do you mean?   Get away with what?  I don’t know how they got that color anymore than you.  Besides, I think they look hot.”  The last line Chris said was obviously directed at Val, he couldn’t seem to take his eyes off of her.  It looked like she was blushing.  The thing was, when she went into that full body blush, she turned a nice shade of purple… his favorite color.
     “Hey, we’re going clubbing.  We’ll fit right in with all the crazy club kids.  Besides, once they see my moves . . .I promise you that my skin tone will not be what they are looking at,” said Kelly as she gave Justin a seductive wink, to which he promptly stuck out his tongue.  “I own you, baby.  You’d best behave!”
     “WHAT?!? You own me??? What the…” Justin was now less than thrilled with the night’s outing.
     “Don’t worry…we’ll talk to Lou tomorrow he’ll explain it all.” Kelly smiled sweetly and kissed Justin on the cheek.
     “So, I’ve got a good one for all y’all.  What does going to a club have to do with our dance lessons, and why are all of you with Joey?  If I remember correctly, none of you were at the Lance lesson but Lance, who of course had nothing to do with all of this blue craziness.  He’s a gentleman with manners.”  Carlee was ready to mess with the minds of their new playthings.
     For the rest of the ride, Kelly sat making seductive faces at Justin who was trying to pretend that he wasn’t interested.  Joey tried to apologize to Carlee about the whole blue dye thing using lines like ‘come on baby…you know I didn’t mean it.  Would I do something like that to a beautiful girl like you on purpose?’ and the always useful ‘It was all Chris’ idea!’  Needless to say, he wasn’t making much progress.  Lance was busy trying to apologize to Val for Chris’s antics.  Chris couldn’t take his eyes off of the purple form sitting across from him (those of you who didn’t know this purple thing was Val need to take a minute and read back), who was staring at the floor of the limo doing her best not to meet Chris’s stare and try to think of some way to make her stop blushing.  All she could manage to do was nod to Lance every now and then so that he wouldn’t think that she was ignoring him.  The only meaningful conversation going on in the car was between JC and Terri.  They had bonded over their positions within each group as the responsible ones.  Terri kept explaining to JC that she was sure he hadn’t meant to be involved in the dye job, but as always got dragged into a bad situation trying to make sure Chris, Justin, and Joey didn’t break any serious laws that Lou couldn’t get overlooked.  In fact, the two seemed to have hit it off.  By the time they had reached the club, JC being ‘hormonal’ had a much better idea of Terri’s proportions.  Lord knows she didn’t mind him trying to get a peek at what she was hiding under her silver tank top.  Actually while he was checking out the top, she was slowly inching her skirt up her thigh, two could play his game.
     “Excuse me, but I just wanted to point out that nobody is getting out of this limo until Joey explains exactly what is going to happen in the club and what is expected of us.  Why did you decide to drag us to a here anyway?”  Kelly had finally stopped making faces at Justin long enough to realize that she knew as little now as when she had left the house.
     “Yeah!” Terri, Carlee, and Val agreed each turning her icy stare to the once more shocked Joey.
     Joey ran his finger along the neck of his shirt, as if it had suddenly gotten too tight.  These girls were tough, they didn’t miss a beat, he should have realized that they would want an explanation.  “Well, I just kinda thought we could all, you know, just have some fun.  Aww hell, I just thought it would be cool to go dancing and see what I’ve got to work with.  You know lessons wise.  Strictly professional.  In less you wanna…well never mind.”
     “Yeah and I suppose the blue dye thing was ‘strictly professional’ right.  You weren’t looking to embarrass us at all, were you?…I didn’t think so.”  Carlee took the soundless opening and closing mouths as her answer to that last question.  “What’s the matter boys, do you find us intimidating?  Good.  Did I mention that this means war?”
     “I’m down with that…did you hear that Justin, this means war.”  Kelly smiled sweetly as the venomous words left her mouth.
     “Ditto.” The purple Val stuck her tongue out at Chris after managing that one word.
     “Girls, lets not be crazy.  JC, are you going to stand for this nonsense?”  Terri glared at the rest of Girl Thang.
     “You’re absolutely right Terri.  This is childish and I’m not going to participate.”  JC turned to agree.
     “I’m going to have to say that I’m with you on this one, JC,” agreed Lance.  “I really don’t have time for all this, with Free Lance getting off the ground and everything.  Besides, Valerie would be pissed.”
     “No I wouldn’t,” started Val.  “Oh wait, you meant the other Valerie. . .  Gosh, I’m in the story and it’s still confusing me.”
     “Lance isn’t the only one who has outside projects that he should be looking after,” added JC as he looked over at Chris.
     “FuMan can wait.  I mean, do they really expect me to update that website more often than twice a year?”
     “Let’s get inside already… someone seems to have something to prove to us.”  Justin glared at Kelly remembering the comment made earlier about the moves she had that were sure to draw all attention away from her blue skin.
     “You’re on.  Let’s go girls.  We’ve got some asses to kick, some fine asses if I do say so…” Kelly opened the door to the limo, which had conveniently pulled up to the red carpet.
 
Chapter 12: Livin’ la vida loca

    Kelly and the girls appeared to the world as blue as any four individuals could be.  The shocked faces at the door of the club became that much more confused when the anomalies were quickly flanked by all five members of *N Sync.  The girls linked arms and sauntered to the door and through the parting crowds who just couldn’t figure out what they were seeing, and why.  The baffled guys found themselves moving quickly to keep up with the competition.  There was no way that the girls were leaving their sides.  The girls needed to prove themselves to Joey, Justin, JC, Chris, and Lance not the rest of the leering guys in the club.  For some unknown reason, JC found himself thinking that Terri’s tank top and skirt covered far less than it should, an exact contradiction of the thoughts he was having in the limo.  When she started dancing, the slits up both sides revealed more leg than he had seen while they had been sitting together.  He approached her, making it clear to everyone within sight, that she had been claimed and not to mess with what was obviously his property for the time being.  This surprised Terri as much as the rest of the people in the club, however, she planned to take full advantage of this jealousy, he’d get his when the time came.  She defiantly danced away with a provocative glance over her shoulder as she started towards the nearest dancing platform she could find room on.
     Out of the blue(no pun intended) Joey felt at tap on his shoulder.  “Hey babe, what’s a girl gotta do to get a drink around here?  You couldn’t help me with that problem could ya?” Carlee was smiling sweetly at Joey, awaiting the change in expression she knew wouldn’t be far behind.  Instead she was surprised when Joey shot back with.
     “You’ve gotta do more than just ask…”
     “Name your price…” Carlee rose to the challenge.
     “See that cage?”
       “Yeah, looks comfy.”
     “You make yourself at home, and you get a drink.”
     “You get me one now and one later, and I’ll be more than happy to move in.”  The next thing Carlee knew, Joey was back with two drinks.
     “What’s your pleasure, a Blow-job or Sex on the Beach?  I’m sure either one would be great.”
     “Sex on the Beach for me, and a Blow-job for you, Joey.  Oh, don’t take that the wrong way.” Carlee grabbed the drink and downed it, leaving Joey wanting more than just the drink in his hand.
     “Why, oh why?”  Joey knew he could have is not so little problem taken care of by one of the willing girls he knew would be waiting outside, but for some reason he knew that this time, being a senseless whore wouldn’t cut it.  No random sex tonight, not for him.
     As Carlee was climbing into the cage where she would play out one of Joey’s teenage sex dreams, Kelly and Justin were taking this whole club thing seriously.  The longer they danced, the closer they got.  Before long, they were exchanging insults while grinding pelvises in the middle of the club.
     “Who do you think you are?  Coming down here and moving in on my turf?”
     “YOUR turf?  You’re nothing more than another bleached bimbo kissing a corporate ass so you can pay to drive that big car of yours.  You know what they say about guys with big cars don’t you?”
     “Yeah, if they can drive well, they can do it all night long.”
     “I was thinking more on the lines of, they have to pay to park it.”
 Chris was dancing alone keeping a close eye on Val as she did her best impersonation of the girl in the Ricky Martin video.  He caught a look at Justin and Kelly grinding and just had to make a smart-ass comment.  He danced over to Val, who once again flushed to that lovely shade of purple.
     “Looks like those two are getting along…well, lets just say they’ll either be dancing the subsonic tummy thump within a month, or they’ll have killed each other.  What’s you’re vote?” Chris asked Val.
     “I’m putting my money on Kelly.  Justin dissed her at a ‘meet and greet’ last fall, and lets just say that girl can hold a grudge.  But if we’re talking about sexual tension, I’d have to say that cage is the safest place Carlee can be right now.  Look at the way Joey’s staring at her like she’s a piece of raw meet.”
     “Yeah, they’ll be doing the horizontal polka by morning, that is if the alcohol doesn’t get to them first.  Look, I just wanted to tell you that I’m really sorry about the whole blue dye thing.  We only meant it as a joke.  It should wash off in a few days.”
     “Well, that’s okay. I want to apologize for almost killing your dog.  I feel terrible about freaking out like that.  Its just something that happens to me when I see someone I…never-mind.  In fact you’re lucky that I’ve been able to talk to you for this long as it is.  Now I’m sorry but you’ll have to excuse me, but I have to leave before I pass out again, sadly the Emergency Teeny-Bopper kits just didn’t go with the outfits.”  Val turned and ran away.
     “Hey Chris, that was…smooth.  How’d you get her to run away so quickly?”  Lance came up behind his befuddled friend and patted him on the back.
     “I don’t know man, its something about girls named Valerie.  You should understand.”
     “But Chris, I don’t like her like tha… oh wait, you were referring to MY Valerie…I get it.”
     “Come on Lance, I’ll buy you a drink.  It doesn’t look like we’re getting any action tonight and the other three aren’t going to want to leave anytime soon by the looks of things.”

 Chapter 13: The night continues

     Val poked her head out from behind some weird glowing column thing (you know, one of those bizarre monstrosities that can only be found in super trendy clubs), to spy on Lance and Chris for a minute or two.
     “So, you think you’ve got it bad, can’t get her out of your mind… sounds like it could be serious.  I wish that’s the way it was with Valerie and I.  It used to be that way.  We couldn’t keep our hands off of each other.  I couldn’t wait for, you know…”Lance finished the end of his sentence with hand gestures.
     Val was heartbroken.  She knew she shouldn’t have gotten so attached, but she had been hoping Chris was getting to like her.  Now she knew that he was getting serious with Eva.  She’d just have to suck it up.  At least now she wouldn’t have to act like a lovesick puppy whenever she and Chris met by chance.  With any luck, they could be good friends, or something, *sigh*.
     “I wish I could just talk to her about it.  I don’t think I’ve really been able to connect.”  Chris looked up at the end of that last statement to see the smiling Val walking towards the two at the bar.  It was one of the last things he had thought he would see tonight.  Maybe she had gotten over her celebrity complex.  “Hey Val, why don’t you join us.  We could use some female advice.  What’s your poison?  We’ll hook you up with a drink for your time.”
     “I’ll have a…well, a dry martini if you don’t mind.  Shaken, not stirred” Val decided if she was going to drink, she’d do it right.  If James Bond could do it, so could she.  When Chris looked at her like she had two heads and almost fell off his barstool, she knew just what to say.  “What? I like the olives.”
     “For someone who’s under twenty one, you sure do know a lot about drinking.”  Chris shot a quick glance at Lance before directing his gaze to Val for her response.
     “Hey, I’m in college.  At least I was… I’m really going to miss everyone.  That reminds me.  I kinda overheard your conversation.  I think Lance should dump Valerie if the passion just isn’t there anymore.  I know the perfect girl.  She’s like a month and a half younger than him…Wait, how did you know I was under 21? I don’t remember telling you that…”
     “Well, I was…I mean we were all together…the profiles had some of your…I don’t know.”  Chris realized he had been caught in a trap he had set for himself.
     “I knew it!  I didn’t make the connection till now…  YOU’RE BONKING THE SECRETARY!!!!  Well, that all makes more sense now.  That’s how you knew when we’d be home and when we’d have to be with Lance.  I couldn’t have used a connection like that better in my dreams…”  Val’s smile faded as she put together the pieces to the puzzle.
     “Well, I wouldn’t call it using her.  She is my girlfriend after all.  Lance, stop laughing.  It isn’t that funny.  Look, I think I’m gonna make her cry again.  Where is that drink?” Chris asked.
     Lance handed Val her martini.
     “Oh Chris, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to imply that your girlfriend was a cheap floozy or that you were using her for your own sexual and personal gain . . Oops, did I just say that?.”  Val couldn’t believe her poor luck with Chris.  Damn, when you really like a guy . . .you can never say the right thing.  With that, she downed her drink in two swallows.
     Lance began to laugh even more when he saw how uncomfortable Chris had gotten.
     “To be honest Val,” Lance said as he patted her shoulder.  “Most of us think that Chris should have moved on by now.  It’s just that when you have someone to, you know, keep you company, they tend to stick around.  It’s harder for us to meet people than you’d think.  Sure Joey makes his random hook-up, but Chris and I are quality ass, if you know what I mean.”
     When Val realized that Lance was joking around with her to make her feel better and make Chris squirm in his chair even more, she decided that it was finally time to let loose and enjoy herself.
     “PooFu, would you care to dance?  I need to ask you a little favor.”
  Chapter 14: The morning after

     Val and the girls woke up early, as they’d agreed to right before they had all passed out into their beds.  They had been so tired (and inebriated, mind you) that they hadn’t even taken the time to share the details on their exploits of the night before.  Handing Lance his drunken and passed out roommates, the girls had thanked him for his help, and tossed around a few ideas on how to make the boys pay.  By morning, they knew it was time to take action against the guys.  It was time to make their move.  As they prepared supplies for the up coming mission, each girl recounted her tale from the club.
     “You all saw me up in the cage, right?  Well, as much as I hate to admit this,  I had so much fun turning Joey on…” Carlee was in the middle of a sentence when Val interrupted.
     “Eeeew.  Do you have to tell us about turning Joey on?  That’s gross.”
     “YES!  I do.  Anyways, I got him all hot and bothered.  He wouldn’t leave me alone for the rest of the night.  He was all over me.  And I denied him hard core!  Val you’d have been so proud.  I mean, that doesn’t mean I won’t sleep with him on another occasion, but I was having too much fun messing with his mind.”
     “Is this what you all want to be?  *N Sync’s whores?  I had a great time.  I danced  with Lance all night.  Purely as friends, he knows that I know that he has a girlfriend.  We talked about the best ways to get back at the other four for turning us blue.  Terri, don’t look at me like that.  I don’t care that you don’t approve.”
     “Actually, that isn’t why I was looking at you strangely.  How are we getting into the house?  Magic?  That whole thing about the war being childish was to throw JC off. He won’t know what hits him.  I made sure he drank enough not to be getting up anytime soon!”
     “Is that all you two did last night? Drink him into oblivion?  It looked like you were doing more than that on the dance floor alone!” Kelly was itching to tell the girls how her night with Justin went.
     “Yes, unfortunately, there was no more play to be had than that which was exchanged on the dance floor.  What about you, Miss Thang?”  Terri realized that she hadn’t seen Justin or Kelly for most of the night.
     “I hate him with a burning passion.  He is the most infuriating individual I have ever had the unfortunate experience of meeting.  And the contract says that I own him body and soul.  What was I thinking?”
     “Kelly and JuJu sittin in a tree.”  Val started.  Sadly, she didn’t get very far before Kelly had the chance to smack her upside the head with one of those pink fringed pillows that the BSB had been so kind to leave on their couch.
     “AHHH!!” screamed Val.  “We haven’t had a chance to sanitize this one yet!”
     “I know,” Kelly scoffed.
     “Come on guys . . .  I thought that we had called war on Joey, Justin, JC, and Chris.  Not each other!  So Val, did you manage to get that key from Lance?” Carlee tried to break up the fight.
     “TA DA!” said Val pulling out a small key.  “Who do you love?” she asked as she dangled it in front of Carlee’s face.
     “Could that be the solving key to this boy band’s mystery?” asked Carlee quoting the most loved/hated *NSYNC song known to the CSC family.
     “Damn skippy! Let’s go.  Those drunken slobs can’t sleep forever.  They have to wake up eventually to eat or pee or something.  Boys are so gross!” laughed Val as she led the rest of the girls next-door.