Chapter 9
Looking through the magazines was fun for a while, but it got really boring soon. Justin had awaken from his slumber and came into the kitchen. Joey, the exuberant bundle of joy that he is, jumped up and playfully batted around with Justin. Lance just shook his head and asked if anyone wanted more coffee. Justin took a seat at the table, thumbing through the pages. He didn’t seem to be as upset as what he normally is. “You seem to be a little more like yourself today Justin!” JC said as he looked at his friend. “I don’t know why. I feel the same as I always do,” he added as he ran his fingers through his girlfriends hair. JC tried to force a smile but just couldn’t seem to do it. “Well, at least you get to see your girlfriend every day! I haven’t seen Jessica in nearly two weeks! I’m going crazy without her!” Everyone turned their attention to JC, who seemed to be fighting back tears. “Why don’t you give her a call? Just hearing her voice should do wonders for you,” Shannon added with concern in her voice. “I’ve tried. She’s always out somewhere.” Nothing more was said for a while about the subject. The last thing they needed was someone else being upset. The room was silent until Shannon started to speak again. “Oh!,” she said with excitement. “When are we gonna do this Justin? We’ve been so busy lately, we haven’t even talked about it!” Running his fingers through his hair, as he always does, he frowned. “I don’t know babe. I haven’t thought about it either. Do you have any day that you really want?” She thought back to what she had told the guys earlier; about wanting to have dated Justin for at least two years. She was in deep thought, trying to conjure up a date in her head. “Valentines Day!,” she squeaked out. Everyone was shocked. “But Shannon, that’s in a week!! We don’t have time to plan anything out!,” JC yelled out, Joey jumping once again from the force of his stern voice. She couldn’t help but laugh. “No silly! Valentines Day of next year!,” she said while laughing. JC blushed as she spoke. Justin was startled by Joey’s sudden movements. “Dude, are you alright? You are really jumpy!” Joey looked funny sitting there, just the way he was. Acting like his normal, crazy, whacked-out self. Lance leaned over and whispered, “That’s what too much coffee and chocolate in the morning does to you.” At last, Justin was slowly becoming what he used to be, but he still had a long way to go.
A few hours later, the three guys decided they should head out. JC hardly spoke a word since his sudden outburst. You could clearly see the sadness in his eyes. Justin sat on the couch to watch some TV as Shannon walked them to the door. JC lingered for a minute or two, clearly he wanted to talk to her alone. Joey bounced his way out to the car, spreading his arms like Superman, trying to fly. Lance just followed behind, shaking his head at his excited friend. JC cleared his throat, and started to speak as the tears came to his eyes. “I miss Jessica. I miss her so much, I can’t think of anything but her. Can you try to get a hold of her for me so that I know what’s going on? I really need to talk to her.” Shannon just smiled and said, “I’ll see what I can do to help.” JC gave her a hug and he was out the door. As she shut the front door, she started laughing. Joey had his head out the window, acting as if he was a big, ferocious dog. She shook her head. “The friends I have...they are something else! What would I do without them?,” she thought to herself.
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