Chapter 1-December 2000
A tall athletic blonde jogged through the campus of Florida Central. She checked her watched and the pace turned to an all out run.
“ I’m gonna be late,” she
muttered.
Jumping into a
Toyota 4Runner, she backed out and drove away.
She pushed her way through
screaming girls and flashed her pass.
She jogged through the airport.
“ Hello, gorgeous,” a voice came
from behind with a long whistle.
“ Get away from me, Joey or I will
whoop on your sorry self like there is no tomorrow,” she said in a flat voice, turning
around.
“ Sorry, Juli,” Joey sent her a
charming smile.
Juli rolled her eyes, continuing
her trek towards the gate.
“ Justin is doing some important
mouth to mouth,” Lance had appeared by her side, “ With the barf bags.”
“ Do I even wanna know?” Juli
flung her arms around Lance.
“ Keep it G with my boyfriend,
Juli,” a girl said, covering the cell phone she was on before walking on.
A pale, thin Justin exited. Lance gave Juli one last hug, and then
jogged after his girlfriend.
“ Is that my Jules?” Justin
dropped his bags.
“ Justin,” everyone in the airport
stopped to stare at her shriek.
Juli flew into Justin’s arms,
almost toppling him over. He swung her
around before planting a kiss on the top of her head.
“ I saw Joey on my way here. I think I passed his hottie test, but for some
strange reason, that doesn’t excite me,” Juli began chatting taking a bag and
his hand.
Mike, the bodyguard in charge of
Justin, walked behind them, smiling slightly.
He’d watched these two grow since they were fifteen. They’d fought playfully, but Mike could
never remember a time they’d actually hurt each other.
Everything about them physically
matched perfectly, like a brother and sister would. Blonde curly hair that everyone envied, striking blue eyes and
tall lean bodies from nights at the gym.
Then there was their personalities, total opposites.
Juli was shy only to strangers,
very competitive and at times stubborn.
She had a soft spot for kids and always put smiles on any kids
faces. Justin, on the other hand, was shy
practically always, easygoing and had a huge temper. They seemed to compliment each other, to neutralize anything.
“ So, how’s my favorite-” Juli
began.
“ Superstar? Gorgeous singer? Handsome man?” Justin filled in.
“ I sense a serious ego that needs
to be popped inside that tiny brain of yours,” Juli paused, “ And no, I was
thinking more along the lines of spoiled brat.”
After a chorus of ohs, the *N Sync
crew was silent, they knew what was coming next.
“ If I’m a spoiled brat, I don’t
even want to know what you are,” Justin crossed his strong arms.
“ I’ll take you down right here,
Timberlake, and you know I can,” Juli threatened.
“ Bring it on,” Justin replied.
“ Oh, big bad Timberlake watching
chick flicks. Was Britney there too?”
Juli teased, giggling at her own joke.
The crew started cracking up. Justin lunged for her, but she nimbly moved
away. She jumped on his back before two
arms lifted her off like a rag doll.
“ There will be no more fighting,
children. Do you understand?” Mike
ordered, sending the lazy security guards mean looks. He leaned down to Juli, “ Wait until you get home, then you can
kick his scrawny white butt as bad as you want.”
“ I heard that,” Justin announced.
Both pouted as they walked down a
narrow hallway towards the baggage claim. Justin pushed Juli slightly, and she turned and pushed him
back. Mike got between them before it
turned into an all out war.
“ If any of you start a fight, I
will send you out there,” Mike threatened.
He pointed outside to the
hysterical fans.
“ No, please, I just escaped from
that sanitarium, don’t send me back,” Justin mock pleaded, clinging onto Mike’s
arm.
“ Sanitarium? Try asylum with endless screaming,” Lance
spoke up.
“ Get your hands off me, white
boy,” Mike ordered.
Justin pouted,
letting his hands drop.
Juli led Justin over to a bench
while they waited for the rest of their luggage. She leaned her head down onto his shoulder as his arm draped
around her waist.
“ They’re so cute together,” Lacy
Chambers, Lance’s girlfriend and a part of the tour crew, sighed.
Lance pulled her
close, letting his chin rest on her head.
Justin looked down at Juli.
“ Are you ok? I hope I didn’t hurt you,” Justin asked.
“ I’m fine,” Juli answered.
“ What happened to your hand?” Justin
asked, noticing the gauze around her left hand.
“ Burnt myself cooking while your
Mom was out of town,” Juli answered.
“ You have a really bad time
cooking,” Justin chuckled.
Juli smiled fondly up at her best
friend, letting a hand run over the day old stubble on his cheek. Glass shattered and something flew over
their heads. Justin pushed Juli under
him as they ducked. Fans screamed
unholy names at Juli.
Justin stood up, his blue eyes
screaming anger. Even Juli had never
seen him this mad. He looked about
ready to kill someone.
“ Who did that?” Justin demanded.
Screams returned
it as fans tried to get closer to Justin.
He lifted his middle finger in an obscene gesture.
“ Wow, golden boy can sure get
mad,” Lacy pushed her dark brown waves back, her green eyes dancing in
amusement.
Juli limped over to them.
“ The fans really don’t like
me. That’s the third shoe,” Juli
managed a smile.
“ Don’t worry. I have millions of hater sites,” Lacy
replied.
Lance’s protective arm closed
around her. Justin yanked his arm away
from Mike and the other security guards as he stormed up. Everyone caught Juli’s shy, almost hesitant
glance up. Justin’s fiery blue eyes
faded when they met hers, like fire fades under water.
“ Are you ok, Jules?” Justin asked
worriedly.
“ If you define ok by having a 175
pound plus guy crush you, then yeah, I’m fine, but you’re fans sure
aren’t. Justin, get used to the fact
they hate any girl related to *N Sync and yes that includes you too, Joey,”
Juli whirled around angrily, regretting it when her legs became tangled up and
her head began to swim.
Joey was able to look innocent,
but Juli went falling, Justin easily caught her arm and steadied her.
“ Oh, I really don’t feel good,”
Juli groaned, “ Why didn’t God put buzzers on people’s heads to give everyone
at least ten seconds before they blew up?”
Justin was still angry at the
fans, but it had faded into worry. Juli
was never sick and never got hurt (unless she was cooking, of course).
“ Go get your bag, Justin. I’ll get the car,” Juli said, putting a weak
hand on his chest to support herself.
Justin nodded,
watching her walk away, then turned to Mike.
“ Go with her. I don’t want her hurt,” Justin ordered
softly.
Camera flashes almost blinded her
as she walked head down. She noticed
someone beside her.
“ Mike?” she looked up
quizzically.
“ Golden boy wants his Jules safe
and sound,” Mike replied.
“ I can take care of myself and he
knows it,” Juli fumed.
“ Hey, he’s responsible for my
paycheck,” Mike held up his hands innocently.
“ I’m killing him when we get
home. Lynn bettered not be there or
she’ll see the end of her son starting with those curls. One by one until he’s totally bald, then,”
Juli’s mouth ran on about her ways of torture.
Mike’s solemn mouth
twitched at the ends with a small smile as he listened to her good-natured
ravings. He heard it every time Justin
sent him out with her and she still hadn’t killed him yet. Mike knew Juli would never hurt Justin. They were too close.
Juli was too busy fuming to care
about anything the fans were calling her.
How dare Justin treat her like a girl.
I mean, she was a girl, but she knew how to take care of herself. She drove up to pick up Justin. Justin jumped in and they took off.
Justin immediately noted her
silence as a bad thing. Juli was a
talker.
“ Jules, what’s wrong?” Justin
asked, taking her free hand.
Juli took a deep
breath. She glanced at his innocent
face and all anger fell away. She could
never get mad at Justin and it was her only weakness.
“ I don’t need security,
Justin. I’m normal and no one’s going
to jump me,” Juli answered.
Justin nodded, but
didn’t say a word. Now it was Juli’s
turn to frown. This wasn’t like
him. She turned up the radio and began
singing. He’d talk when he was ready.
Justin visibly relaxed. Juli’s soothing voice entered his mind. She had a beautiful voice, but only a chosen
few knew. She’d had the dreams of
stardom, but he’d achieved them.
“ Justin, wake up,” a soft shaking
brought him out of his coma.
Juli smiled when his head snapped
up from its resting place from his chest.
The gray confusion muddled his eyes, clearing into blue when he realized
they were home. Juli was living there
during the school year, paying rent for a room. Justin smiled inwardly.
What she didn’t know was that the money was always put back into her
account.
“ Mom, Dad, I’m home,” Justin
yelled excitedly.
“ Justin, shh, they have guests
over,” Juli tried to shush him.
Justin ignored her, running
inside. Juli shrugged, grabbing his
bags. He hadn’t seen his family in
forever.
“ Juli?” a little boy ran out to
her.
“ Steven,” Juli swept him up.
Steven Timberlake
was her little angel. No one could
handle him better than Juli.
“ Don’t you want to see me?”
Justin pouted.
Steven clung to Juli, like
Jonathan clung to Justin. Justin
shrugged and let Jonathan wheel in one of his bags.
“ I got thrown out. I guess my shoes are all dirty and now I
have to mop the floor,” Justin told Juli.
“ I can see it now in the
tabloids. Justin Timberlake on his
knees mopping the floor. And guess
who’d send in a picture of that,” Juli giggled.
Her giggling became louder, when
Justin sent her a dirty look.
“ Juli,” Lynn greeted her at the door.
Lynn Harless never
got over how cute Justin and Juli looked together. She looked at them with Jonathan and Steven and nodded. Blonde babies with blue eyes…
“ I don’t like that look,
Mom. It means you’re thinking about
something and you’re looking between me and Juli. I hate that even more,” Justin said.
Lynn smiled innocently.
“ Just thinking,” she replied, “
Come on, dinner is ready.”
“ Has Mom been acting strange?”
Justin whispered as they walked towards the dining room.
“ Nope, but my Mom gets that look
all the time. They’re trying to play
matchmaker again,” Juli replied.
Justin groaned. Heir mothers had been trying to get them
together since they turned eighteen.
Almost two years and running, the two had managed to get out of it. The last time had been disastrous and no one
knew how Justin and Juli’s friendship remained intact.
“ I have a girlfriend now, thank
god,” Justin caught himself.
No he didn’t, not
anymore. Justin shut that thought out.
“ It never stopped them before,”
Juli replied.
Justin led her
towards the dining room. Juli stopped
short, putting Steven down. Her mother
was there.