The weeks droned on slowly, Lexi finding herself missing
Justin more and more. She missed his presence, the touch of
life and humanity that he brought to her life. She missed
having someone to confide in and to joke with. She missed
Justin. Twisting a strand of reddish blonde hair between two
fingers, she absentmindedly sang along to the song on the radio.
“Nobody wants to be lonely... Nobody wants to cry..” (R.Martin,
C. Aguilera) She stared blankly at the computer screen in front
of her. The words she needed just weren’t coming to her today.
Tap tap tap...her fingers pounded on the keyboard, then deleting the
newly composed words. She needed something to save her from the
insanity which her writing was bringing her. As if on cue, the
telephone’s shrill ring sounded through Lexie’s ears.
She rolled her chair back from the hell she was enduring,
and quickly grabbed the phone. Her voice came out in a groan.
“Hello?”
The minute she heard his smooth voice, a smile
crossed her features, “Well, Miss. Lexi, it’s been awhile, now
hasn’t it?”
Her voice mirrored that of an ecstatic teenager, “Justin!
Wow! Hi! I wasn’t expecting to hear from you.”
“What? Can’t I call my best friend anymore?” He asked,
a tone of sarcasm laced throught his voice.
Although she shied away from admitting it to anyone, Justin
was calling her less. When the group was on their first tour,
“For The Girl Who Has Everything,” Justin had Lexie on his speed
dial and spoke to her after every concert. She was his link to
the past, and his security blanket on a lonely night. Lexie
knew Justin for who he was, a young man from Tennesse that
used to cry for his mother, used to fight his friends because
he had a girl for a best friend, and ran to her house in the
middle of a thunderstorm because he knew she was terrified of the
thunder and lightening. A smile crossed her features as she
thought of the times they shared. It seemed like yesterday when
he would sit on her front porch, and cry because he missed his
mother. She remembered him standing tall, his head high, in
front of her, telling Tommy Peterman not to be jealous because
he didn’t have a Lexi of his own. She could still see his
courageous smile under his dripping wet curly hair when she
opened the door to find him there to protect her from the
lightening that lit up the skies on those hot summer nights.
Along the way somewhere, he became a superstar, his
talent taking him places that he never dreamed possible.
Lexi, however, knew. She knew from the sweet moment she heard
Justin’s passionate voice echoing throughout her living room.
She knew that some day, little Justin, her Justin, would be leaving
her.
“Lex? You there?” Justin’s voice came over the line, interrupting
her bittersweet voyage down memory lane.
“Yea. Sorry Justo. I’m here. What can I do for you?” She smiled
again, this time at the recollection of the childhood name that
she had bestowed upon him.
He paused and said, “The guys have all been asking me when
you’re gonna come visit us.... I think they’d rather have you
here than me. When can you come, Lex?”
Fearing his response, Lexi’s voice cought in her throat, “Will..
Will Amber be there?”
She could almost see his dissaproving frown, and his head
shaking at her, “I don’t know what your problem is with her, Lexi.
I know that you have a hard time opening up... She’s my
girlfriend.”
“Well, I can take that as a yes I suppose... I could come before
I start my next chapter, I guess, Justo.” Lexi answered, dissapointed
at his response reguaring Amber. The girl was a she-devil, and
Justin was too blind to see it. He saw her long golden locks, her
perfectly straight white teeth, and her plastered on grin. It was as
though she was a bewitched Barbie that had one too many spells
inflicted on her. Amber’s beauty was a mask for the negative
intents and hidden agendas that the young girl held inside of her.
And at the moment, Lexi seemed to be the only person not
blinded by her false charms.
“Today?” He asked hopefully.
Laughing she replied, “Whoa there Tiger. I do need time to
pack.”
“I am talking to Lexi Anderson here? Girl of little needs?
C’mon. I already ordered the ticket. Non-refundable.”
“Justtttttin Randall! You shouldn’t have done that I mean..
ugh! I’m gonna kill you when I get there.”
His voice became distant and he yelled, “She’s comin’ guys!”
“I hate you for this, you know that. Watch.. I’m gonna forget
something important like.. my toothbrush or something.”
“You know you’d go without for Mista Lake. Timbalake!” Justin
shouted.
Lexi stifled laughter and replied, “Justo... you best pop that
ego, or you’re going to need your own double decker tour bus to fit all
your love letters and letters of adoration that you write to
yourself. Now go. I’ll see you when I get there.”
She was about to hang up when Justin answered, “Oh,
and Lex?”
“Yea Justin?”
“Thanks. Thanks for everything.”
Tenderly smiling, she answered, “You’ve never needed to
thank me before, Justin. Don’t worry about it.”
"Yeah. Well... I just wanted you to know.. Our friendship has
meant the world to me.” Emotion was thick in his voice.
The smile brightened on her face, “I’ll see you when I get there
Justo.”
Once Lexi had hung the phone up, she peered down at it, and
whispered, “Our friendship has meant the world to me? Don’t
do this, Justin.. Don’t do this.” A tear slipped down her cheek,
and she hurriedly brushed it away as she got up to pack.
