His cell phone rang shrilly next to him as he waited impatiently. He finally picked it up on the eighth ring. “Hello?” he asked sharply.
“Jussstttinn! Buddy! What are you doing?” his best friend screamed from the other end.
“JC, I’m like, 10 feet away from you. Turn around.” He scanned over the loud club to see the curly haired man look around in confusion. He spotted Justin and waved frantically at him. He rolled his eyes and put his phone back in his pocket. After ordering another beer he leaned back in his seat and surveyed the bar. He was supposed to be the designated driver for the night but if everyone else was having fun, why couldn’t he? They could always call a cab anyway.
An hour later he had downed three more and was ready to make his way onto the dance floor. He wasn’t really into these kind of clubs lately, they all seemed to be too wild for him. He chuckled. Lately anything with more than twenty people or loud music seemed wild. He just wasn’t having any fun anymore. The guys were going out every night and he was getting sick of it. Yeah, it was fun the first few weeks, maybe even months to be able to legally go to bars and clubs and drink but there were only so many mornings of waking up hung over and not remembering a thing from the night before that he could handle before it all got a little old.
He danced slowly with a girl who looked barely over the age of twelve as his eyes scanned over the crowd to spot his other band mates. Lance and Joey were already gone; they’d hooked up with two blondes within the first half hour out there and left almost immediately. JC was drunk off his ass dancing with a few girls in the corner and Chris was no where to be found. He wondered how the guy did it. Over the hill and still clubbing almost every night usually with more energy than his youngest friends. Justin backed away slightly as the girl tried to get a little more suggestive with her moves. It obviously pissed her off so she stormed away to find someone else. He spotted her with JC as he walked off the dance floor.
He made his way over to the couple after a few more songs, now sick of his surroundings. “JC!”
He turned around, grinning broadly and pulled Justin into a hug. “I missed you man!” Justin raised his eyebrows. The way JC got when he was drunk still weirded him out after all this time. He was always so in control and professional when he was sober.
“I’m gonna to get going. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Make sure you get a cab ok?”
JC nodded enthusiastically. “See ya!”
Justin shook his head as he walked out of the overcrowded dance club and into the strangely cool Orlando air. It was probably a little above sixty, perfect temperature in his opinion. He ducked his head down and traveled the length of the parking lot. It took him a little while before he got the keys to fit right. The new Mercedes shot out of the lot and onto the highway, speeding faster with each second. He knew he shouldn’t be driving but he just didn’t care at that point. Nothing really mattered much anymore.
He kept the radio off as he drove further and further away from the city. He liked the silence. His thoughts pounded at his head. He growled loudly, angry at everything. This had become routine for him lately. Go out, get drunk, find a girl and take her back to the hotel, then wake up the next morning feeling absolutely horrible and disgusted with himself. He knew people were getting worried, he couldn’t count the number of times his mother had called to check up on him. It was embarrassing to say the least when your mother would stop by at random times in the day to make sure you weren’t on drugs or to force you to eat something. He subconsciously looked down at his stomach. He’d lost more weight since his twenty-first birthday than he had since they started Nsync.
Everyone kept warning him about getting sick, said he needed to be healthy for the tour coming up, needed to be able to go up and sing every night. He didn’t even know if he wanted to sing anymore. It just didn’t give him the thrill it did before. He was sick of always being in the spotlight, always being looked at, watched under a microscope. Every mistake he made was blown up on the cover of the Enquirer the next day. He was living his life in fear of ruining his “image”. He just didn’t care anymore. Let them see him for who he is. He is human.
His eyes drooped as he stared out the window. He hadn’t slept in three days but that wasn’t going to stop him. He needed to get away. He needed it all to just stop. He just wanted to be left alone. Was that really too much to ask?
Sighing slightly, it hit him. He could just end it. He didn’t want to live this way anymore. He just couldn’t handle being a “superstar” anymore. All he needed was to be normal. The word seemed so far away. So unknown to him. He wasn’t normal, he never will be. Determination took him over and he pressed his foot down harder on the gas. He was going to die eventually, at least this way it would be under his control. Death seemed to be the only thing he could control.
The car shot down the empty highway, the passenger unaware of what was going on around him, only knowing that this was the end. It all felt so peaceful. This was the way it was supposed to be. He lifted his hands off the wheel. This was it.
Jenna longingly looked out the window. She felt his hands slide around her waist. Smiling brightly, she spun around in his arms and stared up into his deep blue eyes. “I thought you weren’t going to come.”
His features were serious as he looked her face over, taking in every detail. “Why wouldn’t I?” She shrugged. Tucking a piece of stray hair behind her ear, he hugged her closer to him. “I missed you Jen.”
“I missed you too.” She pulled back slowly to look at his glowing face. “Are you ok?”
“I’m great. Better than ever. Are you ready to go?” She nodded and linked her fingers with his. The sounds of the party escalated as they walked through it. It seemed to take hours to get through, everyone and their brother wanted to talk to the couple. She clung to the man next to her, the happiness radiating out of her. They finally made their way into the deserted back yard to sit on the swing. She played with his hands as she spoke to him.
“Do you think we’re lucky?” she finally asked.
“What do you mean?”
“Think about it. We have all this and… It’s just…” she sighed. “I saw something today.”
He looked at her with concern. “What did you see?”
“I was in the hospital today.”
“You what? Why?” he screamed, his hands immediately checking over her whole body for any sign of injury. She gently pushed his frantic hands away.
“Not for me. For a friend. It was no big deal, just an X-ray. He broke something in his foot. It was a long wait so I started wandering and… I ended up in the children’s part. I just… I can’t believe what I saw. They were so…” She looked up at him for understanding and he pulled her into a hug.
“I know Jenna, I know.” He waited for her to pull out of his embrace.
“You know what I’m talking about? We’ve been here for 16 years now and nothing bad has ever happened to us. I mean, yeah I’ve scraped a few knees and gotten a few colds but the things these kids had to go through… It just made me feel so lucky to have my life and you and my family. I think I’m one of the luckiest people alive.” Jake smiled slightly and played with her hair.
“Are you ok now?” he whispered after a few more minutes of silence. She nodded against his chest. “Want to go back to the party?”
“Yeah, let’s go.”
“Are you sure you’re ok?”
She giggled. “I’m fine! Let’s go back to the party.”
Two hours later the couple was finally trying to get out the door. He squeezed her hand as they walked into the warm Florida air. “That had to be one of the best parties ever.”
“Yeah.” She yawned and looked over at her boyfriend. He was a great catch but who would accept anything less? She was the beautiful, honor roll, singer, cheerleader and he was the gorgeous, popular, jock. His blonde hair blew in the wind, his blue eyes sparkling. “Maybe we should walk home,” she suggested. He looked down at the beer in his hand and threw it in a nearby garbage as they passed.
“Good idea. I’ll walk you home.”
“I don’t think so,” she laughed. “You’re the drunk one.”
“I am not. Well, ok… I am. But you mean you didn’t drink again tonight?” he asked, trying his best not to slur his words.
“Jake, do I ever drink?”
He grinned. “You’re too perfect.”
She smirked. “I know.”
The two walked down the lonely street hand in hand, the sounds of the party drifting further and further away from them. “I love living out here, away from everything. It’s so calm and peaceful.”
He nodded and led her out onto the main road. They had a long walk ahead of them, an hour at least. They didn’t mind though, they were together and they loved just being with one another. They talked and laughed, walking slowly like they had all the time in the world, and in their minds, they did. They were teenagers in a perfect small town, with perfect lives, great families, popular, in love… It was all they needed.
A screeching sound broke the two out of their daze. “What’s that?” she whispered. Jake held her wrist and moved her behind him.
“Stay here. I’ll be right back.”
“Jake… Don’t leave me here.”
“I’ll be right back Jen… I’m just going to go a little further up the road to see what’s going on.” She licked her lips as he walked away from her, rocking on her heels as her eyes and ears caught every movement, every sound. She heard the screech again. It was defiantly a car but there was no way to find out which way it was coming from. She turned around and moved a little further onto the road to look over the hill. It was coming closer. A dark car flew over the side of it. She stopped dead, unable to think, unable to move.
“Jenna!”
Beeping sounds and the hum of the machines slowly woke the sleeping form in the hospital bed. The sunlight started to drip through the window as the morning creeping in. The monitors were hooked up to body parts the patient didn’t even know they had. Wires came from all over, the white bed sheets even and unwrinkled. An outsider would have no idea it was even being used. A young nurse no more than eighteen or nineteen years old fluttered into the room, singing to herself as she did her morning routine.
“You drive a pretty car, you know how fine you are and nobody needs to say it. They love the clothes you wear, they compliment you and I, just love the way you play it…” She continued to sing the rest of the song as she checked the machines.
“Where am I?” The nurse stopped and stared, her face falling.
“You’re awake,” she said coldly.
“What’s going on?”
She took a deep breath, her throat suddenly dry. “You were in a car accident.” The patient closed their eyes as the events of the night before came flooding back. “Do you know who was in that car accident with you?” The eyes opened again, now slightly teary. “I said do you KNOW who was in that car accident with you?” The patient winced. The nurse obviously hated them for some reason.
“Who?”
The nurse glared at them for a long time, anger boiling inside of her, tears welling inher eyes. “You don’t even know do you?” she croaked out.
“No, I don’t.”
She wiped away her tears, anger shining through. “It’s all your fault!” she screamed. “If it wasn’t for you and your stupidity none of this would be going on! If you didn’t decide to go to that party or whatever then this would have never happened!” The patient shrunk back, petrified of the lady. “If… If it wasn’t for you they’d be out there… Happy and singing and trying to change the world… Keeping me and my world normal. You’ve thrown my whole life upside down! It’s all your fault! You changed everything!”
“Who are you talking about?”
“Who? WHO?!” she shrieked. She didn’t have time to finish her statement. Three burly guys ran into the room and dragged the frantic nurse away.
A doctor timidly entered the room after it calmed down, apologizing over and over.
“I’m fine… Really. What’s going on?”
“She’s just… She knew the…” he sighed and sat down. “Do you remember what happened last night?”
The patient swallowed hard. “Yes.”
“Well… There was another person involved.”
“And?” they asked, the fear rising in their stomach.
“The nurse knew the… She knew that person. They were very close in fact.”
“And why is she so mad at me? What’s wrong with this… person?”
The doctor lifted his head. “Mr. Timberlake… You killed her.”