Chapter 10
Justin knocked on Tiffanie's door exactly 20 minutes later. He was wearing new sneakers, black jeans, a red Fubu jersey, and a bright red bandana on his head to match.
The door opened and Tiffanie stepped out in black sandals, dress pants, a red tube top, and a matching short sleeve shirt.
Justin smiled at her. "Wow.. looks like we're a matching set!"
She smiled back at him as she locked her door. They walked to the elevator.
When they reached the lobby, the door opened and Justin and Tiffanie emerged talking and laughing. JC, Chris, Lance, and Joey were lounging on the sofa in the lobby.
"'Bout time you two showed up," said JC, getting up and stretching.
"Yeah... what happened? Didja have another run-in and knock each other out cold?" asked Chris. Everyone laughed.
"Aww... look," said Lance, checking out their outfits, "they're matching."
Joey, JC, and Chris broke into a chorus of "Awww! How cute!", then everyone but Justin burst out laughing.
Justin began turning red. "Let's go now," he softly requested.
"Ooooh... somebody's blushing," observed Joey.
"I think Justin might have a little crush," teased JC.
"Uh-huh," agreed Chris.
"Justin's got a crush, Justin's got a crush..." they all began chanting.
"Shut up!" yelled Justin as he angrily flung the front door open and stormed outside.
The laughter was muffled by a sudden silence as they watched Justin furiously exit the hotel. Tiffanie, feeling guilty for laughing, spoke up first.
"Maybe one of you guys should go talk to him... I think I've done enough," she said quietly.
"No," said JC, "it's not your fault. He's been kinda touchy lately and we haven't been making it any easier for him."
The others nodded in agreement.
"You're the only one here that he's not mad at, so why don't you try to talk to him?" suggested Lance.
"I'll try," replied Tiffanie with an uneasy smile. She slowly headed out the door to find Justin leaning on the wall beside the door.
"Justin... are you okay?" she asked.
"Yeah... I guess," he replied, looking at the ground.
"They were just messing around," said Tiffanie. "They really didn't mean to upset you."
Justin sighed and looked up at the sky.
"I know... I overreacted. I'm sorry. It's just that... I really do h-" he stopped and looked down directly into her eyes in such a way that sent chills up her spine.
"Nevermind... let's go," he said quickly as he walked back into the lobby to get the others. Tiffanie watched him and wondered what he was about to say before he changed his mind.
Chapter 11
"What'd y'all do after dinner?" asked Daphne excitedly.
"We went bowling... oh my gosh, girl, it was so much fun," said Tiffanie laughing. "Lance ran too far out on the lane one time and fell. It was so funny. He slid for like ten whole feet before he actually fell."
"I wish I could've seen that!" laughed Daphne. Then the tone in her voice changed. "I miss you!"
"I've barely been gone for two days!" she replied, "but I know what you mean. I wish that you were here!"
There was silence for a moment, then Tiffanie spoke up.
"I showed JC your picture," she said.
"Oh, my GOD! You didn't!" exclaimed Daphne.
"Yeah, I did! And he said..." she trailed off, building suspense.
"What? WHAT?!" Daphne asked frantically.
Tiffanie yawned. "Oh, nothing really... he just said that you were really cute and that he'd like to meet you one day. No biggie."
"You're lying!"
"Nope."
Daphne let out a scream that made Tiffanie drop the phone.
"Are you quite done?!" asked Tiffanie as she cautiously placed the phone back to her ear.
"Sorry," she replied, "so how are things with you and Justin?"
"Why what ever to you mean?" asked Tiffanie innocently. "You're not saying that I would try to pursue anything more than friendship with him, now are you?"
"No," said Daphne, "but the five million posters of him on your wall are saying that you would."
"Okay, okay," she laughed. "I'm getting pretty fond of all the guys. They're all such sweethearts... I do think that I'm going to be closer to Justin than the rest-- but don't get any ideas... we're just hanging out, not dating."
"Mmhmm..." said Daphne, "just remember to make me the Maid of Honor at your wedding."
They both laughed and reluctantly said good-bye. As Tiffanie hung up the phone, it rang, scaring her half to death. She pick up the reciever.
"Hello?" she said.
"Hey! Um.. it's Justin."
"Oh, hey Justy-roo!" she laughed, calling Justin by the nickname they'd created at dinner earlier that night.
Justin laughed. "I wish you guys would quit with that stupid name."
"It's cute!"
"It's embarrassing... especially when the waitress started calling me that!"
They both laughed.
"Well," said Justin, " I just wondered if you'd wanna hang out with five dorks tomorrow after class."
"Not really," said Tiffanie.
"Oh, well.. that's-" began Justin.
"I'd much rather hang out with you guys," she finished.
"For real?" Justin's voice brightened.
"Of course!" she replied. "What else do I have to do?"
"It's nice to know that we're your first priority!" he said laughing.
"Always!" she laughed.
"Anyway, I guess I'll stop bothering you now," sighed Justin.
"You're not bothering me," she said, "I like talking to you. It's much less painful that tackling you."
Justin laughed. "Yeah. I really like talking to you too."
There was a short silence. Finally, Tiffanie spoke up.
"Well, I guess I'll let you go now... bye, Justy-roo!" teased Tiffanie.
"Bye, sweetie," said Justin softly and hung up the phone.
Tiffanie held the reciever to her ear in shock for a moment. Justin had just called her "sweetie". Her heart began to race. She hung up the phone and calmed herself.
"There is no way that Justin Timberlake could be falling for me," she assured herself as she climbed into bed and turned out the light.
"It sure would be nice though..." she thought as she drifted to sleep.
* * * * * 3 weeks later * * * * *
Tiffanie has been going out with the guys almost every night. The nights she didn't hang out with all of them, she was with Justin. She become close to all of them, but very close to Justin. They had a lot in common and always knew how to make each other laugh. They'd formed an extremely tight bond in a short time.
Chapter 12
Justin and Tiffanie laughed as they walked down the hallway towards their rooms. It was five in the afternoon and they had just been released from class for the day.
"I can't believe Lance went off on Kim like that," said Tiffanie laughing as she pulled the key to her room from her pocket.
"Well, he was right," said Justin, "some of those dance moves she wanted y'all to do were impossible."
"Yeah," she agreed, removing the key from the lock.
Justin and Tiffanie's hands met as the reached for the doorknob at the same time. Justin held her hand in his for a moment longer than necessary before letting go. He smiled at her as he turned the knob and held the door open for her.
"Thanks," she said, smiling up at him.
"No prob," he replied, returning her smile.
"Don't forget to give me a call when y'all figure out what we're gonna do tonight," she said, walking into her room.
"Don't worry.. I will," he assured her as he closed the door behind her.
He stood there holding the doorknob for a moment. He sighed and let go of the doorknob.
"I can't go on like this," Justin thought as he let himself into his room.
* * * * * * * * * *
After taking a shower, Justin plopped down in a chair next to the phone. He picked up the reciever and dialed Chris' room number.
"Kirkpatrick summer home. Summer home, Summer not," said Chris.
Justin laughed.
"Yo, man.. it's Justin. What are you doing?"
"I'm getting ready to go out with Dani. What's up?"
"Aw, nothin'. I'll catch you later. I know you miss Dani, so I'll let ya go."
"You sure?"
"Yeah.. I just need someone to talk to.. I'll get JC or Lance.. or Joey."
"Well, JC's doing some recording with Wild Orchid later tonight, but you can probably catch him before he leaves."
"Aiight.. thanks, man."
"Any time."
"Later."
"Bye."
After hanging up with Chris, Justin dialed JC's room number.
"Hello?"
Yo, C... it's Justin"
"Hey, man. What's up?
"I need to talk to you. Can you come to my room?"
"Yeah.. sure. I've still got a little over an hour before I have to be at the studio."
"Great... do you know if Lance and Joey are free?"
"Well, you know Joey," laughed JC. "He's found some chick and they went out."
Justin laughed. "Sounds like Joey."
Anyway, I'll call Lance for ya, okay?"
"Okay... thanks."
"No problem."
"Later."
"Alright.. see ya in a few."
Within ten minutes there was knock on Justin's door. He opened the door and let JC and Lance in.
JC fell into the mini sofa by the window and draped his legs over the arm. Lance made himself comfortable in an oversized recliner in the corner.
"So, what's up?" asked JC.
Justin sat at the foot of his bed and held his head in his hands. Then he propped his head up with his hands under his chin.
"What do you guys think of Tiff?" he finally asked.
"Oh, she's great," JC smiled, "she's more of a close friend than a fan, now."
"Yeah," agreed Lance. "It's been really fun to hang out with her for the past few weeks."
A smile crossed Justin's lips as he listened to his friends talk about Tiffanie. There was a short silence.
"You like her a lot, don't you?" asked Lance, observing Justin's smile.
Justin nodded.
"Is that why you went off on us that first night?" asked JC.
Justin laughed a little. "Yeah... when you guys started sayin' that I had a crush on her, I got mad because I really do."
"Dude..." began JC, "we had no idea. We were just messin' around."
"I know," Justin said. He sighed and shook his head. "I just don't know what to do now. How do I tell her? Should I tell her? Do you think she likes me? I mean, what if-"
"Stop the madness!" exclaimed JC, cutting him off.
"Come on man," said Lance. "You're 'Mr. Smooth'... I've never seen you thins worked up over a girl before."
"She must mean a lot to you," commented JC.
Justin smiled.
"Just ask her out... y'all have hung out alone before," suggested JC.
"But this is different... I-"
"Tonight is perfect," interrupted Lance. "Chris and Joey are out. JC's leaving soon and I'm having a meeting about Free Lance Entertainment tonight."
"Wow," said Justin. "I didn't know that all of you had all this stuff goin' on tonight. Did I miss a group meeting or something?" he joked.
"Well, you have been kind of out of it lately," said JC.
"Yeah," laughed Lance, "we thought you were just spacing out from stress or something. But now we know that it's... "
Lance and JC smiled at each other and turned to Justin.
"Love!" they exclaimed dramatically.
Justin rolled his eyes and heaved pillows in their direction. They all burst into laughter as pillows began to fly back and forth.
After a few minutes, JC checked his watch.
"Well, I hate to be a party pooper, but I've gotta go," concluded JC.
"Yeah, I better be getting ready to go, too," said Lance getting up from his chair.
Justin followed Lance and JC to the door.
"Thanks y'all," said Justin standing in the doorway."Any time," said Lance.
"That's what we're here for," said JC. He looked at Tiffanie's door and back at Justin. "You know what you have to do."
Justin nodded.
"So get to it," said Lance, pushing Justin towards her door.
Lance and JC laughed as they headed to the elevator.
Justin hesitated before knocking on Tiffanie's door. He wasn't sure how he was going to tell her this. Furthermore, he had no idea how she was going to react.
He took a deep breath and lightly knocked on her door.
* * * * * * * * * *Tiffanie was lying on her bed in a T-shirt and sweatpants talking to Daphne when she heard the knock on her door.
"Oh," said Tiffanie getting up, "I'll call you back in a minute. Someone's at the door."
"Okay," replied Daphne. "I want details!"
Tiffanie laughed. "Okay, okay... bye."
She hung up the phone and went to the door. She opened it to find Justin on the other side.
"Hi," she smiled at him.
"Hey, Tiff," he said. "Can I come it?"
"Of course,"she replied, looking confused, "come on in."
She walked to her bed and sat at the foot. Justin shut the door behind him. He pulled a chair from the table and put it in front of her.
"Is something wrong?" asked Tiffanie, sounding alarmed.
"No, no," replied Justin as he sat in the chair. "Nothing's wrong... in fact, everything in my life has been right since I met you."
He took her hands in his as he gazed into her eyes. She gazed back into his deep blue eyes. She couldn't believe what was happening.
"I know that we've only known each other for three weeks," he continued, "but I really like you... for more than a friend."
He paused before he went on.
"I've never met anyone like you. You get along great with my friends. You know all the right things to say to make me feel better. You understand me better than people I've known for years. I can't explain it, but when I'm with you, the whole world stops and there's just me and you... and nothing else matters."
"Don't feel pressured if you don't feel the same way," he said. "I just had to let you know how I feel."
"No," replied Tiffanie. "I'm somewhat overwhelmed. I mean... I went from staring at posters of you all over my room... to this... it's a lot to take in."
Justin stared into her dark eyes. He softly rubbed her hands, which he was still holding, and waited for her to continue. She took a deep breath.
"I really like you too," she finally said. She paused for a moment. "A lot," she finished.
Justin smiled, however, Tiffanie seemed somewhat upset. His smile quickly faded and his eyes filled with concern.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She looked up realizing that he noticed her distress.
"Nothing," she replied, flashing half of a fake smile. She didn't fool Justin.
"Come on," he said, "you can tell me."
She looked into his concerned eyes and couldn't help but to give him a small, but genuine smile. He really did know her.
"The truth is," she began, "the last time I felt this way about someone... I ended up getting very hurt."
She stood up and walked to the glass doors of the balcony. As she looked outside, she could feel Justin behind her. He rubbed her shoulders.
"Do you wanna talk about it?" he asked slowly.
Her eyes filled with tears, but she willed herself not to cry.
"No," she replied, "not right now... maybe later."
"I would never... ever hurt you," he said softly.
She turned around and Justin pulled her into his arms. At first she was surprised, but then relaxed and lay her head against his chest. He knew exactly what she needed.
"So," he said, after holding her in silence for a few minutes, "are you up for a movie and maybe a walk on the beach?"
"Definitely," she said, "but aren't we hanging out with the rest of the guys tonight?"
"Oh, I meant to tell you," said Justin, "the rest of the guys are busy tonight. It's just you and me."
"Perfect," smiled Tiffanie.
"I'm going to go get ready," said Justin, "and I'll be back within 30 minutes... alright?"
"Um... yeah, that's fine, " she laughed. "But doesn't leaving require you letting go of me first?"
"Ohh... do I have to?" he moaned jokingly. He reluctantly let go of her and left the room.
Just as the door was closing after him, the phone rang, knocking Tiffanie out of the warm fuzzy feeling that Justin had left her with.
"Hello?" she said putting the reciever to her ear.
"I'm sorry... I got impatient," explained Daphne, hurriedly, "so who was at the door? Anything interesting happen?"
Tiffanie laughed and took one last look at the door through which Justin had just left.
"You have no idea," she said, falling onto her bed.
Chapters 13-15
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