Last Dance
Author's Note- needed something to write! Based on a verse of Tom Petty's 'Last Dance With Mary Jane'. (He's the MAN!) It goes something like this:
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.
Well, I don't know, but I've been told,
You never slow down, you never grow old.
I'm tired of screwin' up, tired of going down,
Tired of myself, tired of this town.
Oh, my, my. Oh, hell, yes.
Honey, put on that party dress.
Buy me a drink, sing me a song.
Take me as I come 'cause I can't stay long.
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.
There's pigeons down on Market Square.
She's standin' in her underwear,
Lookin' down from a hotel room.
Oh, my, my. Oh, hell, yes.
You got to put on that party dress.
It was too cold to cry when I woke up alone.
I hit my last number and walked to the road.
Last dance with Mary Jane, one more time to kill the pain.
I feel summer creepin' in and I'm tired of this town again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was the semi-annual cleaning day on the Nsync tour bus. The guys had ripped apart the whole bus and were now trying to put everything back in its place. They had found things they thought were lost and even stuff they didn't even know they had.
"Hey guys, look at this," Chris laughed, holding up his old jean jacket.
"I haven't' seen that in years!" Joey smiled.
"I know," Chris said, putting it on. Even after all these years, he could faintly smell the smoke from when he was younger and experimenting with weed. He hoped no one else noticed and tried to ignore it. He had put that all behind him now and he everything he wanted with the popularity Nsync had brought him.
Still, when he put his hands in the pockets and found his old rolling papers and half a baggy of weed, he contemplated trying it again. He glanced at the others, but no one noticed his surprise.
"Oh my God!" Justin yelled, scaring Chris.
"What?" Lance asked.
"I found my favorite shirt!" Justin beamed, holding up a baby blue shirt.
J.C. rolled his eyes and tossed his dust rag at Justin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
'Finally,' Chris thought. 'They finally left,' He sat on the couch. On the table before him lay the bag of weed and his rolling papers. Ever since he first smelled the musty odor on his jacket, he was eager to light up again. As he pulled out some of the leaves and laid them on the paper, the door opened, making him jump.
Justin cheerfully jumped on the bus, and reached for his wallet that was lying on the table in front of Chris. "I forgot my wallet," Justin said, glancing at Chris.
Confused, he looked back at Chris, his eyes falling on the table in front of Chris.
"What are you doing?"
"I…uh…nothing," Chris stuttered, trying to remain calm.
"Is that weed?" Justin asked, coming closer.
"Yeah," Chris replied.
"You do drugs?" Justin questioned.
"I did when I was your age," Chris said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, didn't you?" Chris questioned.
"No," Justin replied. "I never had a reason to."
"Well you want to try it?" Chris asked as he continued rolling his joint.
"I don't know man," Justin started with uncertainty.
"You sure? One time won't hurt ya," Chris pressured.
"Uh…why not?" Justin gave in. If Chris was doing it, surely he could too.
"Cool. Here," Chris said, handing the joint to Justin and rolling another.
Justin studied it while he waited for Chris. He didn't want to do it, but he wanted to show Chris he was cool with it. Besides, one time couldn't hurt, could it?
Chris pulled out a lighter and lit his first. Then he reached over and Justin's. "I don't know how good this is," Chris said, taking a puff.
Justin mimicked Chris, but started coughing as he inhaled. He instantly began to relax and started to smile.
"Yeah, this is still good," Chris smiled, leaning back on the couch.
Justin started laughing as he sat down next to Chris. "This is cool. Why didn't I try it before?"
"Don't know," Chris smiled, taking another puff.
Justin copied him, and soon they ha smoked the whole joint. "How long does this last?" Justin asked.
"About four or five hours," Chris replied, watching the room sway.
"But we have rehearsal in half an hour or something," Justin laughed.
"Why is it called rehearsal?" Chris wondered out loud.
"Come on, the car's outside," Justin said, getting up. He swayed slightly as he walked to the door. He stopped four feet in front of the door and tried to open it. "Oh my God! I can't feel the door!" he yelled.
Chris cracked up and joined his younger friend. "I'm driving," Chris said as he ran out the door.
"Wait up!" Justin yelled after him.
They got in the rental car that was parked outside. Chris put the key in the ignition and began steering. "Why aren't we going anywhere?" he asked, confused.
"You gotta turn the key, stupid," Justin laughed.
Chris obeyed, and they slowly pulled out on the highway. Chris leaned front, close to the windshield and gripped the steering wheel.
"Chris, I think we can go faster," Justin said, reading the speedometer. They were going 20 in a 65.
"Shut up! I'm concentrating!" Chris yelled, carefully steering the car.
"Did you see that!" Justin asked.
"What?!" Chris asked, face against the windshield.
"That tree jumped at me!" Justin said.
"God, we're so fucked up," Chris laughed.
"Think anyone will notice?" Justin asked.
"No," Chris replied.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Are you guys high?" Lance asked.
"High?" Justin asked.
"No, we're low," Chris said, making both them crack up.
"Great," J.C. muttered. He glared at them both in their red eyes. "Which one of you has it?"
"I don't know," Chris laughed, throwing his arm around Joey.
"I think I do," Joey said.
"When's lunch? I'm starved," Justin interrupted.
"Me too," Chris replied, letting go of Joey.
"No, you two aren't going anywhere," J.C. said. "You're lucky you didn't get killed on the way over here."
"Lucky?" Chris asked. "That's my name."
"Don't wear it out," Justin chimed in.
The two cracked up as J.C. started, "You guys should be ashamed of yourselves. We are role models for millions of girls all over the world and you two have the nerve to destroy everything we've been working for. If anyone saw this, we'd be history! Chris, I'm holding you responsible. How dare you get him to get high with you. You are the oldest member of this group but sometimes you're the stupidest. You know how much Justin, or any of us for that matter, look up to you. You will not ever get high again as long as you are in this group; do I make myself clear? You have done some STUPID things before, but this has got to be the lowest."
The two stood stunned. Justin smiled as he watched J.C.'s features become distorted. Chris started to sway as he replied, "Yes master."
Justin laughed and stumbled to a chair. Chris looked at the others with red eyes. "Did you guys know it's only seven birthdays until my month?"
Almost against his will, J.C. smiled. "Yeah, I did." He so wanted to hit Chris and knock some sense into him, but it would do no good.
"You sure about that?" Joey asked.
"Yup," Chris smiled.
"God, I'm hungry," Justin said.
"Me too," Chris whined.
"I'll get something," Lance said as he headed the recording studio's break room.
"Watch this," Joey said to J.C. as he reached in his pocket. "Hey Chris, could you pick up that penny?" he asked, throwing a penny on the floor.
"Sure," Chris replied, bending down. After many tries, he picked up the penny. Joey outstretched his hand and Chris tried to place it in Joey's hand. He dropped it a few inches to the left of Joey's hand, then bent down to pick it up again.
"He'll be busy forever," Joey said to J.C.
They laughed and turned to see Justin asleep in the chair. J.C. sat down in another chair and put his head in his hands. "I just can't figure out where Chris got drugs," he sighed.
"He probably found them today when we were cleaning," Joey guessed.
"But none of us had them."
"I remember a long time ago I caught him doing them, but that was when he was kind of depressed about his dad. He stopped as soon as we formed a group though." Joey said.
"Why would you want to do that to yourself?" J.C. asked.
"I have no idea, but I think after that speech you gave them, they'll quit."
"Good," J.C. replied, "I care too much about them to loose another friend."
"Another?" Joey asked.
"Yeah, a while ago my one friend got into drugs and stuff. He was killed one night because he was stupid and tried to drive while he was high. I don't think I'll ever forgive myself for not stopping him."
"I'm sorry," Joey said quietly.
"Don't worry about it. We just have to get it through their heads how dangerous it is," J.C. replied.
"I got it!" Chris yelled, holding up the penny.
"Good job," Joey replied, rolling his eyes.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next morning, the guys sat down and had a long talk. They agreed to never get into drugs again, or that person would be kicked out of the group. To make up for it, Chris and Justin volunteered to support all the DARE programs and have concerts at all the schools where the only way to get in was to write essays on how drugs were bad for you.
They got amazing results, and more popularity. The guys became a shinning example of what you can achieve without drugs, and more kids realized how much drugs would hold them back. Too many people have died from drugs, and it's time we took a stand.
Finnis
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