“Kate!” Chris yelled.
Katlyn looked up from where she was standing with Lance. “Yes, Chris?”
“I need some help.”
Katlyn held up the jacket for Lance and helped him put it on and then walked over to Chris. “What do you need?”
“I need help with this shirt, I still hate it...you should know that by now.” Katlyn laughed and helped Chris into the shirt. “Why did you have to make these clothes so freaking hard to get into?”
“I did it to torture you.”
“I need some help too!” Justin called.
Katlyn turned to face Jackie and pleaded with her to go help him.
“I can’t, I’m helping JC right now, and Joey is next.” Jackie whispered.
“I can help Joey, please, please, please don’t make go help Justin.” Katlyn whispered back.
“Suck it up and do your job.”
Katlyn huffed and slowly walked over to Justin. “Why is it so hard for you guys to get into these clothes, you’ve been getting into the same clothes for the past month?”
“You could have made it easier for us.” Justin said looking up.
“But then life would be boring.” Katlyn took the shirt from him and held it up for him to put on. She then took his jacket off the hanger and held it up for him to shrug on. She picked up the mic and the mic box and strung the wires down his shirt and clipped the box on his pants while Justin adjusted the mic on his head.
“Anything else?”
“Nope. I’m good for now.”
“Ok.” Katlyn said starting to walk away but then turned around. “Have a great show.”
Justin watched her walk away to help Chris with his mic. “Thanks.”
(January 31, 2002)
“I can’t believe I’m getting forced into this!”
“Kate, stop complaining.” Jackie said while strapping her shoes on.
“I’m being forced to go to my EX boyfriend’s birthday party. The same one who CHEATED on me! I think I have a right to complain.”
“Haven’t we been over this before? He didn’t cheat on you.”
“It’s easier to get out of it if I said he cheated on me.” Katlyn said softly.
“It’s his twenty-first, be civil to him.”
“It’s his twenty-first.” Katlyn mimicked. “Oh, I’ll be civil...what if I kick his little-“
“Ok! It’s time to go!” JC cut in.
“Now what do you mean by ‘civil’?” Katlyn asked.
“You’re not going to piss him off, you’re going to wish him a happy birthday, and you’ll be nice to him.” Jackie ordered.
“All of that, huh?”
“Yes, ALL of that.”
“I think I’m gonna stay here tonight.” Katlyn said sitting down.
JC pulled her up and started pushing her out the door and practically forced her to sit in the car. Then he had to pull her out of the car and drag her to the front door. She struggled as much as she could, but he still pulled her.
Katlyn stood behind JC as they walked to the door.
“Kate, what is that?” Laura suddenly asked.
Katlyn looked over her shoulder at her. “What?”
Laura pulled up Katlyn’s shirt a few inches in the back. “That!”
“Oh...that’s a tattoo.”
“A real one?”
“Yes.”
JC stopped walking and turned around. “You got a what?”
“I got a tattoo! Can we just get this night over with?!”
JC took a step back and lifted her shirt up. “Why?”
Katlyn swatted his hands away. “Because I wanted to.”
JC turned back around and knocked on the door. Justin opened the door and smiled.
“Happy Birthday, J.” JC said giving him a quick hug.
“Hey, thanks!” He saw Laura and Jackie behind him but didn’t see Katlyn.
JC saw his face fall, so he stepped inside, revealing Katlyn to Justin.
“Damn it.” Katlyn hissed under her breath. She looked up to see Justin looking at her. Jackie and Laura quickly walked past her into Justin’s house.
“Happy birthday, Justin.” Jackie said giving him a quick hug.
“Happy birthday!” Laura gave him a hug and followed Jackie away from the two standing by the door.
Katlyn cleared her throat and took a step forward. “Happy Birthday, Justin.”
Justin slightly smiled. “Thanks for coming.”
“Yeah, well...um...” Katlyn tugged on her pink tank top nervously.
“So, do you wanna come in or are you just going to stand out here all night?”
“Well...” Katlyn thought about what she was told earlier. “I guess I’ll come in.”
Justin smiled and stepped aside for her. Katlyn slowly walked in.
“I’m glad you came.” Justin said softly after closing the door.
“Well, it’s your twenty-first birthday, I couldn’t not come.”
“Thanks, it means a lot to me.”
Katlyn smiled and looked around the room.
“Can we talk?” Justin asked.
“We are talking, aren’t we?”
“Well yeah, but...” Justin took a deep breath. “Katlyn, I need you back.”
Katlyn’s head whipped around towards him. “Justin, I don’t want to talk about this right now.” She looked down at her feet.
“Well I do.” Justin said sternly.
“Actually, I think I’m going to go talk to Lance.”
Justin grabbed her hand and pulled her back over. “I’m not letting you run away again.”
Katlyn pulled her hand back. “I’m not ‘running away’, I’m going to walk over to Lance. I’m still gonna be here.” She quickly took the chance and walked away over towards Lance.
Justin sighed and turned around to see JC standing there.
“It’s because of you, isn’t it?” He sneered.
“I’ll have to go talk to her again, I told her to be nice to you today.”
“Not that. She won’t talk to me about US because of you, right?”
“What about me?” JC asked confused.
“You two are like an item now, aren’t you?”
“No, we’re just friends.”
“Do you think I’m blind?! At Chris’ party you two were holding hands and whispering. She ALWAYS goes to you to talk and she avoids me and to top it off, you picked her up and brought her here, WITH you!”
“J, now is not the time to get jealous.”
“I’m not jealous, I’m mad!”
“J, nothing is going on between us. How many more times do we have to tell that to you?”
“Keep telling yourself that.” Justin said walking over to the little bar set up and grabbed a drink.
JC stormed over to Katlyn, grabbed her arm and pulled her outside.
“What the HELL is your problem?!” Katlyn said snatching her arm back.
“I told you to be NICE to him for his birthday! Was that SO hard?!”
“I WAS nice, I talked to him, didn’t I?”
“Why does he think WE are a couple?”
“What?”
“Yes, that’s right. You and me.” JC said calming down.
“So why is that MY fault?”
“Did you say something to him?”
“Yes, JC. I said ‘Happy Birthday, Justin. Oh, by the way me and one of your best friends, JC, have hot SEX every night. Nice talking to you again, bye’!”
JC smirked at her. “You need to talk to him.”
“I did talk to him.” Katlyn pouted.
“He’s in there MAD at both of us, on his birthday, getting drunk!”
“That’s not my problem.”
“Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? Get in there and talk to him!”
Katlyn turned and walked back in the house. She went to get a drink and then spotted Justin sitting down in the corner. She slowly started to approach him.
“Mind if I sit with you?” She asked softly.
Justin looked up at her surprised. “Sure, it’s a free country.”
“Listen, JC told me what you said.”
Justin looked down at his glass. “Yeah, I was thinking about that too. If he makes you happy, then I’m totally ok with that. I just want you to be happy.”
Katlyn’s heart broke listening to the pain in his voice. “Justin, nothing is going on between us. We’re just friends.”
“You don’t have to hide it form me, I’ll support you two in whatever-“
“We’re not hiding anything from you.”
Justin looked up at her. “Then what was with you two at Chris’ party?”
“Nothing. We were talking...about you, and me...and us.”
Justin sighed and leaned back in his chair. “What about that Scott guy?”
“I haven’t seen him since after that party.”
“Do I even want to know what happened when you two left?” Justin said sadly.
“Let’s see...we took a taxi to the dorm, he walked me up to my room...” Justin’s heart broke and he looked down sadly. “He tried to come inside, then he tried to kiss me, again, so then I slapped him and slammed the door in his face. I think that about sums it up.”
Justin looked up and let out a laugh. “Really?”
“Yep. I’m a tough girl.”
“Yes, I remember very well.” Justin said rubbing his cheek.
“I am so sorry about that.”
“I deserved it.”
They were quiet for a few minutes. Katlyn watched all of their friends dance around.
“So, you don’t have anyone else in your life?” Justin asked.
Katlyn turned her head to look at him. “Like a boyfriend?”
“Yeah, did you get anyone who may be boyfriend material?”
Katlyn shook her head. “Nah, my last boyfriend had a huge impact on me. I don’t think I’m ready for a new one yet.”
Justin smiled and they were quiet again.
“Justin, I know you didn’t kiss her. But just the memory of seeing it and then knowing you had lied about the phone calls...I jut need some time to think and to...be away from you.”
That had done it. A tear rolled down Justin’s cheek. “I understand.”
Katlyn kneeled down in front of him and wiped the tear away. “I still love you, Justin. I’ve never stopped.” She stood up and leaned down to give him a hug. “Happy Birthday.” She stood back up and started to walk away.
“Katlyn?” She stopped and turned around. “What is that on your back?”
“A tattoo.”
“What does it mean?” He asked referring to the Chinese symbol on her back.
Katlyn smiled. “Love.” And with that she walked away.
