Helplessly Aware

By Charlie burton

Chapter 7

JUSTIN and JC crashed at their own place in Orlando, Justin ecstatic to see his younger brother who received the hugest hug the morning after. Lynn had been at the performance with his step-dad and JC and Justin had caught a ride back with them. The sun beat down on the back yard and the two young guys were lolling around enjoying their break from work. Justin was shooting hoops while JC lounged in a deck chair on the grass.

“So, who was the chick last night?” Justin enquired, the backboard echoing as he shot a hoop.

“She’s called Tara. Her dad, Mr Palmer, owns a huge part of MTV.”

“Sheesh, bringin’ in tha big bucks then?”

“Something like that,” JC mused. Money didn’t come into his equations.

“You really liked her. Or should I say, like. This isn’t a one-night meeting thing, I can tell.”

“Since when did you read the future?”

“Since I accepted that Grace can’t be around us the whole time,” Justin replied.

JC felt his stomach twist at the sound of her name, glittering stormy eyes and a divine smile popped inside his head. “Mmm,” was all that came out. “I have her address and phone number, she lives in Miami.”

“Moving pretty swiftly Jez, Shazaam is getting in gear. Finally.” The ball looped the net ring and neatly off the wrong edge. Justin scowled.

“Hey, I finally meet a girl I get along with, am attracted to, and I wanna do a little dating and I’m finally getting into gear? Thanks dude,” JC laughed.

Justin thought about Lance’s comments on JC around Grace and wondered why he hid it from them. “Pleasure.”

“You and Grace?”

So she is on your mind, Justin ruminated. “Nada. Friends, friends, friends, friends, friends. How many more times to I have to reiterate it?”

“Chill out, I was only asking.”

“Everyone’s always asking. But I must admit, I find her hot in a non-friends way,” Justin revealed.

JC laughed a little and Justin joined in, thinking about how she’d react if she knew what he’d just said.

“Talking about Grace, I have to email her. I’ll be inside,” Justin said, dropping the basketball and wandering into the cool house.

* * *

Drawing up her hair into a scruffy ponytail and tucking the loose strands behind her ears, Grace caught a look at herself as she ran from her dorm. The loose top really makes the outfit, Grace grimaced, but the grimace was followed by a smile as she pushed it back onto her shoulder, it was Justin’s. Grace figured not that many College girls got to wear Justin Timberlake’s old tops.

“Grace!” someone called as she tumbled into the lobby, late for her class as usual.

“Hi Alyx, I thought you’d left,” she said, sliding to a halt.

“Niiiice, shirt,” he cooed.

Grace stuck her tongue out at him, she knew he knew it was Justin’s, and that’s all that mattered to her. With that, she carried on hurrying towards the doors.

“Wait up! I was waiting for you,” he called, racing out after her clutching his books.

“Really now? Why were you doing that?” she quizzed, looking at him firmly for a moment.

“Just was. So, are you coming to this party tonight? It’s gonna be wild.” Alyx seemed to be overflowing with excitement.

“See, the word ‘wild’ just puts me off it completely.”

“Because you won’t feel safe, you’ll hardly know anyone and there’s lots of strangers around,” he teased, knowing her too well.

“Exactly.”

So, his plan hadn’t gone right, he was anticipating a definite rebuke to which he could prove she wanted to go really. Not today, obviously. “Gracie, Gracie, Gracie. I’ll be there. What more protection and familiar loving face could you want in a crowd?” He knew she was going to reply and quickly stuck in, “and don’t say the J-word. He’s far too famous to be attending a College orgy.”

“Now ‘orgy’ also scares me from the subject,” she said, continuing down the street at a fast pace.

Alyx rolled his eyes and opted for his back up plan – straight from the heart, something he wasn’t so well known with. “Come because I want to you to be there with me.”

“That was a bit too defiant of you, too…direct to be truthful coming from your mouth. Is this a last minute resource?”

“Grace,” Alyx whined. “I want you to come with me, have some fun, live a little, be crazy! You save all your madness up for those fab five and I want you to spend some on us. Here. Right now.”

“I’ll think about it,” she replied.

Better than nothing, Alyx decided. “You’ll come around, you wait and see, girl.”

It was late in the day and the sun was setting on the horizon across Long Beach. Grace could feel the atmosphere provoking her mind to think overtime as her pencil scribbled across the grainy paper. Pushing back a strand of hair she glanced up at the guy she’d been drawing, he was tossing a football about with a friend and their dog. Using her index finger she smudged and toned in his muscles, her eyes continually flicking up to watch her subject.

Alyx approached her quietly from behind; she was sat in the sand with her loose top sprawled out beside her with pencils, wafer-thin curls of wood and an eraser. The sketchbook rested on her knees as she scribbled away intensely, a pencil pushed through a twist of hair held up the long locks. It made him smile. Her trade mark.

He knelt down and pinched her sides and Grace cried out and fell back into his lap gazing up at him with a face to die for.

“Workaholic,” he said.

“Interrupter.”

“Party pooper.”

“I’ll take that as an insult,” she replied, sitting up and restarting her drawing.

“Don’t move,” he begged, putting her pad and pencil down on her top and pulling her back into his lap, wrapping his arms around her waist.

Grace closed her eyes in annoyance and looked back at him. “Care to explain what you’re doing?”

“I’m about to enjoy the sunset with you, then I’m whisking you off to a place where people dance and chat and have fun. There’s not option for ‘no’s’.”

She gave up and sunk back into his warm body, his twisted his fingers further round her waist. “We’re staying ‘just friends’, so watch where you put those fingers of yours,” Grace cautioned.

“What?” he gasped innocently.

“Ha, ha.”

“Lighten up. When was the last time you had a boyfriend?” he asked.

“Hmm…” she said, pretending to think it over. “Could we say, my past life? Assuming there was one.”

“You’ve never had a boyfriend?”

“Okay, well I was trying to avoid the specific wording, but seen as you’ve said it now, no I haven’t. Nor do I regret not having one.”

“Stop looking for Mr. Right, they don’t exist.”

Grace prized herself from his arms and turned around with a frown wrinkled into her forehead. “Is that what you think? That I’m looking for Mr. Right? Well you’re wrong, all of your guy friends who think that too, are wrong. I know what I want, Alyx, and I haven’t found that yet, nor did I want to just be with anyone. Dating isn’t the bee-all and end-all of the world. Love comes in many different forms, some the extend from just sex.” She scooped up her things and draped the top across her shoulders and walked up the beach.

Alyx sighed and ran after her. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that.”

“You probably didn’t either, I’m just making sure you’re know why I don’t spend my entire time off searching for a second half. If anyone’s searching for Mr or Mrs. Right, it’s you people who date everyone.”

“Hey, I’m taking offence to that,” Alyx protested.

“Like I took offence to ‘party pooper’, ‘have fun’ and ‘live life a little’. I have fun, I go to parties and I do live my life as best as I feel. Don’t tell me that I don’t, Alyx.”

* * *

That night JC picked up the phone a dialled in Tara’s number, his hand was shaking and that unnerved him. The tedious tone that hummed away seemed to take for ages until there was a click and a bundle of noise.

“Hi, Tara here,” came her voice.

“Hey Tara,” JC said loudly, there was a lot of background noise and he had to raise his voice to be heard. “It’s JC here, from last night,” he added just in case she’d forgotten him.

“JC!” Tara exclaimed. “Nice to hear from you so soon. Sssh, I’m on the phone,” she said to a friend.

JC was patient, she was a sophomore at College and was cramming in all the fun she could. “Sounds like you got a good party going there.”

“What was that?” she cried, unable to catch his sentence.

“Nice party?” JC shouted. The quietness in his room suddenly making him feel stupid for crying out.

“Amazing,” she gasped. “I’d love to chat, but we’re really not gonna get in a good conversation with all this noise. Can I see you sometime?”

“Yeah,” JC replied.

“Why don’t you come on out to this party, it’s nowhere near ending.” She giggled at something and then apologized, repeating her offer.

“Not tonight,” JC said, it was too difficult to try and arrange things at such late notice, that was the problem with being in the limelight. “I’ll call you again sometime, see when we can meet up.”

“Sounds great! I have to go. See you soon!”

“Yeah. Bye Tara.”

“Bye honey!” she laughed, disconnecting her cell phone.

JC dropped the phone to its hook and sighing as he sat on his bed. He rumpled up his mouth and nose and thought about things for a moment, his contemplations broken by Justin sticking his head around the door.

“Dinner’s up,” he said. “And what’s with all the hollerin’?”

JC stood up and flicked off the bedside lamp. “I called Tara, she was at a party so I had to shout to be heard.”

“Ah-ha,” Justin replied. “C’mon, lets go feast on mother-Lynn’s scrumptious cooking,” he grinned, talking in his best British accent. JC laughed and slapped his friend on the shoulder.

* * *