Falling Apart©

By Meg Galganowicz

Chapter 2: Knowing You

“Hi, is Aly there please?”

Aly smiled. “This is she.”

“Oh, hey.”

“JC?” she queried, puzzled.

“Yeah! I got your number from Joey, but you’d already headed back to Cali, so Jake gave me your school number. Hope you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. You can save me for a bit.”

“Oh…what are you studying?”

“Some stuff for an English course,” she muttered, waving her hand aimlessly.

“Fun.”

“Oh yeah, such a thrill.”

“How ‘bout you?”

He smiled and sighed, “Actually, I’m doing nothing lying on my bed.”

“Damn, it’s three hours later there, isn’t it!” Glancing at her watch she exclaimed, “Jeez…why didn’t you just go to bed?”

“It’s only midnight, not that bad. Plus…I wanted to see what you were up to.”

Aly let out a silent girlish giggle. “You can make a safe bet that most of the time I’ll be either studying or playing tennis.”

“Got it. Me, singing or dancing. Or in the studio, too, I guess.”

She grinned. “You’re little Mr. Musical-Genius aren’t ya?”

He blushed. “Naw, not really…I just enjoy it is all.”

“There’s that little southern accent,” she commented airily.

“Me? A southern accent? Wow…that’s more Lance or Justin’s department.”

“You pick it up though babe, trust me, just the littlest bit shows in comparison to the surfer people we’ve got out here.”

“Good point.”

They sat in content silence for a moment. Aly wanted to talk, really talk, not just small talk, but she was afraid to ask anything. JC wanted to get to know her better, but wasn’t sure what to say. Eventually they got into talking about recent movies, which lead to a debate about the Star Wars Trilogy.

“Whatever, the Ewoks are too cute in Return of the Jedi!” Aly defended. She checked the clock on the wall and sighed. “Jez, you really should go to bed, I’m already in my PJ’s and in bed.”

“Well,” he yawned. “I-“

“No excuses mister, you need sleep.”

“Fine.”

“Good. Say hi to Wonderboy and the others for me.”

JC chuckled. “I will.” He paused hesitantly for a moment, then added, “Take care of yourself, and good-luck on that quiz tomorrow.”

“Thanks,” she breathed. “I…it was good to hear from you. Hope practice goes well.”

“G’night Al,” he ended softly.

“’Night, JC.” Aly hung up the phone and buried her face in her pillow. What is wrong with you?! She scolded herself. He’s just another guy. JC rolled over and put his cell on the nightstand. “You’re gettin’ soft, Chasez,” he mumbled, letting his heavy eyelids fall limp.

The next morning JC walked downstairs and found Justin on his second bowl of cereal. “Better get moving, JC, we’ve got to leave in about 15 minutes.”

He nodded gruffly and rubbed his eyes.

“How’s Aly?”

JC’s head shot up in surprise. “What?”

“I know you called her last night. Damn you two talked a long time,” he added, grinning.

“Aw, Curly, lay off.”

“Somebody’s got a crush!” Justin sang, as he rinsed his bowl and spoon in the sink.

“Who, who!” Chris exclaimed, bounding through the kitchen door.

“Will you two shut up!” JC cried, pulling the orange juice from the refrigerator.

“Nope!” Justin replied happily. “No can do buddy-boy!”

Chris laughed. “Aly, hm? She’s cute.”

JC glared at him.

“Whoa, don’t go gettin’ all defensive, geez. I’m not going after her.”

JC ignored the comments for the remainder of the day, including the ones from Lance and Joey when they were at the studio. “Can’t y’all just back off?” he yelled finally. “There’s that little southern accent.” He blushed at the thought and Joey cracked up.

“What was that?”

“Forget it.” He continued to drift in and out of his thoughts for the following days. Conversations with Aly became more and more intriguing. She would tell him things that she had learned in psych, and then was able to turn it around and think about something from her own past. It never ceased to amaze him how intelligent she was. Yet he wasn’t about to give in and let her be serious all the time, he pulled jokes and told her what he and the guys had been up to.

“Tell me something about your parents, Al. You hardly say anything about them.”

“There’s not much to say on my mom’s behalf. She,” Aly fidgeted, “well, she was very work-oriented most of the time. Sure, she took me to tournaments, but only until I could drive myself, then she began to diminish from the picture. It was my dad who supported me, and he was the one that took me out to celebrate when I won an award for the school team.”

JC’s tone was hushed when he spoke, “You’re dad was really special to you, wasn’t he?”

Aly was quiet for a moment. “Yeah…he was.”

“Sorry, I won’t bring it up.”

“No, it’s okay. I just wish he were still here, you know? I mean, I could always turn to him and depend on him. Now, even though I lived with Eric for a while…I’m dependent on myself. I’m not making much sense, am I?” she sighed.

He smiled. “No, I get you perfectly, babe. You just have to make sure you let someone else take care of you some time.”

“What do you mean?” she asked, tentatively.

He paused for a moment, careful to pick the words he chose. “I…you just can’t block people out for self-defense I guess. Someone’s going to find you and want to protect you. Make sure you let them, okay?”

“Yeah.” What is he saying? Her mind began to drift and she thought back to her few friends from high school. She’d always been the person they called at three in the morning, and the friend they asked for advice on girlfriends. None of them ever did her much, they never took her out or ever really thanked her. Did they even care that I felt alone? she questioned.

“Penny for your thoughts,” JC offered quietly.

“Pardon?”

“You seemed to be thinking ‘bout something, you went all quiet.”

“Oh, sorry. Just stuff from high school, nothing exciting…” she rolled off.

He sighed. “Hey, I hate to, but I’ve got to go, we just got to the venue. Talk to you tomorrow?” he asked hopefully.

“Sure, if you have the time. I’ll be on the courts till late afternoon though.”

“Okay. I don’t want to miss anything,” he said, then quickly ended, “I’ll talk to you tomorrow then, Al. Sleep well, bye.”

“Bye.” Aly hung up when the dial tone rang through the line. She stared at the phone, as it lay lifeless in the cradle. “What are you doing, Al? What are you doing?” she scolded herself, as her heart began to twinge as she listened to the silence.

JC’s schedule became hectic as they began to take off and he had less time in which to daydream. He kept to his music and wrote in a little book he’d found whenever he could; his inspiration became words in that book. Chris and Lance noticed his sudden creativity for poetry, but held off, saying nothing and letting him take it at his own time. What they didn’t know was that he couldn’t get her face from his mind. Her gentle eyes, and the way her hair had brushed against his face – he couldn’t forget. As he sat on the bus in late December he closed his eyes and settled in for a long-deserved sleep.

“JC, what’s up?”

“Hm?” he questioned, without opening his eyes. “What do you want Justin?”

“Mind if I borrow your notebook? I needed to check an address.”

JC waved him off. “Yeah, it’s in my bag in my bunk.”

“Thanks,” Justin replied, grinning from ear to ear. He bounded over and pulled it out, quickly flipping through until he found what he wanted. “That was almost too easy.”

“It wasn’t. What’s the deal, Curly? You never write anyone.”

Justin moaned as JC’s hand shut the notebook and slid it back in his bag. “J-Cee! I wanted to call Aly, party pooper.”

“Why didn’t you just ask?” JC looked at him funny. He rattled it off in a matter of second as he walked back to his seat.

“Whoa, what was that again?” Justin asked, whipping out his cell. He dialed almost as quickly as his friend repeated himself. “Damn, you certainly know that well enough…” he commented as he sat down at the small table.

JC glared at him playfully, “Don’t you start with me boy.”

Someone picked up and Justin’s eyes lit. “Aly?”

“Justin?” she cried.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“Not all too much actually. If you’d called a few minutes a go I would have been in the shower, you lucked out babe.”

“Shower, eh?” He wiggled his eyebrows and ducked as something flew at him.

“What was that?” she asked, chuckling.

Justin sighed. “JC here is throwing candies at me again.”

“Maybe you should stop teasing him then,” Chris wisecracked, as he grabbed a soda from the fridge.

“Chris, shut up,” JC retorted, going back to his yogurt.

“So how’s school going?” Justin asked, gazing out the tour bus window.

“Its tough work, but going well. Psych is great; I can see why Chris majored in it. How about you? Tutoring going well?”

He sighed. “Yeah, ready to be done with it though.”

“I know how that feels. But you’re ahead of the game because you already are doing what you love. And I hear your single is doing really well…”

Justin’s face lit up and JC peered at him curiously from across the table. “It’s incredible. We’re doing a string of performances for the next few weeks, going through Florida, New York, California, and somewhere mid-country.”

“Excellent. Hey, is JC around still?”

He grinned evilly at his friend. “Yeah, why?”

“’Cause I want to ask him something,” she whined. “I know he’s sitting right there so put him on.”

Justin laughed and held the phone out to JC. “For you, Daddy.”

JC took the phone. “Al?”

“Hiya,” she greeted, settling back in her butterfly chair.

“You’re in a good mood,” he commented.

“I finally get to talk to you, of course I’m happy.”

His face grew warm, enough so that it caught Justin’s attention. “Same here.”

“So you having a good day, bad day, what? I can’t tell.”

“Good day. Hey, we found out that we’re going to be opening for Janet Jackson! That’s enough to make any day good.”

“Sounds like fun. I’ll be stuck here for awhile, then down to Florida for my spring break.”

“Ooh, you can visit us then!” he cried joyously.

“You’ll probably be touring, Jez.”

“Well, meet us somewhere then,” he tried.

Aly sighed. “I don’t know JC, I really need to work with Jake.”

“No fair.” He pouted and stared out the window, oblivious to his younger friend watching him.

“Pardon?”

“We all want to see you.”

“Yeah, but JC wants to see you more!” Justin cried, laughing.

Aly grinned, “Oh yeah?”

JC chucked his spoon at Justin and glared mischievously at him. “Maybe…” He stood up and walked further to the front. Justin took the hint and chuckled as he strolled to the back of the bus. “So…”

“Wonderboy finally leave?” Aly questioned.

“Yeah,” he replied, a soft smile toying with his lips. “So how have you been?”

Aly laid her head to the side against a small pillow and closed her eyes. “Okay…kinda run down with some school work, was up too late last night.”

“I know the feeling.”

“Except that you don’t get to sleep more on weekends really, y’all just keep going. Ya know, I’m gonna start calling you the Energizer Bunny.”

JC chuckled as he propped up his feet. “I got your email. Loved the poem, you’re really good.”

“It was just a spur of the moment thing. It’s the same time of year as my parents…well, you know. And stuff usually pours out of me.”

“That whole bit about lost at sea…good imagery.”

“Thanks.”

He thought a moment. “So what are you doing for Valentine’s Day?”

Aly was silent, It’s December, why’s he talking about Valentine’s Day? She gave a light, nervous laugh. “Probably the same thing I usually do.”

“And what’s that?”

“Help my male friends plan their dates.”

“Don’t you go out yourself? Have a date?”

“No. See, like I said before, most of my life I’ve been the ‘guys’ best friend’ type of girl. I helped Riley make plans last year. Jake and I sat around and watched sappy movies all night, since he didn’t have anyone. His fiancé left him – which is why I’m really happy that he’s with Kaylie for the moment.”

“You’re a romantic then…” he mused.

Aly chuckled casually. “I can’t help it. I’ve always been a hopeless romantic. Listening to music that’s greatly love songs. Of course, it’s hard because I never get the guy, so I’m quite often lonely. Heck, I’ve even written two novels that have romantic airs to them.”

JC laughed. “So you write novels too, eh? Let me read it some time.”

“No!”

“Why not?”

“Because I wrote one when I was 15, and the other after my parents died. Besides you don’t have time to read them. They’re about 450-500 pages each.”

JC let out a low whistle. “Wow. Do you still write them at all?”

Aly sighed, “I don’t have time.”

“I haven’t seen Bed of Roses. That a good one?”

“Where did that come from? But yes, personally, I can’t resist Christian Slater’s eyes in that, or in Robin Hood Prince of Thieves.”

“I just remembered seeing ads for it, but we don’t get out as much as we used to.”

“And unfortunately it isn’t going to get any better. The more popular you’ll become, the more difficult things will be.”

“How do you know that?” he asked soflty.

“My Dad.” She paused. “He was a producer. Originally he wanted to be a singer, but never really got anywhere with it, so he shifted to producing. As a young child I remember he would always sing me to sleep, and I found such incredible comfort at the sound of his voice. I remember him coming home and telling me about the artists that he worked with as I grew up, too. It was great, listening to him tell all these stories, and reminding me that no matter what route I took in life, I’d have to make sacrifices in order to achieve. I’ll never forget that.”

JC’s voice was hushed as he spoke, “And you sacrificed a great deal of your teenage years for your tennis."

“I did. And right now I don’t regret a moment of it. Jake gave me a gift the day he started working with me. My Dad encouraged me to put my heart into it, but advised me that it would be a lot of time and effort. Boy was he right.”

“Everything is.”

“You and the guys are going to be a smash hit group very soon, overpowering the Billboard Charts and market sales. Keep your head up, babe,” Aly told him quietly.

He smiled, “You sure about that?”

“Definitely, give it a few months.”

There was another silence, an extended one, between the pair as each drifted into their thoughts. Aly finally broke it with a gentle request, “JC, would you…would you sing for me?”

Her voice was so timid that he couldn’t help but feel touched at her plea. “What would you like to hear?” he asked quietly.

“How ‘bout some Sting…”

“Alright.” He cleared his throat momentarily, then softly broke into a version of one of his personal favorites. As he sang he leaned back and closed his eyes.

Aly listened to the pure combination of strength and tenderness in his voice and was struck. Any defenses she still had up against the young man fell in a thunderous crash and her heart swelled in her chest. When he finished he was silent, and Aly replied, “I…thank you.”

JC blushed childishly. “No thanks needed.”

“No, it’s beautiful.” Aly began telling him about songs that her father had sung and there was a passionate connection begun. She lived in music that she heard, and he lived in the music he made.

Christmas passed, as did New Year’s, and they hardly spoke. Aly had gone home to stay with Eric and meet his fiancée Leslie. Leslie and Aly got along surprisingly well, but Aly’s mind was elsewhere. If it wasn’t on her tennis, then it was on JC. The way his voice would lull her to sleep as she remembered the way he sang, or the childish sparkle she’d seen flicker in his eyes the last time she’d seen him. His essence filled her thoughts day in and day out. JC, on the other hand, was lucky enough to spend Christmas with his family in D.C. He hung out with his brother, but was disconnected from the family gathering. Finally, his mom took him aside in the kitchen to help clean up after Christmas dinner.

“So…what’s up?” she asked, as casually as possible.

“Mom, what are you implying? I know that tone of questioning,” JC chuckled as he took a plate from her and began wiping it off.

She smiled at him. “You just seem to be spacing out I guess.”

He looked away. “I don’t know what you mean.”

“You know very well what I mean, Josh.” She poked his side, and then picked up a large pan. After a moment’s pause she inquired, “What’s her name?”

JC blushed and leaned his arms forward on the counter, staring distractedly at the pattern in the marble. When he didn’t answer his mother handed him the sponge and stepped back. “You’re turn big boy,” she muttered, drying off her hands. He began scrubbing at the pan and held his breath. “Well, are you going to just wash the same spot or tell me bout her?”

Caving in he let a boyish grin spread across his handsome features. “She’s incredible,” he replied, his voice soft.

“That I can already tell. Where did you meet her?”

“Actually, Joey introduced us,” he laughed. “They met at a club in Orlando. See, she was down staying with her coach back in November while we were stopping there to record a bit.”

“Her coach?” Mrs. Chasez questioned, crossing her arms comfortably across her chest.

JC nodded. “She plays tennis. Actually, she’s working to go pro eventually, but right now she’s a freshman at Stanford out in California.”

“Stanford, wow…”

“Yeah…. aw, Mom, she’s really smart. And not brainy, but she thinks about things.” He gave a light laugh as he scrubbed at a corner of the pan, then added, “Aly’s studying psych, like Chris did.”

“Hopefully it won’t to do her what it did to him!” his mother exclaimed.

The pair laughed for a few minutes, joking about Chris’ wild side, then Karen asked, “What does she look like?”

“Long blonde hair, the most gentle blue eyes that light up when she laughs. She’s really athletic, and she was a bit taller than Justin when we met her. By now she’s a few inches shorter than him.”

She nodded. “And you haven’t seen this young woman since November and yet you daydream at my table?” she queried, cocking her head at him.

He blushed furiously and looked away from his mother. “Yeah well…. we’ve talked a lot on the phone.”

“Aha…”

“Oh don’t ‘aha’ me!” he joked.

Karen walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, “As long as you know what you’re doing,” she whispered.

“We’re not even dating, Mom,” he replied quietly.

“What?” she exclaimed in surprise. “But I thought…”

He shook his head sadly. “There hasn’t been a chance, we’re so far away…It’s been kinda hard, getting to know her without being able to see her. But I guess that’s tightened whatever relationship there is, right? I mean, we’ve really gotten to know each other.”

She nodded. “Don’t worry, baby, it’ll work out.”

“Soon?” he whimpered, tossing the sponge at the now spotless pan.

“I hope so, I don’t want another son with girl problems. Especially since I can’t keep an eye on you!” she jested, pushing his shoulder. “Go on, get back in the living room, I’ll be there in a few minutes.”

Aly got home after New Year’s and found that JC had left five messages on her machine, even though he knew she wasn’t there. Each of the guys had left one for her as well. Chris had told her to make sure that she gave one of them a call as soon as she got back to the dorms. It was two in the afternoon when she started un-packing, and seven when she finished. Dropping to the bed she reached over and picked up the phone. Dialling a number blindly she put the receiver to her ear.

After the third ring a voice picked up. “Hello?”

“You’re awake, I wasn’t sure…”

“Aly?” he cried excitedly.

“Oh calm down, you can’t be that glad to talk to me.”

“Trust me, your voice is the best thing I’ve heard in days.”

“Why’s that?”

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair as he walked out of the Timberlake’s game room and toward the stairs. “We’ve been working our butts off, that’s why. Our choreographer decided to change the dance for ‘I Want You Back’, and it’s more strenuous then it was before.”

“Oh. So-“

“Don’t apologize!” he scolded. “I’ve got to get you out of the habit of doing that.”

“Right, can’t exactly help me if I don’t see you,” she muttered.

JC caught a new tone in her voice, and didn’t like it. “Hey now, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.”

“That’s not true, why are you lying to me?” he asked sternly.

“What are you, my father or something?” she snapped.

JC froze in the middle of the staircase. “That’s not fair, Al,” he replied coldly.

Aly let out a frustrated cry. “I’m sorry, I just…”

“Just what, Al?” he inquired, as he strolled into his room and closed the door.

“I missed you,” she whispered, after much deliberation.

He was silent for a moment, shocked. “I missed you, too, babe,” he replied gently. “Lack of sleep is beginning to catch up with me,” he finally spoke, breaking a deathly silence.

Aly sighed. “Then why are you talking to me? You could be sleeping.”

“I’d rather be talking to you.”

Justin laughed from the hall, “My God that’s cheesy, Dad.”

JC covered the receiver and opened the door to glare at his friend, “Shut up and stop eaves dropping.”

“He’s right, but I don’t mind,” Aly replied.

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah…”

Aly and JC were both quiet for a bit, until Aly decided to brave new waters. “JC, I don’t know exactly how to bring this up…or how to go about saying this.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Well, that’s a lie but…I really like you…”

JC sighed and rubbed his eyes as he sat down on the bed. “But I’m not there,” he replied sadly.

“I…I just…If you were here-“

“I’d ask you out for a Friday night.” JC closed his eyes and lay back.

Justin watched in awe from the open door at the pitiful expression on his friend’s face. “Uh, JC, I’m going to talk to Chris and Joey, see you later.”

JC and Aly continued to talk, discussing the possibility of getting together to do something when the group made a string of appearances in California. They updated each other on what they’d been doing and how their holiday’s had been, but JC longed to see her smile. It just wasn’t the same for him.

Justin went down to the game room and strolled in quickly, then shoved his hands deep into his pockets.

“What now Curly?” Chris cried, throwing up his hands from his seat on the couch.

“We need to organize something with JC and Aly. Where’s Poofoo?

“What’s up?” Lance questioned, walking up behind him.

Chris grinned evilly. “We get to set up a date for JC and Aly.”

Lance let out a low laugh and closed the door behind him. The four young men, Joey included, sat down and began to design a flawless plan. Lance was the key, because he knew the dates they would be in California and in Aly’s area, but Chris and Joey had an idea of what Aly would look for in a simple date. But Justin new the longing he had seen on his friend’s face, and no matter how wrong it might have been, he felt jealous.