CHAPTER 8
Justin was standing in front of the bleachers, waving to the teenyboppers. JC was trying to have a conversation with Mariette but they continued to get interrupted by teenyboppers so they moved under the bleachers and were making out. Lance was standing in front of the bleachers, anxiously watching for September. Chris and Tripetta were, where else, in the backroom, probably having a quickie. Joey was flirting with some chicks and Lulu wasn't around.
They were in the gym of Ponce de Leon High school. They were playing a basketball game to raise money for the local animal shelter. Justin's command was simple.
JT~Lose game
Justin gave one final wave to the teenyboppers and grabbed Lance's arm.
"Don't worry, she'll be here," Justin muttered to his friend. "You can't go around looking like a love sick puppy. If you do the teenyboppers will get you. . . .and her." Lance laughed.
"I'm serious. You don't understand how hard it is to have a serious relationship and be who you are. You had what? One?"
"Yeah whatever," said Justin, rolling his eyes. They went over to the cooler and Justin reached for his pink rebound. He was the only one that drank that, everyone else hated it.
"Wait," said Lance, grabbing the bottle from Justin's hand.
"What?" whined Justin.
"Let me taste it."
"Why?"
"Just in case."
"Fine!" Justin handed Lance the bottle. Lance cautiously took a sip and made a face.
"What? Is there something wrong with it?" asked Justin anxiously.
"It's sour," said Lance, still grimacing.
"It's lemonade faggot!" said Justin grabbing it and downing it in one gulp.
"So how was your date with Jamie?" inquired Lance. Justin glanced at him guiltily.
"Fine. Look Lance, I'm really sorry. I know that you have a thing for her, and that you're using September just to. . .."said Justin.
"What?" yelled Lance, standing up. His face was red and if they were in a cartoon strip there would have been steam pouring out of his ears.
"Last year that's all you could talk about. . . .Jamie this and Jamie that," said Justin.
"Listen," said Lance angrily. "I did have a thing for Jamie. But that's over now. I live for September, I have liked her for so long now. Jamie is nothing to me! Don't you ever say that I am using September or I swear to God I will kill you!"
Justin was taken aback. He had never seen Lance more than mildly pissed off and here he was threatening to kill somebody. He had told them that he may have a few side effect for a while from the pills but that was more than erratic behavior. That was crazy.
"I'm sorry," said Justin sincerely. "I didn't know."
"Damn right you didn't know. Just do us all a favor and shut the fuck up," Lance said, sitting back down. Suddenly Justin grabbed his stomach.
"Yo man, I don't feel too hot. I got mad pain," said Justin.
"You were fine a few minutes ago," said Lance who was back to his normal self. It was as if the argument had never happened. "It must have been the lemonade."
"Do you think there was something in it?" asked Justin, who had severe stomach cramps.
"I don't think so. I didn't taste anything. You probably drank it too fast," said Lance. "Come on, the game's starting." They got up and went to the center court for the jump ball. Justin took his spot and glanced at his opponent. He groaned it was Nick Carter, from the Backstreet Boys. He knew that he was ten times better than Nick but he wasn't feeling well and that gave Nick the advantage.
The referee threw the ball up and Justin feebly jumped. Nick got there first though and hit the ball to his teammates. Brian caught the ball and began to dribble it down the court. Joey jumped in front of him and gave a ferocious snarl.
Brian screamed like the sissy fag that he was and threw the ball up into the air. JC caught it and passed it to Justin who was open Justin made the shot, but barely. He knew that if he didn't have such bad cramps that their team would already have been ahead by at least ten points.
Justin called a break and ran to the bleachers. He grabbed another bottle of rebound and swallowed it in a second. He was reaching for another when he noticed there was an odd aftertaste in his mouth. He decided against that second bottle.
Jamie ran up to him.
"Hey," she said softly. "You were great."
"I sucked." She kissed him on the cheek.
"But you got the points."
"I feel like I'm gonna ralph."
"I'll walk you to your car. You should go home and take a shower then lie down."
"No. I can't just quit on the guys. Plus, it's for a good cause." Justin glanced over to where the animal shelter had set up a small table with some of their more friendly inhabitants. They all seemed to be smiling at him.
"You're sick."
"Nah! I'm fine." Justin struggled to his feet and managed to get there with some assistance from Jamie. He pulled her toward him for a kiss but she pulled away the moment his lips touched hers.
"Yuck! Did you forget to brush your teeth this morning?"
"No. Why?"
"Your breath is really kicking!" she said pushing him away. She kissed his sweaty forehead. "Don't worry I still love you." He nodded and staggered back onto the court.
The second quarter of the game went fine. Justin kept stumbling and he didn't score anymore points. In the third quarter Justin began to turn white. He was rooted to the spot and the ball whizzed by him. He collapsed as the ball bounced to the floor.
JC reached him first. He lifted him into his strong arms and carried him to his car so that he could take Justin to the hospital.
*****
Corey and Brett were on their way home from the game.
"I don't know what Jamie sees in him!" said Corey.
"Yeah," agreed Brett. "He sings gay music. Now if he was Jon Davis. . . ."
"Or Eminem. . . ." The two young boys began laughing. They opened their front door and ran up to the room that they shared.
"Oh Fuck!" yelled Corey. "What is that funky smell?"
"Jesus!" said Brett. "It smells like a skunk with another skunk up it's ass died farting in here!"
"It's worse then your breath!"
"It's worse then your feet!"
"Shit! Dr. Groinacles is dead!" said Corey. He ran over to the home of their beloved pet frog, Dr. Groinacles. He was laying in his cage. His eyes were glazed and he was laying in a pile of his won feces.
"What should we do?" asked Brett.
"Give him a funeral," said Corey.
"But he's just a frog," said Brett, poking the body.
"Wait till Jamie comes home. She should be here. And we're having a funeral. Don't worry, I got some firecrackers saved from the Fourth of July last year," said Corey, with a sly smile. Brett smiled back and they left the room to begin their plans.
*****
By the time everybody else got to the hospital there was already a huge crowd assembled. For anybody else only family and friends would show up. But for Justin it seemed as if the entire state was in the waiting room.
A nurse walked out of the door.
"The patient would like to say that he is fine. His drink was spiked." She turned on her heels, ( Jamie thought that it was very odd that she would be wearing high heels. She thought that most nurses wore sneakers.) and walked back down the hallway.
Most people left after hearing that, but the guys stuck around. No one had been able to reach his parents or Johnny but there wasn't really anything wrong, so it wasn't that big of a deal.
The nurse appeared again after about twenty minutes. Out of the corner of her eye, Jamie could see how uncomfortable Joey suddenly became.
"He is asking to see you," she said, pointing at Jamie. Jamie slowly got up and followed the nurse to Justin's room. "I'll leave you two alone."
"Hey," said Jamie, making her way to Justin's bed.
"Yo! I got my stomach pumped!" said Justin, throwing his arms into the air. Jamie laughed and sat at the edge of his bed.
"What happened?"
"Someone put codeine in my rebound!" he exclaimed, throwing his arms into the air once again. "And I got mad doped up!"
Jamie raised her eyebrows. Justin was acting more thuggish than usual. She figured that it was a side effect of the drug.
"So why'd you wanna talk to me?" she asked. He was playing with her hair. Curling it around his fingers like he had never seen hair before.
"I just wanted to be alone with you," he said. Jamie smiled.
"So when I get outta here you wanna go get something to eat?"
"I'd love to. . .but my parents are going out to dinner. I can't leave my brothers alone all night. They might burn the house down."
"Well how bout I grab some burgers and go to your house?"
"Will you be OK to drive?"
"Yeah!" he smiled and pulled her toward him. He ran his finger around her lips before kissing her.
"I better go," she whispered against his lips.
"Yeah. I'll see you later," he waved as she walked out of the room.
*****
Justin pulled into Jamie's driveway. He grabbed the burgers and walked to the front door. He rang the doorbell and waited.
A flustered looking Jamie answered it several minutes later. The first thing about her that Justin noticed was that she was only wearing a towel. She was blushing a bright pink from embarrassment.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I was in the shower and my brothers are watching wrestling and they didn't answer the door."
"It's OK. I got the. . . ." his voice trailed off as a stranger unearthly howl filled the house. He looked passed her into the house.
Corey and Brett were rolling around on the floor like two crabs, wrestling.
"Stop!" yelled Jamie. The two boys stopped fighting and grabbed the bag of burgers in Justin's hands. They ran out of the room.
"We gotta eat before the service," yelled Corey.
"Yeah. We didn't make any food for afterwards," yelled Brett.
"I'll let you change," said Justin. "I'll keep an eye on your brothers." He walked into the kitchen where they were eating.
Jamie walked into the kitchen a moment later, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt. Corey and Brett had fries up their noses. Justin was trying not to laugh. Jamie didn't even need to try. That was a regular occurrence in her household and she had gotten used to it. Corey sniffed, causing the french fry to wiggle in his nostril.
"Do you smell something?" he asked casually. Jamie just rolled her eyes.
"Now what was it that you wanted to do tonight?" she asked. She knew that they had some little funeral planned for their frog but knowing them it would be a big bang.
"Oh yeah!" yelled Brett running into the bedroom. He returned a moment later with a shoebox. "Come on everybody," he said.
Justin, Jamie, Brett, and Corey stood in a solemn line as Corey and Brett took turns saying stuff about their frog. Finally they cam to the actual burial.
"Umm guys?" asked Justin. "I thought that this is a funeral, but you don't even have a hole for the body," he pointed out.
"Dr. Groinacles always wanted to be shot into outer space," began Brett.
"So we've decided to honor his last wish," finished Corey. Justin glanced at Jamie but she was watching her brothers with wry amusement.
Corey removed the lid of the box and Brett removed the shriveled, dried body of Dr. Groinacles. It looked exactly like he was alive, except for the large roman candle he was strapped to.
"I thought that when frogs died their skin got kinda gray and discolored," said Jamie.
"Yeah it was," said Brett.
"But we painted him," added Corey.
Brett bent over and stuck the metal stick into the ground. Corey lit the cord and they all watched as the firecracker shot into the sky, exploding into a brilliant multitude of colors.
"And may he rest in pieces," said Corey.
"Amen," said Brett, Justin, and Jamie. Justin looked over at Jamie. He didn't know what he had gotten himself into but he knew that it wouldn't be boring.
~*~
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