“This is unbelievably depressing,” sighed my best friend, Drew, as she plopped onto the couch.
“Tell me about it.”
“Lili Stevenson, if your brother didn’t break up with Sara, then right now we would be fourth row at the ‘N Sync concert.”
“You don’t have to remind me,” I groaned.
“Yes, I do.”
I put one of my many tapes into the VCR and sat down on the floor with a large bowl of popcorn in front of me. “It’s not my fault. Besides, we just need to make the best of it. Let’s sit back, relax, and wallow away in our misery.”
My older brother, Hunter, changed his girlfriends about as often as he changed his socks. He had finally gone out with a girl that I liked, and he dumped her- four days before I was supposed to go to the concert with her. Tonight was the night of that big ‘N Sync concert, ‘N Sync being one of the biggest, hottest boy bands around. Not that they were just another boy band. They were incredible. They could sing, dance, and they seemed like the nicest bunch of guys on the planet.
First there was my favorite, Lance Bass, the adorable, spikey-haired, 20-year-old of the group, the southern gentleman whose only bad attribute was that he liked country music, something I despised.
Next was JC Chasez, the serious, tall, dark, and extremely handsome one of the group. He seemed absolutely perfect. Drew and I couldn’t find a single thing wrong with him. He was only human, so I was sure he had his ‘quirks,’ but I sure couldn’t see them. Anyway, he was 23.
After JC, we had Drew’s favorite, the guy she was convinced she would one day marry, the baby of the group at 19, Justin Timberlake. He was the curly blond who had a smile guaranteed to melt the female masses. I’ll admit that he was fairly hot and seemed like a great guy, but I was positive he had the biggest ego by now.
Fourth was Joey Fatone, the ‘Italian Stallion,’ a.k.a. the flirt of the group. He was 23. Enough said.
And last, but certainly not least, we had the old man of the group at 27 years old, Chris Kirkpatrick. He may be the oldest, but with his endless jokes, he was bound to act like the youngest.
So that was ‘N Sync. We absolutely loved them, and we had for nearly three years. Technically, we were 18-year-old teenyboppers.
I checked the face of my light blue watch. It read nine o’clock. “Right about now they should be going on stage.”
“I wish I were there.”
I nodded in agreement as I pressed the play button on the remote control. Chris’ face popped onto the screen. “Rosie interview,” I smiled.
“You know what’s gonna happen, don’t you?” Drew suddenly said.
“No, actually, I don’t.”
“We’re gonna go back to school in two weeks…” Today was the first day of Christmas break. Of course you never would be able to tell it was Christmas time. So far we hadn’t had a single flake fall towards the ground, but I was used to Michigan weather, so I wasn’t surprised. “…and everyone is going to come up to us and say, ‘How did ya like the concert?’ and we’ll have to say, ‘Oh, we didn’t get to go,’ and those who did go will go on telling us how wonderful it was, and how Justin was his usual gorgeousness, and how it was so much fun, and it will be pure torture.” She paused dramatically. “That, my friend, is what will happen.”
“It won’t be that bad.”
“Girls can be cruel,” she said, throwing a gummi worm at me. We were seniors at an all girl private school. It wasn’t that bad. It really allowed us to ‘concentrate on our studies.’ Besides, there was an all guy school right next door.
“Drop it and watch,” I laughed, pointing to the TV with the worm.
“If you say so.”
It was around two hours later when the videos were done, and we were listening to Home for Christmas full blast in my bedroom.
“Ophelia Eve Stevenson! Turn it down!”
“Uh-oh. She used your full name. Not good.”
“Sorry, Mom! I just thought that since you didn’t work tomorrow…”
“Down.”
“Okay.” Drew and I hopped off my bed which was serving as our stage, and I reluctantly turned the volume down.
“I have to get going,” smiled Drew.
“Already?”
“It’s 11:30,” she said, pointing to her watch. “And I have to work in the morning.”
“Sucks to be you.”
“Not when Ryan is your coworker,” she smiled slyly. Ryan was her latest ‘project.’ It was a hobby of Drew’s to see how long it would take before a guy would fall madly in love with her. Usually it wasn’t too long seeing that she looked like a model.
“Okay, let me walk ya out.” I closed my bedroom door behind me and followed her down stairs.
“We’re still playing ball tomorrow, right?” she asked, pulling her coat on and taking her keys out of the pocket.
“Yup. I‘ll call ya after you get home from work.”
“Okay. Thank you for the wonderful ‘N Sync filled evening.”
“It was my pleasure.”
“Bye, Lili!”
“See ya later, Drew.”
As the door was pushed shut by the wind outside, my old golden retriever, Sunny, rose his head and looked at me.
“Hey, boy.” He rolled over and began to wag his tail, excited over the attention he was receiving. “How would you like to go up to the gas station with me?”
He jumped up and began running around in circles. I took that as a yes.
I threw my coat and mittens on over my pj’s and hopped into my jeep along with Sunny. I had gotten the biggest craving for my favorite drink, orange-carrot Sobe.
As I drove along the road, humming along with the radio, I let my mind wander. Wouldn’t it be cool if the ‘N Sync tour bus broke down right in front of my house, and they stayed with me for a few weeks. Lance and I would fall madly in love and... Snap out of it, Lili. Never gonna happen.
“Too bad,” I said to my dog as I pulled in front of the mini mart section of the station. “Sunny D, I’ll be right back.”
I closed my door and quickly ran into the store. The temperature had dropped dramatically over the past few hours, and snow clouds covered the sky, threatening to let loose at any moment.
“Hey, Ben. What’s shakin’?” I smiled to the dark haired guy behind the counter.
“Nothin’ much. Back from the concert?”
“Remember how Hunter and Sara broke up?”
“Yeah…”
“Well, my tickets went out the door with that relationship.”
“Ouch.” Ben was awesome. Besides Drew, he was my other best friend, a member of my youth group, and the best listener in the world. While Drew’s hobby was picking up guys, mine was coming up here to bug him.
“Justin, man, you’re in the crappiest mood today.”
“I think I have a right to be. My bag just fell on my foot, we have nowhere to sleep tonight, some girl at the concert called me Nick…” I heard a very distinctive, high pitched laugh from behind me. “… Chris, I swear to God. If you don’t stop laughing, I’m gonna come over there and beat your ass.”
“Sorry… Nick.”
“Go see Busta or something cause, seriously, I’m ‘bout to snap.”
“You need to get yourself a woman,” Joey called from his bunk.
“Like I have time.”
“Calm down, Justin,” JC said.
“I want to go home and sleep,” I moaned, dropping my head on to the table with a thud.
“Are you sick?”
“No.”
“If you wanna sleep, just go to your bunk and sleep.”
“Stop acting like my dad,” I snapped.
“Maybe if you stop whining like a baby, I will.”
“Fellas!” James, our bus driver, yelled from the front. “If I didn’t know any better, I would think you’re both four. JC, stop bugging him. Justin, you better get in a better mood cause we’re stopping for gas. I know you’ll wanna get something to drink, and if you run into anybody you do not want to be in a pissy mood cause ‘Poof,’ there goes your careers. Girls talk, and if one thinks you’re an ass, they’ll all think you’re an ass.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Make it quick, too. We’re here.”
“Good, I’ve got the biggest craving for some hot chocolate.” I walked back to my bunk and grabbed my coat. “Hot cocoa will do me some good,” I said to myself as I walked across the parking lot. “Help take my mind off of things.” Today was one of the worse days I’ve had in awhile. I was incredibly homesick, more so than usual with the holidays right around the corner. Plus it seemed to be “Gang-Up-On-Justin-Day” with the guys. Nothing was going right.
“They don’t have it, Ben! What does a girl have to do to get some juice around here?” I walked into the store in the middle of someone’s conversation. Just what I needed, two people yelling back and forth from opposite sides of the store, making my already growing headache throb even more.
“Sorry, Lili. New shipment comes in tomorrow. It got held up because of that storm,” the guy behind the counter said, Ben, I guessed. But I couldn’t see who he was talking to.
That is, not until I walked around the corner to find a girl who looked about my age kneeling. I didn’t really get a good look at her until she stood up. I completely forgot my bad mood. She had brown hair up in a messy ponytail and black and white cow pajamas on. Nonetheless, she was extremely beautiful.
“Wow,” I muttered under my breath, heading over to the hot chocolate machine.
“Okay, I’ll forgive you,” she said to Ben. She reached into the fridge as I walked by, and the next thing I knew, she fell backwards. I was reluctant to release my arms from around her waist, a little too reluctant.
“I’m so sorry,” she said as I helped her stand back up.
“It happens to the best of us.”
She turned around and looked at me through a pair of wide eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” I smiled. An awkward silence fell between us, and I found myself taking in all of the features on her face especially her eyes. They were bright green and somehow held me where I was. What was going on with me? I saw thousands of girls everyday, and this was never my reaction.
“Well, at least I didn’t drop my juice,” she finally said.
“It must have been the mittens,” I said, looking down at her hands.
“Must of.”
“I’m Justin, and I’m guessing you’re Lili.” I extended my hand out to her.
“Yup, that’s me,” she said, shaking it. “Um, what are you doing here?”
“Uh,” I began as I finished my route to the hot chocolate machine, “the bus needed gas, and I was thirsty.”
“I see. How was the show tonight?”
“Good. Everything flowed smoothly.”
“I was supposed to go, but I faced some technical difficulties in the ticket department.”
“Couldn’t get em?” I asked, heading over to the candy, Styrofoam cup in hand. I had suddenly developed a major craving for Sprees.
“It’s like I had them and lost em. I was going to go with my brother’s girlfriend, but they broke up a few days ago.”
“Man, that would piss me off.”
“Yeah, it did,” she smiled at me. While reaching for the Sprees at the same time, our hands brushed against each other lightly, sending an incredible shiver throughout my whole body. I hadn’t noticed when she took her mittens off, but I was thankful she did.
“Uh, I’m sorry. Go ahead,” I stuttered, taking a step back.
“Thank you.” She grabbed two rolls and handed one to me.
“My pleasure,” I said softly. It surprised me the way it came out. I was usually able to remain composed around a pretty girl, but there was something about her that was driving me crazy.
“So, uh, you guys on your way to a hotel or your next show or something?”
“Actually, no. It’s a little out of the ordinary, but we have tomorrow off, and our reservations at the hotel got majorly screwed.”
“That sucks.”
“Yeah.”
“Whatcha going to do now?”
“Find a place nearby and park.”
“You can park in my driveway if ya want. I’m sure my mom wouldn’t mind.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah.”
That didn’t sound like too bad of an idea. She must have lived around here, and the area seemed fine. It wouldn’t be the greatest accommodations in the world, but we were in a bind. I was sure the guys wouldn’t mind. “Sure, great!”
“Justin! Hurry up!” JC called, peaking his head into the store. Outside white flakes were falling thickly from the sky.
“Sunny!” Lili cried, putting her money on the counter and heading out the door.
“Huh?”
“Sunny’s her dog,” Ben mumbled.
“Oh.” I took my wallet out and paid for my stuff. “What kind of dog?”
“Golden retriever.”
“Those are beautiful.” I gave him a quick once over. He was kinda of grungy with short brown hair and bore a striking resemblance to Travis from Blink 182. He seemed close to Lili, and I wondered if that was the kind of guy she went for, a stretch from me.
“Yup.”
“Nice meeting you,” I said, walking out the door.
“Uh huh.”
I looked over to a dark blue jeep where Lili, Sunny, and Lance were standing.
“Nice to meet you, Sunny,” he said, scratching the dog behind its ears. “What’s your owner’s name?”
“Lili,” I answered, walking over to them, “and her driveway will be our home for tonight.”
“Really?” He looked up at Lili almost as if to see if I was telling the truth.
“Yeah.”
“Cool.”
“Do you wanna come meet the rest of the guys? Sunny can come too.”
“Sounds good, huh, Sunny D?” He began wagging his tail.
“Looks like he thinks it’s a good idea,” I smiled.
“Let me just get him on a leash,” she smiled back.
“Okay, we’ll go tell everyone the plan. Come on over when you’re ready.”
“Okay.” Lance and I turned to walk back to the bus.
“She seems really nice,” Lance said.
“She is.”
“Pretty too.”
“Okay, Lance, I don’t wanna come off like an ass or anything, but I saw her first.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m just saying, yeah, she’s really nice, and she’s extremely pretty, but…” How was I going to word this. “… Well, there’s something about her that I really like, and I know I only talked to her for a few minutes, but I don’t know, man.”
“Okay, okay. Hands off.” He held up his arms in surrender. “I get it, but, um, Justin, remember that we’ll only be in her driveway for a night.”
“I know.”
“You guys ready?” Joey asked as we climbed up the stairs.
“Actually, I found us a place to go,” I said, flashing them all a grin.
“What happened to the bad mood, Justin?”
“Well…”
“It’s this girl’s driveway,” answered Lance.
“A driveway?”
“Yeah, but...”
“Okay, sounds good,” James smiled at me.
“She’s really nice,” I reassured them.
“He has the hots for her,” Lance stated simply.
“Shut up, Lance.”
“Dog.” Chris pointed to the door as he picked up Busta, his little pug. I looked behind me to see Sunny’s head peaking around the corner.
“Fellas, this is Lili,” I said once she stepped fully onto the bus.
“Hi,” she smiled sweetly.
“And that’s Sunny the dog.” He sat down obediently next to her feet.
“Good job, Jay,” Joey said, nudging me as he looked her over.
“Shut up,” I hissed.
“So,” Chris began, “Justin has the hot…”
“Hot chocolate,” I interrupted quickly. “Yes, Chris, I have the hot chocolate I went in to get.”
“Sunny and Lili. Nice names. Is yours spelled like the flower?” Joey asked.
“No, it’s with an ‘i’ at the end. It’s actually short for Ophelia, but only my mom calls me that.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, it works somehow.”
“I see. I’m Joey.” He extended his hand to her.
“Hi.”
“JC.”
“Chris.”
“Lance.”
“James, the bus driver.”
“And you already know me.”
“Yeah.” I held out my hand to her. She was about to shake it, I think, but instead I took her hand into mine and kissed it gently.