No one knew she wrote songs except her mother. She had urged her not to pursue writing, but dance. Even though both came naturally to her, dancing was just something she did to make her mother happy. And her writing was only therapy. After fights with boyfriends, her parents or a friend, she would write a song telling exactly how she was feeling. The one she was writing now was about a girl and the only person she wanted to love, wouldn't love her back. That was exactly how she was feeling.
She had been in love with Justin since Joey first introduced her to him almost 6 years ago when she was visiting Joey before the group went to Europe. They had flirted mercilessly with each other. They were only 15 years old so no one really paid attention to it. Except Megan.
The first thing she had noticed was his eyes. They were clear blue and they sparkled when he laughed. She remembered not seeing that same sparkle in his eyes earlier. His eyes were cold and dull.
Next, his hair. Those dirty blond curls that were tossed carelessly on his head. She remembered the first time he had colored it. She had helped him. They went out together (in his mother's car) and both chose the dye together. She thought he should do something subtle, but he wanted to make sure that people would notice him. So he chose the brightest blonde he could find. When Justin took the towel off his head, Megan couldn't help but laugh. His hair was so blonde it was almost white. He examined his hair and declared it was "like WOAH!" That only made her laugh harder. When they found his mom and showed her Justin's hair, she freaked out.
"I can't believe you could do something so stupid! And right before a photo shoot!" she had yelled.
Then she asked how they had gotten the dye. Justin fessed up to taking the car and that had made her even worse. She yelled some more and informed them that 2 permits DIDN'T equal a license. They hung their heads sheepishly and went into the living room, laughing the whole way.
That was the way things used to be. When the band went to Europe and hit it big, Justin never bothered to call. She sometimes asked Joey how he was, but never really talked to him. A majority of the songs she wrote were about him and how she missed him while he was gone.
While she was writing, Justin walked into the room and sat next to her. Quickly, she slammed the lid of her laptop down.
"What'cha writin'?" He asked.
"Nothing." She answered quickly.
"Uh-huh. Can I read it?"
"No!" She exclaimed.
"Alright, Jeez!" He said grabbing the remote off the couch. "You watchin' this?"
"Nope." She mumbled.
"You know, if you open your mouth when you talk, people can understand you." He joked.
"Ha ha.” She said sarcastically. "I'm going to bed."
"'Night." He called after her. She left the lounge, leaving her laptop behind. Justin noticed. No Justin, she told you not to read it... he told himself, but his curiosity got the best of him.
He grabbed the laptop and opened it. Immediately, the song she was writing appeared on the screen. He skimmed it. Not bad. He decided to explore a little so he opened her song folder. For an hour he read the songs she had written. He was truly impressed. He suddenly got an idea. He got the disk that he usually put his songs on and put hers on it. He tuned off his computer and hers and left the lounge.
He found Megan sleeping peacefully in her bunk and placed her laptop at the foot of it. He went to the front where the other guys were and tried to get JC’s attention, which was useless when he was talking to his girlfriend.
“JaaaayyyyCeeeee!” He whined.
“Hold on a sec Bee. Justin, what is it!”
“Are you almost done? I haveta ask you something.” He whined again.
“I'm talking to Bobbee, J.” JC informed him. “Can't you ask Lance or something.”
“No, Lance is talking to Angela, Joey is making plans for Kelly, and Chris is making kissing noises at Bridget on the phone.” (Chris's girlfriend's name has been changed from Kristin to Bridget because I thought Chris and Kristin sounded too much alike)
“What about Megan.” JC suggested.
“It's about Megan.” Justin said. JC’s eyes lit up.
“Alright…” He huffed. “Bee, I gotta go…yeah, next week. OK, I love you too…bye baby.” JC hung up his phone. "Ok, what is it.”
“Look at this.” Justin grabbed JC’s laptop and put the disk in. He opened one of Megan’s songs and showed it to JC. He read it for a couple of minutes and looked back at Justin.
“Wow, these are really good. Did you write it?” He asked.
“Nope.” Justin smiled. “Megan did.”
“Megan?!” JC exclaimed.
“Yeah. But she doesn't know that I took them so don't tell her.” Justin said.
“Wait…you ‘took’ them?”
“Well, she went to bed and left her laptop and even though she told me not to look at it, I couldn't help myself and I did and these are really good and I was thinking maybe we could put a couple of them on the new album.” Justin finished with a deep breath.
“You better ask her first.” JC said. “She's already not gonna like it that you looked into her personal things and I don't think she'll like it too much if you recorded those personal things."
"She'll only yell at me if I tell her." Justin pouted.
"Well, then I suggest you just forget the whole thing. I won't tell if you won't, deal?"
"Yeah fine...'Night 'C." Justin said as JC climbed into his bunk.
"Goodnight Justin."
"Are we there yet?" Joey whined from the back seat of the van.
"Almost Joe! Take a chill pill." Mike, a bodyguard, said from the driver's seat.
"I'm just excited...that's all." Joey mumbled.
"I'm excited too." Megan defended Joey. "I can't wait to meet them."
"We're here!” Mike announced.
"Finally!" Before the van even came to a complete stop, Joey was out of it running toward the airport.
"Joey calm down!" Mike yelled when Joey almost fell on his face.
"Sorry!" Joey called back. He sped to through the terminal and by the time he got to the gate, everyone was out of breath except him. He was bouncing around like he had a pound of sugar running through his veins. "There they are!” He pointed.
"Hey Baby!" Kelly waved. She walked up, Brianna (they're daughter) perched on her hip and gave Joey a hug. She gave the others hugs and was then faced with Megan.
"Kell, this is one of my best friends, Megan. She's practically my sister." Joey introduced them.
"Nice to meet you." Megan held out her hand.
"Hun, if you're gonna be 'practically' my sister-in-law, you gotta hug me." She threw an arm around her shoulders and gave her a hug.
“OK, now that we've had a happy reunion, we've gotta go pick up Bobbee and get back to the venue.” Mike said. “We're on a schedule people!”
“We're on a schedule people!” Joey and Chris said mimicking Mike's deep voice.
“That's right.” Mike said. The others laughed as they left the airport and went back to the van.
On the way to the house that Bobbee and JC shared in D.C., Joey played with Brianna; bouncing her on his knee and playing peek-a-boo. Justin asked to see her and he reluctantly handed her over.
Justin had always loved kids and hoped to have some of his own one day, but definitely not now. He was only 21 and he probably wouldn't even be able to take care of himself if Mike or the guys weren't there. The thought of taking care of another human being at this point in his life was crazy. He was happy watching Brianna while Kelly and Joey went out. Megan, who was sitting next to Justin, watched as he made faces and played with Brianna and smiled lightly. He glanced at her and smiled.
"She's cute, huh?" He asked.
"Yeah..." Megan agreed. "Can I hold her?"
"Sure." He handed her over and watched as Megan made cute baby noises into the baby's face.
Brianna tossed her head back as she laughed loudly. Megan giggled and looked at Justin. Their eyes met for a split second before they glanced away. Megan went back to entertaining Brianna while Justin started a conversation with Chris. Every once in a while they would glance at each other, but never made eye contact. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore.
"Meg?-" He asked.
"Yeah!" She answered a little too quickly. She cleared her throat and tried again. "I mean, yeah?"
"Could I talk to you later, when we get to the venue?"
"Um, sure..." She said hesitantly.
Megan walked into the room that Justin told her to meet him in. She had to admit, she was very nervous. She really didn't want a replay of what happened the day before. He stood in front of a mirror, trying to tame his curls, but failing miserably.
"You wanted to talk to me, Justin?" She asked. He looked at her through the mirror and smiled. A good sign.
"Yup." He said. He pointed to his head. "But first could you help me with this hair? It refuses to cooperate."
"OK." She said. "Give me the gel." She started to work on his hair he laughed a little. "What?"
"You remember when we dyed my hair?" He asked.
"Of course." She said. "I was just thinking about that the other day."
"My mom went crazy." He laughed. "I've never seen her that mad in my life."
"She sure did..." Megan concentrated on his hair refusing to look at his face.
"Meg, do you like me?" He asked. Her head shot up.
"What?"
"Do you like me?" He asked again.
"Well-I-Ummm..." She stuttered.
"It's a yes or no question, Megan." Justin said smiling teasingly.
"Well...yeah?" She winced slightly, as if she thought she had said something wrong.
"I'm sorry I acted that way yesterday." Justin said, basically ignoring her answer.
"No-Justin it's OK. I understand how you were feeling." Megan said.
"Do you wanna know what happened with me and Britney?" He asked, his voice a little shaky.
"Only if you want to tell me."
"Well," He glanced at his watch. "I gotta be on stage in 2 minutes or Anthony will kill me so, after the concert?"
"OK." She said.
"I'll see you on the bus then." He stood and gave her a hug. "Thanks for the hairstyle." He whispered in her ear. She shivered a little.
"No problem." She managed to squeak out.
He left her in the middle of the room, speechless. What was he going to tell her later that night? Or better yet: Did she want to hear it?
