"Mom!" I yelled, running back into our house.
"What?" She asked, coming down the stairs.
"Can we go yet?" I asked.
"Kelly, their plane doesn't land for another three hours!" I gave her a pleading look. "What is the big deal?" I gave her another look. "Oh yeah... you haven't seen Lance for almost four months."
"No, it's only been a couple of weeks, before that, it was three months," I informed her.
"Kelly, go get in the car." She laughed at me as I turned and literally ran out the door.
When I got to the car, I thought about how lucky I was and how many girls would kill to be me. 'But,' I thought, 'They don't realize how tough it really is. I see Lance once every few months! Alex has been going out with Justin since December and she's only seen him once! Sure, we talk almost every day, but it's not enough sometimes. And now, it is really weird to walk in a store and see them plastered all over magazine covers...' My thoughts were interrupted when my mom got in the car.
"Okay, so explain to me again what's going on," She told me as she pulled out of the driveway.
"They had a concert tonight, and they have one Sunday, both in Washington, and both places are really close. So, instead of just sitting around tomorrow, Lance and Justin are flying down here to go to prom with me and Briley. After prom tomorrow, we are going to some dance clubs in St. Louis until their flight leaves at five." I explained again.
"I think I got it now," she said. The trip to the airport had to be the longest of my life. I've never had an hour and a half drag by as slow as it did that night. Once there, my mom pulled up to the drop-off and pick-up zone. "I'll keep circling, watching for you," she told me. "You remember..."
"Gate 42," I said, jumping out of the car.
I hurriedly walked through the airport, ending up at Gate 42 with thirty minutes to spare. I sat on some benches and surveyed the people. I was ecstatic to see that there was no one who looked under the age of eighteen. Then again, maybe at one in the morning would be the only time they would ever be able to walk through an airport without being mobbed. Suddenly, a voice startled me. "Flight 127 from Seattle, Washington now arriving, Gate 42."
I jumped up as people began to file off the plane. Lance and Justin were in the middle of the group. They both walked towards me, however, my clumsiness must have rubbed off on Justin because he ran into a glass door. Lance saw the door ahead of time and pushed it open. He walked to my side and put his arms around me as an older woman, around 70, walked up to Justin.
"Son, are you okay?" She asked.
"Yes, ma'am, I'm fine," Justin answered.
"You've got a pretty bad bump there," She said, reaching up and touching his forehead.
"I think I'll be okay," Justin said, flinching at her touch.
"You know, I've got a great grand-daughter that's probably right near your age..."
"It's okay," He smiled. "I've got a great girlfriend."
"Okay," She said, walking with him to Lance and I, who were in the middle of a 'hello' kiss. "Looks like your friends are a little preoccupied..." Justin just shrugged. She smiled and walked away. Justin cleared his throat, but Lance and I ignored him.
"Why don't..." Justin began to say. Lance reached over and put one hand over Justin's mouth. A second later, when we had finished, Lance removed his hand from Justin's face. Justin finished what he had started to say earlier. "Why don't you two get a room?"
"Well, we would, but Justin, your always with us," I told him seriously, though I was kidding. His dumbfounded expression caused both me and Lance to burst out laughing. Both of them had only a backpack as luggage, because a couple of weeks before, on April 2, Briley and I had taken Lance and Justin to a Wedding & Formal Wear store and got them fitted, and rented the tuxedos. Now, they were in my closet, ready for the next night. So, really, they didn't need anything but backpacks. Since we didn't have to find out where their flight's luggage was, we headed out of the airport.
We stood outside waiting for my mom. About five minutes later, she pulled up. We all got in her car- Justin in the front, Lance and I in the back. "So, how was the flight?" My mom asked.
"Really good," Justin said.
"Better than usual," Lance said as my mom turned the radio on.
Besides the fact that it was late, I had been awake since early that morning, not to mention that the radio station plays music that makes me tired, I found my eyes closing on me. I moved around, trying to find a comfortable position. This meant sitting sideways, my feet up on the seat, leaning against Lance, my head on his shoulder. He moved slightly and put his arms around me. He kissed my forehead, then, I was asleep.
Hours later, I woke up. I sat up and realized I was in my bed. "How the heck did I get here?" I mumbled. I looked at my clock, saw it was only six, and I let myself fall back into the pillows.
The next time I woke up, it was eight. "Perfect," I mumbled, still half asleep. I had time to take a shower, make breakfast for everyone, and eat before I had to leave for my hair appointment at ten. I got up, took a shower, and got dressed in shorts, a white button up shirt, white socks, and Nike's.
I went into the kitchen to make breakfast. I got out everything I would need to make it well rounded and healthy. As I began to cook eggs, I felt two arms encircle my waist. I looked behind me and saw Lance. "Hey," He said.
"Hi," I replied, turning and giving him a quick kiss.
"Whatcha doin'?"
"I'm sure I looked quite confused. Then, I said, "Duh... stupidity leak!"
Lance smiled. "That was a pretty stupid questin, wasn't it?"
I nodded and mumbled, "Lance, Lance, Lance..." I put some bread in the toaster. "How did I get into my room last night?"
"I carried you."
"Why?"
"When we got here, you were asleep. Neither Justin or I had the heart to wake you up, so I carried you to your room."
"And where did you sleep?"
"The top bunk of Tyler's room."
"Lance, I was supposed to sleep there. Either you or Justin was supposed to stay in my room."
"It's no big deal," he said, sitting down.
Just as I almost had everything ready, my little brother, Tyler, came downstairs. "Hey bud," I said leaning down. "What are you doing? All you've got on is a t-shirt and underwear! It's cold down here!" I picked him up and carried him into the kitchen, where I sat him on the counter while I put all the food on the table.
"Sissy? I want play my game," Tyler said.
Lance got up and went downstairs to where Justin slept. I heard Lance say, "Man, breakfast." A second later, they reappeared. Justin sat at the table, looking completely dishevelled from sleep.
"Help yourselves," I told Lance and Justin. Then, I turned back to Tyler. "Why don't you eat breakfast first?"
He thought for a moment. "Okay." I let him down and he ran over to the table. I helped him put what he wanted to eat on a plate and when he finally began to eat, I made my parents a plate of food each. I took the food and a couple of glasses of orange juice up to their room.
My dad was already awake. He looked up when I walked in. "Whoa," he said, nudging my mom to wake her up.
She sat up. "Wow... we need Lance and Justin to come visit more often." I just smiled, gave them the plates and went back downstairs. Instead of eating what I had prepared, I grabbed an apple.
"Aren't you eating anything else?" Lance asked.
"Nope. There'll be too much food later. Gotta save the calories I can have," I said, patting my stomach.
"Like you need to watch what you eat," Justin grumbled.
"Just eat bud, just eat," Lance told him.
Within the next twenty minutes, Justin finished, took a shower, and ended up in the kitchen looking alot more awake than when he left. Lance went upstairs to change, leaving Justin and I in the kitchen. "Justin, you certainly look more human than you did awhile ago."
He grinned. "I'm not a morning person. I don't talk to anyone before I've eaten breakfast... so don't take it personal."
"Oh yeah... I was warned about that." I smiled. "By the way... what do you want to do today? You can stay here and be tortured by my brother, hang out with Briley- if I can get ahold of her, or tag along and entertain Lance," I said, giving him all his options.
"What about Lance?" Lance asked, walking down the stairs.
"She wants to know if I feel like entertaining you today," Justin told him. "But, you two need some time alone." He paused. "Let's call Briley." Justin picked up the phone and dialed her number as I rambled it off. "Is Briley there?" He talked to her for a few minutes, then hung up the phone. "Just drop me off at her house when you leave. Then, when we get back there, I'll call so you can come pick me up."
"Well," I looked at my watch. "I kinda need to go now."
"That's fine," Justin said as I scribbled a note to my parents. After I wrote the note, I stood in my kitchen for a second, just thinking. I looked from Justin to Lance with a serious expression on my face. "Kelly? Are you thinking again?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact, I am," I answered.
"Can I inquire what about?" Justin asked. I smiled and headed outside. Justin and Lance just looked at each other and grinned. "Okay Miss Arquette, that smile was too mischievous... what were you thinking about?"
"Nothing really," I said, glancing at Lance and smiling as I drove through town.
"No, there's no nothing now... especially not now," Justin said.
"Justin? Did you know that your a real pain in the butt sometimes?" I asked.
"Yes, I know. It's a special gift I have." He paused. "Now, what were you thinking about?"
I hesitated, trying to think of a way to word my thoughts so that Justin would shut up. "If you must know, I was thinking about something that I have always wanted to do to Lance."
"Okay, that falls under the category of 'a little more than I needed to know,'" Justin replied.
"Well, Justin, you were the one who insisted on knowing what I was thinking... also, I don't know what you were just thinking, but my thoughts had no sexual content whatsoever," I said, smiling as Lance put his hand on top of mine.
"Yeah. Uh-huh, sure," Justin said. Just then, his cell phone rang and he answered it. "Hello?" He paused. "Oh, hey JC... nothing really.... no, I take that back. I was just hearing about something that Kelly wants to do to Lance... okay." Justin handed the phone to Lance. "JC wants to talk to you."
"Hey JC," Lance said into the phone. "No! JC, you don't need to do that.... JC! Dangit." He was quiet for about two minutes. "Thank you JC... I so needed to hear that again.... fine." He handed me the phone. "Your turn."
"Hey JC!" I said brightly.
"Okay, Kelly, I need to tell you something. When two people really love each other...." JC began to explain.
I interrupted. "Um... JC? I think I know this. And well, I actually have morals, I mean, come on. I love Lance, but what kind of person do you think I am?"
"Why did Justin say you were talking about doing things to him then?"
"JC, I don't know where Justin's mind or where yours is now, for that matter, but what I thought had nothing to do with sex."
"Sure. Let me talk to Justin." I gave the phone back to Justin.
He listened for a second, then said, "Okay, I'll keep an eye on them." I pulled into Briley's driveway. "Hey, I gotta go... yeah... okay, bye." He hung up the phone. Justin then got out of the car, ran up the path and knocked on the door. Briley answered and he went inside.
On the way to my hair appointment, Lance and I talked about basically anything that came to mind. It wasn't long before we ended up at our destination then. Before we went inside, I put my hand on his arm.
"Hey, Lance..."
"Yeah?"
"I need to warn you... this guy... he's, um... really, really happy, if you know what I mean."
He laughed. "I like your choice of words there... but, yeah, I get it." A second later, he said, "If you don't mind me asking, what WERE you thinking earlier?"
"I was thinking about how much I've always wanted to do this-" I then proceeded to reach over, pinch both of his cheeks and say, "Oh you are so cute!" When I said this, I used a voice that adults do when they talk to babies.
He grinned and kissed me. "Thanks for not doing that in front of Justin... I wouldn't have ever heard the end of it!" We laughed as we walked into the building. My hairstylist, David, was behind the counter in the front.
"Oh Kelly! You're here!" He walked out from behind the counter to greet me. "And who is this young man you've brought with you?"
I put my arm around Lance and he did likewise. "David, this is my boyfriend, Lance," I said, emphasizing boyfriend.
"Nice to meet you Lance... Kelly, let's get to work on your hair." He lead me to the back, where for the next hour and a half, he trimmed, sprayed, gelled, and pinned in place. Lance was sitting across the room, reading a magazine article about himself and the other four guys. David turned my chair around, handed me my glasses, and I looked at myself.
"Wow! Thanks David!"
"No problem... hey Lance!" David said, getting his attention. Lance looked up and dropped the magazine he was holding.
"Wow," he said. I jumped out of the chair, paid David, and we were on our way. Our next stop was Briley's sister's house to get my make-up done. Briley and Justin were already there.
We knocked on the door and Briley's niece, Megan, answered. "Hi Kelly!"
"Hi Megan! Can we come in?"
"Yeah!" She moved and Lance and I walked in. "Guess what?"
"What?"
"Briley brought a boy with her, and I think he's cute!" Megan told me.
"Really?" I asked her.
"Yeah, he is!" Megan looked up and saw Lance. "Your cute too!"
Lance leaned down until he was eye level with Megan. "Thanks. So are you," he said, ruffling her hair.
Megan's eyes sparkled. "Wanna see my room?"
"Sure," Lance answered. Megan took his hand and drug him down the hall to her room. I went into the kitchen.
"Becky, I think your daughter just stole my boyfriend," I told Briley's sister jokingly. Justin was sitting in a chair holding Becky's infant son, Clayton, who was asleep.
"See Becky? I told you she is a little flirt!" Briley exclaimed. She opened her eyes and looked at me. "Your hair looks good."
"Thanks."
Becky looked at me. "I'm almost done with her, so get ready." I went down the hall to the bathroom and put my contacts in. What I liked about these was that they made my eyes green.
Upon re-entering the kitchen, Justin said, "Whoa... your eyes are green."
I smiled. "I know." Becky finished with Briley then and I sat down in front of her.
"Kelly, where's your date?" Becky asked.
"Your daughter captured him..." I paused and listened. "And now, she's making him sing Spice Girls songs."
Justin laughed. "As long as he doesn't have to dress up like them again, I'm sure he probably doesn't mind!"
A few minutes later, Lance walked into the kitchen. "Hey Posh, how's it going?" I asked, referring to Posh Spice.
"Sporty's my favorite, thank you," Lance said, sitting down next to Justin. This made us all crack up laughing. A few minutes after we calmed down, Becky finished with me.
"Okay, Justin, you gotta give the kid up..." I said, grinning at his pout. He handed Clayton to Briley and we left. When we got back to my house, it was quiet.
"Anyone here?" I yelled.
"I am!" I heard my mom yell from the computer room. The three of us went downstairs. I stood in the doorway. "Wow! You look so good!" My mom said wistfully.
"Okay, mom, don't cry."
She took a deep breath. "I'm okay now."
"Where's dad and Tyler?"
"They went to get some film."
I turned and looked at Lance and Justin. "Know what this means?"
Justin's eyes lit up and we both yelled at the same time, "Playstation's free!"
We ran into the family room and turned the Playstation on. For the next hour, we played a friendly game of "Space Jam." Then, my dad and Tyler got home. That was okay, because we needed to get ready anyway. Lance and Justin followed me to my room. They each got their tux and Justin went downstairs to the extra bathroom to change as Lance went into the upstairs bathroom to shower.
In my room, I changed into a white bathrobe, then sat on my bed thinking. A knock on my door made me jump. "Come in." My door opened and Justin walked in.
"This is going to sound weird, but can you help me out?" He held out the black bow tie. "I can usually get it, but I can't get it to look right tonight."
I smiled. "Come here." As I stood in front of him, I spotted a problem. Justin was 6'1", I was 5'3". "Hold on a sec." I went into my parents bedroom and pulled out a footstool that my mom usually only used when she was painting. I brought it into my room and stood on it. "That's better." The footstool put me almost at eye level with Justin.
As I fixed the tie around his neck, he said, "Thank you."
"It's no problem. I had to wear one of these ties when I was on the flag team at school. They can be a major pain."
"For being you. You never once treated me or the other guys like members of *N Sync. You've always treated us like people." I smiled. "We couldn't ask for a better friend... and Lance certainly couldn't ask for a better girl."
"Thanks," I told him. Then, I patted his shoulders. "Okay, your done." He turned and walked to the door. "Hey Justin?"
"Yeah?" He turned around.
"Save me a dance, okay?"
"You got it." He closed my door behind him and I sat back on my bed.
About five minutes later, there was another knock. "Come in!" I said cheerfully. This time, it was Lance. I laughed. "Let me guess... the tie." Lance held it up.
Just then, from downstairs, we heard Justin yell, "Oh that's it! Your going down little man!" I looked at Lance and we both burst out laughing.
"I take it my little bro's a threat to Justin's perfect Playstation skills?"
"Yeah, that's what it sounds like," Lance said.
I laughed. "Okay, you stand here." I positioned him in front of the footstool. I climbed up on it and was amazed to find that I was eye level this time. I began to fix the tie. First, I buttoned the top two buttons on the shirt and straightened the collar. As I held my hand out for the tie, I looked him right in the eyes.
"Can you tell me something?" Lance asked.
"Absolutely."
"I'm not crazy, am I? Your eyes are green right now, right?"
I smiled. "Yeah."
"Okay, just making sure." I finished the tie. "Thanks." He put his hands on my waist.
"No problem." I looked at my clock. "Oh crap, I've got to get dressed!" Lance winked at me before he left my room, shutting the door behind him.
After he left, I put my dress on. It was long, white and it had an oriental style to it. I put on the new prom tradition, a garter, and my white heels. Then, there was yet another knock. "Come in," I said for the third time in thirty minutes.
My dad stood in the doorway videotaping. "Are you done?"
"Yeah." I left my room, walked through the hall, and down the stairs. Lance was in the living room looking awesome in his tuxedo. I walked over to him and we hugged. Lance then looked at my dad who was still taping us. "What?" I asked.
"I want to kiss you, but would your dad care?" Lance whispered.
"Lance, just do it," I told him, not really caring what my dad thought.
"Yes ma'am," Lance said, his southern accent more prominent than ever. Then, with Justin, my parents, and my brother watching us, Lance kissed me.
It was a knock on the door behind us that made us quit. I pulled away from him and opened the door. There was Briley. It wasn't until she came in that I noticed her dress. It looked purple, but when looked at from another angle, it looked blue. But still yet, if seen from another angle, it was green. I thought that was a cool dress.
That's when the pictures began. My parents took about two rolls of film. Everything they could get a picture of, they did- me getting my corsage, Lance getting his boutonniere, me stabbing myself with the pin on Lance's boutonniere, me tripping over Justin's foot, me running into a doorframe after I tripped, and of course, pictures of me and Lance, me and Briley, and me, Briley, Justin, and Lance.
"Kelly, I've got a surprise for you and Briley," My dad said. He stopped taking pictures long enough to say this.
"What?" I asked. I couldn't help but notice the smiles that Justin and Lance gave each other, so I knew they were in on this.
"Just step outside and see," My dad instructed us.
Briley and I went outside with Justin and Lance right behind us. What I saw made me stop in my tracks.
