"Dang! I am so excited!" Briley practically yelled into the phone.
"You don't have to yell... I can hear fine," I laughed.
"Well, I'm sorry! Aren't you excited? No, I know you are!"
"Yes Briley, I'm excited," I said, with no real emotion in my voice.
"Kelly, how long has it been since you've seen Lance?"
"I don't know... but I do know that if I get too excited, time will go by much slower."
"I know what it is..."
"What?" I sarcastically asked.
"Your scared to death about meeting his parents, aren't you?" Briley said slyly.
"No! No, of course not! Why would I be scared of meeting them?"
"Your afraid that they won't like you."
"Okay Briley. You've got me. There is no way I can go through with meeting them."
"Yes you can... in fact, you have to.... oh shoot. I have to go pick some stuff up from the store. I'll talk to you later Kelly."
"Bye." I hung up the phone. Before my hand left the receiver, it rang again. "Hello?" I answered.
"Hi Kelly!" Alex's excited voice said into the phone.
"Oh, hey Alex."
"I just wanted to make sure you were coming to the airport with Justin tomorrow."
"I am. Heck... your one of my best friends and I've never met you. Of course I'll be there! Besides, I really want to ride in Justin's car," I told her, thinking about his Mercedes.
"Thanks! I see how you are! Using me for my boyfriend's car... I can't believe you!" She laughed.
"Give me a break... you know I'm just kidding with you," I said, laughing a bit myself.
"Well, I better get going... mom will have my head if I talk too long. See you tomorrow Kelly," Alex said.
"Bye Alex," I said, as I hung up the phone.
Five minutes later, it rang again. "Hello?" I answered.
"Hey Kelly," I heard JC's smooth voice say.
"Hi JC. What's up?"
"Not much. Just thought I'd call and see if you were excited about coming to see us."
"What do you think?" I asked laughing.
"Yeah, that's what I thought," he said and I could tell he was smiling. Just then, I heard a door slam and someone run into the room. "Hang on a second, okay?"
"Sure," I agreed, as I listened to the conversation taking place.
"Who you talkin' to?" I heard Justin ask.
"Kelly."
"Can I talk to her?" Justin asked.
"Who said that she even wants to talk to you?" JC asked.
"Not funny JC! Besides Lance, I'm closer to her than any of you! Let me talk!" Justin whined.
"Fine, you baby, take it. But I better talk to her again before you hang up." I heard JC say as I also heard the phone being passed to Justin.
"Hi Kelly!" Justin said into the phone.
"Hi Justin. By the way, don't you know anything? I'm not really your friend... I'm just using you for your car."
"I knew it!" Justin said loudly. "That's the only reason why you wanted to go out with Lance! To get to my car!"
"Yeah, Justin, sure, that's it," I said sarcastically.
"So, anyway, what's up?"
"I'm trying to get my packing done, but I'm having a hard time because people keep calling me."
I heard feet running, some shuffling, and then, Justin yelled, "CHRIS!"
"Hi hi!" Chris was now on the line.
"Hi," I said, laughing.
"I stole the phone from Justin."
"I noticed," I replied.
"Guess what?"
"What Chris?"
"You get to see me tomorrow!"
"And I'm so looking forward to it."
"I know you are."
"Chris?"
"Yup?"
"Can I talk to Justin?"
"But he'll hurt me if I try to give him the phone back," Chris whined.
"Please?"
"Okay." I heard him open a door. "Here Justin... she wants to talk to you..."
"So you okay?" Justin got back on the line.
"Yeah... why wouldn't I be?"
"Chris on sugar is enough to drive any normal person insane."
"The truth finally comes out! You think I'm normal! Don't you?"
"Um... uh... no comment," Justin said, laughing.
"That's not funny," I said, though I was laughing myself. A second later, I said, "Justin, I need to let you guys go. I've really got to finish packing."
"Sure. Oh wait- JC wants to talk to you again. Bye Kelly." I again heard the phone being switched.
"Kelly, can I ask you a question?" JC asked.
"Of course."
"Briley's still coming, right?"
"Yeah."
"Okay," He said slowly.
"Why?"
"Don't take this the wrong way, because I know she's your best friend and everything... but Briley's weird... and Justin's been talking about her a lot lately."
I interrupted. "He has?" I smiled, because I knew it was part of the plan.
"Something weird is going on here."
"Hey JC? Don't worry about it."
"I'll try not to. Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow. Bye Kelly."
"Bye," I said, hanging up the phone. I took a deep breath and plopped down on my bed. I couldn't help thinking that that was one of my weirdest phone conversations ever. "Oh well," I laughed. I got up and began to pack everything again. Just as I finished, my phone rang again. "For the love of cheesy poofs, stop calling me people!!" I yelled. Then, I changed my tone of voice when I picked up the phone to my usual sweet self. "Hello?
"Hey Kelly," Lance's deep voice came through the phone.
"Hey Lance." I smiled.
"How's it going?"
"Okay. People finally left me alone long enough so I could finish packing."
Lance laughed. "Yeah, I heard that JC called but that Chris and Justin insisted on talking too."
"That they did. Hey, does Chris ever scare you?"
"All the time!"
"Alright. I just wanted to make sure I'm not the only one." I sat down on my bed. "So, how are you?"
"I'm good. Can't wait for you to get here. What time does your flight arrive again?"
"9:00. Which means that I kinda need to go. I have to leave in two hours, so I should get some sleep. I'd rather not look like I could play the lead in 'Night Of The Living Dead' when I meet your parents."
"Well, parent."
"Huh?"
"My dad is in Mississippi right now."
"Oh. Okay, so parent."
He laughed. "Well, good night."
"Good night."
"I love you."
"Love you too." Tears sprang to my eyes as I hung up the phone. I couldn't help but wonder how I could actually get that close to someone when I hardly ever saw him. I took a deep breath and willed myself not to cry. I then got up, pulled on a pair of flannel boxers that I had bought and a huge sweatshirt of Lance's that I stole when I went to one of their concerts somewhere in Kentucky. I crawled into bed and drifted off to a dreamless sleep.
Two hours later, my alarm went off. I sat up in bed with my eyes squeezed shut and threw the blankets off of myself. I got up and stumbled around, putting on a white button up shirt, Tommy Hilfiger over-alls, and shoes that added three inches to my height. I carried my things to the living room and waited for Briley and my mom to show up. When they arrived, I loaded my stuff into the trunk and got in.
Awhile later, Briley woke me up by shaking my shoulder and saying, "Kelly! We're here!" I stumbled out of the car and through the airport. Until the flight was announced, I just kind of sat in a daze. When they announced it, my mom grabbed me up in a hug. "Call as soon as you get there!" She told me.
"I will," I said, pulling out of her grasp. Briley and I walked down the short hallway and onto the plane. For the three hours of the flight, I tried to sit back and relax by listening to my 'N Sync cd. That wasn't too easy, considering the little girl next to me had dedicated the flight to making me miserable.
I put my arm on the armrest as the plane took off. Suddenly, I felt my hand being hit. "Oww!" I loudly exclaimed, looking down to find the girl stabbing me with a straw.
"Hehe..." She laughed. I just gave her a look and leaned back. I put my headphones on and pressed play. About ten minutes later, my cd skipped from 'Here We Go' to 'Everything I Own.' I opened my eyes and again found the kid bothering me. This time, she was messing with the buttons on my cd player. I pushed stop and looked at the little girl.
"Will you please leave me alone?" I asked, praying that she would say yes. All she did was shrug. I leaned back and again turned on my cd player. Twenty minutes later, I had almost fallen asleep when I felt something small and hard hit my cheek. I opened one eye and saw her ready to throw yet another peanut at me. "Cut it out!" I exclaimed. When she still threw another, bouncing it off my glasses, I thought, 'This means war!' and I grabbed some peanuts of my own off the cart a passing stewardess was pushing. I ripped open the little package and threw two at the girl. One hit her shoulder. The other connected with her forehead.
Her lower lip began to tremble, tears welled up in her eyes. She sat like this until the tears spilled over. "Mommy! This meanie head keeps throwing peanuts at me!"
A large woman in the row ahead of us stood. "Which one was it?"
"Her!" The girl pointed to me.
The lady turned to me. "I suggest that you leave my daughter alone."
"But I wasn't..."
"Are you calling my angel a liar?"
"Yes I am," I bravely said.
"My angel doesn't lie," the woman said, raising her voice.
"Listen lady," I said louder. "Your 'angel' has been making me miserable this entire flight! Maybe you should remove your lips from her butt and see what kind of demon child she actually is!"
She just stood there silently for a second. Finally, she said, "Angel, come up here with mommy."
The girl stood up, walked past me, and stuck her tongue out at me as she sat down with her mom. I gave a relieved sigh and sat back, again turning on my cd player, having the perfectly harmonized voices of 'N Sync fill my ears. I must have fallen asleep, because I was startled by a voice over the speakers. "Passengers, this is your captain. We are approaching Orlando. Please put all seats in the upright position and fasten your seatbelts. Thank you and have a nice stay in Florida."
Briley and I both fastened our belts and prepared for the landing. Once the plane had landed and it was safe to get up, I jumped up, grabbed my Nike backpack, and practically ran through the plane and into the airport. My eyes scanned the room and I finally found the five guys I was looking for as Briley made her way to me. She found them with no problems.
"Those poor guys," She said. "They can't go out in public for anything." I nodded as I watched twenty or twenty five girls surround Justin, Lance, JC, Joey, and Chris.
"Briley, do you want to have some fun?"
She smiled. "Yeah!"
"Great. Follow me." I calmly walked up to the group and waited for the girls to leave at least one of the guys alone. After a few minutes, none of them were talking to JC, so I seized the opportunity. I ran over to him and said, "Oh my goodness! Your that really hot singing guy in that one group! Will you sign my arm?" I held it out in front of him.
"I guess. What's your-... Kelly!" JC hadn't looked at me until he started to ask my name. He grabbed me up in a hug.
"Hey JC," I said as I hugged him back.
One by one, all the guys excused themselves from the girls. Next, I hugged Chris, then Joey, and Justin. Finally, I was standing in front of Lance. "Hey," he said quietly.
"Hi." Lance softly placed one hand on my right cheek, the other on my waist. He gently pulled me towards him as he leaned over and lightly pressed his lips against mine.
"Come on you two! Let's get going," JC said, once again stepping into his fatherly role.
Lance took my hand as we followed the group through the airport so Briley and I could get our things. Lance leaned over and picked up my Tommy Hilfiger duffel bag that was so full I could barely get it zipped. As Briley picked up her suitcase, Justin, Lance, and I looked at JC, practically willing him to offer to help her. He didn't notice, because he made no move to help her out.
"Here Briley, let me help you," Justin said politely, taking the suitcase from her.
"Thanks Justin," Briley quietly said.
As we walked outside, Justin slowed down so he was walking with Lance and I. "Okay," Justin whispered. "I talked to Chris and Joey, and they are gonna help us work things out so Briley has to ride with JC."
"All right!" I loudly said. When JC, Briley, Chris, and Joey turned and looked at me, I just gave them an innocent smile and wave.
Once we were in the parking lot, Chris ran and jumped into the back of JC's jeep. Joey, Lance, and I all got in Justin's mercedes. Which left Briley with one option- riding with JC. Justin threw Briley's suitcase in the back of the jeep, then proceeded to get in the drivers side of his car.
"Kelly, where are you staying again?" Justin asked as he started the car.
"Dixie Landings Disney Resort," I told him.
"Nice place," He said as he pulled out of the parking lot.
We followed JC to the hotel, and each time we would be passed by a car full of girls that waved, the guys would smile and wave back good naturedly. When we arrived at the hotel, the five guys went in with Briley and I to check in. The travel agent had put the reservations under my name, so I had to be the one to sign for the room.
"And how many will be in the room?" The desk clerk inquired.
"Only three. Myself, that girl over there, and another that isn't here right now," I told her, pointing to Briley.
"Okay. Here's three keys... your room number is 321... have a nice stay."
"Thank you," I replied, walking back to the group. "Here Briley." I handed her a key. We walked to the cars to get out our luggage, then made our way to the room. As soon as I dropped my stuff, Justin made an announcement.
"I've got to make some final preparations for when Alex gets here, so Lance, if I'm taking you home, come on."
"You ready?" Lance asked, turning to me.
"As ready as I'll ever be," I answered, grasping his hand.
Lance, Justin, and I were quiet as we walked to Justin's car. As Justin started the car, he chuckled. "So, Kelly, your meeting his parents for the first time, aren't you?"
"Justin, don't even make any jokes about this! I am scared to death!" I told him.
"Why are you worried?" Justin asked. "It's not his parents you should worry about." I let out a sigh of relief. "It's his sister."
I looked at Lance and raised my eyebrows. "Justin's just bitter because she would never go out with him," Lance explained.
"Great," I said quietly. All too soon, we arrived at the Bass residence.
"Thanks for the ride," Lance said.
"No problem," Justin replied.
The two of us stood in front of the door. "Lance, I don't think I can do this right now."
"Yes you can. From what my mom knows already, she loves you. It's gonna be fine." He pulled me into a hug and gently kissed my forehead. "All right?" I nodded. "Let's go." He took my hand and led me into the house.
His mom was sitting on the couch and she stood when we came into the room. She walked over to us, hugged Lance, and then, looked at me. "You must be Kelly."
I smiled. "That's me."
She hugged me too. "Honey, I am so glad to finally meet you! Lance has told us all so much about you! Come sit down." She grabbed my other hand and lead me to the loveseat. She then sat across from Lance and I on the couch. "Do you want something to drink?"
"No thank you," I responded.
"All right." She paused. "So Kelly, Lance told us that you graduated last May." I nodded. "Do you have any ideas about what your doing now?"
I took a deep breath. "Well, in September, I'll be going to Ohio State as a Pre-Medicine major. Then, I hope to go to a good medical school to specialize in Obstetrics/Gynecology." Me being so open about my chosen field seemed to have broken the ice, because the next forty-five minutes passed quickly.
Before I knew it, there was a knock on the door. Lance jumped up and answered it, returning with Justin. "Hi Diane," Justin said politely.
"Hi Justin," she replied.
"Hey mom, we need to go," Lance said.
"Okay. You kids be careful." She came over and hugged me again. "Kelly, it was so great meeting you. I'll see you tomorrow evening."
"Bye Mrs. Bass," I said. We walked out the door. As we got in the car, Lance turned to me.
"That was amazing! I never would have guessed that you were nervous!"
"Really?" I questioned hopefully.
"Really! It was great! She loved you!"
"I take it things went well," Justin said, looking at us in the rearview mirror.
"Well, according to Lance, it was great," I said, planting a kiss on his cheek.
"That's good," Justin said. Before long, we were at the airport. Alex's flight arrived just as we got to the gate. Lance and I were sitting on the floor by some windows when a dark haired girl ran past and practically jumped into Justin's arms.
They stayed in this embrace for a few more seconds before the girl let go of Justin. She turned and saw Lance and I. "Lance!" She yelped, giving him a hug. Then, she turned her attention to me. "Kelly?"
I nodded. "Alex!" She threw her arms around me and hugged me too.
"I can't believe we finally get to meet!" She exclaimed.
"Hey, I hate to break up this kodak moment, but I get this feeling we should leave," Lance said quietly, nodding towards some girls that were eyeing him and Justin.
"Good idea," I replied, completely agreeing. We quickly walked through the airport, picking up Alex's luggage on the way. We ended up outside, stuffing her suitcase into the Mercedes small trunk.
"AHHHHHHHH!!!" A high pitched squeal behind us yelled. "It's Justin Timberlake!"
Another voice joined in. "And Lance Bass!" Alex and I looked at each other and smiled as Justin's forehead met the top of his car and as Lance's hand landed over his eyes. Almost simultaneously, the two of them took deep breaths, preparing themselves to meet their adoring fans.
"Ohmigod! You two are so hot!" One girl said.
"And so taken," Alex quietly said, yet loud enough for me to hear. I started to laugh, but quickly got quiet.
"Yeah, and like, you can sing too!" The other girl said.
"You both are great dancers!" A third piped up.
At that, Alex and I both began to laugh. The three girls gave us dirty looks and continued to bestow praises upon our 'men.'
"Can we have our picture taken with you?" The three of them chorused together.
"Sure," Justin agreed. As one of the girls got a camera out, Lance looked at me and gave me a smile.
"Kelly, can you help us out?"
"Why not?" I asked.
"Thanks," Lance said, kissing my forehead as I walked past. The girl handed me her camera and I took the picture.
"Yeah, thanks," the girl who first recognized Lance said conceitedly.
"No problem, glad to be of help," I responded nicely.
"Whatever," the girl said, ignoring me. "Well, bye Justin, bye Lance."
"Bye," Justin and Lance said together.
After the girls left, the four of us looked at each other and started laughing. "You poor guys! You can't go anywhere without being recognized!" I finally caught my breath enough to say.
"Yeah, well, it's all part of the job," Justin replied, shrugging.
"You two have really different outlooks than most girls in your position would," Lance told Alex and I as Justin started the car and drove off in the direction of our hotel. Once we had arrived, we got Alex's luggage from the car and began to carry it to the room. When we actually got on the third floor, Alex and I got 'kid-napped.' As we walked down the hall, two figures ran by wearing at least three shirts, shorts over their pants, while one wore a bra on the outside of his clothing and one wore a short dress over everything else. The one wearing the bra scooped Alex up and slung her over his shoulder. The one in the dress picked me up and did the same. Both continued running down the hall. I looked up and noticed Justin and Lance's bewildered expressions as Briley rounded the corner and screamed.
"Christopher! Joseph! Stop!" They both laughed and continued to run.
Seconds later, the two of them stopped and I heard a door unlocked. They carried us through a door and it shut behind us just as Briley, Lance, and Justin reached it. Chris and Joey deposited Alex and I on one of the beds.
"Joseph Anthony Fatone! Just because Kelly is of legal age doesn't mean you can do stuff like this to her! She's mine!" Lance said through the door, laughing.
"Hey, you are... your 18," Joey said, grinning in my direction.
"Forget it, Fatone," I said, just as Lance yelled, "I heard that!"
With that, I stood, pushed my way past Joey and Chris, and opened the door for the other three. As they came in the room, Lance jokingly put his arms protectively around me and pulled me across the room away from Joey.
Chris stood in front of Alex with his hands out, his thumb and first finger making an 'L' shape with both hands, looking at Alex through it. "Alexandra... you've just arrived in Orlando... what are you going to do now?"
She threw her arms up and yelled, "I'm going to Disneyworld!"
As we all found places to sit down, I looked around, noticing something missing. "Hey guys?" I asked the group in general. Everyone got quiet and looked at me. "Where's JC?"
"Hey, he's gone!" Joey exclaimed.
"Yeah, well, he probably escaped in the mist of you two ransacking my suitcase and putting my clothes on." It was then that Justin, Lance, Alex, and I really noticed what Joey and Chris were wearing, so we began to laugh. Briley continued to talk. "I don't care if you two want to borrow my clothes, but Joey, that dress is not your color. As for you Chris... will you at least take my bra off?" The room was once again filled with laughter as Chris pulled the bra off and gave it to Briley.
"Anyway..." Lance began to say, but then, he started to laugh again. He took a deep breath and tried again. "Anyway, are we doing anything tonight?"
"We could go to Pleasure Island," Joey suggested.
"That's fine. We're already in the Disney area, so it would make sense to go there," Justin continued to say.
"Wait, we can't," I stopped the plans.
"Why not?" Lance asked.
"Alex... she's not 18," I said slowly.
The room got quiet for about a minute before Alex said, "Oh... don't worry about me. Go ahead and go."
"Not without you," Justin said, affectionately taking her hand.
"Really Justin, I want you to go," Alex seriously said.
"But-"
"Shh! Your going!" Alex said, interrupting him.
"In that case... Alex, do you want to baby-sit Jon and Steven tonight?" Justin asked.
"Sure," Alex quickly agreed.
"Stop!" Briley suddenly yelled. Chris had been channel surfing and he had run across the movie 'Can't Hardly Wait.' This was one of Briley's favorites.
When the movie went off, Justin looked at his watch. "Wow... we better go." He looked at Alex. "Why don't you go ahead and come with us so you will already be at my house?"
"Sure... if Kelly and Briley don't mind."
"Go ahead," I said, looking up from talking to Lance.
"Okay," Alex said, jumping up. Chris and Joey finished taking all of Briley's clothes off. As everyone but Lance walked out the door, Briley got on the phone calling home.
"I'll see you in a couple of hours," Lance said. "Bye Briley!" She looked up and waved. "Bye Kelly." He leaned over for a kiss but was stopped by Chris.
"Hurry up!" Chris shouted impatiently, leaning back into the room.
"He is such a pain," Lance whispered, then gave me a quick kiss.
"Bye," I said as I shut the door behind him.
I sat down on the bed trying to make some sort of decision about what to wear. Briley hung up the phone and plopped down on the bed next to me, letting herself fall to a lying position. She groaned.
"Problems?" I asked her, raising my eyebrows.
"Yeah, no... maybe..." She was quiet for a second. "It's you and Lance."
"What?" I asked, wondering if she knew something I didn't.
"You two are so freakin' perfect! I'm so jealous of your relationship!"
I laughed a little. "Briley, we are far from perfect. Lance and I have our arguments and disagreements just like anyone else."
"But, you always work things out. You never stay mad at each other. Like I said, your perfect."
"No Briley, we have a little thing called good communication. We just work problems out when they are small. They don't build up."
"It's more than that. There is more than a physical attraction between you two. Even I can see that."
"There is, but..."
"Haven't you ever noticed the way Lance looks at you?" Briley interrupted. I shook my head. "He looks at you with so much love and adoration... there's something in his eyes that shows how deep of a level you two are on together. It's some sort of emotional bond that's really special... I don't know... it's like, most married couples don't even look at their spouse like that. I want that dangit."
"Trust me, you will. Sooner or later, you'll find somebody you can click with, and well..."
"It's going to be later though."
"It might be sooner than you think," I told her as I gave her a hug. Deep in my heart, I knew JC was that kind of guy. I just had to get him to realize it.
