Chapter Fifteen

My eyes found the clock on the table behind us. With a quick glance, I knew we had right at an hour to get ready. "Briley, I hate to disrupt this great best friend moment here, but we need to get ready." She let go of me and I stood, going into the bathroom to take a shower. I stepped into the warm water and sighed as I began to relax. I opened a new bottle of body wash- Tommy Girl. I had gotten it, as well as two other Tommy Girl products for Christmas- perfume and body lotion. This was only the second time I had used any of it. I was saving it for special occasions... and this certainly qualified.

I took a deep breath as I caught a whiff of my shampoo- vanilla. I laughed as I thought that I must smell really good most of the time. I rinsed the condition from my hair and turned the water off. I got out, wrapped my hair in a towel, then wrapped around towel around myself. As I walked out of the bathroom, I heard Briley on the phone.

"Kelly's done, you want to talk to her?" Briley paused. "I know, I know... stupid question." She laughed. "Here she is." Briley walked past me to go into the bathroom. As she passed me, she said, "It's Lance."

I picked up the phone. "Hey!"

"Hello my clean sweetheart," Lance said.

I laughed. "You are so weird sometimes."

"I know, but it's one of the things you love about me."

"Your right... hey, it's not that I don't like talking to you, but why did you call?"

"Just to give you and Briley Lynn and Paul's number in case you need Alex."

"Okay..."

"But, Briley already wrote it down."

"Oh."

"So, you just got out of the shower."

"Yup."

"What are you wearing?"

A smile slowly broke across my face. "A towel."

"That's it?" He asked.

"Yeah," I slowly said.

"Hmm... maybe I should come over a little early..."

"Lance!" I exclaimed, though I was laughing.

"Don't worry, I was just kidding." I then heard some muffled arguing. "Kelly, I need to go. My 'big sister' thinks she needs to use the phone. I'll see you soon." He paused. "Love you."

"I love you too."

"Bye." We hung up the phone. I used my Tommy Girl lotion, then put on a short, sleeveless, blue and black dress. Depending on where I was, it could be either casual or more formal. I wore a pair of white tennis shoes with it. As I went to the mirror to put on make-up, Briley came out of the bathroom, looking exactly as I had ten minutes before. I put my make-up on in a record time of 8 minutes, 37 seconds. Then, to my hair. I pulled the sides up and clipped them in place, pulling a few locks of hair from the clip to frame my face. After some hairspray, I was done. Well, with the exception of perfume, which I sprayed on right after that, so it wouldn't be too strong when Lance and the others arrived.

I sat down to watch tv while Briley took a turn in front of the mirror. She was wearing pants that resembled something from the movie 'Grease', a silver shirt that was made of clingy material, and a white sweater unbuttoned over that. I flipped the tv on and ended up watching *N Sync's Top 40 Countdown on MTV. After ten minutes, there was a knock on the door. I was closest to it, so I got up to answer it.

"Come on in," I told Lance, Justin, JC, Chris, and Joey. As they walked in, I noticed their clothes and began to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Justin asked.

I continued to laugh. "What's the deal? Did Tommy Hilfiger's factory explode on you guys?"

"No, and for the record, we didn't plan to wear this stuff at the same time... it just sort of happened," JC explained.

Briley stepped up to the group. "I'm ready if you all are."

"Let's..." Joey began to say, but I interrupted him.

"Hang on... I need to see this part." It was where Lance gave the tour of the bus. After it was over, I turned the tv off.

As we walked out of the room, JC asked, "What's the big deal about that part?"

I smiled. "Well, you know the lounge, kitchen, lounge, kitchen thing?"

"Yeah," he answered.

"It reminds me of Grover on Sesame Street when he does the near...far...near...far thing."

JC started to laugh, while Lance just looked at me. "I remind you of a blue fuzzy puppet?"

"No, but I have to admit, your almost as cute as Grover is," I said, pinching one of his cheeks. JC continued to laugh and was joined by the others. "Lance, you should be glad I didn't meet him first."

"Awww, thanks... that's a real self-esteem booster there," Lance smiled at me.

When we got to the parking lot, Lance and I rode with JC and Chris, while Briley rode with Justin and Joey. The ride to the downtown Disney area was relatively uneventful, unless you count the times that Chris kept sticking his head out the window. The five of them had decided ahead of time which club we were going to go to. I wasn't sure of the name, but every night, they had a New Year's Eve party going on. It sounded like fun, and I couldn't wait to dance.

Once we found a table and ordered something to drink, Lance turned to me. "Dance with me?"

"Sure." He took my hand, pulled me to the dance floor, and we had a great time. The first slow song came on after awhile, and it was 'I Don't Want To Miss A Thing' by Aerosmith. Lance put his arms around my waist, pulling me closer, and I put my arms around his neck.

I sighed deeply and Lance pulled me closer. "You okay?" He asked.

"Yeah... JC's really stubborn isn't he?"

"You better believe it. That's why I knew this thing with Briley was not going to be an easy mission."

"I sense there's a but coming."

"But, if we keep throwing them together, he just might cave."

I laughed. We continued to dance, and after the song, we took a break. None of the other guys, except JC, were at the table. Lance and I sat next to each other, quietly talking, kissing every few sentences. Slowly, all the others came back to the table and we all talked until the next slow song came on. Joey stood and walked over to Lance and I.

"Hey Lance... can I borrow Kelly for this song?"

"If she doesn't care to be used," Lance said, grinning. I stood, then leaned over and kissed him on the cheek. I followed Joey out to the dance floor. Somehow, I stepped down wrong and the next thing I knew, I was in a heap on the floor.

"Kelly, are you okay?" Joey asked, leaning down next to me.

"Yeah, I think," I said. Joey extended his hand to help me up and I took it. As I put weight on my right foot, my knees turned to jello and I just about fell. I collapsed into Joey's arms, so he picked me up and carried me back to the table.

Joey sat me in the chair and I reached over to untie my shoe to take it off. That's as far as I got... my ankle hurt too much. Just then, Lance came back to the table. "Oh my God... Joey, what did you do to her?" He exclaimed.

"Lance, he didn't do anything... it was my own clutziness," I explained. Lance sat down in front of me and placed my foot across his lap. Joey grabbed Justin's jacket and gave it to me to put over my legs so that I wouldn't be flashing anyone. Lance gently put one hand on my ankle.

I tensed up. "Oww..." I said tearfully.

Lance turned to Joey. "Remember that time Chris hit his head while we were here and they gave him that ice pack?"

"Yeah," Joey answered.

"Do you remember where they got it?"

"Yeah," Joey said again.

"Can you go get one?" Lance asked.

"Yeah," he said for the third time.

I began to laugh, but when Lance touched my foot again, I stopped. "Oww."

He took a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Kelly," he seriously said. "Your hurt. We need to take your shoe off."

"But--"

"No but's about it. You have to let me take your shoe off."

"But--" I said again. Lance just looked at me, and from his expression, I knew he wasn't about to let me say no and have that be the end of it. "Go ahead, but be careful," I said quietly.

"Always," he said, slowly unlacing my shoe. After the lace was out, Lance slowly and carefully took the shoe off, barely moving my foot. "Okay." He slowly pulled my sock off. "Wow!" He exclaimed.

I looked down and saw my ankle was about three times it's normal size and a light shade of purple and blue. Just then, Joey returned with the ice. Lance gently laid the pack over my ankle. A few seconds later, he waved to someone that was behind me.

"What's up?" I heard JC say as he walked up from behind me. Lance removed the pack and JC saw my foot. "Whoa." "I can drive you," JC offered.

"It's okay," Lance answered. "We'll take a bus to the hotel."

"All right," JC reluctantly said. "Be careful."

Lance stood up and then picked me up. JC handed me the ice, my shoe, lace, and sock. Lance carried me outside to where the buses pick people up and drop them off. It was our good luck that a bus had just pulled up... and only three people got on. He carried me onto the bus and set me down. I leaned against the side of the bus and propped my leg and foot up on Lance after he sat down next to me.

Every time the bus hit a bump, it would jar my ankle. "Oww..." I softly said after the first time it happened. Lance readjusted the pack on my foot and then took my hand. He slowly lifted my hand to his lips and lightly kissed my fingertips. I gave him a small smile just as the monitors on the bus sprang to life. The first thing on was an advertisement for a mix cd of Jive artists. I hummed along with songs by *N Sync, Backstreet Boys, and Imajin. When the Britney Spears song came on, I began to sing along with her to "You Got It All."

"Don't let them worry your soul, once I met you I let go. Oh you can surely see, your so much more to me. Just one look and I knew, you would make everything clear, make all the clouds disappear, your better than all the rest, who do I love the best? Don't you know don't you know, you got it all over him, you got me over him, honey it's true, there's just you. You must have been heaven sent, hearing me call you when, out on a limb, and your all that he's not, just look what I've got, because you've got it all, all over him," I sang. When I got to the line about being heaven sent, I directed it towards Lance. He gave me that completely adorable grin of his.

Minutes later when we arrived at the hotel, and the bus came to a stop, Lance once again carried me, this time to the room. I slid the card in the slot, and Lance pushed the door open, walked into the dark room, and sat me on the bed. He then began to turn on lights.

"Lance?" I asked.

"Yeah," he answered, rushing to my side.

"Will you get something for me?"

"Absolutely."

"There's a pair of flannel boxers in that top drawer and a t-shirt with a big 99 on back. Will you..."

"Say no more," he interrupted, leaping up to retrieve the clothes. He handed them to me and I somehow pulled the shorts on with no problems. Then came the difficult part. Lance noticed my hesitation. "Here." He sat down with his back to me and got on the phone. By the time he finished dialing the number, I was changed.

"I'm done," I said, not too loudly, as to not disrupt the phone call. He turned back around as I propped my foot up on a pillow.

"Hey mom?" I listened to Lance's end of the conversation. "We kinda got a problem here... Kelly hurt her ankle and it looks pretty bad... you will? Okay. Bye." He hung up and moved over next to me and took my hand. "My cousin's a doctor and she's here visiting, so my mom is going to bring her over."

"Thanks," I told him.

"It's no problem at all," Lance replied. We leaned in towards each other for a kiss after a moment of silence. Our lips found each other and after a few seconds, Lance leaned me back against the other pillows as the kiss deepened.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. We parted and Lance whispered, "This always happens to us!" I smiled as he got up to answer the door.

"Room service?" A middle-aged male said as Lance opened the door.

"We didn't order anything," Lance replied as the hotel employee looked closely at a piece of paper and then at the door.

"Oh, I'm sorry. This says 327, not 321. Sorry to have bothered you," he said, stepped away from the door.

"No problem," Lance said, as he shut the door. He then walked back over to me. Lance leaned over to kiss me again, but I put my hands up to stop him.

"Forget it, the moment's ruined," I said, shaking my head with a smile.

"I figured that, but you can't blame me for hoping," Lance said as he picked up the remote control and turned the TV on. He finally stopped switching channels when he got to a rerun of "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch." It happened to be the episode that they had guest starred.

After the show went off, I noticed Lance looking quizzically at the screen. "Are you... here?" I asked, snapping my fingers in front of his face.

"Yeah... but do you know how incredibly stupid I felt singing to a cat?"

"No... but your probably going to tell me."

"Right. I felt really stupid." I laughed. Then, the movie 'Billy Madison' with Adam Sandler came on. We sat watching it until there was yet another knock on the door. Lance got up and opened the door. Standing there were his mom and a girl I didn't know.

Lance's mom rushed over to me. "Oh, sweetheart! Are you okay?"

I laughed. "I'm fine. I just need to learn to walk..."

She quietly laughed. Then, she waved the girl over. "Kelly, this is my niece, Jami. Jami, this is Lance's girlfriend, Kelly."

"Hi Kelly," Jami said, grinning. "Let's see what you've done to yourself." She turned on another light and sat on the bed next to me. Jami slowly picked up my foot and looked at it from every angle. "Can you rotate your ankle for me?" I did. "Well, your lucky... it's not that serious."

Just then, the four of us turned toward the door as it opened. Briley and JC walked into the room. When it registered that they were there together, alone, I turned to Lance, but he looked just as shocked as I did. I realized then that Jami was talking.

"Hang on..." I laughed. "I'm sorry, but I wasn't listening to a word you just said."

She smiled. "I was just saying that if you rest tonight, you'll be fine by morning. I'm gonna wrap your ankle in this ACE bandage. Keep it and ice on your foot all the time."

"Most probably, yeah," Jami answered.

"Good. We're forcing her to go to MGM," he said, taking my hand.

"Which reminds me... I'll be at the concert tomorrow. You guys better put on a good show," Jami ordered, getting up.

"You won't be disappointed," Lance told her.

"Well, bye Lance, bye Kelly," Jami said.

"Bye honey, see you in the morning," Diane, Lance's mom, said to him. To me, "Feel better."

"Thanks," I smiled at her as she left the room.

"Where's Justin..." Lance started to say, but was interrupted by a knock. JC turned and opened the door. Justin, Chris, and Joey walked in.

"Hey guys!" I said brightly.

"What's the verdict?" Joey asked, crossing the room to stand next to me.

"I'll be fine tomorrow," I answered.

"That's good," Justin said as he picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hey Paul... has mom left to bring Alex back yet?... okay, great. Thanks." Justin hung up.

"Well?" I asked.

"She should be here soon," Justin announced.

Justin, Chris, Joey, JC, and Briley found places to sit down. I was dying to ask Briley what had happened with her and JC, but I didn't dare in front of everyone. "So..." I said, trying to think of something to say.

Fortunately, Alex kept me from needing to. She walked in the door and slammed it behind her. Her hair was a mess, half of her right hand was blue, and she looked exhausted. The seven of us seated around the room glanced worriedly at each other. I studied Alex closely for a second, then realized she had an air about her. One I'd never seen before. Then, I knew... it was anger. Before I could say something to calm her down, Chris spoke up.

"Tough night?" He joked. I cringed and my head landed on Lance's shoulder.

"Tough night?!" Alex repeated, yelling. "Would you like to hear about my tough night?!" She continued yelling, storming around the room, slamming things around. "Up until Lynn and Paul left, everything was perfect! Right after they left, I tried to put Steven to sleep. I was successful, but then, I heard something explode! I go downstairs, and what do I find? Jon has put an entire package of hot dogs in the microwave for God knows how long! You wouldn't believe the mess! He stole my blue nail polish and tried to paint the cats nails, and in the process got scratched up! In the course of the evening, I broke a nail. Jon had calmed down a bit, so I went about trying to fix it. Well, we can all see the outcome of that, can't we!?" Alex held up her blue hand. She stood in front of us and continued to yell. "During the time I was there, he woke Steven up, tied my shoes together, ran around the house jumping on all the furniture while I chased him, put peanut butter in my hair, and split milk on the computer keyboard!" Now, she stood in front of Justin. "Justin Randall Timberlake! Do you realize the influence you have on the kid?" She paused, but not long enough for Justin to answer. "Apparently, you don't! Last, but definitely not least, Jon tried to pierce his own ear tonight... so he could be like big brother Justin!" Alex took a deep breath and sat down on the floor as the tears began to fall. "I want my nice padded room and the jacket where I get to hug myself! I want my mommy!"

Justin stood up and then proceeded to pick Alex up and carry her to the bed. He lay her down in it and covered her up. "Alex, get some sleep," he told her, kissing her softly. She was then out like a light.

Lance kissed my forehead. "You get some rest too."

"I will," I told him as he got up and let go of my hand after taking a few steps away.

The other three said their good-byes and left. Briley was sitting at the end of Alex's bed watching tv. I just sat and stared at her. She finally noticed. "What?" She asked.

"Girl, you aren't telling me stuff!"

"What am I not telling you?" She asked.

I just sighed. "What happened with JC? Details, give me details!"

Briley turned the tv off and turned to me. "Where do you want me to start?"

I laughed. "How about when I left?"

Briley moved to my bed, sitting next to me. "All right, here we go."

I smiled. "Here we go, one more time, everybody's feeling fine, here we go now..." I softly sang.

"Kelly, if you want to hear this..."

"Okay, it's out of my system now."

"Good. Anyway, I was dancing with Chris when I looked up and saw Lance carry you out."

Sixteen