The Part of Me I Never Had 30

I went downstairs. The familiar surge of pain shot up my spine if a bent my back even slightly, so I tried not to.
To my surprise, everyone was there.
�OH MY GOD!�
I winced in pain when I jumped from surprise.
�MIKAYLA!� Justin yelled, �I told you not to do anything to hurt her!�
She grimaced. �Sorry. I didn�t mean to, it�s just�LOOK AT THAT ROCK!�
Then I realized she was talking about the ring. �Oh. Yeah well�� I tried to walk into the kitchen.
Nida grabbed my arm.
�Ow!�
�If you guys are gonna hurt her anymore, just leave,� Justin told angrily.
�Sorry. I just wanted to look at the ring,� Nida said apologetically.
�Well, if you do that one more time, you know what the consequence is,� Justin warned as he slowly made his way to the kitchen with everyone else, watching the 3 of my friends with his penetrating gaze.
When he was a safe distance away, Nida, Julie, and Mikayla looked intently at the ring on my finger.
�MY GOD JESSIE! Look at the size of that rock!� Julie squealed.
�If you guys are gonna act this immature about this ring, then I�ll be leaving,� I warned.
�Ok, ok. But where did you get it?� asked Nida.
They squealed when I didn�t answer.
�He asked you! Oh my god, he asked you! You are so lucky!� Julie cried.
�You guys are acting like I won the Olympics or something. You will have your chance. Someday.�
�But our chance isn�t with these guys,� Nida argued.
�Jessie! You have a bracelet too?!� Mikayla cried.
Then they were looking at the bracelet. �These things are huge!� Julie exclaimed.
I looked at the bracelet. It was true. The size of the diamonds had grown. They almost took up the whole of each heart.
�I didn�t know he spent so much money on this,� I muttered, not being heard at all by my hypnotized friends.
They were whispering comments to each other excitedly.
I had had enough. �JUSTIN!� I called out.
A nanosecond later, Justin was prying them from my arm.
�Thanks Justy.�
�No problem.� Then he smiled at me. �You said yes huh?�
�How�d you-� Then I remembered the conversation I had heard.
�You just want her to say yes.�
Justin looked at me expectantly.
�Never mind. Of course you knew about it. JC just tells you everything, doesn�t he?�
He smiled smugly. �Of course.�
We sat down with everybody else at the table.
I only started to eat my cereal when Chris, who was seated to my right, cried out, �My god, look at that rock!�
Everybody turned and looked at me.
Chris continued to ramble about the diamond, while no one was even listening to him.
Then Lance asked, �Where�d you get that?�
�Yeah really Jessie. Where did you ever get your hands on something like that?� asked Michael.
JC walked over to me. �Everyone, I�d like to make an announcement.�
They looked at us, waiting for the announcement.
�Jessie and I� we�re getting married,� he said.
The room was silent. Then they erupted in cheers.
Everyone came and hugged me and JC, congratulating us. I was so happy.
When I hugged Keith, he whispered, �I�m glad you found a man you love Jessie. I just hope you don�t erase me.�
�I wouldn�t.�
�Just making sure.�
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When all of the extra guests left, it was 5:00. I was sitting on the couch, trying to avoid the sharp pangs of pain.
�Hey JJ, wanna go see a movie tonight?� Justin asked cheerily, sitting next to me.
�Have you had too much pop?� I asked skeptically.
�No, I�m just in my hyper mode.� He smiled. �JJ, you and JC are gonna get married. Both my best friends, married.�
�You consider me one of your best friends?� I asked, surprised.
�Yeah. Pretty good one too.�
�Yeah. I guess you�re my best friend too. After JC. Then it�s you. Then it�s those guys,� I said, pointing to the girls.
�You�ve known me for like, almost 4 months, while you have known those girls like more than 4 years, and you like me better?� he asked, laughing.
�People can do a lot over those 4 months,� I pointed out.
�Yeah, I guess so.�
�So, are you gonna be JC�s best man?� I asked.
He smiled triumphantly and said, �You betcha. Who ya gonna ask to be your maid of honor?�
�I haven�t really thought about it. Who do you think?� I asked. I really hadn�t thought about it.
�One �o those 3. Or maybe all of them.�
�I guess that�ll work wouldn�t it?� I smiled. �Yeah. I�ll ask them tomorrow.�
�We�ll do it!� Mikayla cried from across the room.
�Oh gosh you guys!� I shook my head.
�Jessie! Get changed!� Lance called from the other room.
�Why?�
�We�re going out to celebrate!� Chris called.
�Ok. But I�m not gonna wear this stupid backboard. It is getting on my nerves. Besides, the pains gone down,� I said.
�Ok. As long as you�re sure that your back is ok,� Justin said reluctantly.
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I admired myself in the mirror. I was wearing a tight fitting, sleeveless, v-necked, long black dress, with slits down each side. I put my hair in a French twist and sported black strappy heels.
Smiling, I went down the stairs.
I heard Justin, Chris, and Joey whistle.
�Shut up you guys.�
I walked up to a shocked looking JC, still staring.
�You look beautiful Jessie,� he stammered.
I beamed. �You look handsome JC.�
He was wearing a black wife beater under a black see through button down long sleeve shirt with black cargo pants.
I took his arm and walked with him out to his Jeep. Everybody else took their cars.
We all met at a small restaurant. There was barely anyone there. Coast was clear.
We seated ourselves and thought of what to order.
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Chris opened the door and we all stumbled over each other trying to stay up and get through the door. We all ended up in a heap on the floor, laughing, except for Chris, who was at the way bottom of the pile. We all crawled to our feet. The sharp pain spread through my body like a virus. I collapsed onto the couch, falling into a painful sleep.
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There was a loud sizzling sound piercing through my thoughts. My eyes flew open, surprised at the sound.
It took me a moment to clear my head. Then I realized I was in a nightgown. In my bed. �Who changed me?� I thought. My thoughts ran to JC, but shook it off. It was already 11. I needed to get into the shower.
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I came out, refreshed and ready. I was wearing a pair of soccer shorts and a lime green tank.
Making my down the stairs, I could still hear a soft sizzling sound.
�Hey Jessie,� Chris greeted. He smiled. �So you decided to come down�20 minutes before 12 huh?�
�At least it�s before noon,� I shot back.
I looked at JC. He looked uneasy.
I walked over to him. �Hey JC.�
�Oh uh, hi Jessie,� he stammered. Then he looked down at his plate.
My eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
I went back to sit down next to Justin. I leaned over and whispered, �What�s wrong with JC?�
He whispered back, �I�ll tell you in the other room, c�mon.�
I walked to the other room with Justin.
�What�s going on?� I asked right when we were out of an earshot.
�Were you wearing the same thing you were wearing last night?� he asked softly.
I thought about it for a minute, then came to a realization. My eyes widened. �You mean-he-�
He nodded.
I got really panicky. �He didn�t see anything, did he?�
�No, but he still feels bad about it.�
�It�s not his fault.�
�Tell him that.�
I turned and went to the kitchen.
�JC?�
He looked up. �What?�
�Can I talk to you for a minute?�
�Sure.�
I walked out, with JC behind me.
I turned and looked at him.
�Justin told me what you did.�
�I�m sorry. It�s just-�
�Don�t even apologize JC. I�m totally fine with it. As long as you didn�t see anything too personal.�
He relaxed. �Thank goodness. I was feeling kinda guilty there.�
I smiled and kissed him.
�We�re back to normal, right?� I asked.
�Yeah.�
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�Come on guys! There�s only 1 more day of vacation left and I wanna use it!� Chris called.
He wanted to go swimming in the pool in the back. He was waiting for us.
We all walked out in our suits, carrying our towels.
I threw my towel on the chair. I was turning around to dive when someone picked me up.
�Ohmygod!� I shrieked.
I looked down and saw a head of curly blonde hair.
�Justin lemme down!� I cried.
He carried me so I was still �standing� upright, but in the air. My hands held on to his curly head to balance myself.
My grip increased as he walked to the diving board.
�Justin what the heck do you think you�re doing?!� I exclaimed.
�This!� he yelled, tipping me back, so I was falling into the water.
I took a deep breath, and arched my back, tucked my chin to my chest, and stretched out my arms up over my head, preparing for a dive.
SpLaSh! I hit the water, doing a sort of backward dive.
I arched my back again, and spread out my arms, going for the surface.
When I broke through, I cleared my eyes and immediately started searching for Justin.
I climbed out, soaking wet. Wrapping my towel around my body, I looked for Justin, who was apparently missing.
�Jessie, how�d you do that?!� asked Chris.
�Do what?� I asked confused, my eyes scanning the area.
�Duh. That dive. It was so cool!�
�Oh. You just dive Chris. Now if you�ll excuse me, I�ll be looking for Justin.� I started to move away when I heard a voice call out, �We�re here!�
It was from inside. I walked into the house and looked around. I wrapped the towel around my waist.
�Hey Jessie! Goin� for a little swim?�
�Oh my god Justin (not N Sync�s)! How did you know I was here?!� I cried, hugging him. �Oh sorry. I�m a little wet.�
�It�s ok. Justin invited me here. He�s pretty cool,� Justin F. said. Then he added, �Nice place you got here.�
I smiled. �Of course you�d recognize the furniture.�
He laughed. �It�s in all the perfect places. How did you do it?�
�I didn�t.�
�I could guess that.�
�Shut up. Wanna come and swim?� I asked.
�Now that you mention it�� he marched through the double-screened door leading to the pool.
I heard the refrigerator close. Turning around I saw Justin.
�Hey Juju!�
�Hey.�
�I still gotta get you back for throwing me into the pool over there.�
He smirked. �Never!� he yelled as he ran for the pool.
I untied the towel and ran after him.
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�Just look at my fingers! They�re all pruny!� I exclaimed.
We had been swimming for hours. Mostly playing tag in the pool. Then we tackled each other for a while. Thank goodness my back was feeling better. It was now 5.
�So are the rest of ours,� Justin agreed.
�So what do you wanna do now?� I asked them. Mickey, Nida, Julie, Mikey, Keith, and another friend that flew in, CJ, ended up swimming with the rest of us. It was fun anyway.
�There are 13 people in this house. What do you think we should do?� CJ asked rhetorically.
�We could go out to dinner,� Joey suggested.
I smirked. Leave it to Joey to suggest the food idea.
�Sounds good,� CJ agreed.
Joey grinned.
�Well, if we do that, then we could go to a club or something after,� Chris added.
�Sounds good to me,� Mikayla agreed.
�Are there any good places to go to here?� I asked.
�Oh yeah.�