“Ali, Lis, I’ve got a question,” Veronica called, walking out of her room. They had quickly gotten used to calling each other by their new names.
“Whatcha want?” Alice asked, shifting her attention from the TV to Veronica.
“Joey wants to know if we want to go clubbing tonight.” It had been three weeks since Veronica and Joey had first gone out. They’d gone out four times since then, and had established a semi-serious relationship.
“That would be cool,” Alice said. She’d gone to the beach a few times, but hadn’t done much partying.
“Lis, what about you?” Veronica asked, walking to Alissa’s room. “Wanna go clubbing?”
“Sure,” Alissa replied. “I need to get out.”
“We all want to go,” Veronica told Joey, who she was talking to on the phone.
Joey laughed. “I heard, Ronnie. See you at ten?”
“That’s cool. Gives us time to get ready.”
“Do you really need ten hours to get ready?”
“Oh yeah, we really need all day to get ready.”
“Of course,” Alissa joked, walking past her. “I mean, we take hours to do our hair and make-up, and then deciding what outfit to wear. Oh, it’s such a laborious process. It takes us all day just to go out for a few hours.”
“Shut up, Lis,” Veronica told her. “You’re annoying.”
Alissa laughed. “Love you too.” She disappeared into the kitchen.
“Damn bitch,” Veronica muttered under her breath.
Joey laughed. “And I thought you two were best friends.”
“We are. She’s just a bitch at times,” Veronica told him, her voice raising, so Alissa could hear her.
“At least I’m not the big bitch you are,” Alissa yelled.
“I am not. I’m a very nice woman. You can go to hell for implying I’m not nice.”
Alissa laughed. “See, I told you so.”
“Whatever.” Veronica stuck her tongue out. “I’m gonna ignore her now. So, Joey, got any single friends?”
“A few. Why?”
“Alissa and Alice both need a date. Bring two of your single friends along, and then it’ll be an even number tonight.”
“Are you sure your sisters want you hooking them up?”
“No, they don’t want me to. They’d hate me for it. Who are your single friends?”
“JC and Justin.”
“I thought they were both dating. That’s what all the rumors are saying.”
“JC was, but he and Bobbee broke up three months ago. Justin’s not. Britney is just a cover-up for his real relationships, of which he doesn’t have any right now.”
“Is Britney doing the same thing?”
“Yeah. They’re just using each other to shield other relationships.”
“I see. Do they know you’re gonna set them up?”
“I’ll tell them right now.” Joey walked into the living room of the house he and the other four members of *NSync were sharing. “Jace, Justin, we’re going clubbing tonight.”
“We are?” JC Chasez asked. “Since when?”
“Since about ten minutes ago.”
“Why are we invited?” Justin Timberlake asked.
“Because Veronica’s sisters are going, and they need dates.”
“Are they hot?” Justin asked.
“Are your sisters hot?” Joey asked Veronica.
“How should I know? Do you think I check them out?” She laughed. “They’re pretty. And guys usually think they’re hot.”
“Yeah, they are,” Joey told Justin.
“Then I’ll go.”
“I guess I’ll go,” JC said.
“They’re going,” Joey told Veronica. “See you at ten, babe.”
“Laters, sexy,” Veronica murmured, hanging up.~*~*~*~
“Why did I let you talk me into this?” Alissa asked, as Veronica handed her a pale blue top. It shimmered in the light, left her back and most of her stomach bare. Black flares and black boots completed the outfit. Her black hair was pulled up into a French braid, with tendrils hanging down.
“Because you know you want to go,” Veronica replied, slipping on her sandals. She was wearing a red tube top, and short black skirt. Her hair was left down.
“I can’t wait to go,” Alice said, walking into Veronica’s bedroom. “This is gonna rock.” She was dressed in a green spaghetti strapped top and black shorts. All three girls had gained weight, filling out their bodies, so they didn’t look like skeletons. They were still thin, though, and had good figures.
“Me neither.” Veronica pulled them in front of the mirror. “Just think, we would never have been able to do something like this before.”
“It’s great to actually have a life.” Alice tucked her hair behind her ear. “I love this.”
“Same here,” Alissa said. “Ready to go have fun?”
Just then, they heard a knock at the door.
“That would be Joey,” Veronica said, running out of the room. She opened the door. “Hey there.”
“Hi, beautiful.” Joey slid his arms around her waist and pulled her to him. He kissed her. “Ready to party?”
“You bet. C’mon in while we get our purses.” Veronica held open the door, letting the three guys in.
“Ronnie, this is JC, and that’s Justin,” Joey introduced the guys to her. “Guys, Ronnie.”
“Hi, guys,” Veronica said. “Yo, Ali, Lis, c’mon, we’re ready to go.”
“A miracle,” Alissa said, walking to the living room. “You’re ready on time for once.”
“Go to hell.”
“Been there, done that.” Alissa looked at the three guys. “Hi, I’m Alissa.”
“Lis, this is Joey, Justin, and JC,” Veronica said. “Guys, my sister and best friend, Alissa. Ali, you almost ready.”
“Yeah, I’m just trying to find a purse,” Alice said, walking out of her room. “Do you have pockets, Lis?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Hold my wallet, please.” Alice tossed Alissa her wallet.
“Hold mine, too,” Veronica said, giving her wallet to Alissa.
“Jeez, I don’t have that many pockets. What all do you two need out of your wallets?”
“Money and ID cards,” Veronica told her.
Alissa pulled out some money and ID cards out of their wallets, and put them in her wallet. “There, now I don’t have to hold three wallets, and you have our money and IDs.”
“We’re ready to go now,” Veronica said to Joey.
Joey laughed. “Finally.”
“We didn’t take that long,” Veronica told him. “We just had some things to discuss.”
“I’ve got a question,” JC began, looking at Alissa and Alice. “Why did you mother name you Alice and Alissa? Those names are really similar.”
Alissa answered him. “I’m not really their full sister. Our father had an affair with my mother, and I was the result of that. She didn’t know Alice’s name, and had always liked the name Alissa. She ended up giving me to my father when I was like two months old.”
“Talk about an interesting family,” Justin said. “And all of you are friends?”
“The best of friends,” Alice told him. “We couldn’t picture being here without each other.” We wouldn’t be here without each other- we couldn’t do this on our own.
Joey, Veronica, JC, and Alice rode in Joey’s car, while Justin and Alissa went to the club in Justin’s car.
“What do you think of Florida so far?” Justin asked Alissa.
“What makes you think I’m not from here?”
“Joey told me that the three of you moved here about a month ago.”
“Five weeks as of tomorrow,” Alissa murmured. “Florida’s cool. A definite change from my old life.”
“Where did you live before?”
“California. Los Angeles.” Close enough to the truth.
“Why did you move?”
“We needed a change, to get away from everything.”
“Do you miss California?”
“Not really.” Was she just imagining things, or did his words have a different meaning?
Justin glanced over at Alissa when they stopped at a red light. He swore she was familiar. He just couldn’t put his finger on who she reminded him of. Or who she really was.
“How long have you lived in Florida?” Alissa asked Justin.
“Since I was 12.”
“And how old are you now?”
“Twenty-one.”
“Old enough to drink.”
“And gamble.”
“You can do that-” Alissa broke off. She was about to make a comment about Monaco, where their wasn’t a legal gambling age. How could she have let herself almost blow their cover? She was going to have to be even more careful.
“What were you going to say?”
“You can gamble once you turn 18., just not at casino’s. You can buy lottery tickets.”
“True.” She was going to say something else. I’m going to find out what she’s hiding. “Here we are,” he said, pulling up in front of the club they’d decided to go to.
“Looks busy. Sure we can get in?”
“There are advantages to being rich and famous,” Justin told her as they walked to the entrance. “And one of those is that we can get into clubs without having to wait in line. And we can get any underage guests in with no problem.”
Alissa laughed. I know, Justin, just what the advantages of being rich and famous are. I know all too well.
They joined the others, and Joey and Veronica headed out to the dance floor. JC and Alice spent most of the night together, talking and getting to know each other. They didn’t do much dancing. Justin and Alissa also spent most of the night together, dividing their time between dancing and talking.
That night at the club set the pattern for the next few weeks. Whenever they went out, they always paired up: Joey and Veronica, JC and Alice, and Justin and Alissa.
“I love horror movies,” Alissa commented, when Justin put Jeepers Creepers in the VCR.
“You don’t scream and look away?” Justin asked her.
“No, I do that. But I love them still.” She laughed. “I remember seeing this at the movie theater. I wished I’d had a boyfriend at the time, because there were parts where I wanted to hide my face in his chest.”
“Well, I’m here now, so you can do that,” Justin told her.
“And you’re not gonna be hiding your face?”
“Of course not,” Justin said, puffing up his chest. “I’m the big brave man who’ll protect his little woman.”
“Oh man,” Veronica gasped, laughing.
“Little woman? Little woman?” Alissa looked at him. “No, Justin, I don’t think so. I ain’t no little woman. You’re the little man.”
Justin tackled her. “Oh yeah? Prove it.”
“You’re on.”
Five minutes later, Alissa was laying on the floor, trapped by Justin’s legs.
“Say uncle,” Justin demanded, tickling her.
“Never,” Alissa gasped, trying to get him to stop tickling her.
“Are we going to watch the movie?” Alice asked.
“Not until Lis cries uncle,” Justin replied.
“Boy, we’ll be here for a long time,” Veronica said, grabbing the VCR remote and turning off the movie.
“Special Report,” the news announcer began. “Princess Lorelie Trenton, Lady Circe McKenzie, and Lady Calypso Jordan have been declared missing. It is unknown whether the three girls have been kidnapped or have runaway. They were last seen in La Jolla, just outside of San Diego, at a party thrown by model Nicole Winslow, on June 23rd. If anyone has any information regarding their disappearance, please contact the FBI or your local police department. Here’s a message from Clayton and Mikayla McKenzie, speaking on behalf of all three families.”
As they watched, Veronica’s parents appeared on the screen. “We’re speaking on behalf of the Jordan’s and the Khanauri’s,” Clayton began. “If anyone has any information about these three girls-” and they showed pictures of Circe, Calypso, and Lorelie- “please inform your local police department. And if they have been kidnapped, we’ll give anything- everything- we have to get them back.”
“I just want my baby back,” Mikayla sobbed. “Please, please, help us. I know Marianne Jordan and Sarah Khanauri feel the same way. Girls, if you’ve ran away, please come home. We love you.” She dissolved into tears, turning to Clayton.
“That’s terrible,” Veronica said. “I hope the girls are ok.”
“So do I,” JC said. “We meet them at a party a week before they disappeared. It was thrown by Lorelie. She’s a royal princess, heiress to the throne of some small European country,” he informed the girls. “They were all cool.”
“Well, hopefully everything turns out ok,” Veronica said. She looked at Alissa, trying to tell her something.
Alissa caught on quickly. “Um, guys, I just remembered, I have to get up early tomorrow. I’m going to go talk to a college, see what I need to do to get accepted.”
“Is that a hint that we need to leave?” Justin asked her.
“Yeah.”
“Well, we can take hints. We’re all not stupid.” He stood up and pulled Alissa up. “Good luck on getting into college. You’re gonna go to a school here?”
“Yeah.”
Justin kissed her. “I hope you get accepted and stay here. Bye.”
“Bye.”
JC and Joey said their good-byes and followed Justin.
Veronica waited until JC’s car had left the area before talking.
“Shit, they’ve called in the FBI.”
“And the CIA, I bet,” Alice said.
“Hey, guys, we have other things to worry about,” Alissa began. “Who cares about who they’ve called in. Our parents are getting worried about us. We need to do something, tell them we’re ok.”
“But what, Calypso?” Veronica asked, forgetting to use her fake name. “We can’t call them from here, they have caller ID and the phones are probably tapped now. The call would be easy to trace.”
“We’ll use a pay phone,” Alissa said. “Put some shoes on, and we’ll go down to the store and use the pay phone there.”