A few days had passed since Justin found his way to the house that he now stayed in with his once angel, now teacher/friend, Caitlin, & Caitlin was impressed with how quick Justin took to learning his tasks & abilities. What had taken her 13 life years to learn, Justin had mastered the invisible swing just yesterday. She had to remind herself at time that he had been a performer before he was brought here & that when he was still alive he had to learn routines in a short time period.
She did admire him however, for his emotional strength. He had left his family behind, including the friends that hadn�t died on the bus during the wreck, & yet he still hadn�t cried about it infront of her. She saw a few times that his eyes glistened, but when he noticed it as well, he would pull himself together & concentrate on learning the lesson at hand. Not many angels-in-training had this emotional strength, most of them losing control of their emotions, taking year after year to learn what should be a few day or week lesson.
She herself had been one of them, only because she wasn�t able to accept her death. Her life had been going so perfect for her when she was taken. As a child, nearing her teens, her dad would rape her since her mother left him to be with women, so he blamed it on her. In her early/mid teens, she�d called the police on him one night so custody of her was placed on a close aunt. When she was nearing her adult ages, she finally met a wonderful boyfriend. A guy named Luck, pronounced Luke, who treated her like an earthbound goddess & they were soon to be married. Unfortunately a few weeks after he proposed, one week from the marriage, she was on her way home from work when her car broke down & since she didn�t own a cell phone, she had to hitchhike & ended up being brutally murdered.
When she was brought here, she was assured she would see Luck one more time, but she had to go in through his dreams. Unfortunately the night the last time visit had been arranged for, he took his own life. She was never able to see him since people who took their own lives weren�t given the same tasks as others, they were given the tasks of making people miserable since they died unhappy.
She sat on her �swing� in deep thought, trying to remember the proposal Luck made, but nothing came to her & she found herself sighing softly. �Wanna talk about it?� Justin asked, walking up beside her. She looked up at him & shook her head. �You wouldn�t understand...� she thought to herself.
�Come on, you sure? I�ve got all the time in the world & I�m a great listener,� he gave her a small smile as he made his own �swing� & swung slow by her.
�I envy you...� she whispered.
�You... envy me?� When she nodded, he raised a curious brow. �Why do you envy me?�
�Because you learn quick & you have strength,� she answered as she looked down at her feet. �And you weren�t taken like I was. I�d rather have switched deaths with you.�
He tilted his head slightly. �Care to explain?�
�Well, I was murdered when I had to hitchhike home... You can find out on your own how you died exactly. Instead of asking how, tell it to show you how...�
He didn�t have to ask what it was... He already knew it was the book she spoke of. �I�m sorry to hear of how you were taken...� he whispered. �Do you want to be alone?�
�If you wouldn�t mind Justin? I�m sorry, but right now I just need solitude.�
�I understand,� he smiled & got up from his spot, walking away from her to the ledge that over-looked the wreck that he�d cleaned up some. There were no long ay other cars since Caitlin had taught him how to clear things & add things to the last scene each person was given. He�d made things look nicer than what they used to. There was no longer a turning angle to the bus since he had straightened it out. And there was no longer any ice, but flowers on the mountain side & on the road, the ice had been melted.
He rubbed a hand across his bare chest, feeling a small itch. Since there were no rules against it, he walked around with no shirt on, but did put one on if Caitlin ever asked him to or if he ever felt like wearing one. Here in his afterworld, the sun could only tan & not give the same harsh sunburns as the living world. He spread the wings he had finally grown out yesterday from his back & stretched them, groaning softly as he felt muscle stretch & heard a small ruffling of the black & baby blue feathers that covered his wings. Another trick Caitlin had taught him of dying his feathers. Originally the chenille soft feathers had been white, but Justin & his individuality had to be different so he found out how to dye them & quickly did. The shorter feathers that were closer to his body were a mix of black & baby blue, the black covering more than the baby blue. For the longer feathers of his wings, he had dyed those baby blue.
He took a step off the ledge & used his wings to carry him down, to the tour bus, gently landing by the doors that were now always open since there were no threats. He folded his wings behind his back, the wings slowly liquidating into his back, leaving it bare, showing no signs of anything unnatural & walked onto the bus. There he had arranged James into the position he had always been in when the guys loaded the bus. Sitting sideways, feet spaced apart, one arm on the wheel, the other hand resting on his knee. He�d changed his face from that of shock & fear, to that of happiness & welcoming. �Hey James,� he whispered as he placed his hand on the older gentleman�s shoulder.
He sighed as he made his way to the back of the bus where the forms of the guys were no longer tossed about, but sitting on the separate couches, appearing to be in silent laughter at some stupid joke. He hadn�t decided who told it, but he would always go between Chris & Joey since they were funnier than JC & Lance.
On one side of the back room, Joey & Lance sat on the couch, both half leaning on each other in a laughter appearance with their favorite couch pillows in their laps. The sight had begun to bring tears to his eyes, but he held them back & looked at the other side of the room to Chris & JC, Chris laughing & pointing at JC who had his hands covering his face. On the floor sat Busta, head cocked to one side, looking at his master, Chris. Even though Busta hadn�t been on the bus for this tour, Justin had made a form of him appear so the Chris form could have company even though he knew in the afterworld, Chris could somehow be watching Busta.
Seeing this once so familiar & loud scene brought the tears to Justin�s eyes & he could no longer hold them back. He sat on the floor & buried his face in his hands, letting the tears fall. He sobbed softly, wishing this awful dream would end, that he would wake up cold again & find the guys laughing in the back, not frozen with fear written on their faces.
He wanted so bad to go to the front of the bus & have everything be moving again & for the trip to be going safely so that in a month he could see his step-brothers again, hold them in his arms & tickle them then place sloppy kisses all over their cheeks while they laughed & begged him to stop giving them his �cooties�.
The tears flowed harder as he remembered his last phone call home, the day before the accident that took him away.
�Justy, when are you coming home?� Jonathon asked into the phone after Lisa, Jonathon�s birth mother, Justin�s step-mom, had handed it to him.
�Hey little guy, I�m not sure, but if the tour runs on track, we will definitely be home in little under two months,� Justin replied, smiling at the sound of his little brother�s voice. �Are you being good for mom?�
�Uh-huh!�
�Getting good grades like you promised you would so I could take you on the next tour for a little?�
�I�m doing my best Justin,� Jonathon smiled.
�All right Jonathon. Well I gotta go, I�m feeling a little sleepy okay? Give mom, Steven, & daddy my love & kisses.�
�I will Justy. G�night!�
�G�night Jon Jon. Love you little guy.�
�Love you too Justy.�
If Justin would�ve know that was going to be the last phone call he�d ever have with his family, he would�ve talked longer & told them each separately just how much he loved them. But now...it was too late.