Part 17
Oddly enough, Alex made a friend out of Andrea. Not that Andrea had just suddenly stopped liking her – Alex still caught the looks Andrea threw her now and then – but after the talk, Andrea seemed to have calmed in her displays of affections. Now that she wasn’t chasing Alex anymore, Alex decided that Andrea was actually pretty cool.
In fact, things were going pretty well from all fronts. Leo had stopped bothering her soon after she’d started hanging out with Andrea. He probably thought Alex was going out with Andrea and from the teasing comments she got from the guys, she realized he wasn’t the only one.
She was getting used to the hectic schedule and the intensity of the crowds and the fans. She had a feeling that when it was all over, she’d really miss it.
Her relationship with the guys was good and her relationship with JC was even better. She was trying her best to suppress her attraction to him and maintain the easy friendship she had with him now. He was the best guy friend she’d ever had – the only guy she’d ever been close to and she didn’t want to mess it up with silly romantic feelings. The thought of losing JC as a friend was unbearable to her.
The only blip in her happiness had been a phone call from Kat. Their father had found Kat’s number, probably by snooping through Alex’s stuff she thought, and demanded that Kat send Alex home. Kat had told him the truth that Alex wasn’t living with her but when he’d asked her where she was, Kat had lied to him and told him that she didn’t know.
Kat told her that she’d done a fairly good job of faking worry about Alex and her whereabouts but she suspected that their father was suspicious and she was nervous that she’d find him on her doorstep one day.
Alex was scared for her sister and herself. Who knew what lengths her father would go to, to get Alex back. She’d half hoped that he’d wash his hands of both of them but his need for power was too great for that. Kat had said that she’d call Alex if her father showed up. Alex hoped that that phone call would never come.
…
July was hectic. The guys had MTV tapings and signings crammed into their already full days. The week of the fifteenth was the busiest of the month, with FuMan signings for Chris and a MTV taping and two concerts for them all.
Alex’s twentieth birthday was also that week but she hadn’t told anyone about it. She hadn’t celebrated a birthday in years and didn’t look at the day as anything special. With all the things happening at once, Alex had assumed that her birthday would pass by quickly and quietly.
She couldn’t have been more wrong.
…
“I hear it’s your birthday,” Justin said, walking into Alex’s hotel room after Leo let him in, early Thursday morning.
Alex didn’t look up from the magazine she was flipping
through. “Then you heard wrong.”
”Come on, Al. I know it’s your birthday.”
She flipped another page. “Ok Justin, it’s my birthday.”
“Ok then. I’m offering my services to you for the day,
well the hour anyway, we can do whatever you want.” Justin sat beside her on the
sofa.
Alex looked up at him. “Did you just offer me your services? The mighty Timberlake at my will for a whole hour?” She rubbed her hands in mock glee.
Justin rolled his eyes. “Shut up, man. I’m trying to be nice here.”
“Don’t strain yourself too hard with all that niceness.”
Justin shrugged and stood up. “Fine, be like that. I offered.” He turned to walk out of the room.
“Justin.”
Justin turned, raising his brows in question.
“Thanks for offering.” Alex smiled.
Justin nodded before leaving the room.
…
Alex was sitting down for lunch in one of the hotel’s restaurants when Lance walked up to her table.
“That’s where you are. I’ve been looking for you all over the place.” He pulled out a seat and sat across from her.
“Why? Is something wrong?” Alex asked, putting the menu she was perusing down.
Lance waved away the concern. “Everything’s fine. I was actually going to take you out for lunch for your birthday.”
Alex smiled. She didn’t have a very close relationship with Lance. They got along well but they just didn’t hang out like she did with the other guys. She was pleased that he wanted to do something with her even though it was for her birthday.
“I was actually just settling down here for lunch but you’re welcome to join me,” Alex said, smiling.
Lance glanced around the restaurant before looking back at her. “Are you sure you don’t want to head somewhere else?”
“No, it’s ok. I want to stay here.”
“Ok, but you have to let me pay. I know how you are, man. You’ll throw money down before I have the chance to open my wallet.”
Alex laughed. “All right, all right. You can pay.”
Lance looked satisfied and called the waitress over for another menu.
Alex knew she wouldn’t be having anything big for lunch that day. It was sweet of Lance to offer and she knew it was something he wanted to do but she felt uncomfortable taking money from the guys. Even if they offered. She felt even more uncomfortable with them trying to make her birthday good for her.
Birthday’s had always been rough for her. Her father had stopped celebrating them after her mother died and she seemed to have bad luck every time she tried to celebrate with her friends. Disaster struck every single time. Her father had shown up at Becca’s house when Becca had thrown a party for her one year. Dragging her out because he was upset that she had been out after seven.
Another year, Becca had tried to throw an impromptu celebration at lunch on her birthday at school and they had both gotten detention because they had lit candles on the cake. When she didn’t celebrate, bad things didn’t happen and that’s the way she wanted to keep things.
When the waitress came around again, she ordered water and a salad.
Lance shook his head. “I know what you’re doing but I’m too tired to argue with you. But, man, you can be such a girl sometimes. Salad?”
Alex laughed at that remark but lowered her sudden red face.
…
“Hey Alex!”
Alex, who was on her way to the hotel’s gift shop, turned around to see Chris and Joey jogging over to her.
“Hey guys! What’s up?”
“Well, Joe and I, thought we’d take you out for a birthday drink,” Chris said, grinning at her.
Alex groaned. “Not you guys too.”
“Dude, what’s the big deal? We’re offering you quality time and drinks here and you’re groaning. When it was my birthday, I made these bitches pay for everything. It was sweet.” Joey laughed.
Alex snorted.
“Maybe Alex isn’t in the mood to celebrate. I wasn’t in much of a celebrating mood last year,” Chris responded.
“Yeah, but Alex is like twenty. I would have been bitter it if I was turning fifty too, man,” Joey said snickering.
Chris punched him hard in the shoulder. “Asshole,” he muttered under his breath before turning to Alex. “So, are we going to the bar and drinking to your health or what?”
Alex sighed. Turning them down would be pointless, since she knew they’d just wear her down until she agreed. She was also starting to wonder why she was avoiding having fun that day. Nothing bad had happened yet. Maybe this birthday would turn out all right.
She looked at the guys and nodded. “Ok, but only one.”
…
It was nine that night when Alex got a knock on her door.
JC was standing outside her door when she opened it.
“What took you so long?” she asked as she let him into her hotel room.
Leo had gone off somewhere a little while before, so it was just the two of them.
A corner of his mouth lifted in a half smile and her
stomach flipped. “Were you expecting me?”
“Oh come off it. You guys have been harassing me all day. I had Justin this morning; Lance early afternoon, Joey, and Chris this evening. It was only a matter of time for you to show up.”
“Man, are you ungrateful. We take time out of our busy schedule to cater to your whims and we get your shit,” JC said jokingly.
Alex flopped down on her bed. “Sorry, man. I just always have really shitty luck when it comes to celebrating birthdays and I was trying to avoid that today.” She shifted down as he sat down beside her. “But you know what’s funny? My birthday’s done in like three hours and so far nothing’s gone wrong.”
“So…?” JC looked at Alex with an inquiring glance and she knew what he was waiting for.
“So, I appreciate the fact that you guys made an effort today. Although why I’m including you in it, I don’t know. I see you for five seconds in the whole day and all I get from you is attitude.” She glared at him jokingly.
JC looked at his watch, as if he was noting something, and then back at her grinning. “Well as a matter of fact …” He reached for something in the pocket of his jean jacket then swore. “Shit, I forgot it.”
Alex raised a brow. “Forgot what?”
”Your present.” He got up from the bed.
Alex’s eyes widened and she couldn’t stop the big smile from spreading over her
face. “You got me something?”
”Yeah but I left it in my room. Walk with me there and we’ll get it.”
Alex bounced off the bed and followed him out the door, elated that he’d gotten her a present.
They took the elevator to his floor and walked down the hallway to his room. He opened the door and waved her in front of him.
The room was pitch black but just as suddenly it was bright and Alex staggered back not only from the glare of the lights but by the people yelling “Surprise” at her from across the room.
Alex looked at all the smiling faces in front of her and couldn’t help but laugh. Well, if you couldn’t beat them – you might as well join them.