I led Sean by the hand through the bus.  We were the last to enter, so as
we got on, the bus started up and sped towards Davis with a grinding hiss.
Everyone on the bus got comfortable fast-it WAS now going to be a 2.5 hour
drive!  I inspected the scene within the confines of the bus.  Laura seemed spaced out at a corner, even as Abs handed her a cup of coffee.  She was muttering something…was she going schizo on us?!  Jules was talking to J, Scott, and Shelbs rather intensely.  I suppose she was telling a story.  Jen and Ritchie were chatting it up not too far away.  I wondered what they were talking about.  Not that I much cared.  I made my decision.  I'd rather have Sean's soulful voice speak softly in my ear than Ritchie's.  Seeing our way clear, I anxiously led Sean to the back.  I wanted to tell him badly of my choice, and I was greatly anticipating his reaction.  He will be so happy!  I was going to love this!  We found our way to the back and sat across from each other at a table.

"I want to tell you something-," we said at the same time.

"Go ahead, you first," I offered.

"Alright, I just want to say this before I don't get a chance to."

"Ok," I smiled.  Oh my gawd!  Was he going to proclaim his undying
affection towards me?  I held back my frantic heart!

"I just want to get the truth out.  We shouldn't hide our feelings from
each other, and I feel you should know….  How I feel…."

Sean then leaned in towards me.  I gazed deeper and deeper into his eyes as
he leaned in closer and closer.  I felt his breath near my neck, as his
lips neared mine.  Yes, I leaned in to kiss Sean "I want to have your baby"
Conlon.  My heart beat faster and faster, what better thing could happen to
me!  Instead Sean whispered in my ear, "I'm interested in someone else."

"What?!"  I yelped, as I jumped back.  My decision, my plans, my
anticipation…all to pieces before my eyes.

"Yes, so you don't have to worry about me.  You and Ritch could get along
with my blessings."

"But-you're interested in someone el-," Sean quickly covered my mouth.

"Hold on, I don't want the whole bloody world to know.  And I'm not going
to tell you who it is either.  I don't want to ruin my chances with her."
He smiled at something, something he wouldn't let me know about.

"Wha-?" said I still flabbergasted.  No Sean for Grace?  What the hell is
this?!  Who is the bloody whore!  I'll kill her!  I mean…hey Grace, it's one
of your friends!  Heh-heh, just kidding!

"Keep it on the downlow, I trust you.  Now you go out there and keep
Ritchie company."  Sean pecked me on the cheek.  That was probably the
biggest kiss I'd ever get from him.  As we left the back room it was obvious to both of us that we missed something.  Abs had a devastated look on his face, and it was directed towards Laura.

"Oh, is that so, Laura….  Well forgive me for…for wasting your time."

Oh damn, I knew what happened….  She told him…about JC!  Abs escaped
towards the back room where Sean and I had just emerged.  Poor Abs!  Jules
hurried after him, a concerned look on her face.  That's good, Jules will
take care of Abs' hurt feelings.

"What's going on,"  Sean asked me.

"Um…maybe you should ask Laura herself."

It was obvious she was making a formal announcement to all the guys.
Scott narrowed his eyes, "That skinny bloke?  What could you possibly see
in him?!"

Laura gave him a look that said "And you aren't?" but he didn't catch it.

J was laughing, "Laura wants him to decorate her lawn with."

And there began "making fun of JC".  Laura took it all in good humor, or so
I hoped.  She eyed J suspiciously, after every comment he made.  I hoped
she wasn't taking all seriously.  I mean…Five does have bad blood with N*Sync!  After everyone settled down, I sat myself down.  I was under the pretence of reading a California Tour Book, but in actuality I, yes, I watched Sean from the corner of my eye.  I looked at the subtle signs one gives when
interested in another person, the intense looks, the…drama.  But Sean was
just too crafty for that.  He paid equal attention to everyone of my
friends-the bitches…I mean…whoops!  Where did that come from?!  And just
when I thought he didn't see me watching him, he turned to me and smiled
that evil smile.  He was determined not to let me know!  Ritchie sat beside me, and smiled in a friendly sort of way.  I patted his thigh.  "Looks like it's just you and me, Ritch.  So man, how's life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness?"

"What do you mean it's just you and me?"  He looked at me like I had to let
him into a joke.

"I don't know,"  *Sigh*  Cue candid look at Sean,  "I guess I meant it's
just us, the last remnants of sanity left in this bus full of nuts!"
Ritch gave a hearty laugh that tickled my ears.  How nice could you get,
especially after just seeing me leave the room alone with his competition?
Maybe I shouldn't give up on this guy.  We talked for a while, and I vaguely heard Shelbs say something about checking up on Jules and Abs, when I heard an ear-piercing scream.

"AHHHHHH!  Ate, how could you?!"

We all ran to see the spectacle, and it was nothing more than Jules
lip-locked with Abs.  What tha?!  ABS?!  I searched for Scott, and found
him pounding on the ground in…agony?  Drama, man!  In all the hullabaloo that followed, I isolated myself in a corner to get away from it all.  It kept me apart of the action, but I was able to watch.  There was a lot of dialogue, but I didn't hear any of it.  It was like a dance of sorts was unfolding before me.  What entertainment!  Scott and Abs were yelling, and Jules was actively trying to calm both guys down.  Exactly, how could you Jules?!  You got yourself into this, now you take care of it!  Pillows and cushions were being thrown, and Jen was yelling in the midst of this, at J no less!  Now how did that one get started up.  And Sean came to the rescue, to calm Jen down!  He led her away, with a smug expression on his face.  Eh?  Smug?  He looked towards me and smiled…  So it was Jen after all!  The bitch!  I mean…um…whoops!  I sank lower into the corner, hiding myself beneath a pile of pillows that formed.  Abs started yelling at Laura and pointing.  Laura backed off, and stumbled over J.  He helped her up, and in a moment that seemed like forever they stared at each other.  Laura looked shyly away, and I could barely hear her say, "I guess I should tell you, there never was a JC.  I was always interested in someone else I could never get close to.  Who?  Drop the 'C'
from that name, and you'll have your answer.  And I know you feel the same
too!"  At the same moment the bus jerked, announcing our arrival at Davis, and our apartment.  And neither of us were prepared for the end of our journey.  Wut tha?  Did I just drop into the Twilight Zone?  What was going on?  All of a sudden Jules and Scott are broken up, by her affair with Abs.  Jen gave up on J, and Sean are picking up the pieces.  And my Sean…no longer pining for moi!  And all in a matter of only 2.5 hours!  Wow, this should go into some record book or something!  OUCH!
 

“MARES!”, I shouted for what seemed like the millionth time.  What was with the dazed looks on my fellow PARTYGURLS as of late?  SHEESH.  But I couldn’t contemplate any more of it, as my hard work finally paid off when  Grace jolted up from what seemed to be her trance like state.  Nope it wasn’t like Laura’s coffee trip I had witnessed earlier.  Grace was just deep in thought...either that or she had dozed off.  Who wouldn’t?  J was going on and on about something or another.  That boy can TALK AND TALK.  I never thought he’d be the talking type.  Who knew?

“Thinking of anything good?”, I whispered to Grace as I sat there giving my best “I’m paying attention face to J”.  Instead of answering, she gave me an uneasy look, and looked towards Sean’s direction.  Those two were giving each other a LOT of eye contact all of a sudden.  Sean suddenly got up and I overheard him tell Grace that they needed to talk.  (DUDE.  I was sitting RIGHT next to her...OF COURSE I could hear!)  She got up abruptly and followed Sean towards the back of the bus.  I looked over at Ritchie to see if there was any reaction.  He hadn’t noticed.  He was engrossed in conversation with Michelle.  TYPICAL.  What was going on around here??  I turned to the only person I thought could answer me in a time like this...and no it wasn’t JEN. 

“Scott.....Scott....”, Julie said interrupting my thoughts as I placed all my attention back at her.

“Hmmm?”, I replied.

She gave me a small look as if she were trying to rationalize something and then smiled at me. 

“You have no idea what I just said do you?”, she asked teasingly.

“Of course I do.  I was paying attention”, I replied assuringly. 

“You were”, she said in disbelief.

“Well for the most part”, I answered honestly.  She let out a small laugh, but quickly stifled it.

“I think there’s something going on”, she said seriously.

“Going on where?”, I answered trying to catch on to her insinuations.

“With EVERYONE”, she replied as she waved her hands trying to come up with something else to explain what she was trying to get across.  Before I could respond, I heard Grace scream from the back.  Julie and I exchanged concerned looks, as we both got up to find out what had happened.  But before we could even head towards the commotion, Grace sauntered out shaking her head and muttering, Sean following her looking a bit perplexed.

“Is everything okay”, I asked.  Grace gave me a wide-eyed look before saying 

“It’s not a dream”.  What was she talking about?

“Mares?  Sean?”, I said quisitivly trying to grasp an idea of what had just occurred.  They both looked at me, silent.  OKAY.  There definitely was something going on.  Before I could try to divulge deeper into the situation, another event occurred...this time with Abs and Laura, who had just moments earlier been talking over Laura’s 10th coffee today.

"Oh, is that so, Laura….  Well forgive me for…for wasting your time.", Abs yelled as he got up, pushed past Sean and Grace, and headed towards the back of the bus.  What was up with people going to the back of the bus.  I caught Laura’s eye as she mouthed “JC”.  I let out a sigh and shook my head. 
Scott made a motion to head towards the back, but I stopped him.

“I’ll go check on him.  I know what it’s about”, I said.  Scott gave me a look. I’m only guessing was one of curiosity and doubt.  Why would he have doubts?   What could possibly happen with Abs and I alone at the back of the bus?  I heard Grace mutter...”it’s like my dream...just like my dream...all like my dream”, as I moved around her on my mission to console poor Abs.  I had to so something. 

“Don’t”, Grace said suddenly grabbing my arm.

“Someone has to check on him”, I rationalized to her.

“Let Scott”, she replied in an almost frantic tone.
“No.  I know what happened.  I’ll do it”, I responded trying to free my arm from her grasp.  But of course because Grace had those martial arts training moves down, I moved nowhere.

“If you go you’ll only cause more problems”, she continued a wild look in her eyes.  “I KNOW”, she reiterated.

“Oh stop”, I retorted, as I rolled my eyes.

“Really Jules.  If you like how everything is going right now in our little adventure I wouldn’t go back there”, she said as I finally got my arm free. 
What happened between her and Sean in the back?

“I know what I’m doing”, I responded as I made my way back.

“Don’t blame me for the outcome.  I’m not writing this story this time”, Grace simply said as I walked off.  WHAT WAS SHE BABBLING ABOUT?
As I got closer towards Abs, I could have sworn I heard that evil laugh that had been plaguing me the entire trip....laughing. 
 

     I slowly opened my eyes as the voice echoed through my head.  My eyes
gained focus, and I was once again aware of where I was.  That was the last
thing I remembered after entering the bus…a bad dream and an evil laugh….

*A DISASTER WILL BEFALL YOURSELF AND YOUR COMRADES.  A TERRIBLE DISASTER, A DISASTER BEYOND YOUR WILDEST DREAMS!!  THERE ARE THREE SIGNS YOU MUST WATCH FOR.  THE FIRST SIGN: THE ONE YOU MOST HOPE FOR WILL ACQUIRE EYES FOR ANOTHER.  THE SECOND SIGN: ALL THOSE WITH AFFECTIONS YOU THOUGHT WOULD LAST WILL DEFY ALL PRETENCES AND EXPECTATIONS.  AND THE LAST AND MOST CATACLYSMIC SIGN: ALL THOSE WHO WISH TO REMAIN INVISIBLE WILL SUDDENLY GLOW WITH AN IMPENETRABLE LIGHT!  BE WARNED!  ONCE ALL THE SIGNS TAKE EFFECT, THE CHAIN REACTION THAT WILL OCCUR THEREAFTER WILL BE UNAVOIDABLE!*

The voice…the voice that plagued us ever since the concert…the voice was
warning us of impending danger!  Either that, or the voice was the sole
cause of it all.  My only hope lay in my ability to avoid or derail any
signs that came to pass…but nothing seemed to aid me.  One by one these
signs were coming true, and it got us closer and closer to misfortune.
I got my first taste of what the first sign was when Sean led me into the
back of the bus.  As we sat down I dreaded the words I knew I'd hear.

"I want to tell you something," he said.

"Me too, hey, so like there's this store I know, and they have the most
interesting items!  I should take you there sometime!  And there is this
park that has this lovely water fountain!  It has a lot of streams of water
and-"

"GRACE!  Please, this is serious!"

"I know!  I mean, water conservation is a serious thing!  We should write a
letter or something-"

"I thought you had something more worthwhile to say than that…"
This is my last chance, I thought.  If this first sign comes true, then
what's to say I could stop any of the others from coming true.  So I did
the only thing that I thought could save me at this moment.  I stood up,
and walked around the table towards the object of my intentions.  I roughly
pulled him to his feet, and kissed him full on the lips.  Ahh…Sean….  I'm
kissing Sean!  Hey, I was saving our hides, but who said that I couldn't
enjoy the perks!  But Sean wasn't having any of that.  He pushed me away and looked accusingly at me.  "No, love, I can't let this happen, much as I might want it to.  You're Ritchie's now, and I won't betray him-even as he betrayed me.  And the truth is, I'm afraid that your feelings are not stable enough for my benefit.  Besides…I'm interested in someone else."

THE ONE YOU MOST HOPE FOR WILL ACQUIRE EYES FOR ANOTHER.  He delivered the line as he was fated to, and the first sign came to pass.  A scream escaped from my lips, as I ran out towards the others.  I bumped into Jules and Scott and amidst their confusion, I yelled, "It's not a dream!"  They must've thought I was nuts.  I was going nuts!  How could a dream suddenly come true like this?  And not long after, Jules was following Abs towards the back of the bus.  I couldn't let the second sign come true!  When Jules kisses Abs, the
aftermath will cause the second sign to come to pass.  I wasn't about to
let that happen!

"Someone has to check on him", Jules looked at me, puzzled.

"Let Scott", I said distressed.

"No.  I know what happened.  I'll do it."  She tried to ease my grasp
without much success.

"If you go you'll only cause more problems…I KNOW!"

"Oh stop." She rolled her eyes.

"Really Jules.  If you like how everything is going right now in our little
adventure I wouldn't go back there."  She finally freed herself.

"I know what I'm doing."  Yeah right, I thought.  But I had a back-up plan.
 Just as they thought they were getting comfortable, I decided I would
barge in before anything could happen.  I resolved to do this, but as I
made my way towards the back, an arm jerked me back.

"Where are you off too?  Why don't you come and sit by me?"  It was Ritchie.  It HAD to be Ritchie.

"I'm going to check on them."

"I think Jules has it.  Come on, I have these photos I want to show you!"
His blue eyes dazzled.  He wouldn't let go of me.

"You don't understand…IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT I CHECK ON THEM!"  I might've said that much louder than I intended to, because the others looked at me weirdly.

"What's wrong with you, man?"  Jen looked at me critically.

"Time is of the essence!!!"  I said pulling at Ritchie's hold.

"Psycho!  What's your problemo, dude?" Michelle said, as she blocked my
way.  She was concerned, but I didn't need it right now.

"Must…interrupt…Abs…Jules…." I muttered.

"Aw, don't worry about them, Jules is talking to them.  In a bit Abs will
feel better," Scott said, also getting up to block my way.

Laura said sadly, "I feel bad that I had to break it to Abs about J…C."
That was an audible pause, at least it was to me!  I saw a candid glance
she directed at J.  And Ritchie still wouldn't let me go!

"Ritchie let me go!  And Laura, stop looking at J like that!!!"  With
surprise, everyone looked from me to Laura and back.  I bet they
rationalized that I was going insane, rather than that Laura was masking
her affection for J.

"What are you talking about?…Laura?" J looked at Laura, but not at all
harshly.  There it was!  The LOOK!  There was no way I could stop this!
I finally got away from Ritchie, and made my way towards the back.  But as
I slid the curtains away, I found out I was too late.  There were Abs and
Jules sucking freaking face to our eventual demise.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"  Scott and I yelled, as we both dropped to our knees.  But I could see that the others noticed that I was much more disappointed than Scott, and they couldn't figure out why.
And that was the catalyst that started it all.  As Scott and Abs argued,
Jules in between, Jen suddenly remembered that she was angry at J and
started yelling at him.  I ran towards Jen, "NO!  You are not angry at J!  No, you adore J, right?"

"(To me)  Hell no!  Not when he obviously likes Shelbs more!  (To J)  It's
over, Jason Paul Brown.  I'm not going to be a part of your little game any
longer!"

     Jen turned away from J, but I was in clear view of the tears that
threatened to fall.  Sean was on his way to her, and I made to block his
way, but I had to dodge a pillow thrown by Abs.  Needless to say, Sean was
able to make his way to Jen, and attempted to console her in every way
possible.  They walked over to a secluded corner, away from the action.

"Sean you can't!"  I yelled upon deaf ears.

I turned around, to prevent another disaster, but I was too late.  J was
already helping Laura up, and he held her rather closely.  Before they
could say anything, before Laura could reveal the truth to J, ran to
disturb them.  But again, an arm held me back, and again it was Ritchie.

"Grace, it's pretty violent, you might want to get out of the way!"
He referred to the pillow throwing between Abs and Scott.  Even Shelbs got
in the middle of it, holding Scott back as Jules held back Abs.  But I
ignored that lost cause, and I ignored Ritchie at my arm.  Instead I tried
to break up J and Laura.

"Laura, what about JC?  You told me you loved him!  You told me you were
getting married!"

But Laura and J were walking away from me, sentiments already shared.  Of
course they didn't hear me.  And I heard the words echo in my head, ALL THOSE WITH AFFECTIONS YOU THOUGHT WOULD LAST WILL DEFY ALL PRETENCES AND EXPECTATIONS.  I slumped against Ritchie, still holding my arm.  I looked at him hopelessly, and he held me close to comfort me.  He whispered reassurances, as I melted into his embrace.  All I knew was that I couldn't let the last sigh come true. I couldn't let FIVE know…I couldn't let anyone know…they couldn't find out about us!  They couldn't find out about PARTYGURLS!

It's the end of the world!  Or not...  CLICK HERE for Chapter 22
What do you think so far?  It sucks doesn't it?  TELL US!

Home FIR Menu
To Obscure Thoughts