*** "Amber." He said it as an entire sentence, putting his hands on her shoulders and pushing her back into her room. "Justin." He closed the door with his foot, keeping his eyes on her. "I did something terrible," he said, dropping his hands from her shoulder and looking at his feet. "What'd you do?" she asked, turning to the table next to her and picking up her glass of water. "I cheated on Haley." He barely got it out before Amber choked and spit out her water all over the floor and his shoes. "Oh my God, you did WHAT?" Amber did her best to hide the satisfied smile fighting to break loose on her face. "I cheated on Haley," he said, dropping into the chair next to him and putting his face in his hands. "W . . . with who?" she asked, trying to comprehend what Justin was saying. He sighed. "With Brittney," he mumbled. "BRITTNEY???" Amber exploded. Justin winced. "I know she's your friend, Amber, and an employee of mine and I probably shouldn't have . . ." "Did you know she's only 17?" Amber asked, being amused by this to no end. "WHAT?" Justin turned his eyes up to his cousin. "Justin, you cradle robber. She's not legal." "Fuck." Justin put his head back in his hands. "Fuck. I cheated on my girlfriend with someone who's not even of age to be fucking anyway." Amber shook her head. "I can pretty much guarantee you're never gonna get in trouble for that." She patted his head lightly. Justin groaned. "Amber, what am I gonna do?" "I dunno, that's your decision." "I don't know who I want," he confessed, looking up at her. "Well, I haven't exactly made it a secret that I hate Haley, so you already know what I'm going to say." "You hate Haley?" "DUH." "I didn't know that!" "Well you never paid much attention, did you?" Justin shook his head and looked away. "Why do you hate Haley?" Amber shook her head, a sour look resting on her features. "I don't want to talk about it." "Well, I do, Amber, what . . ." "Justin, I said I don't want to talk about it." She stood up. "Would you please leave now?" "But, Amber . . ." "Justin, just get out. I'll see you at lunch." He stood. "Are you mad at me?" She sighed and shook her head, pushing him towards the door. "No, I'm not mad at you, ok? Just go." She shoved him out the door and closed it behind him. He just HAD to ask about Haley. He just HAD to. She crossed the room to her purse in the corner. She opened it and pulled out her favorite friend. The White Lady. Time for another hit. Fuck Justin. He still wasn't paying enough attention to her. If he had been, he would have noticed the empty syringe on the table he had been sitting at. He would have noticed that her pupils were as big as saucers. He would have noticed that she was hopping stoned. He would have noticed something if he were even paying attention. Maybe he'd pay more attention if she was lying in a hospital bed somewhere. Maybe. Maybe not. *** JC sighed, walking down the long hallways of the hotel. He had done a lot of thinking when it came to Amber and he had decided that his pride wasn't worth her life. He decided that she needed help. She needed a friend. She didn't need JC to be a dick and threaten her the way he had. He didn't want to fight with her and he didn't want her doing those drugs she had become so accustomed to taking. If she died, Justin would be heartbroken, and he knew it. If she died, Justin would never forgive himself and it would quite possibly be the end of not only Justin's career, but his own, as well. JC's reasons for going to Amber were both selfish and unselfish. He truly did want to help her, but he also wanted to look out for what would happen if something went wrong. He stopped in front of her door. He had never been one to knock. He pushed it open, flipping on the light as he strode into the room. "JC, you've got to quit doing that," Amber said after she'd lifted her head from sniffing the line of Coke in front of her. She leaned down and sniffed the other line. "I mean, seriously, one day you're going to walk in and see something you don't want to see." She leaned back and wiggled her nose, sniffing lightly. "I already have," he whispered. Amber rolled her eyes. "What do you want?" "I . . . I want to help you," he said slowly, moving to sit on the bed. "Help me with what?" Amber asked, uninterested. "With . . . this." He motioned to the table next to her which was littered with her narcotics stash. She eyed it. "What's wrong with this and why do I need help with it?" JC's mouth dropped open. "Wha . . . why? Amber!" "JC!" "Amber, you . . ." She looked at him expectantly. "This is unhealthy. Do you know what you would do to your cousin if you died doing this? Do you know what would happen to him?" "Do you know what he's doing to ME, JC? Huh? Do you know what it's like for me to lose my best friend?" JC shook his head. "What are you talking about?" Amber gave him a disgusted look. "Justin was my best friend. And then you came along. And Chris, and Lance, and Joey, and you formed this godforsaken music group. And he got Haley. And he forgot about me. His poor, innocent cousin. I became his fucking baggage, JC. That's all I am . . . baggage. Don't give me your bullshit about how he 'cares for me' or how he 'worries' because that's all it is: bullshit. I know where I stand with him and you know what? It breaks my heart." He stared at her for a moment. "Your cousin loves you, Amber," he said softly. She rolled her eyes and waved her hand in front of her. "Yeah, whatever. Do you have anything important to say?" JC's temper flared. 'Your pride is not worth her life. Your pride is not worth her life . . .' "Amber, I'm not going to let you keep doing this to yourself. It affects too many people for me just to leave it alone." Amber stared coldly at JC. "I don't need your help, Joshua." He grimaced. He hated it when people used his whole first name. "Whether you want it or not, you're going to get it," he replied evenly. And with that, he stood and grabbed the rest of the Cocaine, a bag of marijuana and a vial of heroin from the table and headed for the bathroom. "JC, what the FUCK are you doing?" she screamed, running after him. "I'm doing you a favor!" he yelled back, stopping as he arrived at his destination. "NO!" she screamed and jumped on his back, trying to stop him from doing what she knew he was about to do. "YES!" he yelled back and dropped the drugs into the toilet. "NO GOD DAMN IT!" she screamed and dropped to the ground, thrusting her hand into the toilet to try and grab something, anything. JC flushed the toilet and stepped back, watching her as her eyes grew wide and she screamed, watching all of her drugs swirl into oblivion. Tears came to her eyes and began to stream down her face as she stood and faced JC. "You bastard," she spat, walking up to him. "You fucking bastard." With that, she raised her hand and smacked him as hard as she could. He grabbed her hand and twisted it away from him, his cheek stinging painfully. "You'll thank me for this someday," he said quietly, pushing her away and heading for the door. She sank to the tile slowly, her body racking with sobs. "You bastard," she whispered, her palms pressing against the floor. "You bastard." ***
