| Chapter 6 |
| Two weeks later, Justin was excitedly packing his bag to go to the camp in Indiana when his phone rang. �Hello?� �Hey man.� �Hey Josh, what�s up?� Justin asked, dropping some more clothes into his bag and then sitting down on his bed. �You almost ready?� Josh questioned, and Justin could hear the excitement in his voice. �Yeah, I just have to finish packing my clothes,� Justin replied, smiling. �Cool. I�ll be over to pick you up in twenty minutes, ok?� Josh asked. �Sure. Then we�ll go to Lance�s?� �Yeah,� Josh confirmed. They were following Lance and Brandi in their car because they didn�t know how to get there. �Are we riding together the whole time?� �I was thinking maybe we could switch around,� Justin suggested. �That�s cause you can�t stay away from Lance for that long,� Josh replied, and Justin could tell he had a smirk on his face. Josh loved to tease him about his *friendship* with Lance. So far, it still wasn�t more than that. But Josh knew that Justin wanted it to be more. �Oh shut it. You know you want to ride with Brandi,� Justin teased back, sticking his tongue out at the phone. �Put that tongue back in your mouth,� Josh said, laughing. Justin could�ve sworn he was psychic. But maybe it was just that they were such good friends. Josh knew him inside and out. �And yeah, I like Brandi and would like to spend time with her. I�d also like to get to know Lance better. You�ve been hogging him all to yourself.� �I don�t know if I should let Lance go near you,� Justin joked, laughing. �You may corrupt him.� �You know I will,� Josh responded, laughing along with Justin. �But seriously, Josh, don�t say anything about, well, you know,� Justin said, his laughter dying down. Josh stopped laughing too. �Hey, don�t worry. Just cause I like teasing you about it doesn�t mean I�m gonna go tell him. But I may just have to find out what he thinks of you,� Josh told Justin with a grin. Justin swore he could feel Josh�s grin over the phone. Justin felt his cheeks turn pink at that comment. �Oh God, Josh. Please don�t. You love embarrassing me, don�t you?� �Yep. I bet your cheeks are all pink now, huh?� Josh asked, and laughed when Justin said nothing. �You�re a dork, Timberlake.� �Yeah, I know. I can�t help it though!� Justin replied. �Yeah, yeah. Now you only have ten minutes. Finish packing and I�ll see you soon!� Josh exclaimed happily before hanging up. �Shit!� Justin exclaimed, rushing to finish packing all of his stuff. **** When Josh arrived twenty minutes later, Justin has just barely finished packing. He was lugging his bag to the door when the doorbell rang. Josh walked in like he usually did and laughed at Justin. �What?� Justin asked, still struggling with his bag. �What the hell do you have in there?� Josh questioned, helping Justin carry it to the car. �A little of everything,� Justin replied. He�d had a hard time trying to decide what to bring. He ended up packing half his closet. He wanted to look good, but he also didn�t want to look like he was trying too hard. �Dork.� Justin stuck his tongue out. Josh laughed. Justin joined him, giggling as he got into Josh�s car. �Off we go,� Josh said excitedly, heading to Lance and Brandi�s house. �Yeah,� Justin agreed, deep in thought. They arrived at Lance�s house a few minutes later. They both got out, and Justin smiled as Lance came outside, struggling with his bag like Justin had. Josh gave Justin a look, but Justin ignored him, helping Lance stuff his bag in the trunk of Brandi�s car. �Hey guys,� Brandi said, coming out and loading her stuff into the car. �Hey,� Josh and Justin replied, smiling at her. �So who is riding with who?� Lance asked. �Doesn�t matter to me,� Josh responded. �I�ll ride with you Josh, if that�s ok,� Brandi offered, winking at Lance. Josh tried not to laugh. �That sounds good. We�ll follow you, Lance,� Josh agreed. �Ok, guess that means you�re with me, Justin,� Lance said as Josh and Brandi got into Josh�s car. �Guess so,� Justin replied with a smile. They both climbed into Lance�s jeep and backed out of the driveway, making sure Josh and Brandi were behind them before Lance picked up speed. �So who else is going?� Justin asked curiously. �Well, you know Joey and Chris, right?� Lance asked, looking over at Justin. Justin nodded. �They�re both coming and bringing friends. A few of Brandi�s friends are coming too. So not too many, but we�ll have a blast,� Lance told Justin. �I�m sure we will,� Justin replied. They sat in silence for a little while before Lance spoke. �Do you want to put a cd in?� Lance questioned, pointing to the cd player. �Sure,� Justin agreed, grabbing his backpack from the back seat. As he leaned over, his head came very close to Lance�s shoulder, and when he inhaled he smelled Lance�s sweet scent. He always loved the way Lance smelled. He stayed that way for a little longer than necessary and then sat forward and slid a cd into the player. Lance winced as Ja Rule blasted over the speakers. Justin liked rap. Lance liked country. He�d never liked rap until he met Justin. He was getting used to it, but only because Justin forced him to listen to it every time they were together and near a stereo. It was growing on him, as were other things about Justin that used to bother him. Justin was constantly biting his nails. Lance thought it was caused by nervousness, but he figured out that it was just a bad habit. He was getting better though because Lance always picked on him about it. When Justin was nervous, he always bit his lip. Sometimes he�d even bite it until it bled. It had annoyed Lance at the beginning, but he was starting to think it was quite cute. And that kind of scared him. He knew he shouldn�t and couldn�t develop a crush on Justin because they were just friends. But Justin was just so� crushable. It was hard not to love him. Lance looked over and caught Justin staring at him. He winked and smiled, and Justin smiled back. Lance rolled his eyes when Justin began to rap along with Nelly. He had changed the cd while Lance was lost in his thoughts. Justin knew every word, and Lance knew that he�d just bought the cd two days ago. It really amazed him how talented Justin was. He was good at everything he did. And he was amazing at most. He could listen to a song once and have it memorized. He could write songs, although he had yet to share any with Lance. He could sing, dance, play sports, everything. Lance often wondered why Justin even wanted to be his friend. He wanted to ask Justin, but he didn�t know how to go about it. �What�s up, Lance?� Justin asked, breaking him out of his deep thoughts. He�d turned down the music so they could actually hear each other speak. �Just thinking.� �About this weekend?� �Somewhat.� �What else?� Justin pressed. Lance almost rolled his eyes. Justin would push him until he was satisfied with the answer. �You,� Lance admitted, hoping he wasn�t blushing. �Really? What about me?� �Here goes nothing,� Lance thought before saying, �why you want to hang out with me.� �What? You can�t be serious, Lance!� Justin exclaimed, giving Lance a confused look. �It�s just that, well, you�re so good at everything you do, and then there�s me. I suck at sports, I can�t write songs, and I can�t dance. I�m just a geek.� �Don�t you dare talk about yourself like that, Lance. You�re a great guy,� Justin argued. Lance gave him a disbelieving look. �Don�t look at me like that. You are. You�re amazing, and I have no idea how you can�t see that. You�re so fun to be around. You�re so smart, and I just hope that some day I can be as smart as you are. You teach me something new every day, and I�m so thankful that you came into my life. You�re my best friend, Lance. Don�t ever doubt that you�re not good enough to be friends with me. If anything, it should be the other way around,� Justin confessed, reaching for Lance�s hand. Lance didn�t know what to do. Justin�s word had caused him to feel something he�d never felt before. He knew that he�d never find a better friend than the one he found in Justin. Tears streamed down his face and his heart beat quickly as the new feeling filled his heart. |