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| Best Week Ever - Chapter 2 Tuesday The next day in between classes Britney, Laura Lynn, and Camille were by the lockers discussing Tod Miller�s party. �I don�t know Cammy�� Britney mumbled cautiously. �Oh come on Brit, the whole team is gonna be there, and as a newbie you have an obligation to go!� Camille pleaded with her. Britney glanced at Laura Lynn before reluctantly giving in. �OK. Ok. I�ll be there.� �Great.� Camille said with a satisfied smile. As they continued with their conversation, Reg, along with a noisy group of jocks, made their way down the hall towards them. �Watch this�� Derek mumbled to the rowdy guys in lettermen jackets. He walked up to Britney, Laura Lynn, and Camille. He pretended to trip and fell hand first onto Britney�s chest. �Oops sorry!� Derek said loud and obnoxiously in a very sarcastic tone. Britney pushed him away angrily. All his friends burst into laughter as he backed away from Britney with a cocky smile. Reg winked when Britney made eye contact with him and she shuddered under his creepy glare that she knew too well. �Asshole�� Camille grumbled as Laura Lynn flashed Britney a sympathetic smile. Justin, witnessing the entire scene unfold, �accidentally� tripped Derek as he was backing up and not looking where he was going. He fell on his back and glared up at Justin as everyone around them started to laugh. �Oops sorry�� Justin said mocking Derek�s sarcastic tone. He quickly jumped to his feet and stepped up in Justin�s face, balling his hands into fists. �What�s you problem Timberlake?� He yelled. �I think you�re the one with the problem. Maybe you should watch where you�re going, you�ll stop tripping and falling� on other people and your ass.� Justin said sternly glaring back at Derek with a clenched jaw. Derek narrowed his eyes at him, he was about to say something when he noticed JC, who was standing his ground next to Justin, and took a step back. Derek�s �friends� were a little less enthusiastic about having his back, unlike JC with Justin. Reg just snickered and turned to face his other teammates. �Whatever man�� Derek grumbled and reluctantly slunk away in the opposite direction down the hall. �Pfft.� JC chortled and rolled his eyes. JC and Justin had been best friends since they were in diapers. They were also the only two Juniors on the varsity basketball team which was comprised of seniors. �That guy�s such a tool�� Justin spat out angrily. �The entire football team is, they�re all assholes and they suck. That�s why no one ever goes to their games.� Justin laughed. �It�s bball all the way!� He said. �Damn straight, they�re just bitter.� JC joked as they both turned around and continued walking. JC narrowed his eyes at Reg and his teammates who were standing by watching them. Justin glanced up and saw Britney watching him, she looked a little shocked at first, but then she smiled and he glanced down at the floor grinning shyly. He looked back up into her eyes as he and JC walked past the girls. �What are you smiling about?� JC asked after they are around the corner. Justin just shrugged. �C�mon man!� Justin looked at JC and paused while he debated whether or not he should come clean. �Britney�� He mumbled simply. �Spears?� He furrowed his eyebrows. �I didn�t even know you two were� acquaintances.� �Well we are. She�s in the cooking class I transferred into.� �Ah�� He nodded. �Hey ladies.� Chris, a senior on their basketball team, said as he came up from behind JC and Justin and draped his arms around their shoulders. They just rolled their eyes at Chris�s usual antics. �Sup man.� JC said casually. �You guys going to Tod Miller�s party this Friday right?� �Yea.� JC nods his head. �No.� Justin answered quickly, knowing perfectly well that he�d be dragged there anyway. �Yes he is!� JC said sharply. �Good, then you can give me a ride.� Chris grinned smugly. �I thought we�re all going with Lance.� Justin said referring to the team�s starting Small Forward and main source of transportation. JC averted his attention to Chris. �What happened to the shag-in wagon?� �She�s in the shop� had a little unwanted contact with my dad�s garage door.� �Again?� Justin asked wide-eyed and Chris nodded sadly. A moment later JC abruptly said to Justin, �Dude you should ask her to Tod�s party�� Justin glanced at JC quickly while he processed his thought. �I just barely started talking to her yesterday.� �Who?� Chris asked curiously. JC turned his palm up and held out his hand as he spoke, �So what? The early bird catches the worm.� �What?� Justin turned to him looking completely bewildered. �Who?� Chris asked again. �Just ask her, what girl would turn you down?� JC continued. �She�s not like most girls�� Justin said quietly. �Who?!?!� Chris finally yelled. �No one�� Justin answered. �Britney Spears.� JC said bluntly, completely ignoring Justin�s hesitance to spill. �JC!� Justin pouted and held his hands out. �Ooooh. She�s a major hottie! But she seems a little uh� reserved.� �She�s not a parking spot�� Justin furrowed his eyebrows at Chris. �Well I just mean, I haven�t heard anything about her dating situation since Reg�� �Those were just rumors�� Justin mumbled. He had heard faint rumors about her last year, but he was always hearing rumors about everyone so he didn�t really think anything of it, besides, he didn�t know her at the time. When they reached Justin�s locker he took a deep breath and said, �I don�t know�Maybe, we�ll see how this week goes. We�ll probably have to hook up sometime this week to work on our cooking project, like grocery shopping or something.� �Awww. Grocery shopping, cooking. How cute, you guys are practically married.� Chris smirked and leaned against the locker while Justin pulled out a few books from the locker. �What? It�s for the project. Besides, what married couple do you know that grocery shops together�?� �Um� Bert and Ernie.� Chris said seriously and JC started laughing. �Your logic� or lack there of, is giving me a headache.� Justin closed his locker and locked it before slinging one backpack strap over his shoulder. �I�ll see you guys later.� He said and headed to class. �Ask her J!� JC yelled to his back and Justin waved his hand in the air without turning around. � Later. Justin walked through the gym�s doors over to the bleachers. He spotted his baby blue letterman�s jacket two rows up. He was still in his jersey and shorts because their practice had just ended. �Hey Timberlake.� Justin heard from across the gym. He looked over and saw Camille sitting on the first row of bleachers on the opposite side of the court lacing up her sneakers. �Hey Cammy. Howsit going?� He smiled and continued to head for his jacket. �That was a real stand up thing you did for Britney today in the hall.� She said as she walked to the center of the court with a basketball under her arm. Camille shot for the basket and missed, the ball rolled over to Justin�s feet so he bent down and picked it up. He placed his jacket on the ground and shot the ball, it swooshed through the hoop. He smiled presumptuously as he picked up his jacket. �You should really work on your free throws.� He said sarcastically. �You think you got more game then me?� She raised an eyebrow. �Actions speak louder then words�� Justin shrugged. �Oh�� She laughed and took a moment to look at him before an idea sprung to mind. �Alright then, let�s go.� �What?� �C�mon, one on one. Captain versus captain. Battle of the sexes!� Justin stopped and stared at her. �Don�t you have a practice now?� �The girls won�t be here for at least 10 minutes�� She looked at Justin but he didn�t budge. �You�re not making excuses are you? I mean, you aren�t afraid are you?� There had always been a little rivalry between the guys� varsity team and the girls�. Plus Camille was known to get pretty competitive, that�s why she made such a good team captain. Justin raised his eyebrows. �Afraid?� He repeated and paused, thinking over her challenge. �Lets do this!� He walked over to the bleachers and set his bag and jacket down. He waited in the center of the court while Camille turned on the boom box set up by her stuff. �What the hook gon� be� by Murphy Lee started blaring through the gym. �Nice.� Justin said motioning to the radio. Camille smiled and tossed the ball to Justin. �You take out.� She said firmly. �Naw, its cool. Ladies first.� He handed the ball over to her. She shoved it back towards him. �Take the ball Timberlake.� �Okay, okay.� He walked over to the sideline bobbing his head to the music. He checked the ball and they got into it. He dribbled the ball between his legs, between hers, he dodged left, then faked right and laid up the ball through the hoop. She took the ball out and dribbled behind his back and made a basket from the free throw line. They played their hardest for about 5 minutes, Justin was exhausted, he had just had his own practice before. Justin doubled over and rested his hands on his knees, trying to catch his breath. Britney and one of her teammates, Jessica, walked into the gym from the side entrance, they spotted Justin and Camille and decided to hide behind the bleachers before making their presence known. �Your not tired already are you Justin?� Camille sighed. �Well I guess if I were being beaten 12 to 8 I�d be a little fatigued too.� She taunted him with the ball. �What?!?� Justin stood up. �12 to 8? All that hairspray must be getting to your brain! I�m ahead by at least 4 points!� �Hahahaha! Your delusional�� �Pfft�� He shook his head. �Fine next point wins.� �Fine!� She said and sprinted down the court toward the basket with the ball in her hand. He quickly followed behind her. She shot for the basket but he jumped up and blocked it. He took control of the ball and raced down the court, she leapt in front of him. He dribbled around her then jumped up and slam dunked, scoring the final and winning point. �Aaaaaaaw yea!!!� He celebrated and released his grip from the rim landing on both feet. Justin started dancing around the court, singing along to �Yeah�, Usher�s new single that started to play on the radio. �Ugh� Cocky bastard.� Camille mumbled under her breath through a slight smile. She rolled her eyes as he danced around in victory to the song. Britney and Jessica couldn�t conceal their laughter any longer. Britney had to admit, he was a pretty good dancer, he was just so cute it was funny. Justin turned around in mid dance to see Britney and Jessica standing there giggling at him. His jaw dropped and he froze, he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. Maybe if he didn�t move they wouldn�t see him. �Nice moves Justin.� Jessica giggled out. Maybe not. �Very nice.� Britney said sincerely as she tried to conceal her smile. Justin let out a nervous laugh. A moment later, Lance burst through the doors of the gym, �Yo J! What the hell is taking you so�� He trailed off when he saw Justin standing there looking mortified in front of the three girls. �What�s going on?� �Nothing! I was just leaving.� Justin found his voice and headed for his stuff on the bleachers. �Not without a rematch!� Camille stepped up. �You�re relentless.� Justin grumbled, astounded that she still hadn�t accepted her defeat. �Well after a performance like that� we need an encore.� She said smugly. �What�s she talking about?� Lance asked looking at Justin. �Well Just�� Camille started to tell Lance the gory details until Justin cut her off. �Okay! Okay! One rematch, but this time loosing team has to wear the other team�s jerseys during their next game, corresponding numbers, but our names. And that means your entire team!� He knew perfectly well that Britney shared his number 2 jersey. �Fine, but then these two are playing.� Camille said motioning to Britney and Jessica. �Fine, then I got Lance.� �Fine. We take out.� �Fine!� �Fine!� Lance, Britney and Jessica glanced at each other, all non verbally agreeing that both captains had lost it. They started up the game, Justin made a two pointer and Jessica scored a point. Lance fumbled the ball and it rolled out. Britney jogged to the sidelines and Justin ran over to guard her. �Check.� She said sweetly and smiled. He couldn�t help but smile back. He checked her the ball and stepped back allowing her to take the ball in bounds. Justin hunched over, guarding her while she dribbled the ball in place. �I know you don�t think you can take me�� He said impishly and smirked. �What makes you think I can�t?� She asked innocently. He leaned in so that his face was inches from hers. �Because you�re all I ever watch during your games�� Her eyes widened and her heart started to pound. �And I know� you suck.� He whispered with a smile before swiping the ball from under her hand and bolting past her towards the basket. He spun around, doing a 180, dogged Jessica, and faked to the left but moved to the right to get around Camille. Then slam-dunked! He danced around again and gave Lance a high five. Britney�s cheeks were red, how�d he get so confident all of a sudden? He had made her nervous, nervous enough to loose her concentration and the ball. Definitely a first for her. �That is game!� Lance yelled. �Nooooo.� Camille protested. �Yeeees.� Lance replied motioning to the rest of her team and coach filing into the gym. �Damn� one more shot�� �Nope. Y�all loose, we win.� Justin said. �We�ll make sure to wash those jersey�s for you ladies.� Lance said to the confused looking team. Justin walked over to Britney and she rolled her eyes as a small smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. She knew he came over to tease her. �I was just kidding you know, bout what I said before.� He said quietly. �About how you stalk me during games?� �No� that parts true,� he smiled, �I meant about the sucking part. You don�t suck at all, you�re� awesome.� He glanced at his shoes bashfully. �Awesome?� She said with raised eyebrows and a cocky little grin. �Why thank you Mr. Timberlake. You�re not too bad yourself.� She said and elbowed him playfully in the ribs. He looked up and smiled brightly as he put him arm around her shoulder, giving her a little half hug. �Well I�ll see ya tomorrow when we get our cook on.� Britney suddenly felt a rush of warm and fuzzies wash over her as she watched Justin leave with Lance. He definitely had that special something that made her heart beat faster and slower at the same time �Earth to Britney!� Camille said for the umpteenth time. �Damn� that boy must have you sprung!� She said loudly, snapping Britney out of her dream state. She had been caught. �Shut. Up.� Britney replied through her smile as they began practice after Camille explained why they would be wearing the guys� jerseys next game. |
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