| Chapter 4 Justin smiled. "Cool." He stood up and I followed him out the front door and into his Mercedes. Ooh, I hate him. Mr. Big shot with his Mercedes M-class. I glanced at my BMW parked on the driveway and regretted what I just thought about Justin�s car. I climbed into the front seat and Justin started the ignition and pulled out of the driveway. We quietly drove out of the neighborhood and started onto the freeway. The silence was killing me and I guess it was murdering Justin too cause he reached over and turned the radio on. Busta Rhymes "Put Your Hands Where My Eyes Can See" was playing. "I love this song," Justin smiled and started rapping along with Busta. That is, if it�s possible. I don�t even think Busta knows what he�s saying in any of his songs. "Oh God," I groaned, leaning over to change the station. "I hate this song." "I love this song," Justin backed up I guess Justin was on his way to stop me cause just as my hand touched the know that changed the station, Justin�s had was already there and his head clonked onto mine. "Ow," I whispered. He turned his head towards mine so our noses were almost touching. He didn�t say a word. Even though it felt like I had been staring into his crystal blue eyes for hours, in reality it had just been milliseconds and it took me a million of them to wake up, back up, grab the wheel for him, and say, "Justin, hello? You�re still driving!" It didn�t take him too long either to wake up and he grabbed the steering wheel. Quiet, again. People say peace and quiet is relaxing, but really it�s nerve wrecking and extremely agitating. But I stepped out of the car. "Stace," Justin said before I shut the door. "Go up ahead, I have to get something in the car real quick." I nodded and continued walking on the sand. No one was there except for a couple people surfing so the peace was comforting this time. I sat on the sand watching the two people surf. It was a boy and a girl, probably around sixteen or seventeen that were surfing. They seemed to be trying to catch the biggest wave with flirtatious smiles on their faces but still best friend-y. Just like me and Justin use to be. "Stacey?" a voice said from behind me. "Mm-hmm?" I answered. I felt something being lightly placed around my neck. I looked down and saw a gold chain with a little teddy bear hanging from it. I turned the teddy bear around and on the back was engraved, "To: My little teddy bear." When I was fourteen, my mom and I had gotten in the biggest fight. Remind you a fight that I�m in right now? I was your typical fourteen year old girl: a spoiled know-it-all brat who believed she could depend on friends, French-friends, and cute guys for the rest of her life. Until last year, I had never really been very close to my mother. Dad, who�s a lawyer, had a huge case up in New York and would be gone for weeks, so he couldn�t stop anything. Justin had a huge Mickey Mouse Club thing so I had no best friends to lean on. During our fight (I don�t even remember what it was about now) I called my loving spoiling grandmother and she agreed to let me stay with her until my mom and I had made up. It was my mom�s mom and it was summer so mom didn�t care. In North Carolina, where Grams lives she gave me the most beautiful gold necklace with a solid gold bear on it. Grams knew everything about me and she knew I adored teddy bears. On the back of the necklace was engraved, "To: my little teddy bear. Love always, Grams." Soon after Grams gave me the necklace, Mom and I made up and flew back home to sunny Orlando. Days after Mom gave me the horrible news that my loving Grams had died in her sleep the night before. I never ever cried at all about her death, I just promised myself never to lose that necklace. Two weeks before Justin left for the tour he just came back from, the chain to my necklace snapped and Justin promised to fix it. He was busy getting ready for the tour and soon he got me pissed at him and Gram�s necklace was in the back of my head. Justin left on the road and I haven�t seen the necklace every since. His hands rested on my shoulders. They were comforting, but I am still mad at him. "You�re welcome, teddy bear." He didn�t say anything afterwards and we just sat there staring into the ocean. I checked my watch thirty minutes later. "We better leave before everyone gets to the courts and we�re late for our game," I said, standing up. I stood up and waited by Justin�s car until he unlocked it. We left for Kennedy High, where they keep the courts and the fields and the pools open over the summer for anyone. We stayed quiet all through the trip. I don�t know why Justin didn�t say anything, but the reason I didn�t say a thing wasn�t because the silence was easing. If I said anything, even "Thank You", I knew I�d burst into tears; the first time I would ever cry about losing Grams. We got to the basketball courts without a tear. Thank God, Justin�s never seen me cry and today�s not gonna be the first time. Hatred grew in me again. And as much as I know Gram�s would say that I should be happy that Justin�s begging on his knees for my forgiveness, I hate him even more now. But Stace, just suck it up and look forward to when you get home and Justin�s far away. If you can call next door far away. |