Chapter 5
Justin surveyed the group of seven around him. Everyone was quite relaxed and ready for a movie. He and Carolena were lying on the couch with their feet propped up on the coffee table. On the adjacent couch, Joey and Saige lay cuddled up together ‘I hope they’re ok.’ he thought to himself. After the group got out of the pool and ate, both Joey and Saige seemed to be acting a little different than they usually were. Each seemed to be in deep thought about something. Justin decided to leave them alone. Next to them, he saw JC and Abby, who currently had her head rested on his shoulder. Abby yawned and JC casually put his arm around her waist. ‘They look cute together.’ Justin thought. Abby and JC had grown quite close in the past few hours. ‘To bad it’s not the same with me.’ Every time he thought he was getting closer to Carolena, the farther he seemed to be from her. She was hiding something from him and Justin couldn’t figure out what was wrong. He continued his search around the room, forgetting his problems for the moment. Chris and Lance were sprawled out on the floor in front of the television.
“So what do you guys wanna watch?” Chris asked, turning back to face everyone else. Lance did the same.
“No chick flicks,” Joey commented.
“Mystery,” Lance suggested.
“Lots of action,” JC replied.
“No horror,” Carolena said. The guys stared at her in awe.
“She doesn’t like scary movies,” Abby explained.
“Why? That’s some of the best stuff!” Chris said.
“Let’s not get into that right now, ok?” Carol replied. She didn’t feel like having an all out discussion on her dislike of horror films.
“How about romance?” Abby suggested. All the guys groaned
“I second that vote,” Saige said, speaking up for the first time. Joey covered her mouth with his hand.
“No romance. That goes under chick flicks, and we’re not watching chick flicks.”
“How ‘bout humor? Everybody can handle comedy right?” Justin said from his spot on the couch.
“That’s good. Maybe Chris can actually pick up some good jokes.” JC snickered, which resulted having a pillow being hurled at him. He caught it and rested his head on it, mumbling a quick “thanks.” Chris rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at JC.
Finally after 15 minutes of arguing over what to watch, the group decided to watch Shrek, which had them laughing the whole time.
It was dark by the time the movie had ended. JC turned his head and looked down at Abby and smiled at her. He was really beginning to like her. Abby yawned as she looked up at him. She smiled back at him as the group got up to stretch.
“Now that’s a movie I’ll never get sick of,” Carolena said.
“Yeah. Pure classic,” Abby replied.
“So…are you girls ready to go home yet?” Justin asked as he sat back down on the couch.
“Well…” Abby answered, but was soon interrupted by Carolena.
“Why yes Justin, we’re getting tired. Aren’t we Abby?” She said, giving Abby a look of “don’t push it.”
Abby gave her a questionable look but sighed as she nodded her head. She would have to ask Carolena what that was all about later when they got home.
“So I guess I’m the lucky guy to take you lovely ladies home?” JC asked with a chuckle.
“Yup. Don’t you feel so special?” Abby replied back to him.
“That I do ma’am,” JC said, looking straight at Abby.
“Alright, alright. Enough with the flirt fest and give me a hug,” Chris said pulling Abby into his arms. Both JC and Abby were blushing. Chris then moved to Carolena. “See ya later sexy thang,” he whispered into her ear.
“Ugh! Get off of me you weirdo!” Carolena shouted, pushing Chris off of her.
Next, Joey and Saige came up to them.
“It was really nice meeting you,” Saige said as she hugged both Abby and Carolena.
“Yeah. Can’t wait to see you again,” Joey said as he too, took his turn hugging the girls.
“Listen, I'm heading upstairs to go change. I'll see ya later," Saige said, waving to everybody as she walked out of the room.
"I guess I'm going on the internet," Joey said as he shrugged and started going towards Justin's computer room.
"Wait man!" Justin shouted and Joey turned around to look at him. Soon a grin came to Justin's face. "There's this awesome chat room you gotta go to. Some of the people there are really interesting."
“I'll keep that in mind Curly," Joey answered and turned back around to go into the room.
Before the door closed, Justin yelled out," It's the last one on my favorites!" He heard a "yeah, ok" and the door shut.
Just then, Lance came up to Abby and pulled her into a hug. "Bye Abby. Hope to see ya soon," he said.
"You sir, are going to tell me about this mysterious Poofu nickname," Abby replied with a smile.
"That, my dear, will come at a later date," Lance answered as he walked over to hug Carolena. "Bye Carolena. Nice meeting you."
"You too Lance," Carolena replied as she hugged him back.
After Lance, Justin took his turn hugging the girls. "Bye you guys. I had an awesome time with you," he said.
"Aren't you coming with us?" Carolena asked Justin.
"I would, but ever since I stood up, my foot has been bothering me. I better take some medicine and go sit back down. I'll see ya later ok?"
"Ok. Bye," Carolena replied.
"Bye Justin," Abby said.
"Well that's everyone. Let’s get going," JC said, pulling out his keys.
The three of them walked out of the house, got into the car, and were off to Abby and Carolena's apartment.
After the door had shut, Justin took something for his foot and sat back down on the couch beside Lance and Chris, who were currently fighting over what to watch on TV. 'Aww shit, I forgot to ask for her number. Oh well, most likely JC will get it from Abby.' Justin thought to himself. Soon, he too was fighting over what to watch, forgetting about Carolena for the time being.
JC had walked with the girls up to their apartment and were now just outside the door. Carolena yawned and decided to head on in. She gave JC hug and whispered a “good night” before closing the door, leaving Abby and JC by themselves. "I really had a great time with you, Abs,” JC said, looking into her eyes.
“Yeah, me too.”
“You better do well on those finals.”
Abby giggled before replying. “Oh don’t worry, I will.”
“Do you think maybe I could…I dunno…call you sometime.”
“Sure, I would love that…be right back,” Abby said before going inside and then coming back with a piece of paper with two phone numbers. “The first one is my home phone number, and the second one is my cell phone number.”
“Thanks.”
“No prob.”
“Uhh…do you think Carolena would mind if Justin called her one of these days too? I mean…you can kinda tell he has a crush on her.”
‘Should I tell him about Jack? No, I’ll let Carolena handle all this.’ Abby thought to herself. “Maybe. I’m pretty sure she won’t mind a FRIEND calling her,” she replied.
‘I wonder what that’s supposed to mean. Oh well, I’ll let Justin figure that out.’ JC thought. “Ok. Cool,” he said.
They were silent for a minute before JC spoke again. “Well I guess I better go.”
“Yeah,” Abby replied.
They hugged and then JC kissed Abby on the cheek.
“See ya later,” JC said with a wave. He turned the corner and was gone.
Abby closed the door and leaned against it. She let out a deep breath. “Wow, I’m gonna have to see more of that man,” she said with a smile. She walked into her room and put on her pajamas. Abby walked into Carolena’s room and she too had had changed into some more comfortable clothes.
“What was up with you back there at Justin’s house?” Abby asked.
“I just don’t want to give Justin any mixed signals,” Carolena replied as she took out her ponytail.
“Oh, don’t get me started. Just because you and Jack are together doesn’t mean you can’t have any guy friends. You know damn well that I’ve never liked that man.”
“But he told me he loved me.”
“He did? And you didn’t tell me?! Have you said it back?”
“Well…no, but…”
“I know you’ve been with him, what, like a year now? And I’ve supported you and helped you through every step of it. I’ve kept my mouth shut long enough. If you believe in your heart, that you truly love this man, go for it. I ain’t stopping you. But if your heart’s saying no, why stay on this path? I’m not saying break up with him and hook up with the first man you see, it’s just that I don’t want you to get hurt. Also, I think Justin really likes you and I don't want him getting hurt either.”
Carolena sighed. She knew Abby was making perfect sense. Jack never hurt Carolena; in fact it was the exact opposite. Even though he wasn't on the best terms with Abby, he did everything to make Carolena happy. He would take her out on wonderful dates and buy her almost anything she wanted or needed. For a while, she thought she really was in love with Jack. But for the past couple of months, she felt she was getting further from him. He would always say he had to go on business trips. They hardly ever got to see or be with each other any more. Carolena really cared for him, but she just didn't love him. Finally after a few minutes of silence Carolena spoke. “I don't know what I'm going to do Abs. I mean...in just two days I felt more sparks with Justin than I have with Jack in our whole year being together.”
“Maybe that's telling you something Carol.”
“I just don't want to start some love triangle.”
“I don’t think that’ll happen, but whatever you decide to do Carol, I'll be there for you.”
“Thanks Abby. I see you've gotten pretty close with JC.”
“Yeah. I think I'm really starting to like him.”
“You two would look cute together.”
“I dunno...maybe,” Abby said as she blushed.
“Well, we both should be getting to bed. I want to get these finals over and done with.”
“Yeah. As soon as those damn tests are done I wanna meet up with the guys again. They really seem like cool people.”
“I know. They took me by surprise, since they're all mega superstars. They made us feel like we've known for them for years. I think I'm gonna really like hanging with them too.”
Abby stood up and walked to the door. “Good night Carol.”
“Good night Abby,” Carolena replied as she turned off her lamp.
Abby walked into her room as she too turned off her lights and fell asleep, a smile still on her face at the thought of JC.
1 Week Later
“Whoo-hoo! Carol, get your butt in here!” Abby screamed, while closing the door to their apartment.
“What?” Carolena asked, hobbling into the living room.
“I passed all my exams!”
“Hey that awesome!” Carolena replied, giving her a friend a hug.
“Here’s your results. I didn’t open the envelope though.”
“Thanks…well whaddya know, I passed too!”
“YAY!” the girls both screamed as the hugged each other.
“Now I’m gonna have to start looking for a job,” Abby said.
“Well, you might be able to get a job working for the newspaper. I heard about one of the reporter’s dying a couple days ago,” Carolena replied.
“Or maybe I can call up some magazines.”
“Whatever you wanna do Abs. It’s your career as a journalist.”
Before Abby could reply, there was a knock at the door. “I’ll get it,” Abby said, walking towards the door. “Oh…hi Jack,” she said, putting on a fake smile.
“Well, hello Abby. It’s nice to see you being nice to me today,” Jack replied.
“Nothing is gonna stop me from being happy today, not even you,” Abby answered, looking up into his dark brown eyes.
“May I come in?”
“Yeah, whatever…hey, whats that on your shirt?” Abby asked, pointing to a red spot on his collar.
“If you must know, it’s just a little bit if wine that spilled on me.”
‘Wine my ass. If I would’ve known any better, I’d say that was lipstick…Nah.’ Abby thought to herself, while shaking her head. ‘Jack wouldn’t do that…would he?’ She sighed and headed towards the back. “I’ll be in my room, Carol, if you need me.”
“Alright, no prob,” Carolena replied. She then turned to Jack. “Hey I missed you,” she said, giving him a hug and a peck on the lips.
“Yeah me too…I had a long flight home. Do you think I can have a drink or something?”
“Uh…aren’t you gonna ask me what happened?”
Jack finally looked down and noticed the cast on her. “Ok, what happened?”
“Abby and I were in an accident. Luckily for Abs, she only got a couple of bruises. I, on the other hand, broke my foot and got this lovely cut on my head.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. Are you feeling any better?”
“Yeah, thanks.”
“Um, Carol? I kinda wanted to ask you something.”
“Sure, what?”
“I have another…uh…business trip that I have to go with my dad. I was wondering if you would like to have dinner with me before I leave.
“Again? When do you have to leave?”
“Saturday, so I was thinking we could have dinner on Friday.”
Carolena sighed. ‘I don’t know how much more I can take of this.’ “Yeah, sure…I would love to go.” ‘If he really wants me to say I love you back to him, he’s gotta do something more than just take me out to dinner every once in a blue moon.’
“Alright Johnny…Yeah, I’ll tell the guys…Uh huh…No prob…I’ll see ya in a couple of days.” JC closed his cell phone and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“What’s up C?” Justin asked. Everyone was out in the pool area relaxing.
JC sighed as he sat down. “We have to go to another business party.”
All the guys groaned. “This is the fourth one in two months,” Chris said.
“There’s nothing we can do Chris,” JC replied.
“Hey I got an idea,” Justin said, having a light bulb moment go off in his brain.
“Just because you have a broken foot, doesn’t mean you can get out of this Curly,” Joey answered, chuckling. “We all have to suffer through this.
“As much as I want to get out of this, no Joey, that’s not what I was gonna say.”
“Well, spill it,” Lance said, joining in the conversation.
“Well, how bout’ we invite Abby and Carolena along?”
As soon as Abby’s name was mentioned, JC perked up. “That’s a great idea J,” he said.
“Yeah, and I can bring Saige,” Joey replied.
“I thought you two broke up?” Chris asked, remembering how Joey and Saige had told the guys a couple of days ago about the change of feelings between them.
“That doesn’t mean anything. We just went back to being best friends. So that’s that, I’m inviting Saige.”
“What about me and Chris? We don’t have dates,” Lance said, folding his arms over his chest and pretending to pout.
“Yeah!” Chris said, copying what Lance was doing.
“Oh don’t worry, you two will find a hot chick or something at the party…right?” Justin asked, shrugging his shoulders.
“Hmph!” was the reply from both Lance and Chris.
“Ok, so it’s settled. Abby, Carolena, and Saige will be invited as our dates. I guess they’ll kinda be our saviors for the party. Let me go call Abby and Carolena now. Joey, you better get a hold of Saige pretty soon,” JC said, standing up and pulling out his cell phone.
“Yes sir!” Joey replied, saluting him.
Soon, the table was full of laughter, even JC managed a chuckle. ‘I hope Abby can go…well, here goes nothing.’
“Huh? Wha?” Abby awoke to the sound of her cell phone. She looked at her caller ID. ‘I wonder who this is.’ “Hello?”
“Hi, is this Abby?” Came a familiar voice.
“Yeah that’s me.”
“Hey, it’s JC.”
“Oh, hi! Sorry I didn’t recognize you. I just woke up from a nap.”
“Do you want me to call you back later?”
“No, no, that’s ok. Once I’m awake, I can’t get back to sleep.
“I’m sorry I woke you up.”
“It’s ok. I was probably gonna wake up sooner or later. So what’s up?”
“How did you do on your finals?”
“Passed with flying colors…as well as Carolena too.”
“That’s great! I’m so happy for you!”
“Thanks.”
“Um…there’s something I wanted to ask you.”
“Sure, what is it?”
“Well, there’s this big business party that me and the guys were invited to…would you and Carolena like to join us?”
“I would love to go! I’m sure Carol would too. When is it?”
“It’s on Friday. Sorry I’m telling you in such short notice, but I didn’t want to bother you our Carolena during your exam week.”
“Aww, I wouldn’t have minded. But now that finals are over, you can call as much as you like.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
“So do we meet you guys somewhere or…?”
“We got that covered. How does getting picked up in a limo sound?”
“Oh my god! I’ve never been in one before. I’m sure Carolena hasn’t either. This is gonna be so cool!”
“Trust me. These parties aren’t as fun as you think. Basically for about three hours, we mingle with older people and discuss a bunch of boring stuff.”
“Can we dance there?”
“Of course. There’s food there as well. It’s just a party with really important people of the music business.”
“Oh I see.”
“Yeah.”
“Before I get off, is it formal?”
“Nothing too fancy.”
“You’re so into detail JC.”
“Well, it’s not like it’s a wedding or anything.”
“Thanks a bunch. “You’re a great help. I’ll see what I can do about what to wear myself.
“Alright. I guess I’ll see you later.”
“Ok bye.”
“Oh wait, before you go…”
“Yeah?”
“Make sure you ask Carolena if she can go and if not can you have her call me or Justin back?”
“Sure, no problem.”
“Thanks. Bye Abby. See you Friday.”
“Bye.”
“Hello JC? Hi it’s Carolena…yeah, I was wondering if I could uh, have Justin’s number. I kinda forgot to ask him for it…uh huh…ok thanks. Bye.” ‘Please pick up Justin, please pick up.’
“Hello?”
“Justin?”
“Yeah.”
“Hi, it’s Carolena.”
“Hey! Long time no talk. How are you?”
“I’m doing good. My foot’s getting better. How bout’ you?”
“Same.”
“Listen, um…about Friday…”
“Yeah?”
“I uh…kinda can’t go.”
“Oh that really sucks. If you don’t mind me asking, but why?”
“I have to be somewhere on Friday. Someone I know is going away and we’re having dinner together.”
“Oh…I see. Can we uh…get together another time?”
“Uh…sure…like as a friendly meet up?”
“Whatever you wanna call it.”
“Thanks for understanding Justin.”
“Hey, no problem. I really like you. One thing ain’t going to depress me.”
“But you don’t understand.”
“What was that? I couldn’t hear you…must’ve been the static.”
“Oh, uh…I said…I need to get a tan.”
“You look beautiful either way.”
“Listen Justin, I have to go. Nice talking with you.”
“Yeah, same here. Have fun at your dinner and hope to talk to you or even see ya soon.”
“Ok, bye Justin.”
“Bye Carolena.”