How Did I Fall In Love With You?
She lay back against her seat on the plane and looked out at the view as things got smaller and smaller down below. She smiled thinking of the distance that she was putting, even as she thought about it, between herself and her family. No more fighting or tears or...... She sighed. She didn’t want to spoil her expectation of this new world by thinking about her family right now. That was another place and time. This was NOW.
She took out her CD Walkman and put on some Bob Marley and sighed contentedly. Whenever there was discontentment or pain in her life, she knew that she could turn to music to ease her strife. Smiling to herself, she closed her eyes and thought about starting a new era of her life in a new city.
She was free.
Justin sat in his hotel room and buried his face in his hands. He thought about the last few years of his life, which seemed to be a common occurrence for him these days. All the hysteria, photographs of his every muscular reflex and ... oh, the smiling. The constant smiling in front of his public and the media. Whether he was having a bad day or not, he was expected to smile like he never had a care in the world. He was expected to squeeze out every drop of his frustration and tiredness and smile at the drop of a hat. He wondered if he had smiled his smiles away. He had been smiling for so long now, and so automatically that now, even when he could smile normally, he held back his smiles. How he had envied his fans and all the other normal people in the world. Who could smile when they wanted to and cry when they wanted to. Who could scream and let it all out or have a bad day and tell someone off. He had been smiling for so long now, and so automatically now that his smiles were desensitized.
He shook his head and looked around him. He in New York to begin his first
year at NYU. Johnny had allowed him to actually physically go to college for 1/2 a year at
least, while recording the new album with the guys in his spare time and on weekends.
Johnny had only sent out one bodyguard with him and that was a big compromise on his part.
He had requested special permission from the university about his security and they had
reassured him that the security on campus had been especially tightened for his sake. At
least he didn’t have to have security with him in his classes. But a member of
security was to always pick Justin up from classes and drop him off as well as escort him
to anywhere else that he might want to go outside campus grounds. He hadn’t even
allowed JIVE to get him an apartment. He was going to do this the normal way that other
students did. He was staying at the hotel right now, but once he got things settled at
NYU, he was going to find the perfect apartment for his 6 month adventure.
He realized how lucky he was to be even allowed to start at least half a year in NYU.
After his 6 months of REAL college life, he was going to go back on the road and there
would be a tutor arranged, no doubt. That thought made him all the more determined to
enjoy his time away. Most students his age looked as college as a chore but Justin knew
better. Compared to what he was used to, this would definitely be a walk in the park. He
intended to go in there and be normal for the 6 months. He would avoid ANY girls who even
raised their voices a decibel at him. The college had warned most of its students about
Justin’s special case and his need for privacy, but just to be sure he wasn’t
going to let down his guard.
The day was coming to an end as he saw the shadows lengthening in the room. He lay back on his bed and thought about tomorrow.
Tomorrow when he would begin a new chapter in his life altogether.
"Yes... uh-huh...I will. Don’t worry," Justin rambled
randomly as he rolled his eyes at Johnny’s maternal tone. He appreciated his concern
but he had just gotten off the phone with his mother and Johnny was dishing out the same
advice as his mother had a little earlier.
Justin snapped his cell phone shut after Johnny had hung up.
"You’d think that being a world-celebrated popstar would get you away from the
parent-type speeches already...sheesh," he mumbled to himself as he adjusted the
strap of his backpack.
His cell phone rang again and he muttered a few choice words before barking into the
phone.
"WHAT?!?"
"Hey man, what’s gotten into you. Oh wait, I know the answer to that one so
spare me."
"What do you want, Chris?" Justin practically growled.
"I just wanted to see if you were ok on your first day. You know me being the older
brother figure in your life and all."
" I’ve had enough of the concerned parent speech today, Chris. Maybe next
time."
Chris chuckled heartily on the phone. " Ok, ok I get it. Just have a good time today
ok? And remember, no stress. Don’t even think about anything remotely associated with
the wonderful line of work we’re in."
"I wasn’t planning on doing that but thanks for the words of wisdom."
"Oh and..."
Justin wasn’t able to catch what else Chris had to say because someone bumped hard
into him, causing all his things to fall. Looking up from the pavement, he saw feet that
were wearing a pair of light blue Nike trainers, followed by a pair of denim clad and very
long and shapely legs. The girl he had bumped into was wearing a simple black sweater over
a tank top. Her hair was light brown with streaks of blonde highlights from spending a lot
of time in the sun. She wasn’t drop dead gorgeous but was certainly very attractive.
Her light brown eyes looked about in a concerned manner while picking up the things she
had caused him to drop.
"I’m so sorrrryyyy..." she said as she stacked his books in her arms.
"Don’t worry about it," he told her as he continued looking at her.
"I’m not usually such a ..." She broke off there as she looked up to see
the face of her victim and her eyes widened in recognition.
His eyebrows furrowed together in anger and he snatched the books out of her hands.
"Are... are you Justin Tim ...?" She began.
"Yes I am. And now I must be on my way. So if you’re done gawking at me, I have
to make my way to class," he didn’t mean for it to come out so rudely, but he
didn’t expect the very first person he met on campus to start staring at him.
"And in case you didn’t know, you’re not supposed to be gawking at me to
begin with. I thought the school administration had briefed you all."
"But..."
He ignored her attempt to speak because he guessed that most likely she was going to
scream and draw attention or ask for an autograph.
"I appreciate your help, miss, but I have things to do. I hope that you will stay out
of my way in future and watch where you’re going next time!"
With that she watched as he stormed off, his books in his arms.
"What a friendly guy. Oh, I can see why millions of girls fall at his feet,
now." She rolled her eyes at his rudeness.
"Being a celebrity did not give him the right to be rude. Don’t worry Mr.
Timberlake, I’ll be sure to stay WELL out of your way," she muttered, picking up
her bag off the ground.
She walked up the steps and into the Student Accommodation Office to find out her the
dormitory that she was assigned to. Most of the other students had probably already learnt
of their accommodation assignments but since she had arrived in New York late, she had yet
to find out. Her only worry was that she might not even get a dorm since the assignment of
dorms was on a first come first served basis. If that was the case, she could more than
afford to get her own place but she was looking for the camaraderie and friendship that
dorm life would bring.
The lady at the Student Accommodation Office smiled pleasantly at her and said, "Name
please?"
She found herself smiling at the middle-aged woman behind the counter and answered.
"My name is Joanna Rayes."
Jo muttered to herself as she ran up the steps leading to her first
lecture. She hadn’t managed to get a dorm assignment at all because all the dorms had
already been assigned last week. She had stayed at a hotel last night since she arrived in
New York so late. It was beginning to look like she would be staying there for another
night. She smoothed stray strands of her hair back in place and tightened her ponytail as
she came to the conclusion that she had to find a place to stay and fast because all of
her things were in storage at the airport.
She sighed as she entered the lecture hall and slid into a seat in the back row. The
lecturer hadn’t arrived yet so she looked around the hall.
Her eyes swept over the entire hall before she glanced at the girl sitting next to her.
She was trying to hide it, but she had definitely been crying.
"I don’t mean to intrude, but are you okay?"
The girl nodded tentatively before she changed her mind and shook her head vehemently.
"I was just having a bad case of home-sickness that’s all. I mean, this might
sound quite silly but I was just overcome with a wave of sadness from being away from my
family. What ...." She took a deep breath to calm herself before she continued.
"What makes it harder is the fact that my best friend is in college in Europe and so
I have no female friend to share my feelings with. I mean, I could talk it over with my
boyfriend who’s also studying here but you know what it’s like, right? Guys are
just dense when it comes to emotions."
Jo patted the girls shoulder comfortingly and said, "I totally understand. I have no
friends at all here, period . And I’ve had a pretty bad day so I can sympathize that
you’re feeling rotten. I know you don’t know me at all, but if you need someone
to talk to, I can be there for you."
The girl looked up at Jo with a happy smile on her face. "Thank you, that means so
much to me. By the way, my name’s Carrie Leonards."
"I’m Joanna Rayes but you can call me Jo."
At that moment, the professor entered the lecture hall and stood at the front of class and
cleared his throat. He was a young man in his late twenties or early thirties and had a
chiseled face with piercing green eyes and a shock of jet black hair.
"Good morning people, my name is Professor Ashley Thomas but you can just call me
Professor Ash."
Both girls took one look at him and their jaws dropped.
"He’s beautiful...." Carrie whispered dreamily.
"That he is, Carrie. That he is."
The two new friends looked at each other and giggled softly. They were getting along just
fine.
Later at lunch, the two girls were seated opposite each other and were
engrossed in a round of girl bonding.
"So when did you arrive, Jo?"
"Last night ,actually."
"Wow. Which dorm did they put you up at?" Carrie asked as she swirled the straw
in her glass of Coke.
"Erm...how about the Hall Of NOWHERE." Jo lamented as she rolled her eyes.
"They don’t have a place for me because I got here so late. And its not that I
can’t afford private accommodation, but I just wanted company."
Carrie looked at Jo excitedly. "I was wondering if you might like to stay with me and
my boyfriend. I can’t confirm this with you until I talk it over with him but we
kinda need another person to stay there cos the rent is pretty steep. So, whatcha
think?"
"What do you mean what do I think? I’d love to stay with you but wouldn’t
it be kinda weird cos I’d feel like such a third wheel."
"Don’t be silly. Plus, it won’t be just you , me & Luke. Luke actually
got 2 more people staying with us although I haven’t met them yet. Says its some guys
he met at a library the other day."
"That’s great! I’d really like to stay with you. You’ve been such a
friend to me today." Jo wiped her mouth against a napkin.
"Great! I’ll talk to him later and then I’ll call you tonight to confirm
things with you. I think you can probably move by tomorrow."
"Ok. Thanks so much for the favor Carrie. For a moment there I was worried that I was
going to be staying alone or something."
"Don’t be silly. I’d love to have you. Oh by the way is Prof Ash hot or
what?? Just one more reason to look forward to Sociology classes."
Both of them giggled as they began a continuous conversation about the merits of Prof Ash
& sociology.
Justin sat in his hotel room and grinned as he thought about the telephone
conversation he just had with Johnny. Johnny was NOT a happy man right now.
Justin had just done the unthinkable. He was actually going to share an apartment with
some other students. It was not as if he couldn’t afford his own house much less an
apartment. But he just felt the need to have some normalcy in his life and the guy whose
house he was going to live in sounded really cool. They had gotten along really well and
the best part was that he didn’t care about Justin’s fame. True, Justin was
going to be living with Rick, who was his personal body guard. But Rick was a great guy
and they were more friends than protector and ward.
It would be nice to live among normal people for a change. Especially considering the fact
that Joey, Chris and the other guys were anything BUT normal.
He scratched his head as he wondered whether his friend’s girlfriend would be a
problem. But the way he had talked about her made her sound really nice so he didn’t
think she’d be prone to throw herself at him and make a big deal about it.
He had just spoken to Luke earlier and he had said that there would be another girl
staying with them who was his girlfriends good friend. He wondered if she actually knew
that Justin would be staying there and purposely gotten an invitation to stay at
Luke’s place.
"Woah there J, not everyone is dying to get a go at you. For all I know she’s a
perfectly normal girl and all she listens to is polka." Justin thought to himself as
he chuckled.
He wouldn’t know until he finally went to the place tomorrow. That should be an
interesting experience and he couldn’t wait for tomorrow to come.
Carrie called Jo later that night and told her that she could move her
stuff in the next day because Luke had agreed. The two new guys would be moving in
tomorrow evening so Jo figured she would get a head start by moving her stuff in the
morning since she had no morning classes the next day.
She made a call to the airport and arranged to have her luggage transferred to the address
that Carrie had given her. It sounded like a fun arrangement since living with a lot of
people would mean some semblance of unity and friendship among them. Carrie came from a
family where the only time she talked to her parents was when they called each other up on
their cell phones.
Her only worry that night as she waited to fall asleep was if the apartment was too small
to fit the five of them.
How Did I Fall In Love With You?
CHAPTER TWO
"Oh my god........" Jo gasped as she looked at the three storey
HOUSE that she was going to call home for the rest of the semester. She had certainly
lived in bigger houses and was accustomed to luxury all her life. But the thought that her
college room mates were probably yuppies with trust funds larger than hers made her
giggle. So much for the cheap and crowded apartment that she pictured.
She rang on the doorbell and smoothed a hand over her cut off jeans and dark gray t-shirt
to make sure she looked presentable.
Carrie opened the door and hugged her friend warmly.
"Welcome to our humble abode." she said as she giggled.
"If you call this humble than you must be the daughter of a sultan, honey," Jo
joked as she stepped into the house.
The decor wasn’t extravagant or luxurious but simple and tasteful and it suited the
idea that there were going to be college students about. Carrie took her friend on the
grand tour and pointed out the kitchen,
dining area and the living room to her. On the ground floor was a corridor off the side of
the living room and it led to a huge bedroom with an adjoining bathroom. That was supposed
to be her bedroom and she fell in love with it at once.
On the second floor there were two big bedrooms and a shared living area . The second
floor pretty large and it belonged to Luke’s two other friends who were nowhere to be
seen.
Lastly, Carrie led her to the third floor which was where Luke and Carrie were going to
occupy. There was a huge bedroom which was about the same size as her own downstairs. And
it also had an adjoining bathroom. Sitting on the bed reading was a tall and blonde haired
good-looking guy. When he saw Jo, he put his book down and stood up, holding his hand out
to her.
"Hi, you must be Jo. I’m Carrie’s boyfriend Lucas Roberts."
"Nice to meet you at last, Luke. Carrie’s told me so much about you."
The two girls looked at each other and laughed.
"I don’t even want to know...." Luke groaned as he shook his head.
The airport transfer people had come a little while later and Jo had
gotten them to move the luggage up to her room. She had not time to unpack since she had
had to rush off to class but she couldn’t stop thinking about what she was going to
do with her new room even as she sat in the cold lecture hall, taking notes.
And there was the two mystery men whom she hadn’t seen or heard a word about. Carrie
didn’t know anything either and Luke was being very vague. Although he did warn them
that one of the two new guys had special circumstances and had warned us not to be
overbearing or give him a hard time.
The guy was probably handicapped or something and Jo could understand why Luke was being
so vague. She promised herself that she would do her best to help out the new guy with his
difficulties whatever they may be.
When Jo got home from class she saw a van outside which had an assortment
of luggage. She quickly deduced that the new guy was here and went into the house to meet
him.
She heard voices from the kitchen and saw Carrie and a guy in a uniform standing there.
Carrie signed on a clipboard and the guy thanked her and went out to unload the van.
"Are the new guys here yet?" Jo asked as she went to the fridge and pulled out a
bottle of water.
"Nope, still no sign of the new guys, although all their luggage is here. Luke said
that they’d be here in the evening. I wonder what’s up with the secrecy
though?"
"I think that Luke has a good reason for the secrecy, so let’s just be patient
until evening when we see them ok?"
Carrie shrugged and picked up a banana from the fruit bowl. The two girls headed for the
living room and switched on the television. They got carried away watching a soap opera
and didn’t even notice when Luke finally got home.
Luke saw the two girls watching the trashy soap and shook his head. The wonders of
womankind never failed to amaze him. Like how they could watch soap operas and keep track
of all the characters and events.
"Must be the double X chromosome effect." He said to himself as he grinned and
sat down at the dining table and pulled out a textbook to read.
Much later, Jo was resting in her bedroom, listening to some music when the doorbell rang.
She ran out to open the door since she knew that both Carrie and Luke were upstairs.
"I’ll get it," she called out, anxious to meet the two new additions to
their "family".
She opened the door only to come face to face with a huge and beefy black guy who eyed her
cautiously.
After deciding that she was pretty harmless, he grinned at her and said, "Hi,
I’m Rick. Is Luke around?"
At that moment Luke came down the stairs and ran to greet Rick. When Rick stepped in, Jo
realized that there was another guy right behind him who had his back to the door and was
on his cell phone. Almost as if he could sense Jo watching him, the guy turned around and
came face to face with her.
They were both speechless for a moment.
"You???" Justin exclaimed incredulously.
"Likewise." Jo said dryly and turned around to go back to her room. This was
just great, what an anticlimax to her entire day. All she needed for a roommate was an
egotistical pop superstar with major issues.
Luke was talking animatedly with Rick before he realized that Justin was staring angrily
after Jo.
"Is there a problem, J?"
"None, except that I thought we agreed no teenyboppers."
Jo swirled around angrily and screeched, "Who are you calling teenybopper?"
Justin didn’t care to answer her and thanked Luke for inviting him to stay before he
ran up the steps to his room, leaving Jo seething with anger.
She walked over to Rick and Luke before saying sweetly. "Luke, I thought we agreed,
no arrogant celebrities on ego trips."
With that she said good night to Rick and Luke, before retreating to her room to simmer.
Luke was worried that Rick would take offence to Jo’s tone but instead he was
surprised to see that Rick was grinning like a Cheshire cat.
"I like her. Believe me when I say that I think she’s just what the doctor
ordered for Justin to take him down a few notches. This is going to be v-e-r-y
interesting....."
Justin awoke early the next morning out of a long ingrained habit. He
rubbed at his eyes to wipe out any lingering traces of sleep that were left behind.
Immediately, almost as if he were on auto-pilot, he gathered his towel and headed to the
bathroom to shower. After showering and changing into his clothes, Justin headed down to
the kitchen to see what he could give his stomach as a peace offering so that it would
shut up and leave him alone.
In the kitchen, Justin saw Luke and Carrie eating breakfast at the breakfast nook. They
both looked up at him when he entered the kitchen.
"Mornin’." They said in unison.
Justin nodded almost imperceptibly at them and moved towards the cabinets almost as if he
were in a stupor. He began opening and shutting the cabinet doors, like he was searching
for something important.
"What are you looking for Justin?" Carrie asked.
"Cereal." Came the monosyllabic reply.
Carrie laughed. "Not much of a morning person are ya?"
She then got up and handed him a box of frosted flakes.
Justin looked at the cover of the box, rolled his eyes and made a mental note to himself
to stock up on some real cereal. After eating a bowlful of cereal, Justin began to feel
almost human. He overheard the two of them talking about Jo, the girl he had gotten into a
fight with twice now. As much as he tried not to listen ,he was intrigued by what they had
to say about her.
"She’s got the coolest taste in things. We should take her shopping one of these
days to pick out stuff for the house." Carrie said animatedly to Luke.
"Oh yeah. Well, that’s fine with me cos I suck at picking stuff out. I can leave
it up to the both of you."
They continued talking for a few more minutes when the kitchen door swung open and there
was Jo herself.
She was wearing sweatpants and a tank-top and her hair was gathered up into a knot at the
top of her head. Her face was scrubbed clean and her cheeks were pink and rosy. Justin
couldn’t get over how fresh she looked in the morning.
"What are you thinking, man," he thought to himself. He then cleared his head
and forced himself to put on a scowl.
Jo had a smile plastered on her face when she saw Luke and Carrie at the table. Looking
around the room, she finally caught sight of Justin and her smile died on her lips.
"Mornin’ you guys." Carrie greeted as she picked up an apple from the fruit
bowl and sat with Luke and Carrie.
"Mornin’, Jo. How’d you sleep last night?" Luke asked.
"Pretty well. I think I love my room. I can’t get over the space I have."
Luke then excused himself because he had a class to attend. He kissed Carrie on the lips
and gave Jo a hug before turning to Justin.
"Bye ,J. I’ll catch you later, man."
"Bye."
"Ooooh... he speaks. The pop star has graced us with his presence." Jo said in a
mocking tone with her back to Justin.
Luke rolled his eyes and chuckled to himself. It was apparent that this battle was not
over yet and until it was, living around the two of them would be a tense experience. With
that thought in his mind, he turned and left for class.
"Justin, where’s Rick?" Carrie asked. She had been a little unsure about
having a celebrity living with them ,when she learnt last night about who their mystery
guest was, but he seemed like an okay guy so she didn’t protest.
"Rick’s probably still asleep. The guy is protesting against me cos when
we’re on tour he has to get up at whatever time I do. So now, he figures I have to
wait for him."
"Of course, as a celebrated singer, you couldn’t possibly wait for someone.
It’s unthinkable." Jo piped in.
Justin’s temper was slowly building and although he didn’t want to acknowledge
her first dig at him earlier, now he couldn’t keep quiet.
"Well, I do have to be escorted everywhere to protect me from spying busybodies such
as yourself."
Jo rolled her eyes, " Honestly though, I prefer the Backstreet Boys."
With that she stood up and left the kitchen leaving a tense looking Carrie who was torn
between her loyalty to Jo and to Justin being the new roommate and Luke’s friend.
Justin refused to comment and after finishing his cereal, he gave Carrie a small smile
before leaving the kitchen as well.
Jo had gone into her room to get herself ready for class. She still had a lot of time so
she was singing to herself. Justin, who happened to be passing by the corridor towards her
room, heard her strong, clear and confident voice belting out "Can’t Take My
Eyes Off You" by Lauryn Hill. He actually paused where he was standing to take in
more of that lovely sound. It was obvious that she hadn’t received any vocal training
but he recognized the talent in her voice and was impressed.
"She’s got quite a voice there doesn’t she?" He heard Carrie’s
voice behind him.
"Oh, no. I was just erm.....looking at this painting. It’s very pretty."
Justin said as an embarrassed flush crept up his face.
He turned and headed up the stairs to his room while Carrie looked on at him with a
knowing smile.
When Justin came downstairs again, Rick, Carrie and Jo were sitting in the
living room and chatting with each other. Rick said something to Jo in a low voice and it
made her laugh heartily at him. Her laughter was uninhibited and infectious and he
couldn’t help the smile that tugged at his lips.
When Rick caught sight of Justin coming down the stairs, he said in his loud and booming
voice, "Well, if it isn’t pretty boy Timberlake himself. What took you so long,
man?"
" I just had a hard time deciding what to wear. It’s tough being me ok? I have a
responsibility to melt ladies’ hearts. I wouldn’t want to disappoint my public
today."
Jo rolled her eyes at his comment, as did Rick.
"Well, I was going to offer these ladies here a ride to campus, since you’re all
headed there anyway. Would that be ok?"
"Sure." Justin said as he shrugged.
"Actually, that’s ok ,Rick. The campus is not far from eher we could easily
walk." Jo said as she looked at Justin warily.
"No, it’s ok. We’re headed for the same destination, after all. It would be
a pleasure." Rick reassured the girls.
Jo took a look at Justin to see what his reaction was and since he appeared to be normal,
she cautiously nodded her head and agreed to the offer.
In the minivan that JIVE had lent out to Justin for his transportation needs, Rick, Carrie
and Jo continued the chatter. Justin looked at Jo through the mirror and saw that she was
so free and unreserved around Carrie and Rick. His brows furrowed in annoyance when he
thought about how she had clammed up to him but warmed up to everyone else.
"Why do you care what she thinks Justin?" he asked himself.
He looked at her face in the mirror again and shook his head. He honestly didn’t know
the answer to his own question.
Jo was looking at the notice board outside the cafeteria and looking at
the ads posted there. Still engrossed in reading an ad, she started walking away and
bumped into somebody.
"Oh my god. This is becoming a really bad habit." She muttered under her breath.
She looked up and found herself face to face with a tall and well-built guy who had sandy
blonde hair and eyes that were like two pools of cobalt . He had an arm around her waist
as he steadied her and he looked at Jo with an amused expression on his face.
"Are you ok?" His voice was deep and smooth and she felt herself begin to get
mesmerized by it.
She nodded mutely.
He chuckled to himself and stretched out his hand to her.
"Hi my name is Jason Peterson."
"I’m Jo Rayes."
"I’m not usually such a klutz. Well actually I am, but around a beautiful woman
I must maintain some dignity to salvage my reputation."
Jo blushed at his comment and grinned up at him. "Where is she?"
"Who?"
"You know, the beautiful woman?"
Jason’s eyes widened and he laughed loudly at her comment.
"That’s good. You’re making attempts at humor. You must be alright
then."
Jason ran a hand through his hair and looked around him. "Listen, Jo, do you wanna go
grab a cup of coffee or something?"
Jo checked her watch and said, "Sure."
The two of them had a great afternoon and Jo was very interested in this handsome and
funny guy. He was very intelligent and in the duration of time they spent in the cafe, she
had managed to find out that he was a very passionate person whose views on the world were
not unlike her own.
After the two had spent a memorable afternoon together, Jason looked at her and said,
"Well, am I going to get to see you again or are you gonna disappear into whatever
fairytale land that you came from. After an afternoon like that, you owe it to yourself to
go out with me on again."
Jo laughed and poked him in the chest. "Do you use that line on all the ladies or are
you just trying out this new one on me. Fairytale land indeed!"
"So will you?" He asked as he looked at her pleadingly.
"I’d love to, Jason. Just make sure you go home and brush up on those lines. I
expect a smoother performance next time."
He eagerly took down her contact number and address and he arranged to pick her up on
Saturday.
" So I’ll see you Saturday?"
"You bet." Jo said as she waved to him.
She smiled as she thought about how witty and charming Jason was. And it felt good to be
appreciated as a woman again and being made to feel special unlike......
Why was she even thinking about him. He was nothing but an egomaniac whose fans were no
doubt too disillusioned by his looks to actually see his personality.
Somehow she didn’t understand where that sudden comparison between Justin and Jason
came from, but she blamed it on the fight she had with him yesterday.
At least she hoped that was why she was thinking of him.
How Did I Fall In Love With You?
CHAPTER THREE
Justin was sitting at the dining table ,the next day, doing a bit of
reading on the history of music for class, when suddenly the phone rang. Since Luke and
Carrie were out and Jo was in her room, Justin walked over to the cordless phone and
picked it up.
"Hello."
"Hi, is Jo around?" came the deep voice of a guy.
Somehow it bothered him that this guy was calling Jo and he prayed that he was a brother
or a friend.
"Hold on a second."
Justin walked to Jo’s room and knocked on the door. She was lying stomach down on her
bed and reading something. She looked up at him cautiously, an eyebrow raised in question.
"You have a call." He handed her the cordless phone.
"Hello. Oh, hi, Jason." Her face lit up as she spoke to him.
Justin turned to leave her room but he didn’t miss the look of excitement on her
face. That was not the look a girl would give if she was speaking to her brother or a
friend. He didn’t know why but he didn’t like that at all.
A little while later, Jo came out of her room to put the cordless phone
back in its place and fix herself something to eat. Justin was still sitting at the dining
table reading and he didn’t bother to look up as she walked past him. Before she
could go any further, the phone in her hand started ringing.
Thinking it was Jason, she hurried to push the button on the phone. Justin rolled his eyes
thinking it was that guy Jason again.
"Hello, Jason?"
"Erm......nope I’m not Jason but JC. Will that do?" Rich male laughter
filled the other end of the phone. Immediately, she knew it was JC Chasez, pop star
extrordinaire and co-bandmate to Justin "Ego" Timberlake.
"Ooops.....I’m so sorry."
"That’s ok. Are you one of Justin’s house-mates?"
"Yep, that’s me. I’m Jo Rayes."
"Nice to meet you Jo. Say, you wouldn’t happen to be free next Saturday would
you?"
"Why, what’s up next Saturday?"
"Well we’re having a very small and intimate party and you & the rest of
your housemates are invited."
"It’s ok, you don’t have to invite us, we wouldn’t want to
intrude." Carrie said as she thought about Justin’s expression if he knew she
was coming.
"I don’t care what you say, you’re coming. That’s an order, young
lady!" JC said laughingly.
"Well, I guess I might be able to go. What’s the occasion?"
"Justin’s the occasion. It’s a party to wish him luck in college. Which is
why I want to invite you guys too."
All the more reason NOT to invite me, Jo thought. "Ok, I’ll keep that in mind.
Do you want to talk to Justin now?"
"Yeah, can you put him on?"
"Justin, it’s for you." Jo said as she handed him the phone and walked back
to her room.
Justin looked at her strangely. If it was for him, why was she on the phone talking to
whoever it was.
"Hello."
"Hey there, J? How’s the college boy?"
"I’m doin ok. What was that about?"
"What?"
"What were you doing talking to Jo?"
"I invited her to the party next Friday. You know the one we’re throwing for
YOU."
"Oh great."
"What’s wrong with asking her?"
"Nothing, nothing at all." Justin hoped that she would have other plans next
Friday since he didn’t even want to imagine the scene that would take place next week
if they were both in the same vicinity as each other.
(Saturday)
Jo was in her room trying on a million different outfits to wear for her date that night.
They were going to have dinner and then catch a movie. She wanted to look nice but
didn’t want to give the impression that she was trying too hard. After a long time,
she settled on a pair of tight blue jeans and a white sleeveless top. She carefully
tightened the clasp of her favorite emerald necklace ,around her neck.
She checked her reflection in the mirror and quickly applied a dab of lip gloss and a
spritz of her favorite scent. As she was looking for her purse, there was a knock on the
door followed by an embarrassed cough.
"Jo, are you there? Your date’s here." It was Justin.
"In a minute." She quickly checked her reflection again before opening the door.
There stood Justin and he had a very unreadable expression on his face.
"You look nice," he said in a low and husky whisper.
Jo felt a warm tingly sensation run down her spine. "Thanks."
She walked out to the living room, with Justin behind her and there on the couch was
Jason. She smiled brightly at him as he stood up to greet her.
"Wow. You look great," he said grinning at her.
"Thank you. So do you."
"So shall we go? Our carriage awaits."
Jo laughed as she linked her arm with his outstretched one. She knew she was going to have
a good time tonight. But why did her thoughts keep going back to Justin and how he sounded
when he had complimented her?
Justin watched as the two left the house. He turned back to the TV,
determined to at least TRY and relax since he only had the next two weekends off. After
next weekend, he’d have to go into the studio during the weekends to record the new
*N Sync album.
But he couldn’t shake off the bad feeling he got about Jason. He was too slick.
Something was wrong. But he didn’t want to be the one to tell Jo in case she
misunderstood it as jealousy.
But wasn’t he jealous?
No, I’m just getting a bad vibe about the guy, he reassured himself.
Then why couldn’t he concentrate on the movie he was watching anymore? Why was he
thinking about how beautiful Jo looked as she looked up into his eyes earlier?
"Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t that guy back there
famous or something? He’s in the Backstreet Boys right?" Jason asked as he drove
them to the cinema.
" Yes he is famous but he’s from *N Sync not the Backstreet Boys." Jo said
as she chuckled at his ironic statement.
"Same difference."
"No its not. They are very different from each other." Jo was shocked as she
realized she was defending Justin and *N Sync.
"Yeah, whatever. But my question is, what is he doing in your living room? I thought
my eyes were playing tricks on me when he opened the door."
"Well, he’s my house-mate and he goes to NYU ,too."
"No way! Since when?"
"Since about a few days ago."
"That’s cool, if you’re into him and all. So, tell me Jo," he said
grinning teasingly. "What’s it like living with a boyband member? Do you get
hate mail? Backstage passes?"
"I wouldn’t know. This whole thing is pretty new to me."
"And does it mean that he’s competition?"
"Justin? Competition?" Jo laughed heartily. But to her own ears, the laugh rang
hollow and the smile didn’t quite reach her eyes.
Where is she? Justin thought to himself as he sat there eating popcorn and
staring at the TV. The images had long since stopped registering in his brain and were all
just a blur to him. Why did he have to be alone at home? Luke and Carrie were out and so
was Rick. Being alone gave him nothing else to concentrate on and his thoughts kept going
to Jason & Jo.
He heard a car pull up and park in the driveway. After some time, he heard giggling and
footsteps right outside the door. He let out a curse as he tried to get the thought of Jo
being kissed by Jason out of his mind.
When Jo opened the door, she looked flushed and there was a twinkle in her eyes.
"Had a good time, Jo?" Justin asked, mildly.
"Yes I did thank you." Jo said ,smiling.
"Well, good for you." He said as his temper began to escalate. "In future
will you avoid asking your dates to pick you up at home because I’m supposed to be
keeping my whereabouts a secret and not announcing it to the whole world!"
Jo looked too stumped too respond and watched as Justin made his way up the stairs. She
didn’t understand why he was suddenly being so mean when he was perfectly fine
earlier. She also couldn’t help being hurt at his rude tone. Even though he had been
rude to her before, it just hurt more today for some reason. With that thought still on
her mind, she turned to go into her room.
The next few days went by in a flash and Jo got caught up in her
involvement with Jason. He took her out everyday for the next few days and she truly
enjoyed being around him. There were no strong feelings yet but she was attracted to him
and they had a good time together.
Jo and Justin had been avoiding each other even more so than before since that incident
where he told her off after she got back from her date. She just knew that she didn’t
want to be hurt like how she did when he got angry with her. For some reason she knew that
if it happened again, she would really be sad so she just decided to avoid the source.
Justin on the other hand was avoiding her because he was confused about his attraction to
her. He didn’t want to get involved with her because he didn’t need that
headache. His life revolved around classes and doing stuff for the new album.
And yet, sometimes when he was feeling particularly vulnerable, he thought about how
having her in his life would be like. What would it be like to wake up in the morning and
look into those eyes that sparkled just for him. He had noticed that she would always be
on her toes around him. And that hurt him. It hurt him to know that she could be free and
spirited and easy-going around anybody but him.
And that would make him more determined than ever to stay away from her.
(Thursday Evening)
Jo was very excited about her date with Jason tonight. They were going to this new fancy
Italian restaurant downtown and she had gone all out to buy the perfect dress for the
occasion.
The dress was a cream colored piece with many layers that fell gracefully around her slim
curves. It hung up to her calves and showed of her toned calf muscles. On her feet were a
pair of silver sandals that were perfect with the dress. To complement the shoes, she had
on her arm a thick silver bangle. Jo had a lot of fancy pieces of jewellery given to her
by her parents. But she chose to wear her favorite piece which was a pair of simple
diamond studs that her grandmother had given her. Her hair was swept up on top of her head
and kept in place with a diamante clasp. Her make-up was minimal but brought out her best
features.
The effect was stunning to say the least.
Jason wasn’t going to pick her up at the front door but rather at the curb in front
of the house like she had been telling him to do recently. She didn’t add in the part
about Justin ordering her to do so. That would have been embarrassing.
She gathered her things and went out to the living room to wait for his car to arrive.
Justin, who had been cloistered in his room for the past few days, was actually sitting in
the living room and casually chatting to Rick.
Before he realized that she was there she took a few minutes to watch him. He was so at
ease with himself and sat back against the chair in a languid posture. She had rarely seen
this side of him. The funny and witty guy who had enough charm in him to sweep across the
hearts of almost every demographic of females. She was fascinated by this Justin, the one
who wouldn’t come out often.
Thinking about why he didn’t show this side of him much, she realized that it was
because he didn’t trust the people around him. He trusted Rick and the rest of the
guys in the group and probably some other people. And he was almost completely relaxed
with Carrie and Luke. But what did he have against her?
It saddened her heart to realize that she was being singled out like this.
"Hey there ,beautiful." Rick said as he caught sight of her.
Justin who had his back turned to her, turned around and the smile that had been on his
face just moments ago, wiped off.
She waited for him to say something about how she looked but he just kept quiet and began
looking around furtively to avoid eye-contact with him.
She didn’t know why it mattered so much. She sure as hell didn’t appreciate his
ego. But unshed tears burned at the behind her eyes. She swallowed a few times to prevent
herself from crying.
Just then, she heard Jason’s car pull up. She mumbled a quick goodbye and practically
ran out the front door. When the door closed shut behind her, she took a deep breath of
fresh air and walked towards Jason’s car.
"I don’t know what to say, Jo. I’m speechless. You look beautiful."
Jason said as he looked her up and down.
The lavish words of praise should have warmed her heart and consoled her, but it just
didn’t feel right.
Or maybe it was because it came from the wrong person.
Rick had long since gone to bed and Justin sat in his room playing his
guitar. But somehow his finger work was messed up and he couldn’t concentrate. He
kept seeing her looking so beautiful in that white dress. He had to bite down on his
tongue earlier so that he wouldn’t stop her from leaving the house.
He was concentrating so hard on his thoughts that he didn’t see realize until later
that he had snapped the guitar string. Sighing with frustration. he put the guitar aside.
It was now pretty late, he wondered where she was and if she was having a good time.
Without him.
This was a bad night.
Dinner had gone along fine until Jason had had a little too much to drink. He started to
talk loudly and boisterously and made rude comments. She gulped as she took one look at
his staggering form and slurred speech.
As he started opening the car door, she said, "Maybe you shouldn’t drive, Jason.
I could do it, or if you prefer we could get a cab. You shouldn’t be driving like
this."
"I’m NOT drunk!! I am perfectly capable of driving , thank you."
"Well, I’m not ready to meet my maker. So if you want to drive, it’s up to
you. I’m taking a cab."
She swirled around and started to walk off when suddenly she felt a vise-like grip on her
upper arm.
"You are not going anywhere!!"
He dragged her along and since she was slight in build it wasn’t hard for a strong
guy like Jason, even a drunk one, to drag her into the car. When they were both in the
car, he used one hand to hold on to her waist and the other to steer.
She didn’t dare to struggle in case he swerved and crashed the car because he
couldn’t hang on the her. She just closed her eyes and prayed for safety.
When she dared to open her eyes, she realized that he wasn’t driving her home.
"Where are we going?" she whispered through her tears.
He didn’t say anything but continued driving until they were parked behind an old
abandoned factory.
"Where are we going?" She asked in a louder voice this time.
Jason turned to her and grinned evilly. "You can’t expect me to take my date to
an expensive restaurant like that and not get anything in return. Right, babe?"
Before Jo could let his sentence register in her brain, Jason had his hands all over her.
She screamed loudly in the hope that someone might be nearby.
"I don’t particularly care for screaming but if you’re a screamer
that’s fine by me. Besides, who’s gonna hear ya?" Jason slurred in her ear
as his hand traveled up her thigh.
"Please, let go of me....." she begged through her tears.
The tears only made him more aggressive as his hands bit into her flesh to keep her pinned
to the seat. When his mouth clamped down on hers roughly, she thought she might gag from
the smell of alcohol that permeated him. Before when he had kissed her it had been
pleasant. Not earth-shattering or explosions in the sky, but at least pleasant. It was
almost as if this guy in the car with her was a totally different person.
Jason wanted to bring her into the abandoned warehouse so he got out of the car
precariously and stumbled toward her door. He was drunker than she thought because he
could hardly walk straight so she decided to make a run for it.
Quickly, she opened the door and turned to run out of the parking lot. She could hear
Jason swearing behind her and her heart pounded as she fought not to be afraid of the
consequences of what she’d just done.
Just then, she heard a loud thump behind her. Turning around for a brief second, she saw
that Jason had passed out. She thought that maybe he had hurt himself, but she realized
that wasn’t possible and that he passed out because he was too drunk.
Jo cautiously went back to the car, stepping around Jason’s unconscious body
to retrieve her things. When she had everything she needed, she gave one last backward
glance at Jason’s crumpled form before running away from the scene of her recent
nightmare.
She realized that there was no way she was going to be able to get a cab from here. She
needed help.
Justin was watching a rented video as he sat in the living room, waiting
for Jo while pretending NOT to wait for Jo. Rick was dead to the world and Carrie and Luke
were still not home yet, so he had to find something to do. He chuckled as he remembered
the expression of the teenage girl who worked at the video rental store down the road.
Just then the phone rang. He pulled his butt off the couch and went to answer it.
Nothing in the world could have prepared him for the fear he heard in Jo’s voice at
the moment.
"He....hello. Is Luke or Carrie there?"
"No, they’re not back yet. Are you okay ,Jo?"
She ignored his last question. "How about R.....Rick?"
"Rick has been asleep for a while now. What’s wrong?" He couldn’t keep
the tremor out of his voice as he had a sinking feeling in his stomach.
He knew that it took a lot out of her to say the what came next, since she didn’t
trust Justin. "I....I need your help Justin. Jason......" she let out a sob as
she mentioned his name.
Justin clutched the phone tighter. "Jason what, Jo? Is he in an accident? Are you
okay?"
"No.....Jason......he got drunk and he tried to......He tried to hurt me,
Justin." Jo couldn’t regain her composure to go on.
Justin had never felt anger like what he did at that point but he pushed it aside to
concentrate on getting Jo to safety.
"Where are you, Jo. I’m coming down."
Jo quickly explained where she was amidst hiccups and sobs.
"Okay, that’s not too far from here. I’ll be there as soon as I can. Are
you at a pay-phone?"
"Yes."
"Well, stay there. If you see Jason anywhere, you call me on my cell, okay? I’m
on my way." He hung up the phone and ran to grab his cell and the keys to the
mini-van.
He would have liked nothing better at that moment to plow his fist into Jason’s
stomach but Jo was his first priority.
A million thoughts ran through his mind as he was driving. Was she hurt badly? Did he try
to rape her? But he knew that thinking of it now would only make him angrier and what Jo
needed was someone who was calm.
After what seemed like an eternity, Justin reached the phone booth that Jo had described
but she was no where to be found. Justin thought he had the wrong place or something and
he was about to drive away when he noticed a figure in white huddled to her knees behind
the phone booth.
"Jo? Is that you?"
Jo looked up and to her relief saw Justin. Without saying a word she ran to him and hugged
him. Justin was taken aback by the hug but he liked having her this close to him ......to
comfort and to protect.
"He.....he tried to....."
"Ssssshhh........I know. Right now we just have to get you out of here. Are you okay?
Do you need a doctor?" Justin asked as he stroked her hair as she sobbed against his
chest.
" No.....I’m fine. He didn’t hurt me except for a few scratches. He
p...passed out."
Quietly he led her to the vehicle and strapped her into her seat securely before going to
the driver’s seat himself.
Throughout the entire journey, Jo was quiet and kept looking out the window. Justin took a
look at her, with her torn hem and bloody scratches along her arms. It angered him because
she had looked so beautiful to him when he had seen her go off to meet him, but someone
had dared to spoil that beauty.
When they reached home, Jo got out of the seat and walked calmly to the house even before
Justin could get out of the car. After he killed the engine of the car, he slowly walked
in after her.
Justin went into the bathroom in her room and went to get some medicine from the first aid
box there. When he went into the kitchen, she was sitting at the table looking down into
the glass of water she was holding.
Quietly, Justin walked to the table and sat down with her. Painstakingly, he began
cleaning and applying medication into her scratches. Jo watched him curiously as he gently
worked on her injuries.
"I was thinking , Jo, do you want to lodge a police report or something?"
She shook her head. "I told you, he didn’t hurt me. He was too drunk to do that.
Besides, I’m okay so I don’t want to have to go through that ordeal."
Justin nodded. "I understand." He took a deep breath and looked into her eyes.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
The expression of concern and his kindness was her undoing. She told him everything that
happened and Justin just sat there and held her hand while listening intently. When she
was done, she wiped at her eyes before she realized that she was actually crying.
Justin pulled her up to her feet and enveloped her in his strong arms. She couldn’t
help but compare his embrace to Jason’s. Jason’s embrace made her
shiver.....with disgust but Justin made her feel clean and special.
When they pulled away, they were both shocked at what they had felt during that hug.
"I think you should try to get some sleep and I’ll check on you tomorrow."
Justin said as he pulled her toward her room.
"Yes, Doctor Justin." Jo said with a laugh.
He stood against the door frame of her room and looked at her, smiling with relief that
she had not lost her sense of humor through all this.
"Justin, I just wanted to say, thank you so much. I don’t know what I would have
done if you didn’t come when you did."
"Don’t think about it. I would’ve done the same for any friend."
Jo thought about the fact that he had called her his ‘friend’ and she felt a
glow of acceptance.
"Good night, Justin."
"Night, Jo."
Jo began closing the door to her room when suddenly she heard Justin call out to her.
"Jo?"
"Yes, Justin?"
"I forgot to tell you...... how....... beautiful you looked earlier."
Jo smiled at him and closed the door.
How Did I Fall In Love With You?
CHAPTER FOUR
The first thing Justin did when he got up the next morning after taking a shower was to
run downstairs and check on Jo. He was disappointed to find that she wasn’t up yet
but he paced impatiently in the living room for her until she did.
Rick was up too and he looked at the time on his watch and at Justin’s frenzied
pacing and looked confused.
"Justin, is that you boy?"
Justin waved off his laughing and followed Rick into the kitchen. Rick got himself a cup
of coffee and asked if Justin wanted one ,too.
"Yeah." He nodded and took the mug that Rick offered him.
"So what time do you wanna leave for the airport?" Rick asked as he took a sip
of his coffee.
"Airport?" Justin asked, confused.
"Yeah, the guys are flying in today, remember? This time next week you’re gonna
be working your butt off at the recording studio."
Justin had been so preoccupied with Jo’s situation last night that he forgot
completely about the guys arriving today.
"Well, their flight comes in at 6. So we’ll leave about half an hour before
6pm."
"Ok."
Luke and Carrie were busy chatting as they entered the kitchen.
"Do you have to be such morning people?" Rick asked in mock-annoyance.
They both laughed and greeted the two men seated at the table.
"By the way, are you guys free tomorrow. I know this is awfully short notice but I
forgot to mention it earlier."
"Actually, we have nothing to do tomorrow. We wanted to sit in front of the TV and
veg but what’s up?"
"The guys are throwing a small party tomorrow for me. Kinda like a sending me off to
college party. And you’re both invited."
Carrie’s mouth formed an ‘O’ since ‘the guys’ could only mean the
rest of *N Sync. Carrie was no teenybopper but she realized that this would be an
interesting experience.
"Is Jo invited, too? I wouldn’t want to go without her." Carrie said.
"Yeah, she is. In fact, she was the first person invited to this party after me. JC
gave her a personal invite." Justin said with a grin.
"Ok, then we’ll go." Luke said as he hugged Carrie against himself.
"Speaking of Jo, where is the girl?" Rick asked as he looked around the room.
"Erm, she got in late last night so she’s probably still asleep, I think."
Justin said. These people cared about her and would want to know about last night, but he
didn’t want to be the one to tell them until he talked it over with Jo.
"You didn’t fight with her again, did you?" Rick asked with a menacing
scowl on his face.
"Noooo.......I didn’t, I swear!!" Justin said in his defense.
"What are y’all talking about?" Jo said with a yawn as she entered the
room.
"Jo!" Justin looked her over to see how she was dealing. She looked perfectly
normal and healthy, except for the few scratches that were on her arm. Even those were
healing already.
"I believe the correct phrase is , ‘Good Morning’, Justin." Rick said
as he elbowed Justin in his ribs before he stood up to leave the kitchen.
Justin ignored him and kept his eyes riveted on Jo.
"Good morning Justin." Jo said with a smile. She poured herself a bowl of cereal
and plonked herself on the seat next to Justin.
Their housemates stood at the doorway of the kitchen looking at them like they had three
heads each. The two of them who had never been able to stay in the same time zone as the
other without fighting, were now seated at the kitchen table having breakfast together.
"What?" Justin and Jo said.
"Nothing," came Luke’s reply.
"Nothing here either,"Carrie said.
Rick was just plain speechless.
The two of them looked at each other and giggled at their expressions.
When Rick, Luke and Carrie had left the kitchen, Justin cleared his throat.
"So how are you feeling today, Jo?"
"I feel ok. A bit sore, but generally ok."
"I’m not talking physically, how do you feel about the situation?"
"I’m over it. I just want to put everything behind me and move on."
"That’s good." He looked at his coffee cup for a few minutes. "Are you
going to the party tomorrow? You know the one JC told you about."
"Yeah, I remember. Do you want me to go?"
"Of course! That is unless, you don’t feel up to it. I’d totally
understand."
"I think I’ll go. It’ll help me get my mind of things."
"Yeah it will. You should come."
"Ok." She said with a smile up at him. He almost gasped when she did that. The
smile was one of gratitude but it left him breathless. He could only imagine what it could
be like to see love in those eyes. Love..........for him.
She’s just a friend, Timberlake, he chided himself. You helped her out yesterday and
she’s grateful for it, but she’s not going to fall in your arms.
"So, are you doing anything now?"
"I had an appointment with the TV to watch some Saturday morning cartoons.
That’s sacred." Jo said as she laughed.
"Well don’t let me tear you away from your ‘toon friends. After all, I only
wanted to go to a movie with ya."
"A movie ,huh? That sounds like fun."
"What about the ‘toons?"
"The ‘toons can wait. Let’s go catch a movie. I feel like I need some
stupid humor in my system."
"That’s exactly what Doc Justin ordered." Justin said with a grin.
"Oh man that was just too funny!" Jo
said as the both of them came out of the cinema afterwards.
"Yeah,that was good." He was drawn to her happiness. He felt like he could feed
off her own happiness for years without ever being happy for himself. "I’m
hungry, do you wanna grab a bite or something?"
"Sure, but is it safe for you?"
"Don’t worry about it. We’re in New York; they don’t take celebrities
seriously. Plus, I don’t look a whole lot like Justin Timberlake today."
"Whatever you say, Justin. But I swear if you get mobbed by fans, I’m gonna
leave you and run home."
"Ouch. You sure know how to get to a man, Jo."
The two were beginning to feel more at ease with each other with every passing minute and
it felt good because the tension that was around them the past two weeks was finally gone.
And they were being comfortable around each other.
They entered a McDonald’s around the corner and were relieved when they found it
empty except for two families with very young children. They placed their orders and had
no problems along the way, except for a young teenager who worked for McDonald’s who
recognized Justin. But fortunately, she was too timid to approach him.
Jo carried her tray of food and slid into a seat. She was watching Justin as he paid for
his food. He looked every bit the polished celebrity even in a McDonald’s and Jo
laughed to herself over the irony since he was supposed to be in disguise. She had
certainly had a change of heart over Justin since yesterday. He had been there for her
eventhough he didn’t have to. And for that she was grateful.
"Penny for your thoughts, Jo." Justin said as he slid into the seat opposite
her.
"I was just thinking about how grateful I am for your help yesterday. I’m not
bothered about the incident right now, but if you hadn’t been there to help me out, I
would’ve been really messed up."
"No problem, Jo. I told you already, I’d have done the same for any of my
friends."
"So you think that girl over there is going to come over and ask for your autograph
yet?"
"What? The McDonald’s girl? I don’t think so. She looks scared of me."
"Gee, I wonder why." Jo said with a laugh.
"What’s that supposed to mean?" He said while biting into a french-fry.
"Well, I mean no offense, J. But you can look kinda intimidating sometimes. I pity
the poor girl."
"Hey, I’ll have you know that my fans think I’m charming."
Jo almost choked on her Coke because she was laughing too hard.
"Fine. Be that way. Have a laugh at my expense why don’t ya?"
"I’m sorry, but that was funny. I certainly wouldn’t have agreed with them
if they had asked me a few days ago."
"What did you think of me when you first met me?"
"Well, I thought you were........kinda full of yourself. I believe I’ve said
that to your face many times."
"Yeah, god bless my poor bruised ego."
"I think you’re very aloof the first time you meet someone. But once you get
over your I’m-a-famous-popstar-complex, you’re fine." Jo said with a
giggle.
"Uh...thanks. That just healed the bruised ego completely."
The meal went by in pretty much the same kind of conversation. Teasing and making fun of
each other.
When it was time to go, Justin and Jo walked to the mini-van to head home.
"You’re gonna pick up the guys now ,right?"
"Yeah, I am. You wanna come along?"
"Nah, I don’t think so. It’s your private time. I gotta respect that."
"Ok. I’ll drop you back home first."
When they reached home, Jo turned to Justin, as she unbuckled her seat belt.
"Have fun meeting the guys again. And say hi to JC for me."
"Will do. Can you let Rick know that I’m waiting for him."
"Ok."
"Bye, Jo. See ya later."
"You too."
Jo didn’t see Justin for the rest of the
day and she assumed that he was out with the guys. She didn’t know why, but she
missed him. They had had a great time that afternoon and it was good to be able to relax
around him. He had turned out to be a better friend than she had thought was possible.
And she wasn’t exaggerating when she had told him that the only reason why she was
not torn about inside about the incident with Jason was because of Justin. The concern and
friendship that Justin had shown had helped her get through the pain. Maybe she had
misjudged him and he wasn’t such a bad guy after all.
But why had she felt more than friendship towards him. True, he was an attractive guy, but
she had always prided herself on being able to judge a guy on his heart rather than his
physique. So why did her stomach flutter when he had accidentally brushed his hand against
her arm earlier on at lunch?
Jo shook her head vehemently as if trying to physically clear away the confusing thoughts
that were running through her mind. She didn’t know what was going on, but she did
know that she needed sleep right now.
And hopefully with sleep, will come the answers.
How Did I Fall In Love With You?
CHAPTER FIVE
(Sunday. Party Day)
Jo awoke the next day to the sunlight filtering through the white curtains in her room.
She streched lazily against the bed. This was the life, she decided. Sleeping in should be
made illegal, she thought to herself.
There was a light tapping on the door.
"Hello? Jo? Are you awake?"
She smiled as she heard Justin’s soft voice outside the door.
"Are you alive in there, Jo?" You’re scaring me. It’s nearly noon. You
don’t usually sleep that late."
Jo stirred and got out of bed slowly. She walked to the door and opened the door to find
Justin in mid-knock.
"Mornin’, sleepyhead." Justin said as he smiled at her.
He took in the sight of her fresh out of bed. She wore a pair of shorts and a tank top and
her hair was sticking out in places and she looked squinty-eyed. But to him, she never
looked more beautiful He liked it that she could feel comfortable enough around him to let
him see her first thing in the morning.
A guy could get used to this, he thought as he grinned down at her. Immediately, his grin
left his face as he realized what he just said. There’s nothing going on between us,
he firmly decided.
"What are you smiling at?" She asked as she turned to her bed and arranged the
covers.
"I love the fresh out of bed you have on this morning. It’s very becoming on
you."
"Very funny. I look like a nightmare and you know it."
"Well, I didn’t want to bring it up but since you mentioned it......"
Jo threw a pillow at him as he burst out laughing.
"What are you doing here, besides wanting to mock my appearance?"
"I wanted to know if you’re hungry. I was going to order us some breakfast......
," then he looked at his watch. "But let’s make that brunch."
"Order?"
"Yeah you know that great place down the street. They have a good brunch menu. And
they deliver." He said with a grin.
"Ok. Why don’t you go make the call while I change." She said as she pushed
him out of her room.
"Sure you don’t want me to keep you company?" He asked as he wiggled his
eyebrow at her playfully.
"Yeah, I would keep you company ,alright......with a can of pepper spray!! Now,
out!!!!"
She could hear Justin’s laughter behind her as she went into the bathroom and smiled
to herself.
About half an hour later, she was done showering and had changed into a pair of baggy
sweatpants and a cropped T-shirt. She quickly combed her hair and left her room.
When she got outside, the delicious aromas hit her starved body and she was led by a
trance to the dining area, where Justin had unwrapped the packages of food and laid them
out.
"Wow.....you’ve really outdone yourself this time." Jo said as she rubbed
Justin’s buzz-cut head playfully.
"Hey watch the hair!" he said as he mockingly smoothed his hair back in place.
"What hair?" she said as she rolled her eyes.
"Don’t make fun of my lack of hair, it’s not very nice."
"Whatever." She reached out to pick up a blueberry muffin, broke a piece off and
popped it into her mouth. She closed her eyes in pleasure as the tasted the rich flavor.
"That good, huh?" He grabbed his own muffin and munched into it. "Gee, I
thought they said that food was the way to a man’s heart not a woman’s."
"Yeah it’s true, food is the way to a man’s heart. ANY food is the way to a
man’s heart. But for us women, we only let into our hearts, men who provide us with
GOOD food."
"I’ll make a mental note of that one."
They ate the rest of the meal in comfortable silence.
Justin lay back and patted his stomach like a sated lion.
"So what are your plans for the day, besides the party ,that is."
"I really don’t know. I guess I could curl up with a book or maybe just bum
around."
"That sounds good. Mind if I join you?"
"Not at all. Please feel free to join the extremely fun-filled activities that I have
planned for myself today."
Justin laughed and looked at his watch.
"Well, we have to be at the party at 8 and we need about 2 hours to get ready and to
drive over there. So we have about 6 hours free to do all the bumming around that we
can."
Jo began picking up the dirty dishes and food wrappings on the table.
"Trust you to start the bumming around by cleaning up." Justin said as he
watched this domesticated side of her surface.
She grinned at him as if to prove his point.
Justin helped her to pick up the dishes and handed them to her as she washed them in the
kitchen sink. The two of them worked together in silence as each wrestled with his or her
own thoughts in their minds.
Things were starting to get complicated.
(Later that evening, in the car on the way to
the party.)
Justin couldn’t take his eyes off of Jo. She was seated in front of Justin, next to
Carrie and was oblivious to the attention she was receiving from Justin. She had on a
leather skirt and a pale blue top and never had Justin seen a girl look so beautiful, not
from the clothes she had on but from her own innate confidence. Sure, Jo was a very
beautiful girl, but she was also beautiful where it counted most. Her soul. For some
reason, he had hard time concentrating on what Luke was saying.
When they reached the hotel that the guys were staying at, Justin led the trio to a small
and private function room. Rick had long since disappeared to re-unite with his buddies
from *N Sync security. The room was well decorated but dimly lit and the ambience created
was one of romance and intrigue.
Almost at once, Justin was hauled by a big security guard to the corner of the room. He
motioned frantically to the three of them to go on ahead without him. Jo excused herself
from Luke and Carrie and headed towards the refreshment counter to get a drink. As she was
sipping the cold punch, she locked eyes with a tall and devilishly handsome guy with brown
eyes and blonde hair with black roots. He looked at her with interest and an amused
expression came across his face. Just as he looked like he was about to come over, she
felt a hand on her shoulder, tapping her back to reality.
She came face to face with the wonder that was JC Chasez.
"Hi. You must be one of Justin’s roomates. I saw you arrive with him earlier. My
name’s JC."
"Hi. I remember you." She said with a half-smile. "We talked on the phone
that day."
His eyes widened in recognition and he smiled at her. "You’re Jo right?"
"Good memory ,JC. I must say I’m impressed."
"Yeah it comes in handy in my line of work. You have no idea just how handy." JC
looked around the room before turning his attention on her again. "Since Justin is
playing twenty questions with Johnny right now, I’ll be your kind host for now."
He took her hand and dragged her to a couch in the corner. Seated on it were Joey and
Lance.
"Guys this is one of Justin’s roomates. Her name is Joanna...." He looked
at Jo expectantly.
"Memory not so good ,huh, JC?" She smiled wickedly at him. "Rayes."
"Joanna Rayes. Thank you." He said with a smile at her.
"Hi Joanna Rayes, nice to meet you." Lance said as he stood up and shook her
hand.
"You can call me Jo, Lance. I’m not a business associate, y’know?"
Lance laughed heartily at that and said, "It really is nice to meet you, Jo."
"I’m Joey but you can call me Joe too. We’d make a nice team the both of
us." Joey said as he wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at her and took her hand.
"Sorry, I work best alone." She said giving Joey a playful push.
Joey pretended to fall back on the couch and clutched his heart dramatically.
"What you been drinking, Joey?" JC asked as he rolled his eyes heavenward at his
antics. "Don’t mind him, he gets like that when he hasn’t taken his
medication. The doctor said that he could be almost normal again if he took his medication
promptly."
Joey scowled at JC.
Just then two more people entered the little circle. It was Chris and he had on his arm a
beautiful blonde girl who had the twinkle of good humor in her eyes.
JC pointed at Chris and then the blonde girl and said, "That’s Chris and this
lovely lady is Danielle Raabe."
Chris and Jo hit it off at once with their similar sense of humor. Jo realized that never
in her wildest dreams did she think she’d be this comfortable with the guys.
A little while later, all the guys had gone off to dance and Jo, after several dances with
all the guys, retired to sit at the couch with Dani. The girl was very intelligent and
funny and Jo enjoyed her company. Jo had been surprised to hear that Dani and Chris were
not an item anymore although they still remained very close friends. It puzzled her
because she could see the love radiating out of each other’s eyes. She’d also
met Bobbie Thomas earlier and was told by Dani that she was JC’s girlfriend. Jo could
sense that although the attractive brown haired woman was nothing but pleasant, she
didn’t come off as very genuine either.
Just then, a movement in the corner of her eye caught her attention. She realized that the
mystery guy she had locked gazes with on the floor earlier was coming right in her
direction.
"Hey you!" Dani called out to him as she gave him a hug. "How’s it
going?"
"I’m doing great. I’m in town to help the guys out on some choreography.
Heaven help me cos I can sense that half of what I taught them just a few months back, is
going to be all forgotten by now. We need to straighten that out." Funnily enough,
all the time that the mystery guy was talking, his eyes never left Jo’s. They looked
at her now with open curiousity.
"Oh, I’m so sorry for not introducing you guys earlier. But this is Joanna Rayes
and she’s one of Justin’s housemates. Jo, this is Wade Robson. Choreographer
with a cause."
Wade laughed at Dani’s introduction and he held out his hand to the beautiful girl in
front of him.
Jo shook it uncertainly and cleared her throat. "Hi. Nice to meet you. So you must be
the guy responsible for making *N Sync look so good on stage."
"The guys are very good dancers. Wait, I take that back. Joey, Justin, JC and Chris
are good dancers. But I must admit that I am the magic behind their footwork." He
said in a mock boast.
"Man, that’s my favorite song." Jo said as the introduction to Mariah
Carey’s ‘Butterfly’ came on.
"Then we must dance to it. It would be an insult to the song if you
didn’t." Wade excused himself from Dani and took Jo’s hand and tucked it
into the crook of his arm.
Jo had been a little nervous because she thought that any form of close proximity with a
guy after her ‘accident’ would be difficult for her to adjust to. But instead
she felt comfortable and safe in Wade’s arms as they slow-danced.
"So at last we meet, my mystery woman." He said as he looked at her with a
half-smile.
She looked up into his eyes and smiled at his words.
The rest of the dance went by in silence and Jo laughed as Wade tried to pull her back
into his arms after the song ended and was replaced with a fast one.
Wade was a really good dancer. He didn’t show off or anything but his style and his
groove were good. He looked over at Jo and grinned at her.
"Wow. You can actually dance. Ever trained?"
"Nope. This is ALL me, baby." She said with a laugh.
"It certainly is."
Jo couldn’t deny that she was attracted to this guy. But she knew that it was too
soon for her to trust another guy completely. But that didn’t mean she was going to
let him go. Oh no, this guy definitely had some potential, she thought as she laughed when
Wade swirled her around in his arms.
Justin rubbed his ear in mock pain. Johnny had
warned him and scolded him and threatened him about his safety in living in an apartment
together with normal kids. He couldn’t believe that it was a party for HIM and here
he was being scolded like a disobedient child. But he knew that Johnny was genuinely
concerned and so didn’t put up much of a fuss.
He walked over to where he saw Chris and JC standing by the couch in the corner. He kissed
both Dani and Bobbi on the cheeks as he walked past them.
"Have you seen my housemates?"
"Yeah, I saw Carrie there with Luke."JC said pointing to the other side of the
room. "That guy Luke is cool huh? I can see why you want to stay there."
"Yeah, he is."Justin said absentmindedly. "Where’s Jo?"
"Probably still with Wade on the dance floor. She’s a great kid."
"Still with Wade?" Justin asked puzzled.
"Yeah, they’ve been dancing with each other for some time now. I think
there’s sparks between them. What do you say, JC?" Chris said as he rubbed his
chin thoughtfully.
JC was about to add on to that comment when he noticed the look on Justin’s face, and
swallowed his words.
Justin turned around and looked down at the dancefloor from a raised platform. His eyes
scanned the crowd until he saw what his eyes sought. His heart pounded when he saw Wade
twirling Jo around playfully. She laughingly clung to him to prevent from falling over.
There was no mistaking the look of interest in Wade’s eyes. But he couldn’t read
the expression on Jo’s. She looked like she was enjoying herself immensely though.
When the song ended, Justin made his way purposefully towards the two.
"May I?" Justin said as he stood in front of both of them.
"Hey there, J! Of course you can. I was just going to get a drink." Wade looked
disappointed to be interrupted. "Save me a dance later ok?" He said to Jo in a
low voice as he walked off the dance floor.
Suddenly she felt awkward in front of Justin.
Wordlessly, Justin took Jo in his arms. She sighed as his hands encircled her waist
because she felt like she belonged there. She felt a sense of peace come over her whenever
she was in his arms.
"I’m sorry about leaving you alone just now. I had to talk to Johnny or rather
Johnny had to talk to me. And talk, he did." Justin said with a grin.
"So I heard. It’s ok. I know that he probably had stuff to discuss with
you."
"So how’d you find the guys?"
"They were great. I think we got along really well. I was introduced to Dani and
Bobbie as well and Wade too..."
"Wade, huh? So what do you think of him?" Justin looked down into her eyes to
see her expression.
"He’s very intense and he is so passionate about what he does. You guys must be
pretty close, huh?"
"Yeah we are. He’s a great guy."
All conversation was forgotten at that point. The two of them just held each other and
swayed gently. There was no need for words in the world that they were in. It was like
they were the only two people that mattered in that world.
When the song ended, Justin regretfully loosened his arms from around her waist. They both
looked at each other for a moment as if trying desperately to hold on to that precious
moment before.
A girl she didn’t know ran up to Justin and dragged her away from Jo.
"Wanna dance Justin? I know you love this song!"
"Uh.......yeah, sure." He said as he continued looking directly into Jo’s
eyes. He didn’t want to be away from Jo, but right now he needed to think and he knew
that he wouldn’t get any thinking done around her. She made him forget himself.
Jo looked across the dance floor at Justin as he was being led away by that girl. She
sighed. The moment was lost.
(The next morning )
Jo groaned as she heard the alarm ring beside her bed. She switched it off, if only to
kill that annoying sound before getting out of bed unenthusiastically. Before taking a
shower, she usually put on some music so that she could sing along while in the shower.
In the shower, she thought about the party the night before and how much fun she had. The
food was great, the company was fantastic. And Wade Robson was definitely eye candy, she
decided with a slight giggle.
But although she had danced the most with Wade and only once with Justin, she still
couldn’t get her dance with him off her mind. It was like for that one moment, the
both of them had not cared about their conflicting emotions but had done what came to them
instinctively.
She had to stop this soon or she was going to go crazy. She needed to make up her mind.
Who did she want? And even as she spoke the words, she knew there was no doubt in her mind
who she wanted.
Wait, there’s no choice there, she thought to herself as she shampooed her hair.
I’m definitely attracted to him, but I don’t think he wants to be with me. I
mean, just look at him and look at me. He wouldn’t want me....
The next track on her Mariah Carey CD began to play and it was one of her favorite songs
by her. As she hummed along to Mariah’s vocals, she felt like the words were coming
from her own heart.
If you only knew what I feel for you
If you only lived for me the way I live for you
I'd be in heaven, my dreams would come true
Cause all I've ever wanted is you ...
(Mariah Carey- All I Ever Wanted)