"So where do you live?" Kara asked me after another ten minutes of talking. "Orlando. Boring little place after you've done everything there is to do." "I think every place is like that." "Where do you live?" "Everywhere." "What do you mean?" "I've moved so much in the past three years it's not even funny. I've just unpacked in the house I'm at now. It's sad because I've been there six months. Of course four of those I've been on the road." "I know how that is." "I'm glad someone finally does." I heard voices in the background. "JC, I'm sorry, but I have to go." "Ok. Tomorrow at four?" "Yeah. Bye JC." "Bye."
I stood in front of the mirror in the bathroom frantically trying to get ready. Chris sat on the counter eating Skiddles and watching me. "I don't see why you're doing this. She's seen you before you know." "I want to look good. I know I'm going to see her this time." "You might want to brush your teeth." "Oh, right." "And comb your hair, and put on some cologne, but not too much. And straighten out your clothes, pop a mint-" "Chris, this would be going a lot faster if you weren't here dictating my every move." "Damn. I'm just trying to help." he said jumping off the counter. "But it's obvious I'm not appreciated. So I'll leave." He walked out and I slammed the door behind him. He's too much sometimes.
"Listen, I know she's here and I have to pick her up. She just forgot to tell me which room she's in." I said to the stubborn clerk at the BeachSide Resort. "I can't give out that information. Guests come here looking for privacy, and I especially am not going to give you her room number." I lowered my head and rubbed my temples. "Listen, I'm going to be late if you don't give me the god damn number!" "Sir, I would ask you not to raise your voice again or we'll have to escort you off the premises." "Give me the number! Please." "JC, I'm here. Sorry I forgot to give you the room number." I looked up to see Kara about three feet away with a huge smile on her face. I turned to the clerk. "See? I told you." I walked over to Kara. "You're lucky you came down when you did. I was about to go hostile on some desk clerk." She smiled as we started walking around. "Actually, I had been standing there for a few minutes. You were funny." "Gee, thanks."
"What do you want to do first?" I asked as we stood in the entrance to the park. "Roller coaster." I smiled. "Good choice." We walked inside and headed for the first roller coaster. "So, tell me a little about yourself." I said. "Let's see... I was born and raised in Detroit, where I spent some of the best years of my life. Some of the worst too, but we won't go there. No use in dwelling in the past. I left for Atlanta when I was twenty. I spent two years there working on a record deal, and finally I got one. Two years later my face is on every billboard and you can't turn on the tv without seeing my face." she joked. "Well I knew most of that stuff. Tell me something I don't know." "My favorite ice cream is moose tracks." "See? I didn't know that." "What about you? Tell me something I don't know." "When I was five I had a hamster named Bologna." She laughed. "Aww, that's so cute!" We reached the roller coaster and stood in line. "How long are you going to be in town?" I asked. "I don't know. Me and my girls live on impulse. It could be tomorrow, or it could be next week. You never know with us. When are you leaving?" "Well, I'm going to stay as long as I can to be with you." She smiled and blushed. She giggled. "Oh! Hey, line's down." she said walking to the ride. I smiled and followed.
The car slowly went up the top of the hill. I looked over at Kara and saw her eyes widen and her mouth drop open, ready to scream. She's so cute. We sped off down the hill and I high pitched scream come from next to me. I looked back over and saw that her eyes were closed and she was gripping onto the handles for dear life. I smiled and screamed with her. After a minute the ride came to a stop. "Well, that was fun." Kara said trying to take the restraint thing off with shaky hands. I took mine off and reached over to her after she gave up. I undid it and she smiled. "Thanks." "Your welcome. What do you want to do now?" I asked as we walked away. "Sit down."
Kara and I sat at a table outside eating big pretzels. "I still don't know a lot about you." I said. "You're going to have to tell me what you want to know." I smiled. "I don't know. Family, where you're from, something." She frowned. "What? Did I say something wrong?" "No. It's just that.... I don't have much of a family anymore." She lowered her head. "My mom died a few months ago." "Oh. I'm so sorry." She smiled lightly. "It's ok. You didn't know." I was silent. "Anyway, changing the subject, you a virgin or what?" she asked. I dropped my pretzel. She laughed. "I'm just joking. I know you're probably not. All those girls throwing themselves at you? I'd be shocked if you were one." "Well... I'm not, but I never did anything with any of those girls." "Really? Hmm....." She stared past me and looked lost in thought. "Kara?" She shook her head and looked at me. "I'm sorry. Just uh, thinking about something." "Ok. Now that you've asked a personal question, I get to ask one. Are you a virgin?" She blushed. "Well...... No." "Alright, you don't have to say anymore. That's all I needed to know." She smiled. "Thanks for not dragging it out like everyone else in the country." "I know what it's like." She smiled again. "Yeah, you do."
"Alright. Which one do you want?" I asked pointing to the stuffed animals at a game. She smiled playfully. "You ask me like you're actually going to win." I put my hands on my hips. "You're doubting me? If you're going to do that you're not getting one." "Ok ok! I believe you can do it!" "Good. Which one do you want?" "That one." she said pointing to a teddy bear. "Ok. I'm gonna get it for you." I paid and got a few rings. I threw them at the sticks and landed the last one. "Oh yeah! Who is good?!" I said throwing my hands in the air. She laughed. "You're making a scene." "That's what I'm going for." I said as the man handed me the stuffed bear. I handed it to her and she hugged me. "Thanks." I took a deep breath and smelled her hair. She even smells good. She let go and looked down at the bear. "He's so cute." "Like someone else I know." She looked up at me and smiled. "And who would that be?" "Why you of course."
We stood at the door to Kara's room that night saying good night. "JC, I haven't had this much fun in a really long time. Thanks a lot." "It was my pleasure. Can I call you again?" "You better. If you don't I'll track you down and beat you." I smiled. "Then I'm definitely calling." She stood looking at me, waiting for a kiss hopefully. I leaned in and softly kissed her lips. "I'll call you tomorrow." I said after I backed away. "Uh, yeah. Good night." she said opening the door. "Good night."
I walked into my hotel room to see all the guys sitting on the bed. "Tell us what happened right now." Justin said. I smiled and didn't say anything. "Did you kiss her?" Joey asked. "Did she invite you in?" Chris asked. "Did you do anything slightly sexual?" Lance asked. "Tell us!" Justin yelled. "Calm down. Man." I took my shoes of and walked into the bathroom. "JC Chasez! I will beat the shit out of you if you don't tell us what happened!" he yelled. "I can't even go to the bathroom?" I asked walking out. "No. Tell us now." "Ok." I told them everything that happened in excruciating detail. I even told them how she walked, the way she smiled, and how she smelt. "So you kissed her, right?" Chris asked. "Yeah." I said smiling. "You are the luckiest bastard I know." Lance said. "Did you slip some tongue?" Joey asked. "No. I didn't want to seem rude or anything." He sighed. "That's why she didn't invite you in. You need to take some initiative!" "Too late now. And besides, I wasn't counting on her inviting me in. I'm not looking for a quick lay. I want her around for a while."
I sat on the beach the next day looking for Kara. I asked her to come. I don't know if she will though. Through the corner of my eye I saw a vision of beauty pass by. I turned my head to see Kara in a tight sun dress. She looked at me and smiled. I smiled as she walked over to me. She's so beautiful. "Hey. I've been looking for you for like ten minutes." she said sitting down next to me. "I told you where I was going to be." "Well..." I smiled. "It's ok. You got here and that's all that matters." "Yeah. Um, we need to talk." I frowned. Nothing good has ever come out of those words. "What?" "About yesterday... I don't want to lead you on." "Were you doing that?" "Yes. I can't.... I just can't be in a relationship right now. I'd want nothing more than to be friends with you though." My stomach churned and I tried my hardest to smile. "I want to be friends with you too." "You're not upset, are you?" "No. I understand where you're coming from." She frowned and looked away. "This doesn't have anything to do with who I am, does it?" I asked. She looked back over at me shocked. "No, why would it?" "I don't know." She put her hand on my shoulder and kissed me on the cheek. "I still want to see you tonight." she said. "Anything for you."
We sat at a table in the restaurant of her resort eating dinner. "I like touring to a certain extent. It's the sleep deprivation that gets on my nerves." she said. "I know what you mean. I was sleeping every possible chance I got, even if it was in an airport and we were waiting for our plane." "I couldn't do that for some reason. Lord knows I tried. I couldn't even sleep at night." "Did they ever give you a break?" "Yeah. When I went to the hospital for exhaustion." "Wow. After that?" "No. I was controlled by slave drivers. What was tour life like for you?" "Not that bad. I mean, it was at first, but we put a stop to that." "I wish I could." "You just have to put your foot down. Tell them if they don't give a break every now and then that you'll quit." "What if they don't listen?" "Quit." She laughed. "It's not that easy. There's the contract that controls me for the rest of my life." "Go to court. It's really easy." She smiled. "Uh huh. I heard about the stuff you went through." "That was mostly a name thing. What are they going to do to you? Take the rights to your name?" "That's true. I guess if it gets any worse I'll do something."
As we were getting ready to leave she looked up at me and smiled her beautiful smile. "I really like you JC. You're the greatest guy I've ever met." "Then why can't we be more than just friends?" She lowered her head and sighed. "We just can't. A long story." I raised my eyebrow. "I have time." She looked up slightly surprised. "No. It's just I've started a line of bad men. They seem to be drawn to me." "I'm not like them." "How do you know? How do I know?" The waiter brought me the receipt for my credit card. I signed it and stood up. "You ready?" "Yeah." she said softly.
The ride home was filled with silence. As we pulled into the parking lot of her resort she turned and looked at me. "Don't be mad at me." she said. "I'm not mad at you. Just a little frustrated." "I'm sorry. I really am, and I do want to be friends." I smiled. "Better friends than nothing." She leaned over the seat and kissed my cheek. "Thanks for understanding. I'll call you tomorrow, ok?" "Ok. Bye." "Bye." She got out of the car and I watched as she disappeared into the resort. "Friends.... Great." I mumbled to myself as I drove away.
The next day I met Kara for lunch. "I'm leaving for New York tomorrow. Big promotional week, you understand." "Yeah. Am I going to see you again?" "Of course you will. I want to talk to you on the phone while I'm up there. Is that ok?" "Yes. I'd be upset if you didn't." She smiled. "I'll miss you though." She reached across the table and took my hand. "I'll miss you too." I said nervously. She perked up and smiled. "I have a great idea. After I get back from New York I can come to Orlando and see you." I smiled as a spark of hope returned to me. "That sounds great." She let go of my hand and I watched it disappear under the table. "So it's set then. In a week I'll see you again."