| Chapter Eleven Justin walked across the parking lot towards the buses. On his way, he passed JC, who was headed in the opposite direction. "Hey, Jace. Have you seen Jon at all?" JC shook his head. "He wasn't on our bus. I would check Andy's bus though. She was watching him, right?" Justin nodded, grumbling at the mention of her. "Yeah, I guess. Thanks, C." JC shook his head at his friend and said, "I swear, I have never seen two people hate each other so much for no apparent reason, " before forgetting about the whole situation entirely and continuing towards the toy room to try out the new scooters. Justin bounded up the stairs to the bus and looked around for any sign of his brother, but there didn't appear to be anyone on the bus at all. He, of course, blamed Andy for this. "Where the hell did she take him?" he muttered angrily to himself. He walked towards the back of the bus, calling for his brother, but heard no response. Just as he was about to give up and leave, he noticed a pair of Jon's sneakers on the floor beside one of the bunks. The curtains were closed, so he assumed someone was sleeping in there. He opened the curtains slowly and his expression instantly softened at the sight before him. Andy lay closest to the edge, her back to him. Her arms were wrapped tightly around the small form of his brother, who's head rested gently on her arm. Justin smiled at how cute they looked lying there, but quickly shook himself out of his trance, muttering aloud, "Cute? Cute? You hate her, remember? Andy stirred, hearing his voice, and asked sleepily, "Who's there?" She glanced over her shoulder and spotted Justin standing a few feet away from her, scratching his head as if confused and staring at her. He didn't appear to see that she was awake, so she spoke up. "Watching us sleep?" When he realized that she was awake, he tensed and became defensive. "No�no. I was just looking for my brother." She tried to maintain an even tone, despite his hostility. "Well, you found us. Did you want something?" He glared at her. "I can take him now." She rolled her eyes. "He's sleeping." "I see that." She stared at him blankly. "So�he can just stay here until he wakes up." "But I want to spend time with him. He's my brother." "Well, it would be awfully selfish of you to wake him up so that you can spend time with him." "Who are you to call me selfish?" "Nevermind." She sighed exasperatedly. "Why don't you just stay here with him? Then he can sleep and you can be with him. I'll be in the back, if you need me�god forbid." Justin shifted from one foot to the other, reluctant to get into her bed. She noticed his hesitation. "It's just a bed. Christ, you won't even lie down in a bed where I was laying? You're not in second grade, Justin. Cooties don't exist." He glared at her, and she stalked off towards the back of the bus. Justin eased himself onto the bed behind his brother. He wrapped his arm around the boy and attempted to get comfortable, but before long Jon was already waking up. The boy opened his eyes slowly a few minutes later with sleep still in his eyes. "Andy?" "No, buddy. It's me." "Justin?" "Yep, it's me." The boy snuggled closer to his brother's chest and mumbled something incoherently. Justin smiled. "What was that, Jon?" "Did I miss it?" Justin's brow furrowed. "Miss what?" "The songs." Justin was touched that Jon wanted so badly to see him perform. "Don't worry. You didn't miss it. I just came back to see you before the show." They lay there for a few moments before Justin looked at his watch and sighed heavily. He hated leaving his brother. "I have to go, buddy." Jon whined. "Noooo..." "I have to. In a little bit, you can come see me sing. And after the show, we'll hang out all night." Jon's face lit up. "Really?" "Really." Justin pulled himself away from his brother reluctantly, causing Andy to hurriedly move out of the doorway where she'd been standing and listening. She ran to sit down and picked up a book that was nearby. Justin stood up, stretching. He walked towards the back with a yawn and peered in the door to see Andy on the couch, reading. He was tired and not in the mood to argue, so he tried to keep his anger in check. "I'm heading out. Bring Jon down to the stage around eight. Make sure you don't stay the whole time though. He needs to be on the bus when we get done. You can just leave him with James�our bus driver. Make sure you keep a low profile at the show. And if you can't handle something, ask one of the security guards. Understand?" She rolled her eyes slightly. "Yes, master." He smirked at her before disappearing through the door again. And that's when she realized that she'd been holding the book upside down. She could only hope that he hadn't noticed. Laughing at her own stupidity, she headed back to the bunk where Jon was. She lay down beside him again, instantly noticing the lingering scent of Justin's cologne. She breathed in deeply and smiled. He smelled good�really good. She shook herself out of it, reminding herself that she didn't like Justin. "Hey Jon? Ready to get up and have some fun?" He sat up right away. "Yeah!" She smiled and tousled his hair. "Hey, watch the hair!" She laughed as he fixed his hair, his mannerisms mimicking his brother's exactly. "Sorry, buddy. It won't happen again." The got up from the bed and headed back into the venue to find something to amuse them for the next few hours. The show that night was the first time Andy ever saw NSYNC perform. But it sure as hell would not be the last. It took every ounce of willpower she possessed to keep an eye on Jon during the concert. She had known they could sing. She'd seen how hot they were earlier in the day. But nothing could have prepared her for their stage show. All she knew was that it was damn lucky Riley was around during Digital Getdown to keep an eye on Jon. When the guys hit the floor, Jon was the furthest thing from her mind. And though she would never admit it, Justin was ranking pretty high on her list of priorities for the duration of that song. Yes, thank God for Riley. The girl was not only talented as all hell, but she also had perfect timing, at least where Andy was concerned. No one should be forced to baby-sit during their first experience with NSYNC and a stage�and humping. It was all she could do to keep herself from doing something irrational like squeal teeny-style or well�moan. She was able to contain herself and got through the rest of the show in one piece, but she was pretty sure that she didn't get away with all the staring at Justin. He'd looked over a few times and caught her looking at him. She'd pretended to be looking at one of the other guys, naturally, but�she was thinking it was all pretty obvious. Like it was even her fault. The boy was undeniably hot. The intro to "Bye, Bye, Bye" started to play, and Andy knew that was her cue to head back to the buses. Not that she could have forgotten. Justin had made sure to send her a few pointed looks during the previous song. She reluctantly tore herself and Jon away from the show and headed towards the parking lot with Riley close behind them. Riley headed straight for the girls' bus, calling goodnight to Jon on the way, and Andy headed for the bus Justin was staying on to leave Jon with James. She scooped Jon up off the ground, despite his protests. "But Andy�I'm five! I can walk myself!" "Yes, I know you can. But we have to hurry, and my legs are longer, which means I can walk faster." He sighed, but gave in. "Okay." The security guards recognized Jon right away and let them past. Andy carried Jon up the stairs and sat him down on the sofa, glancing quickly at her watch. She looked around the bus for James and, when she didn't see him, knocked on the door to the driver's part of the bus. He opened it instantly, smiling. "Can I help you miss?" "Um�yes. Are you James?" "Sure am." "Okay, well�Justin said I was supposed to leave his little brother with you�" "Oh, is Jon here?" He peered around Andy and caught sight of the boy. "I didn't see him there. Hi there Jon�why don't you come up front and sit with me for awhile?" The boy's face lit up. "Okay!" Andy smiled at the man gratefully, before checking her watch again. She sure as hell didn't want to be trapped on the bus with Justin all night...or did she? No. No, she didn't. "Thanks, James. I have to get going�" "Go right ahead. He'll be just fine with me." "Bye Jon. I'll see you tomorrow�" He turned around in the seat to wave to her. "Bye Andy!" Andy walked down the steps, just as the guys were dashing from the building to the bus. She somehow managed to avoid being trampled in all of the chaos and smiled as the guys all called out to her as they passed. Well, Chris whistled. But even Justin nodded at her as he passed, instead of ignoring her altogether. That shocked her more than a little. She shook her head at their antics and headed for her assigned bus, more than ready to collapse into her bunk and let the bus "rock her to sleep" like JC had promised it would. But as she boarded the girls' bus, she saw Riley sitting in the front, biting her nails. Andy had a feeling that she wasn't going to be able to jump right into bed as she had hoped. She stopped in front of Riley. "Hey. What's up?" Riley looked startled. "Oh�hi Andy. I didn't see you come in." "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you�" "Oh, don't worry about it." Andy started to walk towards her bunk, figuring the girl didn't want to be bothered. She was wrong. "Hey, Andy?" Andy turned around. "Hm?" "Um�well, I had an idea earlier. And�this is probably a really stupid way to ask. But. I was wondering if maybe�" Riley paused and bit her fingernail again. "�If maybe you'd like to...bemynewtutor." Andy was a little taken aback. She hadn't exactly expected that. "Oh, wow. Riley�" Riley looked crushed. "No, just forget I said anything. You're probably way too busy�" Andy interrupted the girl. "No, Riley. I'd actually like that a lot. But�it's something I'll have to think about. And are you sure it would be okay with everyone?" Riley brightened instantly, nodding vigorously at Andy. "It would be so great, Andy! And you heard Eric say he needed to find me a new tutor. Oh, please? I'll love you forever!" Andy laughed. "I'm not going to promise anything yet. But I'll think it over. And I'll talk with your manager�with Eric, sometime before I leave." Riley nearly bounced with excitement. "Yes! You're the best! Thank you, thank you, thank you�" Andy yawned. "Believe me, it would actually be a help for me, too�Alright, I'll see you in the morning. I'm going to go to sleep now." Riley grinned at her happily. "Okay. Night Andy." "Night." Andy headed off to bed. She changed into her pajamas and brushed her teeth, before climbing into her bunk. She was just settling herself in, when her cell phone rang. She grumbled to herself and fumbled for her phone. "Oh, just great. At this rate, I'll never get to go to sleep�" |