Chapter 2

~*~ 4 years later ~*~

“What are you gonna wear?”

“I dunno; I’m thinking about wearing my denim skirt and a tank top with some flip-flops. You?”

“Probably some jeans and a tank top with my Air Forces.”

“The white ones?”

“Yeah.”

“That sounds cute. I can’t believe we’re actually going to our first boy/girl party!”

“Chanice, you’re going to your first boy/girl party. I’ve been goin’ to ‘em since last year.”

“Your parents let you go in 6th grade?”

“Well yeah; I can’t believe that this’ll be your first one and you’re in the 7th grade.”

“Well things are different here, Brit,” Chanice said to her good friend Britney. The two of them were on the phone figuring out what they were going to wear to a party that night.

“Don’t I know, Millington’s nowhere near exciting as Louisiana was.”

“Yeah, we’re better,” Chanice replied jokingly. Suddenly there was a knock at her door.

“Hold on,” Chanice told Britney before walking over and opening her door and seeing Justin standing there with two jerseys in his hands.

“Which one should I wear?” he asked.

“On the phone; are you blind now?”

“Is that Justin? He’s so cute!” Chanice heard Britney in her ear and dry-heaved.

“No he’s not!”

“Which one Cece?” Justin asked, using his nickname for her.

“I don’t know. Who let you in? I didn’t hear the doorbell.”

“Your dad, he was raising the garage door when I was walking up to the door and just let me in through the kitchen.”

“Oh; hold on,” she said to Justin, “Britney, let me let you go. This boy needs my help. I’ll see you at the party.”

“Alright, by girl.”

“Bye,” Chanice replied hanging up the cordless phone and tossing it on her bed.

“Now what do you need?” she asked, turning her attention to her best friend of 12 years.

“Should I wear the white or baby blue one?”

“What shoes are you wearing?”

“My light blue and white FUBU’s.”

“Both of them are UNC jerseys, Jay.”

“I know, but which one?”

“Umm…” This was nothing new; Justin was at her house quite a few times a week asking for advice on what to wear. He would always show up in a wifebeater and a pair of the numerous basketball shorts he had. He’d cross the yard that separated their houses or just get her attention through her window since their rooms were right across from each other.

“Wear the blue one.”

“You sure?”

“Have I ever steered you wrong?”

“No, not yet.”

“Not yet! I got you boy!” she replied playfully.

“What about my hair?”

“OMG, who are you tryna impress at this party?”

“No one.”

“Liar!”

“Whatever; what about my hair though?”

“Hold on, I’ll be right back.” Chanice went to her bathroom and returned a few minutes later with clear gel in the palms of her hands. She rubbed it in his mass of blondish curls and sent him on his way back to his house with a friendly swat on his behind.

“Hey!”

“Go get ready, Jay.”

“Alright. Mom said she’s gonna drop us off at seven.”

“Ok, I’ll be ready.” Chanice closed the front door and walked back up to her room to put on her flip-flops and lip gloss before going to the restroom to do her hair.

~*~

Justin and Chanice walked in the party and Eminem’s ’Real Slim Shady’ was blasting through the speakers. The basement was packed, but like every pre-teen party there weren’t that many people dancing together. Chanice saw Britney in the corner with two other girls that they hung out with and walked over while Justin went and joined some of his fellow basketball players on the other side of the room.

“This party is so lame,” Britney said after a while, “No one’s dancing. I could’ve stayed at home if I wanted to be in a divided room.”

“Yeah, I totally agree,” Maggie added. Chanice and Lauren rolled their eyes. Ever since Britney moved to Millington Maggie’s been trying her hardest to basically become her clone. Maggie started off just agreeing with everything Britney said, like it was the law, but what freaked out Lauren and Chanice was when she dyed her hair and changed her style to mirror Britney’s. Lauren even started calling her ’M&M’, short for ’Mini Me’ a few weeks ago and Maggie hated it.

“Someone should go over there and grab a guy to dance with,” Britney said, twirling her blond hair around her index finger.

“Why don’t you go grab Justin?” Lauren asked. Britney scoffed before her face turned a deep shade of pink.

“What! You know you like him! You want his babies,” Chanice teased.

“No I don’t!” Britney exclaimed. The three other girls laughed.

“Ok, this party is boring,” sighed Chanice. All of a sudden she heard Sisqo’s ’Thong Song’ cue up. She smiled and walked over to the other side of the room and grabbed Justin.

“We’re dancing.”

“We are?” he asked, wide-eyed.

“Yes, someone has to get this party started.”

There were ‘oohs’ then cheers then more people came out on the dance floor. By the time the chorus came the entire dance floor was packed and Justin had his hands on Chanice’s hips while they grinded. They were both laughing and neither realized what was going on until she heard Lauren say, “Uh oh! Chanice pushin’ on up on Britney’s man!”

“He’s not my man!” Britney exclaimed over the music.

“And it’s not even like that,” Chanice started, “we’re just dancing.”

“Umm hmm,” Lauren said, eyeing Justin and Chanice. Chanice was just about to say something when the song changed to Destiny Child’s ‘Emotion’. She turned around to face Justin when she felt someone tap her on her shoulder.

“Do you mind if I cut in?” Chanice looked up and saw Pierre standing there with a smile on his face.

“You wanna dance with me or him?” she asked playfully.

“With you! Why would I…” Chanice held up a hand to cut him off.

“Do you mind, Jay?”

“Naw, go ahead Cece,” Justin replied, letting go. Chanice couldn’t believe that she was actually dancing with Pierre! She’d had the biggest crush on him since the beginning of the year and now here she was slow dancing with him at a real house party! She wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his around her waist and they swayed to the rhythm of the music. A smile spread across her face, but was quickly replaced with a frown when the music was abruptly cut off. A loud groan was heard throughout the room, but was then silenced by Britney’s voice.

“Ok, so I have an idea. How does ‘Spin the Bottle’ sound?”