Chapter Six

(Thursday, October 10th, 1 p.m.)

“Come on, Shan! You’ve gotta tell me what happened last night!” Meaghan begged her best friend, jumping up and down on her bed. “I won’t stop bugging you till you tell me, so you might as well!”

“I told you what happened. We were working on the project, he kissed me, Chris came over, then he left, Joey took me home, kissed me again, and we’re supposed to go out tonight.” Shannon summarized.

“You’re no fun, you know that?” Meaghan groaned, flopping onto the bed.

“I’m lots of fun!” Shannon insisted, grinning. The doorbell rang, and the girls stared at each other.  “Are you expecting someone?”

“No … you?” Meaghan wondered as they started for the door.

“Nope, Joey’s supposed to call me when he’s about to come over.” She opened the door, and they were both greeted with the sight of Joey loaded down with grocery bags, smiling.

“Hey Shannon, Meaghan. Do you mind letting me in? These things are starting to get heavy,” Joey remarked, shifting his weight.

“Come in,” Shannon opened the door wider, and Joey deposited the groceries on the kitchen table. He strode over to where Shannon was hanging back shyly and pulled her into his arms for a hug, kissing her gently.

“I missed you,” Joey smiled softly, making her heart melt, and Meaghan made gagging noises behind them. “Hi Meaghan, how are you?”

“Not bad, my stomach’s feeling a little queasy after that display,” Meaghan grinned.

“It better not be, I’m about to make you guys my famous spaghetti tonight,” Joey began pulling items out of the bags and arranging them on the counter.

An hour later, the sauce was simmering on the stove, and Joey was showing Shannon how to make meatballs when his cell phone rang. Holding up his hands, Joey cast a pitiful look at Meaghan who was busy stirring the sauce.  “Could you grab that and answer it for me?”

“I guess.” Meaghan sighed sarcastically and pulled the phone off his belt. “Hello?  You've reached Joey's Pants.”

“Hello? Who’s this?” A frustrated male voice demanded.

“Excuse me?” Meaghan asked. “This is Meaghan. Who are you?”

“What are you doing on Joey’s cell phone?”

“He asked me to answer it for him, since he’s busy. You still haven’t told me who you are,” Meaghan insisted.

“Why should I? I don’t know who you are or how you got Joey’s cell - ”

“I told you, I’m Meaghan and Joey’s busy so he asked me to answer for him. Someone sounds cranky,” Meaghan remarked to Joey, who was trying not to laugh.

“Excuse me?” The voice roared. “I'm cranky? Who the hell are you to tell me anything! Where’s Joey?”

“He’s right here, but he’s busy right now. If you’d tell me who you are, I’d tell him to call you back, but since you won’t tell me, I guess I’ll just have to hang up.” Meaghan smiled sweetly, enjoying every minute.

“What? I don’t believe this! Fine, this is Justin, now can I talk to Joey?” Meaghan took a deep breath, realizing who it was she was talking to. Laughing, she decided to keep messing with him; it was too easy to get him riled up.

“No, I don’t think so.”

“WHAT?” He shouted, hearing Joey’s laughter in the background, which only aggrivated him further. “What do you mean ‘no’? Do you even have the slightest comprehension who you are talking to?”

“Someone who’s pretty damn cocky, I’d say.” Meaghan answered.

“Now I'm cocky?  That’s it! Where the hell is Joey? I’m going to kill him!” Justin fumed.

“1003 Riley Court, apartment B,” Meaghan replied.

“I’ll be there in five minutes, tell Joey to stay put.” Justin clicked off his phone, amazed at the girl’s audacity. Who did she think she was, talking to him like that? He quickly found the address she had given him, and stomped up the steps of the apartment building, formulating what he was going to say when he got to the door. Stopping in front of the apartment door, he knocked loudly. He was just about to knock again when the door swung open, revealing the prettiest girl he had seen in a long time.

“So … you’re the famous Justin Timberlake,” Meaghan remarked, looking him up and down.

“Uh … um …” For once in his life, Justin Timberlake was tongue-tied. Joey stared at his friend in amazement, and looked at Shannon, who was unsure whether to laugh or go to Justin’s defense.

“Is that all you have to say?” Meaghan locked eyes with Justin, her breath catching when she noticed how deeply blue they really were.

“Hi, I’m Justin,” he managed to squeak out. “You must be Meaghan …” he looked to her for her last name.

“Meaghan Fraser,” she grinned. “It's nice to meet you, too.” Meaghan smirked as she walked away, leaving Joey and Justin both with their jaws on the floor. Shannon had both her hands pressed against her mouth as she tried to hold back her laughter as she followed Meaghan back to the kitchen. Joey looked at Justin, who looked after Meaghan in shock.

“I guess she told you,” he laughed. “Man, I’ve never seen someone leave you speechless like that before. She got you good.”

“Is she single?” Justin wondered, his eyes twinkling, and Joey patted him on the shoulder, shaking his head.

“Meaghan! You certainly weren't easy on him,” Shannon laughed, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Meaghan tossed her head, her blue eyes lit up with triumph. “I don’t care who he is, he’s no better than anyone else. He needs to stop being a spoiled brat and start acting his age instead of half his shoe size.”

“I guess I sort of deserved that,” Justin said as he entered the kitchen, a sheepish look on his face. He was followed by Joey, who pulled Shannon over to the meatballs, wearing a smug smile.

“Yeah, you sort of did,” Meaghan responded, turning her back on Justin to pay attention to the simmering sauce. Justin shifted his weight uncomfortably, grimacing at her words.

“You’re right, I was. And I’m sorry, I hope you can accept my apology.” He leaned against the counter and tried to make eye contact with her. “I really am sorry.”

“Well …” Meaghan looked at him ruefully. “I did kind of egg you on.”

“That you did. But, still, I shouldn’t have acted the way I did.” Justin grinned. “So are we cool?”

“Yeah, we’re cool. It’s nice to meet you, by the way.” Meaghan smiled at him. “I never thought you’d ever be standing here in my kitchen. But since you’re here … chop up this garlic.” He looked wide-eyed at the cloves of garlic she pushed towards him.

“Uh-oh Meaghan. You don’t know what you’re asking.” Joey teased.  “Justin doesn’t know the first thing about chopping. Come to think of it, J, I don’t think I’ve ever seen you in a kitchen.” Justin shot a dirty look at Joey.

“That’s what you think, Fatone. I can cook, and I can certainly chop up a clove of garlic.” He went to work on the garlic, a look of fierce determination on his face.