Chapter 8: Pleasure Island
If Chris hadn’t been jumping around the house that October morning the guys wouldn’t have remembered that it was finally the day of their Pleasure Island showcase. They’ve been so hard at work they actually forgot when the date was, until Chris woke them up by jumping on them at least. The best part was that they got to go to Disney World and spend the few hours before sound check doing whatever they wanted at the park.
“Whoa, what’s with the sour face, Curly?” Chris asked with a grin as Justin trudged into the kitchen. Justin merely glared at Chris and raised his middle finger at him. Ordinarily he wouldn’t have gotten away with it, but Lynn was out getting groceries so he knew he wouldn’t get in trouble. “Awww, wittle Justy’s cranky.”
“Knock it off, Chris. You know how he is in the morning,” Mack said as she put a box of cereal and milk in front of Justin before continuing eating her eggs and toast.
“Stop babying him all ready,” Chris said with an eye roll. “His mother does that enough all ready, you don’t have to do it too.”
“I don’t baby him,” she denied. “But it’s unfair. It’s all of you older people against us young ones.”
“Life aint fair, girl,” Chris said somewhat bitterly as he smacked the cereal in his bowl with the back of his spoon. He could feel Justin and Mack starting at him but he ignored the two as he pushed back his chair and got up from the table.
He didn’t mean to snap at them, but he meant what he said. Life wasn’t fair, life was…life and you had to deal with it. That’s what he had to do. He remembered skipping lunch most days of high school because he didn’t want others to know that he was part of the free lunch program. He didn’t have to live off welfare anymore, but it was still a part of him and it still got to him sometimes. He found himself back in his room, his phone up to his ear as he waited for someone on the other end to pick up.
“Hello?” A girl’s voice spoke up.
“Hey Em,” Chris greeted his sister with a smile. Chris, at twenty four, was the oldest and only male in the family. He has four sisters, Molly (21), Kate (19), Emily (13), and Taylor (2). A lot of people thought that he would hate having sisters around all of the time when he was the only guy but he enjoyed every minute of it. “How are you?”
“I’m great. Molly took us to the park yesterday. I can finally do a double cross while jump roping!” Emily replied happily. Chris smiled to himself; he could practically see the smile on her face as he said that.
“That’s great, Em. Can you put Mom on the phone, please?”
“Ok. I love you, Chrisy.”
“I love you too.” Chris waited patiently for his sister to give the phone to his mother. Once he was sure she was on the line he started talking about how things have been going for them, how it was harder than he thought, and how he was excited for their show that night. “You guys can come, right?”
“Of course. We wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Beverly Kirkpatrick replied. “The girls are excited to see their super star brother onstage.”
“They don’t call me that, do they?”
“Yes they do. They brag to their friends about it, you should hear them.”
“I’m no super star, Mom.”
“To me you are, and that’s all that matters.”
The warm and fuzzy feeling that always washed over him whenever his mother talked to him returned and a cheesy grin came to his face. He leaned back against his bed, talking to her for a few minutes before hanging up and joining everyone in the kitchen. JC was in the kitchen wide awake, which was shocking to Chris. Usually they’d have to get him up at the last minute and had a blast watching him running around trying to get ready for the day. He and everyone else were looking at a map of Disney World deciding which section to go to first and what order to go on the rides.
“We can’t go to the Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Hollywood Studios, and the Animal Kingdom if we need to get to sound check in time,” JC was saying as Chris took a seat at the table.
“Aww. Why not?” Justin whined. “I want to go on Space Mountain.”
“It’s not possible, J,” JC said as he shook his head. “We have to stay in Downtown Disney the entire time.”
“But what if we–” Justin started.
“It’s not possible,” JC repeated.
“But what if–”
“No.”
“Why don’t we–”
“Either way you spin it, it won’t be possible,” JC said with a sigh as Justin pouted and slumped in his seat. “J, Downtown Disney has a lot of cool stuff we could do, too.”
“But it doesn’t have Space Mountain.”
“We could at least try,” Lance spoke up. “The show isn’t until…seven or so. Our sound check is at five and it’s…” he paused to look at the clock on the wall. “Nine now. Mrs. Harless should be back in about fifteen minutes and it takes about that long to get there. We could go to a few of those places, head to Downtown Disney at about…four to eat and then get ready for the sound check and stuff.”
They all gaped at him as he sat patiently, waiting for his opinion. How Lance knew that much about their day amazed Chris. He didn’t even know what time their sound check or their show was, yet Lance was able to figure out how long they could take at each place and get to where they needed to be on time.
“If it works out, then I guess we can,” JC said with a shrug. “Anyway, there’s something I want to talk to you guys about,” he said as he placed the plate he was holding on the counter behind him. “I was talking to some friends about the Pleasure Island showcase and I invited someone to spend the day with us. Only if it’s all right with you guys, I wouldn’t want to make you feel weird,” he said as he bit his lip and looked at everyone.
“It’s fine with me,” Joey replied with a shrug. “The more the merrier. Who’s the person anyway?”
“Umm…Nikki DeLoach,” JC mumbled as his face turned red.
“Nikki DeLoach?” Mack and Justin repeated in unison, their mouths falling open while Chris, Joey, and Lance looked at each other in confusion.
“Nikki DeLoach? Peaches? That Nikki DeLoach?” Justin asked as he blinked rapidly, trying to understand what JC said.
“That’s the one,” JC said with a nod. “It’s ok, right? She’ll understand if you wouldn’t want her to come. I mean, I figured it wouldn’t make a difference since Mack would be there and all,” he rambled.
“It’s fine. Just…why her?”
“She’s been my girlfriend for the past three years so…”
“Girlfriend!?” Justin and Mack shouted.
“Which part of this are you two having trouble understanding?” JC questioned, raising an eyebrow. “Yes, Nikki DeLoach, my girlfriend of three years. If you don’t want her there then I could tell her, it’s really no big deal.”
“Ok, you can–” Justin started but stopped when Mack elbowed him hard in the side.
“You can call her and tell her that it’s all right with us,” she interrupted him. Justin glared at her but she ignored it as she went back to eating her breakfast. JC quickly left the room to go call her as Chris, Joey, and Lance talked about which ride they wanted to go on first.
“Hey, could I get a hand with this?” Lynn asked as she came into the kitchen, her arms filled with bags of groceries. Justin and Mack raced over and took some out of her arms and laid it on the kitchen table. “Thanks. Did you eat breakfast?” She asked as she looked around the kitchen. “We leave in about twenty minutes if you still want to go to the Park for the day,” she added as she started to unpack the groceries.
“Lynn, let us do this. You sit down and rest,” Mack said with a smile as she placed her hand on the woman’s.
“That’s mighty kind of you, dear, and thanks,” Lynn said as she kissed Mack’s forehead and Justin’s forehead before going into the living room to sit down.
“Ow!” Mack cried out when Justin slapped her arm. “What the heck did you do that for?”
“Well, I can’t punch you and I really want to do that right now,” he replied as he stacked cans of food on the counter. He stayed silent for a few more seconds before slamming a box of Cheerios down on the counter. “Why’d you do that?” he demanded.
“Do what?” She questioned, opening a cabinet to put up some boxes.
“Tell JC that he could bring Nikki,” Justin replied. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“I shouldn’t have been nice to him? Gee, I thought that’s what you wanted.”
Justin ignored her. “Now he’s going to want to spend the entire day with her when he should be with us. You ruined this for me, ya know.” He threw the rest of the boxes onto the counter and stomped out of the kitchen.
“What? What did I do?” She shouted after him. “Justin!” She let out an angry sigh and attacked the paper bag that was in her hands. Justin was being a big baby for no reason at all. He frustrated her so much sometimes that she wanted to pull every single curly hair out of his head sometimes.
The other boys knew something was wrong between the two friends. For the rest of the time spent at the house they would be on opposite sides of the room, not making any eye contact and pouting as if their lives depended on it. When they finally left they made sure to get into two different cars, Justin with his mother, Chris, and Joey while Mack went with Lance and JC. As soon as they set foot in the park their spirits lifted a little bit, until they found out that they needed to stay with Lynn because they were the youngest.
“This is so not fair,” Justin grumbled as he watched Joey race Chris towards an attraction while JC and Lance took their time. The two followed behind Lynn as they made their way through the park. Even at nine-thirty in the morning it was pretty crowded and filled with a bunch of little screaming kids wanting to go on this ride or that ride.
“C’est la vie,” Mack muttered, more out of habit than an actual response. Justin, out of habit, turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “That’s life,” she replied. “Gosh, I really gotta get you guys an English-to-French Dictionary.”
“Or maybe you gotta start speaking English like the rest of us.”
“Which version: the normal-human-being version or the chicks-basketball-video games version?”
Justin’s lip twitched as he tried to think of a comeback. Up ahead, Lynn was smiling to herself at their antics. She knew that their fight wouldn’t last long. Over the course of the day she made the two go on rides together when it was obvious that they would rather spend the time arguing with each other. After a few hours of going on rides (and bickering) the two kids grew hungry and they went in search for a place to find something to eat. Lynn ate silently, waiting to see which one would crack first from the other’s silent treatment.
The two looked up when they heard a little girl’s scream. She ran over to Goofy who was waving to a bunch of kids and almost tackled him as she tried to hug her. A few feet behind him some little boys were talking excitedly to Jafar. A smile tugged at the corner of Mack’s lips. She turned and locked eyes with Justin to see that he was fighting a smile as well.
“Remember when we came here with Ryan–” He started.
“–and we went around attacking all of the Disney characters,” she finished, chuckling. “Wasn’t the brightest idea on your part. I could get away with it, of course.”
“Until my mom told your mom–”
“–and we got grounded from the park for a week!” The two shouted at the same time before dissolving into hysterical laughter as Lynn smiled slyly behind the sandwich she was holding. She glanced at her watch and said something about having to call Charlotte before walking a few paces away.
“I didn’t know your Mom was coming,” Justin said as he picked the lettuce off of his sandwich.
“I didn’t either,” Mack admitted. “She said she was busy with work. I guess she finally wanted to see the hard work we put in the last couple of weeks.” She shrugged and took a bite of her sandwich, studying him. “So why are you so mad at me?” She finally asked once she swallowed.
“I’m not mad,” he denied with a shrug.
“You wanted to punch me this morning,” she reminded him. “You don’t ever say stuff like that unless I really pissed you off.”
Justin stayed silent a few more seconds before finally looking up at her. “You shouldn’t have invited Nikki.”
“I figured that had something to do with it. I thought you liked Nikki.”
“I do…it’s just…I wanted this to be the six of us, that’s all.”
Mack chuckled. “Woody, we’re together all the time. We live in a dang house together, how much more time can we spend together?”
“We don’t ever spend time together when we have days off,” he corrected. “The rare moments you have a day off of school when we’re off we don’t ever do anything together. Chris, JC, and Joey always go to some club and you, Lance, and are stuck at home.”
“You don’t want them to have their own lives?” Now she was really confused. Justin was never this clingy to people.
“No!” he sighed in frustration. “JC’s my friend,” he finally declared.
“Ohhhh.” Mack put down her sandwich. “J, I’m only saying this ‘cause I love you.” He nodded. “You’re a complete idiot.”
Justin blinked. “Huh?”
“J, how do you think I feel when I’m at school while you get to hang out with them all day long?” She questioned, never breaking eye contact with him. “Sure, I have Heather to talk to and she’s awesome, but she’s not you.” She paused and took a deep breath. “Sometimes I feel like they’re taking you away from me, but I don’t say anything about it. You want to know why?” he nodded. “Because I know that, even though you’re my best friend, you have to have your own life and other friends besides me. It still bothers me when you want to do ‘guy stuff’ with them and leave me out but I learn to deal with it. JC wants to do some things that you can’t do, like go to a club, but that doesn’t mean that he still doesn’t want to be your friend. He has his own life too.”
“When did you become so smart?” Lynn asked as she gently ruffled Mack’s hair.
“Since I’ve been stuck with Trace and Justin for my whole life,” she replied. Justin picked up a fry and threw it at her, a smile on his face. Lynn laughed before telling them that they had only an hour left to go on rides or check out shops before sound check.
“An hour? That’s it?” Justin whined.
“If you didn’t spend most of the day sulking…” Lynn’s voice trailed off.
“What can we do that kills an hour? We still have to get to Downtown Disney,” Mack mused.
“I have an idea!” Justin practically shouted with a grin. “But I know I’m going to need your permission,” he added sheepishly as he smiled at Lynn. “I promise that no one would get hurt, physically or emotionally. Neither will anyone’s feelings. It’ll be a harmless prank.”
“Harmless and prank coming out of your mouth doesn’t really convince me,” Lynn said dryly with a knowing smile.
“Oh, come on Momma. I just gave you my word. What else do you want?” Justin asked as he glanced at the nearby clock, his fingers twitching.
“Just a kiss,” she replied as Mack laughed when his face turned red. He grumbled but kissed her cheek anyway. “Meet me at the stage in an hour!” She shouted over the noise as Justin and Mack ran away as fast as they could.
~*~*~
Joey bit his lip to keep from laughing out loud but the annoyed look on JC’s face was worth laughing at. JC’s cheeks were practically puffed out because of how much air he sucked in to keep from yelling at whoever it was that kept throwing peanuts at the back of his head. Nikki kept telling him to ignore it, laughing all the while.
Lance and Chris were hiding their smiles, all ready knowing who the culprit was, or in this case, who the culprits were.
“Chill, JC, they’re just kids. Let them have fun,” Chris told him as soon as Nikki left the table to go to the bathroom.”
“I’m going to have fun shoving my foot up their butts,” he muttered.
“Relax. They just want attention,” Lance said as he spun his straw in his soda. “Think about it, being fourteen and having to stay with a chaperone? At Disney World of all places?”
“Why am I the target?” JC questioned with a raised eyebrow.
“Like I said, they want you attention. Well, Justin mainly.” Lance pushed away his soda and looked up, noticing the confused look on JC’s face. “Remember how you told me that Justin and Ryan used to follow you around on your MMC set?” JC nodded. “It’s ‘cause they look up to you. He still does. He still likes having your attention. He’ll grow out of it soon.”
“I don’t see why they worship you of all people,” Chris commented.
“As oppose to…I don’t know…you?” JC asked.
“Exactly! I mean, I’ve been around the longest. I know how to get out of trouble. I have experience–”
“Crashing cars, running red lights, turning onto an interstate at the last minute at 60 mph, shoving little kids to get to a front of a line, yelling back at movie screens,” Joey listed as he counted off his fingers. “Need I go on?”
“You need to shut up,” Chris shot back.
“What we really need to do is get to sound check,” JC interrupted before the two started arguing. “Hey, sweetie, we have to get going. I’ll see you after the show, ok?” JC said as soon as Nikki got back to the table.
“All right. Break a leg,” she said giving him a hug and a kiss.
“What was that for?” He asked with a smile.
“For good luck.”
“Can I have more luck?” he asked with a cheesy grin.
“No time, Romeo!” Chris shouted as he grabbed the collar to JC’s shirt and dragged him with Lance and Joey. The boys walked through Downtown Disney to get to Pleasure Island. They reached the building where they would perform later that night and followed the hallways until they got to the large room. Justin was all ready on stage dancing around and singing in time with the music as Mack sat in a chair and watched closely, commenting from time to time.
“You’re a little too fast on that part. Slow it down a bit and you’ll be in time with the song,” she told him and he nodded.
He wiped sweat off of his forehead and waved at the guys. “It’s about time you got here. You older guys are so slow!” His grin faded when JC lifted an eyebrow. A split second later Justin was running around the stage trying to get away from JC who was chasing after him.
“How long did it take?” Mack whispered to Chris, nodding towards the running boys.
“Three minutes,” Chris replied. “JC usually has more patience than that, but it was worth it. He ended up looking like a puffer fish.”
“It makes my job as the honorary little sister worth it,” she said as she leaned back in her chair and held out her hand for him to slap it. “Now get your ass on that stage. You gotta practice.”
“Me!?” He cried out as if he had been personally offended. She nodded. “Me? I’m, like, the best one out of these losers,” he said as he jerked his thumb in JC’s direction. He and Joey had managed to hold Justin down on stage as JC dangled a loogie in front of Justin’s face as he tried to get away.
“And yet you still stop in the middle to laugh at Lance trying to do a body roll,” she replied while squinting at him.
“’Trying’ is the key word there, Canada,” Chris said as he flicked her nose. “You try having to dance near him and keep a straight face.”
“I have to use every ounce of self control I have to stop myself from laughing whenever I see you,” Mack said with an eye roll. “Now go.” She placed a foot on his butt and kicked him forward when he didn’t move. He grumbled under his breath as he rounded up the other guys.
“Joshua, suck in that loogie!” Chris ordered.
JC looked up and did as he was told. Justin made a face as he shoved JC away from himself, scrambling to his feet as JC and Joey high fived. Justin grumbled something under his breath as he brushed himself off.
“Ok guys. Start with Dreaming,” Mack called as she signaled for the sound guy to start the track. They took their places on stage and waited for the track to kick in. Once it started they moved around effortlessly, as if they were dancing in their sleep. There were only a few noticeable flaws here and there, mainly where Lance would miss a step, other than that they were spot on.
The smile on JC’s face after sound check was so big they were surprised that it fit. He couldn’t help but smile at how much they’ve improved in only a few short months. They hardly had to stop and catch their breaths anymore.
“We still have about an hour and a half,” Lance commented.
“We should get home and shower,” JC said as he wiped sweat off his forehead.
“Yeah,” Justin agreed as he pulled his damp shirt from himself. “You need one too,” he added as he nodded at Mack.
“Me? Why? I’m not the one drenched in sweat,” she commented. Before she could move Justin jumped off of the stage and pulled her to his chest, hugging her hard and successfully getting sweat on her. “Eewwwwww! Get off, you freak!” She shouted as she tried to get away from him.
“Why? I’m just showin’ some compassion here. You are my best friend after all.”
“Don’t try and take the innocent route, Timberlake. Let go!” She finally managed to pry his hands away from her and backed away from him. “Great,” she muttered. “I’ll meet you guys back here. I’m going home to shower.”
“Uh…we kinda live in the same house, dumbnut,” Chris pointed out.
“I meant my house, Old Timer,” she shot back with a smirk as he glared. “I just gotta tell Lynn I’m going.”
“How’re you going to get there?”
“By car, stupid.”
“Hey, there’s no need for name calling, young lady,” Chris said in a fatherly-like tone.
“Seriously though, if Lynn and JC drove here, how are you going to get back?”
“I could take you back,” JC offered. “I have to drop of Nikki anyway.”
Mack raised an eyebrow. “She’s not staying?”
“No. She has stuff to do.” She studied his face as he said that. His tone was nonchalant but his eyes were telling a different story. She decided not to call him out on it, it wasn’t her business anyway.
“All right.” She turned towards Justin and pointed a warning finger. “No sugar. The both of you,” she added looking at Chris who was snickering but stopped when he noticed that she was looking at him. He stuck out his tongue and she returned the gesture.
“All right kids, knock it off.”
~*~*~
“JOSH!”
JC jerked his head up to see Heather standing in the doorway. She had her arms crossed over her chest and had an eyebrow risen. He pulled the headphones off of his ears.
“What?” he questioned.
“Shouldn’t you be leaving? You wouldn’t want to be late,” Heather said as she looked at the clock on the wall. JC jerked his head in the direction of the clock and his mouth fell open. “Same ol’ JC, always the last one there,” she muttered as he jumped off of his bed and rushed around to find his shoes.
“Same ol’ Heather, still not being helpful,” JC shot back playfully as he pulled his shoes onto his feet and tied them as quickly as possible. “Are you ready to go”–he looked up and stared at what his sister was wearing–“back into your room and change clothes?”
Heather looked down at the clothes she was wearing: a red tank top and black capris. He would’ve been fine with it if the shirt was a little bit longer and covered the exposed sliver of her stomach. She shrugged. “There’s nothing wrong with what I’m wearing and you don’t want to make yourself later than you actually are.”
“Ok, but if you wear a jacket,” he replied, staring hard.
“It’s eighty-seven degrees outside.”
“Heather…”
“You’re going to be late, Joshua.”
JC grumbled under his breath but shoved Heather out of the door and down the hall anyway. Tyler, who was on the living room floor drawing on a piece of paper, looked up when the two came into the living room. “Shouldn’t you have left all ready?” He questioned.
“Yeah yeah. Mom, we’re leaving,” JC called as he grabbed his car keys off of the table.
“Where’s Nikki? I thought she was going too,” Tyler spoke up.
“She’s busy.”
‘That’s weird. Usually she’s glued to your side,” Tyler commented. “I mean, you’d have to use a crowbar to separate you two.”
“I get it!” JC glared at Tyler who smiled innocently as Karen came into the living room. “I’m going to be late. After the show they’re going to keep a club open as an after party thing. We might go to that. If not I’ll call you.”
“Keep an eye on Heather,” Karen said as she hugged him. “Don’t let her out of your sight.”
“Moooom!” Heather whined. “I can take care of myself. I don’t need Josh watching me.” Karen gave her a stern look and she sighed. “Can I give you an ultimatum?”
“Can you give it in the car?” JC asked as he glanced back and forth at his sister and the clock on the wall. Desperation clung to his voice. He knew he’d get his head chewed off if he waited any longer to leave.
“I stick by Mack the entire time,” Heather continued, ignoring him. “That way I’m with someone I know and Josh wouldn’t have to worry about where I am and who I’m with.” Karen clicked her tongue as she thought it over. She nodded and Heather hugged her hard. “Thanks mom! You’re the best!”
“Once the show starts come find me.”
“Ok. I–“She was interrupted by JC’s jeep horn and him shouting for her to get in the car. “I liked it better when he was quiet,” she grumbled as Karen chuckled.
~*~*~
“Moooom! Come on!” Mack shouted from the bottom of the stairs. She spun the hat that was in her hands as she sighed heavily for the sixth time in five minutes. She hated having to wait for her mother to take her places; she always took forever to get ready. “Mom!”
“Hold on, sweetie. I still have to put on makeup,” Charlotte shouted down the stairs.
“Ugh! I was supposed to be there ten minutes ago!” Mack groaned. “Justin’s going to be mad.”
“Sweetie, I’m sure your boyfriend will understand.”
“Boyfriend!?” Mack laughed as Charlotte came down the stairs putting earrings in her ear. “Justin? My boyfriend? There is no way in this life that that would ever happen, Mom.”
“Why? You two are around each other all the time,” Charlotte said as she put her hands on her hips.
“Yeah, ‘cause we’re friends,” she replied putting as much emphasis on the word friends as she could. “That’s it. He’s more like a brother anyway.”
“Ok, so what about JC?” She asked as she gently pushed Mack out the door.
“Ugh. Mom, I don’t like any of ‘em. They’re too…weird for my taste,” she replied lamely as she got into the passenger side of the car. She put her headphones over her ears, ready to cancel out anything Charlotte was going to say to her. She paused with her finger over the play button as she took in what Charlotte had just said. “What?” She questioned.
“I said Paul is going to come,” she responded as she backed out of the driveway.
“You dressed up because of him?” Mack questioned, raising an eyebrow as Charlotte chuckled. She knew her question was weird. Charlotte ‘dressed up’ every time she left the house. Still, something about her attitude struck a nerve.
“No, honey. It would’ve been for your father”–Mack tried not to gag–“if he didn’t have to work late tonight.”
“What’s up with you and Dad?” Mack questioned, lowering her headphones. Charlotte gave her a confused look. “You and Dad are working late all of a sudden. It’s not like you two. You even missed my birthday.”
“Honey, you know that we wouldn’t miss it unless we had a good reason,” Charlotte said as she reached out to stroke her daughter’s head but Mack moved out of the way. “And we made up for it the next day.”
“Yeah, I remember,” she sighed. They had made up for it by taking her to one of her favorite restaurants, but the night ended up slightly ruined when her Dad had to leave the table three times to take a call. Then, when they got home, he accidentally dropped the cake. While it was funny at the time she couldn’t help but notice that he was off that night.
~*~*~
Justin took one look around the backstage area as he kept his hands glued to his microphone. Chris, for once, was silent as he leaned against the wall. The shade of green his face was taking spoke volumes about how sick he felt. Lance was calmly sitting in a chair taking random sips of the drink that Lynn and Diane had provided for them. Joey was talking to some random stagehand girl and JC was sitting in a chair, eyes closed, and his lips moving as he sang the songs in his head.
“C’mon, where are you?” Justin whispered to himself as he glanced at the clock on the wall. He let out another frustrated sigh before taking a bottle of water off of the table and chugging it.
“Are you boys ready?” Lynn asked as she came into the room, a big smile that only a parent could get was on her face.
“No. Mack’s not here yet,” Justin replied. As if on cue she burst through the door, panting heavily. “About time,” Justin commented.
“Yeah yeah, we got stuck in traffic,” she said with a dismissive wave of her hand. “There are a lot of people out there.”
“Thanks for that,” Chris groaned, holding his stomach.
“How many?” Lance spoke up.
“A few hundred, give or take,” she replied. “Most of them are girls, which doesn’t surprise me. I guess Lynn’s flyer idea worked.” She suddenly clapped her hands, causing all of them to jump. “You guys ready to do this?”
“I’m ready to hurl,” Chris replied.
“You guys are so ready for this, and I wouldn’t say that if it weren’t true. You’ve worked really hard and you’ll do amazing, trust me.” She opened her arms and Justin pulled her into a tight hug. She blinked but laughed when Joey came over and hugged the two. Soon they were all in a group hug, laughing with each other, their nerves floating away.
“All right guys.” Justin let out a breath. “Let’s do this.”
~*~*~
“I still can’t believe they were that good. I mean I knew they always were…but wow. They were so great. Their timing was perfect and their styles complimented another so well. I…I just can’t believe it,” Heather rambled as she and Mack walked with the large crowd towards the open club that served as the Pleasure Island Showcase After Party, or PISAP as it was called. Heather wanted to get away as soon as possible after the celebratory hugs were given out so she could see if some guys from their class showed up like they said they would. Of course, she didn’t want JC to know this so she claimed that she was going to try and find a good table for them.
“Heather, shut up all ready!” Mack cried out although a smile was on her face.
“You should be congratulated too. You’re the one who came up with the dance moves,” Heather continued.
“Nah, it’s their night.” She shrugged then her eyes practically popped out of her head when she took in her surroundings of the club. Strobe lights were flashing; a disco ball hanging from the ceiling caused tiny colored squares to circle around the room, the electric pulses of bass music bounced around them and moving bodies were on the dance floor all ready. Being underage, she, Justin, and Lance constantly wondered what it was like inside and it was better than she ever imagined.
“Come on, let’s find a table!” Heather had to shout over the music to be heard. Before they could move they faintly heard someone yelling “Mini” before it got louder and they found the source of the yelling.
“Tony!” Mack gasped. Her heart started working in overtime and she was grateful for the dark club hiding her red cheeks. “You came,” was all she could muster.
“I said I would,” he replied with a smile. “Heather, right?” He asked as he looked at her and she nodded. “Nice to see you again.”
“You too. How’ve you been? How’s LA?” Heather asked calmly, which made Mack envy her.
“Great. I’m still looking around for a company to sign me but I take odd singing jobs here and there,” he said with a shrug. “So, Mini, want to dance?” He asked, using the MMC Cast’s nickname for Mack.
She silently raised her eyebrows as she looked at Heather who quickly said, “Go ahead. I’ll find a table and flag the guys down once they get here.” She watched as they disappeared in the moving crowd before turning to find a place to sit that hadn’t all ready been taken.
Once she found a place to sit she looked through the crowd and finally found her friend dancing. Heather marveled at how she made dancing look like a walk through the park. Heather didn’t like to dance because she felt weird about it.
Heather kept her eyes glued on the couple as they danced through song after song, the smile never leaving Mack’s face. Once a slow song came on Tony leaned close to her ear and said something before the two pushed their way through the crowd.
“It’s about time we got there,” Joey’s voice caused her to jump. “There are so many hot chicks around; I don’t know where to start.”
“Try a cold shower,” JC suggested as he punched Joey on the arm and the others started laughing.
“What took you guys so long to get here?” Heather asked as she moved over to give them room at the table.
“Lynn wouldn’t let us go,” Lance replied. “She hugged each of us for a good ten minutes.”
“I think I cracked a rib,” Chris added. “Your mom is stronger than she looks,” he added as he nudged Justin.
Justin smiled faintly before looking around. “Hey, where’s Mack?”
“Yeah. I thought you told Mom that you’d be with her the entire time,” JC added, flagging down a waiter to take their drink order.
“Well, I figured it’d be fine if she were with Tony so–” Heather started.
“Tony!?” JC repeated, interrupting her. “She’s with him?”
“What’s wrong with that? Tone’s a great guy,” Justin said with a shrug. “Why’re you so worried?”
“Why aren’t you? You two are joined at the hip.”
“Maybe so, but that doesn’t mean I go crazy when she’s out of my sight for more than five minutes,” Justin said as he stared pointedly at JC, who flushed. “She can take care of herself.”
“Not if he’s been drinking.”
“He’s underage.”
“So’s Joe but that doesn’t stop him whenever he gets the chance,” JC pointed out.
Justin frowned. JC was right, but he didn’t want to admit it. Joey managed to drink even though he was underage. Probably because he looked older than he was. When Joey drank enough he turned into a different person, someone that Justin didn’t want to be around. If that could happen to Joey…
“I still don’t get what’s wrong,” Heather spoke up.
“Tony…when he drinks he’s more…courageous,” JC sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. “He doesn’t think straight.”
“Wait…” Justin said slowly as he squinted at JC. “That time Tony came to set with a black eye?”
“He tried to get with a girl and she punched him,” JC confirmed. Before he could say anything else Heather jumped up from the table and shoved her way through the dancing crowd. “You check by the bathrooms, I’ll check outside,” JC told Justin before he jumped out of his seat.
~*~*~
“Are you sure you don’t want any?” Tony asked as he held out his glass, shaking it lightly so the golden liquid spun around the bottom.
“I’m fourteen. I’m way too young,” Mack replied as she pushed it away from her face.
“I was your age when I first tried it. It’s not that bad, really,” he said with a shrug as he put the glass down on the counter. “I have to say, I’m impressed,” he told her suddenly.
“By what?” She asked in confusion.
“By you. I mean, staying in a house with those guys 24/7 and you haven’t pulled out your hair?” He chuckled as he reached forward and gently tugged the bangs that fell into her eyes. “You shouldn’t hide behind your hair,” he continued, pushing her hair back behind her ears. “Your eyes are a beautiful shade of blue, you should show them off.”
A smile formed on her lips as she twisted on her stool a little bit. Everything she wanted to hear come out of his mouth was her reality, but something was off, she just couldn’t put her finger on it. It was either the way he was looking at her with clouded eyes or the nagging fact that he was still with Kerri.
“I…have to find Justin,” she mumbled as she slid off of the stool.
“What’s the rush?” he asked as he grabbed her wrist to stop her from moving.
“He’ll get worried.”
“One more dance, please?” He asked, flashing her a smile. “Please?” He placed a hand on her cheek and gently stroked it with his thumb, causing her knees to tremble.
“Ok, fine.” Her heart lurched when he grabbed her hand, squeezing it a bit as he pulled her onto the dance floor where other couples were holding each other and swaying to the music. She practically got a heart attack when he placed his hands on her waist. She put her hands on his shoulders and looked anywhere but at him, as someone would turn their head so they wouldn’t look directly into the sun.
She still couldn’t believe that Tony was paying any attention to her. It was something that she and Britney talked about on set and on the phone. It felt too good to be true. Mack was snapped back to reality when she felt a hand that was on her waist start to travel south.
“What’re you doing?” She demanded as she placed her hands on her chest and shoved him.
“Relax,” he muttered as his eyes turned hard. He reached out to her again but she backed away, bumping into a couple. “Would you quit acting like a little baby?” He growled through clenched teeth. He grabbed her waist, trying to pull her closer, as she pounded her fists on his chest to try and push him away. He kept a strong grip on her waist, a hand snaking its way under her shirt and across her flat stomach. “If you’d just relax, you’d enjoy this!”
“Let go!” Her voice was muffled over the loud music. Her heart jumped into her throat when she felt his hand start to higher. All of a sudden she felt herself being shoved a bit. She looked up to see a nervous look on Tony’s face but he was looking over her head. She turned to see what he was looking at and a feeling of relief washed over her.
“Hey Jace. What’s goin’ on?” Tony asked as he shoved his hands into his pockets. He glanced around when the techno music filled the air again before looking at JC.
“Not much, Tone,” JC replied. He looked at Mack who was staring at the floor as if it had suddenly grown interesting. “We have to go,” he said as he gripped her upper arm. “We can’t stay out too late.”
“Always have to be the father figure, eh, Josh?” Tony asked with a smirk.
JC turned hard eyes on his friend. “Someone has to be responsible,” he muttered. Tony held his gaze, as if the two were in a staring contest. Finally Tony turned away and disappeared into the crowd. “Are you ok?” JC asked as he shifted his arm to lay it across her shoulders, hugging her to him. She nodded. “Let’s go home, kid.”
Chapter End Notes:
I don't own Disney World, Tony, Nikki, or any mentioned Disney characters. I only own the plot and my character. Please read and review! Constructive criticism is accepted!
Story Tags: friendsturnedlovers unrequited presync eurosync love bestfriendj tourj jealous originalcharacter boybands
