Chapter 9: The Catch
“I still don’t get why you have to leave.”
Lance sighed as he folded another t-shirt and laid it on top of the pile in his suitcase. Joey was sitting on Lance’s bed, watching the blond as he packed the rest of his suitcase. He tried everything he could to get Lance to stay, but Diane won over in the end.
After the Pleasure Island showcase the only thing they could do was wait to see if they would get picked up by a record company. In that time Lance could be finishing his education back home in Mississippi and if they ever needed him back in Orlando he would be on the first flight out. Once Diane’s mind was made up it was impossible for them to switch it back. Joey and Lance both tried to convince her to let him finish school there but she declined. So they spent the last day relaxing by playing video games, swimming in the backyard pool, going to the arcade and watching movies. It was a very low key way for them to say goodbye to him but he wouldn’t want it any other way.
“I need to go back,” Lance replied as he tried to shove the lid down on his suitcase. “Mom is right, there really isn’t a reason to stay here waiting for a call. If it comes, I’ll fly right back out. In the meantime I need to finish school.”
“They have perfectly good schools here you could attend,” Joey pointed out.
“I know, but I miss my family,” he admitted, giving up on the lid of the suitcase and sitting down on his bed. “Time will fly by, man,” he continued smiling a little. “I’m always reachable by phone. I’ll be around so you have someone to talk to about your latest flirting conquest.”
“Or failure,” Justin called as he passed by the door, carrying a box. Lance would have been moving his own boxes to the large moving truck that was waiting to go but he decided to take Joey’s advice and make the “little ones” do it for him. After all, he was two years older than the youngest ones so that mean that he had some sort of seniority over them.
Lance rolled his eyes but smiled anyway. He knew that Justin was just teasing Joey; it was their own special way of saying that they care for each other without having to say it out loud. In the small amount of time they all knew each other they could honestly say they were each other’s best friends, brothers even. Lance was excited to go back home but he didn’t want to leave them behind. They could all tell what he was feeling so they amped up on the teasing and name calling, making sure he had a smile on his face instead of pondering over the fact that he was leaving.
“Honey, do you have everything packed?” Diane asked as she came into the room.
“I think so,” Lance replied as he looked around the now empty room. He grabbed the last box that was in the room and carried it out the front door. He was surprised to see a few Rolls-Royces sitting in the driveway. He still wasn’t used to Lou spending so much money on them, taking them around town in limos and treating them to dinner at upscale restaurants. “Yeah, this is the last one,” he announced as he lifted the box higher and shoved it into the back of the large truck.
“Everyone to the cars,” Lou ordered as he opened the door to a Rolls-Royce.
“Wait, I haven’t said bye to Mack yet,” Lance said as he looked around the yard. His eyes rested on the guys, Lynn, his mom, and then Lou. “Where is she? It’s not even close for her to leave for school,” he said as he looked at his watch.
“She’s probably still in her room,” Justin said with a shrug. “I’ll check.” Lance followed the young boy back into the house, his eyebrows knitting together in worry. It was odd; Mack was always the first one awake. Now she was nowhere to be seen… “Huh?” He heard Justin utter. “She’s not here. Her room’s empty.” His eyes widened. “What if something happened? What if someone broke in and took her? What if she’s being held against her will? What if–”
“Whoa, Justin, chill!” Lance said as he grabbed Justin’s shoulders and shook him a little. Justin immediately quieted down and looked up at Lance with fear-filled eyes. “You gotta stay calm. Now, when was the last time you saw her?”
“Carrying boxes to the truck,” he replied.
It suddenly dawned on Lance. “I know where she is.” He turned and went straight back out of the house, making a beeline for the moving truck. He lifted himself into the back and walked past many boxes. He found Mack sitting by a big box, holding his Taz plushie in her arms. “We’ve been lookin’ all over for you. You had Justin go crazy with theories of your whereabouts.” She didn’t respond. “Why are you hiding?” He asked as he sat down next to her.
“I don’t want you to go,” she mumbled in response. “You can stay here in Orlando with us. You can go to school here with me, or get home schooled like Justin.”
“I have to go home to my family. I can’t just bring them all here,” he pointed out.
“We’re your family too. You’re leaving us behind,” she replied in a small voice as she held the toy tighter.
Lance was surprised by how childlike she was acting. She was only fourteen but she constantly acted more like a mother than her actual age. Seeing her act like a kid was actually really weird to see. “I’m still reachable by phone. We’re only an hour behind so you can call me at any reasonable time.” He emphasized reasonable because he knew that Justin would call at some ridiculous hour if she didn’t stop him. “Like I said I’ll come back for any *NSYNC business that you need me physically here for. We just have to wait to get signed and there’s not much I can do here.”
“Who am I going to have a philosophical conversation with now?” She whined.
“Talk to JC,” he replied. “He knows a lot more than I do. Remember, he actually went to a normal high school for a bit. He knows more than the rest of them. Even though Chris and Joey went, I’m pretty convinced that they didn’t pay that close attention in class.” He smiled when she burst out laughing and hugged her to him. “Tell you what, you can keep my Taz so it’s like I’m always here. Everything will be fine. You still have the other guys here; they’ll take care of you.”
“Now you know I’m the one doing the taking care of around here,” she said as she stood and stretched. “If it weren’t for me Lynn would go off the wall.”
“That’s true,” Lance agreed, chuckling. “While I’m gone promise that you’ll stay out of trouble. I don’t want to hear about you getting a detention or another suspension.”
“That one wasn’t my fault and you know it!” He gave her a stern look and she sighed. “Ok, I won’t get into trouble. I’ll be a little angel.”
“Hey now, I never said anything about you changing completely.” A shocked look came to her face but she smiled nonetheless. “Come on, I don’t want to be late for my flight.”
“My master plan was so close to working too.”
He took her hand and walked back to the open end of the truck. He jumped down and held out his hand to help her down. “I found her,” he called. A few seconds later the guys rushed out of the house followed by Lynn, Diane, and Lou. “There’s a reason why she’s the master of hide and seek,” he added, trying to make the situation light hearted.
“Great. Now that we’re all here we can go to the airport,” Lou spoke up. “But don’t expect to be back in Mississippi for long,” he added, winking at Lance who beamed and nodded.
“Stupid school,” Mack mumbled.
“Remember what I told you,” Lance said before pulling her into a hug.
“Yeah, yeah. I know,” her voice was muffled by his shirt. “Come back soon, ok?”
~*~*~
The days turned into weeks, which turned into months and Lou still hadn’t found a record label for the boys. He claimed that he’s been searching for a while but the boys were slowly starting to lose faith. He would try to get them to keep his trust by making them sing and dance at random events held around the town. Once they even flew to Mississippi to perform a little show at Lance’s school. Their performance went over well with the students and the euphoric feeling they got when they first performed in front of people came rushing back.
Afterwards they found themselves waiting even longer. It had almost been a year, two months short in fact, since they filmed their Pleasure Island demo and the boys were tired of waiting. JC got a hold of Lou many times asking about being signed. Lou constantly told him to not worry and that he should stick with singing and dancing, that Lou would take care of everything.
Lance had returned in January when Lou had said that they would do a huge tour around Orlando. To prepare them Mack had the boys work in a warehouse nearby. It was always really hot in the warehouse. They begged her many times to switch the practice area but she kept them there, saying that they’d thank her for it later.
Lou had gotten in contact with a friend of his named Johnny Wright to become their manager while Lou handled their finances. Johnny knew more people in the business than Lou did so Lou thought it was a great idea to have him as their manager. They even went up to New York a few times to perform for different record companies to see if they would get signed. Each time they came home with smiles on their faces, thinking they aced it, but would only have the rug pulled out from under them with a single phone call.
By the time August rolled around the boys were getting tired of waiting. Mack and Joey tried to be optimistic about the situation but even they were beginning to lose home. Mack “lost” her best friend when Karen, Heather, and Tyler moved back to Maryland while Roy stayed in Orlando. Besides having to deal with their boys and their well being she also had to deal with her parents who were both slowly starting to put her on the backburner while they put their jobs first, both of which made them work a lot more than usual. She claimed that she was glad that they were getting more work and now she could spend more time with her friends and her “second mom”.
Like every Saturday they were bored waiting around for a phone call so they decided to play game to pass the time. Justin and Chris had created a game they liked to call Sweatshirt Slap. Basically they split into two teams of three and put on large sweatshirts (Mack could borrow any one of theirs because she was the smallest). Then they would run around the house, jumping off of furniture, using the long sleeves to slap the other in the face. Of course, they only did this when Lynn wasn’t around.
Currently the teams were split up so Chris, Lance, and Mack were on one side and Joey, JC, and Justin was on the other. They were cleverly dubbed the Shorties and the Redwoods. Chris dove in front of the couch and rolled into a ball, trying to stay out of Joey’s sight as he came tiptoeing into the room. He moved behind the couch, slowly looking around the room. Chris, slowly and quietly climbed onto the back of the couch. Joey whirled around right as Chris jumped into the air and tackled Joey to the ground, frantically swatting Joey’s face with the arms of the sweatshirt.
“Ha ha HA! Guess what tree got knocked down by a shortie!” He cheered triumphantly as he punched his arms in the air, the longer parts of the sleeve dropping down so he looked like a giant M.
“Yeah yeah, get off of me you monkey,” Joey said as he shoved Chris off of him. “Man, why we decided to play this game in a house in Orlando is beyond me,” he muttered as he pulled the sweatshirt off and let out a sigh of relief. “Let’s do something else.”
“You always do that,” Mack said suddenly, causing them to jump. She had hidden in the games chest that was in the corner.
“Do what?” Joey asked.
“You always want to switch games when you’re losing,” she pointed out as she pulled off the sweatshirt and dropped it onto the floor in a heap.
“No I don’t,” he denied, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Yes you do.”
“No I don’t.”
“Yes you do.”
“You do know that they could go at it for hours if you don’t stop them,” Justin said as he came into the living room.
Chris shrugged, “Makes for good entertainment.”
Justin and Chris turned their attention to JC who had walked into the living room talking on the phone. Lance followed close behind, trying to hear what the other person was saying. Joey and Mack momentarily forgot their argument and crowded closer to JC to hear the conversation.
“Who is it?”
“What do they want?”
“Who is it, Jace?”
“Jace, tell us!”
He swatted them away and put a finger in his ear, an annoyed look crossing his features. It quickly faded and was replaced with a surprised look. “OK. We’ll be there in…twenty minutes? We have to wait until Lynn comes back…OK, see you then.” He hung up the phone and put it back in its base before answering any of their questions.
“What’s goin’ on?” Lance questioned.
“That was Lou,” JC replied. “He wants us to go over to his house. He says he has something important he wants to tell us over dinner.”
“Maybe he’ll convince Lance to stay,” Joey said as he pointedly looked over in Lance’s direction.
Lance sighed. “We’ve been through this before, guys. I’m just tired of waiting and if I can finish school while I’m waiting I want to do it. I don’t see why you’re making such a big deal out of this.”
“We feel the same way,” Joey spoke up. “Really, I’m actually starting to get tired of waiting. It’s just…you’re kind of running away, ya know?”
“Running away?” Lance repeated.
“What Joseph means is”–JC quickly spoke up, glaring at Joey who held his hands up and backed away–“that you’re leaving before we can even get an answer. I can see how that seems like you’re running away. I understand that you’re tired of waiting around. I am too, that’s why I took that part time job at the mall but I’m still here. I haven’t left for Maryland. Stick around a little bit longer, we’ll get a call. I’m sure of it, you just have to wait.”
“How much longer are we going to wait?” Lance sighed. “Days? Weeks? Months? Years? What if we wait for a call that’s never going to come and we miss our chance?”
“We’ll just take things into our own hands then,” JC replied with a shrug and a smile. “We have talent, enough talent that that we can’t keep it to ourselves. We have to share it with the world and if we have to make sure it happens by ourselves, well, I’d like that. If we made it big one day because of what we did then it would make everything a whole lot better for us in the long run.”
“Jace is right,” Justin agreed. “Just wait a little bit longer. Please, Lance? Please?” Justin widened his eyes and pouted at Lance, who studied Justin’s face, his lips twitching slightly as if he were fighting off a smile. “Do I have to get on my knees and beg?”
“I’d like to see that,” Chris said as he stuck his hand in the air as if voting for something.
“Ok, fine. I’ll stick around to hear what Lou has to say. Unless it has something to do with us potentially being signed, I’m leaving to finish school back at home.”
“Ok, that’s fine,” Justin said with a smile, feeling successful. “Anyone want to play some basketball?”
“I will. I can finally beat your baby ass,” Chris said as he shoved Justin out the front door of the house.
JC went back down the hall, probably to talk to Nikki without being interrupted, while Joey, Lance, and Mack watched TV and speculated over what Lou wanted to tell them. Eventually the conversation switched to her giving them a French lesson as they ran around the house chasing Little J.
“Ok, how do you say…’you are beautiful’?” Joey asked.
“Well, it depends on if you’re talking to a girl or a boy,” Mack replied. “For a girl you use the word jolie and for a boy you use the word beau. So, for a girl you would say something along the lines of tu es jolie. Now keep in mind that it’s rough translation so you can’t blame me if you ever use it and get slapped.”
“Unless you’re sabotaging me on purpose,” Joey said as he squinted at her.
“Moi? Never!”
“I wouldn’t put that beneath you.”
“Did you hear that, Little J? Joey just insulted me,” she said as she picked up the white ball of fur and turned him around so he was facing Joey. “Go get him. Go attack him.” Little J calmly walked over to Joey and licked his outstretched hand, causing them all to laugh.
Lynn came home and a few minutes later they all left the house to go to Lou’s place. The boys have been there a couple of times before but they were still in awe when they drove up the long, u shaped driveway. Justin bolted out of the car as soon as the doors were opened and ran straight to the backyard where a basketball court was along with a large pool.
“Justin! You could at least say hi to Lou before you start playing,” Lynn scolded from the back patio.
“It’s all right, Lynn. Let him blow off some energy,” Lou said with a laugh as he watched Justin taunt Chris who joined him on the court.
“I’m in the mood for some billiards. Joey, I bet you twenty bucks that you can’t beat me,” Lance said as he lightly slapped Joey’s chest with the back of his hand.
“You’re on!” Joey replied, shaking Lance’s hand. “JC, you want in on this? I really need the forty bucks.”
“Sure,” he said with a shrug, tearing his eyes away from the view the backyard had. “I’m in the mood to see Joey get his ass kicked.”
“Thanks for the support, buddy,” Joey muttered sarcastically as JC smiled innocently.
Mack sighed as she looked around the backyard, seeing if there was anything for her to do. Finding nothing she went inside the house, amazed at how large and spacious it was. Once the shock wore off she went in search of entertainment.
Being around the guys for so long made her feel offended whenever they wanted to do something with each other. She knew they weren’t trying to leave her out on purpose, but it still hurt her nonetheless.
She settled on watching TV, although she couldn’t pay attention. Shows were too boring without Justin’s or Chris’s commenting, followed by Lance’s and JC’s growls of “shut up” and Joey’s hysterical laughter. She let out a loud annoyed sigh for the fifth time in two minutes when Lynn walked by.
“Honey, what’s wrong?” She asked, leaving over the back of the couch.
“I’m bored,” Mack replied. “There’s nothing to do.”
“Why don’t you play basketball with Justin and Chris?” She suggested.
Mack stared at her for a couple of seconds. “That would be great if I didn’t suck.” Lynn gave her a hard look. “Stink,” she quickly corrected herself.
“Play billiards with the other boys.”
“They wouldn’t want me to play,” she grumbled as she crossed her arms over her chest.
“Uh-oh. I get it, you’re suffering from Little Sister Syndrome,” Lynn said with a smile as she walked around the couch. She sat down next to Mack and pulled her into a hug, gently rocking her and stroking her hair.
“Little Sister Syndrome?” Mack repeated.
“Mhm. You’re feeling left out because the boys want to do boy things and you’ve been around them so long you don’t know how to do things by yourself,” she explained. “I went through the same thing about my brothers when I was younger. I didn’t have a lot of friends that were girls when I was your age so I went with them all of the time. When I was by myself I didn’t know what to do so I eventually took up sewing and other odd jobs. That’s what you should do.”
“Sewing?” Mack chuckled nervously. “That would work if I didn’t hate needles.”
“I mean you should do something that you’re good at,” she replied, her eyes shining. “I bet if you asked Lou, he would let you in his kitchen to make dinner. You still like to cook, right?”
“You know I love it, Lynn. I’m pretty damn good too,” Mack replied. Lynn sighed. “I’m pretty dern good too,” Mack corrected herself, using a thick southern accent, causing Lynn to laugh.
“Why don’t you use your accent? It’s really cute when you use it,” Lynn said.
“Thanks, but I don’t want to give the guys another reason to make fun of me. They all ready tease me about being afraid of Clowns and having to have my food separated on a plate. They even make fun of me saying ‘eh’ all the time. Not that I don’t love the South, but the accent I could do without.”
Lynn chuckled as the two girls stood and went in search for Lou. He was standing on the back patio, watching as Justin went one on one with Chris. Justin called out to Lou explaining certain maneuvers as he continued to beat Chris. Chris hid his annoyance by making fun of Justin’s hair, which was a soft spot for the young boy.
“Lou, she wants to know if she could use your kitchen to make dinner for everyone,” Lynn called as she placed a hand on Mack’s shoulder.
Lou turned around and rested his eyes on Mack. She looked back but shifted her gaze under his stare. His eyes were crinkled in the corners and something was shining in his eyes, something she couldn’t put her finger on.
“Let her, Lou. That’s where she belongs,” Justin called as he spun the basketball on his finger. He flinched when Mack’s piercing blue eyes locked with his and she scowled. He gulped and stopped spilling the ball, holding it to use it for self-defense if needed. She could knock the shit out of him when she was mad, he knew that from experience.
“Justin Randall!” Lynn said in a scolding tone as he shrugged and went back to playing.
“You can use it,” Lou’s voice cut in.
“I’ll clean it when I’m done, I promise,” Mack said before turning back into the house, suddenly wanting to get away from the boys before she ripped off their heads for belonging to that gender.
She stood in the doorway in awe. The kitchen was huge. The light in the room reflected off of the shiny oven and stove. She rushed over to the large refrigerator and her eyes got wide at the selection of food. She then opened the freezer and stood in front of it, scanning the food to see what she should prepare.
She eventually decided on steak, mashed potatoes, rice, and broccoli. She snickered to herself knowing that Justin would be complaining his mouth off. He hated broccoli, absolutely hated it. He’d rather eat brussle sprouts than eat broccoli and he wasn’t very fond of the sprouts either.
“Hmmm, how much water do I need?” She muttered to herself as she held the container of rice in her hands and shifted it, trying to see if there were instructions. She shrieked and threw some rice in the air when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She turned around and felt her stomach drop when she noticed that it was Lou. “Sorry about the rice. You…you startled me,” she mumbled as she backed away from him, keeping her hands on the bag of rice.
He didn’t reply, he just let his eyes wander. She shivered under his gaze, glancing around to see if there was a way she could escape. She was considerably smaller than him and she ran cross country for years, she could easily run past him if she wanted to. It’s just that her feet seemed to be glued to the floor.
“How do you do it?” he finally asked.
“Do what?” She demanded, taking slow deep breaths to calm her racing heart.
“Get muscles like that,” he replied, nodding at her arm. He reached out and gently touched the muscles in her arm and she flinched.
“Don’t touch me,” she snapped. Lou merely smirked and grabbed her upper arm with his large hand and started squeezing it. She gritted her teeth as pain shot up her arm. He could probably break it if he wanted to try. “What do you want from me?” She asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
Lou merely smiled. “You’re smart, you figure it out.”
Her eyes widened and it seemed as if her heart stopped. She finally caught her breath and yelled loudly, “Laaaaaaaance!”
Lou immediately let go of her arm and backed away from her as Lance came rushing into the kitchen. “What? What’s wrong?” He asked, looking around. His eyebrows knitted together in confusion when he noticed Mack’s knees shaking. “Are you ok?” he asked, rushing over to her side, placing a hand on the small of her back.
“I feel sick,” she mumbled, leaning against him, dropping the rice on the floor.
“I can help,” Lou offered.
“No! I want Lynn!”
“Ok. Ok, come on, I’ll take you to Lynn,” he said as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and walked with her out of the room. She shivered, feeling Lou’s eyes burning holes in the back of her head.
~*~*~
“So I bet you’re all wondering why I brought you here today,” Lou said as he put down the spoon he used for his dessert. He waited until they finished decorating their ice cream the way they liked it but that proved to take a while.
First Chris had to cover every single space of vanilla ice cream with chocolate syrup. Then he had to sprinkle nuts on in a certain way along with the sprinkles. He had to make a mountain out of the whipped cream and had to have the cherry sitting directly on top of the mountain. Only when he took a large spoonful and was smiling happily did he let Lou continue.
“I just wanted to say that I am very impressed with your work and your dedication towards your singing and dancing. You’re going to be huge…huge.” Justin beamed as he kicked his legs back and forth, like a happy child. Joey and Chris were also smiling big smiles. JC and Lance were the only ones who didn’t show any emotions on their faces as if they were calculating what Lou was telling them before they chose to react. Lynn and Mack stayed silent, watching them all.
“Johnny Wright, as you know, went looking around for record companies,” Lou continued. “He has succeeded in finding a representative from BMG music. BMG wants to sign you. BMG Ariola Munich, a branch of BMG, wants to fly you to Germany to record there since boy bands are big in Europe right now.”
Justin’s and Chris’s eyes got as wide as saucers. Lynn covered her mouth with her hands as tears welled in the corners of her eyes. Mack’s eyebrows rose, Joey started punching the air with his fists and Lance’s jaw was dropped. JC was the only one who didn’t react. He was squinting at Lou, as if sensing something was off. “What’s the catch?” JC questioned.
“Josh! What the hell? We got signed and you think there’s a catch?” Justin cried out, ignoring Lynn’s scolding look when he said ‘hell’.
“JC is right,” Lou sighed. “There is a catch. They want you to change your name and…they want you to get rid of Lance.” Automatically everyone’s eyes turned to Lance, whose face turned pale. He looked down at his bowl and slapped his ice cream with the back of his spoon, not saying anything. “They don’t think his dancing is up to the same level as the rest of the boys.”
“And they want to drop him just like that?” Mack spoke up. “That’s bullshit!”
“Mackenzie!” Lynn hissed.
“I’m sorry Lynn but that is bullshit. I’ve worked with him, he’s doing a hell of a lot better than he’s been doing before. They can’t just drop him like that.” She shoved her bowl away from herself as she shook her head. “Tell them that I’ll personally help Lance get on the same level as these guys.”
“She’s right, we’re not going to drop Lance just like that,” JC spoke up. “We’re a team, if one of us won’t get signed then none of us will be signed,” he said as he patted Lance’s back. Lance lifted his head and smiled thankfully at him.
“What about the name?” Lou questioned.
“We’re called *NSYNC for a reason,” Justin spoke up. “Because that’s what we are. We’re in sync with our singing and our dancing. We can’t change it. I won’t change it. They’re going to have to accept us as is or not sign us at all.” He crossed his arms over his chest and pouted slightly, a look that everyone knew meant that he wasn’t going to give up without a fight.
Lou clasped his hands together and let out a breath. “I’ll Johnny about it. Now, I can’t promise you anything but I will let you know later tonight if you’ve been signed or not.”
The boys stood, thanking him for inviting them over. Justin was bouncing off of the walls as they made their way back to the cars. He was the only one who was still really excited about the fact that they could get signed. “Come on guys. We’re going to get signed.”
“How do you know?” JC spoke up, shoving his hands into his pockets. “They could change their mind.”
“Only ‘cause you don’t want to leave Lance out? That’d be stupid,” Mack said as she nudged Lance with her elbow.
“Say how you really feel,” he muttered sarcastically with an eye roll.
“Don’t get her started,” Justin called from where he was standing behind the open door of the passenger side of the car.
“Hey!” Chris suddenly shouted. “I called the front seat on the way back.” He stomped his foot on the ground and crossed his arms like a little kid.
“Chill, Old Man, the seat’s not for me, it’s for her,” he said as he nodded at Mack who lifted an eyebrow. “Well, get in,” he said as he motioned to the seat. She silently did as she was told and sat down in the front. He closed the door behind her and got into the back part of the van, sitting in between JC and Chris.
“Lynn, can we listen to the radio?” Joey asked after a couple of minutes of silence. It was starting to drive him crazy. He knew what everyone was thinking and he didn’t want the silence to allow them to think about Lance’s predicament. She nodded and turned it on, a country song immediately filling the air.
“Ugh! Anything but this,” Joey groaned, leaning forward to change the station.
“No, let Mack pick,” Justin said as he slapped Joey’s arm. Joey turned around and raised an eyebrow at him. His mouth parted before a smile formed on it and he wiggled his eyebrows. An annoyed look immediately crossed Justin’s features. “No,” was the only thing he said.
“Are you sure?” Joey pressed.
“What’s he talking about?” Lance questioned, turning around himself.
“Joey’s suggesting that Justin has a crush on me,” Mack replied from the front seat without turning around, surfing through radio stations. She left it on one that was playing I’m Gonna Be (500 Miles) and she started bouncing in her seat, despite feeling a little sick to her stomach.
“Ok, so why are you so calm about the accusation while Justin looks like he wants to rip out Joey’s throat?” Chris questioned.
“I have to deal with it from my mom all the time. She thinks we’ll eventually get married. Actually, she hopes for it,” she explained. “I just deal with it ‘cause I know that J and I are too close to get married in the future. We wouldn’t be able to stand each other. Our habits get on each other’s nerves all ready. If we were married we’d be fighting day in and day out.”
“Yes, but I would love it if you were my daughter,” Lynn commented.
“I’m close enough. I spend more time at your house than I do at mine back home.”
Except for the radio the rest of the car ride was silent. Justin broke the silence after a while by shouting out Beatles and JC replied with Sixpence None the Richer and Chris shot back Rancid, starting up a game that lasted until they got back to the house.
“Umm…Roxy Music,” Joey blurted out as they pulled into the driveway.
“Quick, JC, last one! Five seconds,” Justin said as he dove over Chris to get out of the van.
“Cheap Trick,” JC replied instantly, seemingly not having to think about it.
“How do you always do that?” Justin demanded. JC merely shrugged and started into the house. “I bet I could beat you in a video game!” Justin challenged as he looked up at JC expectantly.
He really wasn’t in the mood to play. He wanted to call up his family, maybe talk to Nikki, and then get to sleep. He looked down at Justin and saw that his eyes were wide with hope, practically silently begging him. JC sighed and put on a smile, nodding. Justin cheered before rushing into the house to set up the game. JC slowly shook his head although the smile never left his face. “Are you ok?” He turned around to see Mack slowly getting out of the car, holding her stomach. Lance held out his hand and she grasped it, her hand shaking. “You don’t look so good.”
“Are you talking to the same girl who lives with us? She’s hot, man. Even for a fourteen-year-old,” Joey commented, chuckling. He stopped immediately when he saw the glare that she was shooting at him. “If you weren’t as pale as a piece of paper I’m sure you’d appreciate that compliment.”
“Let me see.” JC walked over to where the two boys were standing. He placed his hands on her neck and used his thumbs to lift her head. She stared at him with dull blue eyes. He shifted her head from left to right before moving it back to the center. “Yeah, she’s sick.” He dropped his hands. “Hey Lynn, can you set up a pillow and a blanket on the couch?” Lynn nodded and JC moved to help Lance walk with her into the house.
The couch set up, or the Sick Couch as they dubbed it, was perfect for anyone who was feeling sick. That way Lynn could easily check up on the one who was sick and they wouldn’t keep the others up by coughing or sneezing.
“What’s wrong with her?” Justin asked from a chair, watching curiously as JC and Lance gently laid Mack down on the couch.
“She came down with something,” Lance replied. “She said she felt sick earlier, while we were at Lou’s. I thought she was fine but I guess it came back.”
“What’re her symptoms?”
“Umm…she’s pale, she has a high fever, she says she feels like she’s going to throw up and she shivers every now and then.”
“Ah, the flu. Could be a twenty-four hour one, she never stays sick for too long. Just let her sleep it off, she’ll be fine tomorrow,” Justin said in a dismissive tone as he turned his attention back to the fighting game he was playing. “JC, come on! I’m bored waiting for you to pick up the damn controller!”
“Will you hold on a second? I have to take her temperature,” JC replied, walking back into the living room with the thermometer in his hand.
“Why are y’all treating her like a damn baby? She’s fine!”
“Yeah she is,” Joey commented as he dropped down on the couch, lifting Mack’s legs and putting them on his lap. She smiled a little but it dropped when she made a face as JC held the thermometer in front of her mouth. She turned her head every time JC tried to get the thermometer close to her mouth. She eventually grabbed the blankets and pulled it over her head. “What the heck? C’mon girl, do you want to get better?” he asked as he massaged her calves. The form under the blanket nodded. “Then open your mouth and let JC take your temperature.”
“Won’t work. She’s too stubborn when she’s sick,” Justin called from his chair.
Mack suddenly yanked the blankets down, glaring at him. “Listen, Timberflake, you say one more thing I’m gonna–mmf!” JC cut off her threat by using that opportunity to shove the thermometer into her mouth.
“What brought on your sudden illness anyway?” Chris asked. He had been quiet while sitting on the floor. He tilted his head back to look at her and she shrugged. He then looked at Justin for information.
“She has a weak immune system,” he replied simply. “If someone’s sick she’d catch it at least a few hours later. She keeps a cough for a few weeks after she’s over it, too, but that’s only ‘cause she has asthma and being sick triggers it.”
“You want to tell them my whole life story?” Mack asked sarcastically once JC pulled the thermometer out of her mouth.
“Ooh! Story time! Story time!” Chris cheered, turning off the video game and the TV before turning around, a large smile was on his face.
“Yeah, tell us how you met J,” Lance said as he leaned forward in his seat.
Her eyes shifted from each boy who was giving her their full attention, except for Justin who had a bored look on his face. He was there for most, if not all of her life, so he’s heard everything. A slow smile formed on his face. “Hold on!” He called, jumping out of his chair. He ran into his room and pulled a photo album from underneath his bed. He ran back into the living room, squishing onto the couch with Joey, JC, and Mack, forcing her to sit up and slump in her space.
“Where’d you get that?” She demanded, eyeing the cover of the book.
“I got my mom to get your mom to bring it over,” Justin replied, sticking out his tongue. “Ok, start the story,” he said as he kept his hands firmly on the shut book just in case she wanted to snatch it away from him.
“Fiiiine. I was born in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. That’s where my Dad was born and my Mom lived for a while. That’s how they met each other, through school. Mom attended school in Quebec and went back to his home, Memphis, in the summers. Anyway, like I said, I was born there and I lived there until I was about…two, two and a half maybe? Then I moved to Memphis and I was a few doors down from Justin. We met ‘cause of our moms setting us up on ‘play dates’. Actually, he was the one who helped me learn how to walk–”
“Stop,” Chris called, holding up his hand. “How did he teach you how to walk?”
“Oh, well, Justin used to hate getting his shoes dirty so he would crawl around keeping his feet in the air so they wouldn’t touch the dirty carpet. I would used to hold onto his ankles and crawl behind him, but it would be hard to keep up ‘cause he moved faster than me. So, one day, I just stood, held onto his ankles, and walked after him.”
“And here’s the picture to prove it!” Justin said as he opened the book and pointed at a picture. Mack’s eyes widened and she covered her face with her blanket as the other guys leaned forward and started laughing.
“What the heck is goin’ on with your hair, girl?” Joey questioned.
“Ugh, Justin, I’m going to kill you,” she groaned. Justin merely laughed, flipping the pages of the photo album. He stopped laughing suddenly and held the album as close to his face as possible.
“Dammit! You have this picture in here?” He cried out.
“What? What? I want to see!” Chris said as he dived onto the couch, successfully hitting JC in the face with his foot as Justin tried to get away from him.
“No, get away!” Justin said as he held the book out of Chris’s reach. He jumped off of the couch and ran away as fast as he could. Chris followed close behind. “Thought you could run faster than that, old man.”
“Don’t tempt me, pipsqueak!”
With that ass the perfect distraction, Mack got off the couch, after falling back down twice, and shuffled to her room to shower and change. Her head felt heavy as if she was congested, but she wasn’t. She felt sick to her stomach thinking about Lou’s hand touching her arm. She jumped into the shower and waited until the water warmed up before grabbing the soapy loofah and scrubbing her arm until it turned red.
She then stood under the water, letting it run down her head and over her body, mixing with the tears that were falling out of the corners of her eyes. She was glad the roaring sound of the shower drowned out her sobs. A knock on the door pulled her back to reality.
“Are you trying to drown yourself in there?” Joey’s muffled voice came from the other side of the door.
Sighing, Mack turned off the water and stepped out of the shower, quickly drying herself off and pulling on her pajamas. She looked in the mirror to make sure her eyes weren’t red or puffy before opening the door.
“Are you feeling any better?” He asked, leaning in the doorway. She nodded silently. He frowned and placed his large hand on her forehead. “You still feel a little warm. Maybe it’s the steam. I want to check your temperature again anyway.” He reached out to take her hand but she quickly snatched it away. His eyebrows knitted together and he opened his mouth to say something but she quickly brushed past him, mumbling something about wanting to go to sleep.
She had settled on the couch trying to calm her stomach by thinking of the old days when she, Trace, and Justin would run around their front yards playing cowboys and Indians. She spent the next twenty minutes tossing and turning, sleep was evading her for the fifth night in a row.
“Want some company?” She lifted her head and squinted in the darkness. Once her eyes adjusted she noticed Justin kneeling above her, resting his arms on the armrest of the couch. She nodded silently and shifted forward, allowing him space to slide in between her and the couch. He lightly wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her shoulder. She stiffened in his arms but slowly relaxed and cuddled against him. “Sorry about that kitchen thing,” he mumbled.
“It’s ok,” she replied.
“No, really. I was just frustrated by how long we have to wait to see if we get signed.” His frustrated breath tickled her ear. “I mean, how much longer do we have to wait?”
“Even if nothing comes out of this you could go a long way by yourself, Just,” Mack replied, struggling to keep her eyes open as she listened to his heartbeat.
“Nah, I couldn’t do that. It’s all or nothing. I wouldn’t want to do this without the other guys. I couldn’t do this without the guys,” he mumbled, fighting off sleep himself. Mack grunted her agreement, her eyes slowly sliding shut. “Mackie?”
“Hmm?”
“I’m glad you’re here with me. I couldn’t do this without you.” He lightly kissed her cheek and shifted his head so his forehead was on her shoulder. They both fell asleep with small smiles on their faces.
Chapter End Notes:
Whew. So, they got the news about Germany, finally! Stay tuned to see what happens next for the boys. Please read and review.
Story Tags: friendsturnedlovers unrequited presync eurosync love bestfriendj tourj jealous originalcharacter boybands
