Jenna's melodious laugh rang through the courtyard as they finished up their lunch. They'd just gotten out of OTC group and had stopped in the cafeteria for food on their way the octagonal shaped green that separated the male and female living quarters. A few days had passed and Justin had decided to enter the talent show after all but he wasn't sure exactly what he was going to do. Jenna had been trying her hardest to help him but nothing seemed to be working.
"Yea that was so embarrassing," Justin said in between bites.
"I wish I coulda seen that."
"You probably will whenever it airs."
"If they air that part."
"They will. The producers at MTV don't like saving us from humiliation."
"Well, it really is too funny to leave out."
"The crew was laughing and everything. Man, that was fun."
Their laughter died down a bit and Jenna looked down at her feet.
"Man I need a pedicure."
Justin followed her gaze. "No you don't, your toes are fine."
"I'm just used to high maintenance. My dad owns an oil company back home and I usually get a full make-over weekly."
"Where's back home?"
"Texas, San Antonio if you want specifics."
"Really? You don't have an accent."
"Oh God no, I grew up in Cali, San Fran. And when I was about 14, we moved and that's when I started doing drugs. I missed my friends and I figured that either they would make up for my friends or that once my parents found out, they'd send me back. It took them five years to do that much."
"Wow."
"Yeah and what's worse is that my mom works at the Ad company that does the anti-drug spots."
"We did a few of those."
"She basically came up with the whole idea."
"Wow, I bet she was pissed when she found out about your addiction."
"That was the point, I was kinda getting back at them."
"So why'd you come all the way to Orangedale to do rehab?"
"I wanted to. I love Florida. So I said I wouldn't cooperate if they didn't send me here."
"Oh. Do you regret it?"
"Not one bit. After all, if hadn't I would never have met you."
Justin froze and looked into her warm brown eyes, not sure what to think. "I guess not. I'm glad we're friends too." His accent had faded into nothing but Jenna didn't seem to notice.
"You're a really incredible guy Justin. I've been looking for a guy like you since…I hit puberty?"
Justin looked at his hands, fidgeting with them uncomfortably. "Um Jenna.."
"Yeah?"
"You're a nice girl."
"Justin."
"Huh."
"It's okay. I wasn't trying to come on to you but I understand if it sounded that way."
"You sure?"
"Yes!" she said.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I.."
"No need to apologize. So have you decided what you're going to perform for the talent show? Are you gonna do the new song?"
"I don't know yet. I'm so...I'm torn." his accent was back.
"Torn between what?"
"I wanna do , well, I wanna do a ballad, I know that."
"Why?"
"'Cause if I don't then I'll have to dance and I can't with my ankle all fucked up."
"No one says you have to dance."
"I know but I love dancing too much if I hear the beat, it'll drive me crazy so I'll just do a slow song."
"Do 'Gone'."
"Like hell. "
"Ok. Well, what were you thinking of?"
"I'm not sure. I've got a songbook with me but it's in my room. Wanna help me out?"
"Thought that's what I was doing."
"J'mon then!" Justin said, imitating JC's newest favorite phrase. It was a good thing JC wasn't there to hear him using it, he'd done a better job than JC ever had.
It took Justin a little while to get himself into a standing position but with some help from Jenna, he was ready to move. As they exited the courtyard and turned the corner, they heard loud music coming from a nearby room. It sounded so excited. "Pop."
"Oh God," Justin said and walked a little faster.
Jenna held him back. "No, no it's cool. Let's go see who's playin' it."
"Let's not."
"Oh come on. What'll it hurt?"
Jenna dragged Justin to the second door at the beginning of the hall and knocked. Justin looked away as he heard the music cut off and footsteps grow nearer. Finally the door opened. "Well, well, well. He walks among us," Terrence said and grinned.
"What are the fuckin' odds," Justin whispered to himself.
"You were playing NSYNC?" Jenna asked, incredulous.
"Of course. It's our song for the talent show. Didn't you know?" Terrence said and stared at Justin.
Justin stared back. "Just leave it alone," he growled.
"Leave what alone?"
"The song, NSYNC. It's my work. It's what I love and I don't want you fucking with it."
" But we're really big fans."
"Yea, we like boy bands," Sean said, coming to the door.
"Then do…’I Want It That Way’ or I don't really give a damn. Just leave our songs alone."
Terrence smiled, "You think we're gonna screw it up huh? No, check it out. Look at what we've got so far."
Justin attempted to leave but Jenna still had his sleeve. "Let's just watch," she said absently.
The song restarted and the three boys got into their starting positions. Terrence was in front and Sean and Bryan were a littler further back on either side. They mouthed the words to the song as they danced. "What? This doesn't look anything like the 'Pop' dance. What the hell are you trying to do?" Justin said somewhere in the middle of the second chorus. The boys stopped dancing.
"Well, we don't have a tape to go by or anything and we've only seen the video a few times."
"We've performed it a billion times."
"..and?"
"If you don't know the moves then just do different song."
"Ok, how about Bye times three?"
"Bye, Bye, Bye. Don't call it Bye times three."
"What's wrong with you today Pop Star? Huh? Why are you being so bitchy?"
"Because, I don't mind. I can handle being disliked, I can handle when I'm the butt of mean jokes and pranks but I can't take people disrespecting what I do. That goes for my work, and the people I work with. They're my best friends and if 'Pop' were just my song, I'd suck it up but I'm not going to let you make a mockery of what we all worked hard for."
"We're not trying to mock you, we wanna win."
The smirk on their faces after Justin's harangue didn't relay that feeling and finally, Jenna let Justin lead her away. "I'm sorry Justin," she said on the way to his room. His jaw was clenched in frustration and anger and his grip was tight around her wrist. Justin kept walking with no reply. "J, I know I made you stay and I'm sorry but I thought maybe they'd changed."
He stopped dead, seemingly angered but soon started up again and loosened his grip a bit. "Get out," he told Corky once they arrived at Justin's dormitory.
Corky laughed out loud. "You've got to be-"
"OUT!" Justin yelled, his eyes aflame.
It wasn't that Corky was afraid of the pop star but from the way he was acting he figured Justin had finally snapped and he wasn't sure what the girl was doing there but he didn't really wanna stick around to find out.
Jenna watched with a growing smile as Corky vacated the area. "Oh my God Justin, you did it! You quit letting Corky boss you aro-" Before she could finish her sentence, Justin pressed his body hard against hers. She opened her mouth in protest.
"Don't speak," he said, suddenly having the urge to grab and orange and start posing with it. "I have a question to ask you." he paused while he gathered his thoughts. "If I kissed you right now would you keep it a secret?"
Jenna blushed pink. "Um, if you wanted me to, yeah I guess I could."
"Forever?"
"Forever? Forever as in never tell anyone ?"
"Yes."
"Why would I have to keep it a secret f..oh no. No Justin."
"Please."
"No I'm not going to be your rebound. You want to be with me until you get out of here and fix things with Britney right?"
"No. I just wanna kiss you."
"Why?"
"'Cause, well, just now when you called me J, you sounded just like her."
"So when you kiss me, you'll really be thinking of Britney Spears? As if I didn't get that enough from the boys back home..." Jenna pushed herself away.
"No, it's not like that at all," he said and followed her. She made a bee line for the door with Justin hot, ok, lukewarm on her tail. He reached out for her elbow and at the last moment, before he could get a word in she stopped and pressed her lips firmly against his. It was as much of a surprise to her as it was to him. It was a true spur of the moment thing and she wasn't sure where she should go with it. So far, it wasn't too long, wasn't too short but you'd better believe it was subliminal. She pulled away slowly, unsure of what Justin's reaction would be. It took him a while to open his eyes.
"Justin?" Jenna asked hesitantly.
"Why'd…you do that?" he asked softly.
"I'm sorry. I figured if I caught you off guard, you wouldn't have time to think of Britney and instead you'd, well, you'd think of me."
To Jenna's relief, Justin's accent had not faded. "Call me J, " he begged, "Please."
"No. I'm not going to be a space filler."
"You're not."
"I am. I can tell by the way you kiss. There's no feeling there. I mean. I don't expect there to be but, you already said that I sound like-"
This time it was Justin's turn to surprise his friend with a kiss. His tongue wasn't obtrusive or aggressive at all and it felt as though it belonged with hers; like they'd kissed a billion times before.
"How about now?" he asked and flashed her that 'money shot' smile.
"Mr. Timberlake, you are a charmer."
"Charm's got nothing to do with it. I really, really like you."
"But what about Britney?"
Justin's smile faded. "Nothing can touch that. Britney's my baby."
"So where does that leave me?"
Justin sat down on his bed. "I don't know."
"Listen, it's okay. If you just wanna kiss a little."
"I don't wanna do that to you."
"Well… I'm here," she said and rubbed his back.
"I just - Dammit! I fuckin' cheated on her! Jesus, it's like I'm King Midas. Everything I touch. "
"Turns to gold?"
"Ends up turning to shit."
"Don't do this to yourself. Remember when we talked about self-degradation and how it can lead to self-loathing?"
"I already fucked up enough to hate myself , even without degradation."
"Everyone makes mistakes J."
He didn't respond but instead laid his head on her lap and closed his eyes, letting the feel of her fingers caressing his head soothe him. As if looking in the mirror wasn't repugnant enough, now he had to face that fact that he'd just willingly cheated on the love of his life. There was only one conclusion he could make and that was to think this whole thing over. After a good nights sleep and high octane self-exploration.(Jesus, he felt like a self-help book lately) he was sure to come out to the right decision. But could he even trust his own decisions anymore? He didn't know. He'd just have to wait and see.
Story Tags: rehab
