"For fuck's sake, 'Renny! Don't you think I realize that? I know. We just got to the first stop and they're telling me I have to meet the main act. Love ya too. Haha, yeah, bye," Sam tells her cousin. "James, I don't get it."
"What?"
"He says to tell them."
"Well, half of them know."
"The other half don't and they'll probably think we've been plotting against them this whole time!" she exclaims, her arms shooting toward the sky in sheer frustration.
"But we aren't."
"Dude, we should tell Preab at least."
"We tell him and he's going to tell Codlatach."
"Preab wouldn't do that."
"Prove it."
"Timbs, tar anseo," she calls out, curling three of her fingers in a come here motion.
He smiles and comes to us, encircling her shoulders with his arms, putting his chin on the top of her head. "Hey, Baby J. What's up?" he greets her, a calm lazy smile coming across his mouth. I can tell and her eyes say everything, I play it off. I'm probably going to forget it soon enough.
"Remember what I brought up a few nights ago?" she inquires.
He looks nervous. "Yeah, of course," he says shakily.
"James wants to hear about it."
"It's not my business to tell."
That's why they've been so secretive, they genuinely like each other. "Thanks, Timbs," she says, rubbing his hands and kissing his palm. He nods once and walks back over to JC to finish their conversation. "See what I mean?" she demands, trying to prove her argument.
"They've known each other almost as long as you and I have known each other."
"I know they have."
Wait, she kissed his palm? What does that mean? I begin to rack my brain about the significance of the action that seemed so casual when she did it. "Just be careful, Sam."
"I am, hon."
"I told Darren I'd call him so I'll catch up in a few."
"Ok."
We hug and she goes over to JC and Justin, grabbing a hand on each of them and head into the backstage area. JC is a brother to her and as for her grabbing Justin's, I have no clue about the meaning of it. I head to the changing area and call her cousin. "Hey, James. How soon is your first show opening for Janet?"
"Hi, it's tonight."
"You must be excited!" Darren exclaims.
"Yes, but that's not why I'm calling." I scratch the back of my neck, I feel like I'm betraying her trust by asking her cousin and guilt begins setting in.
"What's wrong?"
"Sam kissed Justin's palm and when he had his arm around her shoulder, she rubbed his hand," I confide in him.
"Was her body against his side or his front?"
"His side at first, but he readjusted his body so she was in front of him."
"He's getting as comfortable as you are with her."
"She rubbed his hand that was on her shoulder and kissed his left palm as he pulled his arm off her."
"Don't stress it, man."
"I think she's dating someone."
"That's because she is."
"Who?"
"She won't even tell me! She told my sister, Melissa!"
"Which means she told Stacy too," I assume.
"We aren't going to find out."
I sigh, running my hand through my spiked hair that she spent fifteen minutes doing. "Not until she's ready."
"Man, that could be YEARS!" A few seconds of silence pass over the line. "Mel, do you know who Sam's dating?"
"I promised not to tell a soul," she informs her brother.
"We figured out that Stace knows."
"You're talking to her brother, hmm?"
"Maybe. Who's she seein'?"
"It's not my place to say, not my business."
"Ahhhh! Forget I asked."
"We won't find out before she's ready," I say, admitting defeat.
"Half the battle is finding out she's in a relationship, right?" he argues.
"Who? How long? Does she really know the guy? When did they meet? How did they meet? How close are they? What do they talk about? How often do they talk? How often are they together? What do they do? Do they kiss? Do they have sex?" I ramble, these concerns flying out of my mouth like a river.
"Who are you talking about, Lance?" I whip around to find JC behind me. My hand flies to my chest, having been frightened and caught off guard.
"Jeeze, JC! You scared me. I'm talking about Jazz," I inform him.
"She's going to kill you if you tell," Darren warns me.
"She's been with whoever he is for close to three months, he's from Orlando, we know him, they've known each other for almost two years, she's not sexually active, they kiss, spend most of the time they have together. They kiss, hold hands and talk. Kind of like a friend she cuddles and kisses. Are you dating her?" JC lists off, in a rushed ramble and his narrow at me as the question is spoken.
I look at him like he's lost his cotton picking mind. "What?! No, the closest we've gotten to dating was when I asked her out and we made out last year. You're with Bobbi, Joey's with Kelly, Chris is with Dani, I'm single and Justin has an unknown girlfriend that he talks to all the time. Justin and Jazz are completely inseparable since March and even more so since July. Nah, they wouldn't keep that from us, would they? No way she wouldn't tell me if she were dating Justin."
"Justin told me he has a girl he's seeing and has gotten very close to, but he won't tell me who she is. The way he described her, I'd swear it's Jazz. They can't not tell us if they were dating, one of them would come apart at the seams and tell one of us. Has she ever hid anything from you?"
"No, this is a first."
"I've been racking my brain since the two of them became inseparable in July."
Chris laughs behind us. "If they wanted you to know and if you paid attention, you'd know who they're dating."
"Who are they dating?" JC and I question in unison.
"I don't even know, but I know they are both in relationships with someone," Chris tells us, shrugging off the subject.
"I wish she would tell me," I mutter.
"I don't like being left out and secrets being kept from me." JC looks pissed, we're being excluded from the information about Justin and Jazz's relationships because they want privacy and have their reasons for not telling us or anyone else.
"I don't like her not telling me things like this."
"We didn't tell you because you'd blow a damned gasket," Jazz informs us, rushing past us to grab her cell and Justin's basketball from the same bunk and she's not very talkative or specific about any of it. "Oh, and Josh, Ustinjay and I are in a caidreamh topogopetophoperop, FYI," she rambles off faster than normal before leaving to play basketball with Justin for a couple hours.
"What? I caught together," JC thinks to himself out loud.
"I understood relationship."
He shakes his head, aggravated more than I've ever seen. "I fucking give up trying to figure out her secret with you and the one with Justin!" he screams, throwing his arms in the air to express his frustrations. "Aaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" He puts his hands in his hair and grips it as he sits on the bench at the table, facing outward. As soon as he sits his elbows rest on his knees to hold his head.
"Soon as I feel it's the right time to tell you why she and I are so comfortable, I'll tell you," I vow.
"I hope you do tell me and soon, it's driving me put of my mind!" he explains.
Story Tags: Be the first to add a tag to this story
