“I can’t fucking believe you.”
I press my lips together, refusing to look at my best friend. My gaze remains fixed on the road, and I’m hoping that she’ll lay off the longer I continue to drive in silence.
“I mean, they invited us on their road trip, Dara! Did you see the way Justin was looking at you?”
“He wasn’t looking at me any way.”
“Uh, yeah he was. He wants to fuck you.”
“Really? Could you be any more vulgar?” I roll my eyes. “Just because you still want to fuck his friend doesn’t mean...”
“Hey, I’m trying to help you. This isn’t about Trace. We’re not getting serious or anything. He’s a nice guy, but not really my type. We messed around, and that my friend, was for your benefit, not mine.”
She says it so strongly and sternly that I have to look over at her. It’s been hours, and her hangover has subsided quite a bit. That means she has a good grip on her ideas, on her memories of last night. Right now, all she wants to do is convince me that invading Justin Timberlake’s road trip home is a great idea.
But it’s not. It’s a fucking weird, awkward idea, and I won’t subject myself to it.
In fact, I’d like to forget last night happened at all.
It was too much, waking up this morning, knowing I was going to have to say goodbye to him with no regrets. If I tried, if I pushed hard at the friendship, I know it would only be harder when he let me down, forgot to call me because he got too caught up in his lifestyle. It’s just unrealistic, the idea of him and I, and it always will be.
“I still say you should call him. I have Trace’s number. I’m sure he’d connect you.”
I roll my eyes. “Can we just get on with our lives now? It was awesome, Eva. I appreciate everything you did, I do, but now we have to face reality. Reality...is that Justin Timberlake is Justin Timberlake, and I am Dara Chambers, normal girl from LA. How about I just buy you your share of drinks tonight, and we forget all about this? We’ll be even.”
“I hate your parents,” she mutters.
“Now what?”
“They just...sucked all the drive out of you. If you were more like me, you’d never let him go so easy.”
“We’re not soul mates, Eva. Get over it.”
“Damn it. You just don’t get it, do you? You’re too naive to get it. You’re not around guys enough, I guess.”
“I’m around guys.”
“Dee, come on. The security guards at Staples don’t count.”
I sigh. Okay, so I’ve only dated one guy. In high school. For a month...
I’m still a virgin at twenty six. It’s not that I don’t want to date, I do, but my parents discouraged it so much when I was in high school that I never really learned how to act around a guy. It stuck, unfortunately.
I hate when she rubs it in my face like this.
“You and Justin had a connection. Trace even noticed it. He was asking me a little more about you this morning you know, when you had to go back into the house to get something.”
I eye her slightly. “Trace was?”r32;
The excited smile appears on her face again. “He wanted to know why you were single. Believe me, he wasn’t asking for his own sake. Justin probably put a bug in his ear.”
I nearly swerve as I turn my head to look at her, but catch myself in time. “So what did you tell him?”
“That you were too hot to handle.”
“Eva!”
She throws her head back and cackles. “Come on Dee! Did you expect me to tell him the truth?”
“No. I would never expect that from you.” I frown harshly and put all my attention back on the road.
“It’s not the worst thing in the world.”
“You act like they’re a couple of guys we picked up at a bar.”
“You need to stop putting Justin up on a pedestal. Once you get that celebrity shit out of your system, things will start to make more sense. Something about you got to him last night. Obviously, you were acting like a normal human being when you were alone with him. He could talk to you, connect with you. Seriously Dee, opportunities don’t come up like this all that often. You have to take them when you can. Look at Justin. He was in a boy band and worked his way up in the industry. Now people actually respect him. He took the opportunities that were presented to him, even if he had to embarrass himself along the way.”
“NSYNC was more than just a boy band,” I defend, ignoring the subject at hand.
“Oh my God, you are so ridiculous,” she groans. “I’m done. Seriously done with this conversation.”r32;
“Great! So am I!”
We drive on in silence for hours. She’s pissed, but I don’t care, because I am too. The sun begins to set over the horizon, darkness falls, and I feel my stomach begin to growl. We’re in New Mexico, and I refer to the notes and map that Eva and I made before our trip, pinpointing the destinations we would be staying at over night. The motel and restaurant we chose are ten miles away, and I sigh with relief. I know I need to get out of this car and away from her for a little while if we have any hopes of having an enjoyable trip.
I pull in to the motel parking lot twenty minutes later. I can already tell it’s dingy, but it’s cheap, and cheap is good. “I’ll go check us in if you want to start unloading the bags, Eva.”
She barely acknowledges me.
I huff harshly and push my door open, practically stomping all the way to the tiny office. Once inside, I find myself smiling just slightly. It’s dingy, dirty, gives you that, ‘living with the masses’ type of feel. Justin would love it here.
But why am I thinking about him?
“You ready then?”
The man at the desk is staring me down impatiently, and I swallow hard as I approach him. I can hear a little TV set blaring softly behind him, and the buzz of an air conditioner is constant off in the distance, but other than that there is no sound at all. It’s a little creepy, and as I give him the information required to check in, I start to second guess our decision to stay here.
“Well, no shit. I thought it was you.”
Oh no.
I glance over my shoulder. Pray that I’m wrong.
Trace is standing there, smiling at me like I’ve just made his entire year.
Really? Here? Now?
Why?
“What’re you doing here?” I mutter.
“I’d ask you the same thing,” he laughs and steps up next to me, watching me sign the credit card slip as if it’s the most amazing thing he’s ever seen. “Did y’all just get here?”
“Mhm.”
“What’d you take the long route? We’ve been here for hours.”
“I dunno.” I slide the slip back across the counter, nodding a little in thanks when I’m given the key to our room. “I took the way that we mapped out.”
“So those Indian traits of Eva’s didn’t work in your favor?”r32;
“Apparently not, because you’re here.” I say it as I walk away, but of course I hear him following right behind me as I push my way out the door.
“What’s your room number?”r32;
“Does it matter?” I finally whirl around to look at him, once I’m certain Eva isn’t close by. “We’re leaving bright and early.”
“So? We’re getting a pizza and some beer. You guys can join in.”
“No...no thanks. We’re okay.”
I start walking again.
“You know, you’re trying really hard to avoid him. I don’t get it, personally.”
“Goodbye Trace!”
“Hey, I’m just saying...” He catches up to me and he’s walking directly beside me now. “The guy likes you.”
“He doesn’t like me.”
“You’re telling me I’m wrong?”
“Yes, that’s exactly what I’m telling you.”
“I’ve known him since the womb. You should trust me.”
I stop, turn, and narrow my eyes at him. That damn smirk of his just won’t go away, and I begin to wonder if anything can intimidate this guy. “I’m not interested, okay? Last night was just...weird, but whatever. Justin has his life, I have mine, and that’s the end of the story.”
“I just thought, you know, it’s funny that you’re both single and sort of had a connection last night. Justin is never single long enough to meet a girl with a better personality than a brick wall. I just think it sucks that you won’t give it a chance and neither will he.”
“Give what a chance? We talked, that’s all. You and Eva are taking it way out of context, and I can only assume it’s because you were both drunk.”
“Why are you single?”
I stare at him. “That’s a little personal.”
“Well, there must be a reason. Justin is because he dates women who are only out for their own benefit. What’s your story?”
I can’t believe this. “I just am, that’s all.”
“Thought you were too hot to handle?”
“And if Eva told you she was running for president would you believe her too?”
He laughs.
“Have a nice trip, and if you don’t mind, I’d appreciate it if you didn’t tell your friend that you ran into me.”
“No promises!” He calls it back to me as I walk away from him again.
That means Justin will be notified of this situation within the next ten minutes. Then those two will play scavenger hunt trying to find our room, and when they do, Eva won’t let us leave their side.
We have to leave. Right now.
I meet Eva back at the car a few minutes later. She has our bags at her feet, separated between mine and hers. I feel bad for this, but there’s no choice. “Bedbug outbreak. We have to leave.”
She smiles at me. “Too late.”
My mouth drops open.
“Trace texted me like two minutes ago,” she laughs. “We’re not going anywhere.”
“Eva, please,” I whine, as she snatches the key from me, picks up the two bags, and makes a beeline for the rooms. “I can’t...I can’t do this.”
“Nope, sorry,” she refuses. “Dara, don’t you think it’s uncanny that we’d be at the same motel as them?”
“It’s close to the highway.”
“So are a dozen other places,” she laughs. “Could you plea-ase stop being so frightened of life for five minutes and take it all in? We’re in the middle of nowhere, and two hot men want us to come to their room, have pizza, drink beer, and play cards with them until the wee hours of the morning. Now, I don’t know about you, but that sounds a lot better than ‘getting a good nights sleep.’
She unlocks the door, and pushes her way into the room. I follow, stand there staring at her while she throws a suitcase open and starts to change into one of her many skimpy outfits. Short skirt, low cut top, flip flops. She’s out for sex tonight, but that’s nothing new.
“So go then. You know where I’ll be.” I sit down on the bed and cross my arms.
“Dara, really?” She rolls her eyes and stands before me, hands on her hips. “Come on.”
“I’m staying.”
“What if Justin wants to touch my boobs?”
“Um, do whatever you want?”
She laughs. “How about I send him over here to touch yours?”
I flop face down into the flat pillows. “Just go!”
“It’s such a sad life you lead, Dee.”
The door slams.
Thank God.
