Not Your Birthday

Basketball; he could tell you the stats of any player on the Memphis Grizzlies starting from the very first year they played in high school to their final, or current, year in the NBA.

Pranks; he never knew when to stop. A prank war between the Nsync boys got so bad, once, that anything innocent was waiting to blow up in their face. They flinched when opening closed doors, checked rooms for booby traps, made tentative pacts to stop when out doing public appearances or interviews, and became increasingly paranoid. The joke was on them considering by that point Justin had stopped playing pranks and laughed manically every time he watched one of them freak out just to do it all over again when they fell into that sweet, sweet false sense of security.

Parties; he was good to find any occasion to have a party. Hanging out, drinking, eating food, listening to music, getting into general debauchery and laughing about it when reminded about it the next day.  Then there were the parties that one did remember and how much fun they were and how much of a buzz they could be. Yeah, he loved a good party.

Especially when it was a birthday party.

And thankfully for him it was Joshua Scott Chasez’s birthday and he was certainly going to do something about it. Justin made a face as he stood in the mirror, continuing to brush his teeth. For it. About it. Same difference. A 24th birthday was something that everyone should enjoy and this was going to be one that went down in the record books. It was going to be the best party anyone had ever seen or been to.

As soon as he got the troops in to help him; and he wasn’t going to take ‘no‘ for an answer.

The only thing that would be hard was getting JC out of the way so that they could get everything set up without him becoming too suspicious. And that was the biggest problem. JC’s whole ‘Team Dad’ role with the group made it hard for them to get away with anything until his resolve was broken down like a battering ram against a toothpick.

And Justin was that battering ram. The only thing he needed to do this time was to figure out what was a good excuse to get JC out of the house that day. But that was okay, it was what everyone else was for. They were a big part of the plan; he couldn’t do anything by himself. Sure he’d take all the credit, it was his idea, but he couldn’t do it by himself. Which was why he needed to come up with a quick excuse as to why JC was staring at him so suspiciously when he walked into the bathroom, rubbing his eyes.

“What are you doing up so early?” JC muttered, rubbing at his chest. One of his eyes was squinted shut against the bright light, the other open to eye Justin warily. Then he turned his gaze around the bathroom, taking a step back. “You didn’t do anything to the bathroom did you?”

“Nope, just brushing my teeth,” Justin said in a chipper tone. Maybe a bit too chipper. JC eyed him warily again. “What the fuck are you looking at?” At JC’s affronted look Justin grimaced around his toothbrush. Okay, then that leaned too far in the opposite direction.

Damn.

He needed to work on his acting skills.

“Truce, I didn’t do anything to the bathroom.” Sticking the toothbrush in the corner of his mouth, threatening to drool toothpaste down his front, he held up his hands. “I promise.”

“Good.” JC stripped off his clothes and stepped into the shower, turning the water on full blast.

“But I’d be careful with your shampoo, though.”

Justin finished brushing his teeth with an evil smile on his face.

As he started to creep in Lance reached out and grabbed onto his arm. “She told us not to go in there,” he warned Justin.

Justin shrugged. “I knocked, not my fault she didn’t answer. Come on, we need her help too.” Chris and Joey laughed under their breaths as the four crept into the quiet room. Joey giggled to himself and motioned for the four to quietly climb into the bed—even Lance getting in on the joke as well—and reached over, gently running his finger down her cheek.

Cadence opened her eyes, took a quick look at the four boys that were lying in her bed, grinning at her, and started to scream. Justin reached out his hand and slapped it over her mouth, effectively cutting her off.

Cadence’s shoulders slumped and she snuggled back into her pillow. “Why the fuck am I waking up with a bed full of men that I don’t remember being there when I went to sleep?” She mumbled. Her eyes squeezed shut even tighter. “I don’t remember going out to party last night but I must’ve had a good night.”

“Shh,” Justin shushsed her. He twisted around and looked over his shoulder to make sure JC wasn’t coming by. The sound of running water let him know that JC was still showering and probably hadn’t become too worried about anything potentially happening with his shampoo.

Then again JC’s paranoia was bound to hit within the next couple of seconds if his normal shower routine was anything to go by.

“Come on, wake up, we need to get going.”

Now Cadence’s eyes popped open once more. She yawned and rubbed at her eyes. “It’s a day off; we’re not supposed to be going anywhere. Now, I’m asking this again, what are you all doing in my bed?”

“It’s comfy,” Chris commented, picking up an extra pillow and hugging it to his chest. “You know, I actually like this room. I should’ve picked this one up when we moved in. Hey, you wouldn’t be in the mood for a roommate would you?”

“Not unless it was Brit or maybe even Christina. Get out.”

“Sleepover!” Joey declared, throwing up his hands.

Justin was surprised there was a lack of a rainfall of confetti fluttering over their heads.

“Did he wake you guys up, too?”

“Yes,” Lance grumbled, running a hand over his face and through his hair so that it stuck up everywhere. He glared over at Justin, who smiled sweetly. “And very rudely.”

“Whatever, whatever.” Justin waved his hand then started a conspiratory whisper. “Okay, so it’s JC’s birthday and I’m thinking we should just throw a party here. The works; decorations, music, gifts, cake, food, games—“

Joey raised his hand in the air. Cadence, who was now fully awake, sat up and slapped it back down. “We’re not in class, Joey; you don’t need to raise your hand.”

“Considering the fact we’re in bed, you should be glad that you can see where his hand is,” Chris joked. The smirks that shot over everyone else’s faces showed they understood his implication.

“I’m more concerned about being dutch ovened again.”

Justin crossed his arms as the others laughed and wiggled his toes, waiting for his chance to speak again. When all eyes were on him he smiled and continued, “So that means that this is going to be something that’s done fast and without JC noticing what we’re doing.”

“In this house?” Even Lance looked skeptical. “Even the slightest smell of chocolate gets you running, Justin. How are we supposed to set up an entire party without him noticing? Because, clearly, you’ve never seen this but JC has to get into our business all the time. He’s Team Dad, remember?”

“And that’s exactly why we have to act like nothing’s going on,” Justin insisted.

Chris snorted. “Too bad you can’t act.” Justin put his hand into Chris’s face and pushed him away from him, nearly knocking him off the bed as he did so.

“Please, I can get things done. So, Joey and Chris will go out and get the decorations while Lance, Cade, and I work on the cake, food, and music.”

“Yeah, okay,” Cadence finally agreed. She let out an exasperated breath, blowing her bangs off her forehead. “But considering I don’t want to have to be the one to clean up the kitchen after the cake is done, I’m going to oversee things.”

“You don’t know how to bake a cake,” Lance pointed out. “You barely know how to bake a pie.”

“All you have to do with a pie is get the crust and canned pie filling, that’s hardly any work. And you’re forgetting who’s the one that cooks your dinner every day so I wouldn’t be dissing the chef.” Then she turned to Justin with a raised eyebrow. “And besides, I’m older than you.”

Justin pouted even more. “Just by a few months.”

“It’s enough; I still have to keep an eye on you.”

“That’s not the only thing he wants on him,” Joey said under his breath. Which wasn’t exactly under his breath as he didn’t try his hardest to convincingly say it under his breath. Nevertheless everyone else ignored him.

“Ok! We’ve got a plan! Let’s go!”

He winced as the other four loudly shushed him.

Justin reached down with his left hand to place it atop of Cadence’s head to keep himself from falling over while she wobbled. With his right hand he stretched a mop towards the ceiling so that they could get rid of the evidence that would immediately give them away. He squinted at the multiple sized brown spots all over the ceiling and the walls.

“I don’t know, I guess I had the standing blender set too high. And would you stop wiggling around? If you go down we’re both going down. And the floor doesn’t need another dent, not after Joey’s last spill.”

“Spill? I thought that was an earthquake,” Chris said.

Joey looked at the tube of frosting that was in his hands then leaned over and drew on Chris’s face with it, while Chris continued to stand there as if nothing was happening.

Finally, Joey finished his drawing—a penis complete with droplets coming out the head—and turned Chris’s head so that it was visible to everyone.  Then before Chris could react he reached out and smacked him on the cheek, sending frosting flying everywhere.

“Hey watch out,” Lance said. He laughed, continuing to spread icing onto the cake that was only half finished. “There’s already enough that we have to clean. I don’t want to clean anymore.” He licked icing off his thumb and glanced towards the ceiling as there was a thud. “You did convince JC to stay in his room for a while didn’t you?”

“Convince, tackle, same thing,” Joey remarked.

"You tackled him into the room?" Cadence asked.

"Yeah, for a string bean he's a lot stronger than he looks. I'm just wondering how long it'll take for him to get out of those binds."

Cadence’s laughter caused her to wobbly some more and Justin quickly got down from her shoulders before he fell. Once carefully on the ground he rested the mop against the island. “For someone who’s so graceful and coordinated you did a bad job of keeping steady.”

“I had your fat ass on my shoulders, what do you expect,” Cadence said. She rubbed her neck. “You’d think for someone who moves it around so much and does so many exaggerated hip movements it wouldn’t be so heavy.”

“Hey, as long as it’s getting noticed, as it rightfully shoulder.” Justin reached behind him and grabbed a handful of his ass.

“Considering it off sets your mini ‘fro,”—Cadence reached up and ruffled his hair, then she grabbed his jaw, “And this cute face I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about.” She patted him on the stomach and pulled her hair behind her ears. “Is there anything else we need to do?”

There was another thudding sound in the ceiling, but this time further away from the original spot. Meaning JC had gotten out of his room. Lance, Joey, Justin, and Chris all started to hiss, “Stall him” over and over again towards Cadence, who looked bewildered.

Justin then grabbed her around the waist and pushed her towards the opening of the kitchen, then he placed his hands on her butt, pushing her out of the room. “Stall him! Don’t let him in here!” He shoved her out of the room then hurried back to his friends. “Frost! Frost for your ever loving lives!” They all grabbed knives and started to haphazardly frost as much of the cake as they could.

It looked like a disaster.

“Alright, what’s going on?”

Justin, Lance, Chris, and Joey looked up as JC forcibly entered the kitchen with Cadence slung over his shoulder. He didn’t look surprised to find the four boys in the kitchens shielding him from the cake behind him.

“What’s going on?” He asked.

“Cade, you were supposed to keep him from coming in here,” Chris said loudly. Justin grinned over at his best friend. He was obviously trying to change the topic of conversation so they could stall. Not that JC wasn’t smart, he was, but stalling even for a little bit of time could help them come up with even a tiny plan to try and outsmart him could work.

And besides, getting under Cadence’s skin a bit was always funny to him. Justin immediately jumped on the bandwagon. “I mean, geez, girl, you can’t even do that one job.” Justin threw in a fake laugh and a shrug for extra measure.

Cadence glared, pushing against JC’s shoulder so that she was upright once more. “I’m only five feet tall, what the fuck else do you expect me to do? Build a cement wall to keep him out?” JC set her on the floor and she went to stand next to the boys.

Justin, in return, held up his hands with his fingers linked together to make the form of a cross. “Easy Mighty Mouse, don’t blow your top.” He then flashed JC the biggest, brightest, charming smile he could come up with.

“You guys have been acting weird all day,” JC continued, trailing his blue eyes over each of the faces that stood in front of him. “First Justin sends me on some sort of a wild goose chase over something I don’t even know he did, then I was body slammed and locked in my room, you randomly went shopping when none of us likes to go shopping, and you wouldn’t even let me lick the bowl for whatever cake you were making.”

“Is that the part you’re the most upset about?” Joey asked. He cried out in pain while Lance and Chris slapped him on the arms.

“Well we might as well tell him now,” Lance added. He moved out of the way and motioned to the half decorated cake behind the group. “Happy Birthday!” He, Chris, Justin, and Cadence all cried at the same time. “The cake’s not done yet but…”

“But, we’ve got gifts and cards and food and music and drinks!” Justin listed. “Everything to have a perfect 24th birthday sans a stripper of course. But I asked Cade and she said she wouldn’t do it.” He shrugged as Cadence stuck her tongue out at him, causing him to stick his tongue out at her as well.

Then Justin turned back towards JC, noticing he hadn’t said anything in response to their revelation. Actually, he hadn’t reacted in any way, shape or form, he just watched them. Then he started to smile and chuckled to himself. He tried for a few minutes to say something but couldn’t stop laughing. Finally, he took in a deep breath and calmed down.

“Guys, this is great and everything,” JC started. He looked apologetic. “But my birthday isn’t until next week.”

Justin frowned. “No, it’s not,” he said. He started to tap his finger against the granite counter. “It’s this month. This week. Today.”

“Justin today is August 2nd.” JC reminded him. “My birthday isn’t until the 8th. If you actually woke up in the morning you’d probably know the days of the week.”

Justin pressed his lips together and exchanged a glance with Lance, Joey, Chris, and Cadence, who all looked as bewildered as he did.

Then Lance slapped his hand over his face and turned to Justin hissing, “How in the world did you forget when his birthday is?” He turned to JC with wide, pleading eyes while pointing at Justin. “This was all his idea.”

“Excuse me? There’re five of us here, how did you forget when his birthday is? Why am I getting all the blame? I get it, it’s because I’m the youngest isn’t it?”

“It is for me,” Cadence chimed in, causing Justin to stick his tongue out at her once more, which she quickly returned.

“No, it’s because you woke us all up at the butt crack of dawn to do this for him,” Lance reminded him.

Now Justin turned to JC with wide, pleading eyes. “I was only thinking about you, man.”

JC laughed.

“Okay, so, we can…have this party just for us today and then on his real birthday celebrate it with everyone else!” Cadence reached over and pushed an envelope towards JC with her index finger. “So you can have your gifts now, happy birthday!” She smiled wide, throwing out her arms.

“What are you doing?” Joey asked. His tone completely deadpan.

“Saving face, shut up,” Cadence hissed out the corner of her mouth. She picked up the envelope and waved it towards JC. “Open mine first, open mine first.” She continued to wave it around until JC chuckled and reached out, taking the card from her.

He pulled it out of the envelope and read the front. “Set the world on fire with your dreams,” then he flipped to the inside, “and use the flame to light a birthday candle. Happy Birthday.” Then he lowered his gaze to the other message that Cadence had written. “People always say to be careful when choosing your friends and that you have your family. And I chose you to be part of my family. Thanks for being such an amazing person and an even great friend. Happy Birthday. Cade.”

“Aww,” Chris cooed sarcastically and in a high-pitched tone. Though there was still a smile on his face. “How cute.”

“I love that, Cade, thanks,” JC said with a smile, closing the card. He opened his arms and Cadence walked into them, giving him a huge hug as they rocked back and forth.

“Uh, what’s the whole ‘choosing’ thing about?” Justin asked, tilting his head back and forth. He hated the smug smiles that turned his way to the jealous tone that came to his voice. He wagged his index finger back and forth. “According to you, you were stuck with us and this job.”

“Ah, I’m always kidding when I say that.” Cadence waved her hand. “And as for the ‘choosing’ thing, that’s an inside joke. And in the envelope there’s a Gift Certificate to the mall; a big one.”

“Funny. So! Open mine next!” Joey pushed a larger box towards JC.

JC pulled it forward and started to take the gift wrap off. Then he paused and peered at Joey closely. Sucking in a breath through his nose he rested his palms against the island, leaning forward. “Do I want to open it here or in private?” He asked.

“That depends on what you think is funnier. Because I think it’d be hysterical if you opened it now,” Joey said.

“That means it’s something phallic,” Chris practically giggled.

“Well, JC needs to get that stick out of his butt somehow,” Justin remarked. He and Chris exchanged glances and laughed hysterically.

JC, eyes still locked on Joey, made a show of pushing the box away from him.

“Seriously, guys, this is awesome. I don’t know who I’d want to spend my birthday with other than you. So even as…last minute as this was, it’s still pretty cool.” He snorted and pointed over to the cake that still had three knives poking out of it. “Except I hope we’re not eating that.”

“It tastes good other than the metallic projectiles,” Lance said.

“Yeah, well, let’s hope that I don’t decide to use these ‘metallic projectiles’ against you guys for tackling me and throwing me into my room, causing me to become paranoid about my own shampoo.” He slapped the counter, making the others joke. “And for not letting me lick the damn bowl.”