What time am I picking you up?
Not sure. It’s summer, so the parents have to come in to pick up their kids. You could come in and see the classroom. Kim had to take her daughter to a doctor’s appointment, so I’m just working on board work papers for the kids. I can show you the mini posters we came up with.
Sure, why not? No one is there right now, as far as parents, right?
You should be good. The code for the gate is 7435. If anyone asks, you’re with me.
Got it.
Jenna was suddenly excited, the thought of JC seeing her classroom, seeing her in general. She continued what she was doing, using a highlighter to write letters on lined paper for the children to trace. They figured it gives everyone a level playing field at first and allows the teachers to see who needs more assistance.
She heard a knock on the door before it opened. She looked up, surprised to see JC so soon. “That was fast…”
“I was already in the area,” he shrugged, walking towards her desk. She stood as he opened his arms to greet her with a hug.
They held the hug longer than they should have, each not wanting to let the other go. Jenna finally pulled back.
JC looked around the room. “Nice setup. Colorful, it came out really great.” He looked at the sign above the sink. Sure enough there was a picture from the No Strings Attached tour when they were in the doctor coats for It Makes Me Ill.
“You really made this,” he chuckled.
“Look above the whiteboard…” Jenna suggested.
He looked, large colorful letters saying “Do Your Thing” on the wall, surrounded by lots of smaller stars.
Their daily schedule made him smile. Next to the morning board work it said “Here We Go”, and next to dismissal it said “Bye Bye Bye”. He looked confused by what was next to lunch.
“What’s with lunch?” he wondered.
“It’s a Justin and Joey thing from an MTV thing you guys did. There’s a little song they made up…” She pulled out her phone and played a video of it on YouTube.
“I should’ve known,” JC chuckled. He looked at the papers on her desk. “What’s that?”
“Morning board work. For a while it’ll just be tracing letters and numbers on the paper, then they’ll move to writing down things we put up on the board. They use it to review things, especially once they really get into math and their spelling lists.”
“Do they get homework?”
“Yeah, but it’s all easy. Well, I guess it’s easy cuz we’re adults… Kim has been teaching here for a while, she knows what they can handle.”
“Do you need to finish that before we go?”
“Oh, let me show you something by the cubbies…”
Jenna walked him over, and on the wall between the cubbies and the door was a little sign with a mirror in the middle. The sign read “Who’s having a great day? It’s gonna be ME!”
“Ok, I need that around my bathroom mirror,” JC laughed.
“We can go. Did anyone give you any trouble?”
“No. Just put the code in. I did ask a teacher which room you were in, you left that bit out of your text.”
“Sorry. I also figured you wouldn’t be coming in, I’d come out to your car in the parking lot.”
“Fair enough moving forward, but you invited me to see your room without telling me which one it was,” he laughed.
“At least you know where my bedroom is,” she smirked, her eyes practically popping out of her head once she heard what she’d said. “I didn’t mean that… I meant… shit.” She buried her face in her hands as they rode to her apartment.
“You’re fine, Jenna. We’ll watch some Friends, order some pizza, and forget all about it.”
…
“Kelly should be home soon, you wanna watch a couple more episodes or call it a night? I’m sure Jen misses you…”
“I guess I’ll go, I’ve been here almost 6 hours. I look forward to this though, a few hours relaxing and sharing pizza with you. Hearing about your day or week…”
“It’ll be really fun once school starts. Next week is boring, more setup and meetings and boring stuff that could’ve been an email. We get to be in this nice little theater for the keynote speaker, they’ll feed us too, so I guess that’s ok. I just wanna meet my kids.”
“How many will you have?”
“Up to 30, but probably closer to 25. At least there’s two of us. My last job I had that many by myself.”
“Still sounds like a lot. I can barely handle my two nieces. Never saw myself having kids, my lifestyle certainly doesn’t help.”
“You mean having money to pay a nanny? Justin does fine, and he’s super busy.”
“Cuz he’s all over the place. Me, I focus so hard on whatever I’m working on. I worry that would get in the way of a family.”
“I guess that part makes sense, but I know plenty of driven people that became great parents and found a work/life balance.”
“I’m 46, Jenna.”
“Chris was your age when he had Nash…”
“Fair enough. How did this get to be about me?” JC laughed.
“Once you said you never saw yourself having kids…”
“I should go now before you critique me some more.”
“Hey, if you and Jen are happy, then that’s what matters. Anyone that knows you will respect what you want.”
“You ever want kids?” JC asked.
“I guess that’s why I teach. Never found the right guy to settle down with. The one I did changed his mind. Some things aren’t in the cards, no matter how much you want them,” she shrugged. She’d made peace with being over 35 and not being married or having kids, knowing Kelly was right there with her. Not that Kelly wanted kids, but still.
“But you wanted them?” he asked, sensing disappointment.
“Yeah. But I was in my twenties then, I had my whole life ahead of me. Career, marriage, kids, in my head I had it all.”
“You still could. Any guy would be lucky to have you.”
“Tell THEM that, Jenna comes with a high recommendation from JC Chasez…” she laughed.
“I’ll put an ad out in the papers.”
“Do people even READ papers anymore?”
“Fine, I’ll post it on my Instagram page, see how quickly that gets shared.”
“By the wrong people, people either jealous of me for getting such a report, or people thinking we slept together to get it.”
“I mean, if it helps,” he chuckled. “Sorry, that was in poor taste. I’ll get going, but it’ll be nice to have this every week. Talk to you soon, Jenna.”
“Let me know you got home safe. Tell Jen I said hi, and thank you for letting me borrow her boyfriend for a while.”
JC planned to do no such thing, knowing full well he’d lied to Jen about where he was.
…
“JC was gone and you were in bed by the time I got home last night. He didn't stick his foot in his mouth again, did he?”
“No. We hung out a little earlier than expected, and he decided to go home. I didn’t want Jen to worry too much about him being with another woman, especially for over 6 hours…”
“You sure it was just Netflix, no chill?”
“Plenty of chill, just not the kind you mean. We just watched Friends and ate pizza. He had a beer, I had an Arnold Palmer. Nothing more than friends watching Friends.”
“You keep saying that…”
“Because it’s true. As much as I MIGHT be getting a crush on him, he’s a celebrity, I’m a teacher. He already has a beautiful girlfriend that checks all the boxes of what his type is. I’m none of that. Hair color, eye color, all wrong. I don’t look like Eva, or Kathryn, or Jen. We’re friends and that’s all it’ll ever be. I like him because he’s 1/5th of my favorite band, and I never thought I’d get to meet him, let alone see him and text him on a regular basis. I’m living my best life just being friends with him, I don’t need more than that.”
“It’s been years since you’ve been properly fucked, I know the toys in your nightstand would agree with me…”
“That’s not where things are going with JC. He kissed me once, it’s not like he’s gonna sleep with me. I mean, sex. He’s already SLEPT with me, but you know what I meant.”
“I did, and I say it’s bound to happen someday. Men and women can’t just be friends.”
“If that’s true, maybe I need to hang out with Justin more. If I’m gonna split up a relationship, at least get a man with kids so I can be a mom…”
“You know you’d hate yourself for splitting them up.”
“Yet you’re pushing me to break up JC and Jen…”
“They’re not married with kids. You can get as close to Justin as you want, but you'd hate to be the other woman. The media would be much more forgiving of you with JC than Justin.”
“Neither are an option, so let’s drop it. He’s happy with her, I'm happy I get to even be friends with him, let’s just call it even.”
“Ok, I’m sorry. I just want to see you happy, you need a guy in your life.”
“I have a guy in my life, a great one, and it doesn’t involve sex or ways my heart can break all over again. Life is good for once, and I’m tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop.”
Kelly looked at her phone, scrolling through Instagram. “Hey, there’s something at Heart on Friday, and something at Rocco’s before that. Wanna celebrate the first week of your new job with some partying with your new friends?”
“You’re using me to hang out with Lance and Michael, aren’t you?”
“Maybe… I mean, Lance loves you, though. In a platonic way.”
“So does JC. It could be fun. What’s the thing at Rocco’s?”
“Drag Queen karaoke. You LOVED doing karaoke back in the day, before COVID.”
“They’re gay bars, so I’m less likely to get hit on while wearing something sexy.”
“Even though that’s exactly what you need…”
“I’ll try and DM Lance…” Jenna said, pulling out her phone. She opened Instagram, her eyes widening. “Holy shit…”
“What?”
“Lance posted a story, but it’s got the green circle… I’m on his favorites list!”
“DM him, I’m sure he’ll respond!”
Hey Lance, any chance Kelly and I can come to the events at Rocco’s and Heart next Friday? Not asking for VIP, but what do we do to get in?
Her eyes bulged as she saw the 3 dots. “He’s replying! Lance is replying!!! How is this real life, Kelly?!”
Hey! Just show up for the thing at Rocco’s and we’ll take you over to Heart. We’re definitely taking pictures together in the booth, so you better look amazing! I can send Lisa over to get you some great outfits…
We’re good, but thank you for the offer. I’m just some woman, I don’t need all this fuss.
JC has let you into his life. We know what a big deal that is. I’ll let him know you’re going, see if they’ll wanna go to both. Close down Heart with us, it’ll be a blast!
Ok, see you then. Can’t wait!
She put her phone down. “We’re going shopping, Kelly…”
