Chapter 7 - Recognition and Depression

Okay, so I forgot to mention the fact that the first time Piper and Justin met, they bit each other’s head off. Sue me. But you can obviously see the reasoning behind it.

Piper had no idea who Justin was when she first saw him, just as Justin assumed the worst the second he heard the click of her camera. You can’t exactly blame them.

I’m just glad that Piper was courageous enough to actually walk up to Justin’s back door and apologize. Otherwise, we’d be back at square one and my whole reasoning about fate would be shot to hell.

Anyway, I’m talking too much. Let’s just get back to the story because I’m sure you’re dying to know how Piper and Justin got over their differences. Especially when they butted heads right from the start of their relationship.

“Took you long enough to get back,” Rae said, looking up from the sandwich she was making when she heard Piper come in.

“I went exploring,” Piper simply replied with a small smile, “So how do I develop these pictures?” She held up her camera as Rae stared at her.

“Damn girl, you went through a whole roll already? I wish I was that motivated. Then again, you prolly took a picture of every Joe and Harry at the beach,” Rae teased, “I have to settle for dull scenery.”

“Oh whatever. You know you would suck at taking pictures of people, don’t deny it,” Piper teased back, fully grinning, her bad mood gone.

“I’m not gonna deny it,” Rae agreed, laughing.

“So how am I supposed to develop these?” she asked again, “Do I have to wait until we get home or does somebody around here have a darkroom that I can invade for a few hours?”

“My aunt’s got one in her basement. I’ve been out here enough that she and my uncle finally gave in and installed one just for me,” Rae explained, wiping her fingers clean of peanut butter.

“Wow, spoiled much?” Piper questioned, grinning.

“Whatever. You know I’m at State on a scholarship,” Rae shot back, rolling her eyes, “But follow me, I’ll show you exactly where it’s at.”

Rae placed her sandwich on a plate before wiping her hands on a towel and leading Piper towards a door that she hadn’t noticed before. It led downstairs to a furnished basement equipped with workout equipment, a pool table, a big-screen TV, and surround sound. Talk about living the high life indeed.

“Right back here,” Rae indicated, leading her friend through another door, “The supplies should be fully stocked, just give a holler if you need anything. I’ll be upstairs watching MTV.”

“You and your obsession with TRL,” Piper said with a laugh. Rae flipped her off before heading out of the room and leaving Piper on her own.

Piper sighed as she quickly familiarized herself with Rae’s equipment, her mind still filled with thoughts of the angry stranger she had encountered on the beach. She had some bizarre nagging feeling that she knew him from somewhere, but she just shrugged it off. It was impossible. She was in freakin California, a totally foreign place devoid of any familiar faces except Rae and Virginia.

Quietly singing to herself, as she tended to do while she was working, she quickly began to develop her pictures. She was so entranced in the task that she didn’t hear Virginia come in the room about an hour later.

“Hey Piper…holy crap, is that Justin Timberlake?” Virginia practically screeched as she glanced at the picture Piper was developing at the moment.

“Huh?” the shorter questioned as she glanced at her friend. She was currently developing the pictures of the stranger from the beach.

“Justin Timberlake. Pop singer. Tall, blond-curled blue-eyed Greek god of a man,” Virginia explained, staring at the many pictures her friend had of the famous man, “That’s who this is.” She pointed to one of the completed photos.

“That’s Justin Timberlake?” Piper screeched, her face flaming in embarrassment.

“Well duh, I’ve only got pictures of him on my computer backdrop and plastered next to my bed,” Virginia sarcastically responded, “Don’t tell me you didn’t recognize him.”

“Well, no,” Piper sheepishly replied, ducking her head.

“Piper, you’re such a retard,” Virginia stated, grinning, “You run into one of the hottest guys on the planet and you don’t even recognize him! Ah well, I guess things could have been worse.”

“They are worse. Much worse,” Piper mumbled, covering her face with her hands.

“What did you say?” Virginia demanded as she pulled Piper’s hands from her face.

“I kinda of, uh, well I bitched him out,” Piper miserably stated, quickly finishing the last picture and hanging it up to dry.

“You what!?!” Virginia cried, eyes wide in shock, “What did you say to him? He didn’t have some huge bodyguard with him, did he? Ya know, one of the ones that could kick anybody’s ass? Come on girly, tell me what happened. Did you make a fool out of yourself?”

“Woah, slow down there,” Piper protested, coming to her own defense, “I didn’t recognize him and he was being somewhat of a jackass, so yeah, I bit his head off. I sort of apologized at the end and then I ran away.”

Virginia didn’t know exactly what to say. So she laughed. Poor Piper. She didn’t have the slightest interest in popular music and wouldn’t know Eminem from Britney Spears. Piper was a country girl despite the fact that she was Michigan born and raised.

That explained why she didn’t recognize Justin Timberlake. Piper had a select few interests, none of which included an incredibly sexy pop crooner who, apparently, owned a house not far from Rae’s aunt’s. The fact that she had totally berated him and probably shot a few holes in his ego made the whole situation laughable.

“Shut-up,” Piper mumbled, cheeks still flaming, “It’s not my fault I didn’t recognize him, I don’t exactly know anything about some idiotic boyband who thinks they have talent.”

“Oh come on Pip, the whole thing is funny. I’m sure you probably dragged him down a couple notches,” Virginia got in between laughs. Piper glared at her friend, feeling very guilty at the moment. “Not to mention the fact that you just ran away from him. What happened after that?”

“He went into his house and I came back here,” Piper concluded in a small tone, “Oh god, he must think I’m such an idiot. He freakin asked me if I was a reporter.”

“You’re kidding,” Virginia stated, eyes flashing in amusement, “No wonder he was in such a bad mood.”

“And then he asked if I was a fan,” Piper added as she collapsed on the couch, Virginia taking a seat next to her.

“Oh my god, that’s so funny. Piper Saunders, a teeny. That’s one to put in my instant messenger profile,” Virginia teased, holding a stitch in her side, “You are the last person on this earth who would scream and yell for any kind of singer.”

“Not true,” Piper protested, grinning, “Remember the Kenny Chesney concert two summers ago?”

“Oh yeah, how could I forget, you almost made me deaf,” Virginia joked and received a glare from her friend.

“V, what am I supposed to do now? I totally made an ass of myself to one of the most popular men in music. How the hell am I supposed to make it up to him?” Piper moaned, covering her face with a pillow. Virginia immediately pulled it away.

“Piper Saunders, don’t you dare think that what you did was wrong. I’m sure he had what was coming to him, especially if he was a total bitch to you,” Virginia stated, “Not that I would have yelled at a man who has that much sex appeal.” Piper giggled.

“You and your sexy boys,” she teased, throwing the pillow in Virginia’s direction.

“Hey, I happen to like sexy boys very much, thank you,” Virginia said, grinning, “And Justin Timberlake just happens to be part of my ‘guys I wish I could fuck’ list.” Piper stared at her friend in shock before laughing.

“So now you’ve got a list of guys? You can’t just settle for telling me about every single one of them, now you’ve got to sink even lower and actually make a list?” Piper teased, enjoying the blush that crept up her friend’s cheeks.

“What can I say, I have high hopes,” the blonde replied.

Piper sighed. Well, she’d have to make it up to Justin, celebrity or not. She really had made an ass out of herself just because of his cocky attitude that had gotten under her skin the second he had opened his mouth.

Well, she’d head on over there tomorrow morning with her newly developed pictures and hope that he’d forgive her. Well, that was if he even let her past the front door. She could only hope her mouth hadn’t dug her hole too deep yet.

“What?” Virginia questioned when Piper sighed again, “What are you thinking of doing? I know by that sigh, you’ve got something up you sleeve, so spill.”

“Well, I’m going to go apologize to him tomorrow,” Piper stated.

“What for?” Virginia demanded, surprised, “You aren’t the type of person who yells at somebody for no reason, so he must have done something wrong.”

“Yeah, but I still shouldn’t have reacted the way I did,” Piper explained, “Besides, I should probably let him know that I’m not taking these pictures so I can sell them to some stupid teeny for thousands of dollars.”

“You’re too nice,” Virginia stated, standing up, “If I were in your place, I’d probably…”

“Fuck him?” Piper interrupted in a teasing tone. Virginia threw the pillow back, missing her friend by a mile.

“I don’t think about sex all the time, even though it may seem that way,” Virginia explained, rolling her eyes, “Just most of the time.” Piper erupted into a fit of giggles at the somewhat bemused expression on the taller woman’s face.

“What’s going on down here?” Rae suddenly interrupted as she made her entrance, “What did I miss? All I heard was Virginia say something about Justin Timberlake and sex.”

Virginia and Piper exchanged looks before bursting into laughter. Then they proceeded to tell Rae exactly what she had missed in the past twenty minutes.

“Why are you so grouchy?” Genevieve questioned as Justin slammed the third cupboard in the past five minutes, “You didn’t get attacked by some pre-teenage girls at the beach, did you?”

“No,” Justin snapped, thinking, ‘Just one beautiful stranger that took my picture and ran.’

“Well then stop acting like you’re on your period,” Genevieve reprimanded, continuing to watch the chicken and vegetables she was sautéing for dinner.

“Justin’s on his period?” JC questioned as he entered the room with three beers in his hands. Justin immediately grabbed one and popped the top.

“No I’m not Jace, I just did a little too much thinking when I was outside,” Justin gritted out through clenched teeth.

Coming back to the house had not been a good idea at all. Genevieve had immediately picked up on his bad mood and had proceeded to grill him until all he wanted to do was crawl into his bed and pull the covers over his head. He was trying to get away from the problems, not tote them along wherever he went.

“First you said you needed to get away to think and now you say you’ve thought to much,” JC commented, taking a swig of his beer, “You make no sense to me.”

“He just woke up on the wrong side of the bed,” Genevieve supplied, sending JC a warning look.

“Oh, well that makes it so much better,” JC said, placing a soft kiss on the tip of her nose as an apology, “Now what’s for dinner woman?”

“Nothing if you call me woman again,” Genevieve teased, playfully slapping her boyfriend’s butt.

Justin almost groaned aloud at their loving nature and quickly excused himself from the room. He hastily made his way up to his bedroom, intent on getting away from everybody until his bad mood left.

After grabbing a pad of paper and a pen, Justin ambled his way out onto the balcony of his room, which overlooked the backyard and, ultimately, the ocean. It was a beautiful site, the waves crashing over the deserted beach, gulls flying in the orangish-red light of the fading day. But he was immune to it all, the pain in his heart taking precedence over everything else.

With a dejected sigh, Justin eased his long frame into a lounge chair and sat, contemplating the trials and tribulations life had deemed he could handle. He wasn’t so sure he was capable.

He quickly poured his thoughts out on paper, his scrawling hand flowing from one page to the next as he tried to rid himself of the depression. But it wasn’t going to be.

No, the depression and mental instability would never go away in his mind. How could it? He had been hurt too many times, been forced to pick up the pieces time and again. He was like Humpty Dumpty, except when they tried to put him back together, there were pieces missing that left a jagged hole in his heart.

The black cloud of depression would stay there as long as he let it, and for now, he wasn’t all too sure how to get rid of it. Happiness and love were two words once common in his vocabulary, now as foreign as the French he never quite mastered those years ago.

What was wrong with him? Had he committed some heinous crime in a past lifetime that he was being punished for now? Was there some ulterior motive for all his suffering? And most importantly, was there an end in sight to all the pain, all the unbearable unhappiness, and all the insecurities that plagued him?

He didn’t know. Maybe he never would. Well, he’d be damned if he just sat there and let his emotions overrule his entire life. No, he had come on this vacation to relax and find some answers. By god, that’s just what he would do, even if what he found wasn’t exactly what he had started out looking for.