"Oh my god." Justin motioned to me, "Your eyes are unbelievable. Jesus. They're natural?"
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Oh, and all of the negative comments I've ever made about my eyes? Retracted. "Yeah, they're natural. Melanin hasn't been on my side since the day I was born."
Justin tilted his head and squinted one eye, "Melanin?..."
"Yeah... Eye color is determined by the amount of melanin in each eye. My right eye has less melanin than my left, which is why it's purple. That's why darker skinned people usually have brown eyes, because they have more melanin in their skin. Most white people have lighter eyes because they have less melanin in their skin. I got caught somewhere in the middle." How. Boring. Could. I. Get?
Justin nodded, "Very cool." Well, he certainly didn't seem bored. "How old are you, Nicole?"
"Seventeen."
"Wow." He must have seen the look on my face, "No, I'm just surprised. You seem much... younger. You're extremely well spoken, though, for seventeen."
Lynn took his shoulder and smiled brightly, "Nikki is a straight A student and she's up for Valedictorian. She's going to try for Brown in the fall."
"Shut the fuck up!" Justin yelled, "Now you know I'm going to be up there every year visiting you for basketball season, right?"
Oh god, I really would have to wear this disguise for the rest of my life. "I haven't been accepted, yet."
"You will." Lynn said with so much confidence that I didn't have the heart to argue.
I went to ask Justin how his flight had been, but, since the attention had been off of her for a good five minutes now, Jess had to throw herself into the mix. She stepped in front of me, much to Justin's surprise, and held her hand out, "Hi, I'm Jessica, Vince's oldest daughter. You may remember me from..."
My eyes popped out of my head. What the fuck was she doing?
"... From a few NSync concerts my sister and I went to years ago."
"Oh yeah." Justin pointed to her, "Was it a concert in Los Angeles?"
"Yes!" Jess beamed, as if he were so intuitive, even though we all lived in Los Angeles and were currently standing in it's largest airport.
Justin seemed deep in thought, then asked her, "Staples Center?"
"Yep." Jess nodded.
"Third row?"
"Fourth row."
"Were you the one with the head?"
My mouth twitched as Jess hesitated, then nodded, "Uh... yes?"
Justin snapped his finger and pointed at her, nodding vigorously, "I remember you! I remember you!"
We all laughed quietly at my sister's expense. She didn't realize that the joke was on her until a few moments later, but when she did her lip hung down lower than I'd seen hang in a long time. I was secretly pleased. I was secretly pleased with anyone who had the guts to fuck with Jess. Most people didn't, usually men, because they were intimidated by her beauty. Justin, however had seen his fair share of beautiful women and was clearly unruffled by her looks. I would have believed this was something Jess would like about Justin, since she always complained about the dates she missed when men where too afraid to ask her out, but she wasn't happy. Not at all.
After a few minutes of polite conversation, we all decided it was time to get back to the car so we could go home and pack for Tahoe, and Jess was the first one to stomp towards the exit, walking a mile a minute.
I shook my head and watched Lynn and my father hurry after her while I took my own leisurely pace. Just when I thought to look back to see where Justin was I felt an arm go around my shoulder and the scent that I'd been fantasizing about for the last few hours wafted into my nose. I never would have imagined, as I looked up and saw him looking down at me, that I would be this close to him again, so soon, or that we would both be as fully clothed as we were. He had retrieved his hat and sunglasses from where they'd fallen to the floor and put them back on his face, making him look like a different Justin in the best possible way. As fine as he was at the moment, at the same time, I couldn't believe how normal he was, that he was actually willing to touch me. Put his arm around me. As far as he knew, I was a complete stranger. We walked together, him with his arm around my shoulder and me with my arms crossed over my chest. I wanted to touch him back. To wrap my arm around his waist or even take the large hand hanging next to my chin in my own, but I was afraid if I moved, he would realize that he was touching me and pull away. I tried not to breathe too hard, shift too much or make direct eye contact. Justin Timberlake was touching me. This was a moment that needed to be savored and extended for as long as humanly possible.
At that point, he was practically pulling me along, since I was lost in my own world. "So... looks like we're going to be siblings." He said, conversationally.
I couldn't wipe the smile off... my.... face. I stared at the carpet below me, watching our sneakers moving in the same stride, trying to bite my grinning cheeks, "Yeah, it looks like it."
"How do you feel about that?"
"Well, to be honest, I've never been a huge fan of plagiarizers."
"Plagiarizer? How am I a plagiarizer?" He beamed, lightheartedly.
I finally managed the courage to look into his eyes, and almost stopped walking completely. The sight of them up close was... no picture would ever sufficiently capture them. Not ever. I attempted to appear coy, rather than what I really was--completely maniacal. "Justin, I was an NSync freak as a kid just like every other girl on the planet. As much I as enjoyed watching you piss my sister off just now I know that you totally, totally stole that joke from Chris. On NSync N' the Mix, The DJ was reading a letter from a fan asking if you guys remembered her from the eighth row of a concert, and Chris said, 'Is she the one with the head?' I think I watched that DVD five thousand times in middle school. Honestly, I know the entire thing word for word. That was Chris' joke. Plagiarizer." I pointed to him.
"Whoa! Whoa!" Justin stopped walking, completely, and I stopped with him. For a quick second I looked to my father, Lynn and Jess who must have assumed we were right behind them, because none of them had looked back. Justin was still rambling on in mock confusion when I looked back at him, "Listen, I did not steal that joke from Chris. Chris stole that joke from me. I had been telling that joke for years before that DVD came out. Chris just happened to be on camera when he stole it so everyone believed it was his. Nic." He tilted his head, "How you trying to play me, girl?"
I loved. Loved. Loved. That he'd just called me Nic. Loved it. However, I was not convinced. "So you're not only a plagiarist, but a compulsive liar, as well?"
Justin clearly wasn't used to people talking back to him, hell, I barely understood where I was getting the balls to challenge him the way I was, but he didn't seem to mind because he threw his arm back over my shoulder and pulled me even closer than I was before. "Oh, I'm going to have fun with this one." He said, taking me in a playful headlock.
I shifted out of it and pushed him with all my might, delighted when the sound of his laugh, his real laugh, filled my ears. He was absolutely going to have fun with me. In fact, he had no idea just how much fun.
Absolutely no idea.
Justin didn't have a car at the airport so he spent the entire ride to the house in the backseat smushed between Jess and myself. She was still pouting, staring out of her window with her cheek in her hand, mad at the world, and Lynn and Vince were in their own world up front. So I was the only one left. Left on my own to entertain the biggest star in the world. It was surprisingly easy. I didn't need to recall my best childhood anecdotes or know the best jokes. No, Justin was entertained from the moment I took out my pink Razr to check a text message from a friend. He asked me what games I had on it.
"Um..." I opened the games consul on my phone, quietly embarrassed that the red nail polish on my nails was beginning to chip, "I've got Pac Man, Miss Pac Man, Bowling, Scrabble, Wheel of Fortune--"
"Scrabble?" Justin's eyes widened in mine and he make a squirly motion with his hand, "Let's go. You and me, Nic." Our legs had been smushed together for the entire ride, which was why I got so disoriented when he moved himself even closer. I don't know which prospect pleased me more, that he was moving closer to get near me or moving closer to get away from Jess. It was obvious to me how much it bothered her that, for the second time, Justin liked me more than he liked her. Even in baggy clothes and ugly glasses with two different color eyes I had still managed to snag his first place. She hated it, a lot, and when Jess hated things, she showed it. I was a little pissed about what a child she was being, sending off such negative vibes to this guy who was so nice and was going to be apart of our family, but I could hardly do anything about it. Justin Timberlake's knee was touching my knee. I had bigger fish to fry.
Ten minutes in, I was pretty much murdering him. To my complete delight, he was an excellent loser. Or not.
He bumped his shoulder to mine as Dad pulled onto the 405, "Okay, no, I'm sorry. No. Mungo? Mungo is not a word." He was the worst loser, ever.
I threw him a look, "Justin. This is the fifth word I've used that you've insisted isn't a word. The game wouldn't accept it if it wasn't a word. Okay? I'm really going to have to give you some lessons on losing gracefully."
"To do that you'd have to have lost at something in your entire life, which you certainly haven't." Jess spat, shocking all of us into looking at her. It was the first sentence she'd said for the whole drive.
After a few moments, Justin turned back to me, "Define it."
I sighed, "Justin, the testosterone is too much. I'm losing air over here."
"Define. It."
I looked to Lynn, who was turned completely around in her seat, watching us with an adoring smile. When my eyes caught hers, she nodded, clearly believing her son could stand to be taken down a peg or twenty. I rose my eyes to Justin, "Mungo, a cloth made from recycled woven or felted material." I paused, "Mungo."
"Hm." Justin smacked his lips.
Lynn beamed at him, "She's wicked smart, baby."
"Fuck yeah she is." He scowled at me, "Too smart for me."
"Sore loser." I mumbled.
"Brain." He bumped my shoulder, again, and he was lucky that we were literally saturated with relatives. Or I would have molested him right there.
The rest of the ride was spent that way. With Jess ignoring us and Justin and I not caring. Whenever one of us cheered after winning a triple word score or taunted the other for words that didn't exist she got a little more angry. I didn't understand her sometimes. This entire thing was her plan, after all. She should have been ecstatic that it was going so well.
After a ride like that, needless to say, since he wanted to leave my father and Lynn with their alone time, Justin was attached to me at the hip once we arrived back home. He pretended like he was going to close the door on my legs when I was climbing out of the car, he booty bumped me repeatedly as we made our way into the house and he laughed hysterically from behind me when I tripped on the way up the staircase.
"This place is probably like nothing compared to your house. So small." I said, as we made our way down the upstairs hallway.
For a moment I'd been panicked about all the family pictures on the walls but relaxed when I realized they were all baby pictures. He was taking in all of the photos that lined the walls with his hands shoved in his pockets. He was uncomfortable and I couldn't blame him. I understood what a weird feeling it was to walk through the halls of someone else's house for the first time and I wanted nothing more than to make him feel more comfortable until we could get to Tahoe since Jess obviously wasn't going to help me. "It's not small." He said, finding the picture of me as a baby on the wall and tapping it before turning to me with an amused smile. I just rolled my eyes and opened the door to my room. I held it open and he stepped in past me, "It's homey."
He looked like a giant in my room. Ten feet too tall. It wasn't until that moment that I realized it was the first time a boy had ever been in my bedroom. He was the only boy my father would allow in my bedroom, which I found ironic since he was a boy I'd been in love with since I was ten. I guess Daddy figured that hell would freeze over before Justin Timberlake put the moves on his little girl. Daddy, unfortunately, underestimated just how horny his little girl was, and how willing she was to make all of the moves herself. Still, it was bizarre. Not only was there a guy in my room for the first time, but that guy just happened to be Justin fucking Timberlake. I found myself frozen in my doorway for a moment, staring at his back. It was almost too much to bear.
Almost.
I pointed to my bed, "That's the remote in the middle of my bed. You can watch whatever you want. I've got cable." I said, motioning to the bed as I went to grab my suitcase from the closet.
"Cable huh?" Justin's eyebrows wagged as he plopped himself in the middle of my bed and turned on the tv, "You're living the good life, Nic." During the hour long car ride home he had gotten nice and comfortable with teasing the hell out of me. Every little thing I did, no matter how insignificant, he made a complete mockery of. I would have hated it if it was anyone else. I would have hated it, a lot. With Justin, though, I couldn't help but be thrilled, almost shocked, that we were getting along as well as we were, and so soon. Then I remembered the night at his suite in the Venetian, how comfortable I'd felt with him. Even though I was now hiding under a layer or ugly, I was still the same person I had been that night. And so was he. The chemistry we'd experienced had been real, this proved it. This very moment. We'd met only a hour ago and already he was lying on the edge of my bed with his arm tucked under his head, flipping through the channels. It was as if he had been watching tv in my room all his life. He was comfortable, and that made me comfortable. I kind of fucking loved it.
"Sorry, I don't have movie channels. " I called from the closet as I hurled my huge suitcase into my arms. I waddled out, "My Dad canceled them when he caught me watching Red Shoe Diaries." I grunted.
Justin jumped from the bed and took the suitcase from me the moment he saw me struggling. He deposited it onto the middle of my bed and threw it open, "Red Shoe Diaries is the only reason one gets cable. Doesn't he understand that?"
I shook my head, "Dads." I said, as if I were talking about a small, impossible child.
"Don't worry, Nic. Red Shoe Diaries is for rookies. I've got a huge box of porn at my house with your name on it."
I guffawed, "Are you going to write that off on your taxes as a charitable donation?"
"Possibly." Justin nodded, then burst out laughing, shaking his head at me. He touched the side of my head, and I was so in awe that he was, again, touching me, that I didn't see it coming for a second when he flicked his wrist, knocking my head to the side, "Big head." He smiled, then laughed, turning away from me and heading to the other side of my room.
I had to turn away from him when it all became too much. Here I was with Justin Timberlake in my bedroom and we were laughing and joking. Joking! Like we'd been friends for years. He was so easy to talk to that it made it too easy to forget the complicated situation I was in. I needed to be in control and that was difficult in his presence. I couldn't afford to lose my grasp on this situation for even a moment. I began going through my drawers, picking frumpy clothes that I wouldn't usually wear as well as the sexiest clothes I owned. I would need a nice variety. It was going to be a crazy week in Tahoe.
"So tell me about yourself." Justin said from behind me.
I turned and saw his back was to me. He was lingering in front of my cluttered dresser. Fuck. God only knew what was up there. I would have cleaned it off before we left to pick him up but I honestly never imagined when we brought him back that he would come within mile of my bedroom. In fact, I'd imagined us all scrunched up in the living room watching some agreeable sitcom on television, laughing nervously when we knew we were supposed to, but not really interacting. Obviously, I'd been dead wrong. Lynn and Dad had disappeared into the den to do god knows what and Jess was currently giving the entire house the silent treatment. Already I was losing my grasp and that was all it took, just a few stupid assumptions, a couple of small slip-ups and this entire thing would go to shit. God, what else hadn't I thought about? What other surprises were in store? I wasn't sure if I could pull this off.
Unfortunately, Justin was now in my room and taking an unabashed inventory of my personal property. It was a little too late to turn back. He was as quiet as I'd ever heard him while he fiddled with trinkets and took in certain objects, slowly learning about this new girl by the little things she chose to display in her room. As he was observing my stuff I caught sight of a very recent picture of Jess and I just inches away from where he was sniffing my cocoa butter lotion. It was a picture of us in our bathing suits on a trip that we'd actually taken to San Diego. She had on sunglasses and a huge hat but my face was completely bared, smiling straight into the camera, unmistakable. There I was-- there she was. Kiki. Without another second of hesitation I leapt onto my bed, rolled across it and jumped to Justin's side where I slammed the picture down just as his eyes fell on it. He jolted in surprise at my sudden appearance at his side, and I was quietly thanking god that I had such a small room. It wasn't difficult to get from one end to the other.
"What the hell was that?" He chuckled and tried to stand the picture back up. I snatched it away. The way his eyes lit up made it very clear that snatching something from him was as good as dangling a slab of steak under the nose of a hungry lion. "What are you hiding? Huh?" A smile crossed his face, "Naked baby pictures? Naked adult pictures?" He wagged his eyebrows, following me when I began to slowly back away, "Let's see it." He held out his hand. He was so much taller than me and stronger than me and we both knew that if he really wanted that picture frame, he would have that picture frame. I put it behind my back, anyway, and continued to back away from him. He raised an eyebrow, "A girl as clumsy as you are should never walk backwards, Nic. You never know what you just might--"
My back slammed into a wall and I was rendered motionless.
"Hit." Justin finished, coming down on me. Fuck. Nowhere to run. "Show me the picture, please."
I shook my head.
His voice was psychotically patient, "Show me the picture, Nic."
"No. Absolutely not. It's embarrassing."
He leaned one hand on the wall next to my head and bore his eyes into mine, "Why's that?"
"It's uh... it's uh... it's a picture of my boyfriend and I at a Harry Potter convention. We're dressed up. In costumes. We're posing. With toys. We're the oldest people there. It's just... bad."
Justin was staring at me, not responding. Then, suddenly, he asked, "Boyfriend?"
I jammed my eyes shut, "Ex. I meant ex. Ex... boyfriend."
"Just so you know, Nic, I'm not a snitch. You can tell me if you have a boyfriend. I might even be able to help you when you mess shit up because... you know how you women are great at messing shit up." He winked at me.
It was the first time since the moment I'd met him that I wanted to slap him the way I constantly wanted to slap Jess, "I beg your pardon, but I happen to be a fantastic girlfriend! No messiness here."
The look on his face dripped with skepticism. I wondered how many women must have fucked him over for him to be so cynical.
"Ugh!" I tried to push past him, but he was now using his size and strength to his advantage and didn't budge an inch.
"I'm sorry, okay? You don't have to show me the Harry Potter picture." He tilted his head at me and gave me a look that I was sure he'd mastered on the many women he'd been with, or dealt with, in life.
I was thankful that he'd given up on his quest to see the picture behind my back. At that point I wasn't even sure which picture I would be more horrified for him to see, the one of me and Jess or the Harry Potter one. And, yes, there was really a Harry Potter picture, but I would never put it on display in my room. It was safely tucked away in the back of my closet, wrapped up in some dirty socks.
"Harry Potter, huh?" He turned to the other end of the room where my bookshelf sat and back to me, "Looks like you're a hell of a..." His words came to a slow stop, "Reader," And his eyes focused behind me.
Oh god. My Wall of Winnings. How could I have let him into my room without taking down the Wall of Winnings? When he'd first walked in his back had been facing it, so he hadn't seen it up until now. Oh Jesus, why? Anything but the Wall of Winnings. I suddenly wanted to kill my father, the contractor and maintainer of the Wall of Winnings, for ever having built it in the first place. It started off as one stupid award that I'd won in kindergarten, I didn't even remember what it was, but too quickly it had grown into a monster of achievement that took up the entire North side of my bedroom wall. Justin took my shoulder and pushed me slowly to the side, gaping at it. He was gaping.
Every award that I'd ever won from Perfect Attendance in Kindergarden to Biggest Flirt in High School Yearbook. From sports, to grades, to writing contests and everything in between, if I had a plaque, a medal, a ribbon or a Kinkos .40 cent print out it was somewhere on that wall. "Good lord..." Justin whispered, taking in the sight. It really was a bit much. I'd been meaning to take it down for ages now. So embarrassing. He read softly, "First prize, The Little Miss Sweetie Pageant, 1992. Sixth grade Honor Roll. First prize, Cashman Middle School Track and Field. Eighth Grade Honor Roll. First prize, 2004 American High School Dance Finals. Ninth grade Honor Roll, Christ." And that was just the tip of that wall's iceberg. He turned to me, curling his nose, "You're one of those."
I pushed his shoulder lightly, barely aware that I was flirting, "One of what?"
"You know... those. And you're worried about getting into Brown?" He whistled at the wall, then turned to me, "Baby, you've got Brown in the bag."
"Not unless the Asian Invasion rockets himself back to his home planet." I mumbled.
Justin smirked, "The Asian Invasion? What the hell is the Asian Invasion?"
"It's just a nickname that I have for this kid at school named David Lenney. We've been going to school together since we were kids and we're always neck and neck in everything. We both get straight A's, obviously, but that's not it. It's like he's always nipping at my heels. If I join a sports team, he joins a sports team. If I enter a writing contest, he enters the same one. If I scratch my ass, he scratches his own. It's so frustrating. God. My life would be so much easier if he just... fell off a cliff, or something." I snorted, prompting a laugh from Justin, as well.
"You know, Nic, it is true that saying, 'imitation is the highest form of flattery', but imitation is just that-- imitation. By an imitator. Believe me when I say this, because I know a thing or two about the David Lenney's of the world, the imitators are going to come and go, but..."
We were ten minutes in and he was already giving me a big brother speech.
"But the real thing will always shine the brightest..." He stalled, standing very quietly, watching me, then exhaled, "Your eyes are beyond belief, girl."
I wanted to let him know that his eyes were pretty fucking incredible, too, but unfortunately I couldn't breathe.
God, I wanted him naked so bad I could taste it on my teeth. I could only hope that it wasn't completely obvious. The faster we got the Tahoe, the better, because I needed him to look at me not the way he was now-- like a kid, but the way he had in Vegas. Like a woman who he wanted to violate. I needed to be violated.
He took a deep breath and stood tall. Very tall. "Need help packing?" He asked.
I grinned up at him, "It's like you're reading my mind."
--
An hour later Justin and I were making our way out of the house. I had a duffle bag of shoes on my arm and Justin had the rest of my bags, which took up both shoulders, both hands and the bleeding edge of his pointer finger, where my make-up bag was hanging. He'd refused, absolutely refused, to let me help him with some of my bags. He said that it was extremely dangerous for someone as clumsy as myself to be trusted with anything exceeding fifteen to twenty pounds. Who knew how hard I might fall and, even scarier, who I might take down with me.
The sun was just beginning to fall when we made our way out into the driveway where Jess, Daddy and Lynn were already packing all of their things into the BMW. Though Dad and Lynn had gone to Justin's house earlier and brought back his truck so that the kids and the adults could ride in separate cars, Jess insisted that she wanted to be in the BMW to "get to know her future step-mother in law". My father had beamed with glee at her exceptional maturity towards her new step mother, and I had been annoyed at her extreme jealousy. That last time I'd seen Jess this jealous of me was when our mother gave me all of her hand me downs (aka hot jeans that no longer fit her fat ass) and I'd looked incredible in them. Honestly, I was surprised that she hadn't sneaked into my room and burned all of the clothes while I was asleep. As much as it would pain her, I was positive she would rather see her Skinny Girl Jeans dead and gone then see them looking fantastic on anyone's ass but her own. Especially if that ass was mine.
Why couldn't she ever just be happy for me? Why did everything have to be a fucking competition?
"I guess it's just me and you, Nics." Justin nudged me, startling me out of my thoughts. I gazed up at him, squinting against the sun, and smiled. He smiled back and nodded his head, "Common..."
I followed him to the end of the driveway where the biggest truck I'd ever seen was parked. It was black as night, just like Lynn's BMW, but it was a monster. It somewhat resembled a normal sized Jeep, but I couldn't be sure, as I'd never seen anything like it that didn't have a supplier conglomerate's logo printed on the side. The tires were taller than I was. I stopped in my tracks, watching Justin open the trunk and throw all of my bags in.
"You don't trust me to carry a few lousy bags but you trust me to climb into this aberration of a vehicle?"
He slammed the trunk shut, turned to me, and pointed a finger. "That is your first and last free pass. Insult my baby, again, and I will murder you in your sleep, Rocky."
I raised an eyebrow, "Rocky?"
He approached me, grabbed my shirt in his hand and tugged me towards the car. "You know? Like rocket scientist? Only a rocket scientist would use a word like aberration with a straight face."
I couldn't believe my ears as he opened the passenger's side door. I was three hours in and I already had two new nicknames from this man. In my entire life I'd seen boys gives girls at school nicknames and I'd come to learn that it was something they did only with girls they truly, or secretly, adored. Did this mean Justin adored me?
I attempted to appear annoyed, rather than enchanted, "Really, Justin? How exactly does rocket scientist translate into Rocky?"
"You're a smart girl, Rocks." He touched my ass, prompting me to scream out loud because, hi, Justin Timberlake was touching my ass, and pushed me up into the passenger's seat. Once I was in I turned to him and glared down, way down, at him. He winked in return, "I'm sure you'll figure it out." The door closed in my face and before I knew it Justin was in the driver's seat, starting up his aberration and following Lynn, Dad and Jess onto the highway.
You know that feeling you get when you're in an uncomfortable silence with someone that you don't know? How it can make you nervous, give you the feeling that you're the most boring person in the world and, all in all, make you want to kill yourself just so you didn't have to deal with it for another second? Justin and I didn't have that. Not at all. We'd been in his aberration, driving for nearly three hours, alone-- all alone-- and the silences fell between us very often. I always waited for the weird feeling that would inevitably come, as the music became the only noise filling the vehicle, but it never did. I honestly couldn't remember ever having that with another human being outside of Jess and my parents. I made me feel connected to him.
I was dark out now, but neither of us was tired. We were both excited for Tahoe, for two very different reasons, of course. As we quietly drove I wondered how I was going to run into Justin as myself, as "KiKi". What was I going to say to him? What was I going to do? If he wanted to pick up where we left off in Vegas where would we do it? Obviously we couldn't go back to the cabin. What if he asked to go back to my cabin? Something that I didn't have? What if he was already over that one girl who he met in Vegas? What if he didn't recognize me, at all? Oh god, I missed Jess. Why was she being such an asshole?
Justin turned the volume knob on the radio and threw me a look, "You should listen to this song." He said, his voice exponentially softer than it was on solid ground, "It's a really good song." Then he went back to driving like he hadn't said anything, at all.
And, yeah, it was a really good song. A song that I would never hear the same way, again.
"What are you thinking about?" He asked, breaking the calm hush. My head snapped to his, surprised at the unexpected question.
He was staring out into the road, watching the street, and if I hadn't heard him the first time I wouldn't have been able to tell that he'd asked a question, at all. "Jess." I answered, which was actually the truth.
He smiled at the name, then chuckled, throwing me a look, "That girl is not liking me too much, is she?"
"I bet you're not used to that, are you? A being of the opposite sex responding to you in a way that doesn't involve screaming, crying, professing their love, not saying a word out of sheer fright or all of the above? Jess must be like the Holy Grail to you."
"Nah," Justin shook his head. "My fans haven't been nuts like that for a while. They were teenagers when I started, which explains the crying and the profession of love, as you so beautifully put it." He threw me a look, "But they've grown up with me, they're much more mature now. There's a difference, though, between a person who's afraid to talk to me and a person who doesn't want to talk to me. There's a difference and I can tell. I can see it, I can smell it, I know it. Jess doesn't want to talk to me... for some reason." He eyes widened, then he turned to me. He was looking for answers, and to me he looked, waiting for just that.
I shrugged my shoulders, then let them fall, "Jess is..." I didn't even know how to answer. Honestly, I was surprised at how much this was obviously bothering him. From the way he'd been behaving since we'd met you'd have thought that he'd barely acknowledged Jess' existence, let alone be bothered by her blatant bad attitude. "Jess is Jess." I finished, "You'll get to know her."
"You say that like it's a death sentence."
I held my hands up, feigning innocence, "You said it, not me."
"Tell me a story about her." He said, gripping the steering wheel with one hand and resting his head in the other, "Tell me something to make me understand."
He wanted a story about Jess? Oh, man, did I have a story about Jess. I could write a fucking book on Jess. "Okay." I sat up, straighter, "Here's a story for you, Timberlake."
I told him twenty. Probably more. By the time I was done telling stories about Jess' ass, he had tears in his eyes and I was vaguely worried for our safety. Anyone laughing as hard as he was laughing couldn't have been paying adequate attention to the road, "So she actually pretended to fall into the lake?"
"And pretended to drown." I nodded, vigorously.
"Just because Vince wouldn't buy her the Bashful--"
"Bubbling, Blushing, Baking Go Pink Barbie. It was a special edition, Justin. Every other girl in school was going to have one. How could she show her face in kindergarden the next day? How?!"
He sputtered, "So, obviously, pretending to drown herself-- on Christmas Day-- seemed like an adequate punishment."
"She had to make Daddy understand." I reasoned in a flight attendant tone of voice.
"And did Daddy understand?"
I raised my eyebrows, "He understood that she wasn't leaving her room for the rest of Christmas break, yeah." I nodded, then laughed along with him for several minutes. Then the silence fell between us, again, and again, it wasn't weird. I kind of loved him. "And, that's Jess, in a nutshell."
"She sounds like a barrel of laughs."
"You have no idea." I said, shaking my head.
"We're almost there." Justin said, surprising me. We had been driving for hours. I had noticed the subtle changes in scenery for the first thirty minutes or so but after that I had barely been paying attention. He pointed out of my window, "You see that mountain, right there? The one that looks like a titty?"
I searched the millions of mountains ahead of us and found the one he was pointing at, in the very back, the tallest mountain of them all with an extremely smooth surface and a mess of trees at the very top. It really did look like a woman's breast. I had to laugh, "I see it." I answered.
"That's us. That's our cabin." Justin said, before going back to the wheel, "I think you're going to love it, Nic. Rocky." He corrected himself, giving me a look.
I rolled my eyes, "I'm not exactly a nature type girl. You'll never catch me on a pair of skis in the snow-- not purposely, anyway. I can't fish and, even if I could, I hate being in huge bodies of water for extended periods of time. I hate all animals that aren't house broken and clean air is an extravagance that I am not accustomed to. In fact, I think I'm allergic to it."
"I'll teach you how to fish, I'll take you out kayaking, we'll go sightseeing and, I promise you, by the time we're back in LA you'll be choking on all the toxic fumes."
I stared at him, but couldn't respond. I loved Justin Timberlake, really I did, but Tahoe was just about my worst nightmare realized. The only thing that was going to make it better was the fact that I'd be fucking him while we were there. A smile spread over my face at the very thought, "Well, obviously we're not going to be spending every second together."
"Yes, every second." Justin confirmed, "The whole point of this trip is for all of us to be together... get to know each other... like a family. We are going to be a family. Kin."
"But not real kin. Not blood."
"Blood is just liquid. It doesn't count for shit."
"Do you really believe that?" I asked, shocked at the words he was saying. Honestly, I was horny, I was horny for him. I couldn't wait to relate to Justin, but not in the sense that he was getting at.
"I do. You're my sister, now. Honestly I..." Whatever he was about to say, he stopped himself, and I was struck extremely curious, "I've always wanted a sister." He said, instead. "I want to spend every second of this trip with all of you."
I didn't respond, couldn't. If I actually accepted Justin as a brother then what I was planning to do would skyrocket into criminal, instead of just very wrong. And when I fucked him I needed to fuck him without guilt or conviction. "How are we going to spend ever second together? I know that, as a man, your attention span only extends so far. There are going to be a lot of hot girls in Tahoe."
"There are a lot of hot girls everywhere. This is more important."
"But--"
"You know, Rocks, we're only a day in and, already, I feel like you're trying to get rid of me. Am I already the annoying big brother to you?"
I couldn't believe my ears. 'Get rid of' and 'annoying' were two phrases that I would never use in the same sentence as him. "Of course not." I whispered, meaning it. "The second I met you in the airport and every minute after that... I can't remember the last time I've had so much fun. I can't remember ever laughing as much as I do with you. Justin, I can't wait to have you as a brother." To my complete horror, I realized that I actually meant these words. He would be a good brother, hell, if today was any indication, he would be an amazing brother. I'd been trying to repress that fact for so long because it wasn't something I was ready to accept, but it was still a fact.
"Likewise, Rocks. Nic. Big head." He reached over and knocked my head to the side, "And, don't worry. To steal a quote right out of Jerry Maguire, you had me at hello. Actually, you had me at 'melanin'."
Justin Timberlake just told me that I had him at hello. I had Justin Timberlake at hello.
As his kid sister.
Kill me, please.
--
In the interest of doing some serious damage control, I got "sick" during the last few hours of the drive to Tahoe. First it started out as a "headache", which prompted Justin to pop out a bottle of aspirin from his glove compartment. It quickly escalated into a "cough", which prompted him to reach over and gently pat my back every time it happened. By the time we made it to the cabin, it was a full on "cold", coughing, sniffling, the whole nine. This was my genius plan. As long as I was sick, Justin wouldn't feel obligated to spend every second with the family. Lynn and Daddy were going to be on their own for a majority of the trip doing... I don't even want to know what, Justin wasn't comfortable enough to be alone with Jess, yet, and me, well I was "sick". What else could he possibly do but leave the cabin to go out and do fun things on his own?
Fun things... with me. The real me. KiKi.
Speaking of the cabin, it wasn't what I was expecting, at all. Being the filthy rich superstar he was I would have expected Justin's cabin in Tahoe to be more like a lodge that could house thirty to forty people, but when I climbed out of the aberration, I was pleasantly surprised.
I jumped, or rather "fell" out of the truck with Justin's aid, gaping up at the modest sized, secluded little cabin with amazing mountain views and wall to wall windows that shone out on us and lit up the night.
"I love it!" I beamed, gripping Justin, who was holding me against him.
"It's so cute, isn't it?" Lynn asked, coming up beside me and rubbing my back. Just seeing this cabin, how reasonable it was, made me love them so much. They obviously weren't the kind of people who spent money just to spend it. If they didn't need something, they didn't buy it. The end. "It only has three bedrooms, though, so you and Jess will have to share." Lynn said, apologetically.
"Aw, Lynn, that's okay." I looked to Jess, who was standing beside Daddy. She didn't seem too thrilled. "Jess and I shared a room in middle school, I'm sure we'll manage."
"Speaking of rooms." Justin said, "I'm going to take Nic inside. She got really sick on the ride up."
"Oh no!" Lynn's eyes went as wide as a cartoon character's and she ran her hand down the side of my head, "Oh, sweetie, yeah you should definitely get some sleep. Hopefully you'll be better by tomorrow. Baby," She looked at Justin, "There's that huge cabinet full of medicine in the kitchen. Next to the fridge."
"I bought and decorated this house, Mom. I think I know where the medicine cabinet, is." Justin, laughed, then kissed her cheek to soften his smart-ass words.
The inside of the cabin was even better than the outside. The ceilings were vaulted and it was so well decorated. All of the furniture was modern and cozy. On the way into mine and Jess' room I saw a stone fireplace, a huge wrap around deck with a jacuzzi, a game room and a kitchen that was to die for. Even Emeril would be envious. Every room had a flat screen tv, every room had a view. It was going to be hard to leave this place, I already knew. Unfortunately, I couldn't take as in-depth a tour of the cabin as I might of liked. Justin was adamant that I get into one of the two full beds in mine and Jess' room. Before I knew it I was stuffed to the hilt with antibiotics that I didn't need, a blanket up to my chin that was making me sweat and a cartoon I didn't recognize on the huge flat-screen tv.
He was fussing over me so much that I had to pretend to fall asleep just to get him out of my hair. Not that I wanted him out of my hair. It was just that, the sooner he was out of my hair, the sooner I could get this plan underway. Nothing, at this point, was more important than that.
I didn't even realize that I actually had dozed off until I was being shaken awake by, you guessed it, my lovely sister. I looked up into Jess' face with tired eyes, not sure if I wanted to kill her or hug her. I hated to admit it, but I was so overwhelmed with all of this, and I knew I would never get through it without her help. I just wasn't sure if she wanted to help. I wasn't sure if she was willing to get past her jealously. I sat up, rubbed the sleep out of my eyes and looked around before locking eyes with her.
She was just a gorgeous as ever, with a make-up free face and cotton pjs. Her hands were on her hips, "You looked so peaceful in your sleep, dear sister, but I just thought you might be interested to know that Justin Timberlake has just left this cabin, which means that you're supposed to be two steps behind him, fool! Get up!"
Oh my god! Oh my fucking god! This was it. This was it. I jumped out of bed and, with the speed of light, the blonde wig and glasses were off of my face. Jess followed me as I raced into the bathroom and helped me into a pair of jeans, heels and a cute top as I put my brown contact in, making both of my eyes match. As I looked in the mirror while Jess combed out my hair, I found myself not as thrilled with having two brown eyes as I might have been a few hours ago. Justin had complimented me on my natural eyes so much, I'd actually caught him staring at them in awe more than a few times, that I was sure I would never hate them as much as I once had.
Yes, I was a pathetic woman.
Once I was back to my normal self, Jess pulled me out of the room and made sure the coast was clear in the great room of the cabin. It was. Lord only knew what unholy things our father was up to with his future wife. Jess pulled me after her towards the front door, thew it open and pointed, "He went that way." She stared at me, "Hoe. Don't ever say I never did anything for you."
"I love you, Jess." I said it. And it meant it, too.
"Yeah, yeah. There's no time. Go! Go get laid." She literally shoved me through the threshold and I could almost see her rolling her eyes when I tripped, quickly recovering, turning to her with a sheepish wave. Then I was gone. Running as quickly as I could. The feel of the cool night's wind in my hair was amazing after sweating under a wig for hours and hours. After years of lusting after that thing, I couldn't wait until the day that I was rid of it!
It didn't take long for me to catch up with Justin. He had on jeans and a light jacket with a hat pulled low on his head. From behind I could see that his hands were shoved deep in his pockets and his shoulders were hunched. He was trying to appear inconspicuous. I wondered, as I followed him, where he was going. He wasn't in a hurry, his stride was calm, but sure. Looking at the large sign just ahead of him, it appeared that he could be heading to one of three places. The Smokey Mountain National Park, the golf course, or Debby's Coffee Shop. In the heels I was wearing, I prayed that he was on his way to the coffee shop.
Thank god he was. Debby's was slightly full and extremely warm with a distinct mountain feel. The aroma that filled my senses the moment I stepped in make me weak in the knees. A cup of coffee would be heaven, heaven right now. Apparently Justin agreed with me, because he was standing at the end of a fairly long line, patiently. I stood at a magazine rack near the exit and pretended to be flipping through one, keeping my eyes on him. I was hoping that he would look up and see me, but that didn't happen. He had yet to be recognized and was not making eye contact with anyone. I doubted that he would.
I would have to approach him myself.
Jesus, I swear to you, if I wasn't as hot for this man as I was...
I waited for him to order and pick up his drink. I took a deep breath, willing myself to be courageous, and made my way across the shop, putting on my best surprised face as I approached him at the pick-up counter. No one looked at us, thankfully, when I touched his shoulder, "Oh my god, Justin?" I beamed. I went a little over the top when I placed one hand over my heart. He turned to me, looking down at my hand on his shoulder, first, then up at me. He clearly thought I was a fan of some sort. When he looked at me, he took a very long moment of hesitation. Too long. Then, just as I was completely kicking myself for being stupid enough to think that he'd actually remember me, his entire face face fell.
"Holy shit." He whispered, tilting his head, "KiKi?" A slow smile grew on his face and I could have died right there, but I wouldn't die, not yet. Not until I, at least, got a chance to fuck his brains out. Justin shook his head in shock and opened his arms, which I immediately jumped into with way too much vigor. He moaned as we embraced and I felt him turn his head into my hair and breathe deep, "What are you doing here?" I was surprised when the hug went on past the polite two seconds, but disappointed when he pulled away, "Holy shit." He said, again. Then he was staring at me. Just staring. At that moment, I really did feel sick. How could he be so close to me and not see the girl he'd just spent hours upon hours laughing with in his truck?
Out of nervousness, I began to talk, hoping it would break his concentration, "I've got to be honest, Justin, I didn't think I would ever see you again. At first I though I was crazy. I'm all, there's no way this man is standing line at Debby's right now. Wow." I breathed.
"What are you doing here?" We both asked, at once, then laughed. I was thrilled. So thrilled that you would actually believe that this was my first time seeing him since our almost one night stand in Vegas. It was so strange, how at ease we were with each other, even when we'd first met, even when I was a completely different person to him there was an ease.
He watched me intently as he spoke, "I'm actually here with my family, we've got a cabin right outsie of Gatlinburg. My sister isn't feeling well so I was down here getting her hot chocolate."
My entire heart melted. It actually stopped beating, took on a liquid form, and. Fucking. Melted. "Oh my god, Justin, that is so sweet. Thank you!" Fuck. Why are you thanking him, idiot? "I mean, that's very sweet, I didn't even know you had a sister."
"Well, I didn't... but as of yesterday, I do." He laughed. Not once did he mention the fact that I wasn't even legally his sister, yet, and even when I was, it wouldn't be by blood. He was very loyal, and my heart snatched with a twinge of guilt at that moment. Only, however, at that moment. Then my eyes were back on the prize. The way he was looking at me... Lord have mercy. "My mother is engaged to Nic's father and we actually just met tonight, but... she's a cool kid. An amazing kid." His took a deep breath, "And then there's Jess..." He left it at that.
"Wow." I said. It was a strange feeling of being torn in two right then. On one hand, I was a little hurt that he'd just referred to me as a kid--twice, but on the other hand, the way he was looking at me now, it was clear that the word "kid" was the very last thing running through his mind, "Sounds like one hell of a situation."
"Yeah, it is. God, I can't believe you're actually-- what are you doing here?" He laughed while motioning to me.
I thought up a quick lie, "I work at the bookstore up the street, but I'm addicted to Debby's coffee. I'm here all the time. Maybe you and I could have a cup on day." I said the word cup with more suggestion than anyone ever should. I couldn't help myself. Having him so close, looking at me like that, smelling as good as he was, I honestly could have fucked him right there in front of everyone.
"Why don't we have a cup right now?" His eyes were saturated with desire, and so was his voice, then he looked down at the cup in his hand, "Damn, I forgot about Nic."
There it was, that stupid feeling offense, again.
He reached out and took the sleeve of my shirt between his fingers, and it was strange how it felt new all over again. As if it were the first time he'd ever put his hands on me. When I felt his skin touch mine I was honestly beside myself, "Why don't you come with me real quick while I drop this off? Then you and I can..." He bit his bottom lip and didn't finish. My eyes were glued to that bottom lip and when it popped out of his mouth, wet and glistening, I almost said yes. Almost. Then I realized that it would be impossible for me to go with Justin to drop the coffee off to his sister because I was his sister. Man it would be great to be a superhero right now, with the power to be in two places at once.
"Why don't I wait for you here, instead?"
Justin was clearly surprised, then displeased, "You'll be here when I get back?" He tugged on my sleeve.
I nodded, biting my bottom lip as well, "I'll be here. We've got a lot of lost time to make up for."
He was staring at my lips as he spoke, "Yes, we do." His eyes rose to mine and he took a deep, heaving breath, while widening his eyes in mine, "I'll be right back."
"Kay." I said, in the idiotic voice that seemed to be reserved just for him.
"Don't go anywhere." He pointed to me as he backed up towards the doorway.
"Kay." I breathed.
"Okay." He gave me one last, dazzling smile, before turning and walking out the door.
I stood in a silent, amazed stupor and waited for him to be completely out of my sight. Then I took off running. I had to make it back to the cabin before he did!
--
I took a shortcut back to the cabin and, luckily, it worked instead of getting me dangerously lost. In record time I was back in my frump clothes, the contact was out, wig and glasses were back on. I hurried out into the living room just in time to see Justin putting the cup of hot chocolate in the microwave. God he was so fine and so sweet for doing this. Every ten seconds he would stop the microwave and check the temperature of the drink to make sure it wasn't too hot or too cold. When it was done he poured it into a large mug and began searching through the cabinets until he found what he was looking for. Marshmallows. He deposited them on top of the steaming liquid. Clearly, he was moving as quickly as he could, but there was still a certain amount of care he applied to everything.
I made my way into the kitchen, unable to keep the smile off of my face, "Hey." I said, coming up next to him and leaning against the counter, "What's that?"
He finished off the marshmallows and kissed the tips of his fingers, "For you!" He held the steaming cup out to me.
My eyes lit up, "For me?"
He nodded, "I wanted to help you feel better so I made you some hot chocolate from scratch."
Oh my god! Justin Timberlake had just told a bold face fucking lie right to my face. I almost burned my tongue after he said those words and I looked up at him, struggling not to laugh . "Really?" I asked. My eyes narrowed to the trash can where the cup from Debby's was sitting at the very top, label up. Justin's gaze followed mine and he kicked the can out of our sight promptly, before turning back to me with an innocent smile. I leisurely sipped my hot chocolate, watching him, "Homemade, huh?" I raised my eyebrows, "You really are a compulsive liar aren't you?"
"Absolutely not." He shook his head furiously, smiled, then leaned down until he nose was nearly touching my cheek. He kissed it, making my entire body stop, "Feel better, Rocks." To my immense disappointment, he began making his way towards the door.
"Even if you are a compulsive liar, you're a great soon-to-be step-brother, you know that?" I called after him as he hurried towards the door, throwing his jacket on in the process. "Where are you in such a rush to? Hot date?"
That stopped him at the door. He opened it and turned to me, "Nic, you have no idea."
Actually, Justin, I do. "Must be a pretty cute girl. Gonna fuck her?" I asked, casually.
He threw his head back and laughed heartily while opening the door, "I'll tell you all about it later." He stuck his tongue out at me with a devilish expression and stepped out of the door.
"A superstar of your caliber should never be this eager for pussy!" I screamed. The door slammed closed without a response and I had no idea why that bothered me so much. After all, I was the girl he as in such a hurry to get to, so why did I feel abandoned? I turned and hurried out of the kitchen, ripping my wig off in the process. My hair fell in soft waves around my shoulders and I almost screamed in horror when I turned the corner to my room and found Jess standing quietly in the doorway, arms crossed.
A smile spread over my face, "Right now your baby sister is running a 99.9% chance of boning Justin Timberlake within the next hour." I was practically salivating.
Jess smirked, "Sounds like some pretty good odds, sis."
"I know, but I have to hurry and get cleaned up so I can run back to the coffee shop where he's meeting me." I paused when she didn't move, "So, if you could, like... get the fuck out of the way? That would be great." Jess stepped out of the doorway without another word and I didn't have time to grill her about why she was behaving like such an asshole so I swept past her without another word.
--
Thanks to the same shortcut, ten minutes later, I was sitting in a cozy booth at the farthest corner of the coffee shop waiting, not so patiently, for Justin. From the way he'd raced out of the cabin I was positive that he would be there, any minute. This fact did not calm my racing heart.
He stepped into the shop with a swagger so smooth I would have never guessed that he'd just finished running out of the house the way he had. He caught my eyes from the doorway and I knew, right then, just by the way he looked at me, that we were absolutely going to be having sex before the night was out. he hurried over, sweeping the jacket off of his shoulders as he approached. When he leaned down and brushed his lips to my cheek there was a strong sense of de-ja-vu that washed over me, then a moment of thick, powerful silence. A hesitation. He took his lips from my cheek and placed them next to my ear. "I want you."
"Now?" I whispered, leaning into him, barely resisting the urge to lick his neck and see if he tasted as good as he smelled.
He pulled away just an inch, we were nose to nose, and raised his eyebrows, "Right now."
"Where?" I gasped, my voice ripe with the unmistakable twinge of desire.
His voice was nearly gone, breathing ragged, "Anywhere." He took my hand from where it was resting on the table and pulled me out of my seat, coffee forgotten.
"Kay." I whispered, ever idiotically.
He pulled me after him and I had no idea, none at all, where he was taking me. The only thing I was absolutely sure of was that, wherever we were going, there was going to be some very hungry, very desperate, very over-due sex involved.
And who was I to question a superstar?
Story Tags: jailbait interracial
