The next week was a whirlwind of activity on tour. The guys had photo shoots, interviews, Meet ‘n Greets, public appearances, and other obligations to keep them busy. Kristi had always liked having her days free to explore cities that the tour stopped in; but now, she had another thing to occupy her time: being JC’s girlfriend.
She was invited to events that she didn’t think girlfriends would matter at. She went with JC to an interview with the Rolling Stone and went with him while they recorded a segment for a talk show. Chris’s girlfriend was there, so she wasn’t alone. Kristi felt weird going to these things, though; the reason she was on tour was because it was her job. She wouldn’t stay on tour if she wasn’t working, as much as she liked JC. Kristi wouldn’t complain, though; it was more time she got to spend with JC.
Life was going really well for her. She had always told Michelle she needed a college class or crash course in dealing with life; at the moment, she felt like she could teach one. She was extremely happy and just enjoying herself. The shows were going great (Wade had stopped calling since she broke-up with his answering machine)…she and JC had amazing chemistry on and off stage. ‘Up Against the Wall’ was probably her favorite dance number. The girls were on one side of the stage, dancing like they were in a club; the guys occupied the other side of the stage, checking out the girls.
I was just doin' my thing
Hanging out at the spot
You know the place we go
The music's john blaze hot
And everybody was feeling the DJ (the DJ)
Smoke cleared and I saw a beautiful lady
Smoke filled the stage and cleared just in time for Kristi to make her way down towards JC, front and center, ending up next to him, grinding, by “now”.
The lights went low
and the disco ball came down
She walked up to me slow
and you know what happens now
The girl was fine and she knew she was game
What more do I have to say?
She took my hand
We never said a word at all
She starting grinding
Shorty had me up against the wall
Ask me about tomorrow
You know that I don't care at all
I just got caught up when
She had me up against the wall
Kristi taunted JC constantly because he had written such a provocative, un-All-American-boy song.
Of course, the lack of obstacles in life could not last forever. Kristi was never that fortunate. Luckily, she thought of these obstacles as “the spice of life”…something to make her rise to a challenge.
One week after Kristi and JC officially became a couple, Wade decided he didn’t want to let Kristi go. He didn’t know that she was now with JC, as it had been two weeks since she had broken-up with him, and that was the last time they had communicated. Wade was lonely, and Kristi always listened to him. He missed her, and Wade felt if he apologized, again, she would forget about it, again. He was wrong.
“Hey Ron!” Wade smiled as he saw the stage manager behind the stage during the sound check.
“Wade! What are you doing here?” Ron asked, preoccupied.
“I’m actually looking for Kristi…do you know where she is?”
“Yeah, she’s probably in the floor seats with Madi, Chris’s girlfriend…” Ron trailed off, realizing he had probably said too much, judging from the look on Wade’s face.
“Why would she be with Madi?” Wade asked himself as he made his way towards Kristi.
He spotted the two girls, tapping their feet to the music, occasionally leaning towards each other to whisper. They waved to someone on stage, although Wade couldn’t see who.
“Hi Kristi…” Wade wasn’t exactly sure what he was going to say to get her back.
She looked shocked to see him there; he was surprised at this look…had she really thought this was over?
“Hi” Kristi responded coldly.
“What are you doing out here?” Wade asked, using small talk to give him time to think.
Kristi needed to put a stop to this, now. She could see JC and the other guys too, giving her questioning looks over Wade’s shoulder. “I’m watching my boyfriend do sound check.” She said calmly.
“But your boyfriend is standing in front of you…” Wade asked, even more confused.
“Yes, but my boyfriend is on stage…”
Wade couldn’t believe his ears. “Kristi, we need to talk.”
Kristi also couldn’t believe her ears. Wade wanted to talk, now. He had flown from Orlando to Milwaukee to talk. Isn’t that what phones are for? And besides, she had broken up with him…
“What then?”
“Can’t we go somewhere private?” Wade asked, looking around.
“I don’t really feel like moving.”
“Fine…” Wade fell into the seat next to her. “I wanted to apologize for everything…yelling at you, neglecting you, everything. I’m sorry…” Kristi was glaring at him, so Wade continued. “I’m really sorry…and I was wondering…do you think we could try again?”
Kristi had a bemused smile on her face. “Wade…that might have worked three weeks ago, but it’s not going to work now. See, I’ve decided I’m going to get rid of every negative thing in my life. It started with some ugly shirts I never wanted to throw away, and it ended with dumping you.”
Wade’s eyes bulged. He was having trouble connecting his thoughts. Surely he wasn’t hearing her right. Who would dump him? He was a catch! Wade was a rising star choreographer with a bright future. No one would dump him!
Kristi seemed to be reading his mind. “Wade, you treated me like crap for the month that we dated”if you could even call it that. You yelled, and I might even call it verbal abuse. Don’t worry,” she added for humor, “I won’t press charges. I was miserable, and you didn’t look too happy yourself”“
“But things will be different this time!”
“How many times have you had to apologize to me in the past month?” He thought for a moment, but Kristi answered her own question. “About 7. In one month. Not cool.”
Wade was reeling. This couldn’t be over…it couldn’t. He couldn’t remember ever being dumped before. He had dumped people, but he had never been dumped.
JC and Justin were making their way over during a break in sound check.
“Wade, just please go away. We’re done”it’s over. Go choreograph for Britney and date one of her dancers”“
Wade snapped. He was not some dancer abuser, someone who dated dancers because he was higher than them in the chain of command. “What did you say?”
“We’re done. Leave me alone.”
Wade was seething. His eyes seemed to glow. “Who the hell do you think you”“
“Everything ok here?” JC asked as he and Justin finally arrived on the scene.
“Fine,” Wade said quickly. “Kristi and I were just getting back together”“
Kristi opened her mouth to protest, but JC jumped in. “Really? That’s interesting, considering Kristi’s my girlfriend.” He turned to her. “Do we need to make room in our bed?”
Wade’s mouth dropped open. So not only had Kristi dumped him, she had already moved on. Wade was not going to deal with this. “Fine,” he told Kristi. “Your loss.”
He was walking away when she said, “No, actually it’s yours.”
He turned around to see JC sitting down next to Kristi, take her hand as she laid her head on his shoulder. Chris, Joey, and Lance had joined them, and everyone sat down, talking.
This is not over, Wade thought. Not by a long shot. He had an idea, but knew he couldn’t do anything with it now. He had to wait until he got home.
Later that night, after the show, JC was walking Kristi to her door. She thought it was unnecessary, but she never protested as she also thought it was cute.
“I’m really sorry about Wade.” Kristi said. “I figured if he was going to pull something like that, he’d call…”
“It’s not your fault he’s an asshole.” JC reassured her.
Kristi was silent for a moment. “Will you guys ever be friends again? I know you were friends before me, and it would kill me to know that you stopped because of me…”
“Hopefully…we’ll see.”
He leaned in to kiss her good night. He saw that Kristi still looked preoccupied. “Don’t worry about it. It’s not like he’d want to be friends with me anytime soon…”
JC was climbing into bed when his cell phone rang. He didn’t know who would be calling him this late at night”early in the morning, rather. JC felt his heart stop when he saw the phone number. He had deleted the number, but still knew it by heart.
Not now, JC thought. Why now? What does she want?
He knew he needed to answer his phone, because she wouldn’t stop calling until he did, and the last thing JC wanted was to have her call while he was with Kristi. Then he’d be forced to explain everything.
“What do you want?” He answered the phone.
“Hi to you too.” Rachel said pleasantly. “How are you?”
“Fine…I’ll ask you again. What do you want?”
“My, you’re straight to the point”“
“Rachel, I’m tired…if you don’t tell me what you want I’ll hang”“
“Ok.” She hesitated. “I miss you.”
“It took you over a year to miss me? How wonderful.” JC said sarcastically.
“Can we try again? I’m sorry about everything that happened. You’re the best thing to ever happen to me and I”“
JC had heard enough. “Get over yourself. We’re done. We’ve been done for over a year. I know you’re up to something”“
“How dare you accuse me of that!” Rachel exclaimed, shocked. “That bitch must be filling you with lies”“
JC’s eyes widened. “Say whatever you want about me, but leave Kristi out of this!”
“Kristi, is it? Hmm…is she pretty?” Rachel could hear JC breathing heavily. “I’m guessing you haven’t told her about me, have you? About us?”
JC was silent, giving Rachel her answer. “Are you going to tell her? You drove me away, you know, JC. You’re the one”“
JC hung up. He was not going to listen to that crap. Rachel was like eating cotton candy before going on a roller coaster. It seems like a good idea at the time, but eventually, you throw up. JC was not doing that again.
He rolled over and thought about the conversation. What can she do? He thought. Tell Kristi? She wouldn’t believe her”I would straighten it all out. Kristi would believe me. JC’s breath caught in his throat. He knew she’d always had trouble with men; what if this convinced her JC was like all of the rest? JC shook his head; she wouldn’t think that. And it wasn’t like JC had done anything wrong.
JC was half asleep when another thought jolted him awake. How did Rachel know about Kristi?
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