“The One Where JC Goes Shopping”

Pulling his hat lower on his head, a pair of blue eyes scanned the parking lot.  Cars were parked sporadically, sometimes two or three grouped together underneath a light.  The snow crunched as he walked towards the entrance. 

The first set of doors he went to had a sign that said “Use other doors after 11 pm,” so he trudged to the others, the snow still squeaking under his feet.  He pulled the first set of doors open, stopping to stomp the snow off of his feet.  A smile played at his lips as he saw the gumball machine.  The thought of getting a piece of gum passed through his head before remembering the life span of its flavor.

He opened the next set of doors, his eyes adjusting to the neon lights blazing above.  Instinctively, he turned his head to the left, where the greeter usually stood.  That was one thing he liked about Wal Mart – there was always someone there to say hi.  However, since it was almost two in the morning, the greeter had long since gone.  Which was just as well.  The less people there the better.  He could go in, wander, shop, and just leave.  No hassles.

Continuing into the store, he noticed the dark lights in the photo area, as well as the food area.  He wondered what it would be like be in the store when those things were open, when he didn’t have to worry.  He tried remembering a time when he could, but he struggled to do so.

He walked past the women’s clothing, and headed towards the men’s clothing.  There was a rack filled with hooded sweatshirts that caught his attention.  He didn’t quite have the right clothing for the weather where they were now.  He debated between gray and navy before deciding on a gray one.  His next thought centered around a cart.  Did he plan on doing enough shopping to necessitate one?  Shrugging, he figured he could always get one later.  It wasn’t like they were going to run out anytime soon.

Walking past lingerie, he turned the corner.  Children’s clothing was on one side, and jewelry and accessories were on the other.  Electronics were just ahead.  He then saw a sign above a bin, advertising $6.44 movies.  He made his way there, not noticing someone looking in the jewelry cases.  As he walked by, he accidentally bumped into the person.

He turned his head quickly to see who he had run into.  At the same time, the person turned around.  Her wavy hair hung loosely down her back, and her green eyes stared him in the face.  She didn’t look that old, and he wondered why she was shopping so late.

“Excuse me,” he said softly, yet politely.

Her eyes seemed to widen when she heard his voice, but she didn’t look like she was going to freak out on him, which comforted him a bit.

She smiled.  “It’s all right.”  With that, she turned around back to look at the earrings.  Part of him was happy that she didn’t recognize him, but another part of him was sad that she turned around right away.  He sighed and went back to look at the cheap movies.

While rummaging through such wonderful movies like Teenage Mutant Ninja II and Mr. Nanny, he saw another hand reach down into the bin.  His eyes followed it upwards until they met the owner’s eyes.  It was the same girl from before.  And she had the same pretty smile from before as well.

“Hi again,” she said shyly.  She pushed some of the videos around, and making a face at some of the titles.  “This seems pretty picked over.”

He nodded.  “There’s only so many times you can watch Vanilla Ice’s cameo with the Ninja Turtles.”

Laughing, she nodded.  “Exactly.  But I also happen to know where they put more cheap videos.”  She started walking towards the little sectioned off area where the electronics were.  Pausing in front of the area displaying cameras, she turned around to face him. She smiled invitingly, causing him to follow her. 

She had entered the area and gone to the right, right behind the cash register, looking at a shelf on one of the walls.  She immediately reached for Billy Madison, and turned to face him.

“How could they possibly put this at $6.44?  They’re insane.  I’ll have to buy it.”

He grinned.  “If I didn’t already own it, I’d buy it, too.”  He watched as she walked over to the end of a row of CDs that had a TV screen on top, with a scanner further down.  Reaching for the nearest CD, she put it under the scanner and waited for the screen to change.

“Obviously you have good taste if you can appreciate Adam Sandler,” she said, turning to face him.  Suddenly, the video for “Hey Baby” filled the monitor, and a few monitors on the back wall that were hooked into the system.  Smiling, she started to bob her head to the music.

“You come here this late often?” he asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

“Oh yeah.  This is the best time to shop.  Usually I’m with a few of my friends, but they had to be in bed early tonight.  Something about class tomorrow.”  Shrugging her shoulders, she looked at the back of the No Doubt CD.

“Class?”  He wondered if she was as old as he thought she was.

Nodding, she looked up at him.  “Yeah.  They were stupid and signed up for 9 am classes on a Friday.  Not me.  I don’t have class tomorrow.”

“You go to school around here?” he asked, finally walking over closer to her.  She put the CD she was looking at down and reached for another. 

“Yup.”  She paused, putting the CD under the scanner.  “I’m Allison by the way.”

He didn’t know quite what to say to this.  Did she know who he was?  She wasn’t being overly obnoxious, as she was talking normally to him.  He took a deep breath, figuring why not?  “I’m . . .”  He let his voice trail off as he saw the image of he and his band mates fill the screens.  “JC.”

She grinned again, and he didn’t resist the urge to grin back.  “I sorta knew that.”

“Really?” he asked teasingly.  “I wouldn’t have guessed by your CD selection.”

She laughed.  “Hey, I couldn’t resist.”

Shrugging, he laughed.  “I wondered.  But I probably would’ve done the same.  What do you go to school for?”  He reached for another CD and quickly put it under the scanner. 

“Architecture.”

His eyes widened at this.  “Wow.  That sounds like a tough major.”

A blush rose on her cheek, as her gaze turned towards the floor, where her foot was tracing the edge of a tile.  “It is.  The program’s hard to get into, but somehow I managed.”

“Good for you.  Did you just start?”

She shook her head.  “I’m a fifth year.”

“Really.”  She was as old as he thought.

“The program’s a five year one.”  She set the CD in her hand down.  “Let’s go to the toys.”

“All right.”  Putting his CD down, he followed her back out into an aisle. 

“Why are you here so late?” she asked, as she walked ahead of him.

 He smiled, watching her hair sway back and forth as she walked.  He never imagined meeting someone this late at Wal Mart.  “Um, it’s like the only time I can shop without being hassled.”

“And you’re in town here because of the concert nearby tomorrow?”

“Yes.  Are you going?”

She turned around, walking backwards slowly, a grin on her face.  “Yeah.  No offense, but I kinda feel stupid, like I’ll be one of the older ones there.”

He laughed.  “None taken.  I’m glad you like our music, though.”

“You still didn’t really answer the question.  Why in the world is JC Chasez of *NSYNC shopping at a Wal Mart at 2 in the morning?  Can’t you have one of your people run some errands for you?”

“My people?”  He stopped walking as he started to laugh loudly.  “You think I have people?”

She raised her eyebrows at him.  “Well, let’s see.  You’re rich, famous, and have teenagers falling at your feet all over the world.  So yeah, I assume you’re in a position to have ‘people’.”

This stopped him from laughing.  “True.”  The passed the auto department, and were soon in the toy section.  He stopped in front of a display with outdoor summer toys, and picked up a big bouncy ball.  He bounced it a few times, before putting it on the ground and sitting on it.

She, meanwhile, was looking at the cage they kept stuffed animals in.  Hearing the ball bounce, she turned around to see him sitting on the bouncy ball, staring intently at a smaller one in his hand.

“Um, what is that?” she asked, not quite sure how to comprehend her situation.  She was shopping in Wal Mart with a celebrity.

He held the ball out to her as she walked over.  “Did you know they make these?”

Glancing down, she noticed the ball was an *NSYNC bouncy ball.  Pictures of the guys’ faces were decorating the ball, along with the *NSYNC logo.  “Yeah.”

He bounced it a couple times on the floor.  “That’s weird.  Like, to think that I’m bouncing Justin’s face on the floor.  And possibly mine.”

“It is weird.  But not as weird as this.”  She continued walking on, and JC put the big bouncy ball and little one back in the cage.  He followed her, not quite sure why.  It was late, and at this point, he didn’t want to question his actions.  He was having a good time – better than if he had just continued shopping by himself.

“What’s weird about this?”  He paused to look at a G.I. Joe display, and when he looked up, Allison was nowhere to be found.  He sighed, thinking he’d have to finish his shopping by himself, when he heard her giggling.  She came up the aisle near him on a scooter.

“I’ve gone shopping at Wal Mart pretty late before, but never have I had as surreal experience.”  She got off of the scooter, and leaned it against a shelf.

“Surreal?  I’ve had encounters with me described as fun, sad, scary, and such before, but never surreal.”  She started walking again, pausing briefly for him to catch up.

She led him to the clearance aisle, stopping in front of the discounted CD-R disks.  “It’s late, and I’m almost wondering if this is for real.  And I’m wondering if I’m not just dreaming the whole thing.”

He laughed, feeling that sense of silly tiredness settling on him.  “Would a dream do this?”  He leaned over and pinched her arm.  She whirled around him, her hair narrowly missing hitting him in the face.

Her jaw dropped when she saw him standing there, his deep blue eyes twinkling, a mischievous smile on his face.  He was so close to her, and she could smell his cologne. And she still couldn’t help but wonder if it was all a dream.  She hoped it wasn’t.  “I, uh . . .”

“I didn’t think so.  I’m for real.  The snow outside sure seemed cold and real to me.”

She laughed, trying to regain some composure.  “Okay, we’ve established you’re real.  And you’re really shopping, for what, a hooded sweatshirt?”  She glanced down to his hands, where he was still holding the sweatshirt.

“It’s cold,” was his reply.  He shrugged.

“I guess so.  Did you really have any things you needed to shop for, like, am I distracting you from that?  ‘Cause I’m really just about done.  I need to hit the magazines, pay, and then head home.  Get some sleep for this concert I’m going to tomorrow.”  She grinned, continuing to walk down the aisle.

“Nah.  I just like to wander sometimes.  Without the hassle of people, and stuff.  I may need to grab a box of Swiss Cake Rolls before I go, but that’s about it.”  The two passed the garden center and the hair care area, and soon were at the magazine aisle.  She turned in and reached for the People.  He went over to the food section across the way in search of his food.

Allison aimlessly flipped through the magazine, wondering how she lucked out.  She heard him coming back just as her stomach rumbled.

“You hungry?” he asked her.

Shaking her head, she set the magazine back down.  “Nah.  It’s late.  My stomach just does that when it’s this late.”

“Oh, ‘cause I am.  Is there like a 24 hour diner around here someplace?”  This time, he started walking and she followed.  They went to the only open register and paid.

“There’s a truckstop just down the road.  Not too far.”

“A truckstop?”  He tugged on his hat again as they walked out of the store.

She laughed.  “Yup.  That’s about it.  Or Denny’s.”

The snow crunched as they walked out to their cars.  She saw a lone cart sitting next to hers, and went to push it out of the way.  This was it, she thought.  The end of one of the luckiest nights of her life.

“This is my car.”  She motioned with her thumb at the vehicle.

He nodded, bringing his hands to his face so he could blow on them to warm them up.  “It’s nice.”

She pulled her keys out of her purse and started to unlock her door, when JC reached an arm over, stopping her from finishing her task.

“This may seem weird, but do you want to come to the truckstop with me?  Just get a bite to eat?”  This had been one of the first times he had been able to have a somewhat normal evening in a long time, and the added bonus of sharing it with someone who treated him like a normal person helped.

“Um, well . . .”

“You already said you didn’t have class tomorrow.”  He grinned, and she couldn’t help but notice what a nice smile it was.

“Sure.  Why not?”  His hand was still on her arm, and he left it there as he directed her towards the car he was driving.

The two got into the car, as she gave direction to the truckstop.  Never had Allison or JC been more grateful for their late night Wal Mart runs than tonight.  Weird things can happen, but out of those, there can be good, too.  You never know who’ll you’ll run into.