Chapter 20: From Bad to Worse
As I make my way through the throng of dancing bodies a vibration in my pocket catches my attention. You would think, being Justin’s assistant and all I would be used to this damn phone ringing all the time. It scares me every time. I move faster to get to a spot in the house in which I’ll actually be able to hear the caller. I lean against my closed bedroom door and casually flip open the small silver phone, pressing the little green button to accept the call and press it to my ear.
“Talk.” I answer; I can only get away with that ‘greeting’ if it’s not Justin’s mom or mine for that matter. I get a load of crap from them about how terrible my manners are and how they didn’t bring me up like that…blah, blah, blah.
“Hi Trace, this is Elli,” She answers after a few minutes of hesitation. “May I speak to Justin please….you know if he’s free. If he’s busy that’s okay I can just””
“Just hang on a sec girl.” I chuckle at her nervous stuttering. It is cute how nervous she gets. I hold my hand over the mouth piece of my phone and quickly leave my room and jog down the stairs, searching for any sign of Justin. Damn, there are a lot of people here.
Just as I’m about to give up my search I spot him leaning against the makeshift bar across the room. He’s got a beer in one hand and a leggy blonde in the other. He’s such a dumb ass. You and I both know that he likes Elli and here he is with this bimbo. Oh, I almost forgot why I came to get him. I can tell he’s obviously drunk and….maybe a little high so I probably should just tell her he’s busy.
You see what I meant about him corrupting her?
“Elli?” I say into the phone after returning to my room; she acknowledges me. “Uh Justin’s sorta….busy right now. You want me to leave him a message?”
She sighs shakily a few times giving me the impression she’s holding back tears. I’m instantly worried. “I”um”I just”I needed to get out of this house. Do you think that maybe”if you’re not too busy or anything that I”uh…”
“You want to come over and hang out with me for a while?” I ask softly, hoping my voice will help calm her even a little bit.
“Can I?”
“Of course.” I answer seeming to have forgotten about the rather wild party going on downstairs and the very drunk Justin with the equally drunk bimbo on his arm. I’ll come up with something to keep her way from curly. “Do you need me to come get you?”
Again she pauses, heightening my worry. “No, I got a ride.”
“I’ll be waiting to buzz you in.”
~*~*~*~
Well Steve seems to have finally run out of things to blab on about….thank the Lord. So we’ve been riding in his police car for about ten minutes now and not speaking a word. Did I mention he’s a police chief? Well if I didn’t now you know.
Apparently this squad car is the only one he owns or maybe he just likes to intimidate people with it. I’m surprised he didn’t change into his uniform before we left.
By the way, I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m going to have to lie to Steve and tell him that Trace is the one giving me the lessons. My mom may not recognize Justin Timberlake but I’m sure Steve would. Come to think about it my mom may just be able to recognize Justin after all; she seems to be more hip then I thought.
Of course I did just realize that I told my mom the friend that was giving me the lessons name was Justin. I should have warned Trace that I would have to address him as Justin so that he played along. I guess I could always tell the truth. I could just explain that I lied about going to the concert to see…I think I told mom God’s Band and then I lied again when I told her I was staying with Liz and her mom at the beach when I was actually staying with Nsync at Justin’s house. And then there’s the time I said I went to the library when I was really out on Justin’s boat and…wow did you all realize I have lied this much to my mother.
I feel so terrible!
I could never admit all those lies to mom; she would never trust me again. But then again she lied to me too, probably just as much if not more than I did. Still, though, parent’s have a double standard about that sort of stuff.
“It’s right here on the left.” I inform Steve pointing across my body. He turns into the long driveway, stopping at the large metal gate. I’m surprised to see so many cars; they appear to be in every direction. Oh no, they better not be having a party.
Steve types in the code Trace gave me and we wait for the gates to open before pulling in. I can hear the music pounding and can make out the figures of people dancing. They are having a party! This is terrible….. I look terrible. My hair is down and frizzed out like normal and I’m just wearing my gray sweats. All I have to say is Justin better not be home.
“I got it from here Steve thanks.” I say, his name feeling like acid on my tongue…not that I really know what that feels like. I reach for the door handle and unlock the door at the same time. Taking a deep breath I step out and slam the door behind me. “What are you doing?”
“I want to meet this Justin character.” Steve says in what I can only imagine is his police voice as he begins to follow me up the pathway to the house. “Did you know about this party?”
I ignore his questions and just keep walking. I don’t know what’s worse, having Steve here with me or possibly looking like a bum in front of Justin. Before I even get a chance to ring the bell the door swings open and Trace steps out closing the door securely behind him.
“Hey El,” He smiles looking over at Steve warily. “Who’s this guy?”
“Officer Steve Hanson.” Steve offers grasping Trace’s outstretched hand firmly. I can tell by the pained look on Trace’s face that Steve is squeezing his hand a bit too hard. He takes it like a trooper though, not even flinching.
When Trace opens his mouth to respond I quickly cut him off. “This is Justin.” I look at Trace pleadingly, silently asking him to go along with me. He looks confused but thankfully nods, confirming his fake name.
“I hope you don’t mind me asking why you are giving Elli these music lessons for free.”
Tell him off Trace! Tell him you do mind!
“Uh, Elli is a friend of mine so I don’t mind.” He covers smoothly.
“And how do you know her?”
What is this, the Spanish Inquisition?
“Through a mutual friend.” I smile realizing he’s talking about Justin. As embarrassed as I would be for Justin to see me looking like this, I really would like to see him again. It’s been almost a week since my first guitar lesson and I haven’t even talked to him. He’s been really busy working on his album, which he’s nearly finished with (I think), so I haven’t seen much of him. Or he could just be avoiding me.
“There wouldn’t be any underage drinking here would there?” Steve continues with his annoying questioning.
“This is just my roommate’s party. We won’t even be staying here.” I look at Trace with questioning eyes. Where is he taking me? Or is he taking me anywhere? Maybe he’s just fibbing to get Officer Steve to leave.
“Anything happens you call and I’ll be here in five minutes.” He says looking at me though serious eyes while holding up five fingers. Could he act anymore like an overprotective father? And does he really think that if something happened to me I would call him? Oh yeah he’d be the first person I’d contact. I nod anyway and he finally leaves but not before throwing a warning glance in Trace’s direction.
“Who the hell was that?” Trace asks with an amused chuckle.
“My mom’s boyfriend.” I reply, rolling my eyes towards the night sky.
“Well that explains the need to get out of the house.” He laughs holding his index finger in the air and clicking his tongue for affect. “You want to head inside or go somewhere else to talk or….what?”
I bite my lips suddenly becoming nervous again just thinking about walking into that house full of beautiful people. Then again if we were to go out somewhere I would probably spend the entire time worrying that we were on a date. It appears to be a lose, lose situation”the story of my life.
“Let’s head inside,” He interrupts my wandering thoughts. “We can hang out in Justin’s room. He’s got a huge selection of movies and a mini fridge in there.”
The next thing I know he’s pulling inside and through the massive crowd of dancing bodies. With all these people here it doesn’t even look like the same house. I think there are even more people here than there was at the last party Justin invited me to. For fear of getting lost in the crowd I grab hold of Trace’s left hand, allowing him to literally pull me across the room. As we reach the stairs that I remember quite clearly falling down the first time I was here, I spot the back of Justin’s shaved head. I stop, dropping Trace’s hand, my body seeming to have a mind of its own moves towards him.
I stop short and my breath hitches in my throat at the sight before me. It’s Allison and”and she’s”she’s kissing Justin. He’s not exactly fighting her off either; more like pulling her closer and shoving his tongue down her throat. Before I can even shed a single tear that is threatening to fall, Trace pulls me away from them and up the stairs to Justin’s bedroom.
We both sit on the bed, side by side, in silence. Well, its official, I’ve experience my first heartbreak. How pathetic am I that, that I’m this upset over a crush? It’s not like I have any claim on him. It still hurts though. I mean, I though he didn’t like Allison!
“I’m sorry you had to see that.” Trace comments softly. Great, now Trace knows I like Justin. This night just keeps getting better and better doesn’t it? “He was drunk. He didn’t know what he was doing.”
I shrug my shoulders trying to pretend to be indifferent about the whole thing. Plus if I speak I might just burst into tears. I close my eyes tightly and bring my hands to cover my face when a tear manages to squeeze its way out.
“Awe, Elli,” Trace sighs sympathetically. “Don’t cry.”
“This night has just been so terrible.” I cry, dropping my hands to my lap and looking over at who has slowly but surly become a good friend of mine. “I mean first my mom tells me I can’t have lessons any more and then she invites Steve to dinner and basically forces him on me. And now I see Justin making out with the woman who insulted me to my face the first time I met her.”
I’m not too sure he got all that through all the sobbing and sniffling but he’s doing a good job of comforting me none the less. He rubs his hand over my back soothingly as he speaks while I lean my head on his shoulder. “I take it you like Justin more than just a friend huh?”
“I know it’s pathetic but I can’t help it.” I sniff.
“You’re not pathetic,” He laughs quietly. “Hey, I got something that is bound to cheer you up. I promise you’ll be laughing your ass off.”
I wipe my watery eyes with the back of my hand and look up at him with hopeful eyes. I could really use some major cheering up. “What is it?”
He smiles evilly, wiggling his eyebrows playfully. “Have you ever seen Model Behavior?”
TBC.....
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