Chapter Seventeen
“So I was thinking about inviting Britney,” Rachael informed Gaby over the phone as she stood in her kitchen making herself a sandwich. She, Laura and Chris had gotten very little done during their party-planning session on Saturday since the latter two were too busy making jokes about everything that was said to focus on the actual mission, and Brian had continuously interrupted them to come into the kitchen, whine that his girlfriend was hitting on another guy and get more food. So now Gaby was helping her make a guest list. They’d intended to rope Hollie into helping them as well, but she’d insisted that she needed to go to the library and study and so they were left to handle the task on their own.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Gaby questioned and Rachael nodded absentmindedly, scratching the back of her leg with her foot. She’d thought a lot about the Britney thing and decided that since she and Justin seemed to be getting along again it would be best to invite her. She was doing her best to ignore the nagging voice in the back of her head that didn’t want to invite Britney. After all, why shouldn’t she invite Britney? She should.
“Yeah, they’ve been hanging out again. I would have thought Trace had told you.”
“No, he didn’t. He only tells me the really important things like how many pizzas he and Justin can put away on any given night.” Rachael could practically hear her friend rolling her eyes and she laughed.
“It’s two or three larges, isn’t it?”
“I don’t know, I stopped paying attention a few years ago.”
“Probably a good idea,” Rachael agreed with another laugh.
“But anyway, yeah. If Justin and Brit are hanging out again, go ahead and invite her.”
“Like I need your permission,” Rachael scoffed playfully, adding Britney to the list she had set on the counter before cutting her sandwich in half and sitting down at the table. “I think that’s enough guests for now. The boy’s house is going to be full. And that’s saying something.”
“I still don’t see how you’re going to have it at his house without him finding out.”
“It’s me, Gaby. I have my ways. Besides, he’s dense. He won’t figure it out.”
Gaby laughed. “You’re so kind.”
“I know. So, hey, how’s Hollie doing?”
“She’s good. She’s off at the library now studying, as you know. We’re only a week into the semester and we’re both already swamped with work. I’m taking a break now, but I should get back soon,” Gaby said with a sigh.
“Word, I hear ya,” Rachael replied, taking a bite of her sandwich and ignoring the fact that Gaby was chuckling at her choice of words. “Sorry if I chew in your ear. I’m trying to actually eat something before I have to go teach.”
“No problem. So, how are you and Justin?” Gaby ventured slowly. It was true that Trace often didn’t tell her important things that happened while he was on tour with Justin, but he had let it slip that his friend had finally confessed his feelings for Rachael. Not that his feelings came as a shock to either of them, but the fact that he’d finally admitted it when Rachael was so clearly not ready to do so was a bit surprising. Gaby wasn’t sure if Justin had actually said anything to Rachael yet, in fact she was almost positive he hadn’t, but that’s why she was asking. She figured Rachael just might tell her if it had come up anytime since New Year’s.
“There’s a me and Justin?” Rachael asked with a frown. When she was younger, people almost always referred to her and Justin as a unit, but now that they were older and no longer joined at the hip, it rarely happened. Thus, Rachael was more than a little thrown off by the way Gaby had worded the question.
“Well, I didn’t mean it like that,” Gaby backtracked quickly. “I just meant that the last time I saw you two together, he was forcefully removing you from Trace’s party and you were screaming that he sucked. So I’m wondering if you guys are okay. Like…you’re not mad or not talking or anything else are you?” She put extra emphasis on the words “anything else.”
“No, we’re fine,” Rachael replied with a shrug before realizing she really needed to stop responding with physical gestures when the other person couldn’t see her. She had a feeling there was something Gaby was getting at, but she hadn’t a clue what it was and wasn’t really sure she wanted to know.
“Really?” Gaby asked slowly and deliberately.
“Yes, really. Why are you talking in code? Is your phone bugged or something?” Rachael joked and Gaby sighed.
“No, never mind.”
“Okay, well I’ve gotta get to the studio. I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Sure thing. Have fun.”
“I will. Tell Hollie I said ‘hi.’”
“Will do. Talk to you later.”
“Bye.” Rachael hung up and went to get ready for her class, trying not to think about the strange way Gaby had been acting near the end of their conversation. Was there supposed to be something wrong between her and Justin? Had he said something to Trace? He’d seemed okay when she’d spoken with him on the phone, but maybe she there was something she was missing.
***
“Hey, J, you up for some X Box before the show, man?” Trace inquired of his friend as they sat together in his dressing room. Justin looked up from the lyrics he was writing and shook his head.
“Nah, not right now. I think I just need to chill out for a little while.”
“That’s cool,” Trace allowed with a nod. “Hey, I heard Britney asked you to be her date for the Grammy’s and you turned her down,” he continued and his friend sighed. Since when did “I need to chill out for a while,” mean “please question me about my love life”?
“Oh, yeah, who’d you hear that from?” Justin replied, jotting a few more words into his notebook before closing it and looking at Trace.
“Wade.”
“You still talk to Wade?” Justin asked with a frown.
“Sometimes. So is it true?”
Justin nodded. “Yeah.” Trace had left him alone in the room when Britney had called in the midst of their discussion about Rachael on New Year’s and he hadn’t told him what she’d said. She had, in fact, called to ask him if he wanted to be her date at the Grammy’s. Justin had actually been really surprised since the last time he’d talked to her she had been in complete agreement with him that they should keep their current relationship-which was still pretty much undefined-under wraps from the media. He’d told her that he would love to, but that he didn’t think it was a good idea to go together and get the rumor mill going. That wasn’t a complete lie. He didn’t think it was a good idea, although it was more because he wasn’t really feeling like going anywhere with any girl who wasn’t Rachael. He knew it was sad and pathetic, but it was the truth.
“You gonna ask Rach to go with you then?” Trace continued and Justin shrugged, fiddling with the rings on his right hand.
“I guess maybe. I mean, she’s gone to awards shows with me before,” Justin pointed out logically.
“Right, but that was before you wanted her body. Are you gonna tell her you want her body?” Justin groaned. He loved Trace, but sometimes the man had no tact whatsoever.
“I do not want her body,” he replied, running a hand through his hair in frustration. Trace raised an eyebrow.
“I thought we were past the whole denial thing.”
“We are, but when you say it like that it makes it sound all dirty and purely physical and it’s not.” Justin did not like the idea of anyone thinking his feelings for Rachael were purely lust-based. Not that there was no lust involved of course, but it went way beyond that. Which was why the whole experience of having to hear her voice everyday when he called her and not tell her everything he was feeling inside was so torturous. But he kept calling, so apparently he had a thing for torture.
“Fair enough,” Trace conceded. “But I think you should just ask her to go with you. She won’t suspect anything weird cause she’s gone with you before, and you’ll both be all dressed up and feeling mushy so it’ll be the perfect time for you to tell her how you feel.” Since when had Trace been so interested in who he went places with or confessed his love for? This all seemed very suspicious.
“What do you care, man?”
“I want to see you happy, dude.” He paused. “And Gaby and Hollie told me I better tell you to get your rear in gear before Lance swoops in and takes your girl.”
“Okay, first of all, she isn’t my girl and secondly, you told Gaby and Hollie?”
“Well, sort of, but they’d already figured it out by themselves. They know all. It freaks me out.” Trace gave a little shudder and Justin couldn’t help laughing.
“I don’t know, maybe I should ask her,” he replied uncertainly. Normally he wouldn’t have hesitated, but somewhere along the line, even before New Year’s, Rachael had stopped just being his buddy that he could ask to go anywhere with him anymore and that made him really nervous about asking her to do something like this. It was all very confusing.
“Ask her,” Trace encouraged. “In fact, call her right now.” He threw Justin’s phone to him.
“Right now?”
“Yeah, why not?” The shorter man stood up. “I’ll leave you alone and you call and ask her.” Before Justin could protest, Trace had bolted out of the room leaving him alone staring at his phone. He began dialing Rachael’s number, then stopped and hesitated for a moment. He felt more like a pimply teenager asking his crush out than a nearly 23-year-old man calling his best friend of seventeen years.
“Stop being such a moron. It’s just Rachael,” he scolded himself out loud and dialed her number. The phone only rang once before someone picked up.
“Laura and Rachael’s pizza, how may I help you?” Laura’s voice greeted him and he let out a low chuckle.
“Hey Laura, it’s Justin. Is Rachael around?”
“I believe she is, but she’s about ready to head out the door. Hold on a second.” He heard her cover the receiver and say, “Rach, Wonderboy’s on the phone, do you have time to talk?” Wonderboy? They called him Wonderboy? He couldn’t hear Rachael’s response, but didn’t need to as a second later he was greeted with her voice.
“Yo, dork. What’s up?” He smiled the second he heard her.
“Hey, baby. Are you busy or can you talk for a minute?”
“I’m on my way to teach a class, but you have 90 seconds so talk fast.” Great. He had to psych himself up to ask her and he only had 90 seconds to do it. It was now or never.
“Well, um…I was thinking…we, uh…I mean I was wondering if you want to,” he began, wondering when exactly he’d turned into a bumbling idiot.
“What’s your problem? You’re being weird. Hurry up.”
“Well the Grammy’s are in a few weeks and I don’t have a date, so I was wondering if maybe you’d go with me,” he let out in one big rush of breath, hoping she would just see this as her old friend asking her to do him a favor rather than some freak trying to ask her out. It wasn’t exactly comforting that he was met with dead silence on the other end. “Rachael? Are you there?”
“Yes,” she squeaked.
“Are you okay?”
“Yeah, I just…oh gosh, Justin I’m really sorry, I um…I already said I’d go with Lance.” Why did this remind her of turning down Billy Weinstein’s prom invitation in the 11th grade? Justin was only asking her as his buddy, right? It wasn’t like he was going to be heartbroken.
Justin felt his heart sink into his stomach. It wasn’t that it was such a big deal that she’d said no, but rather that she was going with Lance. When Trace had mentioned Lance earlier, he’d just sort of disregarded it since Rachael hadn’t mentioned his blonde buddy in a while and he’d sort of figured they were over. “Oh,” was all he could manage to say.
“I’m really sorry, J. I wish I could,” Rachael insisted apologetically. It was true. She was finding herself wishing she hadn’t already accepted Lance’s offer.
“Nah, it’s fine. I just thought it would be fun for us to go together like we used to. But, hey, you’ll still be there so I’ll get to see you! Maybe Lance’ll let me sit on your other side,” Justin did his best to play it off like it wasn’t a big deal.
“Yeah, maybe. Hey, listen, I’ve gotta go, but I’ll talk to you later, okay?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Bye, Justin.”
“Bye, baby.” Justin hung up the phone and let out a huge sigh. He was going to kill Trace.
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