Chapter 8
The tall, burley man stood in the middle of the airport looking for the girl he was supposed to be picking up, hoping some little teeny bopper didn’t notice him. “Where is she?” He mumbled to himself. The plane wasn’t delayed so he knew she should be around here somewhere, but where? Maybe she’d be at baggage claim. “Lonnie?” The man spun around and looked at the little blonde standing at his side with a big smile on her face. She laughed as he scrunched up his nose to think who she was. “It’s me. Violet.”
“Vi? Dang girl what did you do?” Lonnie immediately scooped the girl up in a big embrace.
“I was ready for a change. It’s not permanent though. I just wanted
to know what it felt like to be a blonde.
“Well you make an incredibly cute one.”
“Thanks.” She felt herself blush. “It’s good to see you big guy.”
“You too. You ready?”
“Yeah. Let’s go.” Violet looped her arm through Lonnie’s as he carried her bag and escorted her through the airport and out to the van. “They expecting me?”
“Nope. Didn’t tell them you were coming.”
“Good. I get to surprise them instead of them always surprising me.” Lonnie just laughed. They were all in for a shocker when they showed up at the arena for rehearsal/sound check. “Justin was throwing a fit because you weren’t picking up every time he called. JC too. Well, basically all of them.”
“Yeah, I don’t think I can go two days without all of them calling me at least twice.”
“That’s Nsync for ya.” Violet laughed as they pulled up to the hotel they’d be staying at. She got her key from Lonnie and went up to her room to unpack, shower, and change.
~*~
The fab five known best as Nsync walked into the arena to prepare for sound check. One by one, they all slipped away from the discussion to stare at the blonde on stage talking to Wade. Suddenly, he leaned over and hugged the woman.
“Yo, anyone know who that is?”
“I don’t. But she looks hot as hell!”
“Go talk to her, C.”
“Why do I gotta?”
“Well, we all got a woman.”
“Whatever.” He rolled his eyes and made his way onto the stage and over to the woman whose back was turned to him.
“Hey sexy. I like your pants. But I think they’d look better on my bedroom floor.”
Violet smiled, trying her damndest to hold back her laughter. “Nice pick-up line. Now I know you don’t kiss your momma with that mouth.” Violet turned around slowly and JC turned bright red in embarrassment.
“Violet?”
“Well no need to be so shocked. ‘Cause I know you wouldn’t actually walk up to a girl and use that line, mister.”
“I...I knew it was you.” He tried to play off coolly.
“Uh-huh. Whatever.” She watched him squirm and she couldn’t hold it back anymore. A big laugh came out of her mouth as she threw her arms around his neck.
JC relaxed and hugged her back, whispering in her ear. “It’s good to see you Vi.”
“Good to see you too, JC.”
The guys saw this and ran up on stage.
“Violet? Dang girl look at you!”
“Well I would but I don’t have a mirror handy.”
“Shut up and hug me!” Joey smirked, wrapping his arms around her.
Justin looked as Violet hugged and greeted everyone. God, she looked so thin. What was going on with her lately? JC said something was going on, but she was doing fine, he made sure of it. But they obviously couldn’t watch her twenty-four-seven. Or else maybe she’d be eating, she certainly didn’t look like she had been.
“Hey you. Why you standing all the way over here? I missed your butt. You better get over here and hug me.” Justin laughed at his friend. He definitely wouldn’t be himself without her. She brightened his day and was his best friend.
“It’s good to see you, Vi.” He whispered sincerely.
“You too, J.”
The group spent the whole day together just hanging out. Violet watched as they continued their rehearsal then they all went out for some lunch. Violet was getting quite annoyed and the guys constantly making sure she was eating her food. Ok, so she had lost a little weight. It didn’t mean she was fricken anorexic for Christ’s sake!
After they had lunch, they went back to the arena and just laid around lazily hanging out. Chris, Joey, and Justin were playing video games, Lance was on the phone with business, as usual, and Violet and JC were sitting around talking.
“God, I really missed this.”
“What?”
“This. Just hanging out with you guys. It’s really too boring in LA without you guys there.” Violet explained, popping another combo in her mouth.
“It’s not the same without you with us either.”
“I’m just one person JC. It’s hard to believe its not the same without me.” JC shook his head. She could never take a compliment could she? She always had to say something to get herself down, didn’t she? Leaning forward, JC looked into Violet’s eyes.
“How have you been? And don’t lie to me.” JC said in a low voice. He knew Violet wasn’t great, but hopefully she wasn’t as bad as when they had left.
Just as JC suspected, she wasn’t ok. She leaned forward and put her face in her hands. Well, at least she wasn’t hiding it anymore.
“I’ve been ok I guess. Not great, at all. But I’m alive.”
“You don’t sound too convincing.”
“I know.” She sighed. Was it just him, or had she been doing that a lot lately? “I’m not lying when I say things have been going well, because they have. I actually have had some moments with Sarah and Danni where I was really happy. But like I told you back home. Sometimes I just get in moods where nothing can bring me up from a down, you know?”
“Yeah, I know. Even I get like that once in a while. But you really haven’t been seeming too happy lately.”
“I know.”
“Do you wanna talk about why?”
Violet thought about it for a minute. She did know why she’d been feeling down lately, but could she tell JC? He had said she could talk to him about anything, so why not?
“I want more.”
Well, how confusing was that? What does she mean, she wants more?
“More from what?”
“JC, I’ve had oh how many guys in the past?”
“Oh.” So now he knew what she meant. She wanted more in her love life. Well that made sense. She hadn’t had a boyfriend in god knew how long.
“Exactly. Maybe I’m just lonely. And I see all you guys, Danni, and Sarah, everyone I know with someone. I just want one. One that can make me feel what it’s supposed to be like in a relationship.”
“What do you mean?” Why did she say anything? Justin was the only one who knew anything about what had happened those years ago. Why must she always open her big fat mouth to JC? Because he was the sweetest, easiest man to talk to. It was very common for any girl to find herself falling for that man.
Whoa! Where the hell had that thought come from! Violet’s head screamed. She was in no way falling for JC. He was one of her best friends for crying out loud. No way in hell would she allow herself to feel anything remotely romantic for that man. Nothing could happen with them. Even if she did let herself believe she even liked him that way, she’d only get herself hurt in the end. There was no way he could ever be with someone like her. It was impossible.
“Nothing. Forget I said anything.”