"Look, bro, if I were her, I don't think I'd ever speak to you again after what you said."
"It wasn't that bad."
" 'How come you let me inside first?' J, that doesn't sound just wrong and dirty and...unfeeling to you? That's like insulting her morals. And she does care about you, but saying she doesn't is an easy way out. I'm not saying she's in denial, 'cause we talked about how she feels, but right now just isn't your time. And after you insult her, I don't think I see your time coming anytime in the near future."
"Thank you so much for your help and wisdom, oh great guru of love," JC snapped.
"Hey, I'm just being honest."
"Go be honest elsewhere. I'll just call her myself."
"Be my guest," Chris gestured to the phone.
JC picked up the phone and began dialing. In mid-dial, he slammed it down. "I can't."
"Which brings me to point number two," Chris said. "How many times do you think she's done just that? She probably can't bring herself to call you either."
JC opened his mouth but was interrupted by the ringing of the phone. "Hello?" he answered, brightening. "Oh. Hang on. Justin!" he called. "Phone!"
"Who is it?" Justin asked as he thumped down the stairs.
"Do I look like your secretary?" JC grouched as he tossed the phone to Justin and walked away.
"What's his problem?" Justin asked Chris.
"Melissa," Chris said simply and walked away as well.
"Oh. Hello?" Justin turned to the phone.
"Hey dork," came Renee's voice.
"Hey! What's up?"
"Not much. Just figured I'd call. Been gone almost a week, wanted to check in."
"Well, that's cool. How's everything going up there?" Justin sat down on the stool.
"It's going. Everything's pretty boring. Went back to school, caught up on stuff. Got harassed by a few people about missing an extra two weeks. Yada yada. Melissa hasn't told Michael anything, not even that JC exists, which is kinda....very...not Mel. So I'm thinking either she feels guilty or wants to pretend it never happened..."
"Or she's rethinking her feelings for each one."
She's not the only one, Renee thought. "Exactly. I never said anything to her, or anybody, for that matter, but..."
"What?"
"Well, I've noticed that she seems a little bit happier around JC. I've never seen her as happy as I have this past month. I'm starting to think she's staying with Michael almost as an obligation."
"Whoa. That's serious stuff. You might want to talk to her about that."
"Yeah," Renee giggled. "You wanna know something?"
"Huh?"
"Mel accidentally brought a pair of JC's boxers home!"
"What!" Justin broke out laughing. "Hey Chasez? You missing any drawers?"
"YES!" the answer came from another room. "The black ones with the kisses on the waistband."
Justin asked into the phone, "Are they black?"
"Yeah."
"Mel's got 'em!" Justin informed JC.
"Melissa? Is she on the phone?"
"No, Renee."
"Oh."
"What?" Renee asked.
"JC asked if I was talking to Melissa. They haven't spoken since you left."
"Oh, I see. Wait a second. She hasn't called?"
"Nope."
"Hmm. So she's not telling Michael anything, and she's not talking to JC. It's like she's pretending it never happened, like everything is how it was before, when they were just distant friends."
"Wow, you should talk to her. JC's a mess, and if she's anything like him, which it seems like she can be, she's probably a wreck on the inside," Justin suggested.
"She probably is...But anyway, how are things with the band coming along?"
"We're alive. The single's doing great. Our record goes on sale next week, we're scheduled to have a tour soon. No big deal."
"You dork, of course it's a big deal. That's great. Congratulations!"
"Thanks. We're all really excited."
"I can only imagine...Ah, shit, my time limit is running down, is Lance around?" Renee asked.
"Yeah, hold on," Justin put the phone down and went off in search of his fellow blonde band mate. Why did she always do that? They'd get to talking, and out of nowhere, she asks for Lance.
"Lansten. Phone," Justin called up the stairs and stomped away.
"What?" came the reply.
"Pick up the damn phone!"
"Ok, I'll get it up here. Hang that one up, okay?"
"Oh, yeah, let me drop everything I'm doing just to hang up the phone for you. Lemme tell ya, it's the thrill of my life to wait hand and foot on James Lance Bass," Justin ranted on.
"Dude, what the hell is your problem?"
"Me?! I'm just peachy, no problem here."
"Hello?" Lance said into the receiver.
"Hey!"
"Renee!" Lance recognized the voice right away. Before he could speak again, he heard the slam of the downstairs phone. "Man, Justin just had a serious mood swing. I don't know what I missed."
"He was fine a minute ago. He was talking about the tour and the CD and everything."
"Oh, it's gonna be awesome. I am soooo looking forward to the tour, now that we're back in the States. Europe has nothing on the US. Our first and last shows are here in Orlando, and we have a Disney concert special coming up like, next month. It's time for America to get NSYNC."
Renee laughed. "Are you coming here with the tour?"
"No, it's kind of a small tour. Just the huge cities. I guess we're going on another one next summer, though. That should get up there."
"Sweet. But more important, how are you?"
"I'm fine. I miss you. A lot."
"I've only been gone a week."
"So? I still miss you. Hey, don't you have like, the prom coming up?"
"Yeah, in a few weeks. I don't know if I'm going though."
"What?! Why not? You can't not go to your senior prom," Lance was stunned.
"I don't have anyone to go with."
"What? You don't have a date?"
"Well, this guy asked me, but I don't even know him. I think we have gym together. I really don't know. I don't know his name, anything about him. I told him I might be out of town," Renee sighed. "I don't know why he asked me."
"Um, I don't wanna waste your long-distance time, but hold on just a second, okay?" Lance asked. "Just a second, I promise."
"Alright."
There was a moment of silence, then some muffled talking.
"Hey, um, Renee, what day is the prom?"
"It's May 23rd."
More muffled speech followed this.
"Okay, I'm back. Um, I think you should go to your prom. You should have Melissa go too, I know she had her own prom, but make her go anyway. And both of you get real nice dresses. Get all done up, like Cinderella. Go stag if you have to. You'll have a great time, I swear."
"What are you talking about?"
"Just trust me. Go. And get Melissa to go too. You'll see when you get there. It'll be fun."
"Okay, I guess," Renee said slowly.
"Good. Well, I should probably let you go. I'll call next time."
"Alright. Talk to ya then."
"Okay. Love ya. Bye."
"Bye," Renee hung up the phone, and immediately picked it up again, dialing from memory.
" 'Lo?"
"Lance just told me he loved me, and you are going to prom with me."
"What?!"
"Lance told me he loved me, and you are going to prom with me."
"That's great and why the hell would I want to do something like that?"
"I don't know. Lance is trying to convince me to go. He says I can't miss it, and I think it would be fun with you there anyway. You went to your junior prom with friends and had fun. Go with me?"
"Oh, alright. I guess this means I need a new dress. Mine's so...out of style."
"Well, we can go shopping this weekend."
"Okay. See ya then."
"No not that one. I liked the last one," Lance shook his head at JC. "The one with the long coat."
"You sure?"
"Yeah, he's right. The short coat looks funny. Go with the long coat...with that high collarless shirt. It looked so Titanic," Justin said.
"Yeah, that was a good look," Chris agreed.
"Can I be weird and have the whole thing in black and then have a white coat?" Joey asked. "I like the way it looks."
"Of course you can. What about you Lance, which did you pick?" Chris asked.
"I'm going with the off-white, with a longer coat. Not as long as JC's, but more thigh-length."
"That one was nice," Justin commented. "Me, Joe, and Chris are going standard tux. Same old, same old. Except Joe with his white jacket."
"I can't believe I'm doing this. Can't believe you talked me into doing this," JC muttered, studying himself in the full-length mirror. He was wearing the knee length jacket with a plain white shirt. It had no collar, the neck was high and simple, like a choker. There was no vest or tie or even cumberbund. Its elegance was its simplicity.
"Jace, you and Melissa have a very childhood-girl-next-door-sweetheart thing, without all the school dances. This is your chance to go to the prom together," Lance explained.
"Assuming she wants that."
"She does."
"Well, what makes you think I want to see her?"
His only answer was four pairs of eyes giving him the "Come on now" look.
"Okay, okay," he sighed. "I hope she likes this."