| Track Two (Baby, it’s you) 1994 the young girl walked quickly through the halls, avoiding eye contact with her peers. She didn’t want to get caught in a meaningless conversation, that in any other normal day, she would have engaged in. She had a schedule she wanted to keep and socializing with her ever growing list of friends or her cheerleading squad wasn’t added to that equation that day. Having just been held back ten entire minutes by Genifur, her co-captain, was already setting her behind schedule. If it wasn’t for the fact that Genifur had covered for her on several cheerleading practices, she wouldn’t have taken those ten long minutes to listen to her ramblings. The fact that Genifur only seemed to be interested in rambling about one particular subject, Trace Ayala. She couldn’t blow her off, the girl was boy crazy and that particular month the honors had gone to her cousin. The gushing had gotten a bit overbearing and she’d set her limit to ten minutes of listening before she made a dash for the hallway when Genifur stopped her ramblings about Trace. She considered herself to be a good friend. She was honest and caring but having to be one side of a conversation pertaining her cousin’s butt had to come to an end quickly. Eww. At the end of the hall she could see her destination, her goal. The front entrance of the school. To the left of her goal stood her cheerleading squad. She wasn’t too worried about them distracting her because they were all aware what that day meant. To the right stood another distraction that would surely make her late. He stood by his locker, joking and goofing around with his friends, the football team. Apparently he was in no hurry to leave early and she felt like he should have been. It was a big day. She thought about turning the other way and heading toward the back doors of the school but quickly changed her mind. What kind of a girlfriend would she be if she did that? Although she was asking herself, what type of friend was he being at that time? Not a very good one in her opinion because he should have been trying to avoid his friends too, just like she had been. They both needed to get out of school as fast as they could for the big day. Yet she was more annoyed as she approached him. And although she was annoyed with him she couldn’t help but smile when he found her in the crowd and smiled at her. Two years of officially being his girlfriend, secure in their little love, she couldn’t help the squeezing of her heart as she saw him. He almost made her forget that she had a schedule to keep. Almost. “Hey.” He said, his smile not faltering. “Hey.” Amanda said with a smile matching his. “Missed you at lunch today.” “Sorry, I had a meeting.” “Cheerleading?” “Spanish Club.” “Are you walking home with me today?” he asked in a hopeful voice. “Aren’t you coming with us?” Amanda asked as they walked toward the doors. “Coming with you where?” he asked confused. “Don’t you remember? We were supposed to meet Trace.” “You’re meeting Trace instead of walking home with me?” he sounded annoyed. At five foot eight, he could be pretty intimidating but she knew that he would act that way. For the past two years things hadn’t been completely cool between her boyfriend and her best friend. She’d decided to stay out of it. Being caught in the middle was surely not going to be pretty. She’d learned her lesson when she’d tried to be the middle man (or girl) between her boyfriend and her cousin and that hadn’t helped the situation either. Blood was always thicker than water and instead of choosing she decided to back off. She doubted that the relationship between Trace and her boyfriend would ever be the same but she knew that her relationship with both hadn’t changed one bit. Her cousin, she’d always love and care for because he was family, she’d grown up with him and she knew every aspect of his life. Just like he knew her. Her boyfriend, she’d known since they were eight, that had been six, almost seven years before. While she spent time with her cousin, whom she still lived with and was close to, she didn’t spend much time with him at school. Something that they were both okay with. While both very popular in school, they didn’t hang out with the same people. Trace had been drawn into the ‘girl crazed guy group’, the group of guys whom girl drooled over. While Amanda was part, if not head, of the ‘in-crowd’, the group of people whom belonged to a lot of the clubs, sports teams and cheerleading squad and were liked by everyone and hated by the rest. Her and her boyfriend were considered the ‘hottest couple’ in the entire school and most importantly, the coolest. She spent time with her cousin, whom she still lived with and was close to, outside of school. On the days when Trace was out with his friends from school, she was across the street, or at the mall with her boyfriend. Once a week they found themselves in Trace’s room on the phone with their best friend. “Don’t be like that.” Amanda said holding his hand as they walked outside. “Don’t you remember what today is?” “It’s Tuesday.” “And?” she inquired getting more annoyed with him. “No practice for me and no meetings or practice for you. It’s our hanging out day.” “And?” “You got me, Amanda. What?” “You honestly forgot?” she asked stopping their walk toward Trace who waited outside his father’s car in front of the school. “What are you talking about, Amanda?” “He’s coming today, Jeremy. I can’t believe you would forget that.” “Who’s coming?” “You forgot that our best friend is coming home in an hour?” Amanda asked shocked. “I’m sorry it must have slipped my mind?” “Slipped your mind? That’s nice, Jeremy.” “I forgot, big deal.” “Unbelievable.” She huffed. “Why do I need to remember when Justin Timberlake is coming home? You seem to do the remembering for the whole town.” Jeremy said with a shrug. “I’m heading home. Call me later.” “What?” Amanda asked in frustration as he started to walk away. “That is if you find the time.” Jeremy said turning to face her. “Aren’t you coming to see Justin?” “I’ll just turn the TV on when I get home, Amanda. Have fun.” Jeremy said turning to walk toward their friends. She was torn. They hadn’t seen their best friend in six months and all he could do was act like a jerk. He always acted that way if she couldn’t make their Tuesday tradition of going to the ice cream shop and then walking home together. The last time they’d all seen Justin was the previous summer when they’d been allowed to spend a month in Orlando. While Trace, Justin and herself opted to be at Disney World, with Justin’ free pass, Jeremy opted to stay in the house playing video games. Jeremy had said that he didn’t enjoy being followed around the whole park by kids who recognized Justin. She had enjoyed scaring the little girls away while Justin reprimanded her for being mean to his fans. Trace and herself had felt uncomfortable around both of them but personally she’d thought they’d gotten over whatever it was they were acting strange about. They’d continued talking on the phone after that summer and she’d figured they were okay. Not completely how they used to be but just okay. Apparently not. “Jeremy!!” she yelled. “Wait up!!” Turning to face Trace who waited with her uncle. “Trace, I’ll meet you guys at Justin’s” “You’re not coming?” Trace asked wide-eyed. “It’s Tuesday, Trace. You know how it is. Tell Justin we’ll be waiting at his front porch for him.” Amanda said catching up with Jeremy. “Yeah, Manda I know how it is.” Trace said as he got into the car, where his dad waited. “Straight home, Amanda. If you’re not coming with us to the airport then you need to go straight home.” Her uncle said pointing at her. “Okay, Tio Juan. See you later.” Amanda said with a wave. “You’re walking with me?” Jeremy asked. “Don’t let it get to your head. I’m only going because I know it’s Tuesday and it’s the only day we cold hang out after school. And besides I saw Jessica, Sophomore whore-leader, getting ready to offer to walk with you.” Amanda said with a roll of her eyes. “So you were jealous?” “There’s nothing to be jealous about. Why are you being mean about Justin, anyway?” “I wasn’t trying to be mean. Last Tuesday you had an emergency cheerleading meeting and you didn’t walk with me. I just thought you would walk with me today. And I really just forgot that he was coming.” “How could you forget? He’s been calling and telling us he was coming for the past few weeks.” “He’s been calling you and Trace. Not me.” “Is this what this is all about? Are you mad at him because he didn’t call you? He told Trace and I that he called you but that you weren’t home.” “I was at practice when he called.” Jeremy shrugged. “So you’re mad at HIM for calling you and YOU not being available? That’s not fair, Jeremy.” “No one’s mad, Amada.” Jeremy said putting his arms around her shoulder as they walked. “Do you want to get a Root beer float?” “I have to get home, Jeremy. How many times do I have to tell you? Don’t you want to get home too?” “His flight doesn’t come in for another hour. We have plenty of time.” “For someone who claims he didn’t remember when Justin was coming, you sure do know details about his flight.” Amanda said with a raised brow. “Do you want a float or not?” “Fine, but we have to hurry.” *********** “Where’s Amanda?” Justin asked as they rode towards his old house. “That took you all of twenty-six minutes and thirty-two seconds.” “What?” Justin asked looking at Trace who sat next to him in the Cadillac Deville, Trace’s father owned. “It took you that long to ask about Manda.” Trace chuckled. “Take a wild guess where she is.” “Figures. Why didn’t he come to the airport with you?” Justin asked. “Because I don’t want that meathead in my car.” Trace confessed. “Watch your mouth, Juan.” His father chastised from the driver’s seat. “Well it’s the truth dad. All he does is play football and lift weights. He’s fourteen, not twenty, he acts like he’s going to be drafted to the NFL any day now.’ Trace laughed causing Justin to launch into fits of laughter. “She better be there when we get there because I have something to tell you guys.” Justin said after a little while, giving his mother a knowing look. “She’ll be there, Baby, it’s you. She never lets you down.” Lynn said with a smile. “Could have fooled me.” Justin mumbled before continuing a conversation with Trace about a girl he’d met on the set on the Mickey Mouse Club. *************** Baby, it’s you (Remix #1) Don’t go biting my head off. What did you want me to do? He was my boyfriend, my everything. I was compelled to pick him and the Root beer float (my favorite) over Justin. We were pretty mature for our age, huh? (Lynn makes us sound like an episode of Dawson’s Creek.) We were fourteen years old that year Justin came home with the big news. Like my whole childhood, I remember every detail of that day. Instead of my Monday, Thursday, and Friday attire (cheerleading uniform) I wore dark blue jeans and a white top, on my feet I wore the brand new pair of Nikes, courtesy of Justin Timberlake. I still remember the float that cost two dollars and eighty-five cents. (courtesy of Jeremy of course.) We eventually left the local ice cream shop an hour later because we got a bit distracted. (Jeremy and I liked to kiss. A lot.) Am I getting off subject? Eventually I remember practically running home because I just knew that if Justin got there before we did, he wouldn’t be a happy camper. Putting those brand new tennis shoes to good use I ran to Justin’s, Jeremy followed closely behind and if I remember correctly he too had been wearing the gym shoes Justin had sent him as well. When we got there, I wished I hadn’t rushed because the news we received when Justin was done sulking (over the fact that Jeremy and I were late), wasn’t anything I wanted to hear. Sadly, Justin informed us that the Mickey Mouse Club show had been cancelled. Don’t hate me for saying this but I was so happy when he said that. Don’t hate me, let me finish. I couldn’t remember ever being that happy. (except when he’d gotten ‘in’ the show, go figure.) my first thoughts were that I was going to have my three best friends back. Nothing could have had prepared me for what Justin told us next. When he took us to his old room and told us the big news, I felt like it was Star Search/Mickey Mouse Club all over again. I couldn’t say anything, it was like someone had kicked me in the gut and I couldn’t get words out. I had no air. Just when I thought I had gained my best friend back, I had lost him again. Unbeknownst to us, Justin had joined a boyband. I remember being confused as hell. A boyband? What the fuck? When had he done that? He never mentioned anything during phone conversations those last six months. I hadn’t noticed the lack of time he spent talking about the show. I figured he just didn’t want to talk about it because he liked hearing about our boring lives instead. I was so stupid. (Don’t go agreeing with that, just yet.) Till this present time it still pisses me off that Justin had kept six months of his life secret from us. He’d finished the show and had gotten a record deal right under our nose and we were clueless. It hurt that he didn’t feel it was his duty, as our best friend, to let us in on his life. Specially since it was going to become a huge part of all our lives. He eventually told us his reasons for not including us but even talking about it now pisses me off. But like I said he had pretty reasonable grounds. So there I was, fourteen years old thinking I had my best friend back and my life would be back to normal and in reality I was losing him again. He was gone. Away from us. Away from America all together. Oh and FYI the float was delicious. *************** Baby, it’s you (Remix #2) I was devastated that I no longer had a job and she’s talking about a fucking Root beer float? I’m so glad to hear that spending her stupid Tuesdays with Jeremy and having a Root beer float came first in her life. Someone should reevaluate their priorities. (Don’t you think?) Okay so I admit that at that time I should have done that too. I should have talked to my friends. I should have told them that the show was cancelled. I should have told them that Jc contacted me and that I was in a ‘group’ and that I had gotten a record deal. I should have but I couldn’t. At fourteen I had felt like a failure. I had to do the group thing on my own. I felt like my friends, my best friends, would be disappointed in me. I know now that it was stupid of me to feel that way because they were my friends. Still are. (Not necessarily all three of them, by the way.) When Jc had approached me, I must admit that I was dying to call my friends and tell them the news. But honestly wouldn’t your friends laugh at you if you suddenly came home and told them that you were going to be the next New Kids on the Block? Would they support you from the door? Or would they laugh until they realize you were being serious? When I was in Orlando I loved it. I loved being on the show, I loved being on the set, I loved acting, singing and dancing. So when it was over I remember telling my mother that I didn’t want it to end, that was when I decided that I would do it forever. The Mickey Mouse Club had been a start for me. Although I made all types of new friends in Orlando, (specially a certain girl, you know who I’m talking about.) I always felt like I was missing my REAL friends. The ones that were with me from before I was on TV. Going home and being a normal fourteen year old? Or recording an album, going overseas on tour? You do the math. What would you have done? I just have to take this opportunity to laugh. Yes, to laugh, because I had forgotten about the way Trace spoke of Jeremy. Meathead. That’s great. Have I mentioned how much I love that guy? I won’t get into why Trace has such animosity towards Jeremy because It’s just not my place. As far as the tennis shoes I sent all three of them? I wanted to buy two pairs, my mother made me get the third pair. Life’s a bitch. Oh, Amanda, please spare us from comments such as, “Jeremy and I liked to kiss. A lot.” I prefer not to hear that shit, thank you very much. Trace just got here so I’m going to go watch some more of the game. Maybe we’ll be able to convince him to talk to you for a little bit. We’ll see, he’s not much into public speaking. I was surprised he talked during interviews for William Rast, when we first came out with it. |