Justin walked back to JC's room, put on a pair on boxers and left his towel in the middle of JC's floor, then went to find his jeans so he could read the note. They were next to JC's bed, right where he had tossed them the night before, and he reached into the back pocket and pulled out the folded piece of paper he'd nearly forgotten about.
There were only four words on the note: "Justin -- I'm sorry. Lance."
Justin crumpled it up into a tight little ball of paper. "Not as sorry as I am," he said through gritted teeth.
JC came back into his room and saw Justin standing there, silent and tense. Still in his towel, JC eased an arm around Justin's shoulders. "What's up, J? What did it say?"
Justin let his breath out in a sigh. "It was from Lance. It says he's sorry."
"Justin, what happened between you two? I thought you were friends? How did all this happen?"
"I don't know, Josh. Lance and I need to talk. I need to go to practice today."
"Will they let you practice since you won't have been in school?"
"Beats me, but I don't care about basketball. I just need to talk to Lance."
"Yeah," JC said quietly, "Well, if I can help at all..."
"Thanks, JC." Justin pulled him into a tight hug. "I knew you'd say that."
"Sure," JC smiled. "So, will you call me in to Kennedy? The attendance office's phone number is the on the fridge"
"Oh right. Yeah. Lemme go do that." Justin headed for the kitchen, and JC got dressed. He pulled on a new pair of boxers, sweatpants, and an orange long-sleeved t-shirt. Might as well be comfy around the house today. Then he sat down on the edge of his bed to wait for Justin. While we was waiting, he flipped through the scrapbook he'd shown Justin the night before -- all the pictures of him and Justin together and, usually, happy. Can this really work? he mused. Can Justin and I really be together like this? When we played the game against Jefferson last week I honestly thought I hated him. Looks like now I was really just confusing love with hate. JC chuckled to himself. Funny how closely related those two things are. Funny how things come around like this. Funny how good he felt cuddled with me in my bed last night. This will work. It has to. I'm falling in love.
Justin came back into JC's room all smiles. "We're off the hook for the day, baby. No school! Yessss!"
Justin gave JC a high-five, and JC returned Justin's grin. "So what you wanna do today, 'Lake?"
"Be with you," Justin said, tackling JC unto his bed and licking his face like a puppy.
JC laughed. "Yeah, I think you're stuck with me. So what should we do together now that we're playing hooky?"
"Watch a movie?"
"OK, let's go rifle through the Chasez family video collection."
Justin made himself a bowl of cereal and he made JC a poptart as JC picked out a movie. Justin came into the family room carrying their breakfasts as the opening credits of the movie flashed across the screen. "Oh man, Josh. 'Hoosiers!' You know this is my favorite movie!"
"Yeah, I figured."
Justin bounded up onto the couch, all bundled energy. He handed JC his breakfast and munched his Apple Jacks as the basketball movie began. The two boys watched the first ten minutes or so, but then Justin got restless again. He put his bowl down on the coffee table and crawled over into JC's lap. JC ran his fingers through Justin's still-damp curls and Justin nearly started to purr. Justin snuggled in and closed his eyes. I'll just listen to the movie for awhile, he told himself, I won't fall asleep. He was wrong, though, and moments later he was snoring lightly. JC smiled and continued to pet Justin. Eventually, he too fell asleep.
Later that afternoon, Justin drove back to Jefferson High School. He smiled as he thought about the day he'd spent with JC curled on the couch in JC's family room. The two of them had eventually woken up from their naps all hot and bothered and ready to romp around some more. They'd made love on the floor in front of the TV, grateful that the house was empty. Then they'd showered together again, and, of course, they just couldn't keep their hands off each other. Eventually, though, Justin needed to get back to school.
"I'll call you tonight," Justin had said as he'd kissed JC goodbye.
"I'll be waiting by the phone," JC had answered, and Justin had jumped into his car.
By the time Justin had gotten into his car to go talk to Lance, Justin was almost ready for another nap. He got to Jefferson just as the last bus was leaving the parking lot. Practice would start in fifteen minutes, but Justin wasn't interested in basketball. He just wanted to talk to Lance.
He intercepted Lance on his way to the locker room. When Lance saw Justin, his eyes darkened, but Justin didn't back down. "I got your note, Lance," Justin said, his voice as emotionless as he could keep it. "You're sorry?"
Lance tried to avoid him. "Justin, I ... Can we talk about this later?"
"Lance, no. Now. My life has been a living hell since you squealed to the team about me and JC." That wasn't really even close to the truth -- Justin's life has been blissful with JC over the last day or so -- but Justin didn't think he needed to tell Lance that. "Lance, explain now what the fuck is going on."
"OK. Justin, honestly, I am sorry." Justin nodded, and Lance continued, "I ... I was jealous."
"Jealous?" Justin raised an eyebrow. "Jealous of me ... or of JC?"
"You, Justin," Lance said quietly, "I was jealous of you. I got a taste of the spotlight in the game against Kennedy, when you fouled out, and I got to make the winning shot. You always got all the attention, and, for once, I wasn't just there to make Justin Timberlake look good, I was a hero on my own." Lance's voice dropped an octave as he added, "and Josh was there too, watching from the bench."
"You mean JC?" Justin was incredulous.
"Justin, I ... I was such an asshole. I was so jealous. That night was supposed to be mine. Justin, I ... I've wanted Josh since before I can remember. And you got him," Lance spat, his green eyes blazing with rekindled rage. "You always took everything. All the MVPs. All the glory. And the boy I loved. You took him, too." Lance pushed Justin back up against the row of lockers.
"Lance, I ..." Justin didn't know what to say. Lance was right. Justin did always get the accolades, and now he had JC, too. He said as gently as he could, "Lance, I never knew..."
Lance shut his eyes tight. "No one did. I didn't want anyone to know. That's why I told. That's why I told the whole team about you and JC fooling around at that party. I wanted them to hate you. I hated you. I still hate you."
"Lance, wait ..."
"No, Justin, not this time. Get out of here."
"Lance!"
"Justin, no. The team still hates you. And you skipped today, so you'd better not show up at practice. Wait, where were you today, anyway?"
"You don't want to know," Justin said, looking down at his shoes. As much as he was still pissed at Lance, he didn't want to hurt him further. He already knew Lance was rotten to have as an enemy.
"Justin, where were you?" Lance demanded, pushing him against the lockers again and holding him there by his shoulders. Justin knew he had to get out of there, but he couldn't get out of Lance's tight grasp.
Justin swallowed and whispered, "I was at JC's."
Lance punched him. Hard. In the face.
Justin crumpled to the ground, and Lance took off down the hall, leaving
Justin there bleeding.