Chapter Two

“Glad to have you at my party!” Kelly greeted Paula Abdul as she walked in.

Paula grinned. “I’m always happy to be here, Kelly,” she remarked.

“What’s in your arms?” Kelly asked, pointing to the round object in Paula’s arms.

“I made a cherry pie. I hope you don’t mind.”

“No, no. I don’t mind. Why don’t you put it on the big table over there?” she told her, pointing.

“Oh, good! Hey, where’s Justin? I thought he’d be here,” Paula said.

Kelly almost frowned. I thought so, too, she thought.

“Well, I’m sure he’ll be here,” she lied.

Paula smiled. “Can’t wait to see him,” she replied.

Kelly smiled back.

After Paula left the room, the doorbell rang again. Kelly answered it. Tamyra Gray, Christina Christian, RJ Helton, Nikki McKibbin, Ejay Day, and Jim Verranos marched in.

“Omigod, you guys!” Kelly shrieked at the top of her lungs. She grabbed everybody in a hug.

“We all brought food!” Christina exclaimed. “I made a cheesecake!”

“Yummy!” Kelly replied.

“I made some J-ELLO, if that’s okay,” RJ said.

“That’s okay. I love J-ELLO. Hey, where’s Ryan?” Kelly asked.

“She wanted to come, but she came down with the flu, But she wishes you the best, Kel,” Nikki told her.

“Oh, well, I’m sorry about that. I hope she gets better,” Kelly replied. “Um. Why don’t you guys put your dishes over there and join Paula. She’s somewhere in this house.”

Jim laughed. “Great. Where’s Justin?”

“Oh, he’s…around. Make yourselves comfortable.”

When they left, Kelly whipped out her cell phone number and dialed Justin’s cell phone number.

“Hello?” Justin asked.

“It’s me, Kelly,” Kelly told him.

“Oh,” Justin said flatly.

Kelly sighed. “Justin, are you still mad at me? Look, Paula, Tamyra, and the others have already come and they’ve been asking about you. If you’re really that mad, I’ll call JT and tell him not to come.”

Justin beamed. “You’d really do that for me?” he asked.

“If it means you being mad at me, I guess I would. But I don’t want to hurt his feelings and_”

“Kelly, thank you so much for doing that for me! I love you so much!”

“Um…thanks.”

“I’ll be there in an hour, okay?”

“Sure,” Kelly said.

He hung up. Kelly stared at the phone in shock.

“Hey! We’re here!” A girl’s voice replied.

Kelly looked up to see Jamie Lynn Spears walking towards her.

“Jamie Lynn! I’m glad to see you!”

“Me, too! And look, my mama helped me make this peach cobbler!”

Kelly took the cobbler. “It looks really good! Where is_”

“Kellbell, howdy, girl? How’s it going?" Justin Timberlake replied.

Kelly’s mouth widened in shock.

“Is that the Texas way to greet guests?” he joked.

“Justin, how are you?” Kelly asked.

“I’ve been better,” he said. He turned to Jamie Lynn. “Hey, JL? Go and get your slow cousin for me, okay?”

Jamie Lynn set the cobbler down. “I’m outta here,” she said, walking out the door.

“Where’s that boyfriend of yours?” Justin asked.

“Uh, he’s somewhere.”

“Oh. I wanted to talk to him about something important. The day at the KCA’s, I sensed something was wrong with him. He didn’t seem very talkative, did he?”

Kelly shook her head. “I guess he wasn’t,” he replied.

Justin exhaled loudly. “Look, Kelly. I know that things went off to a rocky start, but I just want to make things right. I know there was something bothering your boyfriend and I figured it was me who he was irritated with.”

Kelly was still in shock. “Okay, well…he should be here. Um, why don’t you join the rest of my friends?”

“Great,” Justin replied.

Jamie Lynn came back with her cousin. “Hey, Kelly, this is my cousin, Laura Lynne Covington. Laura Lynne, this is Kelly. Kelly, this is Laura Lynne,” Jamie Lynn introduced.

Laura Lynne and Kelly shook hands.

“I made some southern fried chicken. It’s the best!” Laura Lynne gushed.

“Cool beans! Can’t wait to taste it!” Kelly replied.

“Hey, where’s Justin?” Jamie Lynn asked.

“JT or my boyfriend?” Kelly asked.

“Your boyfriend, Justin. I can’t wait to meet him!”

Kelly grinned, remembering Jamie Lynn’s little crush on him.

“He should be here soon,” she said.

Jamie Lynn shrieked. “Oh, my God! Britney is gonna be sooo jealous, isn’t she, Laura Lynne?”

“You bet! Britney’s a huge fan of American Idol. She watches it every week!” Laura Lynne replied.

Jamie Lynn looked around Kelly’s house. “Hey, is there some way, someone could give a tour of your house?”

“I would, but I have to keep greeting my guests. Someone has to, you know,” Kelly said.

Laura Lynne took Jamie Lynn’s hand. “I’ll take her to join the others. Is Tamyra Gray here? Jamie Lynn and me are both huge fans of hers,” Laura Lynne asked Kelly.

“Yeah. She’s back there,” Kelly told her.

As Laura Lynne and Jamie Lynn left the living room, Kelly faintly heard Jamie Lynn tell Laura Lynne, “See, Laura Lynne? I guess Kori and Kaylee are right after all. I guess the Jelly is real!”

Kelly laughed. Then she waited for more guests. First, Ryan Seacrest arrived. Then Carmen Rasmusen and Kimberley Locke. Kimberly Caldwell and JD Adams showed up. Then Clay Aiken and Frenchie Davis. Vanessa Olivarez…Julia DeMato…Corey Clark…Simon Cowell…the house began to fill up, but no Justin.

Kelly looked at her clock. At 8:05, Jamie Lynn appeared. “Kelly, is Justin coming or not? It’s been, like, three hours. I don’t think I can entertain anymore,”

Kelly frowned angrily. “You don’t have to. In fact_”

“I’m sorry I’m late!” Justin replied, running through the door.

Kelly frowned. “Where have you been? Everyone’s getting restless.”

Justin kissed Kelly’s forehead. “I’m sorry, but the traffic on the highway took forever. Did I miss anything?”

Kelly softened at the touch of Justin’s lips. “No, not really, but I have to tell you something.”

Justin took off his jacket and hung it up. “Hey, the food smells great! I’m starving!”

“J, will you please listen?”

“Okay, I’m listening. What is it?”

“He’s here!”

“Who’s he?”

“You-know-who is right inside the dining room with everybody else!”

Justin’s mouth dropped open. “He is! Kelly, why didn’t you get rid of him?”

Kelly sighed. “Justin, that’s sounds ridiculous. Why would I do that?”

“Kelly, I’ve told you before that I don’t like him! He’s a phony, cocky, person who has nothing better to do than steal someone else’s girlfriend.”

Kelly put her hands up. “I don’t believe I’m hearing this. Justin, he really is a nice guy_”

“I don’t want him here. He_”

Kelly interrupted. “I’m going back to the party, Justin. If you don’t like him, that’s your problem. Buy don’t you try to bite my head off about it. I like him. He’s a nice guy and a good friend. And if I want to keep him as a friend, I will! I’m sick of this and I’m sick of you!” Kelly replied, running out of the room.

“Kelly, wait!” Justin called after her. When Kelly didn’t answer, Justin groaned and sat down on the couch.

Whoa, what was that? He thought. What did I do wrong?

Jamie Lynn was standing not too far away and she heard everything. She watched Justin just sit on the couch, looking glum.

She walked up to him. “Hey, what’s wrong?” she asked.

Justin looked up. “Huh? Oh, hi,” he replied, smiling feebly.

Jamie Lynn sat next to him. “Why so glum?” she asked.

Justin shrugged.

“Girlfriend, isn’t?” she asked.

Justin sighed and nodded.

“Boy, I’m sorry. You remind me of how my sister used to look after she broke up with my friend.”

Justin sat up straight. “Just who is your sister?” he asked.

“You know, Britney Spears?”

“I should have known she was your sister. You look just like her,” Justin replied.

Jamie Lynn smiled. “Yeah, people always tell me that. Justin Timberlake was her boyfriend and the both of us are still buds.”

“Oh,” Justin said bitterly.

“You don’t like him, huh?” Jamie Lynn asked.

“Huh? How do you_”

“I overheard you and Kelly. I’m confused, though. Why don’t you like him?”

Justin sighed. “You really wanna know?” he asked.

Jamie Lynn nodded.

“Okay, I think he was trying to hit on Kelly.”

Jamie Lynn burst out laughing.

“What’s so funny?” Justin demanded.

“He was not! I mean, that’s just the way is with all kinds of woman. He’s a gentleman, you know. To be polite, he always kisses a woman on the cheek. I’ve seen him do that with my mother sometimes. And besides, he would never steal someone else’s girlfriend.”

“Humph.” Justin remarked.

“You know, you’re really stubborn. You know that, don’t you?”

Justin looked at Jamie Lynn. “I am not,” he said.

“Are too. You won’t even listen to me.”

“I am listening, but I don’t believe it.”

Jamie Lynn sighed. “Do you believe Kelly?” she asked.

“Uh…what do you mean?”

“I mean, when she tells you the truth, do you believe her? Or are you so stubborn, you don’t even want to listen?”

“Um…”

“My sister’s like that sometimes. And my brother, Bryan. I think I am, too. But you know what? When my sister was with Justin, I don’t think she ever lied to him that bad. They always told each other the truth. I think that’s was one reason why they broke up. Because they lost trust in one another.”

Justin smiled faintly. “What’s your point?” he asked.

Jamie Lynn sighed. “My point is, if you want to keep Kelly, you guys have to work on trust. And you have to stop being so stubborn all the time. You know, my friends wanted me to get this scoop on this ‘Jelly’. At first, I didn’t think it was real, but now I see it is. I’ve waited my whole life to meet you, but I never thought I’d be here, giving you advice. Kelly’s really lucky to have met someone like you. You understand, care, and love her. And I think that’s better than any Jelly scoop anyone could have gotten.”

Justin put his hand on her shoulder. “Well, thanks for understanding,” he replied.

“No problem,” Jamie Lynn replied. “Kelly still loves you a lot.”

Justin smiled. “It was nice talking to you,” he said.

Jamie Lynn smiled back. “You, too,” she said.

Justin extended his hand. “Justin Eldrin Bell Guarini,” he replied.

Jamie Lynn shook it. “Jamie Lynn Marie Spears,” she told him.

“How old are you?” he asked.

“I’m twelve. My birthday’s in April.”

“Really? My girlfriend’s birthday’s in April, too!”

“Cool! How old will she be?”

“She’ll be twenty-one.”

“My sister’s already twenty-one. They’re old!”

Justin laughed. “Guess how old I am?”

“You’re twenty-four, right?”

“Hey, how’d you know?”

“I just know.”

The two of them laughed.

“Hey, you want to play a game?” Jamie Lynn asked.

Justin shrugged. “Sure. What?”

Jamie Lynn dug into her backpack. “I brought my Uno cards. Wanna play?”

“That’s great! I love Uno!”

“Cool! Let’s play!”

Jamie Lynn shuffled the cards and passed them out. Then the two of them began to play.

“So, tell me about American Idol. Is Simon really all that bad?” Jamie Lynn asked as she dealed a blue card.

“No, not really. He really is a nice guy,” Justin said.

“I thought so. I met him earlier. I sang one of my sister’s songs and he said I can sing!”

“Alright, JL!” Justin exclaimed. He highfived her.

“And Tamyra’s really nice, too. She knows Britney is a huge fan of hers!”

Justin dealed a blue card of his own. “Well, I know that,” he replied.

Jamie Lynn picked up a blue reverse card. “I’m winning,” she boasted.

“No, I am!” Justin said.

“No, it’s me!”

“Prove it!”

Jamie Lynn dealed out all her cards. “Mostly all of them are blue!” she bragged.

Justin pouted. “Aw, no fair! You were cheating!”

The two of them began to laugh.

“Where’s Justin, Jebbie?” Kelly asked Jessica.

Jessica shrugged. “I don’t know. Which one are you looking for?” she asked.

“My boyfriend, Jessica,” Kelly replied.

“I think he’s in the living room,” she said.

“Thanks, Jebbs,” Kelly said. She walked into the living room. She expected Justin to still be sitting on the couch looking glum and grousing about Kelly still inviting JT to the party. What she wasn’t expecting was to find he wasn’t. Instead, he was playing a card game and goofing around with Jamie Lynn.

Maybe he’s trying to impress me or something, by entertaining Jamie Lynn, he’s showing me he can hang with her and not Justin, Kelly thought.

But Justin didn’t appear to be impressing anyone. Both he and Jamie Lynn were in their own little world, playing cards and fooling around.

“What’s going on?” Kelly demanded as she walked in.

Justin and Jamie Lynn stopped the game.

“Hey! Justin was telling me about that cake you made!” Jamie Lynn told Kelly.

Kelly couldn’t help but smile. “He did?” she asked.

Jamie Lynn nodded. “Yeah. Is it still here?”

Kelly laughed. “Yeah, but still has that hole in the middle!”

Jamie Lynn licked her lips. “I don’t care! Can I have some anyway?”

“Sure. It’s in the kitchen.”

“Great!” Jamie Lynn replied, leaving the room.

After she was gone, Kelly faced Justin. “What were you guys in here doing, anyway?” she asked.

Justin smiled. “Playing Uno and talking.”

“Talking? About what?”

“Well…we were talking about ourselves. Traveling…other things.”

“Were you talking about me?”

“You know, now that you mention it, we were. Jamie Lynn said a lot of things that made me think.”

“Think? Like what?”

“Like what an idiot I am.”

“Huh?”

“Kelly, I’m sorry I’ve been acting stubborn. I should’ve known I could’ve trusted you. I mean, when you said you weren’t interested in JT, I should have believed you. But…”

“But what?”

“Earlier, Jamie Lynn told me that I shouldn’t hate someone I don’t know. And I don’t know JT. I think that was just my stubbornness kicking in.”

Kelly couldn’t believe what she was hearing. All of this was because of Jamie Lynn. Kelly was suddenly grateful to her. Thank you, Jamie Lynn! She thought.

“So what are you saying?” Kelly asked.

“I’m saying, I’d like to meet him if he’s still here,” Justin said.

Kelly smiled. “He’s still here. And he’s been dying to meet you. C’mon, I’ll take you to him.”

Kelly grabbed his hand and led him into the dining room.

After greeting other party guests, the both of them wound their way to see JT.

Justin was talking to Frenchie, Joshua Gracin, Ruben Studdard, Rickey Smith, and Laura Lynne. Kelly tapped his shoulder.

“Hey, JT? I have someone for you to meet,” Kelly told him.

Both Justins smiled at one another. Kelly smiled and walked away.

“Boy, that was one long party!” Jessica exclaimed. The only people in the house were Jessica, Brian, Paula, Tamyra, Nikki, Christina, RJ, Joseph, Justin T, Kelly, Jamie Lynn, Justin G, and Laura Lynne. All of them were helping Kelly clean the house.

“I haven’t felt so tired in all my life,” Nikki complained. She was drying dishes while RJ passed them to her.

“Hey, you get used to it, huh?” Justin G. asked.

Nikki groaned. “The housework in my own house is much easier than this,” she replied.

“I’m used to it. I’ve been doing it forever,” Paula replied. She continued to sweep.

“And I’m sure there’s a good reason for that,” Tamyra replied.

“That’s what I was afraid you were going to say,” Kelly said.

Joseph stacked all the china away carefully into the china closet. “Why’s this stuff called china?” he asked.

“Because it’s made in China?” Justin T. said.

Everyone laughed.

“You know, I have no idea,” Kelly said.

“Maybe because it’s so pretty,” Jamie Lynn replied.

“That’s my best guess,” Justin G. replied.

Christina stopped vacuuming. “Well, I’m done in here. Hey, Brian? Can you vacuum the living room for me?”

“Sure,” Brian said, taking the vacuum cleaner away from Christina.

“The tables are all clean!” Laura Lynne shouted.

“I think all of us are about done,” Jessica replied.

Justin T. stretched. “Yeah. I hope we never have to clean KC’s house again. But I’ll be coming back to get me some marble cake,” he joked.

Everyone laughed.

“Yeah, let’s call it a night. Let’s get some sleep, for tomorrow is another day!” Paula exclaimed.

As everyone washed up and got ready to go home, Jamie Lynn dug into her bag. “Kelly, Justin! I have something to give to you!” she called.

Kelly and Justin looked at each other.

“What is it?” Kelly asked.

Jamie Lynn grinned. “My friends from Louisiana wanted me to give you these gifts. They’re kinda silly, but since they couldn’t come, they gave you these.”

Jamie Lynn handed Kelly a jar of jelly. When Kelly looked at it, she burst out laughing. “Omigod! They put our picture on it!” she exclaimed.

Justin examined his jar of jellybeans. “Mine, too,” he replied. Then he laughed. “This is the best gift I’ve ever received!” he exclaimed.

“Me, too!” Kelly agreed. “Jamie Lynn, tell your friends we love the gifts.”

Jamie Lynn grinned. “Oh, Kori and Kaylee will be so freaked!” she exclaimed.

Justin T. tapped Jamie Lynn’s shoulder. “Jamie Lynn, we have to go. Your mother and sister want you home.”

“I can spend the night with Laura Lynne. Can I, Laura Lynne?”

Laura Lynne shrugged. “It’s fine with me.”

“Okay. Then, you can spend the night with her.”

Just as JT grabbed his coat, Justin G. gave him a hug. “Sorry I was acting funny before, man,” he apologized.

Justin T. shrugged. “There’s no need to apologize. If I were you, I’d do the same thing. So think nothing of it. Thanks for taking care of Jamie Lynn, by the way.”

“It was no problem. We loved having her here. You’ll stop by soon, JL?”

Jamie Lynn grinned. “You kiddin’? Of course I will!”

Kelly wrapped her arms around her. “Don’t be a stranger when you come back,” she said.

“Okay,” Jamie Lynn said.

Laura Lynne shook hands with Kelly and Justin. “It was a pleasure coming here. I hope I get to come back!”

“Oh, sure! You can come back, too!” Kelly replied.

“Bye, Kelly! Bye, Justin!” Jamie Lynn replied as she, JT, and Laura Lynne walked out the door.

“Bye, Justin! Bye, Jamie Lynn! Bye, Laura Lynne!” Kelly yelled.

“See you!” Justin replied.

After Kelly closed the door, she walked over to the couch and collapsed on it.

“Whoo! I’m tired!” she replied.

“You’re tired? What about me?” Justin replied.

“I’ve been cooking and being a hostess at the same time. You were just playing cards!”

The two laughed.

“You know,” Justin replied as he sat down next to Kelly. “I’ve been doing some thinking.”

“What?”

“If we have children, I hope they grow up to be like Jamie Lynn and Joseph.”

Kelly laughed.

“No, I’m serious. I hope they become as funny and wise as they are. Don’t you?”

Kelly thought about it. “I guess you’re right. Maybe they will. The children of the world need kids like them, don’t you think?”

Justin shrugged. “I guess so, but you know what?”

“What?”

“Right now, I think I’ll settle for having someone who’s already funny and wise at the same time.”

“And who’s that?” Kelly asked, dumbfounded.

Justin laughed. “Kelly, you.”

Kelly blushed. Then she began to laugh. “Oh, well…thank you,” she replied.

“You’re very welcome,” he replied, pressing his lips against hers.

“And I promise that nothing like that will ever come between us. From now on, you’re gonna be one of my top priorities. I’m sorry I was so inconsiderate,” Kelly replied.

Justin kissed her again. “Hey, don’t worry about it. Can we let bygones be bygones and forget about it?”

Kelly nodded. “We sure can. In fact, I know how we can forget about it completely!” She took Justin’s hand and led him upstairs.

“What do you mean?” Justin asked.

Kelly grinned devishly. “Hey, I gotta let someone know there’s only room for just one Justin in my life,” she replied, raising an eyebrow in his direction.

THE END

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