Chapter 4: My Buff Muscles

JC walked off the bus, eager to get away from the teasing of his friends. He knew they were right, Michelle was being insanely possessive. He sat on the grass beneath the shade of a large pine tree, wondering how he would handle the situation.

"You look troubled." Julia commented. JC hadn't noticed her get out of the bus.

"Yeah," He said after a moment. He had always known she was pretty, but standing there in the sunlight smiling at him, she looked absolutely gorgeous. Her brown eyes were twinkling, and her black hair fell around her shoulders.

"Wanna talk about it?" She asked, sitting Indian style next to him.

"It's my girlfriend, Michelle," he told her. "She acts like I'm a bundle of raging hormones, that everywhere I go I find someone to sleep with. She even says it in front of the guys, and she's merciless when it comes to Justin." He said, looking at the bus.

"Then why put up with her if she does those things?" She asked. "It obviously hurts you when she says those things."

"I don’t know why," He said shrugging. He pulled a piece of grass out of the ground and played with it between his fingers. "It's just, we've been together a while. I don't want to hurt her."

"I don’t know JC," Julia said, "I'm not going to make your decisions for you, but if she continues to hurt you it's not worth it. A relationship is one filled with trust, and an understanding of your partner's feelings." She said those words with such conviction that JC had to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Julia asked, her eyes narrowed with fake anger.

"It's just… so sappy." He said, laughter bursting out of him as he fell back into the grass.

"Oh come on," She retorted. "Like your not that way! Oh well, I'd better get set up, I'm going to start filming tonight." She got up to leave.

JC stopped laughing and sat back up. "Julie, I'd just like to say thanks for forgiving me for what happened before. I don't think I've ever had a friend quite like you." He told her, his face serious.

"It's okay, J. It was both of our faults, and I wouldn't have wanted to lose you as a friend. And besides, who's being sappy now?" She said. He grinned, and looked past her.

"There she is," He said, standing up and dusting the grass off his pants.

"Well, I'd better get going then, and let you two have a talk." Julie said, walking away.

"Bye." He called out to her retreating back, and turned back to look at Michelle. Her green eyes showed no emotion when she came up to him and gave him a hug.

"Who was that?" She asked.

"Who?" JC said, playing innocent.

"You know who," She said, "the girl you were just talking to."

"Oh, that's Julie. She's riding with us because she's filming the footage for the next video we're putting out." He explained. He braced himself inside, waiting for Michelle to explode.

"Oh ok," Michelle said calmly, leaving JC stunned.

"and your okay with that?"

"Sure, listen JC, I realize I haven't been the greatest girlfriend lately and I'm sorry." She said, "and I trust you more than I let on.

"That's great." JC said, hugging her. "are you ready to be on the bus with us?" He felt partially relieved, but something was nagging at him.

* * * * *

This is a perfect position Julia thought, clenching with screwdriver with her teeth as she positioned one of her cameras onto a pedestal backstage. She was wearing dark blue jeans and a dark blue t-shirt, making herself comfortable so she could work faster. Her hair was caught up in a ponytail, and she had spent most of the day attaching smaller cameras to sections on the stage that the large cameras couldn't really reach.

"Jeez, Julia, you know we're gonna feed you right?" Chris called out laughing. Julia spun to stare daggers at him while she snatched the screwdriver out of her mouth.

"Shut up Chris!" She yelled back as she finished attaching the camera. She dusted her hands on her jeans, and went over to where he was.

"We're doing a soundcheck now," Lance told her, coming up next to her. "you can make sure the cameras work then."

"That'd be good," She said, "I could also take some footage of you guys practicing."

"Will you show my buff muscles?" Chris asked, flexing while his lips formed into a pout, "everyone always shows off Justin's muscles, but what about mine?"

"That's 'cuz you don’t have any!" Justin yelled from the stage, laughing.

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