"Who's there?" She asked loudly so she could be heard. She lowered the stereo just as JC replied.
"it's JC!" He shouted, his voice ringing out since the music wasn't there to cover it.
"Come on in!" She replied. He opened the door, grinning sheepishly, then threw himself onto her bed. She put the book down on her lap and turned so she could talk to him.
"Ready for your date?" He asked, looking at one of the many CD cases that she had littered on her bed.
"Yeah, but it seems my date isn't," Sydney said with a disgusted sound as she checked her watch.
JC laughed, "Yeah he takes a little longer to get dressed."
Sydney snorted, "that's an understatement." He continued to search the contents on top of her bed, "my, aren't we curious tonight?"
"I'm just looking to see what CDs you got. Hey! What's this?" He asked, pulling a stuffed dog out from under one of the pillows.
"Hey! Give that back!" Sydney yelled, trying to grab it from him. JC, however, had the quicker reflexes and was holding it high in the air beyond her grasp. "No fair! Height advantage!" JC laughed and handed her back the stuffed dog, which she quickly hugged to her chest as she went back to sit in her chair.
"I take it that it's yours?" He teased.
"Yep." She said, "his name's Coke."
JC guffawed. "What, is he a druggie or something?"
Sydney glared at him. "No, it's just that when my best friend gave him to me, she spilt a whole can of coke on him. Therefore, he was christened Coke."
"Sure" JC answered, still laughing as Sydney rolled her eyes.
"What's so darn funny in here?" Justin demanded, a forced smile on his face when he saw JC in Sydney's room. Sydney noticed how handsome he looked, wearing a yellow polo shirt over a set of khakis, but she did sense the hostility that he was feeling and was confused by it.
"Nothing." Sydney muttered, causing JC to fly into another bout of laughter.
"Oh, ok. Ready to go?" Justin asked.
"Yeah." She threw Coke at JC. "here, take care of him for me." She told him, getting up.
"Okay, but at the first sign of withdrawals, I'm checking him into rehab." JC joked.
Sydney tried not to let a laugh escape. "let's go," She said to Justin, who looked completely clueless.
"It seems like you and JC are pretty good friends now," Justin commented after they had gotten into his car.
"yeah, he's a cool guy," Sydney answered, glancing out of the window at the moving scenery. Justin thought she looked very beautiful, wearing a simple black V-neck sweater and a set of slacks. There wasn't another word until they reached the restaurant ten minutes later, and Justin escorted her in. Marie Swansons was a place where people could have dinner, but there was also a spot for dancing and karaoke. Not a normal place for many teenagers to hang out, Justin thought it would be the perfect place to go.
They were seated and after they ordered, Justin studied the ring on his right hand, not knowing how to break the ice.
"You gonna talk to me, Timberlake, or are you just going to stare at your ring for the rest of the night?" Sydney teased. He grinned and looked up at her.
"Have you been here often?" He asked her.
"Well, I used to, when I lived here you know." She looked around at the decorations of the restaurant, sighing. She smiled as her gaze settled on the dance floor. "wanna dance before our food gets here?"
"Sure." He answered, getting up and helping her up.
"I must warn you, I can't dance any N Sync moves," She teased.
"Wow, you're like, the first one!" Justin said sarcastically.
"You know you love it. Millions of girls coming to your shows just so they can watch you move your hips and call it dancing."
"Whatever." He answered, trying not to smile. The song was slow with a steady beat, and they both just swayed to the music.
"Justin, why don't you have a girlfriend right now?" She asked him a moment later. She knew why from Lindy, but for some reason she wanted to hear why from him.
He seemed to think about it for a minute. "It's kind of hard to be in a relationship with someone when you're away a lot," He answered finally, not adding how he couldn't stay faithful to just one person, "it's strained, and plus I haven't met anyone yet that would make it worth the distance."
"Oh." She replied, making Justin feel like she had been expecting more in his answer. The song ended and they both headed back to their table, right before the waiter came with their orders.
As they ate, they talked about several different things, such as music, books, and their families. "My parents got divorced when I was really little," he told her. Her eyes didn't show pity but understanding, and for that he was grateful. "I didn't take it very well, but it was hard to tell either of them what I was going through."
"But at least you have two little brothers now," She reminded him. She smiled brightly when Justin pulled out his wallet to show her their pictures. "They're cute." She told him.
"Yeah, just like their big bro," he said, turning his face so his profile faced her.
She rolled her eyes, "yeah, sure." They finished their meal, and headed out into the parking lot. "Cold?" Sydney asked, seeing Justin's arm shiver as he pushed his hands into his pockets.
"no," he lied, making her laugh and slip her arm through his.
"you've got to teach me your moves some time," She told him as they headed to the car.
He groaned, "alright." He answered, stopping next to the car. He spent the next fifteen minutes showing Sydney the basic moves to Bye Bye Bye.
"How am I doing?" Sydney asked, attempting to dance on her own.
"Good." Justin lied, trying desperately not to laugh as he watched her stumble around.
"Liar!" She yelled good naturedly, throwing her hands up in the air as a sign of defeat, "let's go home." She said.