Please don't make any irrational assumptions before you read this: I have never met N'Sync, and nothing in this story is intended to make you think any thing different about their personalities, orientations, etc. If you really want to know, meet them yourself. Also, this story isn't intended for audiences under 18 or with moral objections to relationships, gay, straight, or whatever.
Well, this chapter has been long overdue, I know, but keep in mind, I still have a 3.1 GPA to bring up by the end of the year. Also, my computer shorted out last week, and I had to wait to get it fixed. Well, for those of you who are fans of Justin, fear not. I will only keep him an enemy until I introduce someone else (hint, hint), and I have a pretty good reason figured out about why he's such a jerk. Sorry guys, but part of this story happened to me, when my girlfriend ditched me for some disc jockey, who was my friend's friend (not the same, but pretty close), so any one still thinking "maybe Justin and Austin can be friends" obviously have never had back-stabbing friends who slept with their girlfriends/boyfriends. There definitely will be a time when they are friends, possibly more, but that is a long time coming, and it's too complicated to hint at without giving it all away. Sorry to disappoint anyone, but you know me ;P
Josh started up the car. It was quiet in the van, despite the fact that there were six of us in it. I tried not to feel so weird, but who can feel normal when four people are staring at you?
"Disguise check," Lance said suddenly, taking charge again. My head snapped up. Disguise? What, they didn't want to be seen with me? Then I remembered who I was referring to, remembering the disastrous night Josh and I had been chased out of that coffee shop on Sixth Street.
Lance had pulled a black baseball cap over his head, and put on a pair of plain black sunglasses. He looked completely different from the back.
Joey put on a pair of regular horn-rimmed eyeglasses, smoothed his wild hair down with water from his water bottle, and took off his flashy yellow zebra print jacket. He had on a polo shirt and khaki shorts underneath it. Suddenly, he was my dad.
Chris was wearing a weird black shirt with red flowers on it, something from his own clothing line, based on what Josh had told me. He slipped on a thin pair of Ray Bands. That was it. He didn't look that much different to me, but maybe he wasn't as well known as the other guys. I hadn't even recognized him standing on the sidewalk with Joey and Lance, even though I have seen pictures of N'Sync before. I just figured since I had never bothered to remember their names or faces, he was just as well known as Justin Timberlake and Josh. How would I know?
I couldn't see how Josh or Justin would change their appearance, but was already thinking how stupid it was for me to sit back here. I wanted to see Josh, and talk to him, but I was too afraid of what the other guys would think. Now, I was stuck in the back of van with three guys I didn't know, and Josh was too busy driving.
Then they turned to me.
"Well, as our resident expert of normal, how do we look?" quipped Joey. I looked at them, and tried hard not to laugh. When Lance turned around, I could see how Josh and Justin had "disguised" themselves. They reminded me of those stupid kid TV shows, where the kids decide to "spy" on someone, and wear trenchcoats and sunglasses and carry newspapers. They stood out even more: no kid reads a newspaper, and who the hell wears trenchcoats? Justin had on a red beanie, despite the fact it was at least 90 degrees outside and blue tinted sunglasses. Josh had a visor and sunglasses.
I decided not to say anything, for fear that I would just start laughing and couldn't stop, so I just rearranged a little. I pulled off Lance's hat and put it on Joey, and switched Joey's glasses for Lance's shades. Lance looked completely different with glasses, and Joey didn't look so old without them. I don't know how old he was, but with the khakis and polo he looked forty. I didn't care that Justin would stick out like a sore thumb, and Chris and Josh looked normal.
Once they had disguised themselves, we set off. Justin began yakking away at Josh, and the other three turned to me.
"You still haven't answered my question," said Chris, pulling his shades down so that he could look at me.
"Which one?" I said, flustered, wondering if another tirade of questioning was about to commence.
"Well, for starters, what school do you go to?" piped up Joey. Great. Three investigators?
"I go to the University of Washington," I said.
"What year are you?" said Lance, turning around after he had said something to Josh.
"Do you like it?" Chris jumped in.
"I'm a sophomore, and yeah, I guess its ok," I answered.
"So you play baseball? What position?" said Lance.
"Whoa, you play baseball? Is that why you're so buff?" interrupted Joey.
"Hey guys, lay off Austin," called Josh from the front. Thank God. I caught his eye in the rear view mirror and grinned at him.
"Awww," whined Chris. "We're just trying to get to know him!"
"How bout if I get to ask a question?" I said.
"Ok, fair enough," said Chris. Lance pouted, because I didn't answer his question. I sighed. "I play third, sometimes shorty, and what the hell do you mean buff?"
Everyone laughed, except Justin of course. He was pissed that attention was off him. (I have to stop being so judgmental, sorry, but I was still mad at the little...er...person that had slept with Jen.)
"Look at you," said Chris. "You got it going on," I blushed like a mother fucker at that comment, and shook my head in disbelief.
"Is that your one question?" joked Lance, crossing his arms over his chest and smirking.
"Very funny, four eyes," I replied. He looked like such a geek I swear.
"Ok, Lance...did you play Little League?" Maybe I could game talk with him. I hadn't talked to Tony in a few days.
"All the way," he answered. "We were only one game away from the Little League World Series," he said earnestly.
"That's what they all say," I said, and we all laughed. "What happened, then? You liked singing more than pitching?"
"I guess," he said. "Ball was just a hobby, not a major part of mah life," he said seriously. I caught a hint of a Southern accent, and I remembered Josh telling me that Lance was from Mississippi.
"So where are you from?" I asked Lance. I already knew the state, but with baseball, at least I had something in common with at least one of the guys. However, Joey and Chris began whining, seeing that I was going to have a conversation with Lance and not include them.
"He's from the great under-achieving state of Ole Miss," said Chris. "Now can we get back to the grill session?" We all laughed again. These guys were really not so bad, despite the fact that they were from N'Sync.
I sighed. "Fine, you can have your way with me, but I have to remind you I'm not a big fan of S&M," I joked.
"Shoot, that was all Lance was looking forward to," teased Chris. Lance turned bright red.
"Oh, Austin, whip meh good," piped up Joey, in a mock-Lance voice. We were all cracking up, tears were running down Chris's face. I punched Joey in the shoulder.
Everyone was laughing, and Josh was shaking his head from the front seat. Justin was looking forlorn, slumped against the window, not laughing. I wonder what his problem was.
"Well, land sakes, sonnah, I coulda sworn I heard Lansten shoutin' yo name last night," called Josh from the front seat, making fun of Lance's accent. Chris joined me with the "ohhh, you got told's". Now it was Joey's turn to pout, but he didn't of course. He just smiled it up. He never takes anything seriously, it seems.
I don't know how far Disneyland is, and I have never been to LA before, but from what I heard it's a massive sprawl. It took about an hour and a half before we even seemed on a freeway heading to wherever it was, because I honestly couldn't remember. The whole way, we kept making jokes and fucking around. It felt like I was with the team almost: they just seemed so friendly. At first I thought I would have a hard time fitting in, but they accepted me almost immediately, and it seemed like we had been friends for years, instead of just a day.
Except for Justin of course. He never joined in on any of the laughing or joking, and never said anything. He didn't ask me questions, or tease someone, or anything. He was like an outcast. Even Josh, who was busy driving and trying to talk to Justin at least contributed a little bit, and he also kept winking at me in his mirror. I hoped that no one noticed. I decided not to worry about Justin, and instead just concentrated on trying to get everyone else to like me. I think it was working, because we had a great time during the ride.
Finally, we arrived at Disneyland, and got out of the by-now extremely crowded van. Josh had parked far from the entrance, so we had to follow the blue line of the monorail for about five minutes, before arriving at the big entrance to Main Street, USA. I checked my watch: it was now nine-thirty. Justin and Josh had picked me up at seven o'clock. It had taken over two hours to get here! To top it off, there was a huge ass line, mostly little kids and their parents. It reminded me of the line at the N'sync concert, except these kids were a lot younger and there were more than three boys. I walked directly up to the line, standing behind an elderly couple with a three- or four-year-old girl and a six- or seven-year-old boy, both of whom looked extremely excited.
"Um, Austin, what do you think you are doing?" said Chris. He and the rest of the group were standing to the side of the line, and they were all looking at me. A woman with a stroller and a pair of toddlers stepped in line behind me, followed by a dad and an eleven-year-old girl.
"Waiting in line, what does it look like I'm doing?" I answered. I smiled. The eleven year old was wearing a T-shirt that said N'Sync.
"Dude, we can walk right through if we tell them who we are," said Chris.
"Is that fair?" I said. I mean, I know that they might be able to get away with skipping the line, but I hated it when people let other people cut in lines and stuff. I just thought it was polite to wait. Before they could answer, two guys that were obviously badly disguised security stepped up to them. One of them whispered something in Josh's ear and he nodded. They stood behind the group. Neither one of them was Mike though, so I was a little disappointed.
"Just because you're..." I started, but wondered if it was right to blurt out N'Sync was here. Most of the kids in line were under ten, and didn't listen to them, and their parents surely wouldn't recognize then. But still, there were quite a few young teens and pre-teens like the girl behind me that would immediately beg for an autograph or something.
"No, just wait here in line. Plus, I know you guys are going to try to pay for me or something, and I don't need your celebrity credit card. I'm doing just fine." As I said it, I remembered the mere $213 in my bank account.
I saw Justin roll his eyes, and Lance and Josh look at each other, and they finally decided to join me in line, all five of them checking watches or cell phones for the time. The two security guards quickly ducked to the back of the line, which had grown quickly to include another four families, and a group of teenagers about thirteen or fourteen. I don't know who they thought they were kidding. If they thought they were incognito, they were sadly mistaken, because two single guys don't go to a kids amusement park, especially wearing dark sunglasses and bomber jackets, when nearly everyone else was in shorts and T-shirts. I was starting to get hot, and I pulled off my sweatshirt. I saw some of the adults in line look suspiciously at us, and I knew why: no matter how hard the other guys had tried not to be noticeable, six college-age guys(and older) also don't go to Disneyland. Plus, Joey and Chris kept fucking around and being loud.
I wished Justin would take that damn beanie off. He looked ridiculous, especially with his denim vest and tight pants. But he was the only member of the group that I felt uncomfortable with, so I decided to just let it go.
I was really aware of all the eyes on us. When Josh stood next to me, I was really really aware. When he smiled at me, I was really really really aware, but I like his smile too much that I had to smile back. We couldn't hold hands obviously. We couldn't do anything. It sucked.
The line took another twenty minutes before we finally got to the front gate. An adult pass was pretty expensive, actually, but I was too proud to let Josh pay for me, which he tried to do no matter what I said. I finally had to shove his twenties back in his pocket for him. He jumped at my hand being in his pocket, and I grinned, then paid the guy and walked in.
I haven't been to Disneyland in at least six years, but I felt something wash over me as I walked through those gates: I wanted to be here, even when I had tried to act mature and balked at the idea when Josh introduced it. I felt like a kid again, and actually felt like running around through the garden maze or up the main street, like I saw a dozen little kids do, or jump up with glee at the sight of Mickey, or the horse-drawn carriages. This was going to be great. It was even better with Josh here, and as I looked into his eyes again, I could tell he knew how happy I was. It was a little sad seeing all the kids with their parents here, when my parents had never given a shit about me, but it was going to be fine just the same.
Chris and Joey, abandoning all pretenses, actually did run around like little kids, startling a few of the youngest ones. Josh and I chuckled at the sight, but we both knew we wanted to join in. Lance pulled out a camera, managing to look like a complete tourist, and wandered off with Justin. I guess that we would split up, though I had hoped we could stay with Joey, Chris and Lance. They all seemed like a lot of fun.
On second thought, with the way Josh was looking at me, maybe this way was better. We would finally be able to talk without everyone waiting for the next punchline. I smiled back at him.
We leisurely strolled down Main Street together, talking a little. I was trying to tell him about a funny episode of Friends, but he said he didn't really have time to watch TV, so it was pretty weird explaining him everything that had happened on that show, when he had last seen an episode two years ago. Then he asked about the game that I had been in last, which was two days ago. He had called my cell phone as I was leaving, and I had been pretty mean to him, explaining how coach doesn't like us talking on cell phones during games, and I was already late. We had lost that game, 5 to 4. I had managed to hit in one of the runs for an almost double late in the eighth inning, but I had of course been tagged out at second. Tony had taken the coach's advice and tried a sacrifice fly in the ninth, but it hadn't worked, and we had gotten two outs. We didn't score the last inning, and it was kind of depressing, but that's nothing a keg won't fix, because left fielder Brenden Daniman had thrown a party at his parents house that night.
Josh wasn't really a baseball fan, but he wasn't a newbie either, so we had a pretty nice conversation. We had walked around the little center plaza thing in front of Sleeping Beauty's castle twice, before deciding to head to Tomorrowland first. Josh had heard that the best rides fill up fast, and it was early enough in the morning for the lines to be relatively decent.
I caught sight of Joey and Chris sprinting for Frontierland, disgruntled parents pressing their two-year-olds into their shoulders in horror. One of the security guards followed Justin and Lance, who walked somberly towards Critter Country, while the other one tailed us. I guess they thought that Chris and Joey could handle themselves, or maybe they just didn't feel like sprinting after them all day.
"So what do you want to ride first?" said Josh, also noticing the security behind us. Luckily the guy was about twenty feet back, so we could talk in private. It was starting to get annoying, never being able to be with Josh alone.
"I don't care. As long as I'm with you," I said, real cornball. He smacked my arm. "Seriously, I don't."
"Ok, well, how about the Submarine Voyage?" he suggested, pointing to the entrance.
"Fine," I said. I wanted to hold his hand or something, but instead I just solemnly loped along beside him, the only contact I received was our shoulders lightly brushing together. I felt so awkward, like it was a first date or something. Actually it was, but this was different. I had already met Josh, and we had already poured ourselves out to each other. Technically, our tour of Seattle was our first date, but it was as friends. The fact that we couldn't touch each other made it even more awkward, as I felt like it seemed every eye was glued to me.
Plus, a date was at a restaurant, or the movies or something. Right?
"All Aboard!" a loudspeaker called, as we entered the submarine entrance booth thingy, or whatever it is. Immediately in front of us was a huge set of stairs heading downward, and the whole area was in an serene blue glow. As we walked further along, silently, unfortunately, I noticed that part of the far wall was glass so that we could see the lake we would be diving into. I looked at Josh, and he looked a little down.
"What's wrong Josh?" I said as we stopped in line. One of the two subs blasted off, and they started loading the second one. Josh didn't answer, still staring at the water outside, so I tipped his chin back towards me.
"It's Justin," he said after a minute. I sighed.
"He's been really fidgety about you coming," he started. This surprised me. Why would Justin care that I was coming?
"About me? Why?" I asked.
"I don't know. He just keeps asking me stuff about you," he said.
"Like what?"
"Like why you're coming." Josh said firmly. I glanced away. Neither Josh nor I had told anyone about our so-called relationship. I hadn't even told Tony, and he was my best friend. I had given him the same story I had told my dad, that I was staying with a friend who went to college in Cali for Spring Break. Unfortunately, since Tony has known me since junior high, I had to make up another story about the friend, since he knew everyone I knew, and if I used someone we both knew, he would try and come with me. I had said that the friend was someone I had met from Boy Scouts, and he hadn't said anything else.
From what Josh had said, even though both Justin and Lance knew he was gay, neither of them knew I was more than a friend. Joey knew that I was some freak that Josh felt sorry for, and Chris knew me as "the dude that punched Justin for sleeping with his girlfriend." Josh said that the music business was very demanding, and that they didn't have much time for outside friends, so I knew it was probably weird me coming out here. No one had said anything though.
I didn't say anything to answer Josh. What could I say? Instead, we just waited our turn, and eventually got in a submarine when the line started moving.
"This morning, he begged me to take him with me," Josh said when the ride started moving, and we had some somewhat privacy. The security guard had been too far behind in line to get into the same submarine. Ha.
"But..." I started, but Josh raised a hand at me, to let him finish.
"I know what he wanted to do. He wanted to ask you himself right away, before I could warn you, because I kept blowing him off. See, he's really up front about everything, and likes everything out in the open. He doesn't like it when people keep secrets from him. When I told him you were coming to stay for the week, he got curious, but I didn't know what to tell him, so I kept avoiding it whenever he brought it up. But at the same time, I was also making all these plans for us. He thought that I was trying to get you to, you know, be my boyfriend by having you come out here, and he thought I was going to get hurt."
"Well, he didn't know, did he?" I said logically. Of course Justin would want to protect his friend. Justin might have thought that I was going to hurt Josh by not being open about his being gay, or by rejecting a possible relationship with him, not knowing that both of those things had already happened and worked out positively.
"Well, I didn't tell him, if that's what you're thinking, but I kind of said you were my best friend, coming to stay."
"So?" It was close to the truth, and pretty platonic.
"Justin is my best friend and always has been," said Josh. I looked at him, wondering if Justin's problem was really as trivial as that. Who cared? Only third grade girls make a fuss over who is declared a best friend and who isn't.
"So that's it? He's mad because of that?"
"No! He's mad because of a lot of things, but that's all I've been able to figure out. And, he's been having some trouble with Britney lately."
I almost said who, but caught myself just in time.
"Have you heard? The latest gossip is that they have broken up," said Josh. I opened my mouth to tell him that pop gossip was usually the furthest thing from my mind, and that I had heard no such thing, even when I had been listening keenly to MTV to see if Justin had started dating Jen. When it became apparent that they hadn't, I stopped watching. But he beat me to it. "Before you say you could care less, just hear me out."
I sat back in my seat, sighing, virtually ignoring all of the fish and crap outside of the submarine.
"Apparently, Britney has been doing a lot of things by herself lately, things her publicist says is bad for her image. She and Justin are kind of an open couple, I guess you could say." I swallowed. I wasn't quite sure what that meant. "They aren't exclusive, and they both sleep around a lot, but Justin did propose to her, so I don't really know what's going on," said Josh. I squeezed his hand quickly before dropping it into his lap.
"They had this major fight when she was here in LA about two weeks ago, and that was the day the press scored a picture of her storming from Justin's house, and started spreading rumors. Justin confronted her about it, and she got mad, saying he didn't trust her, and they had a fight, and they haven't spoken since then." I wanted to ask how this related to Justin's hatred of me, but decided I was being too fucking selfish again.
"So Justin has been glued to me the whole time, moping around. I've been trying to make him feel better, but I got so excited when I found out you were coming this week, that I think he might feel a little rejected. Then I made him apologize to you when he wanted to find out what was up, and you shut him out. I think he suspects something between us, but he won't say anything. I tried to talk to him in the car, but he won't talk to me. I want to know what's wrong," he said.
"Josh, I know it's not really my place to say anything, but maybe we should just give him some space. Maybe he'll feel better being by himself today. And what about Lance? I thought he and Justin were really close, especially at that concert, when I had just barely met you all. Maybe he can do something?" I suggested. Josh looked pained.
"But I want to be the one to help him, He's my best friend, and it's my fault he's mad at me," said Josh.
"Now you're starting to sound like me," I said, smiling, and he smiled back at me. God, I loved his eyes, they were like little blue jewels. It was great being able to stare into someone's eyes without them snapping at you "What are you staring at?" Not that Jen did that a lot, but if she was frustrated with homework, she usually took it out on me.
"Aren't you all best friends?" I said. Josh nodded.
"But still, I feel responsible for him, you know?" I nodded too. I am constantly feeling protective of Tony and the rest of the team, and I did with Jen too. Now at least I could see that Justin wasn't just mad at me, and I started to feel bad that I had been the one to cause the rift between them, however indirectly.
"Sometimes it's best to leave things alone for a little while," I said. That was something my dad used to tell me. It worked, too, because whenever I was mad at something, I found the best thing to do was just to let it go and cool off for awhile.
"Maybe," said Josh sadly. I wanted to hug him or comfort him or something, but I felt too weird. I think we needed to get to know each other better anyway. We had talked on the phone everyday since we had met, but it was different now that I was here, and I could talk to him face-to-face.
The ride ended, and we deboarded, both of us not knowing quite what to say to the other. What Josh had said changed my opinion of Justin, because I finally knew where he was coming from. I had just written him off as a jerk and resolved not to say anything to him.
"Hey," said Josh. "It's my problem, don't worry about it."
"Josh, if something is bothering you, it is bothering me. I hate that worried look on your face." I answered him. I then pulled out my map of Disneyland that I had grabbed from the front entrance and scanned the rides list.
"Thanks Austin," said Josh.
"Don't worry, we'll deal with it when we find Justin again. I'm still mad at him, but not so much anymore," I said, downplaying it.
"Ok, what do we want to ride next?" I said brightly, ardently trying to change the subject.
"Space Mountain," said Josh without question. "It's totally dark in there...," he grinned evilly. I slyly smiled back, folding the map back up and following him north.
After a ten minute line wait, we were finally allowed to get on, and we picked the car in the back. Well, I'll spare you the details of what happened next, but let's just say he had a hell of a hickey by the time the ride was over, and the ride was only like five minutes, tops. We were going to have to get used to rushing our romance.
We rode a lot of rides in Tomorrowland, then hiked over to Fantasyland and rode the Matterhorn, Mr. Toad's "wild" ride (I rolled my eyes the whole way, but Josh and the security guard seemed to like it), the teacups, everything. We got photos taken, and I bought a camera and started taking pictures, mostly of Josh, but some of the scenery and stuff.
At twelve, we were supposed to meet the rest of the guys at a restaurant in New Orleans Square. That's on the complete opposite side of the park, so at about eleven thirty I dragged Josh away from the Pinnocchio ride to start heading over there, using the poorly designed map as a guide. The restaurant was listed as a number, and was given coordinates, but trying to find it was another story. The map doesn't have listed "Parade at eleven fifteen" or "Mariachi mob in central plaza that you have to go through Adventureland to avoid". Josh and I were the last ones to get to the restaurant, the Café Orleans, or something, and we saw Joey, Chris, Lance, and a beanieless Justin waiting for us, as well as the other security guard.
Our guard joined his buddy, and they were seated right away, while our party of six had to wait.
"Where's your hat?" said Josh immediately.
"He lost it on Big Thunder Mountain," answered Joey. He was already eating some Kettlekorn, and toting a stuffed plush Goofy doll. Chris had a lei around his neck, was now wearing a blue Mickey T-shirt, and was eating one of those big lollipops.
"You guys joined up without us?" I said. We hadn't even seen half of the park, from what Josh had told me.
"We can all go together after lunch," said Joey. Suddenly, the waitress behind us said we could be seated.
"So where did you guys go?" asked Lance, as we all sat down, and the girl handed us menus.
"We went to Tommorrowland first, then Fantasyland," I answered, checking my watch.
"We were in Fantasyland for a while too, weren't we Justin," said Lance.
Justin didn't answer, and instead glared into his menu.
Josh looked sadly at Justin, and was about to say something when Joey interrupted him with "I want Jambalaya!" I opened my menu too, and decided to let things happen. I had no stance in this group, and there was no good reason for me to say anything to Justin. Instead, I tried to figure out how much cash I had left. I had taken out eighty dollars before I left, and had already spent half of it at the door. I had bought that camera, and a few other souvenirs, which left me with about twenty bucks and some change. I gotta get a job soon.
I reached behind me to check my wallet, and saw that I had a lot more than twenty bucks left. My dad must have slipped me some extra. There was three hundred dollar bills sticking out of one of the compartments.
After we had all looked at the menus, and the waitress came and took our orders, we chatted for a little bit. I asked some questions about MTV and whether they liked doing the Spring Break Special or not, and they said that it hadn't really been there decision, just something the managers had agreed to do a long time ago. I tentatively asked how long they had to rehearse, wondering if I would get some time to do my homework this week. They said something like ten hour days. I wondered if I was supposed to go with Josh, or if he was leaving me behind, and I wouldn't be allowed to go. Not that I wanted to hear their music, I just wanted to be able to see Josh.
Justin glared at me all during lunch. I noticed it after I made a really funny joke, and everyone except him was laughing. I tried to look away, then look back to see if he was staring, and boy, if looks could kill, I'd be six feet under. I resolved myself to try and stay civil to Justin if Josh wanted to help him out, even though I hated his guts.
After lunch, we split up again, but this time, Joey and Lance dragged me away from Josh and split for the Haunted Mansion, while Justin distracted Josh by grabbing his arm and whispering something in his ear. I wanted to stay with Josh, but Joey and Lance assured me that wasn't going to happen. So, I spent the next three hours or so with them, and I saw parts of the other areas of Disneyland. Around four thirty, I called Josh's cell for the third time since we had split up and he told us to regroup at the van in ten minutes. We took the Monorail back to the entrance and left.
When Lance and Joey and I got to the parking lot, we were hyped, still talking and laughing, but Chris, Josh and Justin were as silent as stones. I stopped, and asked what was wrong. Justin responded by tsking and jumping into the front passenger seat, the place I had hoped that I would be able to sit in on the ride back. Chris whispered something to Joey, who nodded, and they both got in the back, so that Lance and I took the middle.
"Everything ok?" said Lance, breaking the tension in the car a little. I had no idea what had happened, and the last time I had talked to Josh, at three thirty, he had been fine, and he and Chris and Justin were riding the steamboat around Mark Twain's Island.
"Yeah, we're cool," said Chris from behind us. "Hey Austin, guess where we're going next?"
the next chapter is coming out soon, I promise! But good news! I got a B on my physics test!! Hooray! This means that my studying paid off, and since my next test isn't for another four weeks, I'll have plenty of time(hopefully) to update much more frequently. To those of you who worry that I should be studying instead of writing: stop it. I already have two parents. Email is pretty darn well appreciated, and I hope I have replied to everyone, but I was disappointed with my last update: I had only about eight replies. Did you all ditch me? I hope not.
scottiescot@hotmail.com, don't forget.