Disclaimer: You know it, I know it... I wish I knew them, but I don't. This is complete fiction.
Notes: < ... > marks Justin's or JC's thoughts. You'll figure it out:)!!
Chapter 8 by Dannii
Justin looked at JC, waiting, afraid of what he'd say. When he didn't say anything at all, he sighed.
"It's awful, I know. I told you I'm not very good." JC stared at him in disbelief.
"Awful? Are you kidding me? This is... awesome! Fantastic! I've never seen somebody draw as good as you! Where did you learn that? I mean... wow. I'm impressed!" Justin blushed furiously.
"You really think so?" <And he doesn't think I'm weird because I'm painting him out of my imagination?>
"Of course I think so. Justin, you are great! I can't believe nobody has ever told me that!"
"Well, my mom tells me everytime I'm painting something new, but she doesn't really count. She's biased in a way. And my teacher... well, I think he was just glad that there was somebody in his class who was actually interested in art. So, no, nobody's ever really told me that I'm good." JC could do nothing but shake his head.
"Believe me, Curly, you are good. Professor Kirkpatrick will be enthusiastic!!" He didn't notice what he'd said unconsciously, until Justin stared at him confused.
"What did you call me?"
"I... oh. Well, Curly. Sorry, I just thought it fits you. But I won't call you that again if you don't like it..."
"No, no, I like it. Nobody's ever called me that before. I don't even like my curls that much." Justin interrupted him. "I got teased because of them all the time." JC sighed.
"I'd give anything to have curls like that. I hate my hair. - And believe me, nobody will tease you because of them here. In fact, the girls will love them, I know that."
<Great.> Justin thought. <As if I want the girls to follow me all around because of my hair. Well, at least he likes them.> He decided to change the subject.
"You mentioned a professor... um, Kirkpatrick?" JC nodded.
"Yes. Chris Kirkpatrick. He's the best prof for art at our college. He's really good, and quite young, not even 30. I'm sure he wants to have you in his class as soon as he sees some of your work." Justin grinned slightly.
"How can you say that? You've just seen this one picture, and nothing more."
"Then show me the rest. You promised last night, remember? And anybody who paints that good out of his imagination must be a damn fantastic painter. You've made me look that much better than I look normally!" Justin had to bite down on his lips to prevent himself from saying something he might regret later.
"Well... thanks, I think. I'm glad you like it. But... can I show you the rest later? I'd like to finish this first." JC sighed.
"Okay. I guess I have to wait. But don't forget it, okay! I'll make sure that you don't forget it. – Oh, what I wanted to ask you: Do you have anything to do later?" Justin shrugged.
"Not really. Nothing that couldn't wait. Why?"
"Because I thought I could show you around a bit, you know, where the college is, the cinema, the best club, all the important things. And tonight I wanted you to meet some of my friends, we're going to go to a club." JC explained. Suddenly Justin looked sad.
"I can't go to a club, JC. I'm just 16." JC made a face.
"Shit, I forgot. But...", he thought for a minute "hey, do you by any chance play basketball?" Justin's eyes lit up.
"I love to play ball!"
"Good. Then we can skip the club and play ball instead, what do you say? I think my friends will be okay with that. We can meet at Lake Eola Park tonight, there's a real nice public playing field. So you have enough time to finish the picture, show me the rest of your work" - JC grinned - "and do whatever else you want to do. And when you're ready we'll grab my car and set off."
"That sounds fine", Justin agreed. They smiled at each other before JC turned around and headed back towards the house and disappeared in it. Justin looked after him, but then shook his head.
<Pull yourself together, Timberlake. Concentrate and finish the picture. The sooner you're ready, the sooner you can spend time with him." And with that he turned back to his easel and continued his work.
It was nearly noon when Justin finally finished the drawing. It had been hard work to put everything like he wanted it to be, but he'd managed to do so. Actually, he was quite proud of himself; he had to admit that the picture looked good. <No, JC looks good. The picture is just like a copy of him.> he corrected himself.
Drawing always exhausted him a bit, so Justin decided to pack his things together and bring them back to his room. He put everything back into the boxes and closed them. He stood in his room for a moment and looked around before he went to his dresser and pulled out his swimming trunks. He stripped out of his clothes and put them on, deciding it would be nice and relaxing to swim for a while. He grabbed a towel out of the bathroom, took out his contact lenses and put on his glasses and headed down the stairs, out to the backyard where he entered the pool area. he thought. They hadn't had one back in Tennessee. He put down his glasses on a nearby table, took a quick cold shower in the open showerstall close to the pool before re ran towards the pool and dove in head first.
JC had opened the window in his bedroom and was sitting on the bed, reading a book about composing, when he heard a loud splash outside. He stood up and went to the window, only to see Justin down in the backyard, in their pool, swimming around, his curls plastered down his head. He grinned at the sight and backed away from the window a bit, so that he still could see Justin but couldn't be seen himself. This was one of the times when he was very lucky to have one of the rooms that were in the back of the house, in direction to the backyard.
Justin spent about 15 minutes in the pool, swimming some lanes, before he had enough and climbed out of the pool. He towelled his body dry and ran the towel over his head, through his curls, to get the water out of them.
JC swallowed when he saw Justin come out of the pool, only in his swimming shorts. <Well, what else should he wear, you moron?>, he asked himself. <Jeans and a sweatshirt?> He watched the way the water ran down his body and the way his muscles flexed when he picked up the towel and began to run it over his body. A really nice body, how JC noticed. Like himself Justin was a little bit on the skinny side, but his upper body was nice developed, and if he worked out some, he'd have some nice muscles soon. <Nothing you should think about, Chasez.> When Justin began to towel his hair, he backed away from the window and sat back on the bed. <You better watch it, idiot, or you will be caught>, he told himself and forced himself to concentrate on the book again.
Justin wrapped the towel around his waist, put his glasses on and went back to his room and to the bathroom. He made sure to lock both doors before he climbed out of this swimming trunks and took a nice, warm shower. Afterwards he dressed into a pair of light blue sweat pants and a white t-shirt and put the glasses back on, because his eyes were hurting lightly from the chlorine. A gaze into the mirror told him that it was useless to try to comb his hair; he really needed a haircut. So he just ran his fingers through the curls a few times to straighten them out a bit. He unlocked both doors again, went to his room to grab the portfolio with his drawings in it and went back into the bathroom to knock on the door that lead to JC's room.
JC heard the knock and jumped up from the bed. He knew that it could only be Justin; his father or Lynn would have knocked on the other door. He took a deep breath before he opened the door to let Justin in.
<Oh god, he is wearing glasses. How cute does that look. And his curls... I wonder what he'd say if I just ran my hands through it... no, that's wrong. Think of something else.>
"Hey, come in. Is that your drawings?" JC pointed to the portfolio.
"Um, yes." Justin answered.
"Is the new pic in there, too? The one of me, I mean? I'd love to see it now that it's finished. You've finished it, right?"
"Yes, it is in it, too" Justin nodded. JC smiled at him.
"Let's sit down on the bed. I'm eager to see what else you've painted."
Justin smiled back weakly and sat down on the bed beside JC, and for the next 30 minutes they looked through his drawings and discussed them. Justin was astonished about how much JC knew about art although he didn't study it, and he was happy that JC seemed to genuinely like his work. And when they finished looking at the pictures and JC asked him if he was ready to leave the house and drive into town, Justin went to his room to change his clothes and thought that for the first time since he arrived here he really felt home.
TBC... ****************************************************************** Feedback is very appreciated: Megan: jujuissecksi@hotmail.com
Dannii: raindrops79@hotmail.com