JC tapped his fingers on the arm rest of the couch as he glanced back at the clock for the fifth time that minute. He knew as soon as he made that call that he was making a mistake. He couldn’t do anything about it now.

“What’re we waiting for? Come on! I need to get on the dance floor!” Joey whined from the chair across the room.

“We’re waiting for JC’s friend,” Lance replied.

“Why can’t they just meet us there?”

‘Way to make me feel guiltier, Joe.’ JC merely chuckled at Joey’s childishness.

“Chill, Joe. I’m sure the club will still be filled with hot chicks,” Chris said with an eye roll. “You shouldn’t even be this into it anyway. You have Kelly, remember?”

“Kelly knows what I’m up to. She knows it’s just for fun.” Joey stuck his tongue out at Chris and Chris responded with the same gesture. “Anyway, it’s not like I’m cheating on her.”

“Oh yeah? What’s your definition of cheating?” Lance questioned, joining the conversation with curiosity on his voice.

“Easy, fucking another girl when you’re all ready committed with someone else,” Joey replied.

“What about kissing?”

“That too.”

“What if it’s only in your mind?” JC spoke up, instantly earning everyone’s attention. “What if you’re committed to one person and you’re with them. In the moment you end up thinking about someone else. Is that cheating?” Silence fell over the group as they sat and thought about the situation. “It’s just a question, don’t blow a blood vessel,” he said with a laugh. He practically had to force himself to laugh because he knew in the next few minutes the only thing he’d want to do is pull his hair out.

“Hey guys. If it’s all right with you we’re going to meet up with Wade at the club,” Justin said as he came into the room, tying a bandana over his curly hair. “He said he’d rather meet us when we’re more comfortable first.”

“That’s all right with me if we could actually leave,” Joey said as he gazed pointedly at JC who sunk in his seat.

The doorbell rang and JC jumped up to get the door. He was at least three paces away from the door when Mack seemed to come out of nowhere and beat him to it. Before he could even utter a sound she twisted the knob and opened the door.

“Oh. Hi Bobbie,” Mack said with a forced smile directed towards the brunette on the porch.

“Hi,” she replied in a dismissive tone, pushing past her and walking straight up to JC. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him hard, pressing her body against his. “I missed you, baby. Let’s not fight anymore, ok?” She whispered, lightly trailing her finger down his lips.

“Let’s not make me gag anymore, ok?” Mack mocked Bobbie with an overly sweet innocent smile. Bobbie glared and let her eyes size Mack up.

“You know, if you had natural hair, shaved every once in a while, wore cute clothes, and acted your gender you’d probably have a girlfriend,” Bobbie told her with an ‘innocent’ smile.

“And if you got rid of those implants you call real, get rid of your Botox, and deflate that ass, you’d probably look normal!” Mack shot back, the fake smile never leaving her face as she gripped the doorknob so hard her knuckles turned white.

“Joshua,” Bobbie whined, looking up at JC.

“Joshua,” Mack mimicked before dropping her smile and rolling her eyes. “What are you, five?”

“No, that’s your IQ.”

“Where’d you get that one? Out of your butt? I’m surprised anything else fits in there with your head being permanently shoved up it.”

JC stared, helplessly, as the two girls slowly got closer and closer to each other until they were almost nose to nose. Well, as close as they could get with Bobbie practically towering over her. On one side JC didn’t want to have to deal with them trying to rip each other’s hair out. On the other the thought of them fighting was hot and it turned him on so he didn’t do anything.

“Yeah? Well–” Bobbie started.

“Careful now, don't let your brains go to your head!” Mack interrupted.

“Enough, you two,” Lance said as he came into the foyer. “If you can’t have a civilized conversation then I’d appreciate it if you two didn’t speak to each other at all.”

“My pleasure.”

“Anyway, if you’re ready to go we need to designate who’s going with whom in what car.” Almost as soon as the words left his mouth Bobbie latched herself onto JC’s arm. He forced himself to smile at her while in his mind he was saying ‘Don’t leave me with this clingy psycho!’

“I can take two more people in my Jeep,” JC spoke up.

“Joshua, don’t you want to be together? Alone?” Bobbie asked with wide eyes. JC laughed nervously as he fought the urge to pry her off of his arm.

“To save the bloodshed we’ll take the van,” Lance concluded. “We have to get Justin’s shoe from Little J.” Just then the white Maltese trotted into the foyer, Justin’s mentioned shoe in his mouth. His tail was wagging happily as he looked up at the group with big blue eyes.

“Bad dog! Drop it!” Mack dropped to her knees and grabbed onto the shoe. Little J, thinking that she was playing, tried to pull the shoe out of her grasp. “Drop it! Let go of J’s shoe! Now!” Little J held on tighter and jerked his head this way and that to try and keep the shoe in his jaw. “Little J! Mettez la chaussure vers le bas maintenant!” Little J looked up at her with his big eyes and dropped the shoe. He hesitantly walked over to her and lightly licked the back of her hand. She smiled and scratched behind his ears. “Good boy. J, we got your shoe!”

Justin rushed into the foyer and grabbed the shoe off of the floor before sliding it onto his feet. “All right. Now we can go to the club.”

“About time!” Joey shouted before darting out the front door.

~*~*~*~

The pounding bass beats of the loud music in the club matched the headache that JC got as soon as he stepped foot in the club with Bobbie on his arm. She had dragged him onto the dance floor and forced him to dance with her. Not that he could really complain about grinding against her, he really needed to relieve his ache. It’s that she wouldn’t let him go anywhere without having to know where he was going or without having an excuse to go with him.

He was finally able to shake her when she had to go to the restroom to ‘freshen-up’. He ordered a drink from the bar and surveyed the crowd from his stool. He had taken a sip from his beer when a sight made him spit it back out. ‘What the hell?’ His eyes stayed glued on Justin and Mack who were––to JC’s shock––grinding on the dance floor.

JC didn’t know whether or not he should be angry or confused. Justin always said that he thought of her as a sister, that he’s known her for too long to think of her as anything else. Justin also said that they were good friends and that was it. Something about the way his so-called best friend was holding her, moving with her, and smiling at her made him sick to his stomach and want to punch his so-called best friend in the face.

Suddenly hands blocked his vision. He didn’t even need to guess to know who it was. He pulled Bobbie’s hands away and looked up at her smiling face. “Joshua, what’s with the stony face?” She asked, sitting on the stool opposite him. He just shrugged and a sly grin formed on her face. “I can take care of that,” she declared, grabbing his hand and pulling him off of his stool.

He sighed and allowed her to pull him through the moving crowd, closer to the dark secluded area of the club. As she pulled him away from the moving bodies he couldn’t help but compare how she held his hand to the rare moments that Mack held it: Bobbie’s were always cold and stiff. Mack’s were always warm and soft…and a perfect fit.

As Bobbie pushed him back against the wall and dropped to her knees JC’s thoughts went back to the question he had asked the other guys. It had seemed innocent but he really wanted an answer. He didn’t want to be labeled as a cheater, that wasn’t who he was. When they weren’t fighting she was very sweet and was fun to be with but…she wasn’t her.

~*~*~*~

“C’mon. Just one more dance,” Justin begged as he held onto her hands. His eyes were dancing happily and a smile was on his face.

“Dance all you want, but my feet are killing me,” Mack had to shout so she could be heard. “I’m going to get something to drink.”

He nodded and went in search for another dance partner as she moved her way through the crowd to get to the bar. She sat down and let out a breath, trying to ignore how her throbbing feet seemed to throb in time with the bass beats.

“Can I buy you something?” An annoyed look instantly flashed across her features. Not that she wasn’t flattered when she got hit on, but the people who offer to buy her something were usually older perverts and she didn’t have any energy to waste on them. She whirled around on her seat; ready to mouth off to whoever it was who spoke to her when her voice faltered. “You were dancing a lot; I noticed when you came in. You look thirsty,” he continued.

“I am,” she replied, nodding. She blinked and blinked again. It was as if the picture had come to life.

“I think I’ve seen you somewhere before,” he continued waving down the person behind the counter. “This might sound weird, but were you around backstage before the VMA’s last year?”

“Yes, I was with some friends,” she replied. Suddenly it clicked in her mind. “Wait. Wade?” He raised his eyebrows. “Now I know why the name sounds familiar. You choreographed Britney’s and *Nsync’s show for the VMAs.” She finally noticed the slightly confused look on his face. “I’m Mack Desrosiers, friend to Justin Timberlake and *Nsync’s choreographer.”

“Ohh, that’s right. That’s why you look familiar,” Wade said with a smile as he held out his hand. She accepted it and shook it. “Johnny’s been talking about you quite a bit,” he continued, a small smile on his face.

“Like what?” She asked, squinting.

“Just that I shouldn’t cross your path, unless I want my ass kicked,” he replied with a shrug. A sly smile came onto his face. “Although, I don’t see how that’s a threat.”

Mack struggled to find a comeback, after all she was the Queen of Comebacks, but any good one escaped her. She thanked God when JC came over and dropped down on a stool on her other side. “Where have you been?” She asked him.

“Nowhere,” he replied, his voice slightly hoarse.

She squinted and studied his face for any signs of lipstick marks but his face was clean. The only thing that was strange was that his eyes were dilated; it was kind of dark in the club but not dark enough for his eyes to dilate. ‘Unless…’ She turned in her seat and searched the crowd, her eyes finally rested on Bobbie who was coming out of the bathroom, absentmindedly running a finger around the edge of her mouth, as if searching for a lipstick stain. ‘Gag me!’ She fought down the urge to puke and turned back to Wade. “You remember JC?” She asked, pointing at him.

He nodded. “Nice to see you again, man.” JC looked at him in confusion. “We met last year, VMA rehearsals.”

“Oh.” JC paused for a few seconds. “Oh. You’re the same guy?”

“Apparently,” Wade replied with a smile before checking his watch. “I gotta split; it was nice seeing you guys again. I can’t wait to work with you tomorrow.” His sentence was for both of them but it seemed to be directed towards her. With a small wave he turned and made his way towards the exit.

The feeling of nausea must be contagious because JC suddenly wanted to gag. ‘Who does he think he is, openly flirting with her like that?’ He shook his head and downed the beer that was in the shot glass in front of him.

“Whoa, Jace, you better pace yourself. Don’t forget you’re the one who’s driving,” Mack commented, eyeing him. She placed her hand on his shoulder and an electric shock surge through his body. “Give me the keys.” She held out her free hand and wiggled her fingers. He sighed in defeat and pulled out his keys, slapping them into her palm, making sure to ‘accidentally’ brush her fingers as he pulled his hand away. “Come find me when you’re ready to go and take it easy on those.”

“Yes Mom.” He watched her––more like her ass––move through the crowd before she disappeared. He then waved the bartender over to fill his shot glass again. “I’ll just keep going until this feeling goes away,” he convinced himself, taking another shot.