Justin wasn’t the only one who noticed how JC and Mack were avoiding each other, but he was the only one who was willing to do something about it. Ever since Mack got back from the doctor late last night JC’s been staying out of her way and Mack just ignored him.

‘There must be something we can do. They can’t stay mad at each other forever,’ Justin mused as he leaned over to touch his toes. He and the rest of the guys were in the dance studio that was rented out and were stretching while they waited for Mack and Wade to arrive. He didn’t expect to do much; they never fully danced a routine until the second day. The first day was usually planning out what order the set list going to go in, warm up a bit with a few of their old songs, and then think of ideas for their new ones.

“Coffee’s here,” Mack said as she came into the dance studio. Her right arm was in a sling and her free hand has holding onto the tray of to-go coffee cups. JC winced noticeably as he leaned over to touch his toes. “Flat White,” she said as she held the cup out to Lance. “Carajillo for Joey.” She gave him his cup. “White Chocolate Mocha.” She gave Chris his. “Caramel Frappuccino.” Justin accepted his with a smile. “And…Mint Mocha Chip Frappuccino.”

JC didn’t look at her as he accepted his drink and took a sip. He then set the cup down, brought one leg over the other, and stretched in the opposite direction so his back was to her. Justin frowned and tried to think of something he could do.

“Mack, should we do partner stretches now?” He called across the room to her. She looked up from loading the boombox with CDs and nodded. “Be my partner?” he asked with what he hoped was a super sweet smile, the one that she couldn’t say no to. She nodded and walked over to where he was. As soon as she sat down he pressed his feet flat against hers, and held his hand out. She grasped it with her good hand and leaned back as he leaned forward. He lifted his head enough so he was looking at her and asked in a whisper, “Why aren’t you talking to C?”

“I don’t know if you haven’t noticed, but he dislocated my shoulder,” she replied.

“It was an accident.”

“He was drunk, that was no accident.”

“You know people can’t control themselves when they’re drunk.”

“It’s a lame excuse though. He could at least have the decency to apologize.”

“What if he’s afraid that you won’t accept his apology?”

“That’s his fault, not mine.”

Justin sighed and tired to think of another plan. When Mack had her mind set it was hard to change it and, obviously, she wasn’t going to get out of her sour mood until JC apologized. Currently, though, JC was afraid of her which amused and concerned Justin as the same time. JC’s been acting weird around her but his current attitude took the cake. He couldn’t put his finger on it. JC could usually stand up to her glares, insults, sarcasm, and name-calling but now it was as if he took every biting word that came out of her mouth personally.

Just as Justin was going to open his mouth to ask JC a question the door flew open again and Wade walked in, a backpack slung over his shoulder. “Hey guys,” he greeted them cheerfully, seemingly oblivious to the awkward rays that were radiating off of half of the people in the room.

“Hi Wade.” Justin and Mack were the only ones who replied to his greeting. JC just glanced at Wade before looking back out the window and Lance, Chris, and Joey merely nodded at him.

Wade’s smile dropped slightly as he looked around the room. “Did someone die?” He asked looking around the room.

“Nah, we’re just really tired this morning,” Justin replied, getting to his feet. “What we usually do on the first day of rehearsal we finalize the set list so we know what order the show is going to be in and we brush up on some of our old songs that we haven’t performed in a bit and then we start thinking about what we want to do for the new songs.”

“Sounds good to me,” Wade nodded and set his bag down. “What do you have so far?”

“Here.” Mack gave him the list of songs as the others crowded around the two dances in a semi-circle. “These songs have all ready been choreographed. It’s these songs that we need to choreograph in the next two weeks,” she said, pointing to each one.

JC sat quietly, listening to everyone talk and nodded every now and then, giving his opinion when it felt right. Usually he was the one speaking the most, worried about where to stick in a slower paced song so they could rest a bit or which songs would be better to perform back to back. This time he kept his mouth shut in case he exploded.

He was fuming inside. Not because he didn’t get the amount of sleep he wish he had, but because Wade was pushing his buttons without really doing anything. It was mainly the fact that he and Mack seemed to get along so fast, probably only because of the fact that they’re dancers, but still. It took JC months of knowing her to get her to let her guard down around him and yet here comes Dance Boy and they’re acting like best friends.

“C!” JC blinked and looked up at Justin who was standing over him with a half smile on his face. He looked around and saw that the room was deserted besides those two. “You were in Josh Land again, I guess. What’s on your mind this time?”

JC hesitated as he slowly got to his feet. Should he tell Justin about his predicament? He’s never kept anything from Justin before but he didn’t want to wreck their friendship either. Justin was very protective of Mack and he knew if he made one small mistake their friendship would be over in an instant. “I was thinking about my relationship with Bobbie,” JC said slowly as he walked over to his bag and picked it up, slinging it over his shoulder.

“What about it?” Justin asked, pulling his bandana off of his head and running a hand through his curls.

“I love being with Bobbie. She’s nice and sweet and can be a very carrying person. Yet, there are times when she gets on my nerves and all she does is insult you guys,” JC continued. “And…um…I met this girl. She’s loud and outgoing and speaks her mind but I like that about her. She doesn’t let anyone push her over and she can be very caring and sweet and she puts others before herself and I’m having trouble…” he let his voice trail of hoping to God that Justin didn’t figure out that he was talking about Justin’s best friend.

“That’s an easy one, pick the new girl,” Justin replied. “I know you may think that it’s only because I hate Bobbie, but that’s not it at all. You said so yourself that she gets on your nerves and she makes fun of us and anyone you date would have to eventually deal with us. If Bobbie can’t do it, she’s not worth it. Plus, she’s spending your money as if there’s an endless supply. Dump her ass and move onto the new girl.”

JC couldn’t stop the smile that came onto his face. Justin practically gave him his blessing, not that Justin really knew who he was talking about, but it was close enough, right?