“Ok, what do we do first?” Lance asked.

“I suggest getting Mack her own room or she can share mine,” Justin replied as he dug around in his pockets for the number of Johnny’s hotel room. “She’ll get more done without JC lusting after her.”

“Wonder how long it’ll take before she gives in,” Chris muttered as he studied his nails.

“Wha?” Justin demanded. His head was tilted so he could keep the phone on his shoulder as he held the card in one hand and dialed Johnny’s room number with the other.

“Well…she’s a girl and JC’s the type of guy that she’s always been attracted to,” he said with an eye roll. Justin stared blankly at him. “What, wasn’t it that obvious to you? Sheesh, you call yourself her best friend.”

Justin’s lip twitched slightly. “Ok, Lance you get her out of there. I don’t care what lie you have to make up, just do it.” Lance nodded and rushed out of the room. “Joey, what kind of set are we doing to at MTV?”

“An acoustic set,” Joey replied.

“Ok, go with Lance and try and convince Mack to stay here. Say there’s no need for her to come and make sure we don’t make a mistake because it’s an acoustic set.” Joey nodded and followed Lance out of the room.

“What do you want me to do?” Chris asked eagerly.

“Stay here with me for now, then I’ll give you your assignment,” Justin replied, tapping his fingers against the desk as he waited for Johnny to pick up.

“I feel like we’re on a spy mission,” Chris said as Justin turned his back to him so he could pay more attention to the phone call. “Oooh! Will your message self destruct once you’re done giving it?” He asked eagerly once Justin put down the phone.

“You’ve been watching too much TV,” Justin said as he slowly shook his head. “For now we’re going to have to pretend that nothing is going on. This means that we can’t let Bobbie know that we know what she’s doing. So we’re just going to have to act normal.”

“So…we can still make fun of her and call her names?” Chris asked.

“Yes, we can still do that, meanwhile we have to keep an eye on her to get proof of her cheating before we bring it up to JC,” Justin continued as he pulled on his shoes. “So don’t mention anything to JC at all. What we can do is make Bobbie and Wade sweat a bit without confronting them.”

“I think I get it,” Chris said as he nodded slowly before he cackled. “The bitch is finally getting what she deserves.”

“And we’ll make sure she gets it in a big way,” Justin agreed. “Let’s go to the restaurant. I’m starving.”

“Finally you say something I do understand.”

Justin laughed and shoved Chris out of the door of his hotel room. The two walked with their heads together, thinking up ways to expose Bobbie once they got the truth out of her. They were so into their conversation that they didn’t notice JC had come out of his hotel room and ran after them down the hall. “Hey.”

“Aaaah!” Justin and Chris shouted, jumping apart and whirling around. They backed away from him, hands clutched over their chests.

“What the heck is your problem?” JC questioned. “I was yelling your names and chasing you down the damn hall. What’s so important that you didn’t hear me?”

“Well, you don’t talk that loud,” Chris stared lamely. “So you yelling would be the equivalent of a mouse’s squeak.”

“Ha ha,” JC laughed sarcastically and rolled his eyes. “Where are you two headed?”

Justin said “The Arcade” the same time Chris replied “The Restaurant”. The two looked at each other and replied again, this time switching their answers. “They have a few arcade games in the restaurant,” Justin quickly said with a little laugh. “I bet Chris ten dollars that he couldn’t beat my high score in pinball.”

“With his attention span you’re going to keep those ten dollars,” JC commented dryly. He smiled innocently when Chris gave him an offended look. JC casually shoved his hands into his pockets. “Hey, do you guys know why Mack was moved out of my room?” He asked nonchalantly.

“Uhhhh,” Chris and Justin stammered in unison.

“Because…” Chris looked over at Justin.

“I…asked her…to room with me,” Justin finished lamely.

“Why?” JC asked in confusion. “You said so yourself that she’d get more sleep if she roomed with me.”

“Right, but…” his eyes shifted as if he were searching the hall of his answer. “I didn’t…want Bobbie at your throat once she found out about the arrangements.” He chuckled as he subtly hit the down elevator button with his elbow. “I saved your life, man, be happy. You know how ballistic she can get.” He flinched slightly when he felt Chris elbow him in the side. “Speaking of which…what do you think she’d do if you cheated on her?”

JC blinked and knitted his eyebrows together in confusion. “Why?”

“Just curious,” Justin shrugged. “What about you? What’d you do if Bobbie was cheating on you?”

“I’d dump her. There’s no point in putting a lot of energy into a relationship that the other’s not willing to work on.” He squinted. “Why the sudden interest?”

“Curious,” Chris and Justin replied in unison before backing into the elevator and Chris slapped a button on the panel. “See you later.” They waved with over-the-top enthusiasm as the doors closed. They sighed and slumped against the back wall. “Geeze, you’d think JC grew up in the police force. How are we going to deal with his interrogations?”

“Just do what I do,” Justin replied.

“What’s that?”

“Ignore him.” The elevator doors opened up and revealed the lobby. The two stuck their heads out and looked around before stepping out completely. They were only a few paces out of the elevator when they saw Bobbie sitting in a chair in the lobby. She turned her head and smiled when she saw them. The smile made Justin want to kick her in the face for pretending to be all innocent. She stood and started walking in their direction, the smile never leaving her face. “She’s heading this way!”

“Retreat! Retreat!” Chris grabbed the back of Justin’s shirt and pulled him back into the elevator, hitting a random number. “Did you see that smile on her face? It makes me sick!”

“I want to punch her for doing this to C,” Justin agreed. “God, she’s making me feel guilty and we haven’t even done anything.” The elevator doors opened up on the second floor. “What the hell!?” He practically shouted but Chris covered his mouth in time and he pressed another button and the doors closed again. “What is this, hide-and-seek?” he demanded once Chris moved his hand.

“What if Bobbie knows that we know about what she knows?” Chris asked with wide eyes. “Then she’d keep being nice to us to make us more paranoid until we spill and come out looking like the bad guys. Oooh, she’s an evil genius.”

“If she were a genius she wouldn’t be making out in public!” Justin shot back. “And being a genius usually means you need a brain, which is what she lacks.” He took a deep breath. “We just have to play it cool.” The doors opened again. Chris looked up and started screaming as Justin rolled his eyes. “And apparently that’s easier said than done.”

“What’s his problem?” Joey asked as he and Lance moved into the elevator and pressed the L button.

“He’s paranoid that Bobbie knows that we know what she knows,” Justin replied. “So now he’s paranoid because it seemed like every floor we went on either she was there or JC was there and it was like we were playing hide-and-seek or something.”

“A scary game of hide-and-seek,” Chris corrected. “Anyway, did you do your jobs right?”

“Yup. Mack is now rooming with you, J. I called Britney about it and she says she’s fine with it because she knows you won’t do anything to hurt her,” Lance replied.

“And we convinced her to stay here and sleep since she hasn’t gotten any lately,” Joey continued. “What else can we do?”

“For today, nothing. Just watch Bobbie and Wade I guess,” Justin replied. “Oh, and put your video camera to use just in case you can get evidence.”

“Got it.”