May 12th 2000

What’s shakin’?

We’re in Memphis today and Justin’s really excited. He couldn’t go to sleep last night so Chris and I had to threaten to sedate him to get to bed. I don’t blame him, I’ve always wanted to see what Memphis was like and now he offered to show me around the place.

But that’s not the best part. Tonight he’s graduating from high school! Yeah, it’s all planned that his mother and a few of his tutors are going to give him a graduation ceremony during the show tonight. Isn’t that sick or what? But don’t tell Justin, Diary, or else the surprise will be ruined.

Man, I can’t wait to see his face!

Later,

Juliette ‘I-could-really-use-some-coffee-about-now’ Covington

JC turned his head to look out the window. Trees and highway mile markers flashed past his view as they drove down the long stretch of highway. He prayed that they were closer to Memphis than he felt. Having to deal with Justin talking about the place for hours on end would wear any normal person out. He was more surprised that Justin wasn’t complaining about his hair like he was before.

Shocked was an understatement to describe the guys’ reactions once they saw Justin’s new hairdo. JC has sported some bad ones from time to time, he was willing to admit, but this one took that cake. Justin liked it at first because it kept his hair out of his face. JC was surprised at how well Juliette did but after a few hours they found out that she did too good a job as he was complaining about his head throbbing in time with his heartbeat.

Apparently the excitement of being home was enough to numb the pain because he was in a cheery mood that morning, and it was before his cereal had been eaten. Usually no one dared to look at Justin before he got the sugary breakfast down his throat in fear of being jumped on. It was amazing how the word ‘home’ changed their demeanors.

JC’s attention shifted from the window to the woman who was sitting at the ‘kitchen’ table. Her hair was piled high on top of her head in a reminiscent Pineapple style that Chris used to sport, a plain blue t-shirt and dark jeans. Thin wire-framed black glasses perched on her nose and every now and then a pink bubble would push out past her lips before exploding.

JC tilted his head slightly as he studied her. Juliette’s been on tour with them for a bit now and he still hasn’t said more than seven words to her. Not that he was shy or was trying to avoid her or anything but he didn’t have much to say to her. He said hi every morning, being polite as always or his mother would have his head if she heard about it.

It’s just…she was different, but in a good way. He didn’t know how to start talking to her and that’s the first time in his life he’s ever been tongue-tied. She isn’t as quiet or demanding of attention as Riley is…

“Skittles, it still hurts!” Justin whined, his fingers digging at the braids in his hair.

JC lifted an eyebrow at that. Since when did Justin know her well enough to give her a nickname all ready?

Juliette put down the magazine she was looking at and grinned at him across the table. “It’ll hurt like that for a bit. I had to make the braids tight to make sure they stayed in longer. Just take a few aspirins every few hours and you’ll be fine.”

“You think Momma’s going to hate it?” He questioned.

“She’s your mother, I’m sure she’ll support any look you try.”

“Hey, you didn’t answer the question!”

Juliette stuck out her tongue, the silver ball in the middle exposing itself. She then blinked and pulled her phone out of her pocket, and brought it up to her ear. “Hey hey!” She said cheerfully into the phone. “What’s up, bitch?”

“You didn’t answer my question!” Justin reminded her, poking her in the shoulder repeated. She merely smiled and swatted his hand away, making him try harder. JC’s eyebrow crinkled. Justin was acting like a little kid starving for attention. He wasn’t like that with Riley when she first joined them.

“We’re on our way to Memphis,” Juliette continued into the phone. “What?” She snatched out her hand and grabbed Justin’s finger, using one of hers to push down on his finger at the knuckle. Justin’s eyes widened and his face contorted into a silent scream of pain. “Yes. Why, what do you want?” Juliette’s eyes widened behind her frames. “Geeze, Spence, you’re married for God’s sakes! I’m sure he’d be happy if you bought it yourself!” JC looked over at Justin who stopped mimicking being hurt and the two exchanged a confused look but Justin’s eyes held a bit of curiosity. Hearing Juliette’s end of the conversation was interesting to say the least. “God, you’re such a buttnugget!” Justin laughed out loud. “Ok, I’m going now. Leave me alone.” She jabbed the END button on her phone and let out a long sigh.

“Who was that?” JC asked. Juliette lifted her eyes to look at him and she tilted her head slightly, like a curious dog wondering if he were actually talking to her. He smiled a little and she immediately lit up, causing him to chuckle at her reaction.

“That was one of my sisters, Spencer,” Juliette replied.

“One of? How many do you have?” Justin asked.

“Four, all older than me. There’s the grandma, Isabella, and then the librarian, Charlie, the angel, Samantha, and the crazy, Spencer,” Juliette replied, counting off on her fingers. It was then that JC noticed that she had a ring on every finger—except for her thumb—each one a different colored stone. “I mean, they’re all crazy but in different ways. I’m surprised Mom didn’t throw us out with how much we drove her crazy.” Then she threw her head back and laughed as if she had just made a joke. Justin smiled whereas JC shook his head. Then his vision was blocked by long dark hair before he felt a searing kiss being placed on his mouth.

“How’d you sleep, Baby?” A sleepy voice purred in his ear.

“Like JC,” Justin supplied for him as Bobbie curled up on JC’s side, looping her arm through his. “Didn’t you hear him snore like a fucking bear?”

“Huh, I thought that was Joey,” Juliette commented, tapping her chin.

“If you hear farts, that’s Joey,” Justin corrected her and then the two laughed as if they were little kids.

JC almost jumped when he felt Bobbie’s nails dig into his arms slightly. He looked at her, pressed a kiss on her forehead, and then looked in her eyes. She widened hers slightly and tilted her head in Juliette’s direction. “Oh, sorry. Juliette, this is my girlfriend Bobbie, Bobbie, our costume designer Juliette.”

“Nice to meetcha,” Juliette said as she leaned across the aisle and stuck her hand under Bobbie’s nose.

“You too,” Bobbie said politely, shaking her hand. “That’s an interesting hair do,” she added.

“Nah, you should’ve seen it when it was pink,” Juliette said with a wave of her hand. “Now that’s a do.” She looked at her watch. “Geeze, are they still asleep?”

“They were out partying late last night,” JC explained as Riley emerged from the bunks looking put-together as usual. “Which someone was supposed to stop them from doing,” he added, looking pointedly in her direction.

Riley sat down next to Justin and crossed a leg over the other. “Hey, my job is to get you guys anything whenever you need it, not to babysit. They’ll learn that it was a bad idea soon enough.” Then she added wagging a finger in his face, “And you need to stop being uptight. It’ll give you knots and you’re not pleasant when you have knots.”

“Ooh, Daddy C got scolded,” Justin said in a teasing voice. Juliette laughed. Justin was nineteen but he was still a kid, after all. She wondered how he hadn’t gone crazy living this crazy life and not wanting it all to slow down or stop. She had to hand it to him, he had great dedication and he really enjoyed what he was doing.  “Hey, how much longer?” Justin yelled to the driver.

“About an hour,” the driver replied with a grin. Justin’s happiness was obviously catching.

“Great!” Justin cheered then turned to Juliette. “You’ll love Memphis, Skittles, I’m sure of it.”

“Yes, but I don’t think they’d want to own you after seeing what you’re wearing,” Juliette teased, pointing at the blue tie-dyed shirt he was sporting. “Hell, I wouldn’t want to be seen with you.”

“Do you want to approve whatever I pick?” Justin asked.

“Mhm. And that’s a new rule, none of you are getting off this bus without a Skittles Seal of Approval,” Juliette added, following Justin to the bunk area.

“Well, they’re close,” Bobbie noted.

JC nodded. “He’s practically been up her butt since they met. I think he has a crush.”

“That’s cute.”

“It’s just ‘cause she’s new. He went through the same with Riley a few years ago, granted they are closer in age.”

“So…how long is she going to be around?” Bobbie asked, sliding her hand into his and giving it a squeeze.

JC groaned. Not this again. “Babe—“

“I’m just asking a question, Josh,” Bobbie interrupted him, her eyebrows knitting together. “You don’t need to use that tone.”

What tone? JC wanted to ask but he kept his mouth shut. “She’s our costume designer.”

“So? The costumes are all ready finished.”

“She needs to be around in case she has to fix something or make alterations. She’s the only one on the tour who knows how.”

Bobbie glared. “So how close to you does she get?”

“Not as close as I like getting to you,” JC replied, giving her a kiss. “Relax. There’s nothing to worry about. Justin will be with her all day showing her and the guys around so it’ll be just you and me until soundcheck.”

“Will she be there?”

“Babe—“

“I just want to spend as much time with you as possible. I’m not here long,” Bobbie whined, sticking out her bottom lip. She leaned forward and pressed her nose against his neck. “Please don’t be mad at me.”

JC sighed. “I’m not mad at you. I could never be mad at you.”

She grinned. “Good.”

“Are they always that sickening together?” Juliette commented from where she was leaning against the bunks.

“Unfortunately,” Justin replied, tugging off the shirt he was wearing. “But don’t worry; I know a bunch of ways to get the point across.”

“I think you have too much time on your hands,” Juliette muttered, glancing at him. She did a double take. Her eyes drifted down his perfectly sculpted chest to his Greek-God-envying abs. She could just hear her sisters chanting all ready.

Cradle robber. Cradle robber. Cradle robber.

“But what if it’s a cute cradle?” She whined.

“…What?” Justin asked,

“Nothing!”

“This is where you went to school?” Juliette asked, looking around the halls of the elementary school. Pictures drawn by students of friends, animals, weather, and the school were plastered on every wall within sight. Brightly colored flyers inviting the kids to a Field Day or a Family Movie night were begging to grab people’s attention.

She couldn’t imagine a little Justin running around the halls, laughing with friends and going to classes. She couldn’t imagine that it was the place that he and Trace reenacted NKOTB (she heard some things). It didn’t sight right with her at all.

“Yup,” Justin said proudly, adjusting the dark bandana that wrapped around the base of his cornrows. His long heavy footsteps harmonized with her quick, light ones, she couldn’t help but notice. Like a little concert for two with their feet. “Good ol’ E.E. Jeter Elementary.” He suddenly stopped in his tracks and squinted at a row of hooks and backpacks. He crouched and slowly moved to the side. “Ah ha!” He jabbed his finger at a hook and looked at Juliette in excitement. “This was my hook when I was in fourth grade.”

Juliette covered her giggle. Seeing him so excited to be back in his school was cute. Very cute. Now was the rare moment she hated her job and sticking by her Golden Rule. She wasn’t sure she’d be able to stop herself from jumping him in that hallway from that excited comment alone. Why was a kid having such an effect on her?

She was aware of his ways of getting her attention, and it worked he was great fun to be around.

Suddenly a door in the hallway opened. Juliette turned around as Justin rose to his full height. Then his eyes lit up and he rushed over to give the woman a hug. Juliette’s eyes narrowed and she crossed her arms over her chest. Who does she think she is hugging MY Justin like that? Then she mentally kicked herself. He was attached to her, not the other way around.  She may idolize him and his group but that was for personal reasons, not hormonal.

“Skittles, c’mere. This is Mrs. Cartwright, she was my music teacher here,” Justin explained, his blue eyes shining.

Juliette’s cheeks gained a red hue as her stomach dropped. She suddenly felt like an idiot, being over protective of a guy like that. A guy she hardly knew. She could hear her sisters laughing in her head at mentally pouncing on the woman. She should’ve known there was nothing going on there. But it was Justin…

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” she said as she shook the woman’s hand. For a gentle looking woman she had a strong grip. “So I guess you’re the reason behind Justin’s talent,” Juliette commented once she dropped her hand from the handshake.

Mrs. Cartwright laughed. “I barely had to do anything to get Justin as talented as he is now. That was all natural. It just so happens that my music class was the only one he paid attention in. He was the biggest ball of energy while attending E. E. Jeter.” Justin blushed at her words. Juliette reached over and pinched his cheek, grinning. “What brings you here? You didn’t come just to see little ol’ me, right?”

Justin scoffed. “Who’re you calling old? I see nothing but beauty here.” Then he flashed her his should-be-patented Timberlake Smile. No one could resist it.

“Justin, stop,” Mrs. Cartwright laughed as her cheeks flushed. “Your tour is in town, right?” She put a hand on her cheek and shook her head. “I can’t believe how far you’ve come.”

“Thank you Mrs. Cartwright, I really appreciate it,” Justin said. Juliette could feel to her core that those words were genuine. She put a hand to her chest and slowly shook her head. She hardly knew the kid but she felt so proud of him. “The reason I came was because I heard that the music program was in trouble.”

“Yes, I’m afraid so. We’re suffering from some budget cuts and they felt like the music program and the art program were to be cut.” Mrs. Cartwright sadly shook her head and looked into the classroom which was filled with shiny brass instruments, a few dingy string instruments, and a large piano.

Juliette hated seeing the crushed look in Justin’s eyes. She could feel her own heart hurting. She brought a hand up to her chest and starting rubbing near her collar bone, as if that would help the pain go away. She knew it wouldn’t help.

It never did.

“I want to help,” Justin said softly. “My mom and I…we started this foundation…the Justin Timberlake Foundation…” he suddenly looked shy while announcing the name, “it’s for music programs, such as this, that are being cut. We want to save them and we want to start here. We want to donate ten thousand dollars to E. E. Jeter’s music program.”

Tears collected in the corners of Mrs. Cartwright’s eyes. “Oh, Justin…”

“You don’t have to say anything.” Justin smiled as she placed a hand over her heart. “I’d do anything for this school.” He took a look around the halls and smiled fondly. Juliette could practically see the sadness in his eyes as he took everything in. It must be hard for him to be back in school. It must’ve been the first time in a while he stepped foot in any sort of school.

Juliette blinked and was surprised when she felt tears fall down her cheeks as well. She knew there was a reason she liked these guys. She hastily wiped at her eyes as Mrs. Cartwright pulled Justin into a hug and thanked him repeatedly. The ache in Juliette’s chest got a little bit sharper but she ignored it.

It was a happy ache.

“You’re an angel,” Mrs. Cartwright told him.

He shrugged modestly. “I have to give back. Thank you for giving me your time, Mrs. Cartwright.”

“Anytime, Justin. You’re welcome back anytime.”

Suddenly Justin started rocking back and forth on his feet. “So…does that mean I can…?”

Mrs. Cartwright laughed. “Go ahead; you know where you left it.”

“Sweet! C’mon Skittles, let’s go!”

“Go where?”

But Justin was all ready taking off down the hall. Juliette groaned and followed him. She could all ready hear Riley’s scolding voice in the back of her head demanding why she let Justin walk all over her. But…he was just so damn cute.

Finally Justin pushed the handle to a door and they stepped into a large gym. Juliette’s nose was immediately met with the stale smell of sneakers, rubber, and dust. Justin grabbed a basketball off of the rack and bounced it on the ground, the sound echoing in the large, empty area. “Do you play?” He asked her eagerly.

She shook her head. “Sorry.”

“Bummer.” But he didn’t sound too bummed. He walked across the court, bouncing the ball every now and then. Then he started moving around swiftly, faking, ducking, and sprinting as if he were playing an actual game. There was a fire in his eyes that she’s only seen on the stage.

Huh, maybe there’s more to these guys than I thought.

Juliette loved being around the boys. They were funny and very entertaining at times. But when they weren’t, Juliette wanted to pull her hair out. She didn’t know if it was because all they had to do was look at her and she was sold or if it was because they knew what they were doing.

“Lance!” She called, spinning his ‘No Strings’ hat on her finger. She strained to hear him coming down the hall but there was no sound at all. “Lance!” She called louder. She was about to yell again when he finally came in through the doors of the Toy Room. “What is this?” She demanded, shoving the hat into his hands.

He turned his green eyes to her in confusion, turning the hat around in his hands. “My…hat?” He replied slowly.

Smart ass. Juliette let out a little breath. “I realize it’s your hat but what is this?” She demanded, tugging at the band that was on the bottom of the hat. She held it close to his face so he could study where the little threads were straining with every pull. It was close enough for her to see every inch of his beautiful forest green eyes. She blinked and took in a deep breath.

Golden Rule. Golden Rule. Golden Rule.

“A…tear?”

“Exactly! And why, pray tell, didn’t you tell me that this was tearing?” Juliette demanded. “Do you realize what could’ve happened, James? Do you?” She clenched the hat in her hands and started on one of her famous ‘rampages’. “You’d go through your little marionette opening number perfectly fine, like always. Then BAM!” Lance jumped at her emphasis. “Your hat goes flying. You can’t stop the show in the middle to go get it. It hits Chris, blinding him for a few seconds. He misses a step, runs into Joey. Joey loses his balance and crashes into JC. JC hits Justin who’s sent flying into the crowd and he’s torn limb from limb by the hormone crazed teenies all because you never told me that strap to your hat is broken. Isthatwhwatyouwant?”

Lance’s eyebrows were raised so high at this point they almost disappeared into his hair. Juliette was quirky; he could tell that from the first few days of knowing her. She was the one who likes to read upside-down and eat her Trix cereal one colored puff at a time. But he didn’t peg her as being one who would overreact over something so little.

“Um, don’t you think you’re jumping to conclusions a bit?” He asked, watching as her shoulders heaved and her face slowly backing off from the red hue it acquired before. She closed her eyes and sucked in air. As she let it out she held her hand in front of her face and then closed her hand as she let it out. She dropped her hand and closed her eyes.

“Lance, you take your job seriously, right?” She asked, smiling brightly at him. He nodded. “And I take my job very seriously. You see, James, fashion is my life. I eat, sleep, breath clothes and fabrics and thread. When I see that my handiwork is failing, I need to know so I can make it better. Clothes are like my children.” She offered a smile and said softly, “Just let me know next time, ok?”

Lance nodded and smiled in return. “Of course. And I wanted to thank you.”

“For what?”

“For doing this. You kind of jumped on this crazy train at the last minute and I can’t thank you enough for doing this for us.”

Holy schnikies, that smile… “It’s no problem. Really. I love doing this.”

“I can tell, it seems like you always have your hands on a sewing needle and thread.”

“Mom always jokes I was born with them in my hand. Kinda like—“

“John Henry,” they said at the same time. Juliette smiled and tucked her hair behind her ear.

“How long have you been into fashion?” He asked as she took out a needled and thread. She held the needle and thread close to her eye to make sure the thread went in perfectly before responding.

“Since I was four. I remembered looking in magazines and saying ‘I’m going to do that someday’.” Juliette chuckled and pulled the thread. “Mom thought I meant being a model. She went ballistic.” At the questioning look on Lance’s face she supplied, “She thought being a model was bad news. You don’t eat, you don’t sleep, basically you sign your life away. I meant the designing part, taking scraps of different things and turning it into something else. I loved that part, the creative freedom. No one could tell you no. No one could say it was right or wrong. No rules.”

“I never thought of it that way,” Lance commented. Juliette let a smile tug at the corner of her mouth.

She suddenly put the needle down, tugged at the strap, leaned forward and placed the hat on Lance’s head. She then kissed her finger tips. “Magnifique!” She cheered then looked at her watch. “You should get going, Popstar. You have teenies—I mean fans to please.”

“Thank you again,” Lance called over his shoulder as he walked away.

Juliette rubbed her chest as the ache returned. All of a sudden an arm was looped with hers and she was yanked down the hallway at high speed. “Whoa, Riles, where’s the fire?” Juliette asked, following her.

“You’re not missing this show. You’re going to watch it this time,” she replied. “I don’t care what excuse you have. This is a special night for Justin and he’d want you to see it.”

Juliette’s ears picked up the last few words. “What do you mean by that?”

Riley rolled her eyes. “Don’t start dissecting my words. You’re twenty-one! Get over him!”

“I’m not even under him!”

But Riley ended up being right. From the time the lights went down to the time the pyro and smoke went off at the end of the concert Juliette’s eyes were glued to the stage. She watched every crowd-pleasing move with wide eyes, trying to take everything in. She sang along with every song, feeling like they were singing to her which she suspected every other girl in the audience was imagining. She and Riley went nuts, calling out random things to the boys while they were doing their costume changes that they were sure died in the crowd of hungry little girls.

Juliette almost found herself falling out of their position in the box as she watched Justin’s graduation moment on the large screen. The shock on his face was magnified about ten times and it struck Juliette right in the heart. The kid has worked so hard to reach where he was and she was sure that day would be the best one of his life, especially since his mother was there.

Juliette talked to Lynn before the concert and she was a sweet woman like she expected all along. Lynn practically burst into tears every time she talked about Justin and his accomplishments in his young life. It was obvious she was very proud of her son.

And she had every reason to be. Justin’s moves onstage were electrifying, he was hitting every move hard, with JC’s precision and intensity but with Justin’s own flair. They were all hitting their marks that night, more so than ever and Juliette was more than impressed.

She was blown away.

As soon as they hit their final ‘Bye Bye Bye’s Riley and Juliette rushed back to the backstage area to congratulate the boys on a job well done. They were bouncing off the walls whooping and hollering, laughing with each other about their mistakes and goofs.

“—And Lance almost forgot to get off his stand at the end of ‘God Must Have Spent’—“

“—but JC almost missed his cue on Bye Bye Bye—“

“—that was not as bad as Joey’s near-face plant!”

“Blame Chris for that one.”

“So how’s it feel, Mr. Graduate?” Riley asked as Justin wiped sweat off of his face. She let out a shriek when he wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up, and spun her around.

“It feels great!” Justin replied.

“And what are you going to do next?” Juliette dropped her voice, held an imaginary microphone to his mouth, and put her free hand to her ear.

“I’m going to Disney World!” He cheered.

“How about a club instead?” Joey offered. He turned to the others and got nods of agreement, Juliette included. It was about time she was able to let her hair down and have some non-committed fun. He then turned to Justin whose face immediately took on a sour tone as if waiting to be told he was too young to go. “I think the graduate deserves it.”

Justin’s lips parted slightly and then he grinned. “Aw, yeah, I totally do!”

“Great, now I can show you how I really move,” Joey directed towards Juliette, a mischievous gleam in his big brown eyes.

Lord, help me.