Chapter 14

Trace, rushed out the side entrance of the hotel that he’d seen Zoë go out a few yards a head of him.  “Zoë, hold up!  Wait on me!” he, yelled to her.

Zoë, turned around a bit surprised to see Trace, of all people following her.  “What do you want?”

“I’m gonna go with you?  I’m not up for going to the rehearsals either.  There’s nothing there for me to do either.  So if you don’t mind I’d like to tag along with you.” he, smiled.

“Whatever!  You think I’m stupid don’t you.  They sent you after me!” she, scoffed and turned and began walking down the alley that led to the main street.

“They didn’t send me after you.  I came on my own, after telling them I didn’t want to go to rehearsals either.  I’m not here to play bodyguard.  Come on girl, look at me!  How good of a bodyguard would I actually be?” he, laughed.

Zoë, stopped and looked at him.  Trace, wasn’t real tall, and he wasn’t real bulky either.  He had a point there, and she couldn’t help but laugh a little at what he was pointing out to her.  “Fine, whatever.  I guess it’s better than wandering the city alone.”

“Oh don’t sound so happy to have my company.” he, said playfully punching her in her arm.

“I’m sorry, I should not be snapping at you.  I just get so sick and tired of Josh treating me like a little kid.  I know he only does it because he cares and he worries about me, but it gets old after a while.  I’m not a little girl.  And I can take care of myself, despite what he thinks.  I made it this many years without him there to play Mr. Protector.”

“I know he does get carried away.  I’ve noticed that too.  But you just gotta try to remember it all comes from a good place.  He doesn’t do it to upset you.  He’s just looking out for you.  I wish I had someone to look out for me the way he looks out for you.” Trace, told her.

“Justin, looks out for you.”

“That’s different.  Justin’s my boy.  It’s different with you and JC.  I’m not a girl.  Justin, knows I can handle myself.  JC, looks after you because he’s afraid someone will hurt you.  You’re a female, which automatically triggers the male ego into thinking you need to be protected.  It’s a guy thing!”  he, laughed.

“I guess.  But that doesn’t make it any less annoying!”

“Maybe not, but at least you know you’ve got someone that cares!  A lot of people don’t have that!  So just be happy, and deal with it.”

“OK, OK!” she, laughed.  “Wow, the last person I ever expected to get a lecture from was you!”

“Well, what can I say.  I’m full of surprises.” he, laughed and then wrapped his arm around Zoë’s shoulder.  “Now, let’s go and explore.  I’ve been here several times with Justin, so I know right where everything is.”
 

After the guys got done with their meals, they went back to their rooms to get what they would need to for rehearsal and then met up to head over to the hall.

JC, was thinking a lot about what Justin had said to him during their lunch.  He was right.  He was defiantly pushing her.  And he had noticed the annoyance Zoë, expressed so well when he did all those crazy things for her, but he just ignored it.

His thoughts drifted back to the New Years party they’d had.  When Lance had told him he had longing in his eyes for Zoë.  Maybe, there was more to it, than he was willing to admit to himself.  Zoë, meant a lot to him.  He loved her, that he was sure of.  But maybe the love he thought was just love of friendship was actually a deeper kind of love.  Maybe, that’s why he found himself pushing aside the annoyance he saw in Zoë’s eyes, and continued to pamper her.  Maybe he, was trying to make her fall in love with him.

“We’re here!” Joey’s voice cut through JC’s thoughts.

JC, looked out the window of the Suburban they were riding in.  There was another crowd of girls waiting on them again.  “Time to put on a happy face.” he, told himself as he followed the rest of the guys out of the vehicle.

As he and the guys stopped to pose for photographs for the adoring fans, and sign a few autographs JC continued to analyze his feelings for, Zoë.   He began scolding himself.  “Even if I am in love with her like that.  She’s not ready for something like that.  I can’t push her any further.  I’ll end up losing her.  And then what will I do?” he, thought.

He signed another autograph, before heading off inside with the other guys.  Joey, and Chris were joking around about one of the fans outside, and what she’d said to them.  JC, couldn’t help but laugh at Chris’ impression of the squealing girl.

Lance, noticed how quiet JC, had been.  He walked up and put his arm around JC’s shoulders.  “Come on man.  Cheer up.  It’s not the end of the world!” he, laughed.

JC, smiled.  “I know!  I was just thinking about what Justin said is all.  He made some valid points.  I need to back off.”

“I knew you’d come around!” Justin, laughed having overheard Lance and JC’s exchange.

“I wonder what Zoë and Trace are up to?” Lance, thought out loud as they went in to get their rehearsal started.
 

“Oh my God, I cannot believe you just did that!” Zoë, laughed walking quickly away from Trace.

“What?  I didn’t do anything?” Trace, pretended to be innocent, after writing “BSB SUX COCK”, on a Backstreet Boys banner, that was hanging on a wall outside a large record store they had just come out of.

“That was so wrong!” Zoë, shook her head still laughing.

“Oh shut up!” Trace, laughed as he wrapped his arm around her shoulder, as they hurried away from the store.

They had been all over the town.  They had been to see the Stars on the Walk of Fame, Rodeo Drive, the La Brea Tar Pits, Sunset Avenue, The Chinese Theater, Farmers Market, and a few other places that Trace said that a lot of celebrities were always spotted.

Zoë, was having a good time hanging out with, Trace.  He was incredibly funny.  She couldn’t count the times on both of her hands that he had her practically rolling on the ground laughing at his antics.  He was as big a clown as Chris.

“I think the guys are gonna trip when they see the dress you got to wear to the awards.” Trace, said breaking her from her thoughts of all the fun she was having.

“You think?” she, asked as they flagged down a taxi to take them back to their hotel.

“Hell yeah, you looked HOT in it.  You know SOMEONE’S gonna have something to say about it!” he, laughed.

“Why?  It’s a full length dress!” she, said giving him a funny look as a taxi finally pulled over for them.

They climbed inside the taxi, and Trace told the drive their destination, and settled back into the seat before continuing the conversation.

“Yeah, it’s full length!  But it’s got a slit clear up to your thigh.  AND there’s like no back in it, it’s cut super low.  AND it’s very form fitting in the front if you catch what I’m saying.  Show’s your rack!” he, laughed.

“TRACE” she, said loudly as she punched him in his arm.

“Hey, don’t kill the messenger!” he, said putting his hands up in his defense.  “I’m just speaking the truth.  And you know that JC’s gonna have something to say about.  WAIT!  Maybe that’s why you got it!”

“Oh be serious!  I got it because I liked the way it looked on me.  It’s a pretty dress!  And I have a nice figure.  I work hard to keep my body in this shape.  I should be able to wear something nice like that every now and then.  Besides, I thought you said it looked good on me!” she, questioned.

“It does look good!  A lil’ TOO GOOD!  If ya know what I mean!” he, said giving her a playful wink.

Zoë, just shook her head and laughed at him.  He was such a flirt, but she knew he didn’t mean anything by it.  He was so much like Justin and Joey, it was pathetic, she thought.
 

JC, was hanging out in Justin’s room with him and Lance watching a game on TV.  In his head he was curious as to where Zoë and Trace were.  It was after 8:00 in the evening and they’d been gone since around 2:00 that afternoon.  Him and the guys had been back from rehearsals since around 6:00, and he was expecting for them to be back right around then or shortly after, but still here it was almost 8:30 and they still weren’t back yet.

So here he was hanging out in Justin’s room, because he knew it was the first place Trace would come when he did get back.  And then he would know when Zoë, was back.  He wanted to talk to her and apologize for being an ass.  But more importantly he just wanted to know she was back.

He was trying to act cool about it.  Trying to not let it show in front of his friends that he was bothered by the fact that Zoë, wasn’t back yet.  He felt like he was doing a good job.  Although, he knew he was really going to have to work on this whole, not being so overly protective stuff.

A little after 8:30, there was a knock on Justin’s hotel room door, so he got up to go answer it.  “Hey man, we were beginning to think you guys got lost!” he, said opening the door wider for Trace to enter.

“Nah, we just lost track of time.  We were ALL over the place today!” Trace, laughed.

“Cool.  Where’d you go?” Justin, asked walking back over to the sofa and setting down in between Lance and JC.

“Oh, we checked out a few places.  You know the main places.  Walk of Fame, La Brea Tar Pits, Chinese Theater.  And then we went over to Rodeo Drive, and then Sunset Avenue.  Hit a few stores.  You should see the dress Zo, got to wear to the AMA’s tomorrow night!” Trace, told them as he sat down in a chair situated close to the sofa the guys were sitting on.

“Oh yeah?  That good, huh?” Lance, asked looking over to Trace from the game he was watching.

“All I can say is WOW!  Ya’ll will just have to wait and see!” he, laughed.

“I can’t believe you let her talk you into going dress shopping with her!” Justin, laughed.

“You gotta admit Trace, that’s pretty funny!” JC, joined in trying not to appear annoyed.

“It wasn’t planned.  Not like we were searching for a dress or anything.  We just passed this shop down on Rodeo, and she seen the dress in the window and started going on and on about it.  So we went in, she tried it on, and then she bought it!  End of story!” Trace, laughed.

“She got the dress on Rodeo?” Lance, asked a little shocked.

“Yeah.  Why?”

“Well, hello shit over there is expensive!  How’d she pay for it?” Lance, asked.

“With a credit card.  Hell, I don’t know.  I’m not all up in her financial business!  I did say something about the price tag, but she just said she had some money saved up!  So I let it go.  Not my business.” Trace, told him.

“How much did it cost?” JC, asked.

“I don’t remember for sure.  Somewhere around $600 dollars or something.”

“JESUS!” Justin, said.  “For a fucking dress!”

“From Rodeo Drive!” Lance, added.

“That’s not like Zoë, to pay that much for clothes.  She’s always been against that sort of thing.” JC, said.

“Well, I guess she really liked it then.  Cause she brought it back with her.” Trace, laughed.

“That better be some dress for that price tag!” Justin, laughed.

“Trust me!  It is!” Trace, said.

“So is Zoë, in her room?” JC, asked finally not able to hold off any longer.

The guys looked at him and chuckled a bit.  They knew that was coming sooner or later.  They were surprised it wasn’t the first question out of JC’s mouth when Trace walked in.

“Yeah, she said something about taking a shower and crashing.  That her feet hurt from all the walking we did today.  But she’s probably still up.” Trace, told him.

“Well, guys I’m gonna go….” JC, said starting to get up from the sofa, but Justin cut him off.

“Go check on her.  Yeah, we know.” he, laughed.

“I just wanna go apologize for earlier.  It’s not what you think.” JC, defended.

“Whatever, man!” Justin, laughed.

“See you fools in the morning.  We’re going to the beach right?  Before we have to go to rehearsals tomorrow afternoon?” JC, asked as he headed for the door.

“Yup!  Bright and early to beat the crowd!” Lance, said.

“OK, see ya’ll then!” JC, said as he walked out letting the door close behind him.

JC, walked down to Zoë’s room.  He hesitated a moment before knocking on the door.  After he did he could hear her moving around the room, before she finally answered.

“Hey” she, said pushing the door open for JC to come inside and walking back into the room.

“Hey.  Did you have a good time today?” JC, asked as he walked in and shut the door behind him.

“Yeah, we were all over town.  It was fun.  Trace, is plane crazy funny!” she, smiled setting down on the sofa.

“Yeah, he’s a trip.  I’m glad you have a good time.” JC, said sitting down on the sofa, at the other end from her.

“Thanks.  How was rehearsal?”

“It went well.  We gotta go back in tomorrow afternoon, to rehearse one last time before the awards tomorrow night.”

“Cool.” Zoë, said as she turned the TV on and began flipping through the channels.

JC, sighed.  She appeared to still be upset with him.  She was being awfully short.  “Are you still pissed off at me from earlier?” he, finally asked after a brief silence.

“Maybe, a lil’.” she, said smiling at him.  “I know you mean well, it just gets on my nerves, Josh.”

“I know, and I’m sorry.  I don’t mean to be so overbearing.  It just happens!  I promise I’m gonna try really hard to quit being so overprotective.  You know I’m only like that because I worry about you, and because I care.” he, told her with the utmost sincerity in his eyes.

“I know.  I’m actually looking at it in a different way now.  Trace, gave me some big old lecture today and explained it to me.  He said it’s a guy thing.  A part of the male ego.” she, laughed.

“Oh he did, huh?” JC, laughed.  “I guess that makes sense.”

“Well, it’s better than any other excuse I’ve heard thus far!” Zoë, laughed.

“Yeah” JC, laughed too.

“OK, so let’s forget about that.  Just try to withhold your big brother, I gotta protect Zoë from the world tendencies!  OK?”

“OK” he, smiled.

“Good, glad we got that all cleared up.  Now if you’ll excuse me.  I’m tired and I just wanna sleep.”

“So early?”

“Hey I walked all over Los Angeles today.  My feet hurt.  So get outta here!” Zoë, laughed getting up from the sofa and grapping JC by the arm to drag him to the door.

“OK…OK….You don’t have to man handle me!” he, laughed.

“Good, now get going!” she, laughed opening the door.

Just as he was walking out, JC remembered they were going to the beach in the morning.  So stopping the door Zoë, was already shutting behind him with his foot, he turned to look at her.  “We’re going to the beach tomorrow morning.  It’s about an hour from her.  I assume you wanna go right?”

“Sure, sounds like fun.  What time?”

“Early.  Justin, wants to beat the crowd.  Plus, we gotta be back here by 1:00 for rehearsals, and then come back here to get ready for the awards.  I guess we‘re leaving around 8:00 in the morning, so be up and ready!”

“OK, I will.  I’ll see you in the morning.  Goodnight, Josh.”

“Nite, Zo.”