Chapter 9: A Picture's Worth A Thousand Words
The sun had begun its ascent up towards the entangled sleeping forms on the couch. Its warm rays blanketed the room and it wasn’t long before one of the bodies started to stir. Hayden’s eyes fluttered open and she gently lifted her head up from the pillow. It wasn’t until she started to kick her legs that she realized there was another person holding her down. Her heart jumped into her throat when she realized that it was Justin curled up next to her. Gently prying her limbs free, trying her best not to wake Justin, Hayden managed to remover herself from that situation and made her way into her bedroom.
Once inside the solace of her own room Hayden began to unpack her suitcase, trying her best to sort through everything she was feeling. She was elated when it came to her senior project; everything was falling beautifully into place, thanks to Johnny and Justin. Ahhh…Justin…yeah he was another story. She’d be lying if she said she didn’t have any feelings for him other than friendship, but admitting that to anyone could be dangerous. Everyone has been breathing down her neck to move on from Josh and that she deserves to be happy…but how could she be happy with Justin? In a matter of months, the fairy tale lifestyle would be over and they’d be miles apart. She’s been through so much heartbreak over the last two years, why open herself up to it again? Besides being with Justin would mean she has accepted that she can no longer be with Josh…was she ready to let that go? Instinctively she reached for her necklace, wrapping her fingers around the ring. She let her thoughts travel back to Josh and their life together, back to when she was truly happy. Josh was everything to Hayden and no matter what happened…Justin would never be able to fill that void and Hayden made the decision she didn’t want him too either.
Grabbing her clothes, she headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day. A long hot shower would clear her head, before walking into the bathroom she decided to check on Justin. Poking her head into the living room, she saw he was still sprawled across the couch with the blankets firmly wrapped around him.
“He looks so comfortable; I don’t have the heart to wake him up. Besides he looks so cute laying there…wait not cute, he’s just a friend…ugh…who am I kidding…the man is freakin’ gorgeous. What the hell is my problem? I really need to get a grip and fast!!!” Hayden thought before turning on her heels and heading into the bathroom.
The sound of the bathroom door shutting was enough to wake Justin from his peaceful slumber. Stretching his arms and legs, he let out a sigh. He hasn’t slept that well in a long time, although he could’ve sworn Hayden was laying here with him. The sound of the shower running was enough for Justin to realize Hayden was already up. Thinking back to last night, he had such a great time just relaxing with her and he knew he was definitely starting to have feelings for Hayden. But he didn’t know where Hayden stood with everything?
“Just enjoy the time in Minnesota.” Justin thought to himself. He started to scrounge around for some clothes to wear today when the door to the bathroom opened. Hayden stepped out, wearing jeans and a sweatshirt, her hair curly and wet, but to Justin she looked beautiful.
Coughing loudly, Justin tried to shake those feelings off, “Good morning.”
“Good morning to you too. There’s a towel in the bathroom for you and if you need anything let me know…I left my stuff in the bathroom too.” Hayden said.
“Thank you.” Justin said while walking past her and into the bathroom.
“Well that wasn’t awkward or anything.” Hayden thought to herself as she went into her bedroom to finish getting ready.
After successfully avoiding each other for most of the morning, both Justin and Hayden finally were sitting together in the kitchen. Hayden was busy cleaning up all their dishes from breakfast and the night before, while Justin scanned the newspaper. The tension was definitely taking over the room and both of them felt it.
“I had a great time with you last night. Probably one of the best nights in a long time and this awkwardness needs to stop.” Justin finally said while looking at Hayden.
“I ugghh…it’s not awkward.” Hayden lied while concentrating on the dishes in her hands.
“Bull shit, this is the second time now that I’ve felt the cold shoulder from you and trust me…it’s not fun.”
“Look I’m sorry, I didn’t want it to be awkward…to tell you the truth I had a great time last night too and I can’t wait to show you around.” Hayden said pulling her eyes off the dishes to meet his blue ones…yeah definitely a mistake.
Justin stood up from the table and brought his glass over to the kitchen sink, making sure to gently brush Hayden with his arm. Hayden couldn’t take her eyes off him; he definitely had a power over her that no one ever has had for a long time. Once he was dangerously close to her face he bent down and kissed her on the cheek. Hayden froze; this is definitely somewhere she didn’t want to go.
“You should probably get your stuff ready…we’re going to the University first.” Hayden said while scooting away from Justin.
________________________________________________________________________
An hour later, Hayden and Justin were walking through the campus towards the Carlson School of Management. Justin was fully decked out in jeans; a sweatshirt, sunglasses, and a hat, trying his best not get noticed. Most people didn’t even give the two a second look and after five minutes, Justin was finally becoming comfortable in his surroundings.
“Alright we’re here…do you want to come in with me? My professor won’t mind or do you want to just hang around out here?” Hayden asked once they reached the building.
“I’ll go in with you…could get crazy out here if someone recognized me and I’d be by myself.”
“No one will recognize you; they wouldn’t believe that Justin Timberlake would be on the Minneapolis campus.” Hayden said while opening the door.
“Oh please, I remove some of this and they’ll be all over me.” Justin said following Hayden up the stairs.
“Wow conceited much?”
“You betcha baby.” Justin joked.
After climbing three sets of stairs they were finally walking down the hallway towards the marketing offices. Hayden’s professor was expecting her and she couldn’t wait to see Dr. Brokaw. He was definitely one of the hardest professors at the University but he liked to challenge people and she enjoyed that. After making a couple of turns down some hallways, Hayden knocked softly on the door.
“Come in.”
“Hey Dr. Brokaw…” Hayden said pushing the door open.
“Hayden, welcome back to Minnesota, definitely a little colder than California huh?” Dr. Brokaw said while shaking her hand.
Hayden nodded and took a seat next across from Dr. Brokaw while Justin slid into the chair next to her.
“Oh this is Justin Timberlake; he’s the one I’m following around for the 415 project.” Hayden said while motioning to Justin to remove his hat and sunglasses.
“Pleasure to meet you young man. I sure do appreciate you taking the time out of your schedule to allow a student from this University to shadow you.” Dr. Brokaw said while shaking Justin’s hand.
Justin visibly relaxed when Dr. Brokaw started talking. He had never been to college and had no idea what to expect coming here. Hell, he hadn’t been at an actual school since *Nsync started. But this professor was definitely all business when it came to his students, yet at the same time he was a very laid back individual.
“She’s been a real pleasure to have around. She’s always taking notes and giving her two cents in on how to improve things.” Justin answered.
“That’s great to hear…so Hayden you know I like to meet with each student just to get an idea on how the project is going and find out if there’s any way that I could assist you. I’d like to know how you’re coming along with everything.” Dr. Brokaw asked.
Hayden, Justin, and Dr. Brokaw continued to talk for several minutes about the project and ways to improve it. Hayden was really feeling confident about how her project was turning out. This project was still top priority for her and she knew that meeting with Dr. Brokaw, would help answer any of her questions. Justin was definitely a huge part of this process and in the office he was offering his own suggestions for Hayden. She couldn’t help but feel like she was going to turn in one kick ass senior project.
“So what’d you think of my professor?” Hayden asked while Justin and her continued to walk back to the car.
“He’s definitely a great guy, he really wants you to succeed, his a bit intense but I think that’s because he wants to push you to do your best work possible.” Justin said while putting his hat and sunglasses back on.
“Yeah definitely…hey wait here, I want to go get something quick.” Hayden said before disappearing into another building.
Justin tried his best to keep his head down and shield himself from any scrutiny while Hayden was gone. Instead of standing outside the door, where he was sure to get a few questioning looks, he made his way over to a bench and sat down. Just then his cell phone went off.
“What’s up Johnny?” Justin said.
“Hey Justin, how’s Minnesota?” Johnny asked.
“It’s pretty cool, we’re at the campus right now…Hayden had to talk to her professor about the project.”
“Cool…well hey the reason I’m calling is the media has really been hitting you hard with questions about Hayden. I wanted to let you know that we released a statement.” Johnny said.
“What’d you say?”
“That she is a new employee with WEG Entertainment and that she will be working with you on the upcoming release of your new album.”
“All right…yeah we accidentally caught a bit of it on TV last night. I feel bad man, she’s just trying to do her senior project…I don’t want her getting caught up in the media.” Justin said noticing Hayden was coming out of the building now.
“Yeah me too. We’ll stay on top of it. Well have a good time in Minnesota, we’ll see you two when you get back.” Johnny said.
“Sounds good. Thanks Johnny.” Justin said before hanging up the phone.
“Who was that?” Hayden asked while trying her best to hide the bag behind her back.
“Johnny…just checking up on me. What do you have behind your back?” Justin asked noticing the bag protruding out from her sides.
“I wanted to get you something to remember your trip here.” Hayden said while handing the bag over to Justin.
Justin was shocked that she would go out of her way to get him a present. Opening the bag he was surprised to see a picture frame and a Minnesota sweatshirt. The sweatshirt was embroidered and it was in the University’s gold and maroon colors. Justin then grabbed the picture frame and read the words on the outside. “Somebody from the University of Minnesota loves you.”
“I wanted to get you something to remember your trip up here and I know we don’t have any pictures together…so we’ll have to do that too. I hope you like it.”
“I love it…thank you!” Justin said while wrapping Hayden in a big hug.
“You’re welcome.” Hayden said before pulling away from Justin’s grasp. “Well how about some shopping at the mall?”
“That sounds great.” Justin said getting up, making sure to grab Hayden’s gifts. The two started to walk back to the car but Hayden made sure to give him a tour, pointing out different buildings and dorms. Justin was enjoying the tour and getting a chance to see Hayden in her element. Her excitement to share a part of her life with him was contagious and Justin couldn’t help but feel the all too familiar pull on his heart. Instead of fighting it like he was this morning, he reached down and grabbed her hand, surprisingly; Hayden didn’t pull away, but tightened their grasp. ________________________________________________________________________
Before entering the Mall of America, Justin decided to switch sweatshirts into the Minnesota one Hayden had just bought. He figured he’d have less chance standing out wearing Minnesota across his chest, rather than California. He also made sure to secure his hat around his head. They were having such a great day and Justin was enjoying seeing Hayden so happy that he didn’t want it to be ruined if he was noticed in the mall.
Hayden could feel his nervousness and she reached for his hand again. They made their way into the mall and Justin was surprised to see that it wasn’t as busy as he suspected. Now it wasn’t totally dead, it is the Mall of America, but the number of teenage girls was definitely small and he started to relax.
“Ok first thing’s first…we’re going to camp snoopy.”
“What?!”
“Camp snoopy…come on, you can’t go to this mall without riding some of the rides first. Besides I know how you can get when you shop, we should probably get this out of the way before we’re hauling twenty bags around with us.” Hayden laughed leading the way towards to amusement park.
“You know, you definitely talk a lot of shit.”
“Yeah but you love me for it.” Hayden said winking at Justin.
Justin had never been to the Mall of America before and he was surprised at how huge this place really was. This mall put the California ones to shame. All of a sudden there was a huge rumbling come their way and Hayden shouted for him to look up.
“There’s a fucking rollercoaster in here?” Justin’s eyes were wide open in shock.
“Yep and that’s where we’re going right now.” Hayden said dragging him towards the ride.
Luckily, they didn’t have to wait very long before they were seated on the rollercoaster. It wasn’t the scariest rollercoaster Justin has ever been on before but he was having fun nonetheless. Hayden and Justin locked hands again before the ride started and this time Hayden started to feel a tingling travel up her arm.
The rollercoaster whipped around throughout the entire amusement park. They were able to see over all of the activities both inside the mall and throughout the park. Justin couldn’t help but smile when he heard Hayden laugh out loud. Minnesota was quickly turning into one of his favorite places or maybe it was the company he was with, either way he was thoroughly enjoying himself.
After riding the rollercoaster a couple more times, Hayden and Justin started to make their way back into the mall. However, Justin noticed a small photo booth and pulled Hayden into it.
“You said we don’t have any pictures together...well let’s change that.” Justin said pulling Hayden onto his lap. “Ok serious picture first and then let’s get goofy.”
The two of them put their heads together and smiled brightly for the first shot. They continued to do random poses from sticking their tongues out and laughing to Justin kissing Hayden on the cheek. Once the pictures dropped from their slot, Hayden didn’t want to let them go. They were the cutest shots of the two just acting like a couple of teenagers. Justin was pleasantly surprised; they were definitely great shots of the two of them together.
Hayden and Justin managed to spend the rest of the day shopping. True to himself, Justin managed to nearly buy out everything in all the stores. Hayden on the other hand only walked out with a couple of new shirts, a tank top, and two pairs of jeans. It was a very successful shopping trip for both of them, not only in terms of what they bought, but also because nobody recognized Justin.
The ride back home was fairly quiet, both were reflecting on the day. The sun was starting to fade away into the darkness that was rising. They had been gone all day, running around all over Minnesota. Hayden was glad she could show Justin a good time and Justin was busy thinking about how wonderful Hayden had been today. He knew he wouldn’t have another day like today for a very long time. Once they were back in California, both would be busy going through all the different promotions for his new album and he wanted to hold on just a little longer to days like today.
“What are you thinking about?” Hayden asked once they pulled into the apartment complex.
“Just how much I’m going to miss something like this when we get back to California.” Justin said before getting out of the car.
“Me too.” Hayden said.
Once inside the apartment, Hayden noticed a note from Riley and an envelope attached. Justin wasn’t far behind and started reading the note as well.
Hey Hayden & Justin,
I’m over at Krystal’s for the night working on a project; sorry I missed you both today. I hope you had fun exploring Minnesota Justin! I’ll be home tomorrow sometime in the afternoon after class. Have a good night you two! Oh yeah, look in the envelope…I couldn’t help myself, it was too cute. Love ya!
-Riley
Hayden wasn’t sure what Riley was talking about but she cautiously opened the envelope. Starring back at her, were a couple of pictures of herself and Justin snuggled up together on the couch. The picture made Hayden’s heart jump up into her throat. It was truly a beautiful picture and even Hayden couldn’t deny how peaceful they looked.
“Wow…that’s a really good picture.” Justin said. “Can I have one?”
“Oh…yeah, no problem.” Hayden said handing him a picture and taking the other into her bedroom. She couldn’t help but stare at it. Justin’s arms were securely wrapped around her waist like a protector and Hayden was snuggled up into his chest. Carefully she set it up on her nightstand and walked back into the living room where Justin was already putting the picture into the frame Hayden had bought earlier.
“I figured this would be a perfect picture for the frame.” Justin said showing Hayden.
“I think so too.” Hayden said before sitting down on the couch and turned the TV on.
“You want to watch a movie?” Justin asked sitting next to her.
“Yeah sure,” Hayden said before getting up to put in Pirates of the Caribbean 2.
“Do you have a thing for Johnny Depp or Orlando Bloom?” Justin asked. “Because this seems to always find it’s way into the DVD player whenever we decide to watch a movie.”
Hayden laughed at his perceptiveness. “Definitely a Johnny Depp fan, Orlando’s all right too. We can watch something else if you want?”
“No it’s fine…I was just teasing you. Keira is definitely good to look at.” Justin said looking at Hayden from the corner of his eyes.
Hayden’s face crumpled at his comment. “She’s all right.”
Justin reached his arm around Hayden and pulled her close for the movie. The two of them were under the blankets and securely wrapped up in each other. Hayden was trying her best to concentrate on the movie but all she could think about were the feelings she was having towards Justin. Little did Hayden know, but Justin was having the same problem. Hayden was clearly working her way into his heart and it scared him. How would Hayden react to his feelings, would they even have a chance, would she even want to be with him? He could feel she was still hiding a big part of her life from him and he knew it involved that necklace.
“Hey Hayden…” Justin said quietly.
“Yeah?”
“I know I asked you about this before and you weren’t ready to talk about it. But I still would like to know the story behind your necklace.”
Hayden felt the walls around her heart tighten at that last request. It wasn’t like the last time where she was caught off guard but this time they tightened because she was dangerously close to letting him in. “I promise…I’ll tell you soon.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
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Story Tags: justin college
