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Drive Myself Crazy
Part Five
**********************

Justin couldn't stop smiling. It was a very strange feeling for him. He had
never acted this way or felt this way about anyone and it was only their
first date. He arrived at his house and walked into the living room where
his mom, JC, and Chris were all watching Hollywood Squares. They pretended
that they weren't waiting up for him, but Justin knew better. All eyes were
on Justin.
"So, I'm guessing the date went well?" Chris started, breaking the silence.
"How'd you guess?" Justin asked, trying to hide his smile and be a little
less obvious.
"Well, you're grinning from ear to ear, man...." JC jumped in.
"She's... just.... so unique... so different. It's so weird to have a NORMAL
conversation with a girl. Without the screaming or the attacking..." Justin
sighed.
Chris leaned over to JC. "He's got it bad," he whispered.
"Well, Justin, I am your mother. When am I going to meet this girl?"
"You will soon, mom." He replied, still grinning.
"So, that means you're going out again?" JC asked.
"You guys are just SO nosey!" he paused. "I'm gonna call her in the
morning.... but now I'm going to bed so you won't pick my brain anymore."
"We'll just have to ask him in his sleep." His mom joked.

***********************
the next morning... 7:30 AM

:::RING:::

"I got it!" Eppie yelled, dashing for the phone. "Hello."
"Hi, Ep. Did I wake you?" Justin asked from the other end.
"Nope. I've been awake for about an hour now."
"Darn. I guess I'll just have to try harder next time." He snickered.
"HA HA." Eppie laughed sarcastically.
"So, I was wondering... if you weren't doing anything today... and if your
parents go for it... maybe we could spend the day at Disney World?"
"You read my mind. Sounds great. My family's not doing anything too exciting
today, so I don't think they'll miss me."
"Great," Justin replied, "I'll pick you up around ten?"
"Sounds like a plan to me. See ya at ten."
"K. Ten... bye."
They hung up the phone. "Mom, I'm going to Disney World with Justin!"
Eppie yelled while running up the stairs to her room to get ready.

------------

It was a good day. They spent the entire time talking and laughing, riding
every ride at least once. It felt as if they had known each other for years.
Neither of them wanted the day to end. But, of course, all good things must
come to an end sometime.
Justin had Eppie home by eleven and promised to call again the next morning.

--------------

The next day was spent at the new Universal Studios themepark and the day
after that, they went to Sea World. After Sea World, Justin took Eppie on a
surprise picnic at the beach. It was one of the most romantic things a guy
had ever done for her.

-------------

Justin got home that night around 12:30. He walked into his kitchen, with
the usual glow on his face, to find JC sitting at the table eating Frosted
Cheerios.
"What are you doing up?" Justin asked.
JC looked up at him with his sleepy eyes. "I don't know why... but I just
couldn't sleep."
Justin laughed. "Wow! You? Not being able to sleep? Someone needs to alert
the media on that!" He looked around. "I guess my mom and Chris are
sleeping?"
"Your mom is. Chris is out clubbin' with Joey."
"Figures." Justin joked.
"Another GREAT date?" JC asked while chewing.
"Yeah. She's wonderful, JC. You really have to meet her sometime. We have so
much fun!"
"I'm sure you do." He replied. "Have you told her about 'N Sync?"
Justin nodded.
"That's good..." JC replied, "and she's okay with it?"
Jusin nodded again suspiciously.
"What's your point, J?" He asked, a little aggrivated that JC was
interrogating him like this.
"Did you tell her we're leaving in two days?"
Justin's body froze at those words. His face turned pale. He stared blankly
at his friend.
"You haven't told her, have you?"
Justin shook his head 'no'.
"JUSTIN! Don't you think....." JC began.
Justin blocked out the words JC was saying. He dragged himself up to his
bedroom and laid on his bed. What was he going to do? What would he say? How
would she react?
His head was spinning. Chills ran down his spine as he thought: WHAT'S GOING
TO HAPPEN TO US NOW? Justin tried not to think about it. He wanted to spend
his last few moments of normalcy thinking "happy thoughts". Thoughts about
Eppie and the fun they had together. Thoughts about his family and all of
his friends. Not thoughts about leaving all of it.
Justin laid awake all night trying to figure out what he was going to do.
Tears filled his eyes at his next thought: IT WILL NEVER WORK OUT. IT NEVER
DOES.
Finally, at about four o'clock in the morning, Justin cried himself to
sleep.

****************************
The next day.... 2:30 pm

Justin had been dreading the call ever since he woke up. He still had no
idea what to say or do. He picked up the phone and dialed the numbers as
slowly as possible, wishing that no one would answer. The phone rang once.
No one answered. It rang a second time. Still no answer. It rang a third
time and... "Hello and thank you for calling. This is Jesse. Who am I
talking to?" A bubbly young girl giggled.
"Hi. This is Justin. Is Eppie around?"
"Hold on." She replied. Jesse yelled to Eppie who was laying out outside,
"Eppie! A BOY'S on the phone for you!!!"
Eppie ran into the house and picked up the phone. "Hello?"
Jesse yelled in the background, "Eppie and Justin sitting in a tree...."
"Shut up, Jess. Please I'm on the phone," she yelled at her sister. She
picked up the phone again, "Hey. I'm sorry 'bout that."
"That's okay.... I'm not interrupting anything, am I?"
"Oh, no. I was just laying out. Trying to get some sun.... I was getting a
little worried that you weren't gonna call." She said, jokingly.
"Sorry about that. I slept in."
"So, did you want to do something today?" Eppie asked.
"Um... sure. How about dinner tonight? Pick you up at seven?"
"Alright...." she paused, "Are you okay, Justin? You seem kind of..."
"I'm fine. Just a little tired, that's all." Justin lied. "I'll see you
tonight then."

----------------

Justin was distant all through dinner. He didn't want to tell Eppie, but he
knew he would have to sooner or later. Later seemed like the better option.
After dinner, Justin took Eppie to one of his favorite places to think. It
was a small airport and runway next to a field. They sat on top of Justin's
car and watched the planes take off and the stars shining so brightly for
what seemed like hours. They both felt as if the world had stopped and it
was just them.
It began to rain. The hopped off of the car and got into it as quickly as
possible. Justin pointed the vents toward them to dry them off a bit. Once
again he had forgotten about leaving. They talked the whole way home and
sang to the radio and had a blast.
As they pulled up to Eppie's driveway, Eppie commented, "This was fun. We
should do this again tomorrow."
TOMORROW I WON'T BE HERE -- he remembered.

Drive Myself Crazy
Part Six
**********************

"Eppie..." Justin began. "I have to talk to you about something..." He
swallowed hard. His heart felt like it was in his throat and his stomache at
the same time. Eppie looked at him intently.
"....it's just that... when I'm with you... it's like.... it's just you and
me and I forget about EVERYTHING else... 'N Sync, screaming girls...
touring..." He looked over at Eppie to see her reaction. She was still calm
with a confused expression on her face.
"I'm sorry... I'm babbling... You see, I have this friend, JC. He's in 'N
Sync and he's one of my best friends, obviously.... And he's always there to
keep me in line.... ya know? He reminds me of things... brings me back to
reality."
"That's how Kim is too! Always there for me and everything... You know, I
honestly miss her." Eppie replied.
Justin took Eppie's hand and held it tightly. He never wanted to let go. He
pulled out a rose from the glove compartment of his car and handed it to
her. "I forgot to give this to you earlier."
"It's beautiful. Thank you." Eppie smiled, gently squeezing Justin's hand.
"Eppie... what I have to tell you... is...It's just really hard for me to
say..." Tears now began to well up in Justin's eyes.
"What is it?" Eppie began to get worried.
"We... the guys in 'N Sync and I... we're leaving tomorrow.... for the
tour..."
Eppie leaned her back in her seat. "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" She
whispered, her voice beginning to quiver.
"....I forgot...."
They were both silent for what seemed like hours.
Eppie broke the silence. "Well, it's not like we won't ever see each other
again... I mean, we could still talk on the phone and write..." Her voice
trailed off as she looked at Justin. "Couldn't we???"
He stared at the floor. "Eppie... we can't... it'll be too hard. I'd say
'Let's be friends' but that would be too painful. Maybe it would just be
best if we... just called it all quits now."
Tears rushed down Eppie's face. "You mean.. never see each other... EVER...
again?"
Justin nodded, still staring at the floor. Tears pouring out his eyes.
Eppie flew open the door and leaped out of the car. Justin ran after her.
"Eppie... please!!!"
She stopped, her back facing him.
"Ep, you know that.... that I... I love you... but, I'm just scared..."
Eppie turned to face him. Tears and rain flooded her face. "And I'm not?"
Eppie interrupted. "Justin, I am sooo scared. I've been scared from minute
one. But... I was willing to take the risk... and I thought you were too...
You said I could trust you..." She dropped the rose into a puddle on the
driveway and ran into her house.
"EPPIE!" Justin yelled. It was too late. She was gone. There was nothing he
could do. SHE HATES ME -- he thought -- WHAT HAVE I DONE?
He knelt down, picked up the drenched rose, and walked back to his car.
Chills ran up and down his spine. Partly from the wet clothes, but mostly
because he wished everything was different.

-------------

When Justin got home, JC was waiting in Justin's room. He looked at Justin
as he walked into the bedroom. His eyes swolen and his face bright red from
all of the crying. Justin didn't say a word as he looked miserablly at JC.
"You told her...?" JC asked quietly. "What happened?"
Justin sat on the bed next to his friend. "I don't even know... I'm such an
idiot..."
"No, you're not, Justin.... tell me... that way I can maybe at least try to
help."
"It's OVER. Completely. I'll never see her or speak to her again. She hates
me. I told her I couldn't handle it... that I was scared... that it would
never work..."
"You told her you don't want to have anything to do with her?" JC yelled.
"You just got done telling me that I'm NOT an idiot...!"
"Yeah, well, I was WRONG. JUSTIN! What were you thinking? You've been coming
home for the last couple of days glowing. You've gotten this sparkle in your
eyes and this grin every time you talk about this girl. And now you're
giving all of that up because it's SCARY?"
Justin laid his head in his hands. He yelled back at JC. "You know you're
not making me FEEL ANY BETTER!!!"
JC stopped for a moment. Once he calmed down, he said, "I know man. I'm
sorry...." He patted Justin on the back. "It's gonna be alright. I know
it..."
"Sure it is, JC... sure it is..." Justin mummbled. He laid down in his bed
and cried into his pillow.
JC left Justin's room and walked down to the kitchen.
His best friend was in trouble. He knew he had to help. But how?

----------------------------
Meanwhile... at Eppie's house....

Eppie slammed the front door and ran to her room sobbing. Her mother
followed her. "Ep, what's wrong, sweetie?"
Eppie explained everything to her mom, gasping for air between sobs.
She told her about how wonderful Justin was... how he was a member of 'N
Sync... and what had just happened. Her mother tried to console her, but
nothing was helping.
"I just need to be alone right now, mom. That's all..."

---------------------------

JC sat at the kitchen table trying to conjure up a plan to help Justin. For
some reason he suddenly had a craving for pickles. He walked over to the
refrigerator door and began to open it. He paused, noticing a small, torn
napkin on the door. It was Eppie's phone number! He ran to the phone and
began dialing.
"Hello?" A man answered.
"Hi... is Eppie there?"
"Yes, she is... who is this? Don't you think it's a little late to be
calling over here?"
JC looked over at the clock on the wall. It was two o'clock in the morning.
WOOPS! -- JC thought.
"Yes, sir. I'm very sorry... this is JC... I just really need to talk to
her, sir." He answered, trying not to sound intimidated.
"I'll have to see if she wants to talk to you..."
JC sighed a sigh of relief. WELL, AT LEAST THAT PART'S OVER.
Eppie's father walked into her room. "Phone, sweetie."
IT'S JUSTIN -- she thought.
Her father handed her the phone.
"Hello?" she asked, trying not to sound like she was crying.
"Hi," A timid voice replied. "Eppie? This is JC.... I'm Justin's friend...
well, one of his friends..."
"Hi." She replied hopelessly.
"Look, I know about what happened earlier tonight and everything... Justin
told me about it."
She replied sarcastically, "Well, aren't you special, JC? I really don't
feel like talking about..."
JC interrupted, "I know you're hurting. But, so is he.... You should have
seen him when he got home. He was so upset.... Ya know, he's never acted
this way with anyone else. I mean, like... every night after going out with
you, he'd come home and he'd have this smile that covered his whole head and
his face and his eyes just lit up.... I know he loves you and you HAVE to
know that he does, too."
Eppie began to interrupt, "Plea..."
JC cut her off, "Just let me finish... please... The thing is... Justin...
he's never fallen this hard or so fast for anyone and he just got scared. He
didn't know how to handle it and he panicked, so he thought the best thing
to do would just be to.... forget... I guess."
"Is there some kind of point to this, JC, or did he just send you to console
me for him?" Eppie asked, getting a little aggrivated.
"The POINT is... we're leaving tomorrow morning at six. I don't want you
guys to part like this.... and I KNOW you don't either. Maybe if you guys
could just talk and work this out.... The bus is meeting at the warehouse we
practice in... I could give you directions...."
"I know where it is." Eppie answered. Her tears slowed down. "JC.... thank
you... He's really lucky to have a friend like you, ya know?"
"I know." JC joked. "So, you'll be at the warehouse at six then?"
"Mhmm." Eppie replied. "Thank you."
"I'll see you tomorrow. And you're welcome."

***************************
The next morning... at the warehouse

Justin, JC, and Chris, arrived at the warehouse at 5:30 am. Justin had a
pair of sunglasses on to hide his red, puffy eyes and JC was walking around
with his eyes half shut from lack of sleep.
"Wow, you guys, who died?" Joey joked as he walked up to them. "You look
terrible."
"Gee, thanks." JC replied, "Aren't you sweet?"
Lance hopped off of the bus. "Hey guys, get your stuff on here so we can get
going!" He yelled.
They all obeyed and had their stuff situated by 5:45.
"Well, I guess we just get to head out early." Their manager remarked.
"Let's get this show on the road!"
Justin got on the bus and headed immediately for his bunk.
WHAT ABOUT EPPIE? -- JC remembered. "Wait!" He yelled. " We can't go yet!"
"And why not?" Lance questioned.
"Because.... we... I... I REALLY have to go to the bathroom!" JC replied.
Chris laughed at JC. "There's a bathroom on the bus, JC. Remember? It hasn't
been THAT long since we were on a tour bus! WOW, you really are tired!"
"But... I... uh... I think I forgot something!" JC replied, trying to stall
as much as possible.
"And what might that be?" Lance asked in a sarcastic tone.
"I forgot my... my... underwear!" JC shook his head, realizing how idiotic
he sounded.
Joey began to laugh histerically. "HOW COULD YOU FORGET SOMETHING LIKE THAT,
JC?"
"I think he's just talking in his sleep." Lance remarked.
Their manager butted in. "JC, we don't have TIME for this! Enough of your
silly games. We have to go. If you REALLY forgot your underwear, then we'll
just buy you some new ones."
JC began to get hopeless. "But... I..."
"NO, JC! Get on the bus NOW!" His manager was beginning to get angry so JC
knew that he had better listen. He walked as slowly as possible toward the
bus, hoping that Eppie would arrive before they left.
He stared out the window of the bus, looking for any cars that were headed
their way. There were none.
Finally, after all of his attempts at stalling the bus, they hit the road at
5:50.

*********************************
Meanwhile at Eppie's house....

Eppie woke up around 5:20 and had no time to get ready. She had called the
cab service before she went to sleep and told them to arrive sharply at
5:30. The cab arrived at Eppie's house right on time. She hopped into the
cab, still in her pajamas, and yelled the directions to the warehouse at the
driver. She had no idea what she was going to say or do when she saw Justin,
but she hoped that he would be happy to see her.

---------------

Tears filled Eppie's eyes as they arrived at the warehouse only to find an
empty parking lot. She looked at the clock. BUT IT'S ONLY 5:58, THEY WEREN'T
SUPPOSED TO LEAVE FOR ANOTHER TWO MINUTES. WHERE ARE THEY??? She began to
cry histerically. It made the cab driver uncomfortable. "Miss..."
She tried to compose herself. "Please, take me back to my house."

----------------

She cried the whole way home. She couldn't stop it no matter how hard she
tried. MAYBE JUSTIN MADE THEM LEAVE EARLY BECAUSE HE DECIDED HE DIDN'T WANT
TO SEE ME. Her head throbbed and her heart ached. She could hardly breathe.

CONTINUE

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