Date: Sat, 16 Oct 1999 00:11:32 -0700
From: CrazyStar <crazystar@canoemail.com>
Subject: Crazy Part 2

Hey, well here's the second part. I totally didn't realize that Chapter One
was that short. I guess that I really am that blond, eh? Anyways, I also
gave all you peeps the wrong email address. It's actually
crazystar@canoemail.com , but I screwed up, what can I say? I'm sorry! I
really am though.

Thanks to Jeff and Matt for their positive comments and constructive
critisism. Hopefully this chapter will seem a little less confusing because
of them!

Anyways, the same disclaimer stuff applies as in the first chapter. Hope
things get a little better with this one.

Crazy
Chapter 2

"K, well with that done. It's time for you to talk buddy. You've stalled
long enough." He looked at me with those caring eyes again. It was then
that I knew that Justin would turn out to be an awsome friend.

I TOOK A DEEP LONG BREATH, and then looked him straight in the eyes. "K,
but I need to get a little more comfortable first." I moved off the log I
was sitting on and sat down on the warm sand with my back against the log
facing the ocean. There was just a light breeze coming off of it and it
felt really nice. Justin moved down and sat in front of me, in a sort of
semi-sitting, semi-laying position. He just looked at me as if he had all
the patience in the world.

"Well I guess I better start at the beginning huh?"

"Yeah, that's a good place to start. I mean, if you wanna start at the end
and say everything backwards that's cool too. I just might not understand
all of it." He just smiled after that, and now I knew what some people
meant when they said that a smile can say a thousand things, without ever
speaking a word.

"K. Well, I met Kevin a few years ago. It was during my "I wanna be a jock"
phase. He and I played on the same rec soccer team. I didn't really know
any one, because I had just moved there. I guess he must have picked up on
it. After the first practice I started to walk home and he asked me if I
needed a lift. I told him that it was cool, but he insisted. He said there
was no way that he would want to walk home in this weather, so there was no
reason I should have to, especially if someone's offering you a ride.

"So, I accepted and he drove me home. On the way there we just talked about
the practice, what we thought of the coaches, and how we figured the team
would do this year. When I got home he offered to give me a lift after
practices and told me that if I ever needed a ride to school or something
that it'd be totally cool. I figured what the hell, I couldn't go on being
an anonomous dude for ever right?"

Justin just smiled and nodded for me to go on.

"I ran into him the next day at school during lunch. He just sorta walked
up and asked how things were going. Kev said that him and a bunch of
friends were going out for lunch and that I could come if I wanted. I
thought it was a little weird at first, but then I just thought it was
kinda cool that there was someone trying to get to know me and be my
friend, rather than makin me put in all the effort. So I went.

"I had a pretty good time too. I mean it was a really cool group of people
and I totally clicked with a couple of them right away. That's how I met
Janet and Nicole. They're both pretty much my best friends now..." I
started to tear up again. "Sorry Just." He put his hand on my shoulder.

"Naw Ry. It's totally cool." He paused for a minute. "Are you sure you
wanna keep going? I mean we could talk about it some other time."

"No, it's ok Just. I guess I need to do this."  "K, but if you wanna stop
at any time, it's cool." He took his hand away and smiled again. He
definitely had an awsome smile. If only Justin was a girl...Ugh! What the
hell was that? Stop it! Just carry on.

"Well, anyways, I kinda got swallowed into the group. We had a lot of fun
together. I mean we'd all go out to the movies, hockey games, parties, and
stuff. There was a little more to it than that too I guess. I mean we'd
always be there for each other whenever we needed it. Like, there was this
one time when Jack's parents had decided to move, but he didn't want to go
with them. So we all convinced Kristine's parents to let him stay in their
guest house. I dunno, we were just a really close group of friends.

"But I knew that I could always count on Kevin. I mean, he was there when I
totally felt like my parents were completely opressing me. I guess they
were, because they expected such high things from me, and I was just so
fustrated that I was ready to kill myself."

"What!?! Ryan, you know that's totally nuts don't you?" He seemed kinda
pissed.

"Yeah Justin, I do. At least now I do. But if it hadn't been for Kevin I
would've done it. He caught me almost ready to shoot myself with one of my
Dad's guns. He grabbed it from me, and demanded to know what the hell I was
trying to do. We talked for like five hours, and I did a lot of crying and
stuff. I hated pressure, it always made me feel so helpless. Actually, I
figured that after I told him everything he'd probably shoot me myself for
being so pathetic. But he didn't.

"Kevin told me that it wasn't fair what I was going through. But that I
definitely needed to talk to my parents about how I felt. When I expressed
that I didn't think they'd react all that well he told me that they'd be
cool and back off once I told them how I really felt about it. `They
probably don't even realize that they're doing it' he told me.

"Anyways, he was right. Things didn't turn out so great to being with. But
by the time my Mom, Dad and I had finished talking everything was
cool. They had said that they had only ever wanted the best for me, and
that they always want me to try my best, but that I also needed to be
happy. That was the most important thing for them. So, they promised to
back off."

"So... Kevin pretty well saved your life and your relationship with your
`rents. Cool Guy!"

"Yeah... I have a lot to thank him for. I've never been so close to anyone
before, and things were great, but... now he's gone." Whatever restraining
devices that had been on my tears had been removed and they were now
flowing pretty freely. Justin just looked at me with that same look of care
and concern, but there was also a hint of curiosity this time.

"What happened Ryan?"

Deep Breath. "Kevin's dead!" Now I was completely sobbing, or was it
whailing? "He moved to Montreal for this job he got," *sniff* "and one
night on his way home from work some drunk bastard t-boned his car on the
driver side." *gulp* *sniff* "The fuckin' asshole wasn't even barely
hurt. He ripped my best friend from my life and I didn't even get to say
goodbye! I couldn't even go to the funeral!" I was starting to get winded
from all the sobbing and I hadn't even realized that I had been
yelling. Justin moved over to me and gave me a hug. I guess he didn't know
what else to do. We just sat there. Me crying my sorry ass off, and him
sitting there trying to get me to calm down. After what seemed like
forever, I finally started to chill out.

"Ry, I'm so sorry bro. I didn't mean to... woah. I mean, I can't even tell
you that I know how you feel, or what you can do to feel better. I'm like
totally... woah. I can't even imagine how I'd feel in your place. I mean,
if I... oh sorry."

Sniffle. "What Just?"  "Well it's just that... Ow!" I punched him in the
arm, lightly, but enought to get the point accross.

"Come on Justin, say whatever it was that you were going to say. Don't
worry about hurting my feelings.  Besides," I tried to make an effort at
smiling. "I don't think I could cry any more, I've probably lost half my
body weight just crying this afternoon. God, I must look like a freak or
something?"

"Naw, Ry, it's totally understandable. I mean, I dunno what I'd do if that
ever happened to JC. I'd probably handle it way worse than you have. If it
means anything to you, I'd be more than happy to be a good friend to ya. I
know that I can't replace Kevin, but at least I can do my best to be an
awsome friend."

"Uh, thanks Just. You know, it does mean a lot to me." Wow, it really did
somehow make me feel a little better. "I'm sorry bout making you listen to
all the crying and stuff. I'm just glad that you didn't laugh at me and
stuff." Growl... what time was it. My stomach never speaks! We both started
to giggle.

"Dude! I'd never do that to ya... You know someone sounds like their kinda
hungry. I know I am. You wanna go get something to eat?"

"Yeah sure Just. But, uh... do you think we could swing by my hotel so I
can get cleaned up. I must look like shit." Justin just started to laugh.

"Hmmm... well at least this way I'm the better looking one of the two of
us!" Great first I cry all over myself and now I'm blushing! "For sure Ry,
you can take as long as you need." Growl... Ok, guess I wasn't the only one
who was hungry. We both started to laugh. "But I can't promise you that I
won't have eaten by then!"

"Smart ass! K, well lets go then before we both get so hungry we have to
order everything on the menu!"

"What? You weren't planning on doing that anyways?"

"Uh... yeah! I was, just... uh..."

"Shut up! I was just kidding!"

"Yeah Right! Lets go, the hotel's only five minutes away."

"K. Lead the way oh biker dude."

We started walking the quick trip to the hotel. But we ended up running
half of the way there-someone noticed Justin and there was some sort of
crazy mob that started to chase us- so it didn't take us much more than two
and a half minutes. We ended up running up the stairs to the ninth floor
instead of waiting for the elevator.

"Don't you guys have some sort of body guards or something?"

"Uh, yeah, but that's only when we're touring or doing promo stuff. But who
wants to be followed by some `Roid monkey' all day, every day?"

I put my key card into the slot and opened the door. "Don't you ever get
tired of being chased and stuff?"

"Naw, I mean it's a total inconvenience sometimes, but if it weren't for
fans then how would we pay the bills, right?" We walked into my temporary
home. It was decorated in different shades of blue and grey.  There was the
hallway, a bathroom, a dining area with the bar, the living room which had
this sweet ass fire place(what did they need a firplace for in Florida?),
the balcony(complete with Hot Tub), and the bedroom which had it's own
bathroom. The funiture was the kind that you could feel like totally
stayinf there all day, and there were some pretty funky pictures on the
wall too.  "Nice place!"

"I guess you've got a point there about the fans. And yeah, I guess it is a
pretty nice place. I didn't know how long I was going to stay so I figured
I'd at least go for something that was comfortable and stuff.  Aren't you
used to staying in some pretty sweet hotels?"

"Yeah, but we don't usually get to enjoy them. We're usually just there
long enough to sleep, eat, and move on to the next city. Besides, this is
pretty crunk, there's just you here."

"Well make yourself at home, I'm just gonna get changed in my room and then
wash and do my hair and then we can go."

"K, mind if I make a phone call?"

"Go for it. It's not like you're going to call Tibet, right?"

"How do you know that I'm not going to call the Dali Lama?"

"Uh, because Just, isn't he living in New York or something like that?"

"Yeah, whatever. Do you wanna go hurry up before I start to disappear from
the lack of food?"

"Sure, I'll be right out." I walked into my room. Hmmm. I guess it is a
pretty nice place, I mean that bed is soooo soft. I breifly thought about
telling Justin I was too tired to go out, but then I figured I needed to
get out and at least try to have a good time.

I didn't know what we were going to end up doing, so I pulled out a pair of
cream coloured cargos, with a white tank top and a blue collared
shirt. Just in case we end up somewhere that I need to look good. I grabbed
the clothes, stripped down to my boxers and walked into my washroom. I
looked in the mirror.  Not too bad. My abs are coming along. The ridges are
totally visble without having to flex my stomach muscles. If it weren't for
the bright red tear stains running down my cheeks and the totally outta
control hair I might actually look pretty hot. Well, I guess that's fixed
easily. I quickly washed up, carefully gelled my hair so that it was all
standing up(kinda spiked, yet with a bit of curl), and got dressed. Before
I left the washroom I sprayed on some of that new CK cologne,
Contradiction. Satisfied with how I looked I stepped out of the washroom,
and went towards the door. Just as I was about to open it Justin knocked on
it. So I opened it.

"SHIT!" He almost hit the roof! I started to laugh like I never had. "You
just scared the crap outta me Ry!" I guess our laughter is contagous cuz he
started to laugh too.

"Yeah, well sometimes doors do open when you knock on them Just. Otherwise
what'd be he point dude?"

"Uh.. well... I dunno... Hey, is it ok if someone joins us?"

"For sure, well... as long as he or she's not some psycho killer that's
going to kidnap me and hold me for ransom."

"Naw, it's just JC. I called him to see what was up, and he said that he
was just sitting around watching TV. He was about to order a pizza when I
told him that we were about to go out for some grub, and I told him to meet
us, as long as that's ok?"

"No worries Just. Maybe he'll be able to share some embarrassing stories
about ya?"

"You wouldn't!" He started to do this pout thing. Hmm.. maybe we do have
more in common than I thought; we're both four year-olds trapped in an
eighteen year-old's body!

"For a good laugh? Anything!"

"Hey no fair! I don't get to drag any dirt on you outta Kev... shit, I'm
sorry Ry. I was totally not thinking."

I was looking at the ground. "Forget about it... lets just go k?"

"Ry, I really am..."

"Drop it k?" This time he wasn't spared from the trademark stare. But I
immediately felt guilty once I saw the hurt look on his face, so I tried to
change moods quickly. I really didn't want to hurt his feelings. I can
usually forgive pretty easily, especially for people who are there for
me. Besides, I could definitely use another friend. I tried to put on the
best smile I could. "So, where are we going?"

 "The Hard Rock Cafe... as long as that's cool with you?" The priceless
smile was trying to appear on his lips. It was just barely showing through
his pink lips.

"Of course!" Ah hah! Victory. I knew smiles were contagious.

"Sweet. K, well lets go then. I already called downstairs for a cab."

"A'ight!" I took one last look around the living room area checking to make
sure that the windows were all closed and the air conditioning was on. Then
I grabbed the room key, my cell phone, and my wallet and followed Justin
out the door.

"Hey Ry?" He was giving me this totally goofy look. It was actually kinda
cute... cute? What was I thinking?

"Yeah Just?" It came out as almost a whisper.

"Where did you get the cargos?"

"Huh? Oh.. uh, I think they're from the Gap." I was kinda confused, but
then again, I am a true blond.  And as such, I'm definitely a victim of
muddle brain from time to time.

"Well, you've got good taste."

I looked at his pants and realized that we were wearing the same pants,
except his were brown. "Thanks dude! You do too!"

We sort of looked at each other and then at the elevators, and the next
thing I knew we were in a race down the grossly, over-decorated hall. We
reached the button at the same time, but ended up pushing each other out of
the way to try and be the first to hit it. He ended up winning and I
succeeded graciously.

"Well," I puffed out "you win this time. But watch out, cuz next time I'm
gonna whip your little dancing ass!"

He started to do what looked like a dance from one of his videos or
something. "Yeah, well at least I CAN dance!" He started to laugh again,
and that got me going. We were still laughing when the doors whooshed open,
literally. I've never seen elevator doors that opened that fast! I let
Justin push the button to take us to the lobby. He seemed totally happy
that I let him do push it. "Thanks!" Geez, he really was just as much of a
little kid as I was. Good thing Janet's not here. She has enough patience
just dealing with my antics. Between the two of us she'd go totally insane!

"Haha, how do you know that I can't dance?" I could, but I knew that I was
no where near as good as he was. Even if I had some sort of trainer, or
whatever the hell they were called, I probably still wouldn't be able to
dance as well as him. Oh well, as least I know that I could kick his ass on
the singletrack(bike trails) any day.

"I don't, but you know what?" Uh, oh. This look really dangerous. I could
tell I was about to get suckered into something.

"What Just?"

"I'm going to find out whether or not you can dance sooner than you
think. Tonight in fact." Bingo, I knew there was something going on!

"How's that bro?" I have to admit I was totally curious as to what sort of
half baked plan he had in mind.

"We're going to a club tonight. JC and I will show you how it's done!"
Whoosh! Those totally crazy doors opened again and we stepped out into the
lobby.

"Conceited much?" He punched me in the arm. A little harder than he
intended, so I decided to make him feel guilty. "Owwww! That hurt!" I
grabbed my arm in mock pain, and put the most ridiculous look on my
face. You know, the kind that when you're five years old and you think
you're going to die because you got bitten by a mosquito.

"Are you ok Ry?" It was working. He looked really worried. Yes!

I didn't say anything, instead I just took off down the red carpet. I ran
clear across the lobby and out the door that some poor kid dressed in a
suit that looked like it belonged on a monkey had opened for me.  Why are
bell boys(girls?) and doormen(people?) always wearing some putrid colour
that attempts to be red? Anyways, once I got outside I plopped myself down
on the stairs and looked down at the ground. A few seconds later I heard a
couple heavy footsteps and felt someone lightly place his or her hand
lightly on my shoulder.

"Ryan? Are you ok?"

I just looked up at him. He had this priceless look on his face. Almost
worthy of imitating a deer in headlights the way his eyes were so
completely round and his mouth hanging open. I just jumped up, smiled and
started to laugh.

"You ass! I thought I had really hurt you." I noticed the cab sitting there
waiting and I bolted for it.

I yelled over my shoulder at him. "Last one in the cab has to pay for
supper." Thud. I actually ran into the cab. I wasn't really hurt though
because I hadn't been going that fast, but man was I embarrassed. I was
re-oriented just in time to hear the car door slam shut. Justin was in the
cab.

"Shit!" I opened the door. "Eye ya bleegm hortice?" Maybe I could trick him
into conceeding.

"Hard Rock Cafe driver." He turned back to me and gave me the biggest suck
up grin you've ever seen.  "Dude, you really are a clutz!" No luck.

"And you're a putz! Just kidding. That time it did hurt!" We both started
to giggle again. What were we little school boys? My stomach growled
again. I must've been REALLY hungry. My stomach never growled more than
once.

"Geez, when was the last time you ate Ryan, the ice age?"

"Probably about the same time you last told a good joke, Just!" I stuck my
tongue out at him, and he grabbed it.

"Didn't your mom tell you not to stick your tongue out at people?"

"Huh, I cand taw libe is!" This was too damn funny. A little weird, but
still funny.

"What did you say?" He let go and just laughed at me.

"I said I can't talk like this. Geez, do you always grab people's tongues?"

"Nope, only when they stick them out at me. I was raised in the South, you
know where they have manners? And they say that Canadians are polite!"

"You call grabbing someone else's tongue manners? Dude!" Ah hah! Victory! I
was rewarded with a decent blush.

"Yeah, well... say, do you guys really live in igloos???" That got us both
going at the sheer stupidity of the question, but I knew the perfect
answer.

"Sure we do.... at least one of the 36 million does!" I had to admit, it
wasn't a great comeback, but at least I tried.

"Ahem!" The cab driver was turned around in his seat staring at us. He had
really evil brown eyes. We both stopped imediately. It was as if we had
been caught with our hands in the cookie jar. "If you two jerk-offs are
done, it'll be $6.50." I thought they only had crabby cabbies in New York?
Oh well... Before I could fish out some of that weird green money Justin
had beat me to it and was dragging me out of the cab. We both sorta
exchanged this look that said "what the hell was wrong with that guy?" and
walked up the steps and into the restaurant.

"Hey guys, are you here to eat?" A sweet blond haired hostess wearing a
white blouse and tight black skirt walked up to us. Man she was hot. Pretty
cool name too: Malaska.

"Uh, yeah. We're actually meeting someone here. A Mr. Clark. He should
already be here." Justin was totally giving her the cold shoulder. He
didn't even look at her. That was suprising. I would've thought that he
would've been all over her. Hmmm... maybe the rumours about him and Britney
were true?

"Yes, uh, you must be Mr Rose?" Wow. What a smile. Almost as good a
Justin's... Ugh! Stop it! What the hell has gotten into you today? I was
kinda confused about the whole name thing, but then I figured it was just
to stop crazy things from happening; like what happened today in Starbucks.

"That's me."

"All right, if you two gentlemen will follow me, please?" She grabbed two
menus and started to lead us like we were lost puppies or something. The
only thing missing was a leash.

"Are you expecting anyone else in this party Miss?" I kinda tuned out to
what Justin and the hostess were talking about and looked around. There
were Hard Rock Cafe's in Vancouver and Whistler(a totally cool mountain
resort about an hour and a half outside of Whistler), but I had never been
to them. I was in the one on Maui though, but that was when I was still
pretty young. They had a lot of really cool stuff in here.  A guitar signed
by Lenny Kravitz, drumhead from The Beatles, some cool Madonna stuff(since
when was Madonna Hard Rock?) I was staring at the big ass Collector Car
that was above the bar when I was pulled outta my own little world.

"Earth to Ryan????" Justin, and a tall guy with dark brown hair and these
totally intense blue eyes were laughing at me. He was standing, so he must
have stood up when we showed up.

"Huh? Oh, umh.. yeah. Sorry." I was definitely embarrassed. I mean,
sometimes I go off into my own little sheltered world when I'm thinking,
but I don't usually do it when I'm about to meet someone for the first
time. Talk about shitty first impressions.

"No worries. Besides, Justin here does it all the time." Nice smile. For
some reason that's one of the first things I always notice about
people. "By the way, you must be Ryan. I'm Josh." He stuck out his hand and
I took it. It was a nice and firm, yet totally friendly handshake. His hand
felt really warm. I almost didn't want to let go. "Most people call me JC
though. It's nice to meet you, I hear you almost landed up smashing into
Just here." There was something about his voice. It wasn't really an accent
or anything, just really soft and soothing. I immediately felt comfortable
around him. I slid into my chair somewhat dazed.  But then quickly snapped
out of it.

"Yeah, lucky for his pretty boy face that I tripped over a friggin' bench
instead." JC and I both laughed.

"Hey!" Justin had his lower lip sticking out in a pout, and the with the
look in his eyes, he could easily replace one of those really cute
puppies. "What are you talking about Ryan? You're lucky you didn't ruin
your pretty boy face, and *you're* the one that fell to the ground not me,
remember?" He sounded as if he was intent on having the last laugh.

I blushed for a moment, but I wasn't going to let him win. "Well, I suppose
you're right. I mean, if I hadn't tripped over the bench you would've spent
the day totally alone!" I giggled a little, and the puppy dog face
returned. I smiled. "I'm just kidding Just. I'm glad that I tripped over
the bench today, and thank *you* for spending the day with *me*." His own
smile returned, after all we both won the game this time.

"No worries Ry. Now, I think we better order soon before we have to eat
them outta business. You hungry JC?"

"When am I not Justin?"

"Good." He popped his head up as if he were some sort of gopher(the animal,
not the human lackie variety) in search of a server. He spotted one and
waved her over. Another cute blond, but this time she was wearing jeans
instead of the skirt. She must of realized who he really was because she
booted it over to the table.

"Can I help you gentlemen?" She had a smooth English accent. I had to
admit, I was again drawn to a smile. This one was formed by two pink lips,
but somehow I liked the ones that belonged to Justin and Josh better.

"Is there anything you don't eat Ry?" Josh was staring at me as if I had
been turned into a block of ice or something.

"Uh, yeah. I can't eat pork, and the only kinda beef I eat is in a
burger. Otherwise I get sick." I don't know why I can sometimes eat burgers
and not get sick, but if I touch any other beef or pork products I get
violently ill. My doctor couldn't explain it either. So, I just figured it
was better safe than sorry. Because sorry was *really* bad; a little bit of
that stuff in my system and I don't want to eat for days.

Justin started to giggle. "I didn't know talking about throwing up was so
funny Justin?" To tell the truth I was actually a little annoyed. I hated
it when people started to make a big deal out of my problem.

"No, it's not that Ry. It's just that it seems funny that you can eat
burgers but not all that other stuff. Man do I feel sorry for you bro, and
I mean it." He did too, and that was really cool. I dunno, there was just
that total sincerity there that made me feel so, .... well, I guess... I
don't know what it was but I knew that I liked it.

"Thanks Just. I'm sorry `bout being a little bit of a jerk there."

"Naw, you so weren't." We suddenly realized that JC and the server were
looking at us kinda funny. Her eyes were actually sort of bulging out of
her head a little bit.

"What do you want to drink Ryan?" Even though I could tell he was kinda
getting impatient, there was still this completely friendly tone to his
voice. Not even a single hint of hostility.

"Just water thanks." She nodded, quickly turned and then walked away. "Uh,
weren't we going to order guys? And what about Justin?"

"Well I ordered for us all since you were both too enthralled in your own
little conversation to notice, and I just told her to bring water for
Justin."

"Yeah, I don't want to have anything else to drink because I'll drink too
much and then I won't be able to eat as much!" From the look on his face he
could've just won the Stanley Cup. It was so funny. "What?  Now you're
laughing at my eating habits?"

"Nope." I think we enjoyed mocking each other. It *was* pretty childish,
but hey, we're not adults yet.  Besides, it must be really funny to
watch. "I was just laughing at the look on your face. I was just thinking
that it looked like you were about to win the Stanley Cup or something."

"Trust a Canadian to think of something to do with hockey!" I was beginning
to think that we were leaving JC a little outta the loop here, but I guess
I was wrong. "Aren't you too even the least bit curious as to what I
ordered?"

"Uh, yeah... now that you mention it, what did you order JC?" I see that
Justin was falling for JC's trap. I may have just met them, but I felt
connected to them already, and I could see what he was doing. I was totally
suprised that Justin hadn't caught on. But I was good at playing my own
games.

"No, actually Josh, I was hoping that you'd leave it a suprise for us."
Smug Ryan, really smug. Both Justin and JC were totally shocked. I think JC
was more so because he realized that I had caught on to what I he was
planning.

"A little bit sarcastic there Ry?" Hmm... I think Justing must be tired or
something because he's just not catching on right now. Maybe there was
something on his mind. I'd have to make a point of asking him about it
later.

"No Just. I'm totally serious. I want it to be a suprise, so don't ask
anymore because I don't want the suprise to be ruined dude!" JC just
smiled. Man, we really weren't being fair to Justin, but that's ok, I'm
sure the two of them will gang up on me eventually.

"Sure thing Ry. I'm not telling you guys then. So you better not change
your mind, cuz I'm not going to tell!"

"You guys both suck!" He stuck his tongue out at us, but it was only very
briefly so that no one grabbed his tongue. Time to change the subject.

"So, what's with the funky names Josh?" I kinda already knew the answer,
but I figured it was a good place to start a new conversation.

"Well all five of us have cover names. We use them to book into hotels and
make reservations for stuff. It just makes life easier so we maintain at
least some sort of privacy."

"Cool."

The three of us just spent the next ten minutes talking about stuff. Stuff
that totally helped me get to know the guys better and vice versa. They
talked breifly about the other three guys, about what it was like touring
so much, and stuff like that. It pretty well confirmed what I had thought
about them: the five of them were like brothers-except Justin, JC and Lance
were closer, and then Chris and Joey were pretty tight. I figured it was
mostly due to the age difference-, that they all worked their asses off,
and rarely got time off to just chill. Justin excused himself to go to the
washroom, and while he was gone I filled Josh in on the basics about
me. Like that I lived in Vancouver, I loved to Mountain Bike, and that I
eventually wanted to become a doctor. When Justin got back he had the
biggest, goofiest grin on his face.

"Good choice JC." Now who was being smug? Damn!

"Huh?" JC and I said at the same time.

"I just found out what you ordered, and nice choice." He just kept on
smiling, and now JC had joined in. I knew they were going to get me
eventually. Shit! Now how was I going hold it out while we waited. I
decided that I couldn't, so I excused myself and went out in search of our
server. I found her walking out of the kitchen.

"Excuse me, I was just wondering if you could tell me what Mr. Chav... uh,
I mean Mr. Clark ordered for us." I wasn't sure if I was supposed to let on
who they really were, so I just went with it.

"I'm sorry, I was asked not to do that." Hmmm... I wonder who?
"Mr. Timberlake told me that you would come looking for me, and that I was
absolutely not, under any circumstances, to tell you what had been
ordered. I'm really sorry. What I will tell you is that it should all be
out in about ten minutes, ok?" Well at least I didn't have to worry about
having disclosed Josh's identity.

"Uh, yeah... thanks." Shot down. Man. I tried to not make it so obvious
when I sat down, but I guess I was unsuccessful.

"No luck huh?" I just shook my head. Woah, JC's eyes were really cool. They
were like two vibrant oceans, and everytime I looked into them I almost
found myself getting lost in them. I sorta let myself do that for a while
and let Justin and JC just talk until the food finally arrived.

It took what looked like half of the kitchen staff, plus four
servers-including our own- to deliver the food.  It looks like JC ordered
at least one of everything on the menu. I didn't even think that it would
all fit on the table! Lucky for them we had been seated at a table meant
for six. JC just sat there smiling. I must have lookeed confused.

"What? You guys did say you were hungry. So I figured we'd do something a
little different. Just grab whatever you want and chow down dude." He
didn't have to tell Justin twice, he was already piling stuff onto the
empty plate that the server had brought for him. I smiled and started to
dig in too. No one spoke for what seemed like eternity, at least until when
Justin's cell rang.

"Hey, this is Justin." Pause. "Oh hey Scoop! Yeah were at the Hard Rock
right now." Another pause.

JC leaned over to me and whispered, "It's Lance."  "Oh, ok." I whispered
back and tuned back in to the one-sided conversation to my right.

"You bet! Well, why do you meet us here?" Pause Again. "Cool, see you in a
bit." Justin turned off his cell phone and turned to us...

Well that's it for now, I'm tired and it's late. So I guess y'all will have
to wait! Catch ya later. =)