Chapter 2
"You know, I'm starting to think this was a bad idea." Christina said between bites of her bagel as she hung out in Ashley's room the next morning.
Ashley looked down at the pin on her shirt and sighed. "Yea and it was your idea in the first place."
"Well, it's just that they got all weird last night. Like, they have other plans for us or something."
"I think you have been watching way too many movies again." she rolled her eyes.
"You didn't notice how quiet and secretive they got?"
"Not really. Maybe that's just how they act in the house."
Christina shook her head. "Yeah right. There was something definately shady about the way they were acting."
"Maybe you just never noticed it before."
Christina sighed. "Yeah, maybe."
"Yeah well." Ashley said as she got up off her bed. "Let's go to the mall or something."
"Ok. Maybe I can find Jeff around."
"You really like this guy?" Ashley asked as they walked down the hall.
"Well he seems to like me."
"But didn't you hear what Haley said the first day we got here?"
They turned the corner and walked down the stairs. "I don't remember. What did she say?"
"That he wasn't with them because he was out looking for new girls? That sounds like a scumball to me."
"Come on." Christina said as she stopped in the lobby. "I'm sure it wasn't how it sounded."
"And it was supposed to sound any other way?" Ashley added as she walked around Christina and opened one of the double doors.
"Just give him a chance."
"I don't need to or want to." Ashley replied with an attitude. "You just better be careful."
"Yes ma'am." she replied with an attitude back just as they both almost ran into Miranda.
"Well, since I ran into you, I want you both to know that you have to show up at the house tonight at the same time on the dot."
"What for?" Ashley jumped in.
"Just show up." Miranda replied with her own attitude.
"Um, ok?" Christina said to herself.
Miranda switched her stare over to Christina. "Oh, by the way, Jeff was looking for you."
"Do you know where he's at?"
She turned the other way. "Nope." she bluntly replied and walked away.
Ashley looked at Christina with a strange expression on her face. "What was that all about?"
"She's pms'ing? I dunno." she shrugged.
Ashley laughed. "C'mon. Let's go."
They arrived at the mall fifteen minutes later and hurried inside. They jumped from shop to shop, spending the next four hours circling the mall at least ten times until they were so tired that they finally found their way back to the front doors.
"Ok. I don't think I need to buy anything for another month." Christina sighed as she lazily pushed open the doors with her hands full of bags.
"Yeah, right." Ashley snickered. "We always say that but we are here again the next weekend."
Christina sat down on a bench to rest her hands and changed the subject. "So, what do you think they want us at the house tonight for?"
Ashley lightly laughed to herself. "Probably to make us eat glass or walk on nails or something."
"Shut up!" Christina laughed.
"No, seriously, they are really weird lately. Who knows what they will do next."
"Hey Christina!" a guys voice yelled out behind them.
"Jeff? Hey!" Christina replied as she stood up and gave him a hug.
"You girls look like you've had a busy day."
"Oh yeah, it was great." Ashley exaggerated as she rolled her eyes, obviously appalled by the sight of him.
"So, what have you been up to? Miranda told me that you were looking for me."
He stuck his hands in his pockets and straightened his posture. "I was just out with some friends and I was looking for you to see if you wanted to come along."
"Oh. I'm sorry. I was hanging out with Ashley up in her dorm this morning."
"It's alright. I'm glad I found you now. Maybe we can do something tonight instead?"
Christina looked down at the ground and sighed. "We have to be at the house tonight at eight."
"Oh." he said with a bit of dissappointment. "Ok then. Maybe some other time."
"Yeah. Some other time then."
"Well, I gotta get going. I'll see ya around."
"Yeah, we gotta get going too." Ashley interrupted as she walked up behind Christina.
"See ya." Christina replied as he walked back out into the parking lot, jumped into his Mustang and drove away.
"Well then, that's that." Ashely replied, a bit relieved that he was now gone.
"Yeah, that's that." Christina said with an attitude as she walked away.
"Don't say that you are pissed at me?"
"I'm not saying anything."
"What do you want with him anyways? He is bad news."
Christina stopped and looked at Ashley. "You can't say that. You don't even know him."
"Are we going to have this conversation again? Because, I don't remember you knowing him all too well either!"
"Yeah, but you didn't like him from the start. All because of what Haley said. I don't even believe her."
"Well you seem to like her too."
"Whadya mean?" Christina replied as she opened the door and sat in the car.
"You were the one who was so quick to jump into the whole sorority thing."
"Don't even say that I dragged you over there."
Ashley hesitated. "Well, I didn't want you to do this alone."
"Yeah, right." she laughed.
"What?" she asked as she pulled out of the parking lot.
"You need to loosen up or something."
"No I don't. I'm perfectly fine."
Christina laughed again. "No your not. You need some action."
"What are you talking about?"
"You need a man."
"Shut up!" Ashley joked as they continued down the highway.
They arrived at the house on the dot, waiting for another serious meeting with the whole house but were relieved to find out that they were going out on the town for some club hopping.
"I am not dressed for going out." Ashley whined to Haley as they sat on the couch.
"Yeah, me either." Christina added.
"Well, you both can raid our closets upstairs. All of the sisters share with each other and since you are both pretty much one of us now, you can wear what ever you want."
"Oh. Ok." they replied in unison as two other sisters led them upstairs.
"They better not wear anything of mine." Miranda said with an attitude.
"Give me a break, Miranda. Could you stop being a bitch for like two minutes?"
"Who's side are you on anyway?" she grumbled and walked away, knowing she couldn't say anything smart to her if she wanted to keep her position in the house.
"I can't believe I'm gonna wear this!" Ashley exclaimed as she looked into the mirror at herself. She had on a short mini-skirt and a small glittery shirt.
"Well, I'll be able to see you a mile away." Christina joked.
"Gee, thanks."
"Yeah, maybe you can get some action tonight!"
"Ha ha funny."
"How do I look?"
Ashley sighed. "Alot better than me."
"Are you girls almost ready?" Haley yelled from downstairs.
"We're coming!" Ashley yelled back as they walked down the stairs.
"You guys look good. Let's go!" Haley leaded.
"So, where are we going?" Christina wondered.
"Here and there." Haley replied. "We usually end up at The Palace in Beverly Hills, though."
They all walked out to the two SUV's that were waiting to take all ten of them into the heart of the city.
A couple hours later they ended up at The Palace. The club was packed and it took them almost a half an hour to get to the door.
"I need your ID's." the bouncer by the door yelled to everyone near the front of the line.
"Shit! I don't have mine!" Ashley exclaimed.
"What's going on?" Miranda turned around and let two other sisters walk ahead of her.
"Ashley forgot her ID." Christina informed her.
"You don't have it in your purse?"
Ashley frantically searched. "No. It's not in my wallet either."
"Ok. Calm down." she grabbed her hands out of her purse. "I'll let you in on a little secret."
"And that is?"
"If you go sneak around the building, they will let you in the back door."
"Are you serious?"
"Very. You just have to go down through there." she pointed to the small and very dark walkway between the club and the next building.
"But, you can't even see anything. It's pitch black."
"There is a small light for the door at the end. See it?" she pointed to the light which seemed miles away.
"Yeah, but, I don't think this is a good idea."
"You'll be fine, trust me." she said calmly with a spark in her eyes.
"But what if I get caught?"
"I'll stand at the entry here, just to make sure that you don't."
Ashley sighed. "I'll meet you inside Chris."
"Be careful." she replied.
Miranda smiled to herself at the joke she had just played on Ashley as she watched her walk into complete darkness. She saw the bouncer watching her and quickly walked away.
Ashley stopped and looked both ways. The one end, a small dim light illuminated the corner of the building. The other way went back out into the street. She could still see the people lined up to get into the club.
"Ok, Ashley," she said to herself. "Let's keep going."
She walked a little more and then a little faster as she neared the end. The air was so quiet that it was almost silent except for the sound of her boots hitting the ground. She sighed as she finally saw the corner of the building.
She turned quickly, running smack dab into someone. She stumbled backwards but as she regained her balance, she realized that she must have run into a bouncer and came up with a quick excuse.
"I'm sorry! I thought you could go in this way. I'm going back." she said and turned around.
"Wait. Who are you?" he replied.
She stopped and turned back around. "I'm Ashley, who are you?" she said as she stared intently at him with a strange expression. "Aren't you a little small to be a bouncer?"
He smiled lightly. "You don't know who I am?"
"Justin!" one of his bodyguards ran up to him. "Are you okay?"
"It's aight, Lonnie. I'm cool." he held out his arm to stop him.
"I'm guessing you are Justin?" she said smartly.
He laughed. "Well, yeah, but, you don't know who I am?"
"Uh. Ok. I'm confused." her strange expression returned. "You are Justin but you are also someone else?"
Justin sighed. "Cool. You don't know."
"Know what?"
"I am Justin from the group *NSYNC." he replied and then backed away a bit. Preparing for a high pitched scream.
Ashley stared at him for a second as she realized it was him. "Oh. Justin Timberlake?" she said, calmly.
Justin, stunned that she didn't jump on him, relaxed and smiled. "Yeah, the one and only."
"Wow. Who would have guessed I'd run into you like this. No pun intended."
He laughed. "Yeah, right. So, what are you doing back here?"
"Oh." she replied, remembering what she came back there for. "Well, I forgot my ID and one of my sorority sisters said that I could get in back here."
"Oh yeah?" he laughed again.
"I'm guessing I can't." she sighed.
"This door is always locked from the outside. It is impossible to get in."
Ashley looked at the ground. "I should have figured she was screwin around."
Justin paused and motioned to Lonnie to open the door. "Well, since you are so nice and you didn't come back here to try to jump me, I'll let you go in with me."
"Seriously?"
"Sure." he streached out his arm for her to join him. "Come on."
They walked in together as Lonnie led the way, Andre flanked behind. They walked to a V.I.P table and Justin asked her to join him. As they stood around, Christina saw her from the other end of the club.
"Hey guys, she got in!"
"Where is she?" Haley asked.
"Over there!" she pointed.
"I can't believe she actually got in." Miranda replied.
"I'm not even going to ask what you did." Haley said with an attitude.
"I didn't do anything bad, just showed her around the back."
Haley paused. "You can't get in around the back."
"Well obviously she did."
"She came in with some hot guy. I can't tell who he is from here." Cassie joined them.
"He must be pretty important. He has bodyguards too." Haley added.
"Oh my God!" Christina exclaimed.
"What?" Haley replied quickly.
"She is with Justin Timberlake from *NSYNC!"
"Shut up, no she isn't!" Miranda said in denial.
"Are you serious?" Cassie asked.
"Let's go meet him!" Haley exclaimed, walking ahead of them.
Miranda stared in disbelief. The glare in her eyes filled with defeat. She stood with pursed lips as she sucked up some pride and followed the others to meet Justin.
Chapter 3