The club was loud, with a lot of distractions, and that's why Marissa was there. She sat quietly at an empty table. The occasional light from the dance floor reached her, but not often because of the people between her and the lights. She was watching the people move on the floor, meeting, dancing, parting, and meeting again. It was fascinating.
"Can I join you?" She looked up to see a somewhat scruffy young man, who looked exhausted. He was leaning on one of the empty chairs with his left hand, his right hand running though bright red hair that looked like a hair dye job gone badly. He was bulky, with broad shoulders that may have been accented by the baggy clothes he wore. A gold Superman logo hung on a thick gold chain around his neck.
"Only free seat in the house. Help yourself," she said.
He did, sinking down with a sigh that was not exaggerated. "Thank you. I'm Joey," he introduced himself. She shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you," she said. "Marissa."
He paused, watching her for a minute, then shrugged. "I'm actually trying to come up with a way to ask you if you come here a lot that doesn't sound corny. I'm not having any luck," he explained with a grin. "I'm too tired. This is my first time," he added, almost too quickly.
She smiled. "I'm sure it is. I come when I need a distraction - which is more often than I'll admit - or to people-watch."
His eyebrows drew together. "People-watch?" he asked.
"Sure." Marissa stirred her watered-down root beer slowly. "You know, observe. Like...." She paused. "Those two over there. They haven't let go of each other all night. It screams ‘long time commitment' or ‘one-night stand,' I'm not sure which."
He turned to look in the direction she indicated, then gave a slow, contemplative nod. "So... how do you find out?"
She shrugged. "Usually, I don't."
He looked confused again. "So why bother?"
"Why not?" She took a drink of her soda, then someone tapped her shoulder.
"You promised me a dance," he said. "Is now a better time?" She smiled a little hesitantly.
"I'll hold your table," Joe told her. "Promise."
"Great, thanks." She turned back to the man standing over her, and stood. "Now is great." She vanished into the crowd. Joe leaned forward, resting his elbows on the table, and closed his eyes.
"You didn't have to come," JC said, sitting down in the seat Marissa had abandoned.
"That's seat's taken," Joey told him without opening his eyes.
JC leaned back. "I'll give it up."
"There you are!" Justin appeared, Lance in tow, and they plopped in chairs around the table - chairs they'd scavenged from somewhere else in the club. "We thought you'd gone back."
Joey gave a short laugh. "A thought or a bet, and who won?" He rubbed his face and sat up.
"Actually, just a thought," Lance said. "We couldn't find anyone to take the bet. I haven't seen Chris all night."
The song ended, and Joey turned his attention from his friends to find Marissa. As soon as he did, he turned to JC. "That's it, your ousted. Out of the seat."
"I'm out, I'm out," JC muttered as Joey pushed at his arm, and got up.
Marissa sank down in her former chair and took a drink of her root beer flavored water. "Thank you," she said to Joe, flashing him a smile. "You've... multiplied."
The others grinned. "Well," Joe said, "this is Justin, Lance, and JC. Guys, this is Marissa."
She turned to look at them, smiling. Justin was a slender young man, with thick, brown curls cut close to his head. He wore a monogram gold necklace with the initial JRT. His eyes were a startling color of blue, and his smile quick to appear. Next to him, Lance seemed almost colorless, in spite of the tan. His eyes were pale green, his blonde hair cut short. He had a smile just as ready as Justin's, but something was different, maybe it was warmer. Or less cheesy? She wasn't sure. JC had the kind of face she'd always imagined on Kings or deposed rulers, an aristocratic face that was softened by his smile. His eyes were just as startlingly blue as Justin's.
"You're one short," she said offhand, and finished off the water in her glass. They were all staring at her when she looked up again, and she smiled. "Oh, come on, as if I could have missed that," she said. "Although Justin not blond is... different." She looked at him appraisingly, and he squirmed. "Good or bad, I'm not entirely sure yet."
"Drink orders?" a waitress asked, covering JC's snicker. They all ordered something, and she left again.
"Although, Mr. Fatone...."
"Ugh, don't call me that," he groaned. "It makes me look for my father."
Marissa grinned. "I know the feeling. So, Joe or Joey?"
He shrugged. "Whichever."
"Right. You look horrid in bright red. Was that the color you wanted?"
He shrugged again. "More or less."
She smiled. "I don't mean to come down hard on you or anything."
"Don't worry about it," Lance said easily. "He does the same to us."
"He's used to it," Justin said. Their drinks arrived; Marissa paid for hers and gratefully took a sip.
"What are you doing tomorrow?" Joey asked her as she set the root beer down again.
She looked at him warily. "Why?"
"Curious," he said casually. JC snickered. Joey glared at him.
"Going to work, probably. I might come back here, see if those two come back. And if they're together." She nodded at the couple she'd noticed earlier. Joey grinned. "And what are you guys doing here, anyway?"
"Unwinding," JC told her. "We didn't get enough noise at the concert tonight; we decided to really try to destroy our ears." He grinned at her. She chuckled and turned her attention to her drink.
Joey touched her arm, bringing her attention back to him. "Would you like to go out to lunch tomorrow?" he asked.
She smiled at him. "Sure. But I warn you, nothing will happen."
A shocked look filled his eyes. "What? I mean...."
"No, dear," she said, patting his arm. "You're too young."
Joey's jaw dropped. Justin and Lance both choked on their drinks, nearly spitting their soda at her. Justin swallowed with difficulty and coughed. JC laughed out loud at the astonished look on Joey's face, and patted Justin and Lance on the back. "You two gonna be okay?" he asked.
Justin finally recovered. "Now you know how I feel!" he crowed triumphantly, and turned to Marissa. "I can't thank you enough for that," he told her, grinning widely.
"Me neither," Lance grinned.
"How do you know?" Joey asked.
Marissa grinned. "What I know about you guys could fill a tea cup - maybe. That is: Chris-with-the-braids is oldest, and Justin-with-the-blond-curls is youngest." She nodded at Justin, who grinned at her. "You're from Orlando. ‘I Want You Back' has an awesome bass line, and ‘Giddy Up'... well, I'm just not going to go there. Beyond that, I'm clueless. I just barely learned all your names and who belongs to them."
There was a startled silence. "But that still doesn't tell me..." Joey started.
"Oh. Well... You're younger than Chris."
"By six years," an unfamiliar voice said over her head, and she looked up. With a startled shriek she fell back into Joey.
"Um. That's Chris," he informed her, laughing.
"Oh...." She sat back up, looking at him with the same appraising look she'd given Justin. She was amused to notice that he didn't squirm. He was about JC's height, with short dark hair and a smile that promised laughter. Gold hoops glittered in his ears when the lights caught them, and a silver necklace of large beads was around his neck. His hands were tucked comfortably in the pockets of his sweatshirt. "The Morning Zoo was right," she said after a minute.
"About what?" Lance asked. There was a sort of anticipation in his voice, and she grinned at him, then turned back to Chris.
"He looks much better with short hair. And if he got rid of the scruff, he'd be down right handsome."
Chris lifted an eyebrow, rubbing thoughtfully at the goatee on his chin. "I'm not sure even that would help," he grinned after a minute. "But thanks for the opinion."
"Sorry," she said, and offered her hand. "It's a bad habit. I'm Marissa."
"What's a bad habit?" He took it, giving her a firm grip.
"Speaking my mind."
Chris laughed. "You'd fit right in."
She lifted her eyebrow at him. "Oh, really?" She wasn't entirely sure how to take that.
"Of course. Insanity rules," he said lightly.
"Oh. Well, then I would. I must be insane to be here." She gestured at the club.
"Hey! I'm not insane," Lance protested.
"Nope, you're a pixie in a human world, which amounts to the same thing," Marissa said.
"A what?" he demanded.
"Well, that's the closest I could come to what you look like," she said in mock defense. "I've seen pictures of Justin that convince me he's half elven and just hides it well."
"Pixie?" Joey laughed. "That's original."
"That's me," she smiled.
"You know...." Chris started, grinning at Lance.
"Don't. Just... don't," Lance said with an answering grin, and turned to Marissa. "You have no idea what you just started. As if the albino from Mississippi cracks weren't enough." He sounded disgruntled, but he was smiling.
"Eh, remind Joey he's too young," she said flippantly, and Joey grinned back at her.
"He's too young for what?" Chris asked.
"Her," JC said.
"How old are you?" he asked, turning his full attention on her. She smiled widely.
"And that's my cue to go. Here." She pulled a card from her purse, wrote something on the back of it, and handed it to Joey. "That's my extension. I'll see you tomorrow."
He smiled. "Great. Nice to meet you, Marissa."
"Good to meet you all. Night." She got up gracefully and walked away from the table for the door, oblivious to or ignoring the startled looks on Chris and JC's faces.
"Oh, good going, Chris. You chased her off!" Justin teased.
"It's not polite to ask a lady her age," Joey added good-naturedly, tucking the card into a pocket.
Chris gave his head a shake. "Yeah, well, I didn't expect... I mean..."
JC sat down in her abandoned chair. "Are the rest of us invited to lunch?" he asked Joey. The other three focused on him as well, and he laughed.
"It depends some on how nice you guys are," Joey said.
"In that case, I'm ready to go back," Chris told him. Joey looked at him; he didn't look tired. But Chris never looked tired.
The others nodded. "If for no other reason than I want to be awake in time for lunch," Justin said, getting up.
"Awake or merely moving?" Chris teased.
"Awake," he said with a mischievous grin. "Definitely awake."
Go on to Next Chapter | Chance