| "So, who are we today?" JC snickered, lounging on the long plush couch that graced one side of the tour bus. He inhaled deeply on the joint handed to him and closed his eyes. Lance chuckled, looking over some papers. "Oh, we get to be the good guys today. Charity awaits, my friend." He took the offering from JC and took a long drag, passing it off to Justin. The sweet smoke released from his lungs and out his mouth, and he returned to the business at hand. "Don't forget, they're bringing in like 10 kids with Down's Syndrome, so have your picture faces on. Those kids deserve 100% okay?" He eyed Joey, who was half passed out. "Joey!" he called, kicking out at his feet. "You hear me?" Joey nodded, never opening his eyes. Chris flew into the lounge area and covered his nose. "You guys at it again?" he grimaced. Since becoming engaged, pot was a no-no for him. The more he thought about it, anything fun was off limits. Sighing heavily, he pushed Joey's feet to the side and sat next to Lance, overlooking the schedule. "I hope you all sober up by the time we have to do pictures. The last time you were high in a picture it was all over the fucking Enquirer." JC lifted his hand up in protest. "That was just Justin and he was with Brit, not us. So technically you can't count that." Justin stood up and stretched his arms over his head. "Fuck you, JC. You think you're so fucking great just cuz you stay clean?" He smirked and stared at his oldest friend through droopy eyes. "You're just as bad as the rest of us. How you don't get caught is beyond me!" Lance threw the papers down. "At least you're not being told to come out of the closet already. For chrissakes, people insist on outing me when I'm not even outable. Now that's pain, man!" He tried to keep a straight face, but when Joey held his middle finger up at him, a loud laugh escaped him. JC smiled crookedly. "And they say you can't act!" Lance shook his head. "All I'm saying is if I was gay, I would say so. And I sure as shit wouldn't be single. And if I was..." "Shut up!" Justin groaned, throwing a pillow at him. "We know you're not gay. Fans know you're not gay. So just shut up!" "Fine," Lance pouted, folding his arms over his chest and leaning back. Joey's hysterical laugh filled the small area. "What's funny?" Chris asked, wishing he was high too. He hated being the odd man out with them. Once upon a time, Lance was the only odd man out, but he'd made up for lost time in a hurry, becoming as popular as Justin. Joey opened his eyes and stared at him. "You guys are just lame. Stupid idle chatter filling our time. JC, go write us a song to sing. We got work to do." Justin looked at him, then at JC and shrugged. "No more for him. He gets too weird." The large bus pulled off the exit, and in the darkness of the night, entered the hotel parking lot. "Anyone out there?" Lance asked as JC peered out the windows. "Nope, it looks like our fans can't be bothered to stand out here at 3 am and freeze their cute little asses off." He stood up and sauntered down to his bunk. "So what time do we have to be on for this charity thingy?" Lance ran his hand through his hair. "Eight thirty. It's a breakfast. No more weed tonight, JC! Hear me?" JC waved his hand at him, grabbed his backpack and headed for the front of the bus. "He's not listening," Justin laughed. "He's gonna do more, then oversleep, then be late." He laughed at the thought. "Why do you figure fans think JC is always late anyway? He don't do anything." Joey stood suddenly, and grabbed Justin in a headlock. "You be nice now, Justin. Don't make me kick your little virginal ass." Justin squirmed out from under the older singers grasp and tackled him to the couch. "And don't make me tell you again that I'm not a virgin, asshole." Lance stared blankly at the two of them, wrestling around. The pot had hit him hard, once again, and he wobbled slightly, a deep laugh erupting without warning. "You two," he grinned, covering his mouth and stepping over them. He grabbed his duffle bag and headed up to JC. "Rollin' Rollin' Rollin' Keep Rollin' Rollin' Rollin'" he sang, bopping his head. "Lance, man, if you don't stop with that song. Shit. Now I'm gonna be singing it all night." "Hey, you think we can hook up with them girls? You know, the ones on the video? I want girls like that in our video. They kick ass." Lance pondered the idea of having tougher, sexy women involved in their lives. He was getting sick of the Barbie doll type. JC shrugged as the bus stopped. "I'll think about it," he muttered, climbing off the bus. Lance followed, heading into the hotel, his body weary and his mind fuzzy. He giggled at nothing in particular, and sat on the lobby couch, waiting for his room card. "Did it all for the nookie..." Chris hopped over to him. "You think Christina really did Fred?" "Naturally," Lance answered, a devilish grin on. "I think she'd do Carson too, if he'd let her." Chris sighed. "So, eight thirty right?" Joey and Justin entered the lobby, stopping at the desk where the room cards were ready. Lance and JC joined them, Chris right behind. He stared at his four stoned friends and shook his head. "Wake up calls, in these rooms, please. At seven?" He waited for the desk clerk to nod before leading the pack to the elevators. JC leaned back against the wall, his eyes closed. Joey had woken up quite nicely, and was having a good time bugging Justin. Lance just relaxed, glad to be heading off to a bed. When the doors opened, they scattered down the hall, each to his own room. "You look nice," Joey commented as a bleary eyed JC stumbled from his room. "Tired, so tired," JC whined, leaning his head against Joey's arm. Joey shrugged him off, as he'd done so many times in the past and waited for the other three to make their way to the elevators so they could go to breakfast and complete their charity for the day. Lance appeared next, preppy and perky. Chris left his room, chipper and awake. Justin grumbled out of his room, baseball cap on backwards, hands shoved into his pockets. Joey had to laugh. So predictable. "Let's roll," he said, pushing the button. When the doors opened, flashs went off. The five men smiled and waved, signing autographs for the fans who managed to get in. They made their way to the conference room where the breakfast was being held, and grinned sweetly. Justin bent down and hugged a little girl, accepting a rose she handed him. "Thanks," he said, planting a kiss on her cheek. He posed for a picture, turning his southern charm on, and blinked when the flash popped in his eyes. Tiredness was pushed aside, and he was dying for something to eat. He still had munchies from the night before, and his stomach was rumbling. Lance posed inbetween two girls, and signed some CD's as he made his way into the conference room. He still felt a little muddled from the pot, but was managing quite well, as usual. He knew as soon as the event was over, they could all go back to normal. Stop pretending for a few more hours and be themselves. Joey grinned, scouting out a couple of legal aged girls standing against the wall eyeing him with that look. He had to remember to get security over there and give them passes for the show. Then he could show them some real fun. JC struggled to keep his eyes open. He laughed when he heard a couple of teens chat with each other about how it was true, he was tired all the time. Chris watched on with amusement. His friends were not at all what they appeared. Of course, no one was. Everyone in life has parts they play, they just don't do it in the spotlight. He nodded happily and posed for a photo. He knew once the cameras were gone, everyone would take a breather and be who they really were. Horny, stoned, bitchy, whatever. At least they had each other. Anyone else would be, well, shocked! |
| PLAY THE PART by destiny |