Chapter 16 is here!! Check it out and let me know what you thought! :)
Ch. 16
It Means Nothing
Justin could hear Allie and Ryan conversing quietly for a few more moments, before Allie said something that sounded like,
“I’ll see you later.”
Knowing that Allie was about to leave the room, and not wanting to be caught eavesdropping, Justin hurried down the hallway and turned a corner so that he was out of sight. He heard the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by disappearing footsteps and the distant ding of an elevator. After a few moments, Justin peered around the corner at the hallway where his room was situated; no one was there. He walked down the hall, pulling out his key card as he did so. He swiftly slid it into the slot and pushed the door open.
Ryan was sitting on the couch in the living area playing Xbox. Upon hearing the door open, he glanced up.
“Oh, hey man.” He called.
“Okay, what the hell was that?” Justin asked angrily without preamble.
Ryan paused the game and turned to look at Justin with furrowed eyebrows. “What?”
“What the hell were you just doing?”
Ryan shook his head in confusion. “Dude...what are you talking about?”
“I saw you with Allie like, two seconds ago!” Justin yelled.
Realization dawned on Ryan. “Oh. Justin...that’s not what it looked like.”
“Yeah, right.” Justin spat. “What, are you going behind my back trying to get her?”
Ryan was a little taken aback by how angry Justin was. Justin hadn’t gotten this mad in quite some time. “Of course I’m not trying to do that!” Ryan replied in outrage. “I would never do that to you, man, you’re my best friend!”
“Then what was she doing in here?”
“She was actually upset with you, and I was just trying to comfort her!” Ryan exclaimed.
“Oh, yeah, comfort her.” Justin stated sarcastically.
“Dude, calm down for a minute and let me explain!” Ryan cried in frustration.
Justin glared at him.
Ryan took a deep breath. “Like I said...she was upset with you because she saw you flirting with some girl at a photoshoot or something,”
Justin felt his heart sink. “She came to the photoshoot?”
Ryan shrugged. “Apparently. She said you were always flirting with her, but then when she went to the shoot she saw you with some other girl, asking for her number or something.”
Justin let out a groan.
Ryan shook his head. “Look, I dunno, all I know is that she was mad at you for some reason similar to that. I was on my way down to the lobby when I ran into her, and she was clearly upset, so I asked her if she wanted to talk about it. I brought her into the room, and she started ranting about how she hated that you’d flirt with her one minute and then go flirt with someone else the next. I told her to calm down, and that that was just the way you were.”
“You told her that?” Justin asked in disbelief.
“Well, yeah! That’s the truth!”
Justin put his head in his hands, groaning loudly. “Now she’s gonna hate me!” He exclaimed.
“Wait, I wasn’t finished!” Ryan stated. He took a deep breath, before launching into another explanation, “I also told her that even though you’re a flirt like that, you were definitely into her, because you flirted with her more than anyone else, and because you never shut up about her.”
Justin gave him a look.
“Well, it’s true! Half the time, she’s the only thing you want to talk about!” Ryan said defensively.
When Justin remained silent, Ryan continued, “Anyway, so then, she was really relieved, and she gave me a hug to thank me for calming her down and assuring her you weren’t just playing her.” He shrugged. “That’s all. She and I are just friends, I have no feelings towards her like that whatsoever, man. I promise.”
Justin let out a sigh as he put his head in his hands.
“I’m telling the truth, dude.” Ryan said simply.
There was a long silence during which Ryan just stared at Justin.
Justin finally looked up at him. “Sorry, for...flipping a shit on you like that.” He mumbled, embarrassed.
“It’s alright. Bros before hos, remember?” Ryan said, grinning at him.
Justin nodded. “Yeah.” He stated.
“And she doesn’t hate you.” Ryan assured him. “She was extremely relieved when I told her you weren’t just playing her.”
“Good.” Justin said. He let out a sigh. “I should probably go talk to her...”
“Yeah, you should.” Ryan stated. “Considering I...kind of covered for you.”
Justin looked up at him questioningly, furrowing his eyebrows slightly.
“Well...I told her you weren’t playing her, but...” Ryan shrugged. “You kind of are, man.”
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When Justin continued to look at him blankly, Ryan said slowly, “The bet?”
“Oh.” Justin stated. “Right. Almost forgot.”
Ryan surveyed him. “You still want to go through with that, right? I mean...all of this is just your way of getting her to like you enough to sleep with you...right?”
“Yeah. Of course.” Justin replied immediately, shrugging it off like it was nothing.
Ryan continued to look at him, as if he could see right through Justin’s lie.
Justin felt his shoulders slump slightly and he looked up at the ceiling in defeat. “Alright, maybe lately I’ve started to...not focus entirely on the bet when I talk to her.”
Ryan raised his eyebrows at him, the corners of his lips forming a slight knowing smile. “Which means?”
“Nothing, it means nothing.” Justin replied, shaking his head.
“Oh, obviously.” Ryan stated sarcastically, grinning at him. He paused. “Look, do you still want to go through with the bet, or not?”
“Yes! Yeah, man, of course I do!” Justin stated immediately.
Ryan gave him a look as if to say, ‘Yeah, right.’
When Ryan continued to stare at him, Justin shifted uncomfortably.
“Dude, why are you looking at me like that?” He asked.
Ryan shrugged. “Because I know you’re lying.” He replied simply.
“I’m not lying!” Justin cried in protest.
“Justin, I’ve known you since practically birth, I can tell when you’re lying. I’m like your mom, but just...you know...” He furrowed his eyebrows awkwardly. “Not...female...”
Justin let out a sigh. “I hate the fact that you know me so well.” He muttered bitterly.
Ryan let out a laugh. “The feeling’s mutual.” A grin spread across his face. “So you are lying?”
Justin was silent for a moment before he nodded his head. “Yeah.” He replied. “I am.”
Ryan smirked. “Knew it.” He said smugly.
Justin sighed. “It’s just...I dunno.” He shook his head. “I kind of like her...y’know, as...more than just a friend.”
“Yeah, I know.” Ryan replied casually.
“You do?” Justin looked up at him with surprise.
“Like I said: I’ve known you since birth. And as I was saying before: you don’t shut up about her.” Ryan chuckled. “I can tell when you like somebody, dude.”
Justin bit his lip. “Well...I’m pretty sure she likes me, too -”
“She does.” Ryan interrupted.
“Okay, well regardless...I don’t really want to tell Chaz that I’m done with the bet.” Justin admitted.
“Why?”
“Because you know how annoying he gets when he wins things...I hate losing to him.” Justin said grudgingly.
“How old are you, five?” Ryan asked jokingly.
“You know you agree with me, Ryan!” Justin replied.
“Okay, yes, I agree with you, Chaz is an irritating little bitch when he wins. But still...you can’t just keep the fact that you actually like Allie from him...” Ryan pointed out skeptically.
“I can if I want.” Justin replied simply.
“No. You can’t.” Ryan said flatly. “He might be a total idiot at times, but...he doesn’t stay clueless forever. He’s gonna figure it out eventually.”
Justin shrugged. “Then let him figure it out.”
“Let who figure what out?” Chaz’s voice asked as he opened the door to the room and stepped inside.
Justin and Ryan looked at him.
“Let you figure out if you like Meaghan or not.” Justin lied smoothly.
Chaz raised his eyebrows. “Talking about me, are you?” He smirked.
“It would appear so.” Ryan said dryly, giving Justin a pointed look.
“Well, to answer your question, yes, I do like her.” Chaz said.
Justin and Ryan raised their eyebrows at him, smirking.
“Oh, really?” Justin asked.
Chaz nodded. “Yeah. Already made out with her, too.” He grinned smugly.
“When?” Ryan questioned.
“Club Rush.” Chaz replied, grabbing an apple from off of the kitchenette counter and taking a bite out of it. “Oh!” He pointed at Justin. “I do want to talk to you, man.”
Justin raised an eyebrow. “About?”
“The bet.” Chaz stated, as if it were obvious. He smirked. “How’s it going? Time’s a-ticking you know. Only got a month left, it’s already almost January.” A smug and satisfied look came over his face.
“I know.” Justin replied in annoyance. He put on a smirk to match Chaz’s. “And don’t worry, it’s going just fine. I’ve already kissed her, I’ll have won that bet before the end of January.”
Ryan turned and looked at Justin in surprise. “You’ve kissed Allie?”
Justin nodded. “Yeah, last night.” He replied.
“Score.” Chaz chuckled, holding out his hand for Justin to high-five.
Justin grinned at him.
Ryan merely gave Justin a look.
Catching this look, and seeing that Chaz was suddenly distracted by his phone ringing, Justin shrugged at him.
“You can’t keep pretending like you’re going through with the bet forever.” Ryan muttered as Chaz answered his phone.
“Yeah, I can.” Justin replied in an undertone.
“What happens if you and Allie become more than just friends?” Ryan asked.
Justin paused. ‘I didn’t think about that.’ He thought truthfully. He looked at his best friend and shrugged. “Then...I guess I’ll have to tell him.” He replied. “But until then...if I ever want Allie and I to actually be more than friends, I need to go talk to her.”
Clapping Ryan on the back, and waving good-bye to Chaz, Justin grabbed his key card from off of the table and headed for the door.
*******
“Hey Mrs. Villegas, have you seen Allie?” Justin inquired. He was standing outside of Allie’s room and facing Jasmine’s mom, who was looking at him questioningly.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure she’s out on the balcony.” Mrs. Villegas replied, smiling warmly at him. “Come on in and talk to her.”
Justin smiled. “Thanks.”
“No problem, Justin.”
Justin walked into the suite and headed for the balcony as Mrs. Villegas closed the door behind him. The curtains were drawn over the sliding glass doors to the balcony, so he couldn’t tell if Allie was indeed out there or not. Cautiously, he slid the door open, and stepped out onto the balcony.
A breathtaking view met his eyes. The balcony was small, with just enough room for a few chairs, but it was what you could see from it that counted. The entire bright blue waters of the ocean stretched for miles, dotted here and there with white catamarans or colorful sailboats. Through thickets of palm trees spread out over the land, there was a glimpse of the beach, where humans, so small they looked like ants, were meandering back and forth.
Glancing to his right, Justin saw Allie curled up on one of the chairs, paging through a magazine. She looked up at him.
“Justin?” She asked in surprise. “How did you get here?”
Grinning, Justin slid the door shut behind him. “Jasmine’s mom let me in.” He walked over and took a seat next to her.
Allie couldn’t help but feel slightly annoyed with him. Even though Ryan had told her that Justin had feelings for her, she was still irritated by the fact that he had gone off and flirted with that model. “Well, what are you doing here?” She asked.
“I wanted to come talk to you.” He replied simply.
Allie looked into his eyes for a moment before tearing her gaze away and staring out over the edge of the balcony.
Justin took a deep breath. “Look, um...I heard about you...seeing me with Antoinette...”
Allie raised her eyebrows at him. “Who?” She asked coolly.
“The girl who modeled with me for the photoshoot.” He replied.
“Oh. Right.” Allie stated. She glanced at him in confusion. “How did you hear about that?”
“Well...actually...I didn’t hear about it. I saw it.”
Allie gave him a quizzical look.
“You left the door open when you went to go talk to Ryan.” Justin explained.
Allie scratched her head awkwardly. “Oh.” She said.
Justin stared at her for a moment. “Are you...mad at me?” He asked hesitantly.
There was a long pause. “Kind of.” Allie replied truthfully.
“How come?”
Allie shook her head. “Well, come on, Justin, you can’t just kiss me and then go off and ask for some other girl’s number!” She shot bitterly. “It doesn’t really work that way, at least not for me! I’m not the type of girl who’s okay with an open relationship.”
“I didn’t know we were in a relationship.” Justin stated quietly.
Allie immediately felt embarrassed. “We’re not.” She said flatly.
Justin looked at her.
Allie took a deep breath. “Um...I just...I don’t know. I went to go see you at the shoot, expecting it to just be a promotional thing with just you, and instead I see this beautiful model hanging all over you. And then afterwards, I overheard you flirting with her and calling her ‘beautiful’ and asking for her number,” She shot him a look. “just like what you’ve done with me.” She shook her head. “I dunno, I mean, you kissed me last night, and then you go and turn up the charm for some other girl. It just feels like you’re leading me on.”
“I’m not leading you on, Allie.” Justin said solemnly. He sighed. “I know that I shouldn’t have been flirting with that girl, and I know it probably looked really bad because I was kind of acting towards her the same way I’ve acted towards you before.” He paused. “The thing is...Scooter and my team are constantly encouraging me to flirt with every girl I see. According to them, I have to do it to keep up my image as a ‘player’.” Justin explained, using air quotes. “It’s really stupid, but...” He shrugged. “That’s kinda what has to happen. Scooter says that half my appeal is that I’m this huge flirt.”
Allie stared out at the ocean in silence, believing him, but still disappointed. “That sucks.” She muttered.
Justin nodded. “Yeah. It does.” He replied. “I like being with the ladies, but...sometimes I don’t want to flirt with every girl I meet because there’s -” He stopped short. “Y’know...someone like you.” He mumbled.
Allie looked at him and smiled.
“What was the photoshoot for, anyway? I didn’t know you did those types of gigs.” She smirked at him.
“It was for some fashion magazine.” Justin said dismissively. “I dunno, I don’t usually have those types of shoots.”
Allie was silent.
“I gotta admit, it’s kind of hard to stay mad at you.” She stated sheepishly.
He flicked his hair. “What can I say? It’s the charm.” He grinned at her.
Allie playfully smacked him on the arm, rolling her eyes. She smirked at him. “So, apparently you talk about me all the time to Ryan?” She teased.
Justin rolled his eyes, grinning at her. “Yeah, supposedly.”
“Aww, how sweet.” Allie said mockingly.
“Shut up.” Justin joked, putting an arm around her shoulder and pulling her towards him. “I’m sure your friends get tired of you talking about me all the time, too.”
Allie let out a laugh. “Ha! I’m sure they would...that is, if I ever talked about you. See, I only talk to my friends about things that interest me.” She smiled at him.
“Oh, I see how it is.” Justin replied.
Allie started laughing. “Kidding.” She looked at him. “You know...lately, I’ve begun to realize why you’re so famous. (Apart from your talent, obviously.)”
Justin gazed at her with interest. “And why’s that?” He asked, grinning.
Allie just smiled at him.
Suddenly, her phone buzzed. She pulled it out of her pocket and flipped it open, pressing the ‘OK’ button to read the text message she’d just been sent.
“Oh! That reminds me, I have to go tell Mrs. Villegas something before I forget.” Allie stated suddenly, standing up and placing her phone (which was still open to the text) on the seat. “Be right back.” She stated.
She walked past him, gracefully slid open the sliding door, and disappeared back into the room.
As he waited for her to return onto the balcony, Justin gazed around his surroundings in silence. After a few minutes during which Allie hadn’t returned, Justin’s eyes began to travel along the balcony itself. They landed on Allie’s vacated seat, upon which rested her open phone, which was still open to the text message she had been sent.
‘It’s none of your business.’ Justin thought, reprimanding himself for even thinking about reading the text.
But as the minutes continued to drag by and Allie still hadn’t returned, curiosity got the better of him. Justin picked up the phone and pressed the ‘OK’ button (the screen had now gone dark) and peered at the rather lengthy text message that was on the screen:
From: Mitch Westelhoff
hey Allie! I haven’t talked to you since you’ve been in the bahamas, how is it? i really miss you, life’s boring back in denver. I think azra might die if she doesn’t find something new to do within the next few days. again - sucks you’re missing her new year’s party! when you get home, we’re hanging out. mitch-allie days are the greatest. ;) hope you’re having a good time, but don’t have too much fun without me. and don’t let the bieber kid bother you too much. haha.
“Having fun there?” Allie asked.
Justin jumped and looked up at her with alarm. She was standing in the doorway to the balcony with her arms crossed, looking at him with immense amusement. Justin had been so immersed in the text he hadn’t heard her slide open the door.
“Oh, I’m sorry Allie, I shouldn’t have read your text, that was...not cool of me.” Justin muttered with embarrassment.
Allie laughed. “I don’t care.” She replied. She sat back down next to him.
Justin furrowed his eyebrows, glancing down at her phone before handing it back to her. “Who is this kid?”
Allie looked down at the top of the message to see who had sent it. She giggled. “Why?” She asked curiously.
Justin shrugged. “I’m just wondering. He does mention me in the message.”
Allie furrowed her eyebrows and read through the text to see what he was talking about.
“Good to know you speak so highly of me to all your friends back in Denver that I’m known as ‘the Bieber kid’ and people are telling you to not let me ‘bother you too much’.” Justin teased, smirking at her.
Allie blushed. “Well...” She mumbled. “I did dislike you for a while...”
Justin laughed at her. “You’re right, you did.” He smiled. “So you never answered my question, who is he?”
“Who’s who?”
“The guy who sent you the text.”
“Oh,” Allie replied. “That was just Mitch.” She shrugged, trying her best to seem casual. It was kind of an awkward situation when the guy you liked was asking you about another guy that you liked - particularly when the other guy had just sent you a flirty text message that the first guy had read. “He’s just one of my good friends back in Denver.”
Justin nodded once. “Ah, I see.”
Allie smiled at him, shrugging. “Yeah. He’s cool.” She paused. “Do you want to go find the others and get a slushie?”
“Sure.” Justin replied, standing up at the same time she did and following her back into the room.
As they began their search for Jasmine, Meaghan, Kristen, Chaz, and Ryan, Justin couldn’t help but think about this Mitch guy and what Allie had said about him. Because, as much as Allie appeared casual when she had described him, and though she had said he was just her friend, Justin didn’t know that he entirely believed her.
Something told him she wasn’t telling the whole truth.
Chapter end notes:
:O
So now Justin knows about Mitchell! Well, this could get interesting...;)
Hope you guys liked it. :)
Thanks for reading everyone! I really do appreciate it.
xo.