"To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong."
Joseph Chilton Pierce
JC moved around his office with ease, his body still shaking slightly from earlier in the studio. He walked to the bookshelf he had set up and ran his hands over the framed awards and trophies, over the magazines that he saved because either he, Kelliana, or one of his other close friends in the company were featured, and over the few books he kept away from his bedroom. He sat at his desk and looked down at the monthly calendar resting on his desk and his eyes roamed over the black and white lines until they stopped at a date for that weekend.
PhilaBal w/ J – 730; leave by 3.
Sighing, JC took a marker and slowly, not wanting to, crossed off the "w/ Justin" and then read a date three weeks away.
StuCo Wkshp Per.
With the same marker, he circled it and wrote question marks all over the date.
*
"J, you're not really serious about this, are you?" Britney watched from Justin's bed as he sat at his desk, staring at the pair of tan toe shoes in his lap. "I mean, really?"
"I don't know," he confessed. "I really don't know." He closed his eyes and when he opened them, he tried not to look at Britney because he knew she would be staring at him and instead, stared at a spot above his bed and saw his calendar and let out a breathless fuck.
"What?"
"This Saturday," he said. "JC was taking me to see Romeo and Juliet in Philadelphia. I really wanted to see it."
Britney cocked her head at him and tried, "I can take you if you want J."
And without thinking, Justin responded, "I wanted to see it with JC."
*
Britney walked the halls of ABT's building and peeked into rehearsal rooms, feeling uncomfortable as she did so. She stopped when she saw JC through one of the windows of the door and stared at him, breathing in deeply.
"Beautiful, isn't he?" a voice said. Britney turned her head and saw a tall, thin woman with long waved hair. In response, she nodded. "Are you a fan of his?"
"No," Britney said, turning her head back towards JC. "No, not a fan. Are you?"
She laughed sadly, "I always was." She turned to Britney. "I'm one of his dance partners in the company. Kelliana," she introduced herself.
"You're Kelliana?" Britney couldn't help asking.
"Yes. Who are you?"
Britney put her hand on the doorknob. "Someone trying to help a friend." She turned it and walked into the rehearsal room, ignoring Kelliana's protests.
*
2:30 in the afternoon on a Saturday and Justin was staring at his calendar. If he and JC hadn't fought, he would be getting ready to drive down to Philadelphia instead of being lazy. He was seriously considering taking up Britney on her offer to go to the show anyway since he had read rave reviews about it, but he wasn't really sure where she was. Someone knocked on his door and he stood as if he was moving through honey, thanking God that Britney was finally back and he could ask her about the ballet again.
When he opened the door, a pair of tickets came into view and Justin focused on them, seeing Romeo and Juliet written on it before he moved his gaze up to JC's face. "JC?"
"Britney came to see me and said you were talking about how much you really wanted to go." He held the tickets out. "So here, you can take Britney or Jordan or anyone you want. They were a gift to you anyway." Justin took them from JC's hands, reading the words on the tickets. "Have fun, okay?" JC smiled a half-grin. "Let me see the program when you get back, if you don't mind."
"JC, wait," Justin stopped him as he was turning. "Britney, when she saw you, what did she tell you I said?"
JC's brows creased in thought. "Just that you wanted to see the show and that you were upset that you wouldn't be able to see it."
Justin's voice shook as he spoke, "I also said I wanted to see it with you." JC blinked and didn't say anything. Justin tried to think of what to say and settled with, "I didn't just want to see the ballet, JC; I wanted to see it specifically with you."
There was a long pause. "You better get changed then, so we can go right?" but Justin heard the strangled voice laced in with JC's normal, confident tone.
"Thank you," Justin said softly, sincerely. "Thank you." He turned to change and closed his eyes. At least one thing right could happen before Justin had to make a decision.
*