Dancer Boy [Two]

two

"Nice job out there," an assistant went up to Justin. "Gatorade, right?"

He nodded furiously, gasping for air. She handed him a big bottle of red gatorade, also giving him a white towel to dry off with. He chugged on the drink, walking over to give me a kiss.

"You did good," he told me, swallowing more of his drink. As he tried kissing me again, photos snapped from afar. I saw as crew members and dancers giggled as they tapped away at their phones, on Snapchat, on Instagram, you name it.

Justin saw my weary eyes. "Don't worry about it." He said, leaning into me. He was abruptly stopped by David, one of the dancers, jittery from watching us.

"God, y'all didn't tell me y'all were fucking behind the scenes!" He yelled, raising his phone up and laughing. Security quickly pulled him away, signaled by Justin's eye gestures.

I looked up at Justin, my eyes shooting back towards the fighting David, being ripped away by the guard. "It's fine. He's cool," I trailed off towards the jostling security guard.

Justin rolled his eyes, pressing on my chest. "Listen, we got to go to the San Diego beach and chill when we get there. It's the next concert."

"Sounds fun," I smiled at him.

"Now I know you guys weren't planning on going to the beach without me," a voice shot out. It was Grace, who was walking over as she fixed her hair into a bun. "Can I come?" 

A few voices bubbled from the back as long with her. They all assented on coming along.

Great. A field trip.

Justin snickered. I laughed along. He continued, "Whatever, you all can come. I don't really care. Just bring your own swimsuits, towels, all that. I'm gonna rent the beach out. Purpose Tour crew only."

Numerous clusters of people expressed voices of jubilance and happiness. I looked away from them and back at Justin, tugging on his shirt and pulling him in finally for a kiss.

--

It had been on my mind all day.

I texted my mom as we drove down to Henderson. Justin continued to steer, the result of him requesting to drive me. I told my mom we were minutes away, which was only a few turns more into the neighborhood, and we'd be there.

Justin was pretty excited about getting to see my hometown. I'd never really talked to him about it, at least not memorably. He was ready to formally meet my mom and get on her good side, and then stay for the lunch she was whipping up. I don't know if my mom knows Justin and I are together, though. We'd never spoken about it. Not on the phone yesterday. It'd either be a shock to her, or she'd brush it off and keep moving. Hopefully it'd be the second turnout.

I was dressed in formal attire, with khaki shorts and a polo shirt on, Justin also dressing up nicely. He appreciated getting to meet my mom, and even kept his messy blond hair neatly.

We pulled up to my house. Justin stayed in the car, nervously tapping on the dashboard. I winked, chuckling. He'd be staying in the car until I signaled a green light. I walked in, ringing the doorbell and entering as my mother shuffled over and opened up the door.

To my surprise, the house didn't smell like chicken in the oven. It didn't smell like breadsticks broiling. There wasn't the usual Michael Bublé music crooning in the back. There was none of that. There was just dead silence, my mopey mother patting her hand on my back.

"What's up?" I asked, trying to lighten up the depressing mood. 

She frantically tried smiling, but it just didn't work. She guided me towards the living room, where I could see a figure sitting, weeping.