Chapter 14
Nearly a week later, Vicky realized that Justin wasn’t coming. Her high hopes were shattered by this sudden, unexpected event. She wondered why everything was going downhill all of a sudden. Justin never called, Chris never came to see her, and Sam was plainly not there at all. It was as if everyone was deserting her.
Justin was three thousand miles away in
With their worlds a total mess, everything seemed as if it wouldn’t
end. Vicky awaited her final surgery at the end of the week. Afterwards was an
enduring program of physical therapy. Vicky was also planning to apply for a
medical school in
By the end of the year, Vicky was ready to transfer. Sam was nowhere to be found, though. It was as if she had deserted her at her time of need. She wondered if Sam was still mad at her about what happened on the island.
That summer, Vicky moved to New York City. College would be starting in that August. Finally, a medical school that would actually accept her. The only problem Vicky was facing now was her shortage of money. She had to find a job fast in order to pay for her apartment and tuition.
****
“Justin, where the hell are you?” JC yelled from his dressing room backstage at the All State Arena in Chicago. ‘N Sync was back on tour.
“I’m over here!” Justin yelled back. He emerged from his dressing room wearing a comfortable pair of baby blue Nike track pants and shirt.
“Get over here. The show starts in less than a minute!”
“I think I know that already.”
It was near the middle of November, the 13th to be exact, and the tour was nearly over. The last stop was New York City on the 21st.
“And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for, here’s ‘N Sync!” the local radio station disc jockey announced.
Justin, Lance, JC, Chris, and Joey all ran out on the stage and took their places at their mics. The rest of the show was full on energy. The guys gave it their all that night knowing that they’d be able to rest before their big show in New York. They were off for two days, and taking a plane to the Big Apple.
Justin went straight to his room at the hotel after the show was over. His mind was full of strange thoughts. He wanted to call Vicky and tell her so many things, but didn’t have enough courage to. Sam quietly stepped into his room as he was changing. She had been on tour with the guys ever since Lance asked her to come along during the summer. She thought it would be a great way to spend more time with him. She also wanted time away from school. There were opportunities in the music industry that she just couldn’t pass up.
“The all mighty Justin has fallen,” Sam quietly said while she watched him from the door as he took his shirt off.
“Sam! I wasn’t expecting you,” Justin replied. “What are you doing here?”
“Well, I thought you’d might like a little counseling. I know you want to talk to Vicky. She’s always on your mind. I can tell. You’re not all there sometimes. You’re lost in deep thought. Why did you leave her if you loved her so much?”
“Sam, do you promise to keep what I tell you a secret?” he questioned.
Sam nodded even though she would end up telling Lance some time later on that evening.
“Please. I don’t want anyone knowing, not even Lance,” Justin begged. He knew what Sam was thinking.
“Okay, I won’t tell him,” Sam answered. She now knew this was important.
“You know why I never talked to her anymore? I saw Chad propose. There was this gleam in Vicky’s eyes that I’d never seen before, and I knew she was going to say yes. I didn’t want to stick around to find out because she’d only end up smashing my heart into tiny pieces. That’s why I haven’t spoken to Vicky in so long. I don’t want her to hurt me more than I already am,” Justin explained. He turned away as he felt warm tears fall from his eyes. “The thing is, she even told me that she was breaking up with him. That’s why I’m so angry and hurt. I actually thought she’d do it. Chris was right, I set myself up for this.”
Sam put a hand on his shoulder. She knew what he was going through. “Justin, it’s going to be okay. I really don’t think Vicky wanted to stay with Chad. Maybe if you had stayed a little longer, you’d know what happened. That’s why you should call Vicky up and talk to her. You need to know, and I need to know,” Sam said as she picked up the phone and dialed the numbers to Vicky’s home number.
“Sorry, this number has been disconnected,” a recording answered. “If you’d like more information, press 1.”
Sam hung up. “Justin, I’m sorry, but Vicky’s number has been disconnected.”
“I knew it. She did get married. I shouldn’t have put my hopes up so high,” Justin exploded as he buried his face in a pillow.
“Don’t give up yet. I’ll call Chad and talk to him about what happened.” She dialed the numbers to Chad’s apartment and waited for him to answer.
“Hello?” a low voice answered.
“Chad?” Sam asked.
“Yeah, what do you want?” he replied.
“Hi, Chad. It’s Sam. Do you know where Vicky is?” she politely began.
“That bitch? Sorry, I haven’t talked to her ever since she refused to marry me,” Chad said.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I have to go now. Bye,” Sam hung up before she could get an answer. “Justin, I have some good news for you!”
“What?” he retorted.
“Vicky dumped Chad!” she exclaimed.
“Oh, you’re shitting me! She did? I can’t believe it!” Justin jumped up and began to dance around.
“Whoa, calm down. He doesn’t know where she is.”
“Damn. I’ll find her, somehow. I don’t care what it takes. I’m gonna find Vicky, and I’m gonna tell her that I’m sorry, then I’m gonna tell her that I love her!”
“Nice plan, Justin. I’m glad you’re happy now.”
“If you’ll excuse me, I have a thousand things to do. I’ll catch you later.”
“Okay, bye Justin. Good luck!”
“Bye!” Justin closed the door of his hotel room and began to make phone calls to everyone he knew in Orlando.
****
Vicky sat at her desk in her dorm room late that Saturday. She was working on her molecular biology homework and studying for her test in anatomy. The work was piled up in front of her as she wrote down specific equations and formulas. She was not doing as well as she hoped in most of her medical classes, and money was running low. She didn’t even have enough for rent. Sooner or later, she’d have to look for another job. Two was not enough to pay the bills. Maybe a third would be better.
A knock came at her door around 11:30. “Victoria Nelson?” someone yelled from behind it.
Vicky took off her glasses and went to answer it. As she opened the door, she could see two school officials and the dean. “Yeah?” she asked politely.
“We have to discuss your progress in payments,” one of the officials said.
Vicky knew what this discussion was about. She had it several times before. “I promise I’ll pay up as soon as I get my next pay check,” she said.
“You’ve told us that every single time before, and we still haven’t seen your first payment yet,” the dean began. “I know this is not the best time to tell you, but since you haven’t been able to pay your tuition and boarding, we’re asking you to leave this school.”
“What? Why? I have a right to be here!” Vicky protested.
“Well, since you have been warned over two times already, you pretty much don’t have rights anymore. We told you to pay up, and you haven’t. We have the power to drag you out of here if we want,” the second official said. He handed Vicky a slip of paper and turned away.
“I’m sorry Vicky, but you have to go,” the dean added as he left with the other official.
Vicky slammed the door shut and yelled, “Fuck!” This had been the worst this that had happened to her. It seemed as if everything was going wrong. First was the breakup with Chad, then her mother became ill and died, now she didn’t have enough money to pay for college causing her to be kicked out. “What the hell else could go wrong?” she screamed.
****
‘N Sync arrived in New York early that Sunday, the fifth. Their first task was to check into a hotel then onto sound checks. The next day would be the interview at MTV Studios. Justin couldn’t wait. He was dying to talk about Vicky and tell everyone that he loved her and missed her.