Chapter 16

        Justin looked at her in total disbelief. “Lydia. Are you serious?”
        “Yeah Justin. I am. Do you know how long I’ve waited to hear those words from
him?”
        “Lydia. You’re telling me that after everything he’s put you through, you’re
going to get back together with that slime ball?”
        “Justin, you don’t understand. I love him. I’ve loved him forever.”
        “Lydia,” he replied while rubbing his face with his hands, “you can’t put
yourself through that again.”
        “Justin, you don’t understand. You are a celebrity. You are very sexy and you
have women dying to date you. I’m a nothing in this world. I’m ugly and fat. I
have nothing.”
        “You have the guys and me. You have Jeni and Klare. You have parents who love
you.”
        “But I don’t have that special love that I want. I never have truly felt it.
Now I hear that a man loves me.”
        “Lydia. I love you.”
        “What?”
        “Now two men have said it.”
        “Yeah, but you don’t mean it.”
        “And how do you know that Bryce means it?”
        “Well, I don’t.”
        “Exactly. I want you to call him up and I want you to ask him if he means it.
If he pauses before he answers that means he doesn’t truly mean it because if he
did he wouldn’t have to think about it.”
        “Fine. I’ll call him. But this is just going to prove that he does love me.”
        Justin sat down on the bed and watched her pick up the hotel phone. She dialed
the number and sat down next to him. She was biting her bottom lip and wrapping
the phone cord around her finger. After about 30 seconds she spoke. “Bryce. Hey.
Yeah, it’s me. I was just wondering if you really meant that you loved me.” She
nodded a couple time while saying uh-huh and her smile slowly fell. “Ok Bryce.
That’s all I wanted. You too. Bye.”
        “What’d he say?”
        “He said that he wasn’t sure if he meant it. That he was sorry if it got my
hopes up. You were right.”
        He looked over at her. “I’m sorry I was right. You don’t deserve this.”
        She leaned over onto his chest and he wrapped his arms around her for a hug. A
few minutes later she leaned back to look him in the eyes. He noticed she pulled
back to look at him so he did the same. His ocean blue eyes met her chestnut
brown ones. There weren’t any words spoken during that time. Lydia broke the
stare by moving her eyes to his lips then back to his eyes. In almost a whisper
she thanked him for everything he’d done for her, whether he knew about them or
not. He just smiled at her.
        “Well, I think it’s time to go to bed. Please think about going on tour with
us. You still have till Jeni and Klare meet up with us. Just think about it.”
        “I will, I promise.”
        Justin got up to leave and just as he was about to open the door Lydia stopped
him. “Justin. Will you do me a favor?”
        “Sure. What is it?”
        “Will you tuck me in and sing me a song?”
        He looked at her funny for a minute but decided to do it. He walked over to her
bed and pulled the sheets back. She climbed under them and pulled them up to her
chin. “What song do you want to hear?”
        “I don’t care. You pick.”
        “Ok. Hmmm.” He thought for a few minutes and decided on This I Promise You. By
the time he got to the chorus she was fast asleep. He slowly stood up and
quietly walked to the door. He glanced back at her one more time before closing
the door behind him.
       

        The next morning Lydia awoke with a start. She looked at her watch and it read
7:15 am. “This is not happening,” she said to herself as she rolled over and
tried to go back to sleep. All she could hear was Justin asking her to go on
tour and JC’s pouty face. She decided she’d go talk to the guys before they
left.
        She rolled out of bed and threw on her robe. She put on her slippers and
brushed her hair. Walking over to the door she noticed that there was a piece of
paper on her table. She picked it up and read it:
       

        Lydia,
        Hey gurl what’s up? I don’t really know if you are going on tour with us yet,
but I’m still holding out hope. If you need anything please call. Here are all
our cell numbers.
J, Josh, Chris, Joey, and Lance

        She couldn’t believe it. They cared about her. She hurried out into the hallway
and looked for Jake or Mike. She didn’t see either of them so she decied to go
knock on JC’s door. There was no answer. She couldn’t remember what rooms the
other guys were in so she went back in her room and dialed Justin’s number.
After three rings a tired, grouchy Justin answered.
        “Justin?”
        “Yeah. Who’s this?”
        “This is Lydia.”
        “Oh hi. What’s up?”
        “Where are you?”
        “On our way to Philadelphia.”
        “But it’s only 7:15.”
        “No, it’s 8:15. Who said it was 7:15?”
        “My watch.”
        “Lydia, I think your watch is broken.”
        Lydia looked at her watch and noticed that the second hand had stopped. She
felt so dumb. “Justin, you’re right. My battery died.”
        “It’s ok, but why did you call me? What’s so urgent? You didn’t get to sleep
until really late. Why are you up so early?”
        “Justin, I’m going to go on tour with you.”
        “Really?” Justin asked in an excited tone.
        “Yeah, really.”
        “Awesome.”
        Two days later Jeni, Klare, and Lydia were sitting in their plane seats waiting
to go to Philadelphia to meet up with the guys. They were both excited and
nervous about the next 4 months on the road with them, but they also knew that
they’d make many long lasting friendships and maybe even a few romances along
the way. As the plane took off Lydia looked out her window and watched as her
old life disappeared and her new life slowly started to appear in the clouds.
Lydia had finally realized that no matter what her pant size was or how much she
weighed people still loved her for who she was. She was now about to join those
people for an incredible ride.