Valerie walked off the airplane into the Florida heat, immediately shielding her eyes from the blinding sunlight. Squinting, Val saw an older girl rushing toward her. Instantly she recognized the girl as her 19-year-old cousin Libby.

"Lib! I missed you so much!" She said as the two embraced in a sister-like hug.

Pulling away, Libby surveyed her younger cousin with a smile. "You've been gettin' taller, Shorty. My little baby cousin is growing up, but still wearing the same clothes I see."

Val rolled her eyes playfully. "I live in a small town, Lib, most people don't get a different wardrobe every new season."

"And you still have your quick wit! Great to see your sarcasm is still intact and in full function after all these years," she paused to laugh, "Anyway, since you are in my care now and I did forget to send you something for your birthday this year, how 'bout we head to the mall and get you that new wardrobe?"

"Uh-oh, somehow I don't trust the word "we" which normally means you and the phrase "new wardrobe" in the same sentence."

"Oh, come on, Val! You know how much I love to shop and help out my fashionably challenged cousins!"

"Considering I'm your only cousin, I'll take offense to that. And I'm not fashionably challenged just 'cos I don't walk around wearing clothes the next hooker straight out of LA would."

"That hurt, Val. Please, you know how much fun I have dressing you up and stuff, humor me! Please, please, please!"

Valerie sighed heavily. "I guess."

"Oh, thank you....thank you, thank you! You won't regret it, I promise!"

"You better hope I don't because I know where you sleep!"

"Last one!" Libby called out to Valerie, handing her a pair of pants and top to go with it over the dressing room door.

"OK," Valerie mumbled as she took the outfit from her. She stripped out of the outfit she had just put on and threw it in the "fits" pile. She hastily put the new one on and studied herself in the mirror on the door. She decided the outfit was a keeper, seeing how it fit and actually looked kinda cute on her. She was very partial to the baby blue coloring of the top and the white capris matched it perfectly, making the outfit a must have for her.

After she changed back into her original clothing, she grabbed all of the clothes that had fit and exited the dressing rooms to find her cousin. She saw Libby chatting up a cute guy and rolled her eyes. That's Libby, she thought to herself. When Libby finally noticed her younger cousin standing beside her and waiting patiently for her, she smiled at the guy and said good by to him. He walked off, and Libby turned to Valerie.

"Sorry 'bout that, Val. He was just so cute and I couldn't help, but getting his number!" Libby explained in a girlish manner, and emphasizing on the so.

"Don't worry, if I was still single I'd being doing the same thing!" Libby smiled at her in appreciation. "And, besides, you are buying a whole load of clothes for me!"

"That I am! And, oh, I found the cutest bikini for you!"

She handed Valerie a baby blue swimming suit with a darker blue pattern over top the baby blue. Valerie looked at the top piece of the bikini and frowned.

Libby read Valerie's mind when she saw the doubtful expression as she looked at the bikini. "Oh, seriously, Val! With your bust-line you could so pull it off, and it won't look that hoochy when you actually wear it. And the guys' attention at the beach will be all on you, you'll have to fight them away!"

"I don't know, Lib. And as cute as it is, I don't really need or want any guy's attention. I'm not really single anymore, ya know!"

Libby looked the younger girl straight in the eye, her tone in all seriousness. "Valerie, I know how much you love Lance, but you can only be a teenager once babe. You know I would never want you to cheat on him, or anyone at that, but just live a little, flirt a little, and have some fun. The boy's back in Clinton, leave him there for Christ's sake!'

Valerie nodded. "You're right, this is my vacation and I guess I kinda need it. So, I'll give in for once and have a lil' fun. Happy?"

Libby smiled at her. "Very! Now, here take my wallet and pay for all these clothes," she handed her the wallet, "I gotta make a call real quick."

Valerie did as she was told and headed straight for the cashier's to check out, taking Libby's wallet to pay for it.

Libby walked out of the store and onto the nearest in the mall. She sat down and pulled out her cell phone, dialing a very familiar number.

"Hello," a male voice answered on the other line.

"Hey, JC, it's me," Libby answered back.

"Libbers! Watcha up to, girly?"

"Not much, just had to take a little detour to the mall to get my cousin some new clothes before we hit the clubs with you guys tonight!"

"Oh, the poor girl! She must be inside the dressing room crying right now."

"Ha, ha, very funny, C."

"Ya know I'm just messin wit' ya, girly!"

"Yeah, I know. So, anyway, is Jacquelyn coming with you tonight?"

"No, actually she isn't. She's gotta work tonight."

"Oh, poor you! You must be an emotional wreck over it all."

JC laughed into the receiver. "I'll be ok, I just need some time to heal." It was Libby's turn to laugh. "Oh, hey, how old is this cousin of yours?"

"Joshua Chasez, I can't believe you! Jacquelyn is a very sweet girl, and here you are trying to hit up on my family!"

"I'm not asking for me, you spaz! I'm asking 'cos we gotta get J a girl before we all decide to kill him."

Libby laughed again. "She's actually his age, but mentally she could pass me by!"

JC laughed again also. "Mentally anyone could pass you by! Well, besides, Chris that is."

"I was gonna say, Chasez, you were about to get your butt kicked over that one!" Valerie walked out with her various bags of new-bought clothes and sat down next to Libby.

"Who ya talkin' to?" she asked her.

Libby covered the receiver with her hand and leaned toward Valerie, saying, "JC, he's a friend from MMC."

Valerie nodded. Libby had worked as a choreographer for the 1990s version of the Mickey Mouse Club until it's end 2 years before. She was still close to all the friends she had made on set and hung out with 3 daily, and their 2 other friends that tagged along and had become close friends of hers, too.

Libby took her hand off of the receiver and began to talk to JC again, "Hey, C, I gotta go. I'll see you at the club tonight? K, bye!" She hung up her cell phone and turned to Valerie, "Ready to go?"

Valerie nodded and the two got up from the bench, walking toward the nearest exit out of the mall.

As soon as Valerie got back to Libby's house she lugged all of her stuff into the guest bedroom, not bothering to unpack just yet, and sat on the bed fishing through her purse for her cell phone. When she found it, she dialed 2 on the speed dial and listened to the ringing on the other end.

"I already have free long-distance, so quite calling!" Lance answered, knowing who was on the other line from his caller id.

Valerie giggled. "Nice to see you wanted to hear form me, too."

"You know I've been waiting for your call all day, I've missed you like crazy since you left this morning!"

"Uh-huh, I'm sure you did. I bet you were probably riding all day today anyway."

"Actually I was. I volunteered to take care of your horses for you grams while you're gone so I decided to give them a little excersise."

"Aw, how sweet. The free cookies and lemonade didn't have anything to do with it, did they?"

"Ah, damn, you caught me!" they both laughed, "So where have you been all day? I know your flight couldn't have taken that long."

"Libby twisted my arm to take me to the mall and get some belated birthday gifts."

"New clothes?"

"You know her all too well, Lansten."

"The perks of knowing you your whole life, I've known you family as long as well."

"Yeah, well, don't get too familiar with any of them. I would hate to have hurt you for trying to chase after any of the older woman in my family."

"I can tell you've been around Libby for far too long already. The scary thing is you haven't even been down there 24 hours yet."

He could tell she was smiling at his last comment. "That's our Libby, affecting the minds of small children all across America."

Lance laughed. "Well, baby, I gotta let you go so I can finishing feeding these hungry horses. I'll call later tomorrow, I'm sure you and Lib'll be hitting the clubs tonight."

"Ok, I love you. Try not to miss me too much 'til then, ok?"

He laughed again. "I'll try, but I promise you it will be hard. Love you too, sweetie. Bye, bye"

"Bye." She heard the click on the other line letting her know he had hung up, and pressed the end button her cellphone. She turned the phone off and threw it on her bed. She rested back on the pillows and closed her eyes, deciding to take a short nap before they hit the clubs later that night. Valerie sat in the passenger's seat of Libby's blue Honda. She was wearing the baby blue top she had tried on earlier that day and her new pair of tight, rhinestone studded blue jeans. The jeans were faded and fit perfectly on her, clinging to her hips and showing of the to-die-for curves she had, Libby had done her make up for her. She had gone with a natural look on Valerie, but also made it blend with the outfit. Val had been amazed at Libby's make up and fashion skills already, but she guessed it was just something she had picked up from the stylists at MMC.

"So who all are we meeting up with at the club?" she asked breaking the silence besides the soft "purring" of the car's engine.

"Well, JC, my other pals from MMC, and their two friends." Libby answered, not taking her eyes form the road.

"All guys?"

"Pretty much."

Valerie rolled her eyes. "Figures, knowing you."

"Hey, you just remember that Lance is still in Mississippi, where he's going to stay."

"I gotcha. I was only implying that-"

Libby cut her off "You weren't implying anything, you were just being your stubborn little self."

"I guess you caught me. Am I really that transparent?"

Libby laughed. "Only 'cos I know you too well." They pulled into the local club's parking lot, and Libby parked her car and turned off the ignition. She turned to look at her younger cousin as she took off her seat-belt, "You ready to party, chica?"

"You know it!"

"That's what I like to hear! Now let's get inside before we're past fashionably late."

The two got out of the car and headed through the entrance of the club, both making sure to lock up before they did so. Libby lead her younger cousin to a table already occupied by 4 young men, with 2 vacant seats left open for the 2 girls. When they saw Libby approaching them, their eyes instantly lit up and they all stood up from their chairs for each of them to give her a hug and say hello to her. After they all had done so, and her and Valerie were seated, Libby immediately recognized a 5th member of the group missing.

"Where's Jason? Hitting up another girl?" Libby asked the young men.

The eldest of the of the group spoke up, "He quite the group. He said he thought we were going nowhere fast and wanted out, so he left."

Libby put her hand up to her mouth in shock. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry." "It's ok, we'll find someone else to replace him soon. We tried to use Joey for bass, but that was just wrong," JC said, making the others laugh, "Anyway, Lib, I don't think you've introduced the young lady to us yet."

"This is Valerie, she's my younger cousin and is visiting from Mississippi."

JC reached out a hand to Valerie, she placed hers inside it, and he shook firmly. "I'm JC. I can say it's all my pleasure to meet you."

The younger boy, Valerie guessed about her age, threw a French fry at JC. "Quite flirting, man, you've already got a woman."

Valerie blushed and pulled her hand away as JC exclaimed, "I'm only being nice. Jesus, Justin, you need to learn your manners around women or you'll never get one."

"I don't need manners, when my sheer looks will do all the work for me," the others rolled their eyes at Justin for his antics. Shrugging it off, he turned to Valerie, "I'm Justin. The youngest, and yet, smartest of the group."

Valerie was enchanted by his beautiful blue eyes. They sparkled, full of life, and his confidence amazed her. When he smiled at her, and took her hand in his, shaking just as firmly as JC had, she felt a feeling close to an electric wave go through her. Not sure what it meant, she tossed the feeling aside and guessed it was just a twinge of nervousness.

As she pulled her hand from Justin's, the eldest stood up to reach her from across the table. He reached over, shook her hand, and introduced himself, "I'm Chris. Justin may think he's the smartest, but we all know he's the one with the least of common sense."

"I heard that!" Justin yelled from the other side of the table.

Chris turned toward him, and said, "I know you did, I made sure of it," before sitting back down.

Valerie couldn't help but laugh at the two. The last member of the group of young men stood up to reach her better, and shook her hand also. "I'm Joey, I claim no volunteering in being with this group over here. They begged me to join them, and in all truth, I am the smartest and way cuter than Justin thinks he is."

The whole table laughed, most of the occupants of it throwing French fries at Joey.

"Cuter than me my ass," Justin muttered.

"Oh, everything is cuter than your ass, Justin," Libby commented with a smirk.

Justin made a face at her and threw his last fry at her. She caught it before it hit her chest, and dipped it into Justin's ketchup. "Thanks, J, they do have really good french fries."

Valerie sat listening to Joey and Libby's conversation while watching the other 3 guys dance with a couple girls.

Justin looked over at the table and saw Valerie sitting there with Libby and Joey, obviously bored. The song he was dancing to ended and the DJ started a slow one, so he decided to ask her to join him.

"Wanna dance?" he asked Valerie when he made it to the table, He stretched out his hand to her, and pouted his bottom lip.

Valerie giggled. "How could I say no?"

She took his hand and let him lead her out to the dance floor. When they found a clear spot, Justin placed his arms around her waist and she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

Justin looked down at her and smiled to himself, she was beautiful to him, but not just in her outside appearance. She had this inner beauty that seemed to jump out at him every time she spoke to him or he listened to her speak to the others. She sounded so confident in everything she said or did, and that was truly sexy to him. At that moment he made up his mind, he was determined to get to know her better, and maybe become more than just a friend to her.