Prologue

“I don’t think it’s anything more than a minor sprain,” Cadence said as she twisted Justin’s hand back and forth. She then bent it backwards and Justin winced slightly. “And you say this happened from playing basketball?” She looked at him skeptically and Justin grinned in reply, blue eyes shining.

“It was basketball,” he clarified. “Ask Chris, he was the one that pushed me.”

“I did not!” Chris called from the breakfast table, shoveling the rest of his pancakes into his mouth. “You fell! You’re so thin a gust of wind could knock you over.”

“Did anyone say breaking wind?” Joey asked as he walked through the kitchen to put up his plates. As he went, he let out a loud fart that caused the others to groan, waving their hands in front of his their faces.

Cadence gave Joey a look, slapping him on the arm as he passed her. “Joey,” she said to him.

“Hey, I told you those protein shakes make me gassy,” Joey defended himself with a shrug. “You should have listened to me the first time.”

“I should have listened to my first thought to of running you into the ground,” Cadence shot back. She laughed as Joey ruffled her hair and dumped his dishes in the sink with a clamoring noise. She turned back to Justin as he shook his arm to get her attention.

“Hello? Patient with a hurt arm, here,” Justin shot back.

“And I told you that you’re going to be fine.” Cadence quickly bandaged his arm and backed away from him. “You’re just mad that we’re having pancakes for breakfast instead of cereal and are trying to get back at me for it.”

Justin pouted, proving her right. “Cereal should be part of the food groups.”

“Technically it is,” Lance pointed out, sitting at the table with Chris. “It’s part of the wheat and grains. What you’re thinking about is the Food Pyramid.”

“That too!” Justin cried indignantly.

Cadence patted him on the arm. “Take it up with the government, JT.” She turned around to replace the First Aid kit underneath the kitchen sink and jumped when she spotted JC standing behind her, quietly eating from a plate. She brought a hand up to her chest, trying to slow down her speeding heart. “Jesus, Jace, you scared the fuck out of me.”

JC’s blue eyes shone as he brought another bite up to his lips and stuck it in his mouth. “I’ve been standing here for the last ten minutes, Cade,” he pointed out.

“Yeah, well, you need to stop being such a goddamn, ninja,” she said.

“He was just checking you out,” Joey said.

JC snorted loudly. “Yeah right,” he said and Cadence turned to face him, raising an eyebrow. “No offense,” he added, blushing lightly at the insult he threw her way.

“None taken,” She replied and pointed to him. “But do it again and you won’t be so lucky.”

Now JC laughed, before taking another bite, finishing his plate. “Duly noted, Cade.” He reached around Joey and put his dish and fork in the sink as well then looked at his watch, eyes widening. “Hey, guys, we have to go. Meeting with Lou and Johnny in about ten minutes.”

“Field trip!” Chris declared with a full mouth, poking the air with his fork. “Hey, maybe they’re finally getting rid of Lance. You can only forget the lyrics to your own songs so many times. And he’s a bad dancer. That’s a deadly combination for a firing if there ever was one.”

Lance rolled his eyes before shooting back with, “Maybe they’re getting rid of you. I mean, you steal the security carts at venues and take them on crazy joyrides, you can never go a day without talking back to one of them without a snarky comment, and you’re a man-child.”

“Yeah, my money’s still on Lance,” Chris said.

Cadence laughed again, pushing her hair away from her hazel eyes. “I’d hope not. He’s the only one that keeps me sane around you guys. And he’s the only sane one out of you.” She flashed Lance a grateful smile which he returned with a charming one. At JC’s offended throat clearing behind her she continued with, “Jace, you’re as bad as the others when they get to you. Lance at least knows when to stop.”

“True,” Lance agreed.

“And the fact of the matter is all five of you together are just as crazy as you are successful.” Cadence looked at her watch. “Now you only have five minutes to get to the meeting, you’re going to be late and I’m not getting into a car with Chris ever again.”

“Oh, you know you love it,” Chris shot back.

“That’s okay, a driver is coming to pick us up,” Joey reassured her.

“Then he’s been sitting in the driveway for almost a half hour.” With that, JC, Justin, Lance, Chris, and Joey all raced out the door as quickly as they could. Cadence chuckled and walked to the foyer to pick up the bag she left as she arrived that morning to help Justin with yet another injury that seemed to pop up, and the bruise on Lance’s shin he didn’t remember he had gotten—he was that much of a klutz.

Working with Nsync was nothing short of an adventure. She just hoped her adventure wasn’t going to crash and burn anytime soon.

That’s the way things always seemed to go with her.

.:1:.

Got To Keep the Boys Happy

“You know we could actually be on time for once if you just rode with us,” Lance pointed out to Cadence as the group strolled down the hallways of TransCon Records. “You know how Johnny gets whenever we’re late.”

“Yeah, I’ve been on the receiving end of that numerous times,” Cadence said with a light laugh. Actually she thought it was incredibly unfair considering she wasn’t the one that was in charge of getting them around wherever they needed to be. She was just their trainer and yet on numerous occasions she felt like their mother more than anything else. The last time Johnny had gotten angry at them for being late to practice he had blamed her when, in her defense, he didn’t understand how hard it was to get eyeliner perfect and not looking like she had punched herself in the eye.

Not to mention that it had just recently turned in daylight’s savings, she forgot to change the clock, and she had been kept up the night before because of a massive thunderstorm. So it really wasn’t her fault.

“And when it comes to riding with you guys it usually ends up being a hotbox of your guys farting to see how long it takes until I stick my head out the window like a dog or I’m stuck having to deal with one of you guys driving and feeling like I’m going to die so, no, I’m good driving my own car.” Cadence reached out and slung her arm around Lance’s shoulders and gave him a squeeze, resting her head on his shoulder.

Then she snapped her finger. “Speaking of riding…” she moved in front of the group and started to walk backwards, directly looking at each of them. “I really don’t care what you do in your personal life, but the next time you bring someone back to your house could you at least make sure she’s smart enough to figure out where the fucking front door is.” She started to laugh along with the rest of the boys as Joey held his hands up.

Just that morning when she had made her trip to the band house so that she could answer another one of Justin’s distress calls, she had the fortunate—or unfortunate depending on how you looked at it—pleasure to watch a woman do her walk of shame as she wandered around the large house, looking for the way out of the house, having peered into the closet at least three times as Cadence stood by the front door, watching her. Finally, she gave the poor girl a break and directed her outside.

“In my defense,” he said. “When we were talking about football and baseball she seemed to know what she was talking about.” He cleared his throat, crossing his arms. “Then again, that was about two beers in so there’s a chance that she may have been spouting off complete nonsense. But she was hot so…” He laughed and high-fived Chris. “Anyway, if she comes back I’ll make sure she knows every inch of the house.”

“Just keep her out of my room,” JC said, shaking his head. “The last thing I need is an image of you and whoever your next conquest is, in my bed.”

“Thanks for that mental image, man,” Lance said, making a face. He shook his head then pounded on the side of it with the flat of his palm as if trying to physically knock it out.

Cadence rolled her eyes.

“Boys,” She said, slapping her hands to her sides. “You don’t think about anything else but sex, booze, and having fun.”

“Well we are in the music industry,” Justin pointed out. “I’m pretty sure that sex, drugs, and rock n’ roll has a basis within it.”

“That’s true. But when you’ve got a face like a puppy, I don’t think anything takes it that seriously, JT.” Cadence reached out and pinching his chin and he scowled, pushing her hand away as the others then laughed at him. She moved to the back of the group as they arrived at Lou Pearlman’s office and was swept inside. Her dark eyes shifted over Johnny’s and Lou’s faces to see if they were angry for the boys being late. It didn’t seem like it.

Then she noticed Wade Robson standing in the corner of the room, hands shoved into the pockets of his jeans. He caught her eye and nodded to her and she nodded back, moving to stand at his side. The two worked closely together at Lou’s instruction; Wade gave the choreography to the boys and with their upbeat songs that made the boys work harder. Then she had to determine whether or not the routine was challenging enough or too challenging for the boys’ fitness to keep up with, let alone when they were injured.

“Did we miss anything important?” Cadence asked, leaning against the wall next to him, stretching out her legs and crossed them at the ankle.

“Nah, not really,” Wade replied. He shrugged. “Johnny and Lou were mostly talking about what the boys are going to be doing with this next album. How they’re going to be paid. Things like that. Nothing that we need to worry so much about yet, the need the guys’ input to talk about their music.”

“Gotcha.” Cadence nodded and leaned her head back against the wall behind her, trying not to notice Wade shifting closer to her so that his leg brushed up against hers. She ignored him, turning her attention to Lou as he leaned back in his seat, threatening to break the springs at the back. They groaned in protest under his weight.

“So boys, what do you want to start off with?” Lou asked, his quiet voice holding all the confidence a man with a multi-million empire could. “The next album, projection over the next few years, your schedules.”

“Don’t think we didn’t notice you’re late,” Johnny agreed, raising his eyebrows as he looked back and forth over Nsync. “But we can deal with that later.”

“Let’s get started with the topic everyone wants to know,” Lou said, tapping his fingers together. “Money. You boys are going to get a pretty hefty advanced this time around. Now that everyone knows you’re taking everything seriously there’s nowhere else to go but up. We have many opportunities for appearances on talk shows and TRL pouring in already. And that’s just the beginning. We’re going to take you to the top faster than a rocket to the moon.”

“And we’re going to make sure you’re the top in your singing and fitness as well,” Johnny agreed. “Nothing is worse than having a performer be at the top with vocals but at the very bottom with their fitness. The audience can tell, critiques and reviewers can tell, and we can tell. So we’re going to have to step up our games with everything. Alright?”

“Yeah, sounds good,” JC agreed with a nod. His hands were clasped between his knees, fingers running over each other. His face was set in stone. He always took meetings like that so seriously, using his time during rehearsal just as well, only loosening up and becoming as silly as the others when they were fans or out of the public eye. “But what we’re really wondering is if there’s going to be a chance for us to write our own songs on this album.”

“Yeah, man,” Justin jumped in, slouched low in his seat, arms crossed. “We’ve already shown we can sing even though so many people have said we couldn’t. Acapella or otherwise. We’ve shown them. But they still think we’re nothing but a group of guys that like to dance. We need to show that we’re serious in all aspects of the music industry.”

“Look, I get that you guys want to be big,” Lou said, now steepling his fingers. “I get you want to be taken seriously. But everyone has their pitfalls they have to climb out of. Right now we need to focus on making your second album better than your first, sound and look wise. Once we get the feelers out that has everyone wondering what you’ll do next, then we can talk about the songs that will go on the album.”

“Okay,” Lance said slowly. He cleared his throat. “What did you have in mind?”

“We know that music is always changing,” Johnny now took up the mantle of the conversation. “And we can’t stay in the same genres, in the same sound and expect to still be good. So we need to mix things up a bit. This time around we want to bring in different genres along with pop; we don’t want it to be a straight up pop album.”

“So no more ballads?” Chris asked.

Lou laughed a wheezing sort of laugh. “No, no. We need ballads. We need those love songs. We need those girls to continue to fall in love with you. Got to keep the girls happy, you know? Got to keep them thinking that you’d take any of them into your lives, into your families.” He lifted his hands and slapped them down onto the arm rest, still laughing. “Into your beds if you’d like.”

Cadence tilted her head to the side, her mind wandering as she waited to hear what it was that she was doing. Beside her, Wade seemed just as restless, shifting his position every few seconds. But he continued to shift closer to her, now pressing his arm and leg firmly against hers. Cadence looked over at him and he flashed a smile her way before tilting his head towards Lou and Johnny and rolled his eyes, causing Cadence to laugh quietly and smile back.

Lou certainly knows how to hold people’s attention, she thought. Especially in terms of his imagination. Lou caught her eye and smiled at her, winking. Cadence nodded back. Then suddenly was snapped to attention when he heard hers and Wade’s names being mentioned.

“As it is, Wade has mentioned a way, with Cadence’s help, to make sure that you can get to that next level,” Lou was saying.

With my help? Cadence thought. What? And then she realized what he was talking about. The same thing Wade had been saying to her since they had met about two years before. Eyebrows lowering, she turned to Wade, finding him still grinning at her, and glared.

“My offer still stands,” Wade said, holding up his hands defensively. “It’d be great if you were my co-choreographer.”

“And I’ve told you many times before, Wade, it’s not happening,” Cadence shot back.

“I’m not the only one who thinks it would be a good idea. I mean, even Lou agrees with me.” Raising an eyebrow, Cadence leaned over and looked at Lou as he leaned back in his seat.

 “It’s all about happiness, Cade,” Lou explained. “And you got to keep the boys happy. If they want you as their choreographer, why not? Everyone likes it when a girl can dance. I mean, that’s why Justin’s keeping Britney around, am I right?”

“Not the only reason,” Justin piped up. He grinned, but then it faded as Chris piped up.

“Yeah, I think we got figured that out last night,” Chris said. He nodded and continued. “And the night before. And the night before. And the night before. And—“

“Hey, shut up, man!” Justin pushed Chris on the arm. His face was a blazing red, making his blue eyes stand out even further. Starting to tip from the hard shove on his arm, Chris clung onto the bottom of the chair with a death grip, sticking his foot out to keep from completely falling over. “You know she wasn’t over at the house recently. She’s been recording.”

“Who was making that racket then?” Chris shot back.

Joey, who had been quiet throughout the conversation, then started to laugh, making the boys laugh once more.

Cadence shook her head, crossing her arms. “Lou, I’ve already told Wade ‘no’ one hundred times already,” She said. “I have no dance background at all, for one—“

“—you were a cheerleader,” JC pointed out. He twisted around in his seat, resting his arm on the back of the chair so that he could face her. His eyebrows hiked up. “Since you were about seven or so. Didn’t you say you stopped because you came out here to help us?”

Thanks a lot, Jace, I really needed that. Cadence gritted her teeth to keep from snapping at him. “Thank you for restoring my faith in men to know that you’ve actually listened to things I’ve said to you all in conversation, but no thanks. I’m not going to be your choreographer.”

“But with a cheerleading background there’s plenty that can be attributed to the guys’ level of fitness as well as the increase in challenging moves that would bring for a better show,” Johnny said. “I hate to say it, Cade, but I have to agree.”

“Well you’re not my manager, so…”

“Why are you so against it?” Justin asked. “To help us.”

Maybe because I never wanted to get into cheerleading or gymnastics in the first place, Cadence thought. Maybe because I didn’t want to do it for so long. Maybe because I only did it so that I didn’t have to be some, so I didn’t have to worry about saying or doing the wrong thing and getting punished for it. She brought a hand up and smoothed her hair off her forehead. She could practically feel the hand in her hair, pulling as hard as it dared, forcing Cadence’s head back so her throat and chest were open for attacks.

She could already feel the blows on her body once more.

Cadence quickly shook her head, pushing the thoughts away as soon as they came.

“It’d be added onto your job description as you already have it,” Lou explained, keeping his eyes on her. “That’s what Wade said when he first suggested it to me. You’d be the co-choreographer, working with the boys when Wade can’t or aid someone that’s having trouble keeping up.”

“Aka, Lance,” Justin pointed out.

Lance rolled his eyes and held up his hands. “I told you guys from the beginning that I couldn’t dance. You were the ones that decided to keep me in.”

“That was Joey that said that, actually,” Justin pointed out. “I would’ve been fine leaving you on the side of the road in Germany like we said before.”

“Really? I thought we said that about you,” JC said, scratching the side of his neck. “I mean, I don’t think Germany would mind another blond haired, blue-eyed boy person there. And we certainly could’ve used the peace and quiet.”

Justin scowled.

“Anyway,” Lou said, grabbing their attention once more. “How about we make a compromise,” he suggested.

“I’m listening,” Cadence said, crossing her arms.

“You’re the boy’s personal trainer and it doesn’t help that you made a rule of no house calls considering how accident prone guys can be,” Lou said. He paused, blinking at her. “And you haven’t seemed to follow your own rule.”

“Yeah, I fucking haven’t really had a choice in that matter,” Cadence said. Her eyes shifted over to Justin and he smiled sweetly, hoping to take the attention off him. Cadence smiled and gave him the finger in reply. “Can you ignore your phone constantly going off when you’re trying to spend the day by yourself? I don’t know if you’re aware of it, Lou, but these guys are fucking crazy.”

“I don’t doubt it,” Johnny agreed.

“Well, with my compromise you may have to deal with it a bit more than you already have,” Lou said. “You take on the job of being their co-choreographer, which will then be added onto your job as their trainer. Not only would you do your regular duties of getting their food, making sure they’re eating right, doing their progress reports, maintaining their weight and stamina however you see fit.” His eyes then took on a strange, dark look as he continued to speak. “The best way you can do that is if you move in with them.”

“And what am I getting out of this?” Cadence asked.

“The excitement of being able to see our bright and shining faces every day?!” Chris asked, throwing his hands into the air.

“Being able to hold onto my self control so I don’t kill you every day?” Cadence shot back, matching his enthusiasm. “It’s like you guys want to see me end up in jail.” She ran her hand along the side of her cheek as she smiled. “I mean, my mug shot would be amazing; you always have to be prepared when you’re going to have your picture taken.”

“You’ll be paid double than what you’re currently receiving,” Lou explained. “Not only that, but the food that you buy for the house as well as their diets when it comes closer to concert time will be paid for with this.” He leaned over and picked up a plastic card, holding it out for Cadence to take.

Eyebrows rising she walked forward and took the card in her hand, looking at the front. “A company credit card?” She asked and before she could stop herself a large, almost evil grin came to her face. Think about the buying power with this! I can get an awesome new wardrobe with it. And all of those CDs, and I can pay my rent…”So if I move in with the guys and become their co-choreographer as well as their trainer, I get double my salary and a company credit card?”

“That’s right,” Lou said. “Not to mention your own bathroom as I’m sure there are plenty of things you would like to keep…private.”

“Thank you.” Cadence tucked the card into her pocket. “I guess I can’t really say ‘no’ can I?”

“I’m hoping you won’t.” Lou smiled.

Cadence twisted her mouth to the side and crossed her arms. “So when do I move in?”

“Better question is,” Wade pointed out. “When do you start?”

With a smile, Cadence stepped out of her new closet and turned to face Britney. “Hey Brit-Brat,” she greeted her friend, crossing the room in a light jog to give the tall blond a tight hug.

“Hey.” Britney hugged her just as tightly, the two rocking back and forth. Finally, Britney let go of Cadence and placed her hands on her hips, looking around the room. “Not bad. I especially like that you have your own bathroom attached, we definitely couldn’t have gotten that back in our apartment.”

“Ha ha.” Cadence rolled her eyes, dropping down onto her bed. She watched as Britney continued to look around. “You seem to be forgetting that I’m still going to be living with you on the weekends. I can’t stand the massive amounts of testosterone and I’m sure after two days I’ll be tired of seeing how far they can spit.”

“Weren’t you the one that won that contest last time?” Britney pointed out, turning back to her.

“We were spitting watermelon seeds, Brit-Brat. There’s a difference.” The girls laughed and Britney turned and flopped onto the bed next to her. “So how’d your next album coming? You’ve been spending so many nights in the studio it’s like you’ve moved out on me, Miss. Spears.”

“Yeah, well, I’m working really hard, Miss. Nash,” Britney shot back. She brushed her hair behind her ear. “I’m a solo artist and I have to do everything myself. I mean, when you’re not running me into the ground with your training as well. How are you going to work on my fitness when you’re dealing with the boys so much?”

“Excuse me? I thought you would be happy to know you and lover boy would be around each other more often.”

“Did someone say my name?” Justin poked his head into the room, carrying a large box that had CLOTHES written on the side. He haphazardly dropped it to the ground before jumping onto the bed with enough force that it knocked Cadence on the floor on her butt. “Hey.” He greeted Britney with a long kiss.

Cadence scowled as she rubbed her lower back. “Don’t worry about me. I’m fine. I just bruised my ass is all. Thanks for asking.” She looked up at her two friends as they continued to kiss. “You know that thing we were talking about this morning about how we didn’t ever want to think about you having sex in our beds?”

“At least I’m getting sex,” Justin shot back, pulling away from Britney. “If you were getting laid you wouldn’t have such a stick up your butt all the time.”

Britney’s mouth dropped open and she swatted him on the arm. “Justin Randall.”

“Don’t worry about it, we talk to each other like this all the time,” Cadence reassured her as she slowly stood up. She continued to rub her back, lifting her foot and placed it on Justin’s shoulder, pushing hard enough so that he fell off the other side of the bed and to the floor. “He needs to kiss my ass just as much as he’s a pain in it.” She turned to Britney and lowered her voice. “I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but he’s constantly starved for attention.”

“I noticed,” Britney whispered back.

“Especially my attention it turns out,” Cadence continued. “I think he’s still mad that I’m older than him.”

“Only by a few months,” Justin protested.

“And the difference in levels of maturity is astounding.”

Britney laughed quietly, pulling her hair from her face. “Hey, Justin, didn’t you say you wanted to show me something?” She asked abruptly. Justin agreed and got off the floor. He took Britney’s hand and led the two out of the room, kicking Cadence’s box of clothes as he went. Cadence rolled her eyes and picked up the box, bringing it to the far corner of the room. Then she walked back to her bed and sat down on it, looking around her room.

Every inch was crammed to the brim with boxes of her things and there were still many of them still left at hers and Britney’s apartment. Due to leaving so suddenly Cadence made a deal that she’d continue to pay her part of the rent so long that she still went back to live there on the weekends. So far it seemed like moving in with the boys was an all around good idea, but she felt bad for having to ditch her like that.

“What do you suppose we’d find in these boxes?” She suddenly heard Chris’s voice.

“You can’t look in them. They’re her private things,” Lance pointed out.

“How would she know?” Joey asked.

“I can hear you! Drop the boxes and back away slowly!” Cadence shouted. She laughed at the sound of cardboard boxes being dropped to the ground and rapid footsteps. That was definitely something else she needed to get used to, having to hold onto her privacy.

Speaking of privacy…Cadence’s eyes shifted over to the unopened envelope that sat on her desk. She stared at the return address, the familiar handwriting and her mind went blank. Everything around her zoomed out into a warped tunnel, her senses failing her until she heard her name being called. Cadence snapped back to attention, finding herself curled up in a ball under her bed like a little girl who had been startled at a loud sound.

Hugging her knees to her chest Cadence looked up as she spotted a pair of feet come into her field of vision. “Cade?” She heard JC ask.

“Down here,” she called meekly.

The pair of feet turned her way seconds before hands dropped to the floor and JC’s face appeared next to hers. His eyebrows lowered, blue eyes showing a mixture of amusement and concern. “Uh, what are you doing under your bed? You know you’re supposed to sleep on top of the mattress right?” His voice lifted teasingly.

“I know,” she replied quietly. Great, now I’m talking like a little kid, too.

“Right. Well. This came for you in the mail.” JC handed over a similar envelope to the one that sat on Cadence’s desk and crossed his arms, resting his chin on them. Cadence reached out and took it, looking at het front.

 Same handwriting, same return address, another wave of fear.

Now JC’s eyebrows lowered even further. “Hey, is everything okay?”

“No. But I guess it won’t help anything if I continue to put it off. She doesn’t really know how to take ‘no’ for an answer.”

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not really.”

“Okay.”

JC continued to lie on the ground in silent commiseration as Cadence let out a low sigh and pulled herself tighter into a ball.

Most people would’ve opened mail right away to know what was said to them. Others would be excited. How was Cadence supposed to explain that she was never excited when her mother tried to contact her? How was she supposed to explain that she didn’t like her mother at all? How was she supposed to explain that at 20 years old she was still afraid of her mother?

How was she supposed to deal with any of that when her mother came to visit?

.:2:.

He Didn't Need To Know Anything

“So your Mom is coming to visit,” Lance said gently. “So what?” He jumped as Cadence slammed a cabinet door shut and slammed a large mixing down onto the counter. “Is it really that bad?”

“Clearly you haven’t met my mother,” Cadence replied. She pulled her hair behind her ears and grabbed the carton of eggs that sat beside her and started to crack them into the bowl.

“Of course we haven’t, Cade, you hardly ever talk about her,” Lance pointed out. He crossed his arms and rested them on the other end of the island as he watched her. “You haven’t really talked about your father either but at least we’ve heard a few things about him.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a reason for that.”

Lance paused for a minute. He pressed his lips together then approached the situation from a safe perspective. “Okay, so what does she look like? Or, rather, what’s her name?”

“Well considering my last name is Nash and my parents were married, hers is too,” Cadence said. She stared at Lance as she continued to crack eggs into the mixing bowl. Her intensity of each crack increased as the seconds went by. “Her name is Melinda, she’s tall, blonde, and is the bane of my freaking existence.”

“Well, technically she’s the only reason you’re alive,” Lance pointed out.

Cadence was about to correct him, reminding him that she was adopted but stopped herself at the last moment. Only JC knew she was adopted and she had only told him at one of the ill-fated doctor’s appointments she had to transit the boys too. The only reason she had mentioned it to him was because he had said it to the doctor when asked about his family’s medical history. It wasn’t her being adopted was really a big deal, but that she never really liked to talk about it or her feelings about it.

Whenever she brought it up the same questions were thrown her way: Who are you real parents? Do you ever want to go find them? How does it feel to know you’re not really your parents’ child? Does that bother them? Why did they decide to adopt? Are you an only child?

And on and on and on.

And the only thing that made it worse was the slight notion that she was unwanted and unable to be loved just because she was adopted.

“Yeah, whatever,” she muttered.

“Uh, Cade?”

“What?!” Cadence slammed her hand that was holding an egg against the side of the mixing bowl. She jumped as a geyser of egg shot up and over her hand. Then stared at the pieces of egg shell that sat in her hand. Laughing to herself, she wiped off her hand with a dish towel then started to scrape egg shell out of the bowl from the other eggs she had managed to haphazardly smash as she was thinking about her mother. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you, Lance.

“I’m guessing you don’t really like your mother then,” Lance pointed out.

“Yeah, not really,” Cadence admitted. It was good to at least get that off her chest. Everything else…not really. There was too much for her to work through that she hadn’t even admitted to herself that she couldn’t bring up in casual conversation. So when the topic of mothers came up she usually withdrew and kept to herself, hoping no one would notice she wasn’t speaking. And she had grown to love Lynn Harless like her second mother, as she had become to the whole band. “There’s just…a lot of issues we have that we don’t really sit down to talk about.

And the fact that she’s not the sort of mother anyone wants around, Cadence added to herself. “I know you’re close with your Mom, though. She’s really cool.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “My mom’s the best. But I don’t want you to feel like you’re being put out with your Mom here and the rest of us here as well. I mean, she did kind of spring this on you.”

“Not really.” She shrugged sheepishly. “I’ve known for a while. I just thought if I didn’t respond to any of her letters she wouldn’t show up. Maybe get the hint or whatever, because I haven’t spoken to her for a while now.”

Lance gave her a look. She recognized that look. It was his disapproving look despite he wasn’t really going to say anything to her. Just let her know he didn’t quite agree with what she was doing or saying. She had seen that look many times before and unlike JC who was more of the father figure of the entire band, at least Lance was the one she found herself having deep personal conversations with when he gave an opinion to her problems but never really outward advice.

“I know, avoiding my problems never works out,” Cadence said before Lance could say it. “But this just…this is different Lance.” Now that she was finished pulling out the egg shells she stuck a whisk into the eggs and started to whisk them. “And once she figured out that I’ve left school to become a nutritionist, trainer, whatever the hell I am to you guys she’ll probably blow her top.” She looked up as Joey and Chris came screaming into the room with Chris on Joey’s back, slapping the taller boy on the ass as they went through the kitchen. “Especially when she sees I have to live with that!”

Lance smiled and laughed as Joey lowered Chris to the floor and the two sat down on the empty stools around the bass singer. Cadence laughed back and finished preparing the eggs and dumped the bowl into the pan that steamed on the stove.

“So what’s going on today?” Joey asked. “After breakfast I mean. You already kicked our asses about eight times harder today during workouts than you usually do.” He then cleared his throat and laced his fingers together, resting his chin on his hands. “Please know that you’re in a safe space and we’re not going to judge you for what you’re about to say. You’re safe here.”

Cadence gave him the finger then laughed. “Thanks Dr. Phil,” she replied. “But I’ve already gone through this conversation with Lance. There’s nothing more to talk about.” She snapped her fingers. “But if you think I’m bad then I can’t wait to see what my Mom has to say about you. Your jokes aren’t going to fly with her.” She then motioned to Chris. “Or your wild and crazy antics. I take after my Dad than I do my Mom and my Dad is the one with the sense of humor.”

“Oh please.” Chris waved his hands. “Parents love me. Everyone loves me.”

“You think everyone loves you,” Lance pointed out.

“Well our fans do and that’s all that matters.” Pouting Chris crossed his arms over his chest and turned away. He looked up as JC walked into the kitchen next, pulling a shirt on over his head. “JC likes me! You like me, don’t you JC?”

JC looked over at Chris and shrugged. “You’re okay,” he commented before plopping down in a stool. He glanced around at the others and then at the spread that sat on the table, blue eyes widening slightly. “Wow. This is the most that you’ve ever made for breakfast before. I guess your mother coming must be really worrying you.” He caught Cadence’s eye and she raised an eyebrow before lightly shaking her head.

He nodded in understanding.

She hadn’t mentioned how she had curled up into a ball and hid under her bed at even the sight of her mother’s handwriting on the front of an envelope and how JC had sat beside her until he could coax her out from her hiding place. While she had lied under her bed he sat patiently beside her, not speaking unless he felt she was comfortable enough for talk about it.

“Not worrying more like things have to be perfect,” Cadence explained. “And I’m not kidding when I say that. So you all need to make up your beds and clean your rooms too.”

“I’m sorry.” Chris raised his hand into the air like he was in class. “I thought you were just our trainer. I didn’t think you were our Mom, too.”

“My room’s already clean,” JC offered.

“That’s because you’re a robot,” Joey shot back causing JC to stick his tongue out at him.

The group was complete once Justin walked into the kitchen with Britney in tow, the two holding hangs. Cadence turned to the cabinet and grabbed another plate and set it down on the stack before going to the refrigerator and taking out a protein shake. She shook it up then slid it over to Britney, who gave her a grateful smile as she took it.

“Aww, you remembered,” Britney said with a gush.

“I should by now, Brit-Brat, I’m your trainer too,” Cadence pointed out. She blew her hair out of her face before looking back and forth between Justin and Britney. “Which reminds me, you missed training this morning.”

“Trust me, we got plenty of exercise in,” Justin said with a grin.

JC, Lance, Chris, and Joey all hooted and hollered as Britney rolled her eyes. She exchanged a glance with Cadence and the two shook their heads. Boys. Then Cadence grinned. “So that’s what I heard last night?” She asked. “I thought it was a dying cat.”

“Too bad you didn’t come to investigate,” Justin shot back easily. Britney whacked him on the arm and gave him a disapproving glance.

“It’s a good thing I didn’t or else I’m sure I would’ve seen the first case of someone’s dick actually falling off,” Cadence responded.

“Would you still inspect it?”

“No need. From the sounds of it, it was all in working order; not lasting long at all.”

“Ha!” Joey laughed loudly before reaching over and poking Justin in the cheek. “She totally burned you, dude!”

“Ha ha ha.” Justin rolled his eyes. He then sat up straight, looking over the food options then scowled. “What? No cereal?”

“It’s not a restaurant, JT, you don’t get to pick and choose what you get. You’ll get what you get and like it!” With that, she picked up and plate and filled it with eggs, fruit salad, and a biscuit before shoving it back at him. “Now shut up and eat.”

“Ohh,” Britney said knowingly. She brushed aside her blonde hair and looked at Cadence with sympathy in her eyes. “Your mom is coming to visit isn’t she?” She nodded when Cadence glared at her before filling up another plate and this time handed it to Britney with a hard shove as well. “I’m sorry, Cade. I know she’s not your favorite person in the world.”

“It’s not your fault, Brit, you don’t need to apologize.”

“But I know how it gets to you.”

“That’s funny,” Joey remarked. “We don’t.”

“And unfortunately you will.” Cadence sighed heavily; heart sinking and the hair on the back of her neck standing on end when the doorbell rang. “Right about now.” She wiped her hands off on a dish towel and walked to the front of the house. She took in a deep breath, recognizing the silhouette on the other side of the frosted glance before she grasped the door knob and pulled it open.

Melinda Nash smiled at her daughter. Despite not being dressed in her dress blues Cadence could tell she was still in what she called ‘military mode’. That meant she had just gotten some time away from the base and was still in the mindset of being a military personnel rather than her mother. Unfortunately she had seen that too many times compared to the nurturing and caring side of her mother.

“Cadence,” Melinda said, taking a step into the house. “It’s so good to see you.”

“Good to see you, too, Mom,” Cadence said in reply. It was polite. It had been drilled into her head more times than she could care to count. She had to be polite, as a citizen, as a military brat, to those who were in higher authority than her.

“Cadence Michelle Nash!”

Surprised, five-year-old Cadence looked up at her mother, who had suddenly grabbed her arm and pulled her forward. She stumbled and fell to her knees before she was yanked back to her feet and forced to stand in front of Melinda. Cadence looked up through her eyelashes at the tall man that stood in front of her, dressed up in a crisp white uniform. A Navy-man, a sea man, she knew from having it drilled into her head so many times.

“Don’t be so rude, Cadence. You need to be polite!” She felt her mother’s hand move to her neck and tighten right as her pressure points. Cadence’s shoulders hunched up towards her ears against the blinding pain but she kept her mouth shut.

She always had to keep her mouth shut.

‘Never speak unless spoken to’.

Cadence lifted her small hand and pressed the side of it to her forehead in a salute. The Navy man smiled down at her, a smile that she didn’t realize until much later was too inappropriate for the situation, and saluted back to her. Once the formality was done, Melinda pushed Cadence out of her way and resumed her conversation with the Navy man while Cadence turned to the side and gently picked gravel out of her knees.

Her mother raised her hand in a salute and Cadence stared back at her. Melinda’s eyes slowly started to narrow and Cadence sucked in a deep breath, still holding her ground. Finally, she noticed Melinda’s other hand form into a fist and Cadence quickly released her breath, feeling fear shoot down her spine. She lifted her right hand and pressed it to her forehead before bringing it back down to her side in a salute.

Satisfied, Melinda lowered her hand. “I see you haven’t changed much, Cadence. It always takes you a few minutes to get with the program. You’re just like your father.”

“Last I checked you liked that about Dad,” Cadence pointed out. Melinda raised an eyebrow but didn’t respond to the statement. Instead, she shifted her gaze behind Cadence and she turned to see what she hoped would not happen. But of course the Nsync guys were really nosy and wanted to get into each other’s business as much as possible.

I guess that’s what Lou always says when he says we’re supposed to be ‘family’, Cadence thought, suddenly filled with contempt. To get into each other’s business no matter how much everyone else doesn’t want them in.

“I see you’ve managed to come into an interesting brood while you’ve been out here in Florida,” Melinda said as Cadence finally closed the door behind her. “Aren’t you going to introduce me?”

“Mom, this is JC Chasez, Justin Timberlake, Chris Krikpatrick, Joey Fatone, Lance Bass, and Britney Spears. All of us but Britney live here. Guys, this is my mom Melinda.”

Lance, Britney and Justin, with their southern hospitality intact immediately stepped up to Melinda with their hands outstretched, greeting her cheerfully. Joey, Chris, and JC waited their turns and Cadence flinched each time they came away from Melinda’s handshake with a grimace of pain. She should’ve warned them about her mother’s firm handshake but as far as she was concerned they all deserved it from being so nosey.

“It’s nice to meet you all,” Melinda said with what appeared to be a warm smile. “I don’t suppose you’re friends that Cadence has met while at school.”

“No,” JC said slowly. His eyes shifted over to Cadence. “Not really.”

“Am I to suspect that at least one of you are her boyfriend?” Melinda added. She looked each boy up and down, making a face at the ones she dismissed and interested in others she’d found a viable option.

“No,” Cadence said quickly and firmly.

“Then why would you decide to live in a house with so many men.” Melinda turned towards her daughter with a critical gaze.

“How is that any different than the way you live—“Cadence immediately cut herself off. Talking back or showing any sign of disrespect was not a good idea. “Breakfast is ready,” She said instead and held out her arm, motioning her mother back towards the kitchen. She started to follow her then noticed the others staring at her. “Just wait until you really get to know her,” she mumbled. “I’m sure she’ll warm up to you all then. She just doesn’t know you yet and can be really overprotective of who I’m keeping company with.”

“That’s alright,” Lance said comfortingly. He reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “A lot of mothers can be overprotective like that. Mine definitely was and you know how Justin’s Mom can be at times.”

“Hey, man, what’s that supposed to mean?” Justin demanded.

“Nothing,” JC interrupted. “It doesn’t mean anything. Let’s just get something to eat.”

“I’ll be there in a few minutes,” Cadence said. “After that workout and going straight into making breakfast I haven’t had a chance to take a shower yet. And I don’t know if you’ve guessed yet, but my Mom is all about cleanliness as well.” She turned and went up the stairs to her room.

Gathering her clothes she crossed to her dresser where her mother’s latest letter sat. She picked it up, crumpled it in her hand, and haphazardly tossed it away. Then she went into the bathroom. Turning on the shower she set her clothes aside and waited for the water to warm.

“Ow, Mommy. It’s too hot.”

“It’s fine, now get in!”

Cadence let out a startled yelp as a hand was pressed to the back of her head and she was forced down into the hot bath water. Frantically, she plunged her hands into the water, pressing her palms against the floor of the shower and tried to push herself upwards, anything to get some air but the pressure continued to hold her down.

Shaking her head ,Cadence stripped off her clothes and stepped into the shower, lowering her head; directing the water down her back rather than over her front, over her face. At least that was a little bit better.

~~~

“Mr. Pearlman? We have the projected figures you were asking for.”

Lou turned away from his computer and held out his hand as his assistant held a file folder to him. “It has everything for the fiscal year? Album sales? Concert tickets? Merchandise? Appearance fees?”

“Yes sir, it has everything you were asking for,” The assistant said with a nod. He cleared his throat. “There is even the monetary projection for each of the band members so that their payment can go out.”

“Right, I’ll look it over and make a few adjustments if I have to,” Lou said. He set the file folder aside and turned his attention back to his computer screen. “Thank you very much. I’ll let you know if I need anything else. But please do not come in here unless I call you. Spread the word around to the other personnel…” he licked his lips. “I don’t want to be interrupted.

The assistant was about to respond then froze for a moment when he noticed Lou’s hands reach down to the waistband of his pants, starting to undo the buckle. “Y-yes sir!” He finally managed to say before turning on his heel and leaving the office with quick, long strides.

He didn’t want to see anything.

He didn’t need to know anything.

But he couldn’t help but wonder why he heard the slight sound of running water—much like a shower—before the office door closed behind him.

.:3:.

And you still managed to face plant spectacularly

“So you’re in the military,” Britney said with a nod. “That must be a really exciting profession.”

Melinda looked back at her with a raised eyebrow. “That certainly depends on what your definition of ‘exciting’ is, I suppose,” She replied. “I work in healthcare, specifically, within the army. There have been many cases of the run of the mill injuries; sprains, concussions, abrasions, contusions.” She shrugged. “But then there are others that tend to be tings you don’t see every day; gangrene, badly broken limbs, massive head wounds, gun shots…”

“Mom,” Cadence interrupted. Melinda glanced over at her and Cadence motioned around the table. “We’re trying to eat breakfast. We don’t need to hear stories of how you held people’s heads together after being cracked on the head by falling debris.” With that, Lance made a choking sound, Britney turned green, and Justin made a face, pushing his plate away from him.

Only Joey was the one that didn’t have any adverse effect of the mental image, he continued to hoover down all of the food that was on his plate. When he noticed Justin had stopped eating he took his plate and scraped it onto his own before digging into that as well.

JC, appalled, turned back to Melinda with an easy-going smile. “I apologize for my friend,” he said. “There isn’t much that can break his appetite.”

A chuckle escaped Melinda’s lips. “There’s no need to apologize. I’ve certainly seen worse.” She cleared her throat and pushed her plate aside, being careful to take the napkin from her lap and place it over the empty dish. “So you’ve asked me everything that you could think of, I believe it’s my turn to ask you a few questions. You said that you didn’t meet my daughter at school, where did you meet?”

“Oh!” Chris smiled widely. “We were looking for a trainer; someone who could keep us in shape throughout our music career and we met Cadence through Britney.”

Britney nodded. “Cadence and I had been roommates since she moved here to Florida and when I heard the guys were looking for someone I suggested Cadence. Not only has she done a good job o keeping me in shape, but she definitely holds a no-nonsense personality that keeps us going.”

“And she’s a pain in the ass when she needs to be,” Justin added, causing Britney to elbow him in the side.

“I wonder where she got that from,” Melinda commented with a smile.

“Not from Dad, that’s for sure,” Cadence responded. She narrowed her eyes as she looked at her mother. “You remember Dad, right? The one who did nothing but dote on you and follow the career path you wanted—“

“—Cadence, I need to speak with you,” Melinda interrupted. She swiftly stood up from her seat and walked out of the kitchen with Cadence sighing loudly and following her. Once the two were back in the foyer, Cadence watched her mother as she paced back and forth.

It was a calm pace; she took long strides as she went. Finally, Melinda came to a stop in front of Cadence and looked down at her with Cadence looking defiantly back at her. The two women continued to stare at each other, the only sound between hem the sound of their heavy breathing. Finally, Melinda whipped up her arm and slapped Cadence on the cheek. Cadence had grown used to it over the years and yet she still flinched and winced the moments before and after he mother hit her. She refused to cry, refused to let tears come, but it was more surprising than it had ever been.

Her mother didn’t seem to care much about how close they were to the others. She always had to put on her best behavior when she was around other people. I must’ve really pissed her off this time, Cadence thought.

“How dare you speak to me that way,” Melinda said in a low voice. As she continued to speak her speech continued to increase in tempo until her words seemed to blend together. But Cadence understood her perfectly. “How dare you. After everything I’ve done to you, after the service I’ve given to this country and you decide to speak to me like that? I will not have my daughter disrespect me that way.”

“How long have I been your daughter?” Cadence shot back. “It couldn’t have been when you beat me up when I didn’t do things exactly the way you wanted me to. It couldn’t have been when you left me and Dad over and over again. You left us.”

“Please, you’re being overdramatic.”

“You cheated on Dad while you were deployed.”

“Those were adult matters, you couldn’t understand.”

“And did Dad ever understand? You broke his heart, it’s no wonder he finally decided to divorce you—“She knew he was going to be slapped again. Her mother always seemed to work out her bad temper just from even a mention of her name. This time as her mother moved to slap her, Cadence turned her head to the side, allowing her mother’s fingers to graze her face. The force of that blow would have been very strong, much stronger than it had been the first time. The way wind blew by Cadence’s face proved that as well as the cut on her cheek that started to seep blood.

She hadn’t realized her mother had managed to touch her until the blood started to come down. One of her fingernails must have grazed her cheek.

“And yet you continue to disappoint me,” Melinda whispered.

“Then why do you continue to come around when you know I don’t ever want to see you again?” But Cadence knew the answer. Both of them knew the answer and she wasn’t going to give Melinda what she wanted. Not anymore. Not after she abandoned them. “Why do you keep coming around me?”

“Because, believe it or not Cadence, I love you.”

“Then you have a funny way of showing it.” Cadence stepped towards the door and twisted the doorknob open. “Goodbye, Mom.”

Melinda glanced at the open door and took another breath through her nose. She turned back to Cadence and looked directly into her eyes for a long moment. Her lips pressed together in a thin line and she shook her head. “I don’t know where I went wrong with you. I tried my hardest to instill into you the values that I’ve learned from my parents and from my career. And yet you continue to disrespect and defy me.”

“I may not have learned everything you’ve ever wanted me to learn, Mom. But I still learned from the best. How not to treat people.” Reaching up, Cadence wiped blood away from her cheek. She crossed he arms and inclined her head towards the door. Melinda nodded and left the house. From the time she arrived to the time she left had only been forty minutes and those forty minutes felt like an eternity had passed.

Cadence looked up from her notebook as Lance poked his head into her room. She shrugged and he walked inside, lowering himself onto the end of her bed. The two sat in silence for a while as Lance looked around the room. His eyebrows twitched together and he sat up straight. “I never noticed it before, but you have a lot of stuff.”

“I know.” Cadence managed a small smile. “When me and Brit were living together I didn’t realize it because she had things everywhere! Finally getting a room this big to myself…I don’t think I even know where to begin to put everything together.”

“Well, you’ve got plenty of time for that,” Lance said. He reached out and patted her knee. “I know a lot of things have been changing for you lately, with deciding to help Wade with our choreography—“

“—Lou basically made that decision for me; I didn’t really have a choice.”

“Are you saying you wouldn’t do it?”

Cadence gave him a funny look. “Oh no,” she said sarcastically. “I just love the idea of having to be around you guys all the time. Even more than I already do. As a matter of fact, I have an appointment to check myself into a mental hospital by the end of the year. I’m sure you all will do no less of driving me insane by then.” She giggled as Lance stuck his tongue out at her. “I’m kidding. Honestly, I just don’t know how well I’m going to do. Yeah, I was a cheerleader in school and I can pick up choreography pretty easily, but that’s different compared to being a choreographer for one of the hottest bands in the world.”

“You’re going to do a good job, Cade,” Lance reassured her. “Lou, Johnny, and Wade wouldn’t have agreed for you to do it if they didn’t think so either.”

Cadence gave Lance a ‘duh’ look. “You don’t think Wade wouldn’t have suggested me to do it if I knew absolutely nothing about dancing.” Lance hesitated for a second then nodded in agreement, causing Cadence to laugh again.

Then he looked at her seriously and Cadence knew he was about to bring up the topic she knew he wanted to speak about all along. “Your Mom didn’t really seem to like the idea of what you’re doing now. She left pretty quickly.” He left out that as soon as she had left Cadence went to her room and wouldn’t talk to anyone else. As a matter of fact she spent the rest of the day in her room, trying fruitlessly to organize everything so that she could make her room feel like her new home. She had only stopped long enough to say goodbye to Britney, who was going back to their apartment, and to take lunch that Joey had brought up to her (which she was also surprised to see made it up in one piece).

Her mother had that effect on her; as soon as she left Cadence fell into a bit of a depression.

Thankfully no one said anything about the Band-Aid she had placed onto her cheek. At least not at the moment.

“Yes, well, my mother isn’t someone who is very easy to get along with,” Cadence pointed out. “Didn’t you notice the stink-eye she was giving you guys practically the whole time you were asking her questions?”

A wry smile came to Lance’s face. “It was hard not to notice. I tried to ignore it. She has a really exciting background in the military though.”

“Yes, and that was something I was subjected to time and time again.” Cadence brushed her hair back behind her ears then set her notebook aside onto her dresser. She carefully placed the pen down on top and turned back to Lance, looking him in the eye. “To say that my Mom and I don’t get along is an understatement. She was…perfect and I couldn’t ever do anything right in her eyes. So she tried to instill military values onto me and my Dad and that wasn’t something that worked. If my bed wasn’t made correctly I got in trouble, if one of my clothes were even a little out of place when folding laundry she knocked the pile over and made me start again. She was so strict that I could only hang out with my friends once all of my homework was done to her liking, including papers that she looked over and edited until it was perfect. I cleaned the entire house by myself and had so many strict rules placed on me that I had a curfew when all of my friends could do whatever they wanted.”

She rested her chin in her hand. “I know that sounds like nothing the way I explain it, but it was bad. And the more pressure she would put on me, the less I wanted to listen to her.”

Lance nodded. He continued to watch her for a long moment then took a breath before asking, “Are your parents divorced?”

Cadence’s smile was amusing. “Why? Do I act like a spoiled brat?”

“Sort of.” Cadence reached out and swatted Lance on his leg at the admission. “But, from what you explained and how well you speak about your Dad compared to what you just told me about your Mom it wouldn’t surprise me if they were.” He reached up and pressed his finger into her cheek, causing her to wince as the wound under her Band-Aid stung. “What happened there?”

Cadence could’ve told the truth. As a matter of fact she knew Lance knew the truth. But she had become so accustomed to lying about it for so long that it was almost second nature to her. “I was saying goodbye to my Mom and turned my head too sharply when coming back in. Whacked it on the door frame.” She brought her hand up and pushed Lance’s hand away, disguising it as a movement to run her hand through her hair. “I’m a bit of a klutz if you haven’t noticed.”

“Oh, I noticed.” Now Lance smiled again and Cadence let out a quiet sigh of relief. She diverted his attention and now she could keep from having to think about it for a while. “I don’t think I know anyone who is as graceful as you…who can also trip over thin air.”

“That happened only once and my shoe scuffed on the ground!”

“And you still managed to face plant spectacularly.”

Cadence let out a shriek of offense and leaned forward, digging her fingers into Lance’s ribs. He started to laugh and squirm around until he rolled onto his stomach. Cadence sat down on his back, her weight pressing him into his bad. “Ha! Now I have you as my prisoner! And the only way you can get free is if you make dinner tonight.”

“I don’t know how to cook,” Lance protested.

“I’ll teach you. You’re going to have to learn how to fend for yourselves when I’m not around. I don’t want to come back and see the house covered in piles and piles of pizza boxes, cereal boxes, and milk jugs.” Cadence rolled off of Lance’s back and stretched out next to him. She reached her hand out towards him. “Deal?”

“Deal.” Lance slapped his palm into hers. “But you’re not going to leave are you?”

At the moment Cadence couldn’t see anything else she would rather do than stay in Florida with her friends. Especially when the only other option was to go back home where she knew her mother would be waiting for her. “Never.” She then made a face when she heard a low, rhythmic thumping sound from the next room over and moaning voices. “I thought Britney left.”

“So did I,” Lance agreed.

“Okay, the only thing that would probably make me leave…is wishing that my room wasn’t this close to Justin’s. You wouldn’t be in the mood to change rooms would you?”

“Sorry, last one in gets the last room. I suggest you invest in earplugs.”

Lance and Cadence laughed as they pressed their palms over their ears.