Joey sat on the floor in front of the couch, watching TV without really processing what he was seeing. There was a lot on his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about what JC had told him last night.

Everything he’d found out still left Joey in disbelief that something so terrible had happened without them knowing. His heart had broken a little more each time JC had mentioned something else and seeing how upset just talking about it had made him. It killed Joey that JC had kept it a secret as long as he had. But what made it even worse was that Lou had tormented JC when they were around, and they’d had no idea.

Everything JC had gone through was because they hadn’t taken the time to notice that something was really wrong. At least until it was too late. There’d been plenty of signs that JC wasn’t comfortable around Lou, and Joey had ignored every single one of them.

There was that day at the studio when he’d found JC crying in the conference room. Chris had said some pretty hurtful things during lunch, and Joey had attributed that to the reason why JC had been so upset. But now he knew it hadn’t been just that. Having Chris say that JC would do anything to please Lou had probably made him feel that if he’d told them about what’d happened, that they wouldn’t understand and maybe think he’d brought it on himself.

It was a ludicrous idea, but it wasn’t surprising. In the few years that Joey had known JC, he’d always remembered how personally he took negative comments about himself. Joey had tried numerous times to get him to lighten up, but JC took everything he did seriously.

The same thing applied to keeping what Lou had done to him a secret. He’d revealed to Joey last night that he hadn’t said anything sooner because he hadn’t wanted to mess up the opportunity to do the demo, but Joey knew that wasn’t the only reason. After what’d happened with Chris at the studio, JC had probably worried obsessively how they’d react to it. Keeping the rape a secret, JC had to find a balance between sticking up for himself and trying not to do anything to trigger another situation with Lou without coming off as a suck up.

But there was no balance. Just hearing JC recount the events that’d happened since they’d started rehearsing for the demo made Joey realize that fear had been a very dominating feeling for him. The idea that Lou could do something else to him had JC terrified, making him do anything to avoid giving Lou a reason to get him alone. Like going along with lip syncing or letting Lou force him to sing until his voice became hoarse.

Not that the bastard needed a reason. He took advantage of situations where he could be alone with JC, but that wasn’t going to happen anymore. Tonight after the demo, everyone would know, and Lou wouldn’t be allowed within ten feet of JC.

Earlier that morning, Joey had woken up on the loveseat that he’d fallen asleep on after he and JC had finished talking. He’d stayed out in the living room in case JC had a nightmare and needed to talk. It’d seemed like a good idea until he’d run into Lynn in the kitchen, who had been concerned about them sleeping on the couch.

As tired as he’d been, Joey had thought quickly and simply told her that he and JC hadn’t been able to sleep. That they’d stayed up for a few hours last night talking and fell asleep out in the living room. Lynn had bought it, and Joey had sighed in relief. One less thing for JC to worry about when he woke up.

“You wanna play something?”

Justin’s voice snapped Joey out of his thoughts, and he glanced around the room, wondering if Justin was directing that at one of them. He didn’t seem to be, and no one seemed enthusiastic about playing either. They’d just been listlessly watching TV, each of them wrapped up in their own thoughts.

After a few more seconds, Chris said, “Sure.”

As Chris grabbed the remote to change it to the input screen, Justin swapped out a video game with another one. The screen flickered for a second before the game’s opening sequence started. Justin took a seat next to Chris and handed him a controller. Without a word, the two of them started their game.

Joey watched them direct their vehicles around the track. They were lacking the intensity and competitiveness they normally possessed. There was no yelling when their vehicle hit a road hazard or verbal sparring about how the other sucked. It was strange to see them so calm.

Justin had a look of concentration on his face, which looked so out of place for him. He didn’t have to concentrate on much because he was naturally talented at everything. But he was obviously distracted.

The same went for Chris. His vehicle was behind the majority of the others, nearing last place. While Justin was good at all of the games, this was usually one that Chris could beat him at. He’d probably agreed to play because he wanted to take his mind off the one thing that was occupying all of their thoughts.

It was impossible not to think about the demo. This was something they’d been working towards for almost two weeks, and it was hard to believe that it’d finally come. For a while it’d seemed like it would never come, but now that it had, they were second guessing themselves.

Out of the corner of his eye, Joey noticed that Lance was biting his lip. While Lance had constantly worried about the level of his dancing compared to the rest of them all week, Joey knew that was amplified even more today. But he wasn’t the only one. Despite the great rehearsal they’d had yesterday, they were all starting to doubt if they were ready.

Joey sighed softly, knowing that the worry and fear about screwing up wouldn’t go away until they did the demo. Only then would they be able to relax. And until then, they just had to try to distract themselves and not think about it. Easier said than done.

A low moan could be heard and Joey’s eyes darted to JC thinking that a nightmare was starting only to see JC stretching. After a couple seconds of that, he turned over onto his back and slowly sat up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. His eyes slowly roamed around the room.

“Morning,” Joey greeted, offering him a smile.

That drew Justin’s attention away from the game briefly. “Hey, JC,” he said.

“Hey,” JC echoed, his voice gritty. He smiled at Joey before he got to his feet, walking out of the room and leaving the four of them in silence again.

It remained that way for another fifteen minutes until the sound of the doorbell broke the silence. Justin and Chris didn’t even look up from their game, still trying to act as though they were more engaged in it than they actually were. Lance glanced over at Joey with a questioning look, and Joey shrugged. He didn’t really want to open the door because he had a pretty good idea who it was, and he didn’t know if he could keep himself from punching Lou.

“Isn’t someone going to get that?” Lance asked as the doorbell sounded again.

“Mom!” Justin yelled. “Someone’s at the door!”

Lynn poked her head into the living room from the kitchen and said, “I’m not your servant, Justin. Put the game down and answer the door.”

Justin sighed, but set his controller down and pushed himself to his feet. He crossed the few feet to the front door and unlocked it, pulling it open. “Hey, Lou,” he greeted.

“Hi, Justin. You ready for tonight?” Lou asked, stepping inside and letting Justin close the door behind him.

Justin shrugged and nodded. “Yeah.”

“Good.” Lou walked further into the room and asked, “How are you boys doing?”

“Like you care,” Joey muttered under his breath. He knew he shouldn’t do or say anything that could possibly alert Lou that he was aware of what had been going on, but he couldn’t help it. Just seeing Lou sent his blood boiling.

Chris shot him a weird look as he turned off the game system before turning his attention to Lou. “We’re good,” he said, joining Justin on the couch.

“Good,” Lou replied, smiling. “I hear that you boys had a great rehearsal yesterday.”

Chris nodded. “I think we’re ready.”

JC returned, fully dressed now, only to stop in his tracks when he noticed Lou standing next to the couch. Almost immediately his posture stiffened and he eyed Lou warily before quickly averting his gaze. Joey frowned slightly, hating the affect just being in the same room as Lou had on JC.

“How are you feeling, JC?” Lou asked.

“I’m OK,” JC said, glancing at Lou briefly before fixing his gaze on a spot on the other side of the room.

“You’re not sick anymore, are you? Dave told me that you missed rehearsal on Wednesday because you weren’t feeling well,” Lou replied.

“It was just the flu,” Joey told Lou, watching JC shift his weight from one foot to the other.

Lou was about to reply when his pager began beeping inside his pocket. He dug it out and looked at the display. “Excuse me,” he said, walking towards the kitchen.

As Lou walked past JC, he patted his shoulder. The contact was brief, but it was enough to cause JC to flinch.

Once Lou had disappeared into the kitchen, JC wasted no time in crossing the living room to sit on the other end of the couch next to Chris. He stared at the TV as Justin flipped through the channels. Joey watched JC in concern, wondering just how he’d managed to deal with everything Lou put him through for so long without help.

After a couple of minutes, Lou reentered the room and asked, “Are you boys hungry? I was thinking about taking you out for lunch.”

The five of them glanced at each other briefly. They didn’t necessarily want to hang out with Lou, but it wasn’t like they were going to say no. Though, Joey wanted to just so JC wouldn’t have to deal with Lou any longer than he had to. In the end, they all agreed and were out the door in a matter of minutes.

They piled into the van, much like they had when Lou had taken them for ice cream. Joey volunteered to sit up front to ensure that JC didn’t have to worry about getting stuck up front and having a repeat of last time. It was weird sitting next to Lou, especially since he knew what’d happened to JC. But glancing back at JC who looked less tense made it worth it.

About fifteen minutes later, Lou pulled into the parking lot of a restaurant that also served as a sports lounge. It was a little after noon, so it wasn’t as crowded as it would be if they’d gone later. As a result, they were seated almost immediately. The waitress led them to a large round table towards the back.

Joey had been right next to JC, but somehow the others got in front of him as they followed the waitress. So when he approached the table, there were only two seats left. One was next to JC, which Lou was heading for. JC was staring at the tabletop, but Joey knew he was aware of Lou’s intentions by the way he kept glancing at him out of the corner of his eye. Knowing that he had to do something, Joey stepped forward, drawing Lou’s attention.

“Actually, you mind if I sit here?” Joey asked, stepping closer to the empty seat and putting himself between Lou and JC. “This has a better view of the game.”

Chris turned and looked at the big screen. “Since when do you care about college football?”

“Hey, football’s football,” Joey said. He turned his attention back to Lou who was still standing there. “What do you say, Lou? Can I sit here?”

Lou hesitated for a second before he forced a smile. “Sure,” he said, making his way to the other side of the table.

Joey watched him go with a grin. He sat down and looked over at JC, who had relaxed in his chair. As Joey offered JC a smile, he couldn’t help but feel good. He’d managed to save JC from what probably would’ve been a very uncomfortable meal.

The six of them perused the menus that the waitress had left with them while she fetched their drinks. Out of the corner of his eye, Joey saw JC sit back and move his menu upright, his fingers clutching the laminated paper. Joey looked up and immediately noticed the cause for JC’s behavior.

Lou was gazing at JC over the top of his menu, and JC was trying to avoid looking at him any way he could. But it wasn’t Lou looking at JC that seemed to make him uncomfortable. It was the way Lou was looking at him. Joey had to resist the urge to gag when he noticed the lust that lingered in Lou’s eyes when he stared at JC.

Less than a minute later, the waitress returned and took their orders. She also took their menus, which JC reluctantly handed over. Joey frowned slightly, knowing that his friend probably liked having something to block Lou’s gaze.

“So, Lou,” Joey started once the waitress had disappeared once again, drawing Lou’s attention to him. “How was your trip?”

“It was good,” Lou said. His eyes wandered to Joey’s right as Justin started to complain about his soda being flat.

“I hate flat pop,” Justin whined, stirring it with the white straw.

“Aw poor baby,” Chris said sarcastically. He leaned in and reached for Justin’s drink. “Here. I’ll fix it.”

“No!” Justin scooted his chair to the left slightly and moved his glass out of Chris’s reach.

While the two of them bickered about Chris trying to help give Justin’s soda fizz by blowing bubbles into it and Lance chuckled in amusement, Joey watched JC shift in his seat. His knee was bouncing almost uncontrollably.

“Robin said that you went to see your other group,” Joey said. Immediately all eyes were on him.

Lou nodded. “That’s right.”

“Well, what do you do with them? I mean, can we expect to do the same kind of stuff that you’re doing with them?” Joey asked. Chris and Justin were staring at him as if he’d grown another head. Even JC was shooting him a dirty look, making Joey realize that maybe he could’ve brought it up better. But he’d just wanted to stop Lou from staring at JC.

Lou started to answer the question, and Joey tuned him out. He made sure to keep his attention focused on Lou and nod occasionally, but didn’t actually listen to what was being said. All that mattered was trying to keep Lou occupied.

“But we have to wait and see how the demo goes,” Lou finished.

“If we get signed, are we gonna get to travel?” Lance asked.

As the Justin and Chris turned their heads to listen to Lou’s answer, JC leaned slightly towards Joey and said quietly, “Stop it.”

Joey abruptly stopped drinking his soda and looked over at JC. “Stop what? Drinking?”

“You know what I’m talking about,” JC said, narrowing his eyes.

“I’m trying to help you out,” Joey replied, frowning. Sure he hadn’t been doing it the best way, but he’d thought JC would appreciate what he was doing.

“Well, stop. You’re being too obvious.”

“Sorry. I was just trying to keep his focus off you. You look so uncomfortable,” Joey said.

“I’m fine,” JC said, his voice rising on the last word and drawing the attention of the other guys.

“What’d you say, Jace?” Chris asked.

“Uh…” JC hesitated, and Joey could tell that his mind was racing for an excuse they would buy. Joey was about to step in and say something when JC said, “Didn’t you see that girl? She was fine.”

The three of them laughed, and Joey couldn’t help but join in. Color rose in JC’s cheeks as he averted his eyes in embarrassment. In the years that Joey had known JC, he’d never heard him talk like that. But that was what made it so funny.

“I don’t see a girl,” Justin said, using the table to push himself up slightly as he searched the restaurant for the imaginary girl JC was talking about.

“Oh, she just walked past,” JC replied, quickly. “Must’ve been on her way out.”

As the laughter started to die down, the waitress returned and started to distribute their food. Joey watched JC avoid Lou’s gaze and realized that maybe he needed to back off a bit. After all, JC had managed to deal with it for almost a week by himself. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to speak up if Lou was taking it too far. Just because JC was used to dealing with this by himself, didn’t mean that he had to anymore.

Chris went through the motions for We Can Work It Out. After worrying about it all day, it came so much easier than he thought it would. Of course, rehearsing and actually performing it live were two completely different things. The thought of which churned his stomach, despite repeated efforts to push the concern about messing up during the show to the back of his mind.

“JC, you need to be a little sharper with your steps. It’s looking kind of sloppy,” Dave said.

JC rubbed at his forehead, nodding and moved to the starting position as Dave motioned to one of the sound guys to prepare the song. Chris sighed and fell in line with the rest of the guys. They’d gotten started late because they’d had to try on their outfits for the show since they were treating this last rehearsal as a full dress rehearsal. Normally that wouldn’t have taken as long as it had, but Joey’s pants were too large. So they had to discuss what the best course of action would be, and eventually Robin volunteered to find someone who could fix it.

Nearly fifteen minutes had passed since then and Chris was already tired. They hadn’t made it passed the first song because JC was struggling with the steps. It was incredibly frustrating because Chris at least wanted to move onto the next song. But it was also nerve wracking because out of the five of them, JC and Justin were the ones that weren’t supposed to mess up. That just increased Chris’s worries about all of the things that could go wrong during the demo, and he sincerely hoped that JC could shake off whatever was causing him to screw up.

The music was cued, and the five of them went through the routine once again. They made it through the entire routine, but Dave still didn’t look very happy. But he wasn’t the only one. Lou was standing next to their choreographer watching them with his arms crossed and a displeased look on his face.

“Alright.” Dave sighed. “We’ll come back to it. Let’s move onto the next song, OK?”

There were no objections, and they took their respective positions. Chris was just glad they were finally moving on. He’d never been so happy to do the choreography for Give Into Me.

The song started, and everything went smoothly until they were transitioning into the second verse. JC, who’d been on the right side of the stage, was supposed to cross over to the left with Chris. Only that didn’t happen. Or at least it wouldn’t have if Chris hadn’t grabbed hold of JC’s sleeve and pulled him to the other side of the stage.

But that one mistake was enough to throw JC off completely. He had trouble synchronizing himself with the rest of them while Justin sang the second verse. Chris had to hold back a groan as the music was stopped once again. All he wanted was to get through all the songs without too much trouble.

Dave sighed for the second time in the last five minutes. “JC, I don’t know what’s going on, but you’re—”

“Off,” Lou finished stiffly. He fixed JC with a stern look. “What’s wrong with you? You haven’t been able to get any of the steps.”

“I’m sorry,” JC said meekly, his gaze fixed firmly on the shiny black surface of the stage.

“Sorry’s not going to cut it. You guys are on in less than three hours, and you can’t even keep your position onstage straight. Not to mention your mistakes are bringing down the others, so you better pull yourself together. When you’re onstage you represent me, and I will not be embarrassed,” Lou said.

Chris stared at Lou in surprise. He couldn’t believe he’d been so harsh. Yes, JC wasn’t doing well, but degrading him like that wasn’t going to help. Lou had to know that, so it made Chris wonder exactly what he was hoping to gain from being so mean and blunt.

Quickly, Chris glanced over at JC and frowned when he saw tears of frustration building in his eyes. JC pinched the bridge of his nose as he closed his eyes and turned so his back was to the open area where the crowd would be in just a few hours. Even with his back turned, Chris could just feel the misery that was radiating off JC. It was disconcerting because it was very rare that JC got upset, especially to the point where he was about to cry.

Apparently, Justin felt the same way because he started to make his way towards JC. He stopped suddenly when Joey reached JC before he could. Hurt crossed his face as he frowned at the two of them, and Chris wondered what exactly was going through Justin’s mind. It was no secret that he thought his friendship with JC was in jeopardy, which made Joey going over to JC that much worse.

But as Chris watched Joey whisper into JC’s ear with a comforting arm wrapped around his shoulders, he thought maybe it was for the best that Justin wasn’t the one comforting JC. He wasn’t sure if Justin would be able to comfort JC as well, despite the fact that he seemed to know something about what was going on that they didn’t. After all, Justin was still just a kid and probably didn’t have a lot of experience with comforting someone who was so upset. Besides, Joey seemed to be doing alright. JC still looked frustrated and like he could still give into the tears at any second, but he was nodding slightly to whatever Joey was saying to him. Something was getting through to him.

“Could you give us some time?”

Chris turned and saw Dave talking to Lou, who was staring at the five of them onstage with a deep frown set on his face. Lou’s eyes didn’t leave them, and more specifically where JC and Joey stood, as he said, “They need to be ready for this.”

“And they will be,” Dave assured. “All I’m asking is for you to give us some time to work things out.”

Lou finally tore his gaze away and looked at Dave. He was silent for a few seconds before he nodded slowly. “Fine,” he said. “I need to take care of a few things anyway.”

Without another word, Lou walked away and headed for the main strip of Pleasure Island. The stage they were performing on was outside, so Chris’s eyes followed Lou until he couldn’t see him anymore. Once he was completely out of sight, Chris heaved a heavy sigh. Maybe they could get somewhere now that he was gone because that would be a little less pressure on all of them.

Dave joined them onstage and walked over to JC. “How you doing?”

“Fine,” JC said, barely glancing up at Dave.

“Look.” Dave sighed. “You’re being too hard on yourself, and don’t listen to what Lou said. You know this, JC. You’re just letting nerves get in the way.”

JC nodded and said quietly, “I know.”

“You just need to let go and have fun with it.” Dave paused. “You ready to try it again?”

JC finally looked up and met Dave’s gaze, red rimmed blue meeting clear green. “Can I just have ten minutes?”

“Sure,” Dave said. JC offered a weak smile of thanks before walking over to the edge of the stage and sitting so his legs dangled in front of it. Joey followed him and sat down next to him, while Justin stood off to the side with Lance talking quietly. “So how are you doing?”

It took Chris a second to realize that Dave was talking to him. He focused his attention on their choreographer and said, “Like I’m gonna puke. But other than that, I’m good.”

Dave chuckled. “You have no reason to be nervous. If you’re nervous, then you’re more likely to screw up.”

“Thanks. You sure know how to make a guy feel better,” Chris said sarcastically. He smiled as Dave laughed.

“You’ll be fine,” Dave told him.

Just then Joey joined them, his face somber. “What’s up, Joe?” Chris asked. He glanced over at JC who was still sitting on the edge of the stage, but was now joined by Justin and Lance. Chris looked back at Joey. “Is JC alright?”

“He’s OK,” Joey said. “He just took what Lou said really hard.”

“Lou was pretty rough, but JC shouldn’t let what he said get to him,” Dave replied.

Joey nodded. “I know, but he doesn’t think he can do it in front of Lou. He’s afraid of disappointing him.”

Chris frowned and let his eyes flicker to JC. That’s what got JC so upset? Fear of disappointing Lou? It was hard to believe, but then he thought back to the conversation they’d had just a couple days ago about how JC felt like everything had to be perfect. He still didn’t understand it, but he just had to accept that was how JC was. There probably wasn’t anything they could do to change that.

“I’ll make sure Lou stays away for the rest of rehearsal,” Dave said and clapped Joey on the shoulder before walking offstage to talk to some of the security guards hired for the event.

It was another five minutes before Dave returned, but when he did he called for the sound tech to start the music from the beginning again. “Alright, guys. Get into formation. We’re going to start from the beginning and see how it goes.”

Chris wasn’t looking forward to doing We Can Work It Out again, but he got into place. The music started and it was like a switch had been flipped. They hadn’t done as well as they had the day before, but they made it through the entire set without any major mistakes. There was a collective sigh of relief when they all finished.

“That was good, guys. I think you’ll do fine,” Dave said, grinning at them. “Now get outta here. Go relax and get something to eat.”

They didn’t have to be told twice. The five of them left the stage, leaving the feelings of frustration and nervousness behind. Chris glanced at JC and saw that the stress lines in his face had relaxed. It made him smile, thinking that maybe, just maybe, the demo would go off without a hitch after all.

JC propped his head up with his left hand as his right pushed at the food in the Styrofoam container. They’d gotten take out from a restaurant a few blocks up, but he wasn’t very hungry. In less than an hour they’d be taking the stage, and the thought caused JC’s stomach to churn.

He was terrified that he would screw up, which would make everything that he’d gone through for nothing. The rehearsal had gone well after Lou had left, but there was no way he be absent from the actual taping of the demo. As much as JC didn’t want to admit it, he was afraid of Lou.

The idea of what could happen if the demo didn’t go well unsettled JC. It was bad enough that he had pressure to do well because their careers were riding on how it went, but then he thought about what Lou had said to him during rehearsal. Lou had said that he didn’t want to be embarrassed, and JC had caught the underlying message that if he did embarrass Lou, there’d be some kind of punishment. And he could only imagine what that would be.

“Joey,” Robin’s voice said. JC looked up at Joey, who was sitting across from him, before looking at their vocal coach standing in the doorway. “You’re needed down the hall. That woman’s here to fix your pants.”

Joey nodded and rose from the table that they’d been eating at. “I’ll be right back, guys,” he said as his eyes locked on JC’s, silently asking him if he’d be OK. JC nodded and gave him a small smile.

“You better be quick. The show’ll start soon,” Justin said.

“I’ll be back before then,” Joey replied, looking at JC once more before following Robin out into the hall.

With a sigh, JC set down his fork. There was no way he was going to eat now because as time passed, his nausea seemed to worsen. He needed to stop worrying about the demo, but he couldn’t help it. This was what they’d been working towards for the past week and a half, so they had to do well.

But even once it was over, he wouldn’t be able to relax. JC would have to tell everyone what he’d told Joey last night. He didn’t really want to. It’d been good enough to tell Joey because he’d finally gotten it off his chest and someone finally understood why he’d been acting so weird. JC couldn’t even really get mad at Joey for being kind of obvious throughout the day because he had been trying to help.

That was the main problem with telling everyone else. If they all knew about it, they would insist on getting the police involved, thinking they were helping him. Lynn would be the worst, and that was something JC wanted to avoid. It wasn’t that he didn’t think Lou deserved to be punished, but he didn’t want more people to know than necessary. And the last thing he wanted was for his parents to find out because they would freak out, and that wasn’t something he wanted to put them through. He couldn’t really back out of telling though because Joey would probably bring it up when they got home.

A noise to JC’s left caught his attention, and he lifted his head off his hand to look for the source. When he saw the other three start to rise from the couch and Lou standing just inside the room by the door, his heart started to race. They couldn’t be leaving him alone with Lou. Not after the way Lou had treated him during rehearsal.

“Where are you guys going?” JC asked, trying to stay calm as he slowly rose from the table. He glanced at Lou warily before turning his attention on the guys.

“We’ll see you soon,” Chris assured as Justin and Lance walked out in front of him. “Lou just wants to talk to you for a minute.”

“But—” JC started to protest, but Chris already stepped out into the hall.

Once he was gone, Lou shut the door and turned the lock into place. He slowly started to walk towards JC, and immediately JC felt that feeling of claustrophobia return. Knowing that he had to get out of there, JC took off running for the door.

As JC got closer to the door, he tried to dodge around Lou. But Lou easily wrapped a thick arm around his stomach. He used that as leverage to roughly shove JC, catching him off guard and causing him to fall to the floor.

JC was momentarily stunned, but quickly tried to shake it off. He needed to get up and get out of such a vulnerable position. But before he could push himself to his feet, Lou was on top of him.

“No,” JC protested, struggling to get away.

Lou pressed his weight on JC, limiting his movement as he worked on pulling down JC’s pants. JC closed his eyes as his struggles grew weaker. His limbs felt like lead and fighting against Lou drained him of energy.

As JC felt his boxers being yanked down to his ankles, tears leaked out of his eyes. He couldn’t believe this was happening all over again. And just like before, there was no escape.

Joey hurried down the hall towards backstage. He’d already passed the lounge they’d been hanging out in, and it was empty. The only place they could be was backstage, and as Joey got closer he noticed them fidgeting and looking very anxious.

“Joey!” Justin exclaimed in relief as he turned, noticing him.

“We didn’t think you were going to make it,” Lance said.

“Took longer than I thought,” Joey replied, shrugging. He hadn’t thought taking in pants would take as long as it did, but that just showed how much he knew about fashion.

“Well, did you get it taken care of?” Chris asked. Joey nodded, and Chris sighed in relief.

Joey frowned when he spotted JC standing off to the side. He looked really pale and a little shaky. What they were about to do was nerve wracking, but Joey briefly wondered if it was something more.

“Are you OK?” he whispered to JC, gently putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m fine,” JC said, his voice shaking slightly. Joey frowned, but before he could say anything, JC took a breath and turned to look at him with determination. “Let’s do this.”

Joey wanted to object, but there wasn’t time. The lights dimmed and the crowd roared. It was show time.