Chapter 13: What Happens in Sweden Stays in Sweden

“Mackie? Pleaaaaaaase? Please? Please?” Justin begged.

Mack tried to ignore him but it was hard with him elbowing her in the ribs every few seconds. Also he was tapping his pencil against the table sounded like gunshots in her head. She used her free hand to rub her temples which were throbbing in pain. This was the worst headache she’s ever had and she still didn’t understand how she got it. All she knew was that it was making it hard for her to concentrate on her homework assignment.

“Justin! Stop! I’m not going to do your homework for you, ok?” Mack finally snapped at him, wincing at the sudden throb in her head. “Gosh, you’re making my headache even worse.”

“Ok, fine, don’t do my homework for me. I’ll just fail history and then I won’t be able to record and my hopes and dreams will be shattered because of you,” he said as he dropped his pen and crossed his arms over his chest. He studied her face waiting to see if she bought his guilt trip but it didn’t seem to be working. A slow smile formed on his face as he thought of a plan to get her to do the work for him. It was a low move, even for him, but the guys were waiting on him to finish his homework so they could go record. Lance had finished before them at least twenty minutes ago and Justin was itching to get into the studio. “Fine, don’t do my homework. I’ll just tell the guys how…frisky you were last night.”

Mack looked at him as if he had just told her that the moon was made of marshmallows. “What the heck are you talking about?” She asked a little afraid of what the answer would be.

“JC told me an interesting story last night,” he replied, a devious smile forming on his face as Mack squinted at him. “Seems like you got very handy last night.” She continued to stare at him for a few more seconds before her eyes widened at what he was suggesting. She opened her mouth to say something but he quickly interrupted her. “Let’s make a deal, hmmm? You finish my homework for me and I won’t tell the guys of your little episode. OK?” He waved his paper in front of her face and she watched it as if she were hypnotized. She closed her eyes and let out a sigh as Justin grinned in triumph.

“Fine,” she growled through clenched teeth, snatching the paper out of his hands. “I’ll do your damn homework if you keep quiet.”

“Thanks, Baby Girl,” he said with an affectionate smile as he stood. “I’m going to tell the guys that I’m ready. We’ll leave as soon as you’re done.”

Mack grabbed a pillow that was by her head and chucked it at him. He easily caught it and threw it back at her. He chuckled while stepping into the hall and pulling the door shut behind him. She was too easy to get to; Justin figured he’d be able to get her to do anything he wanted if he tried hard enough.

“You’re finished all ready?” Lynn asked as soon as he stepped into his room where everyone else was waiting. She squinted at him as if trying to get him to confess to something. He calmly looked back as if daring her to say something. “How are you finished before Mackenzie?” She finally asked.

Justin shrugged. “She kept saying something about having a bad headache…” he let his voice trail off as he smacked JC’s legs. JC was lying down on the couch in the room, watching TV. He glanced up at Justin when he smacked the older boy, sighed, and sat up giving Justin space.

“Is she ok?” Lynn asked in concern. Justin smiled to himself when he successfully changed the subject of the conversation to her.

“I don’t know, she kept mumbling something about how it was hard to concentrate. I think you should check on her.” He watched as Lynn got out of her seat and left the room. He shook his head and sighed. “Man that was too easy.”

“Did you just lie to your mother?” Lance asked, looking over at Justin.

Justin scoffed. “Heck no. Mom would have my head if I lied to her. I’m not stupid, I want my life. Besides, I didn’t lie. She does have a headache.”

“You don’t seem too concerned,” Joey pointed out.

Justin merely shrugged and turned his attention to the TV, but he couldn’t focus for long. The shows were all in a different language. He looked around to see if the others had noticed it (“They had to,” Justin muttered) but they kept their eyes on the screen as if they knew what was going on or understood what was happening. They even laughed at something that had come on screen but Justin didn’t understand what had happened and that made him frustrated.

It was as if they were leaving him out of something cool, like always. He hated being the youngest sometimes, even though he wasn’t the youngest in the whole group he felt like he was the one being left out the most. Mack had formed a different bond with each of the guys, something that Justin couldn’t understand or was willing to accept. She was his friend first; the others couldn’t just take her away from him. He wouldn’t let them.

“Whoa, J, what’s wrong with you? You look like you want to attack something,” Chris commented, looking over at Justin. That caused everyone else to look at him too. His eyes were hard and his teeth were clenched, his bottom jaw was sticking out so he looked like a pit-bull.

Justin’s eyes shifted to everyone’s faces and he pulled a relaxed face, or what he hoped was a relaxed face. “I’m fine. I’m just ready to go.” As soon as the words left his mouth the door opened again and Lynn and Mack came into the room. Lynn had a stack of papers in her hands and was looking over it, their homework from what Justin could see. He gulped and stared hard at the expression on his mother’s face before looking around the room. Unfortunately his only exit was through the front door, which was what they were currently blocking unless he wanted to throw himself out of the window but he wasn’t caught. Yet.

“Ok, you boys can go now,” Lynn finally declared as she paper clipped the papers together.

“Finally!” Justin jumped off of the couch and rushed to pull on his shoes. “Let’s go!” He was out the door before the other guys had even moved from their positions around the room.

“Someone ate speed for breakfast,” Chris commented as he rolled onto his back and rubbed his eyes. He sat up and flinched under Lynn’s ‘that wasn’t really funny’ stare. “Heh heh, sorry Ms. Harless. That wasn’t funny.”

“Glad we’re on the same page,” Lynn said with a smile as JC chuckled. She glanced over at Mack who was rubbing her temples with her fingers. “Are you sure you want to go, sweetie? I’d feel better if you stayed here.”

“I’m good, Momma Lynn,” Mack replied as she dropped her hands and smiled a bit. “I just need some Advil and I’ll be fine.” Lynn studied her for a couple of seconds before disappearing into the bathroom. “Why’d you tell Justin?” Mack asked, her voice was so soft and barely above a whisper that JC almost didn’t hear her.

“Correct me if I’m wrong but isn’t he your so-called best friend?” JC replied with a trace of a snide quality in his voice.

“He doesn’t need to know everything about me.”

“You mean he doesn’t know every single little miniscule thing about your life?” JC placed his hand over his heart in mock shock. “Someone call the newspaper.”

“Asshole,” she hissed under her breath as soon as Lynn came over to her with a glass of water and two painkillers JC threw his arms into the air as if saying ‘I tried’ and followed the other guys out of the hotel room. She took the glass and the painkillers from her, popped them into her mouth, and took a long drink. She nodded her thanks and wiped her mouth with the back of her hands. “All right, let’s go. I think Justin’s about to blow a blood vessel from waiting. But I can honestly say it wouldn’t be the first time that happened.”

The two girls chuckled and followed the eager boys out of the hotel room. They took the elevator and as soon as the doors opened to reveal the lobby Justin jumped out of a lobby chair yelling, “Finally!” He turned around and grinned like a Cheshire cat when Lou walked up behind him, bidding them all good morning. “We’re ready to go.” Justin started bouncing on his toes. “What’re we taking to the studio? A Rolls-Royce? A limo?”

“Justin!” Lynn and Mack scolded him in the same time.

Justin immediately dropped back on his feet and blushed. “Sorry,” he apologized. “I’m a little excited.”

Lou laughed. “Excitement is a good thing, my boy. You should be excited, you all should be excited. I let some of the producers at Cheiron studios and they’re eagerly awaiting your arrival. They all ready have some songs ready that they want you to sing.” He smiled as he looked at them all. “The studio is close though, it’s in walking distance. So if you boys don’t mind the exercise–”

“Well, let’s go all ready!” Chris said impatiently. He walked next to Lou talking animatedly about being able to record in an actual studio and what their schedule was going to be like and what they should expect when they got big.

Justin couldn’t help but notice that Lou always used the word “when” not “if” whenever he referred to them getting big. He could practically see fans screaming their name, liming up to get autographs, coming to all of their shows, basically taking the time out of their lives to see him and his friends. He vowed right then and there if they ever got big he would do everything he could to let their fans know how much he appreciated their support.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Mack asked as she poked him in the side at the same time, snapping him out of his thoughts.

“What this recording session is going to be like,” he replied as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side. He kept his protective grip on her shoulder as they walked down the street, looking around at the city around them. Joey kept glancing around, probably trying to see if there were any bars or nightclubs around. Joey loved the nightlife; it made everyone come alive to him. You could be whoever you wanted to be at night while going back to your normal work in the morning and no one would know a thing. That and he was sure it was going to be filled with a lot of beautiful women, such as the ones they passed on their walk.

“Whoa!” Joey hissed as his head followed a leggy blonde. “Did you see that chick?” he asked, nudging Lance. “She was very…whoa.”

“Joey, she’s a pair of breasts with legs,” Lance commented, looking at the woman who passed them himself.

“Exactly!”

Lance just chuckled and playfully punched Joey on the arm. Chris, not wanting to be left out, ran up behind JC and kicked him in the back of the knee, causing his leg to buckle. He grabbed Justin’s sleeve out of instinct which brought him and Mack down with him.

“Wow. Chain reaction,” Chris said while laughing gleefully.

“I’ll give you something to laugh about in a second,” Mack threatened under her breath as she checked her throbbing knee for any bruises. It was just really red and it hurt a bit. The fall brought her headache back which was starting to go away.

“Are you ok?” Joey asked as he grasped Mack’s elbow and easily pulled her to her feet. “Wow, you’re so light it’s no wonder you took a beating with that fall. Are you sure you’re not anorexic or something?”

“I love food too much to not eat it or throw it back up,” she replied, brushing off her clothes for any dirt as they continued walking down the street. “’Sides, I wouldn’t have the energy that I need to dance.”

“How’d you get into dancing anyway?”

As she told him the long story she occasionally would look around at her surroundings and would find herself glancing over at Justin who would scowl from time to time before turning to look at Lynn and ask her something. Mack tilted her head slightly in confusion trying to figure out what his problem was. Soon they had made it to the studio and were greeted by the doorman who nodded at them as they passed.

“Wait here for a few minutes, would you?” Lou said as they gathered around in the lobby. “I would like to speak with the producers a little bit before I bring you in.”

Loud smiled as they nodded, letting him know that they would be obedient. Chris sat down in his chair but only sat still for the first few minutes. After a bit he started tapping his fingers on the arm rest, then he started kicking out his legs so they made a thunk-like noise on the table, and then he started humming. He was sure he was about to get on one of his friends’ nerves when Lou came back announcing that the producers were ready to meet them.

“You ok?” Mack asked noticing Justin licking his lips and his twitching fingers.

“Yeah, just a little nervous,” he mumbled before following everyone down the hall. Lynn trailed behind them, looking at the many gold and platinum records that were on the wall. They were finally brought into a room with a large table and chairs surrounding it. Two men were sitting at the head, waiting with smiles on their faces. Johnny Wright, their manager, was all ready in the room.

“Hey Johnny!” Mack greeted him with a big smile and a wave.

“Hello Little Lady,” he chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Are you enjoying Sweden so far?”

She nodded. “It’s really beautiful.”

Lou cleared his throat and stared hard at her. She bowed her head and scurried to a seat in between Lynn and Lance. Once she sat down Lou spoke up. “Boys, this is Dag Volle and Martin Sandberg, also known as Denniz PoP and Max Martin. They are going to produce your debut album while Johnny is going to be the executive producer. They’ve produced many European hits, including the Backstreet Boys. They can make you as big as the Backstreet Boys, or maybe even bigger.”

Justin’s eyes slowly widened at the thought of being as big as the Backstreet Boys or even bigger. Since they’ve gotten to Europe the only thing he’s heard was The Backstreet Boys this or The Backstreet Boys that. He couldn’t deny that they were good, some of their songs were amazing even, and he desperately wanted to get to that level.

“We have heard a few demos of yours and we are blown away,” Denniz spoke up after Lou took a seat. “We all ready have a few songs that we would like you to sing. I understand that you have brought your vocal coach with you?” Robin nodded and smiled. “I would like you boys to sing a little bit for us, just so we know what vocal range you have and what type of voice you have.” He looked down at his notepad. “Let’s see…Justin Timberlake? Ah yes, Justin. My, you’re a very young boy. Only fifteen. Anyway, let’s start with you. Sing the scale please.”

The boys each took turns singing whatever scale he wanted them to and singing other sections of songs. After that he got them to sing a five-part harmony to see how their voices blended together. All the while Max was writing down their information on a notepad:

August 6th, 1996

‘N Sync Vocals:

Justin Timberlake, 15, Alto, *Two-octave range

Lance Bass, 17, Bass

Joseph Fatone, 20, Baritone

Joshua Chasez, 19, Midrange Tenor, *Four-octave range

Christopher Kirkpatrick, 24, Countertenor

“Like Denniz said, we all ready have a few songs lined up that we would like for you to try and record. If you would follow us into the recording room, please.”

The guys eagerly followed Denniz and Max back out of the room and into another room where the recording booth was located. A couch was resting against the wall closest to their right. To their left was the system board that the producers would sit behind and in front of it was a large glass window that held the microphone and a stool inside. As Lynn introduced herself to Denniz and Max everyone else took any seat they could get to in the room.

“Get your elbow out of my liver,” Mack groaned as she tried to shove JC.

“Tell Chris to get his hand out of my face before he pokes me in the eye,” JC grunted as he tried to shove Chris. Justin let out a yelp of pain when his hip was pressed against Lance’s, who in turn was pressed into the arm of the couch. Joey was the only one who didn’t go for the couch itself so he sat on the arm rest.

“Ok, the smallest one has to get up!” Lance finally blurted out.

Automatically all of their heads turned to Mack. “That’s so not fair!” She pouted and crossed her arms over her chest.

“You’re taking up the space we need, sweetie.”

“Don’t try and get off my bad list by calling me a term of endearment,” she snapped. “I’m not that much younger than you.”

“Would Fatso be better?” Chris asked dryly. He groaned in pain when Justin managed to elbow him in the side. “Come on…”

“You know what? Have your damn couch. We girls don’t need to sit. No, we can stand. After all, we’re just the lowly gender. Do you want something to eat? I’ll fetch it for you so you don’t have to get off your lazy asses!” Mack growled; finally get to her feet and successfully getting off of the couch. Everyone was looking at her. She blushed under their gaze. The silence was finally broken by Lynn trying to conceal her laughter.

“Momma!” Justin said in a scolding tone.

“I’m sorry baby,” Lynn said as she grinned. “It’s just…she has a point.” She then started laughing all over again while Justin looked at her in confusion. The confused expression on his face intensified when Mack started laughing along with Lou and Johnny. Denniz and Max stayed in their chairs. They weren’t laughing but they had smiles on their faces.

“What? What point? I don’t get it.”

“You wouldn’t.” Mack rolled her eyes and sat on the ground in front of the couch.

Denniz and Max, with prompt from Lou, broke the uncomfortable silence by playing a couple of the songs they wanted the boys to sing. A few of them bobbed their heads to the beat on some songs, a few kept thoughtful looks on their faces, and when some were played again they tried singing along with it. The one they all agreed on liking the most was one called I Want You Back.

“JC, Justin, we think it would be best if you two sang the lead vocals in the group,” Denniz announced.

“You two have the strongest voices that will get you noticed,” Lou added, nodding.

“If its ok with you guys,” JC said as he looked over at Chris, Lance, and Joey. They had been there for a few hours all ready and he could tell that all they wanted to do was to get some food and then go back to the hotel. It was dark outside all ready and he knew that the fading daylight was taking its toll on their moods.

“’Course man,” Joey replied with a smile.

“Have you heard yourself sing? You deserve it,” Chris replied.

JC blushed but smiled. Justin grinned and nudged him in the side. Justin knew that he had a good voice, he constantly reminded the others (of course he was only teasing), but he didn’t know it was good enough to sing lead. And he was singing lead with JC, his best friend, his older brother, his role model. If they had to pick one person to lead he’d pick JC in an instant. As Justin told him many times before JC could “out sing anybody in the whole damn world.” JC never believed anyone when they told him that. Justin just thought he was fishing for attention but he finally found out that JC truly thought he could be better than he all ready was.

“Thanks guys.” JC beamed.

“It’s getting late,” Lynn finally spoke up, looking at the clock. “We should be heading back to the hotel.”

“Whyyyyyy?” Justin whined.

“Because it’s almost your curfew,” she responded. Justin opened his mouth. “I don’t care if you’re in a different country or the time is different, you still have your curfew and that’s not going to change!” She said sternly. Justin closed his mouth and his eyes widened. Either because he was afraid of his mom or because she knew what he was going to say.

“See you boys bright and early tomorrow,” Max said with a smile as he shook their hands.

“Hey, Sleeping Beauty, it’s time to go,” Justin said as he nudged Mack with his foot. He looked over at Lynn when he felt eyes on the back of his head. She was glaring at him and slowly shaking her head. He sighed and crouched near Mack, shaking her shoulder.

“You might as well let her sleep, she barely got any last night, complaining about a headache and all,” Robin spoke up.

“She has a headache?” Lou asked, suddenly interested. “Is she ok?”

“Mhm, just a headache. It was gone for a while but I guess it came back,” Justin replied as he maneuvered her. He slid her onto his back and stood, hooking his arms under her knees so she wouldn’t fall. She rested her cheek on his shoulder and didn’t stir as he gently moved her a little bit. “She’s usually quiet or knocked out like this when she feels bad.”

“I hope she feels better soon. She’s your choreographer, yeah?” Denniz asked. They nodded. “She seems kind of young…”

“She’s the same age as Justin but she’s very skilled. She’s been dancing since she could walk,” Lou told him and Denniz nodded, eyebrows raised. “But he is right.” He looked over at Robin and Lynn. “If you could make sure she feels better by next week?”

“Next week? Why?” Joey asked.

“Denniz and Max want the first song to be recorded by then so they can release it as a single to see how you do,” Lou replied. “If it does as great as I know it will then you’re going to need to get choreography done to get your first video shot.”

“All ready?” Chris was a little skeptical about how fast everything was going.

“Yes, you’ll want to hit the scene fast and hard.” Lou smiled. “Don’t worry; I know what I’m doing. Like I always say, you’re going to be big.”

“Some of us all ready are,” Joey said to Chris. The two cracked up while Lance smiled.

Their laughter caused Mack to stir and squint her eyes open. “Whuz goin’ on?” She asked sleepily, blinking rapidly because of the bright light.

“Ah, she lives,” Justin joked. “We were going back to the hotel to get something to eat,” he replied as they filed out of the room. “It’s yours and JC’s turn to decide,” he added. ‘Please agree on something for once.’

“Hmmm,” JC and Mack mumbled in unison, thoughtful expressions coming onto their faces. They thought all the way down the hall, back down the stairs, through the lobby, and out the front door.

“Come on! I’m starving!” Chris whined.

“How about…” JC started.

“Pizza?” JC and Mack suggested at the same time before looking at each other. Lynn, Robin, and Lou kept walking but everyone else stopped and gaped that them.

“Quick, tell me I’m not hearing things. Did those two just agree on something?” Chris asked.

“Yeah,” Justin replied nodding. “That’s one for the record books.”

“Oh come on! Stop making such a big deal about it. That’s not the first time JC and I agreed on something,” Mack said with an eye roll. “I mean, it was probably a coincidence. I was going to say Chinese but I changed my mind.” She looked at JC. “What was your second choice?”

“Well, Chinese was first but I changed my mind too,” he replied with a shrug.

“Wait, I gotta test this out,” Chris said as he looked back and forth between the two. “Ok, favorite color?”

“That’s a stupid question,” Joey interrupted. “A blind monkey could tell that her favorite color is blue.”

“Answer it anyway,” Chris said with a wave of his hand.

“Blue,” Mack replied the same time JC said, “Orange.”

“Favorite Spice Girl?”

“Mel B,” the two replied in unison.

“What in the world are you trying to prove?” JC asked. “The world isn’t going to end over the fact that we like the same thing, OK? Get over it.”

“Boys? Hurry up!” Robin yelled over her shoulder, finally noticing that they weren’t being followed.

“Ok, you gotta get off,” Justin said as he stopped again after a couple of paces and knelt so Mack could slide off his back. He then kept a hand on his lower back and Mack slapped his arm. “Ouch!” he shouted. Hard. “What the hell was that for?”

“I don’t weigh that much you wimp!” She snarled.

“I didn’t say you did!”

“You’re insinuating it!”

“I’m what?” A genuinely confused look crossed his features.

“Wow, it’s a good think your mom is making you get tutored,” she mumbled.

“I heard that, Shrimp!” Justin slapped her arm.

“Don’t call me Shrimp, Brillow-Head!” She slapped him back. The others just watched in amusement, seeing who would win the argument. Ordinarily it would be Mack since she never backed down, but since Justin knew her longer he knew how to deal with her fighting and probably knew a way to win.

“Hey! Lay off the curls!” Justin said as he poked his finger in her face. She grabbed it and bent it backwards and he screamed in pain.

“Kids, knock it off!” Lynn called although she was hiding a smile that was on her face.

“Race you back to the hotel.”

“You’re on.”

Before anyone could say anything the two took off down the street. Justin had longer legs than her so he could cover more ground but she’s run cross country for a few years so she was able to catch up with him and get a slight lead. They passed by Lynn, Robin, and Lou who were chuckling at their childishness.

Justin suddenly skidded to a stop. “Wait!” he shouted.

“I’m not going to fall for it, Timberwimp!” Mack called over her shoulder.

“Not that, you idiot! We don’t even know where the hotel is!”

She stopped and stuck out her tongue at him.

~*~*~

“Ohhhhh mannnnn, I’m stuffed,” Chris moaned, rubbing his stomach.

“You would be, you ate practically two pizzas by yourself,” JC replied before taking a bite out of the crust that was still left in his hand.

The two were sitting off by the side of the pool table that was in the center of the game room they were in. Lance and Joey were playing against Mack and Justin. Their prize was bragging rights and the losing team had to do whatever the wining team asked for one whole day. JC and Chris were smart enough to back out of it but Joey wanted to take Justin’s cockiness down a peg or two and he knew that his only partner would be Lance. Mack was dragged into it because Justin claimed she had a good shot, which was proving true so far.

“Get out of my way, fatty,” Mack said as she poked Chris in the side with her cue stick.

“Make me, Smallfry.”

“No, win us the game first,” Justin replied, pointing at the colored balls on the table.

“She can’t make that shot, it’s practically impossible,” Joey said as he shook his head.

“Don’t underestimate me,” Mack said as she knelt and looked really close at the table. She walked around it a couple more times before sighing and lining up her cue stick with the white ball. She brought back her cue stick and was about to hit the ball when they were all plunged in darkness.

“Aww, man!” Justin whined in the darkness.

“Chris, what did you do?” JC demanded.

“I didn’t do anything!” Chris replied in shock. “God, why do I always get blamed for stuff?”

“’Cause your name is Chris Kirkpatrick.”

“Merde,” Mack cursed under her breath in French as she tried to control her breathing. She hated the dark. She’s always hated the dark. She wasn’t afraid of the dark itself, it was what could be in it was what scared her.

Justin waved his arms in front of his face, trying to find Mack. He knew how much she hated the dark. Was she ok? She wasn’t saying anything. Did she faint? Is she hiding? Did something happen? He brushed someone’s hand and they jumped. He grasped it and leaned forward slightly. The smell of vanilla hung in the air. That’s what Mack’s hair smelled like. “You ok, Mackie?” He asked, softly squeezing her hand to let her know he was there.

“I’ve been better,” she admitted.

“Why’d the lights go out?” Chris asked.

“If we knew that the lights would be back on, wouldn’t they?” JC asked.

“Someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.”

“No, someone woke up period,” Joey corrected.

“Oh, hold on.” Justin fumbled for his ringing phone in the darkness and brought it up to his ear. “Yeah?...Hey Momma…yeah, we’re still in the game room…mhm….mhm…she’s fine…yeah…ok.” He hung up the phone. “Momma says the power is out in the whole hotel and we should stay where we are until the lights come back on.”

“How long will that take?” Chris asked.

“Could be hours,” Lance replied.

“That’s too long.”

“So we’ll play a game,” Justin suggested.

“What kind of game?” Joey asked.

“A truth game. Trace, M, and I play it all the time its fun. Sit in a circle.” Justin laughed to himself when he heard the other guys grunting and complaining as they tried to sit down in a circle. “Ok, everyone here?” He asked in the darkness.

Suddenly his eyes were filled with light. He slammed his eyes shut until the light was taken away from his eyes. “Sorry,” Lance apologized as he sat down; a lit flashlight was in his hands. “I saw this on our way in,” he explained to their confused faces. “So what’s this game?”

“All you do is go around the circle and confess to something that you’ve done; something that you’ve seen someone do but never repeated, an embarrassing moment, and stuff like that,” Justin explained. “But in this case, to make it more interesting, the person who says something has to pick someone else and then they pick someone else after they’ve answered. You have to answer honestly, I’ll find out if you don’t.”

“Ok, who goes first?” Joey asked.

“Ladies first,” Justin replied, lightly slapping Mack’s shoulder.

“Joy,” she uttered sarcastically. “Ummm…oh, I used to hate Santa Claus until I was ten,” she replied.

“You were afraid of Santa until you were ten?” Chris repeated.

“No, I hated him. There’s a difference.”

“Why?” Lance asked.

“Would you want a man coming down your chimney and break into your house to do God knows what?” She replied with a raised eyebrow. Lance shrugged. She had a point. It was kind of weird believing in a man that technically breaks into your house and eats your cookies and drinks your milk. “Anyway, Joey you go.”

“Ok. Ummm...I regifted a ring I gave Kelly a few years ago,” Joey admitted turning red. Everyone’s eyes got wide.

“Are you stupid?” Mack finally asked.

“Apparently. Everyone knows you’re not supposed to give a girl jewelry after you all ready gave it to someone else!” Chris agreed, lightly smacking the back of Joey’s head.

“Does she know?” Lance asked.

“He’s alive isn’t he?”

“No, she doesn’t know, and she’s not going to know because I’m going to replace it with a better ring,” Joey said as he glared at everyone as if daring them t say something to Kelly.

“Replace it with what?” Mack asked,

“An engagement ring, probably.”

“Wait, what?”

“Oh, she doesn’t know about ‘the plan’,” Justin said with finger quotes. “Kelly and Joey have been together for about two years so far. They’re testing to see how long they can stand each other, basically. If they can date for ten years they’re going to get married.”

“I still think that’s stupid,” Chris muttered.

“I think it’s a good idea, Joey,” Mack said as she cut her eyes at Chris who rolled his. “Ok, Joey, you choose now.”

The game went on with them spilling as many embarrassing or undisclosed stories they could think of or they felt would eventually get out anyway because of the ones involved. Such as Lance accidentally ripping the back of his Homecoming date’s dress open during a line dance, JC successfully blaming the writing on the wall in his house on Tyler who wasn’t able to write a complete sentence at the time, Chris getting sung happy birthday to in the middle of a date by his mother and sisters (whom the date thought were ex-girlfriends), and Justin having gone out with a girl and not knowing her name for weeks.

When they weren’t asking each other questions from time to time they would gang up on Mack. Their intentions were good, so they claimed. They just wanted to get to know her better, yet she saw it as a way for them to make fun of her simply because she was the only girl and the youngest and it came with the territory of having five “older brothers”. She eventually had them all laughing by the ways she managed to get out of trouble for one ridiculous reason or another.

“Aww, man,” Justin whined when the lights flickered back on, causing them all to groan.

“What’s so bad about the lights coming back on? Now we can shower and watch TV,” Lance commented.

“Now I have to go to bed,” Justin replied with an eye roll. “You too, youngster,” he added, nudging Mack who was chuckling. She stopped laughing as soon he called her ‘youngster’. “You’re lucky the lights came back on, you missed your last turn.”

“Aww, what a shame.” She smiled innocently and walked out of the room. She sighed with relief and rubbed her forehead. It would only be a matter of time until they realize that she was making up half of her stories just so they wouldn’t get closer to the real secret she’s been keeping. Ever since she intercepted Nikki’s call for JC she’s been on edge and did anything she could to make sure a conversation never went her way, which was why she amped up her sarcasm/teasing. When it got closer to JC’s birthday she started to panic as she tried to figure out what to do. She couldn’t just tell him on his birthday, she had more tact than that but she was running out of time. There were only a few hours left in that day and she still hadn’t thought of a way to tell him in a way that he’d believe her instead of thinking she made it up or, worse, thought she was jealous of the two.

‘Cause she wasn’t.

“And you call me the spacey one?” Mack blinked and looked up at JC who fell into step with her. She looked back over her shoulder to see where the others went. “They’re arguing over who won the game or not,” he supplied as if reading the question that was on her mind.

“You gotta stop doing that,” she muttered, slightly freaked out. “Did you want something?” She asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Yeah, I wanted to talk,” JC replied, blushing slightly. “About what happened last night.”

“Whoa there, Cowboy,” Mack interrupted as she raised her hands as if blocking whatever he was going to say. “Nothing happened. I got drunk, and that wasn’t my fault so don’t go telling Robin, or worse, Lynn about what happened…’cause nothing happened. Nothing can happen between us, I’m fourteen, almost fifteen, and you turn twenty tomorrow. Let’s just forget it.”

“Um…ok, but that’s not the only thing I wanted to talk about.” He paused to jab the elevator button with his thumb and shoved his fists into his pockets and rocked back and forth on his feet. “Look, we’re going to, inevitably, spend a lot of time together, you being our choreographer and all. I don’t want to spend the entire time arguing.”

“I’m not going to change who I am for you,” she started, “but I’ll tone it down. If I disagree with you on something I will say it, if you haven’t figured it out yet I’m very opinionated.”

“I noticed,” he replied, chuckling a bit as he stepped into the elevator. “Are you ok? Something on your mind?”

‘Why don’t you just send me in for interrogation at a police station?’ “Nope,” she replied, lying through her teeth.

It was times like this she hated how she always ended up being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She guessed she had a knack for it, now she thinks God hates her to an extent.