Chapter 5: When Things Actually Turn Out Okay

Chris bounced out of his room the next morning, following the smell of chocolate chip pancakes into the kitchen. He woke up to his stomach growling and he couldn’t wait to fill it with as many pancakes as he could.

“Wow, you’re awake…and you cook?” Chris asked in astonishment as he pulled a plate full of pancakes towards him. He didn’t hesitate to grab a knife and began eating. A disgusted look crossed Mack’s facial features as he chewed so fast some pancake bits fell out of his mouth. “Oh ma gah, theesh ah so goo!” He exclaimed with a fully mouth so his speech was almost incoherent.

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” she said with a smile as he put another stack of pancakes on a plate. She dumped sausage and bacon onto a separate plate and filled cups with orange juice. Once she was sure that she made enough she turned to Chris and asked, “Could you wake up the guys for me?”

Chris stood and saluted. “Ma’am, yes ma’am!” He cackled evilly as he rushed out of the room, plotting ways to wake up his friends. Since Joey decided to stay at his parents’ place Chris only had to wake up Justin, JC, and Lance. Justin and Lance he had an idea for but JC would be the hardest. He’s the heaviest sleeper out of all of the boys. He even had a conversation with his sister in his sleep once so Chris knew that his plot would have to be sophisticated and extremely devious.

Chris slowly pushed open Lance’s door and tiptoed in. He leaned over Lance to check if the bass singer was still asleep. Chris smiled and rubbed his hands together as an evil grin crossed his face. He backed up as much as he could before taking a running leap and landing on Lance.

“Ooof!” Lance groaned in pain once Chris landed on him. His eyes shot open so green eyes locked with brown ones. “What…are you doing?” Lance asked slowly.

“Waking you up,” Chris explained, his words dripping with ‘duh’. “Chocolate chip pancakes are for breakfast. Come on, up and at ‘em! We gotta get ‘em before Joey gets here and eats them all.”

“Ok, ok. Just get off me!” Before Chris had a chance to move Lance shoved him to the floor. He landed with a loud thud but bounced back onto his feet. Lance took his time stretching before he forced himself out of bed. He raised an eyebrow when he saw that Chris was still in his room, but was pacing and talking to himself. “I know I’m going to be afraid of asking this…but why are you talking to yourself?” Lance asked as he squeezed his eyes shut.

“Because I’m trying to find a way to wake up Curly,” Chris replied. Lance sighed and opened his eyes. He didn’t know what he’d do if Chris admitted that he was actually having a conversation with himself. He was known to doing that. “Do you have any ideas?”

“Tickle his foot, that always gets him awake,” Lance replied with a yawn. “Now get out.” He shoved Chris out of the room and closed the door behind him. Chris tiptoed to Justin’s room and slowly pushed open the door. He spotted a tuft of blond curls poking over the top of the blankets that was pulled up to the young boys head.

Chris slowly walked over to the sleeping boy and checked to see if a foot was sticking out of the covers. ‘Man, he’s making this so much easier for me!’ Chris thought happily as he knelt. He kept an eye on Justin as he reached out, grabbed his friend’s ankle, and started tickling his foot. Justin woke automatically, trying not to laugh. Justin was always unpleasant when he woke up and he hated waking up laughing more than anything, only because he couldn’t stay mad because he’d be laughing too hard.

“S-stop!” Justin managed to get out in between his laughter. His face was red and he was twisted in his blankets as he tried to get away from Chris, but the grip on his ankle was too strong. “Let go! Let go!”

“Ha! Two out of three done!” Chris cheered as he punched his fists into the air.

“What…are you…talking about?” Justin asked, taking slow breaths to calm himself down. He rubbed his eyes and yawned as he waited for Chris to explain why he was rudely awakened.

“I was given the assignment to wake you, Lance, and JC up. I all ready woke you two, now I have to get Chasez up,” Chris explained in a rush. “Any ideas?” Before Justin could open his mouth Chris’ eyes widened. “Oh, I have a great one!”

“Hey, I want to watch this!” Justin, suddenly wide awake, jumped out of his bed and rushed after Chris.

Chris led Justin into the kitchen where Lynn and Dianne were carrying the plates to set the table. “I need that,” Chris said as he grabbed the whipped cream container off of the counter. He turned around and was hit by the stern gaze of Lynn. “I promise no one will be hurt,” he told her. She nodded and he beamed.

“Wait, I want a part in this,” Mack said as she followed the two boys to JC’s room.

“What if we get caught?” Justin whispered.

“We’re in this together,” Chris replied.

They quietly twisted the knob and pushed open the door. JC was fast asleep, snoring, half falling out of his bed and half tangled in his sheets. Justin stood by the door as Mack and Chris tiptoed in. Chris knelt by JC’s hand that was open and lying off of the bed. He slowly pressed on the nozzle until whipped cream came out onto JC’s hand.

Justin held his hands over his mouth so tight no one could hear his laughter but his shaking shoulders gave him away. He watched as Mack moved to the other side of his bed, holding her hand up to shield her face from the sun that seeped through the blinds. She tapped her chin before grabbing a large blue feather that was on the stool in front of his little desk. She grinned evilly and held a finger to her lips, reaching her arm across JC and lightly tickling his nose.

Chris let out an audible giggle when JC scrunched up his nose in his sleep before relaxing and letting out a slow breath. Mack reached out her hand a little further, holding her breath as she tickled his nose again. Her foot slid and she shut her eyes, waiting for the impact of hitting JC. She slowly opened them and looked up when she saw that Chris had grabbed the back of her t-shirt, keeping her up. She nodded her thanks when she regained her balance and tickled JC’s nose hard. She and Chris threw their arms into the air when JC slapped his face, causing whipped cream to go flying everywhere.

Justin burst out laughing and had to lean against the doorway to keep himself up as Chris and Mack high fived. “What the heck?” JC muttered sleepily as he blinked rapidly, wiping the whipped cream from his face. “Who–?”

“Run!” Chris practically yelled, shoving JC back down onto the bed before he, Justin, and Mack tore out of the room. They were laughing hard by the time they made it into the kitchen. Lance was all ready at the table eating as was Joey, who had a confused look on his face. He and Lance exchanged a look as Justin, Chris, and Mack slid into their seats and shoveled food into their mouths.

“Do I want to know?” Joey questioned, breaking the silence. Justin lifted his fork to his mouth and coughed a little, pointing towards the doorway as they heard rapid footsteps. Joey and Lance both looked up as JC approached. Their faces looked like they had eaten something sour: their lips were pulled in to hide their grins but their eyes were sparkling. JC was furiously wiping whipped cream off of his face as he came into the kitchen. Lynn and Dianne stayed silent, watching the scene with interest. “Looks like Sleepy can’t eat in his sleep like he can when he’s awake,” Joey quipped, causing everyone to laugh.

JC glared at the table, mainly Lance who was laughing the hardest. “Sorry, man. But you do have a tendency to eat so fast you don’t chew,” Lance shrugged.

“I didn’t do this. This has Chris’ name written all over it,” JC said as he directed his glare to the dreadlocked boy who had sprayed whipped cream straight into his mouth.

“Ok,” Chris sighed, putting the can back onto the table. “I’ll confess.” He glanced around the table. “She made me do it!” He pointed an accusing finger in between Mack’s eyes.

“What?” She cried out, shoving his finger out of her face. “You little squealer!” She hissed. “What happened to ‘we’re in this together’?”

“You actually believed that?” he asked with a laugh. “It was her, it was all her.” He held his hands up as if in defense, which it probably was. Mack looked as if she was going to lunge across the table to fight him.

“Well, would you look at the time,” she said with a nervous laugh, glancing at her watch. “I have to get to school.” She jumped up and ran out of the room as fast as she could; JC was close on her heels. She managed to grab her backpack without slowing down, flung the front door open, and ran down the stairs. JC wouldn’t go outside in his pajamas, especially since they had little ducks all over them (she swears those boys don’t ever grow up). “See you later,” she called over her shoulder as she hopped onto her bike and pedaled hard down the street.

She smiled a little as she glided down the streets of Orlando, taking in the beautiful and calming sights around her. People walking with their kids, their pets, riding their bikes, laughing, or talking. She loved the friendly nature of Orlando, well, it was paradise to some people and the vacation-like feel of the city added to the citizens’ spirits.

Mack’s spirits went downhill once she moved her bike into the bike rack. School always had that effect on her. She didn’t know whether it was because she didn’t like school as a whole or because she hated having to spend 8+ hours around ignorant peers. Either way she constantly found herself balling her hands into fists and willing herself not to punch anyone when they spoke to her.

She sighed and started towards the school. ‘Today’s going to be a long day.’

-------

“Go! Go! Go! Go!” Joey shouted as Justin furiously pressed buttons on the game controller. His eyebrows were knitted together and his tongue was sticking out of the corner of his mouth as he kept his eyes glued on the TV screen. “C’mon, Curly, you can beat this guy!”

“I’m trying,” Justin growled. “And don’t call me Curly!”

“Oh, I forgot. You’re so sensitive about your hair,” Joey said as he pinched a curl between his finger and them and pulled it away from his head. Once he let go the curl bounced back and regained its normal position.

“Ok, Youngster.” Joey smiled innocently as Justin paused the game and glared.

“Honey, could you turn off the game for a few minutes?” Lynn asked as she and Diane came into the living room. Lance put down the book he was reading and peered at the two women who sat down in the empty seats of the room. “Diane and I were thinking of ways to get more people than Orlando citizens to come to your Pleasure Island showcase and we think we came up with a great idea,” she started. “We got the rest of the fan mail that was sent to Justin and Josh from MMC. We thought that we could take every address on here and send them flyers to give you guys a bigger audience. They would want to know what Josh and Justin were up to so they would most likely come.”

“Also, Lou says that it would be a good idea to get a video of you dancing or a demo of you guys singing to prove that this is serious and that you really want to do this so we can send it to record companies to try and get you signed,” Dianne added.

“Lou said he’ll pay for the rental space of a studio too. He’s all ready contacted a vocal coach for you guys. The only thing left is to decide what songs you’re going to showcase and tell Mack so she can think of choreography for you.” Lynn studied the boys’ faces as they sat, listening to the women. “There’s going to be a lot of cooperation on your part and we’re also going to have to give you a schedule every day so this all works out right.” She paused. “Is that ok?”

“I think that’s a great idea,” Lance was the first to speak up, which didn’t shock the rest of them. He was the group proclaimed “business man”; he was the one they turned to when they needed to make important decisions. Take their logo, for instance. They spent three hours arguing over whether or not to choose an apostrophe or a star to mark the omitted ‘i’ in *NSYNC. Also, he was the one who suggested that they add flames to the logo to spice it up a bit.

“I do too,” JC agreed. The other boys nodded their agreement. “I have actually been making a list of songs that I think we could do. One of them being an up-tempo dance version of the Beatles song We can Work it Out.” Lynn and Dianne smiled at each other before quietly leaving the room so the guys could talk. Justin grabbed a piece of paper and wrote down JC’s suggestion.

“I want to do I’ll be Back for More by Natural,” Joey suggested.

“I want to do that Backstreet Boys song…um…Dreaming I think it’s called,” Chris added. He paused. “How long will this showcase be anyway?”

“I’m assuming…a half hour? Maybe a little more? New groups don’t get that much time on stage at PI,” Lance explained. “I think at least four songs will be good. A fifth might be pushing it but we can try it with four songs and with five.”

“Do you think we should have an original song on here?” Justin asked, staring at the list. “I mean, it would appeal more to any execs that might come. I would want to show them that we could write our own songs too and not just have to only sing and dance to covers.” He tapped his pen against the paper as he thought. “Hmm…maybe we should hold off on that for a bit. Otherwise we do have a few really good songs to use for our showcase.” He reached over and grabbed the phone.

“Who’re you calling?” Joey questioned.

“His girlfriend probably,” JC said with a teasing smile. Justin paused with his thumb hovering over a button as he glared at JC. “You have to admit that spent a lot of time with Britney, more time than any other guy and girl on set…aside from Tony and Keri.”

“She’s not my girlfriend,” Justin grumbled.

“So why’re you getting defensive?”

“I’m not!” Justin all but yelled which made JC’s smile get larger. “Shut up!” He pressed the last few buttons and waited. He made a face when the guys made kissing noises and swatted at them, unsuccessfully trying to hit them. “Hey Mack. We’ve decided on some of the songs we want to use for the showcase…Yeah, we want to perform We can Work it Out, I’ll Be Back for More, and Dreaming…No, we’re going to get some sound people to make a dance mix for that…Yeah, you can hear it when you get home…no…no…ok. See you later.” He hung up the phone and threw it as hard as he could at JC, who quickly grabbed a pillow to block his face. The phone bounced harmlessly off of the pillow.

“What was that for?”

“I can throw a phone faster than I can throw a fist,” Justin replied with a shrug.

“And hurt this pretty face?” JC asked as he pointed to himself. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

“You’re so weird.”

“Me!? I’m not the one who has to dunk every little piece of cereal in milk before they eat it.”

“Hey, grandma, grandpa, chill out,” Chris called out, a grin on his face. He high fived Joey as the two laughed. Justin reached behind the chair and pulled out a super soaker. Before Chris or Joey could react, he pumped the bottom handle of the gun and hit them with a powerful spray in the water…right as his mom walked by.

“Justin Randall! Not in the house!” She sighed as she pointed towards the front door.

“Randall?” Lance snickered. Justin glared at Lance before turning to look at his mother. She had her ‘I-mean-it’ look on her face. Justin sighed but went outside with the rest of the guys anyway. He shielded his eyes from the bright sun. The next thing he knew he felt a stream of water hitting him in the chest.

“Victory!” Chris shouted as he punched his fists into the air, one hand was holding onto the hose which he had just used to shoot water at Justin.

“Ohhhh, is it a war that you want?” Justin asked, raising an eyebrow and keeping his super soaker up just in case Chris decided to spray him again.

“Bring it on, Curly!” Chris called.

“JC and Lansten are on my side. You get Joey.”

“Why do you get one more person?” Chris pouted. Yes, he actually pouted. Hands on hips, bottom lip out, right knee cocked and everything. He basically took on a girl’s pose, whether he knew it or not. But that’s Chris for ya, he’s unpredictable.

“’Cause I’m the youngest and I always get my way.” Justin gave an innocent smile before shoving JC and Lance to the garage where the rest of their water guns were. While in there they came up with a plan of attack: JC would move around the back of the house, Lance would take a route through the house, and Justin would go around the front using the cars as a shield.

Justin waved his arm, giving them the signal, and they took off. Justin stayed close to the ground as he moved swiftly across the front yard, glancing over his shoulder constantly to make sure he wasn’t being followed. He pressed himself up against a car and looked in the rearview mirror on the opposite side of the car.

He stood up and quickly rushed to a tree for cover. He was almost there when he heard Joey’s unmistakable shout. “I’m going to put the ‘lake’ back in Timberlake!” before he was drenched with water from behind.

“Aaaah! I’ve been hit!”

“Don’t worry; I’ve got your back!” Lance called as he charged out of the house, spraying Joey in the process. Chris ran, seemingly out of nowhere, and soaked Lance as he laughed maniacally, which quickly changed to a scream of shock when JC ran out and started soaking him. Soon they were getting whoever was closest to them, laughing hysterically, faces lit up with genuine happiness that only a group of boys could have.

By the time dinner rolled around the boys were tired from their day of running around, pulling pranks on each other, and getting on each other’s nerves. Lynn and Dianne were surprised that the boys hadn’t grown tired of each other, especially living in close quarters. It was the fact that they were living with each and other and had to learn to deal with each other that made them want to stick it out. Sure, there were times when Lance just wanted to sit down and read while Chris wanted to play a video game with him so he’d constantly beg, but they’d find a compromise and everything would be settled just like that.

“How much longer do we have to wait?” Chris groaned, staring at the pile of mashed potatoes that was stacked up his plate next to his fried chicken. His chin was resting on the table as he stared longingly at the steaming food.

“Until Mackenzie gets home,” Lynn replied. As soon as the sentence left her mouth the sound of the front door opening and closing was heard. They all turned to the doorway as Mack rushed in and took her seat in between Justin and Lance.

“Sorry,” she apologized breathlessly. “I got held up at home.” She wordlessly held out her hands, everyone following suit to say grace. Chris quickly dropped Joey’s and JC’s hands and dug into his chicken. “What did you guys do today?”

“Normal stuff,” Justin said with a shrug. “Robin came over. You remember Robin Wiley, right? She’s helping us with our vocals. Then we heard some stuff that the sound guys made for us which is really cool. The songs should be done by the time school’s over tomorrow so we can start choreography stuff tomorrow.”

“How was school today?” Lynn asked.

“Eh, comme ci comme ca,” Mack replied making a face.

“Huh?” Joey asked.

“So-so,” she replied. “Nothing new happened, it’s just the same old thing. Go to school, do work, and come back.”

“How’s Heather dealing with being a freshman?” JC questioned.

“Don’t you ever talk to your own sister?” Mack asked with a teasing smile.

“Man, since she started school she’s been an emotional mess!” he exclaimed, throwing his hands into the air. “One minute she’s fine, the next she’s yelling and me and Tyler. I have no clue what we even did to her.”

“She’s a girl, get used to it,” Dianne said with a knowing smile. “Just wait until she turns sixteen and gets interested in boys.”

“That’s not gonna happen,” JC said seriously as he shook his head. “Even if I have to lock her in her bedroom and barricade her door there is no way that she is ever going to go on a date.” He paused before looking across the table at Mack. “Same goes for you, too.”

“How did this suddenly turn around on me? And who said anything about me wanting to go on a date? I’d stay single until I’m dead if I had the chance,” she said with an eye roll.

“You say that now. Just know that the guys and I will screen every guy that even tries to talk to you.” He smiled. “Just to make sure.”

“Thanks but you can save your energy,” she said with an eye roll. “I can take care of myself.”

----

Mack growled as she forced herself to sit up in bed. She didn’t even have to look at the clock to know that it was late. She just couldn’t get to sleep after waking up with a headache from her nightmare. She rarely had nightmares anymore, but when they came back they returned with a vengeance. Most cases they actually scared her from going back to sleep, which wasn’t what she needed right then.

She sighed and got out of bed, slowly opening her door and looking down the dark hallway. She waited until her eyes adjusted to the darkness to make out the site of Justin’s door being wide open. She slowly made her way down the hall, keeping her hand out to make sure she didn’t trip over anything. She tiptoed into his room and leaned over his sleeping figure.

“J,” she whispered as she shook him. “J.”

He groaned, reached out blindly, and turned on the lamp. He opened an eye and took a look at Mack’s face before sitting up. “Bad dream?” he asked, even though he all ready knew the answer. She nodded and he moved over, letting her have room to sit down. “What was it about?” He questioned as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“My parents getting into a car crash,” she replied.

“That’s not that bad.”

“They hit you guys. You all died.”

“Ok, that’s bad.” He sighed and gently stroked her hair. “It was just a dream. It doesn’t mean that it’s going to come true.”

“I know, but it still scared me,” she admitted. “Something like that could happen, you never know.”

“But it can’t. Joey’s Superman, remember? He’d get us out before anything happened,” Justin said while chuckling. It was a joke between them all to call Joey Superman because that was his favorite super hero. He was so obsessed that they were surprised that he didn’t believe that Superman was real.

“He wouldn’t if his kryptonite came along,” she added, smiling a little.

“A hot girl?”

“Duh.” Justin burst out laughing and quickly covered his mouth. The two waited, giggling quietly as they waited to see if anyone else woke up. “That was close,” she muttered. A few seconds later the two jumped at a loud clap of thunder. She instantly grabbed Justin’s arm and buried her face into his chest. She has never been a fan of thunderstorms, especially since they have a tendency to get really bad.

“Come on,” Justin said as he pushed back the covers to his bed and grabbed his pillow. “We’re sleepin’ with Lance.” Mack grabbed his other pillow and followed him out of the room. They slowly made their way back down the hall to Lance’s room. He stirred when Justin accidentally walked into his dresser in the dark.

“Ouch! What the heck?” He hissed. “Who puts a dresser in the middle of the room?”

The two blinked rapidly when Lance suddenly turned on the light. A few seconds later it flickered out and was followed by a loud bang of thunder. He reached into his bedside dresser and pulled out a flashlight. Turning it on he saw Justin making himself comfortable on the extra mattress that was on the floor while Mack climbed into the bed next to him. “What’re you doing?” He asked sleepily.

“We can’t sleep,” Justin replied simply.

“So you decided to sleep with me?” He asked, raising an eyebrow although he moved over so Mack could have more room. “Is this going to become a habit?”

“Only when it’s storming,” Mack replied, settling down next to him.

“Great,” he sighed. He turned off the flashlight, only to look up in another beam of light that practically blinded him. “Hey, turn that thing off!”

“Sorry,” JC apologized as he held the light under his chin before moving it down to Justin then to Mack. “Hey, are you having a sleepover without me?” He demanded, putting his free hand on his hip.

“These two decided to sleep with me ‘cause they can’t sleep,” Lance replied.

“Well, move over, I’m staying here too.”

“Yeah! We’ll all sleep on the bed with Lance!”

“Oh no. No no no!” Lance groaned. Before he could do anything he felt two extra bodies on the bed. “Ow!” he cried out when an elbow hit him in the face.

“Sorrr-eeeee!” Justin whispered from somewhere at the end of the bed.

“I can’t feel my legs,” Mack mumbled.

“Get over it, princess. This is the only chance you’ll get sleepin’ with all of us like this. It must be a dream come true,” Justin replied.

“More like a nightmare.”

“Shut up, the both of ya,” Lance grumbled. “Might as well get Chris in here too,” he added.

“Ssssssh!” JC hissed. “I’m trying to sleep!”

“Hey, what do you want for your birthday?” Justin asked suddenly. That seemed to grab Lance’s and JC’s attention too because the next thing she knew she was being blinded by two flashlights pointed at her face. She sat up and squinted, thinking.

“Nothing really,” she replied making a face.

“Not even a CD? Or a new walkman?” he pressed.

“I don’t know. Maybe go to SeaWorld. I haven’t been there in a while. If not there do something with water, like go jet skiing or tubing. The humidity’s been gettin’ to me lately.” She flinched when there was another boom of thunder and hid under the covers when a bright flash of lightning lit up the night sky.

“Are you really that afraid?” JC questioned.

“Shut up, Joshua!” Mack’s muffled voice responded.

“Oooh. She went full name on you,” Justin said with a teasing smile.

“She’s right, though. We should get some sleep,” Lance mumbled, rolling over so he could settle into sleep. A few seconds later he heard the distinct sign of JC drifting off to sleep. Justin’s relaxed breathing followed suit so the only sound that filled the room was the rumble of thunder in the distance and JC’s snoring.

Mack listened to the boys’ snores as they gently lulled her to sleep. She was still a little afraid of going back to sleep because she didn’t want to have the nightmare again, but she felt somewhat protected with the guys there.