April 2002

Flight to Norfolk, Virginia on private jet

Amanda grunted when Trace aimed the video camera on her face, once again. She was highly annoyed, ready to kill him and shove the camera where the sun didn’t shine. The whole concept behind following Justin around with a video camera, while he recorded his album, seemed absurd to her. The other thing that baffled her was the fact that MTV had provided Trace a state-of-the-art video camera, and offered to pay him a nice amount of money for the footage. The fact that MTV gave Trace lots of money to annoy people, annoyed her instead because her cousin was very good at annoying people.

“I swear to you, if you don’t get that fucking camera out of my face, I will kill you.” Amanda said to the lens aimed at her face. “Even if you’re blood.”

“Stop cursing, babe” Jeremy said from where he sat next to her.

“Don’t fucking tell her what to do.” Trace said, turning the camera on Jeremy.

“Fuck off, Trace.” Jeremy sneered as he tossed a Nerf football from hand to hand.

“Jeremy, don’t talk to him like that!! Trace, seriously babe. Turn that shit off.”

“Can’t do it, pretty cousin of mine.” Trace smirked turning around on his seat. “We’ll see who gets fucked in the end, asshole.” he mumbled under his breath, as he focused the camera on Justin who was busy talking to Eric. “Say something, Justin.” he said. “I’ve had this thing for three hours and I don’t have you in any of the shots. Kind of defeats the purpose.”

“That thing is going to get you in trouble, man.” Justin chuckled.

“Is that how they work things now? They give you your own camera?” Eric, the burly security guard asked Trace.

“Yep.”

“Apparently. He’s driving me insane.” Amanda said from her seat. “While he’s getting paid, I contemplate homicide.”

“Shut up, Manda.” Trace smirked.

“Why don’t you shut up?” Amanda said raising her brow at him playfully, snatching the football from Jeremy’s hand, and throwing it at the lens.

“Settle down, kids.” Justin laughed, as he watched Trace throw the football back, hitting Jeremy on the side of his head.

“You missed, little man.” Jeremy said throwing the ball across the private jet to Justin.

“No, actually I hit my target, head on.” Trace said with a laugh. “When are we leaving?”

“In a few minutes, we’re waiting on the pilot.” Eric informed them.

“We don’t have a pilot yet? Jesus!!” Amanda complained.

“Relax, Jojo.” Justin said sipping on his can of Sprite, after throwing the ball back to Jeremy.

“Here comes the pilot now.” Trace said as he aimed his camera lens to the window to his left. “About time.”

“How long is this flight again?” Justin asked no one in particular.

“Hour and a half, I think.” Trace was the first to respond.

“That’s it?” Jeremy asked.

“Yup.” Trace answered.

“You excited, homeboy?” Amanda asked.

“Yup.” Justin said as Trace focused the camera on him in anticipation that he would talk into the camera that time. “You know it’s funny. Most people are like ‘I’m going to New York or L.A. to record my album.’ And then there’s me. I’m going to Virginia Beach, baby.”

“It’s the beginning, J.” Jeremy said.

“It’s the beginning to the beginning.” Trace said as he recorded.

“No, it’s the beginning to the end. Cause no one else gets to come out.” Justin said with a chuckle to the camera causing everyone to laugh.

“It’s going to be great.” Amanda gushed. “Right, babe?”

“Of course.” Jeremy said rubbing his swore shoulder, his reason for being able to come on the trip to Virginia.

After a few minutes, everyone became involved in their own things. Trace was fidgeting with the camera, Eric slept and Jeremy and Amanda were engaged in conversation. And Justin sat, miserably and discreetly watching the latter.

Things wouldn’t be so great after all.

---------

September 2003
Los Angeles

Amanda punched in the last few keys to finish the message she was sending her boyfriend on her Sidekick before turning her attention on the recording session in front of her. Being in the studio with her best friend was one of her favorite things to do. That day though, she couldn’t wait to get out, she was hungry and getting a bit antsy, waiting on him.

“This is taking a little long, isn’t it?” the blond sitting next to her asked.

“Just a little bit.” Amanda said rolling her eyes. “You don’t have to wait around for us, ya know.”

“I know. I’m not waiting for you, though, I’m waiting on Justin.” The blond said with a fake smile.

“Justin is a big boy, despite his age, he doesn’t need to be waited on.” Amanda retorted, just as calm and short as the other woman had spoken.

“Let me be the judge of that, Jojo.” She said with a smirk.

“Don’t ever call me that, Cameron. You don’t know me.” Amanda said.

“Sure feels like it.” Cameron retorted. “You’re always around.”

“Funny, I could say the same thing about you.” Amanda smirked. “I’m going to go call my boyfriend. You know, the one that’s the same age as me.”

“You do that.” Cameron said with a shrug.

Amanda stepped out of the recording studio, into the hallway with a grunt. Opting to sit on a couch to wait for her friend, she randomly commenced chewing on her newly highlighted hair.

“That’s attractive.” Justin said coming around the corner, the baby blue, Virginia Beach hat he wore, tilted to the side, barely on his head.

“Nahoneiscryintubeattactiv” Amanda mumbled, the end of her hair in her mouth.

“What?” Justin asked, taking a seat next to her, notepad in hand.

“Nothing.” Amanda said releasing the hair form her mouth. “You all done?” she asked eyeing the legal pad he had in his hand.

“I think so.” Justin said. “I didn’t mean to take this long but all the guys upstairs were talking shit about how good they were at NBA Live, I had to show them my skills.”

“You left me down here with Cameron Crow all this time and you were playing video games instead of writing sixteen bars?”

“Be nice to Cam, Jojo.” Justin said. “I didn’t take too long, and besides there are about fifteen people in that studio.”

“Those people are busy making music, homeboy.” Amanda sulked. “And you should tell your girl to be nice herself. With her age you’d think she’d picked up the grandma manners by now.”

“Get over it, Jojo. You’re nuts.” Justin chuckled, getting up from the sofa. “Come on let’s go record this verse, then we can go.”

“Is she coming with us?” Amanda asked as she followed him into the studio.

“Just you, Trace and I tonight, Jo. I promise.”

“Good.” she said as they entered the room, Justin’s arm draped around her shoulder.

“I’m glad you came to visit for the week.” Justin said giving her a side hug.

“Me too. It’s too bad Jeremy had to go to Atlanta for that interview, it could have been all four of us hanging out.”

“Yeah. Give me an hour tops and then we can go hang out, okay?” Justin said with a smile before kissing the side of her head then walking over to his girlfriend who was busy talking to one of the men in the room.

After arranging the song, Justin was able to go into the booth. A few takes had been recorded but he didn’t like any of them, despite the compliments he’d received. Wanting to soak in the studio vibe, Amanda sat next to the producer, the soundboard in front of her.

“He’s going to sing again now.” Cameron said from behind her as Justin prepared to sing behind the glass in front of them.

“Really?” Amanda asked sarcasm dripping from her lips.

“Whatever.” Cameron said with a roll of her baby blue eyes, ones that matched hers almost identically. Amanda cringed at the recognition.

“Turn the right up a little bit.” Justin said to the sound guy as he pointed to the right of his headset. “Ready?”

“You tell me.” Charlie Wilson, the artist that Justin was featured with, said. When the music began, Justin appeared to be frustrated when nothing came from his mouth. “You okay?”

“Hey Charlie,” Justin said into the microphone. “can someone turn the light off in here?”

“Yeah sure.” Charlie said turning to ask someone to do the requested, Justin saw Amanda react to his request first, getting up from her chair to turn the switch off by the booth’s door.

“Thanks, Jo.” Justin said. “It’s kind of dark in here. Yikes!!” he joked.

“What is he doing?” Charlie asked Amanda, who sat on the chair next to him once again.

“He does that when he’s stuck on lyrics.” Amanda responded as she got comfortable on her chair again. “It’s something we do.”

“Of course.” Cameron commented from the couch behind them.

“Strange.” Charlie chuckled. “You ready, J?”

“Hit me.” Justin said. “It’s kind of creepy that I can see you but you can’t see me, isn’t it? It’s the twilight zone.” he laughed, humming the theme song.

“He lit up way to much today. “Amanda chuckled at Charlie.

“He’s been with Pharrell upstairs all day. What do you expect.” Cameron said with a laugh.

Amanda rolled her eyes yet again, a habit that she couldn’t control around Justin’s new girlfriend. Justin watched her from behind the glass, a smile on his lips as he listened for his cue on the track.

“Hey girl,” Justin began singing. “I can’t seem to take my eyes off of ya.” He sang as he looked across the glass. “Cause when I look into those baby blues, I could feel my heart drop to the ground and for that I love you.”

“That was what I like to call, perfect.” Charlie said after a few playbacks of the verse. “What do you think?”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Justin said proudly. “And in one take, baby. I’m the man.”

“Those lyrics aren’t what you showed me earlier but I like it.” Charlie said happily.

“It was what I was feeling, man.” Justin said with a chuckle. “We’re cool now?”

“You’re free to go, brotha. Thank you again.” Charlie said.

“It was my pleasure.” Justin said embracing the man in a hug. “I can’t wait for that album.”

“Me either, man. Me either.”

“I don’t mean to be rude but I have a date with some friends.” Justin said.

“It was an honor meeting you, Charlie.” Amanda said shaking the man’s hand as she stood to leave.

“Nice meeting you, Ms Reyes. You should really reconsider putting your voice on the charts. Honestly.”

“I’ll remember that.” Amanda chuckled as the blond standing next to Justin rolled her eyes.

“She will.” Justin said. “You ready, Cam?”

“Yeah.” Cameron said with a smile. “It was nice seeing you again, Charlie.”

“You too, Ms. Diaz.” he said.

“Let’s go ladies, before Trace has a tantrum.” Justin chuckled, taking his jacket from Cameron’s hands.
-----------

Two hours later
Dolce Restaurant

“You’re going to be a star.” Trace mocked from across the table.

“Nope.” Amanda said after taking a sip of her drink.

“Yes, she is.” Justin insisted.

“No, I’m not.” Amanda said. “Why would I want to record an album?”

“Because you’re good, maybe?” Justin said mockingly.

“You’re good too, that’s why you don’t have a life, Justin. I’m not willing to give up my freedom, just to be famous and to cater to you two nimrods.”

“What’s the difference? You spend as much time in the public eye as Justin does now.”

“That’s different. I’m part of the crew. I’m not the one out there onstage.”

“You could be.” Justin shrugged. “You know you want to. You love being in the studio and you jump at the chance to get onstage all the time, so why not? Johnny already shopped your demo around and Jive is interested. What do you have to loose?”

“How about my mind? And most importantly that person that I live with, can’t forget that.”

“What does Jeremy have to do with anything?” Trace asked. “Just because he ruined his perfect career doesn’t give him the right to keep you from yours.”

“He has a lot to do with it, dear cousin of mine, he’s my boyfriend. And he couldn’t have helped hurting himself, so please back off about that, Trace.” Amanda shook her head. “And I can’t believe you made a demo in the first place let alone give it to Johnny. I can sue for that, ya know.”

“You aren’t even turning red about that, Jojo. You aren’t mad.” Justin said rubbing the arm she’d been poking as she spoke. “There’s nothing you can do about it now.”

“I could call Johnny and ask for it.” Amanda said.

“But you haven’t.” Trace offered. “He’s had that demo for almost a year and you’ve known about it since then.”

“What are you trying to say, dirtball?” Amanda asked with a raised brow.

“He’s just saying that you want this.” Justin said. “And I will make you a super star.”

“Is that so?” Amanda asked as she blew her hair out of her face.

“I promise.” Justin said tucking her hair behind her ear.

“I’ll be your assistant for free, the first year.” Trace said with a chuckle.

“What are you talking about, Trace? You’re already my bitch and Justin’s too.” Amanda said with a laugh.

“Whatever. You’re going to sign that contract.” Trace stated.

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you are.” Justin said.

“No, I’m not.”

“You’re going to be great, Manda!!”

“I hate you guys with a passion.” Amanda said with a smile on her face.

“You don’t hate us, Jojo.’ Justin said taking a bite of his steak into his mouth.

“Whatever.” Amanda shrugged. “Hey, Trace. Did I forget to tell you Justin recorded the cheesiest song about his girlfriend slash grandma?”

“Twice actually.” Trace said with a laugh.

“Who said the song was about Cameron, anyway?” Justin asked, turning to look at her.

“Oh please, it was so about her.” she snorted.

“How does the song go?” Trace asked curiously.

“It’s not about her or anyone real.” Justin insisted. “And I’m eating so I’m not singing.”

“You’re full of shit.” Amanda said drinking from her glass of water.

“You sing it then, Manda.” Trace encouraged.

“She doesn’t know what she’s talking about.” Justin said wiping his mouth with his napkin.

“Hey girl,” she sang rolling her eyes, showing Justin that she remembered the lyrics, she continued. “I just can’t keep my eyes off of ya, cause when I look into those baby blues, I could feel my heart drop to the ground, and for that I love you. Tell me that’s not your typical cheesy, Justin Timberlake, I love my girlfriend song.”

“Whatever, it’s not about anyone.” Justin argued.

“She does have blue eyes.” Trace said eyeing Justin knowingly. Justin saw and understood the look for what it was, sympathy. “Anyway, what are we doing when we get out of here?”

“We should go swimming.” Amanda announced after a few club ideas were thrown around.

“I thought you wanted to go out.” Trace asked.

“I did.” Amanda said. “Before they showed up.”

“Who?” Justin asked looking around.

“You’re so oblivious to them, it’s scary.” Amanda said hiking her thumb over at the paparazzi outside the window.

“So what?” Trace said flipping the cameras off.

“I’m not oblivious. I knew they were there. I just choose not to acknowledge that fact to them.” Justin shrugged. “Some people are more oblivious than others.”

“Whatever, let’s go break in that new pool of yours. It’ll be fun.” Amanda said to Justin.

“I don’t care.” Justin shrugged again. “It’s actually not sounding so bad right now. I could stand a dip in the Jacuzzi.”

“I’m down. Let’s go.” Trace said as he dropped a hundred dollar bill on the table, while Justin added a fifty-dollar tip.

---------

Justin’s new house (Los Angeles)

“What took you so long?” Justin asked Amanda as she walked into the enclosed pool area. “This was your idea.”

“Well don’t let me stop you guys.” Amanda said sarcastically at the two men, clearly relaxing in the Jacuzzi at the end of the pool. “You were supposed to wait for me.”

“You took too long. Besides you said you wanted to swim. We aren’t swimming.” Trace said taking a swig of his beer bottle.

“You know I read somewhere that you shouldn’t consume alcohol while in a Jacuzzi.” Amanda said, hands on her robe-covered hips.

“You read too much.” Justin said sipping from what she was willing to bet was a rum and coke.

“Don’t scream for me when you’re both drowning, I can’t choose, so you’ll both die.” Amanda laughed, clearly a bit tipsy herself. “Are you two going in the pool with me or not?”

“We are in the pool.” Trace said with a chuckle.

“Whatever smart ass.” Amanda said with a raised finger.

“Don’t get an attitude with me cause you took too long on the phone with fuck-face.”

“I wasn’t on the phone the whole time, dirtball. I had to put on a bathing suit. And speaking of, I hope you two decided on trunks.”

“They are too precious, Jojo. I wouldn’t come in the Jacuzzi without some kind of protection.” Justin chuckled.

“Why not? You should go in there without trunks, so they shrivel up and it’ll match your girls genitals.”

“Not funny.” Justin said trying to hold back the laughter that he knew was soon to come.

“Yeah it is.” Trace said laughing loudly. “My cousin is going to hell.”

“That was bad, Jojo.” Justin said with laughter.

“That was great!!” Trace said with a laugh. “I have to piss, be right back.”

“Bring me back a Corona, T.” Justin said as Trace got out of the Jacuzzi, sliding his trunks off as he did.

“Jesus Christ, Trace!!” Amanda yelled from the other side of the pool, where she sat on the edge, feet in the water.

“What?” Trace asked innocently, covering his front with both his hands.

“Stop messing with your cousin, man.” Justin laughed grabbing his discarded trunks from the water and throwing them at his feet.

“You’re disgusting.” Amanda announced. “And you shouldn’t flatter yourself, you know you don’t need both hands to cover up.”

“If that were true, I wouldn’t be such a pimp, cuz. You’re the one that’s disgusting, checking your cousin out. Shame on you, Manda.” Trace said with a chuckle as he turned, his naked ass toward them to pull his shorts back up.

“We are entirely too close.” Justin announced.

“Eww.” Amanda said.

“Be right back.” Trace said with laughter as he left the pool area, trailing water into the house.

“He’s so drunk. He’s gonna fuck up my carpet too.” Justin said to Amanda, laughter still present in his voice.

“I know.” Amanda laughed as she stood to take her bathrobe off. “You coming in the pool or what?”

“Umm.” All traces of laughter gone from him. The fact that underneath the bathrobe, Amanda wore a perfectly fitting white bikini was no laughing matter. He couldn’t speak, he just sat there, staring.

“You’re drunk too, aren’t you?” Amanda teased as she stood at the edge of the pool.

“What?”

“I said you’re drunk too.” Amanda said with a raised brow.

“No I’m not.”

“Yeah you are.” Amanda laughed. “You’re staring into space over there.”

“I was just thinking.” Justin said standing up from the Jacuzzi.

“About what?” Amanda asked interested.

“How mad you’re going to be in two seconds.” Justin said with an evil smile across his features as he took his last chug of his drink.

“I’m not…” suddenly she couldn’t speak because she was on her way back up, from the bottom of the pool.

“Gotcha!!” Trace yelled doing a cannonball dive into the pool.

“Nice!!” Justin said jumping across the Jacuzzi’s ledge into the pool.

“Oh, you’re going down!!” Amanda said after recovering. Going under the water she swam toward her cousin, who’d made his way across the pool.

“She’s it!!” Justin said before diving under water to play their favorite childhood game.