I probably should have introduced myself, back when this piece of work begun. But have no fear; I knew what I was doing, I think.

My name is Lynn and for personal reasons I will keep my last name private. I hope you don’t mind. I want to take this opportunity to let you in on how I met these wonderful and exciting people, you’ve come to love, hate and admire.

Some of you might be thinking that I begun this whole ordeal because I met Justin Timberlake, randomly while backstage at one of his concerts. Well I didn’t; in fact, I didn’t meet Justin until later. I met Amanda Reyes approximately two years ago at a Challenge for the Children event. We hit it off immediately, and I mean immediately after she realized that I was simply looking to write a great piece of work. Something that her best friend, Justin, would never agree to do. At the beginning of our budding relationship, I tried to keep it on a professional level for the benefit of my work. I tried and failed, Amanda Reyes became one of my best friends, and I’m not being pretentious when I say that I have become one of hers, as well. Of course, the friendship that Amanda and I share is nowhere near her relationship with Trace and Justin; I still believe we have a great one.

Our friendship allowed this story to unfold without any problems. They were all able to speak to me, without holding anything back. I know more about these three people than I probably should, but I loved working with them. They filled me in on their little secrets, sometimes consciously and sometimes unconsciously but they did just the same. Some of the things, I did share with you and a lot of the things I will NOT. Did I mention that they would probably disown me as their friend if I did? Besides, they have DIRT on me as well, this business if rough!

The purpose of this remix is solely for YOU, the fans. Justin, Amanda, and Trace have all agreed to answer any questions you might have. So, I’ve set up this little thing in a back lot of one of the studios in Los Angeles. I’ve screened the audience attending, making sure no one was trying to kill my friends. I’ve set up two couches in the middle of the room and photos of the cast of Homeboy Memoirs surround the room. Trace didn’t approve of his pictures but Amanda submitted the pictures to me in the first place, so they remained on the stage. It’s a beautiful setting and Trace, Justin, and Amanda are at ease. And most importantly, NO CAMERAS and cell phones were taken at the door.  That makes all four of us happy.

The men have agreed to this little shindig, with some persuading done by Amanda and I, of course. I must warn you though, some questions might be off-limits, and while you might ask them, the fact is that all three of these people are REAL. With that said, you need to know that because you ask, doesn’t mean they’ll answer. I won’t get into details what questions are okay to ask and what questions aren’t because the list would probably be too great, but you’ll find out soon enough.

And just so you know, Jeremy is holding on the phone from his office in Atlanta.

Without further due, welcome to the finale of Homeboy Memoirs!

Lynn: Hey guys! (The audience gets loud when the three of them come on stage, and take a seat on the love seats.)

Justin: What’s up baby girl? (He grins and winks at me, I roll my eyes.)

Amanda: Hey girl! (She smiles at me.)

Trace: Sup!

Lynn: How are you this evening, Trace?

Justin: He’s grouchy!

Lynn: I’m sorry is your name, Trace? (Justin looks shocked and offended at my comment. The audience laughs and I grin at him followed by a wink.)

Justin: Are you still mad at me? Don’t be mad baby girl, it was a fucking joke!

Amanda: It wasn’t funny. (She glares at Justin.) He’s an asshole.

Trace: Glad there aren’t any cameras on. These two would be in some deep shit with their language. (The audience laughs and ooohs at Justin and Amanda’s potty mouths.)

Lynn: You should talk, Trace.

Trace: Hey, I ain’t no celebrity. I’m not a role model here.  (The audience laughs.)

Lynn: Are we going to argue and bicker all day, or are we doing this? (Trace rolls his eyes, but smiles.)

Trace: You brought us here, you tell us.

Lynn: Let me just say that it’s always a pleasure, Juan!

Justin: Ohh, she didn’t go there. (Justin is instigating and I smirk at Trace, he doesn’t say anything but gives Justin the finger. The audience is in hysterics now.)

Amanda: Alright, alright. Let’s get this show on the road.

Lynn: This is going to interesting. (I roll my eyes drastically.) So, you guys know that you’re here to answer questions from people who have read your story. So I’m going to cut the shit and get right to it, cause I know you guys and if I let you, you’ll ruin the show.

Amanda: Gee, thanks Lynn! (She laughs.)

Lynn: You know I mean that in the nicest way possible, girl!

Justin: So who has a question for me? (He points to the small audience, asking people if they have a question.)

Lynn and Trace: Not everything is about you Justin! (We look at each other and laugh.)

Lynn: Don’t ever do that again! Anyway! (I turn to the first audience member who has good questions.) We’ll start with Ki, she’s an Nsync fan, whom submitted her questions via the web, wants Justin to ‘Describe the perfect day with Jojo’. She’s sitting right across from you, Justin. Pink shirt. Say hi, Ki!

Justin: My perfect day with Jo is everyday when I wake up and she’s right next to me, Ki. (Justin looks at her and squeezes her to his side with a grin directed only for her)

Amanda: That was cheesy, homeboy! (Amanda is blushing and she smacks Justin on his shoulder, making him laugh.)

Justin: It’s just the truth, Jo. Just the truth. (He winks at Ki, then smiles at the audience.)

Lynn: Anyone have whine to go with that cheesy ass line? (I’m joking and Justin laughs.) Her question for Amanda is: ‘Now that you guys are together, do you regret not telling him sooner?’ That’s a good question, girl!

Amanda: That’s a cute shirt, by the way, Ki. (Ki thanks Amanda and blushes when Justin winks at her.) Umm, do I regret not telling him sooner? I’m assuming you mean that I loved him, so I’m going with that. You know what, I don’t. I think everything happens when it’s supposed to happen. I think we both needed to experience our lives away from each other, which unbelievably, we did, before finally stepping up and admit that we were meant to be. I think people might have gotten the wrong impression about us.

Justin: She talks a lot, doesn’t she? (He’s asking Ki that. The audience thinks it’s the cutest thing.)

Trace: You both do!

Amanda: Shut up, dirtball!

Justin: Ha!

Amanda: You too! Anyway, as I was saying. You guys might think we spent every waking moment together and were never ever apart and while the year that Justin and I went through what we...

Trace: Umm, I was there too.

Amanda: What Justin, Trace, and I went through. Happy now? Didn’t I tell you to shut up? Anyway, when all this happened, yes we did spend a lot of time together. But we had our own lives; they didn’t always revolve around each other. Justin had girlfriends and Trace…well Trace did things. (She rolls her eyes when Trace grins.) I’m your average girl; I went to college, had a boyfriend…(Justin is making faces and rolling his eyes at the mention of the boyfriend) and I had a normal life. I am normal.

Justin: I beg to differ; she isn’t normal at all, People! Don’t buy it!

Amanda: I swear if you keep interrupting me... (Justin laughs and kisses her quickly making her forget her words. He winks at the audience and laughs)

Trace: This is what I go through every day, folks! (The audience laughs.)

Amanda: Whatever! No, I don’t regret telling him sooner, Ki.

Trace: Now, wasn’t that easier? (Amanda mumbles that he’s a jerk under her breath, but the audience laughs because they can hear her.)

Lynn: Let’s see if this is easier, for YOU, Trace. Ki’s comment and question for you is: ‘Do you still want to kick Jeremy's ass? And, I know that you're not into all the mushy love shit but do you want to marry Elisha one day?’

Trace: No comment. (The audience boos him and he’s about to raise his middle finger but Justin stops him)

Justin: Answer the question, man. You promised Lynn, T.

Trace: I think I’m over the Jeremy thing. (He says but then shakes his head.) Nah, I’m lying, I will kick his ass any chance I get. Bastard! (The audience laughs again) Elisha is backstage; you can ask her that other question. (The audience starts chanting Elisha’s name and she peeks her head from behind a wall with a smile on her face. She rolls her eyes at Trace before waving her left hand for the audience to see. A gigantic diamond hangs from her ring finger and the audience goes wild before she disappears behind the wall again.) There you go, Ki. No more questions for me, thanks!

Lynn: Like I said, always a pleasure, Trace. (I’m sitting next to Trace onstage now.) The next question is for Justin and Amanda. I comes from Danie, who is sitting on the left side, second row. Hi Danie! (She stands and waves to us, a big smile on her face.)

Justin: Hey Danie!

Amanda: Hey girl!

Trace:  Sup!

Lynn: I’m going to go ahead and apologize for Juan, here. He’s in a wonderful mood today! (I smack him on the shoulder and he pretends to be physically hurt.)

Trace: Damn, girl! (He’s rubbing his shoulder now and I roll my eyes at him. Amanda chuckles.)

Lynn: Anyway, Danie wants to know if ‘Justin and Amanda would ever do a song, TV show, or movie together?’ Would you?

Amanda: Hrmm, wow. Well we worked on music together already. We haven’t actually recorded a duet, though.

Justin: She says our voices don’t go well together. (He shrugs and pretends to be hurt.)

Amanda: Ohh, whatever! Don’t believe him. We sound really good together, but we just haven’t put much thought into it.

Justin: And Jo is a bad actor, so movies and television are out of the question. (He laughs, the audience follows suit.)

Amanda: Not a good actor? Please I had you fooled for twenty-four years, homeboy. That’s an Oscar on the mantle! (She giggles and Trace pretends to be bored.)

Lynn: You alright there, Trace? You look ecstatic to be here.

Trace: Who gets the Oscar now? Had you fooled, didn’t I? You thought I was bored? I’m happy to be here, can’t you tell? (He grins in an exaggerated manner, making everyone including the panel laugh.)

Lynn: Ohh wait until you get Scherzo’s comment, Trace. You’re gonna love it! (I laugh evilly.) Scherzo has things for all of you; she’s on the fist row there. You can flirt with her now, Justin. Cool name by the way, girl!

Justin: Is Lynn pronouncing it right? Cause I can have her fired, you know.

Lynn: Please, you wish you could. You fail to realize that you love me. (I smile at Justin and he grins back.)

Justin: That is true, Scherzo. (Scherzo laughs and asks Amanda if she minded Justin flirting with other girls, as he’s doing now.)

Amanda: Not at all. I know this guy inside and out and I know he’s full of shit! (She smacks Justin on the head and winks at a guy on the first row, for Justin to see.)

Justin: Who are you? (He’s pointing at the guy menacingly. The guy puts his hands up in defense and says that’s he’s just here for the show. The audience laughs and Justin points to his two eyes and then back at the guy, telling him that he’s watching him. The audience laughs harder.)

Lynn: Kids! Anyway, Scherzo has a question for Amanda, she asks: ‘Admitting that you're in love with your best friend is one of the hardest things in world to do, but what was it like when you first kissed as a couple?’ Now we get to some good stuff!

Amanda: You sound as if you’ve experienced this personally. (Scherzo smiles.) Yeah, it’s true. It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life, but it was also the easiest. Does that make sense? I struggled with it, of course. It’s what you guys read, but it also felt easy. I’ve known him all my life, like since birth, so it wasn’t hard to tell him in the end. I was embarrassed of course, cause it’s him, ya know? I know things about him, as a best friend, that you wouldn’t even imagine.

Lynn: Like what? (I’m such an instigator.)

Justin: No comment.

Lynn: I wasn’t asking you! (The audience giggles.)

Amanda: Some things are better left unsaid if you know what I mean. (She rolls her eyes at Justin.)

Trace: Seriously! You guys DON’T want to know!

Justin:  Ohh it’s like that? (He’s talking to Trace, and shakes his head. They’ll be discussing that later, I guarantee it!)

Trace: You didn’t answer the kiss question, Manda. (The audience is all ears. Justin is blushing and Amanda is beyond that point. She’s beet red and is trying to hide her face behind Justin.)

Lynn: Alright, we ain’t getting anything out of her! Justin! Same question.

Justin: I don’t really have anything to say right now. Ouch, Jo! (She pinched his side.)

Lynn: So you’re being tight-lipped on this one? No pun intended.

Amanda: Yeah! (She blushes more when Justin kisses her quickly on the lips and winks at the audience.)

Lynn: Here’s my favorite one! Scherzo asks one thing from you, Trace. She asks; ‘Why do you have to be so damn annoying?’ Seriously, why?

Trace: No comment. No, I do have a comment, fuck that! Why don’t you get a real name? Huh? Answer that! (He’s saying this but smiling at the girl and she smiles back.)

Lynn: Guess what, Guys!

Justin, Amanda, and Trace: What?

Lynn: Jeremy is on the line holding for questions for him.

Trace: Too much of a pussy to actually show up?

Jeremy on the phone speaker: The only pussy in there besides Lynn and Amanda’s is you. No offense ladies!

Lynn: None taken, Jeremy.

Amanda: Speak for yourself!

Justin: Chill out, Jo! (He whispers to her. But the microphone of his chest doesn’t conceal it.)

Trace: Keep talking asshole! You’ll get what’s coming to you, AGAIN!

Jeremy on the phone: You STILL don’t scare me, Bro. (The audience is eerily quiet as the two exchange words.)

Trace: We are nowhere near brothers, dickwad! Answer your fucking questions and keep it moving!

Lynn: Guys! Come on, you both promised! (I realize I may sound whiny but they did. They both promised to be civilized.)

Jeremy on the phone: I’m ready when you are, Lynn. It was nice seeing you the other night, by the way.

Amanda: I’m sure it was, Asshole. (She mumbles but again the microphones don’t help to conceal her words.)

Jeremy on the phone: Nice to hear from you too, Amanda.

Lynn: You ready for your question, Jeremy?

Jeremy on the phone: Sure! But first can I say something?

Lynn:  Umm, sure as long as it isn’t to Trace or about Trace. Go ahead.

Jeremy on the phone: I wouldn’t waste my breath like that. I just wanted to say what’s up to Justin. And he knows that none of this has changed how much I learned from him. And that’s not bullshit; I thank him sincerely. (The audience lets out a synchronized ‘aww’ at his words.)

Justin: Likewise, man. (He doesn’t say anything else. He’s holding Amanda’s hand in his and rubs his thumb over her hands, soothingly. Amanda seems to have checked out of the show, mentally. You can tell she doesn’t want to hear anything Jeremy has to say.)

Trace: Is he answering a question or not?

Lynn: Trace? Chill! Jeremy, Scherzo has a question for you. She’s in the audience. Say hello!

Jeremy on the phone: The name’s hot. Hello there! (Scherzo waves even though he can’t see her. And I get the impression that she feels bad about being the first to ask Jeremy a question and bringing him into a once upon a time, happy room.)

Lynn: She asks, ‘Why did you continue to stay with Jo if you knew that she loved Justin? Wasn’t that just making it harder for you? Or did you want your cheating to be justified She writes, no pun intended, at the end of that. (The audience laughs and Justin smiles at her.)

Jeremy on the phone: Why? Well that’s simple, Scherzo. I loved her. She was in my life as constantly as Justin was in both of ours. I can’t break that down any other way but simply because I loved her.  Yeah it was hard but I still believed she loved me too, that wasn’t a lie. She knows that. (Amanda puts her head down and closes her eyes before resting her head on Justin’s shoulder.) So, I was content to a certain extent, for years. I thought that maybe she’d start loving me just half of how much she loved him. (He gets a bit choked up but continues. The room is completely quiet.) And no, the cheating wasn’t justified. (He chuckles at the word.) Nothing can ever justify you cheating on the person you love. Right Justin?

Amanda: Are you done now, you prick?

Jeremy on the phone: See, that’s the girl I know and loved.

Justin: You’re pushing it, Owens. (Justin says calmly and everyone can tell he’s going to flip out if I don’t put Jeremy back on hold.)

Jeremy on the phone: It’s always a pleasure getting a rise out of you. You too, Shorty! I’d be lying if I say I don’t miss you. And there’s no sarcasm in there. I really do.

Trace: I don’t wish I could say the same, fuck-face!

Lynn: Guys! Seriously! Jeremy you say ‘loved’ as in past tense. Does that mean you’re over Amanda? (Amanda glares at me, but right now, I’m pissed at how they’re acting. The y promised!)

Jeremy on the phone: I don’t think I’ll ever be completely over her. She was my first love although I wasn’t hers. We had great times. She can’t deny that.

Lynn: Fair enough. Just one more thing before I let you go hang out and wait for another question.

Jeremy on the phone: Sure, what’s up?

Lynn: How’s the baby?

Jeremy on the phone:  What baby would that be, Lynn?

Lynn: Ohh, you and I know what baby I’m referring to.

Jeremy on the phone: If you’re talking about Jessica’s baby, then I wouldn’t know. I haven’t seen her in ages.

Lynn: So you’ve never met your child?

Jeremy on the phone: I don’t have any, so no I haven’t.

Lynn: So she lied?

Jeremy on the phone: It’s what she does best.

Amanda: That’s funny cause I though she was good at other things.

Jeremy on the phone: I’m not commenting on that. (He actually chuckles. The audience cringes.)

Lynn: I’m going to place you back on hold, cause you’re stirring up my people here! We’ll talk again, Jeremy.

Jeremy on the phone: I’ll be here. Bye Guys! (The line goes dead and the room is silent.)

Lynn: Well that was interesting!

Trace: Wonderful! (He’s in a bad mood now and he’s not acting.)

Lynn: Why don’t we take a break? (I haven’t even gotten the words out when all three of them storm off the stage. I know they aren’t mad at me, I know they aren’t I know them too well. They just need to chill out for a minute. I tell the audience that there are refreshment in the back and we will be back in fifteen minutes with more questions. They seem to be as relieved as I am as I head backstage to my friends.)

We are back from a twenty-five minute break instead of a fifteen. But I’m not upset; I think we all needed a break. Trace is a little upset with me because I won’t hang up on Jeremy, but he’s fine. Amanda and Justin are back to their usual selves. They calm each other down and I admire that. Although it’s been a while since they actually heard Jeremy’s voice, when they do it’s not a very nice thing. I think part of Justin still feels guilty about this whole thing. Don’t get me wrong, I know he loves Amanda with all of his heart but some days, like today, I can sense guilt from him. He didn’t say much to Jeremy and that was probably for Amanda’s benefit more than his. I see that even though Jeremy deserves everything he gets, good or bad that he never meant to hurt his friend that way. And you can cry and rant about Jeremy being an asshole and this and that but Justin and Jeremy were, in fact, friends. And as friends, Justin was in love with his girlfriend, behind his back. Do you get me?

It’s getting loud in the studio where the audience is and as we walk out from backstage, relieved from the stress that was laying on our shoulders earlier, the room gets even louder. They applaud our arrival and Justin acts silly, dancing and cheering along. Amanda and Trace just look at him and leave him to his silliness before going to their earlier seats on the couches.

Lynn: You done there, Justin?

Justin: Ohh, I was just hyping them up, Lynn-Lynn!

Lynn: Oh God, don’t call me that in front of all these people!

Justin: Why not? It’s cute, and I DO cute, remember? (He’s referring to a remark I made backstage and I want to ring his neck.) Isn’t it cute? (He’s asking the audience and when he’s done with that, a very synchronized Lynn-Lynn erupts repeatedly from the audience and I want to die. Jerk!)

Amanda: Alright alright, leave her alone! (She makes Justin stop with a glare and he laughs.)

Lynn: I’ll get you later, I promise! (I say rolling my eyes at him.) Anyway, Gigi has a question for Amanda and Justin. She’s in row five, seat fourteen. I hope you’re still there girl! (She is, she stands and waves at us.) You want to know if Justin and Amanda would ever do a newlyweds type show, right? (She says yes, and Amanda and Justin are both shaking their heads vigorously.)

Justin:  No way!

Amanda: Absolutely not!

Lynn: Why not?

Justin: Our lives are exploited enough. We don’t feel like every second of our lives should be televised for the world to see. Believe it or not, there is a lot that people don’t know about us. And those things we keep to ourselves and to be completely honest, DO NOT want to share.

Amanda: When we agreed to do this memoir thing, we came to an agreement with Lynn that we had complete control of what would be published. And we did that because some things are sacred and I understand that the fans might not think so. I know some of you want to know EVERYHING about us, but that’s jut not realistic, for lack of a better word. It’s not for us; so no, we would never do a reality TV show.

Trace: I would have, back when I was single. Entertainment 101, believe me. (The audience laughs at Trace’s joke but I know for a fact that he’s not kidding. Single Trace was a reality show’s envy. Those MTV people only wish they could follow him around with a camera.)

The questions kept coming for an hour, ranging from when they all planned to get married to how they managed to go out without paparazzi on their toes. At the end of the sit-down we said goodbye to Jeremy and everyone including myself hoped it would be the last time we’d speak to him. Jeremy isn’t a bad guy, I know this but during this whole ordeal, with questions being shot at him and being cornered, I understand why he was being such a jerk.

Justin and Amanda are in the far corner of the limo we are riding toward the after party, trace insisted on having. I’m telling you, that boy will find any excuse to have a party and get wasted. He’s preparing to head to Tokyo for William Rast work and I think he’s nervous. Elisha is going with him but I’ve come to know his nervous ticks.

We plan on having a good time tonight and I don’t doubt that we will. This saga in their lives is over. And sadly this saga in my life is over as well.

I’d like to thank each and every one of you who took a chance on an unknown author. My career has launched into my wildest dreams. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. I’ve gained a career, and most importantly I’ve gained three amazing best friends. I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

I want to thank Justin for always talking as much shit in protest to this whole thing, yet told the most stories for me to document.

I want to thank Trace for pretending to be disgusted with me when in reality he loves me to death.

And last but certainly not least, Amanda. You’ve become my best friend, my partner in crime and I love you for that. I will never forget you and hope you never forget me. Yeah, I realize I see you everyday or at least talk to you and that the possibility of forgetting me is crazy, but I love ya, girl! Thank you for allowing me into your life. Your wonderful life and your equally as wonderful heart.

I’m sure a lot of you have more questions and I apologize for not getting to them. I know there are a lot of unanswered questions out there. Justin and Trace are done with this so I can only have Amanda answer a few more questions before she’s done with this as well. Please stop by Amanda’s MySpace page (http://www.myspace.com/homeboymemoirs) and leave a question in her comments space. I look forward to keeping in touch with all of you.

Thank You

This is The Now Known Author signing off.

Love, Lynn