Orlando, Florida

June 16, 1994

"Stop! JC stop it, it's not funny!" Seventeen year old Leah James yelled, as her best friend, JC Chasez chased her around his backyard, spraying her with a supersoaker. Thinking she had being invited over to watch a movie, she was completely caught off guard when JC greeted her outside with a water gun! "Joshua Scott Chasez, you are getting my clothes soaking wet!" Leah screamed. No matter how fast she ran, she wasn't fast enough to escape JC.

"Well then maybe you should just take your clothes off!" JC teased. The two best friends always teased each other like this, but never took each other seriously. JC had now managed to chase Leah from the backyard all the way to the front and onto the empty street.

"As if!" Leah replied. The two were now back in the Chasez's front lawn, and just as Leah was about to surrender, she felt her foot slip from underneath her, and her pink flip flop went flying into the air. JC immediately rushed over to his friend on the ground.

"Oh my God, Leah! Are you okay?!" He asked, rushing over to her. As he dropped the gun on the wet grass beside her, Leah rolled over and grabbed it. She jumped up from where she was and began to pump the water gun, and spray JC in retaliation.

"Oh man, that's not fair! That's foul play!" JC screamed, getting up from his place on the ground and beginning to run back to the backyard again.

"Yeah, well you caught me off gaurd, so I say were even Chasez!" Leah laughed, chasing him. She pumped the water gun furiously getting him soaking wet, when all of a sudden no water came out. Noticing the sudden drought, JC turned around. When he saw the gun was out of water, he gave her a sly grin. A look of shock flashed through Leah's eyes at the sudden realization of the empty water gun. "Oh, now come on! This is just not fair, today is most definitely not my day!"

Out of breath, the two teenagers both looked each other up and down. JC burst ou laughing. "What?" Leah asked, with a tone of annyonce in her voice.

"Look at us, were both soaking wet!" JC chuckled.

"Yeah, well whose fault is that?!" Leah fought the urge to laugh. As much as she wanted to be mad at JC for water gunning her, she couldn't be mad. She could never stay mat JC for long, no matter what he did. She didn't know why, but he was the only person who had that effect on her. Not being able to fight it any longer, she burst out laughing too!

"Come on, let's get out of these wet clothes!" JC replied.

An hour later, both Leah and JC were dried off. JC in in dark rinse jeans, and an orange Disney World t-shirt. Leah, in one of JC's oversized white t-shirts, while her clothes were drying. They were settled down in the basement, and had ordered a pizza. They were watching one of their favorite movies "A Nightmare on Elm Street 2". Leah and JC sat in silence on the couch, as they watched the movie. It wasn't an awkward silence, though. They could spend hours together, and not say anything. Sometimes words weren't needed. Sometimes they only needed to be in the company of each other, and that was enough. As the infamous Freddy Krueger made his first appearance on the screen, Leah let out small whimper and cuddled next to JC. Although, they had both seen this movie plenty of time, Leah still got scared at all of the same scenes in the movie. So JC knew exactly when his friend needed to bury her face in his neck. JC wrapped his arms around her and laughed a little. Although this had become almost a tradition, he couldn't help but feel different this time, when he felt her face rub up and down against his neck. The sensation sent chills down his spine.

"Is it over yet?" Leah asked, looking up into JC's piercing blue eyes. For some odd reason, looking in JC's eyes gave Leah butterflies in her stomach. She continued to stare at him. Was there something different about her friend, that she didn't seem to notice at first? No, he was still the same. So she couldn't figure out why looking into his eyes made her stomach flutter.

"Yes, Freddy's gone!" JC answered, laughing a little, gazing down into her deep green eyes. For the first time, her eyes seemed to be breath taking to JC. Both feeling a little weirded out they abruptly atopped staring, and focused their attention back on the movie. "You know, I don't get it," JC began. "We've seen this movie like a thosuand times, yet you act like you don't know what happens! I don't even know how you manage to watch this movie so many times, and still keep your face buried in my neck!" JC teased.

"Whatever!" Leah smiled, rolling her eyes. The room was filled with silence again. While Leah focused back on the movie, JC focused on Leah, intently. For some reason, he couldn't take his eyes off of her. Not just now, but the past few weeks have been like this, he would just sit there and stare at her. Not in a creepy way, but in a more admiring way. He was admiring Leah's beauty. Her brown caramel skin tone, her electrifying green eyes, her slender nose, full lips, and her long dark brown hair that reached the middle of her back. She was beautiful, he always thought she was beautiful, but always as a friend. Now he was beginning to develop feelings for her. He wondered if she felt the same way? He often thought of acting on his feelings and kissing her. Would she reciprocate? Or would she back away, and be weirded out. He wanted to tell her what he felt, but was afraid, that she wouldn't feel the same and that he would lose his closest friend.The friend he could tell anything. He confided in her when he felt his guy friends wouldn't understand, and she listened. She genuinely cared about him. Leah always made JC feel special. 

JC and Leah had had been best friends for three years now. They first met when they were cast on the Disney Channel show, "The All-New Mickey Mouse Club". The two had immediately clicked. They had a lot in common, and shared a lot of the same dreams, so they formed a close bond. JC felt like Leah was his platonic other half. Almost like a girl version of himself. JC and Leah spent so much time together on and off set. Wherever there was JC, there was Leah, and vice versa. Leah had always been there for him, and for her undying loyalty, JC began to be fiercely overprotective of his friend. Justin, one JC's MMC friends gave him the nick name "Pitbull" because he'd rip any guy's head off if they ever thought of hurting his friend. They had become so close she was like a part of his famiy, and he apart of his. So it was no surprise that after the Mickey Mouse Club had went off the air a month earlier, the two remained close. Still staring at Leah, he thought of how much closer, they'd become over the last six months, and he wasn't willing to lose that. So he decided to shake his feelings off, down grading them to nothing more than "lust feelings". No, he would not ruin 3 years of friendship, in one moment of weakness.

Leah could feel JC's eyes on her, and she began to feel self conscious. Was a hair out of place? Did she have something on her face? She silently wondered to herself. Wait, since when did she feel self conscious around her best friend? She knew, since she began to have these stupid childish feelings about him. It was stupid she knew, because JC would never in a million years be interested in her. She wasn't even his type! She looked up at him. "Josh, is there something wrong? Do I have something on my face?" Leah asked.

"No, nothing's wrong." JC replied, turning his gaze back to the television screen. Nothing's wrong with you at all, Leah. JC wanted to say. You're perfect just the way you are.
 

 June 30, 1994

It had been a long two weeks. Leah had flown up to New York City to work with a producer on a couple of songs to put on her demo. She had written, and co-written about 12 songs, and she was singing about eight hours a day. She had recorded about 12 songs in two weeks, and only 6 of those 12 would go on her demo. She wanted to make sure she had a variety of different material to put on her demo, so that the record labels she would shop them to, could see how diverse of an artist she was, and hear her broad vocal range. She wanted all of the record executives to know that she was a true artist. Needless to say, that after all of this she was exhausted. Now, all she wanted to do was go home, and lay in her bed, before going to see JC. Even though it was only two weeks, it felt like an eternity since she's last seen him.

Meanwhile JC had stayed in Orlando with Justin over the course of the past two weeks. He met a guy named Chris, who was a friend of Justin's. He was looking to form a group. Both Justin and JC knew a guy named Joey who had they had been friends with for a while. He had gone to school in Orlando, where he sang, dance, and acted. He was good friends with a lot of "Mouseketeers". He was really talented. So now the group was a quartet, and they were looking for a fifth member to complete them. While Leah was gone, he couldn't keep his mind off of her. It's not like they had never been apart before. They had been apart for weeks and weeks at a time before! It wasn't like he didn't miss her before, he just missed her even more now. He longed to see her face, or just hearing her voice would be enough. They had been playing an endless game of phone tag.

When Leah stumbled through her front door, she greeted her parents, and checked the answering machine. As tired as she was, she just had to check the answering machine to see if JC had called. She was happy to see that he called, and said that he wanted to see her the following day. She smiled at the sound of his voice. She couldn't wait to see his face again. Now, she could finally get some sleep. She crawled up the steps that lead to the upstairs hallway, when she reached her room she dropped her bags on the floor, stepped out of her shoes and didn't even bother to change into her pajamas. She crawled underneath her Hello Kitty bead spread, and fell asleep.

The next morning, Saturday, Leah had plans to sleep in all day. However, those plans fell through when she heard the telephone in the hallway ring.

Ring.

The telephone shrieked in it's excrucitaing high pitch.

Ring.

Ring. And it rang, and it rang, and it rang. At first Leah tried to ignore it, hoping her mom, her dad, brother, sister or grandmother would pick it up. She covered her head with her pink fluffy pillow hoping to drown out the phone. But whoever the caller was, had no mercy on her this morning and would not give up. Finally it stopped. Whoever it was left a message. She couldn't hear who it was though from her bedroom. All she could hear was the sound of a muffled voice coming from the machine. Great, now she was up and couldn't get back to sleep. Now she would be in a bad mood for the rest of the day. Just as she began to relax again, and almost drift off to sleep, she heard that damned phone again!

"Does anyone not hear the freaking phone besides me? Is everyone deaf but me? Or is this some weird version of 'The Tell Tale Heart'?!" She said to herself frustrated. Sighing, Leah rolled out of bed, and stepped into the hallway. she walked down the hallyway to the white table that the phone sat on.

Ring.

Ring.

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" Leah grumbled. When she got to the phone, she realized that she was home alone. She answered the phone, anxious to hear who this needy person on the other end was. "Hello?" Leah answered in a frustrated tone.

"Well good morning to you too Miss Grumpy!" JC's cheerful voice poured into her ear. Instantly Leah's mood softened, and she was wide awake. And suddenly she felt guilty for sounding so rude to JC, when he sounded so happy to hear her.

"Hey, Josh. Sorry I'm so cranky, I'm just exhausted!" Leah explained.

"Tough two weeks huh?" JC asked, in a very understanding tone. He was always so kind and caring.

"Yeah. How about you? Did you find a fifth member?" Leah asked, genuinely interested in how his two weeks had been.

"Actually no, well not in Orlando anyway. But Justin got in touch with an old buddy of his named Lance, he's in Orlando for a while. He's so talented, and we're trying to recruit him, but his mom is so strict." JC explained.

"Well if anyone can convince someone it's you Josh." Leah replied. 

"You think?" JC asked.

"Yeah, you can persuade anyone to do anything. You're funny, you have a great personality, you're caring, and kind, and compassionate, and cute and charming..." Leah rambled on.

"You think I'm cute?" JC asked, surprised at what his friend had said. Dammit! Did I just say that? I must be delirious. God, why did I say that? Leah silently thought to herself.

"Um, yeah, well you know, you're cute, you know people just love you!" Leah said, trying to backtrack, and cover up her confession.

"Thanks." JC replied. Leah just knew he was giving her a smug grin, on the other side of the phone, and she just wanted to die of embarrassment right then and there.  

"So," JC continued. "I was wondering when you were free? I miss you, and we need to catch up." JC said.

"Yeah, I missed you too. I'm free for the next three days, in fact!" Leah replied, hoping not to sound too eager.

"Perfect! Get dressed, because I'll be there to pick you up in twenty minutes!" JC said excitedly.

"But Josh I -"

"Twenty minutes!" He cut her off, and hung up the phone. Leah sat on the other end of the phone, so many emotions running through her at once. She was happy that she would get to see her best friend. Embarrassed that she had admitted to him that she thought he was cute. And partially pissed off because he knew it would take her longer than twenty minutes to get ready. He just loved to mess with her!

JC waited a few minutes before he left his house, figuring he'd give Leah a five minute head start. Knowing his best friend, he knew there was no way in hell she'd be ready in twenty minutes. But oh how fun it was to mess with her!

And JC had been right. Her shower alone had taken twenty five minutes! After fifteen more minutes of waiting on the living room couch, he could no longer take it anymore. He walked up the stair case, and barged into her room. "Come on Leah, the day will be over, before you can even get ready!" JC said restlessly, as he opened up her bed room door. He walked in to see her in a white knee length sundress, medium silver hoop earring, and simple ballet flats. The simpicity of her outfit highlighted her natural beauty. Her dark brown hair cascading her face in loose ringlets. JC saw her reflection in the mirror as she was about to apply her makeup. He stood there, frozen in his place, in awe of her beauty. "Um, I'm almost ready, I'm just about to put my makeup on, then I'll be ready." Leah explained, a little caught off gaurd by him barging in her room, and for some reason, a little nervous in his presence. He walked towards her, closer and closer, until he was right behind her. "You don't need makeup, you're beautiful just the way you are." JC said gently, and sincerely. He stared at her beautiful face in the mirror, admiring her features.

"Thanks Josh." Was all Leah could say, at a loss for words. He thought that she was beautiful? "I really do mean it Leah, and I promise you I'm not just saying it because I want you to hurry up!" JC said spinning her around to face him. Their eyes locked in the most electrifying intense moment that either of them had ever felt before. The house was eerily silent. Were they having a moment? Was something about to happen? All of a sudden JC was leaning closer to Leah, and Leah was leaning closer to JC. JC's plams began to sweat. Leah's stomach began to flutter. Then all of a sudden... Ring, Ring! That damned phone! Both JC and Leah nearly jumped out of their skin. Coming to their senses, Leah took a step back against her dresser. "I'll get that," Leah said walking around JC, out of her room and into the hallway.

While Leah went to go answer the phone, it gave JC a moment to regroup. What was he thinking? Kissing Leah? If he did that it would forever change their relationship. For the better, or for the worse, he wasn't willing to take that chance. But damn, what he would give to feel her lips against his if only just for one moment. As annoying as that phone sounded, JC was glad it interrupted him from making the biggest possible mistake he could ever make. 

It was Jill on the phone, Leah's older sister. She had called to say that she would be home around eight, and to leave mom and dad a note. She informed Jill that she would be gone with JC all day. After she hung up the phone, she pause for a minute to regain her composer. Was she hallucinating, or was JC just about to kiss her? Was she about to kiss him? If only the phone hadn't rung. Fate is a funny thing huh? Maybe it was for the best.  "So I guess I'm ready!" Leah called out to JC, trying to steady her shaky voice. This was going to be an interesting day.

Leah and JC had spent the whole day together, leaving their "moment" behind them. JC just wanted to kick it with his friend, and Leah had wanted the same. Just to be with him, as friends. JC knew that they were both becoming adults. Leah had just turned seventeen in May, and JC would be eighteen in August. There was no more "Mickey Mouse Club", and most of their friends were starting to drift in the their own directions. It seemed that only JC, Justin, Leah, and a few others had made Orlando home. Most of their other friends either moved back to their home towns, went to college, or either made the move to New York or L.A. to further their careers. Although Orlando was home, he and Leah both wanted to acheieve great things, and see the world. They made a pact three years ago, that wherever life took them they would always stay friends. But they both knew that they wouldn't be together for much longer. Especially if they both got record deals. So JC wanted to spend every moment with her that was possible. At noon JC had taken Leah to breakfast, at one of their favorite spots. It was a local place called "Gigi's", it was right off the beach, and the diner had a retro '50's feel. While eating breakfast they caught up, and talked about things that had been happening in their lives. And they totally pigged out on pancakes! After breakfast at "Gigi's", they spent the day Disney World, riding on all of the rides. Leah, and JC would not leave until they had ridden every single roller coaster in the amusement park! Leah was having the time of her life. Although she had been to Disney World many times before, it never felt this good. The fact that she was with JC just made her have even more fun! JC loved to see Leah's thousand watt smile, and he would do anything to put a smile on her face! When JC and Leah walked pass a ring tossing booth, Leah saw a big pink fluffy elephant that caught her eye.

"Wait JC, I want to win that!" Leah exclaimed stopping dead in her tracks,

"Go for it!" JC replied. After waiting her turn, the lady at the booth gave Leah a handful of large rings in exchange for fifty cents. Leah stepped back a little, and threw the first ring towards a glass soda bottle, and missed it. She threw the second ring and missed. The fact tha she had no hand-eye coordination didn't help much at all! With each ring Leah threw, she missed all the bottles, and didn't win her prize.

"Wow! That sucks!" Leah said, walking back over to JC, who one of his arms around her.

"Well at least you tried." JC replied trying to cheer her up, he could tell she was a bit bummed.

"Hey, I'm gonna go to the bathroom, okay?" Leah said.  "Okay, I'll wait here." JC said. When he saw Leah disappear into the bathroom, he fished two quarters out of the pocket of his khaki shorts, and walked back up to the ring toss booth. He was handed a handful of large rings. In under three minutes he managed to toss each ring onto a soda bottle perfectly. He won a prize, and he picked the big pink floppy eared fluffy elephant. Just as he was handed the stuffed animal, he saw Leah come out of the bathroom looking for JC.

He walked up to her and presentd her with the stuffed elephant. Her eyes grew large. "JC! You didn't?!" Leah, said in surprise.

"I could tell that you really wanted it, and I wanted you to have it!" JC replied with a smile on his face.

"Thank you Josh. It really means a lot to me, I mean I know it sounds silly, but it just reminds me of childhood." Leah explained. She was very appreciative. No guy except for her father had ever done this for her before, not even a boyfriend. 

"Well, when you get that big record deal, and travel all across the globe, you'll have something to remember me by." JC said, almost a little sad. Leah smiled, JC was one of very few people in her life who truly believed in her, and she believed in JC exactly the same way.

"Well, you probably won't even remember little ole' me, when you guys blow up and all of the pre-teen girls will be ripping your clothes off!" Leah said, lightening the mood a bit. JC blushed a little. Damn, how did she always manage to make him feel that way? All crazy inside. Noticing JC blush, Leah reiterated her last statetment. "I'm serious, you guys are gonna rock this world, it'll be like Beatlemania, only bigger!" Leah said smiling up at him.

"C'mon let's get outta here, I'm starving again!" JC said. JC took Leah to dinner at a resturant on a boat called "The Silver Clover" that overlooked the ocean. This was the perfect setting, JC thought, if only this were a date it would be perfect. No, what was he thinking? He couldn't think of this as a date, this is just a friends day out. Just a friend's day out, he kept telling himself. Dinner went smoothly, and after dinner JC took Leah for a long walk on the beach. It was night by then. The weather was warm. They both took off their shoes to feel their bare feet sink into the sand.

"This is nice." Leah said.

"Yeah, it is." JC replied. There was that silnce again. The kind where they didn't need words, or they didn't need to try to strike up a fake conversation, they just loved to be in each other's company. This moment right here, with Leah felt so special, it meant everything to him. He wondered if she felt the same way.

JC glanced over at Leah as they continued to walk down the beach, the ocean water washing up against their ankles, shoes in hand. He studied her for a moment, and could tell that she was in deep thought.

"Hey Leah, where's your head at right now?" JC asked, dying to know her thoughts.

"I'm just taking in the moment." She replied honestly. "This may sound weird, but tonight just feels so special, I don't want it to end." Leah stopped walking, and turned to face JC. A look that he couldn't quite decipher appeared on her face.

"I don't want this night to end either." JC replied. Leah gave him a sweet smile, and more silence followed.

After another moment of silence, JC began to speak again. "Promise me again." JC pleaded, as he placed an arm around her, and they started walking again.

"Joshua Scott Chasez I promise, no matter where life takes us, you will always be my best friend!" Leah recited the credo that they came up with three years ago. She then stopped again and looked up at him. As if magically reading his thoughs, she added, "fame, boyfriends, girlfriends, money. Nothing will ever tear us apart. I never thought that I would ever meet someone like you JC, and I don't wanna lose your friendship. I want you in my life for the rest of my life." If only we could ever be more than just friends, Leah wanted to add. She reached up on her tippy toes and gave him one big heart felt emotional hug. JC held her close to him tightly never wanting to let go. To be honest JC was kind of scared of the future, and what it may bring. He was afraid of losing her. But when Leah held him in her arms like she did right now, he felt safe. He felt like everything was going to be okay. Leah gave him hope

When JC arrived at Leah's house, he got out of the car, and rushd over to the passenger side of his black Grande Cherokee to open the door for her, then he walked her to her doorstep.

"Well, my, my, my," Leah teased in a southern accent. "I guess chivalry isn't dead after all!"

"I guess not!" JC responded.

"But on a serious note Josh, I want to let you know that I've had the time of my life today. And no matter what, I will remember this day for the rest of my life." Leah said genuinely.

JC didn't know what to do, so he did what he felt in his heart. He couldn't hold out any longer, He leaned down towards Leah, and planted a soft gentle kiss on her lips. At first Leah was shocked, but soon began to kiss him back. She parted her lips slightly for him to enter. As his tongue entered her mouth, so many emotions were running through her body. Shock, pleasure, fear. Standing there while JC kissed her, he reached up, and softly stroked her cheek. Leah could literally feel every nerve in her body. When JC finally broke the kiss he realized what he had just done. He'd done what he wanted to do for the past few months, but now he wasn't sure he did the right thing. He looked back at her regretfully.

"Leah um- I'm sorry!" JC stammered. 

"Sorry?" Leah repeated. He was sorry that he kissed her? Now Leah felt as lame as ever. Not only lame, but truly hurt and disappointed. JC could see the hurt and confused look on her face, and knew that he'd screwed up. He didn't know what to say he just stood there like an idiot. He could see that she was visibly crushed.

"I've gotta go." Leah said abruptly.

"Leah wait!" JC called, but he was answered with a red door slamming in his face. JC had royally screwed up the most perfect day of his, and his best friend's life in one moment of weakness.

Leah ran past her parents in the living room, dashed up the stairs, and into her room. She didn't bothered making it to her bed, she slammed her door shut, and slid to the floor crying. The guy she thought she'd fallen in love with, would never feel the same way that she felt. Leah sat on the floor in her bedroom and cried herself to sleep, as her heart slowly shattered, breaking into a million pieces along with each tear that she cried.