"Jazzy, let's go. Let's do this. JAZZY!"

I jump, completely awake and my heart racing. I see JC standing over me, smiling. I look at the clock. Quarter till 5 in the MORNING?!? "You're nuts if you think I'm getting up." I roll over and try to go back to sleep.

"Hell no. Get up. You agreed."

"No." I fall back to sleep.

JC grabs my feet and yanks me off the bed. "Up, shower. We leave at 5:30."

I glare at him. Justin comes running in. "Who fell? I heard a thump."

JC turns to him. "I pulled Jazzy of her bed. She's trying to get out of rehearsal."

Justin smiles and walks over to help me up. "You get up and I'll make sure Joey doesn't shove his camera in your face until after rehearsal."

I take his hands and smile. "He's gonna do it anyway. We all know it." I go to my bag and grab a pair of sweats and a teal tank top. "I've gotten used to it."

Justin chuckles. "Yeah." He admits as I grab my shower supplies. He looks at my shampoo, body wash and conditioner. "Is that why you smell like the ocean and fruit?"

I use Suave apple shampoo and conditioner for my hair and Suave Ocean Breeze body wash. "This would be why. Has it been making you wonder?"

"Yeah, I was tryin to figure out why you smell like that."
"Does it matter?"

"No, but you do smell good."

Ok, I'm woken up not so nicely by his best friend and my sarcasm kicks in. I try not to be a bitch about what I say. "Aren't girls supposed to smell good?" I say as I pass him and JC.

"Man, what crawled up her butt?"

"I woke her up by screaming in her ear and yanking her off the bed." I hear JC leave Lance's room. "Everyone's waiting in the living room. Make it quick."

I wave a hand as I go in the bathroom. "Yeah, yeah, yeah." I get undressed, shower, get out, get my clothes on, put my stuff back in Lance's room, put on an over sized sweatshirt and stand in the living room doorway. "Ready when you are."

Joey and Chris look at their watches. "Ten minutes?"

"I'm not your average primadonna teenage girl."
Justin smiles. "No, she's a tomboy."

"Are we going or can I go back to bed?"

"We're going. Let's go." JC gets up and leads us to the door. He pulls out his cell and makes a call. "Darren, we have someone to help out once she knows the steps. Yeah, she and Lance can work on the steps at home. Yeah, her." I'm too tired to care. We're getting in the van and I take the way back window seat, pull my legs up, cover them with my sweatshirt and fall asleep.

I wake up to Lance shaking me awake. "Jazzy, we're here. Jazzy, wake up. Let's do this, Jazzy."

I yawn and stretch. "At least you're nicer about it than some people."

"JC wasn't woken up as nice as he wanted either."

"He didn't need to be an ass waking me up. I didn't wake him up."

"Justin did by jumping on him while he was asleep."

"Meh. I've been volunteered to help you get better with the steps."

"Ok."

"I guess we should get in there before they send JC out."

Lance nods and we get out of the van. He leads me into the warehouse they rehearse in. I strip my sweatshirt off, tossing it into a corner by the door. I see this guy with dark skin, wind breakers, a t-shirt, sneakers and a smile on his face come over to us. Lance does a handshake/hug with him. "Darren, this is Jazzy. Jazzy, this is Darren, our choreographer. Andi helps him out when he has to pull one or two of us aside."

I look at Darren. He has his hand out, expecting me to shake his hand. "Hi."

Darren watches me walk away. I sit a few feet away and stretch. "What's her dilemma?"

"JC woke her up by yanking her out of bed and she's not a morning person."

"Another JC, huh?" Lance nods. Darren claps his hands. "Let's start with 'I Want You Back'. Jazzy, you should be right here." He places me between Justin and JC. I glare at JC before focusing on what the guys are doing. I watch in the mirrors and wait for Darren's cue. He counts us in and he breaks it down step by step. "Keep pace with JC or Justin."

I'm confused. "I'm supposed to learn James' moves so I can help him learn them."

Darren laughs. "Learn the basic moves first and then I will teach you Lance's specific moves."

I nod and we go from the top. I quickly learn and memorize the moves. Darren pulls me aside and has Andi watch them for any mistakes. Darren quickly teaches me Lance's steps and we go through the entire routine using Lance's steps. We drop back into formation and go through the routine with the boys. I learn all the steps and we rehearse until just after one and take a break for lunch. Lance and I sit against the wall, talking about how it's gonna be hard to stay in touch and how busy we're all gonna be. I like how I can still talk to him about anything. "Just make sure to make friends wherever you go, even at the beach."

I smile. "I'll try my best."

JC comes over and sits with us. "I'm sorry for waking you up like that."

"Meh, I'm over it. It happens and I don't blame you one bit."

"You just had to wake up?"

"Yeah. Darren made a comment how I'm kinda like you in the morning."

"Grumpy when I get woken up?"

"Yeah. I'm like that when I'm woken up the way you did this morning."

Justin and Chris come sit with us and we start thinking of ways to keep in touch other than phone calls. Joey comes over and we make a pact to call each other at least twice a week, write once a week (making sure to date the letters), send pictures every couple of months, and Joey would send me videos every couple weeks. We start laughing and joking about what we're gonna do when they come back home for the couple of months before they go on tour out here. We are laughing so hard that we're all bright red in the face. Andi comes over and looks at us like we're from Saturn. Justin pulls her down to sit between him and Chris. "We're coming up with ideas the seven of us can do when we come back from Europe. I'm gonna throw Jazz in the water, Chris is gonna bury her up to her neck in the sand, JC is gonna dump water on her, Joey's gonna tape it and Lance is gonna give JC the cold bottled water when we go to the beach during our two or three month break."

Andi smiles. "I'll make the sand Chris buries her in like mud."

I laugh. "Sounds like a great day at the beach and a plan."

We involve Andi in our plans of pranking and toturing each other and she's laugh just as hard as we are, allowing her guard down to enjoy herself. Darren announces a five minute warning and start planning pranks we could do to Darren later on, just before we head home. Andi looks at me with a serious look. "What's your full name?"

"Why?"

"You tell me yours and I'll tell you mine."

"Samantha Marilyn Charpentier."

"Andrealynn Michela Maki."

"Now I get why Justin called you 'Andrealynni' the other day."

"You heard that?"

"Yeah. I also heard most of the conversation you had with Josh that day. He is SO NOT my type."

"Hey!" JC crosses his arms across his chest and I smile at him.

Andi looks at me. "Why's that?"

"He's a nice guy, but he's become kinda like a brother or cousin to me."

"Ew! That would be too weird and just wrong."

We all laugh and throw our empty dishes out and get back to the grind of rehearsing. I fall into place by Lance, having learned all the moves he needs to know and keeping pace with him. He misses some steps and I pull him aside and work with him. I walk up to Darren. "Could we start from the top of 'Tearin Up My Heart'?"

"If you think it'll help Lance, sure."

"It will help him."
He nods, looks at Andi and she nods to signal that it's ready. Justin, Joey, Chris, and JC groan because they have to start from the top of the song. I fall into place with Lance and we go through the set five times before focusing  on specific songs. While I focus on specific songs with Lance, the other four guys get to sit back and watch how I work with Lance. I compliment the steps he does and he begins to smile becuase he's not only getting better, but enjoying it. The four of them are whispering about how Lance is getting better and that I make it more enjoyable for him. Around 7:30, JC walks up behind me and pokes my side, causing me to jump. "I think you've got him pretty close to where we are."

I nod and grab a towel to dry my face. We all had sweat dripping off of us. "What time is it?"

"It's half past seven. By the time we get to the house, it's gonna be quarter past 8."

"Wow! I just danced for what ten hours?"

"Closer to 11 1/2 hours, believe it or not."

"I think that's pretty good."

"That's unbelieveable, considering it was the first time for you."

"I've been dancing for fun since I could cruise furniture. Me and two of my friends would dance from like 5 at night till we went to bed around 9 or 10. It was for fun. When we did talent shows and little concerts or shows for our friends, families and neighborhoods."

"So you've been dancing for awhile and as long as you're moving and having fun, you don't care."

"Yeah. That was fun. Thanks for having me come."

"You're insane. Let's go home, so we can shower and relax a bit."

"We earned it?"

"Including you, psycho." He hugs me. "My little psycho dancer."

I look up at him and make a face. "I'll give you psycho dancer when i beat your ass in a dance off."

He steps back. "Are you challenging me, little girl?"

"Did you just call me 'little girl'? Yes, it is a challenge."

"What are you gonna do about it?"

"I'm SO kicking your ASS when we do this dance off, JOSH!"

He smiles, pats my head and runs for the van. I grab my sweatshirt and run after him. "We better get home then!" Lance, Joey, Justin and Chris follow us. I take the passenger seat and push JC, playfully. "This is why I treat you like a baby sister."

"Oh, yeah? Why's that?"
"You act like one."

"I am one. I have an older half brother, genius."

We're goofing off, picking on each other and laughing. "I am a genius." We look at each other and crack the fuck up. The van door for the back slides open and the others pile in.

Chris chimes in and says what's on his mind, "That just goes to show that I'm right and those two have lost their damn minds!"

JC and I start to laugh even harder. I stop laughing and turn to face Chris as JC pulls away from the warehouse. "Then you don't know pure genius when you see it. Einstein was mentally unstable and was a genius."

Lance turns around to look at Chris and nods his head in agreement. "She's got a point. He was out of his gourd. He was brilliant and crazy."

Justin starts talking about which actresses he'd love to date when he hits it big. Everyone gets into this conversation, saying which celebrities they'd want to be with when they get older. 

Joey leans between the front seats and looks at me. "What about you? What celebrity would you like to date when you get older?"

I think for a second. "Either LL Cool J or Bon Jovi."

They laugh and I smile. "They're like twice your age!"

"So? I love Bon Jovi's voice and LL Cool J's lips and body! Mmmmm, yummy!"

They laugh and shake their heads. "I don't know how we're gonna deal with out you."

I smile. "It's called a phone. Pick it up, dial my number and that's how you'll deal with me not being right there."

JC nods. "Good point."

We talk about how we plan on staying close and how I can always confide in them. We pull up to the house and pile out. Lynn is standing in the kitchen doorway. "You're an hour and a half late."

"It's my fault. I decided to focus on James' moves from five this afternoon until 7:30."

She looks at me and starts smiling. "In that case, I'll let it slide. Come eat and then shower."

We all nod and head for the kitchen. We sit down and start talking about what happened at rehearsal. Lynn listens as we all get excited and add our pieces to everyone else's stories. She is smiling and is happy to hear that Andi and I have begun to get along.

JC look at me and smiles. "You know, it's funny how you didn't wanna get up today, but you went along with it."

"I kinda had no choice. You probably would've carried me there in my clothes from yesterday."

"I considered it before yanking you off the bed and decided not to because it was more fun for me to do it the way I did. Plus, we had a deal."

Lance looks at the two of us. "What deal?"

"I go with her to get her mom last night and she'd help you learn the moves today and when we get back home."

"Sounds like an unfair deal."

I smile. "I like a challenge. I had fun keeping part of my end of it."

Everyone laughs. We continue talking about school, plans for when they come home, my plans for the beach on Saturday and what they wanna do while in Europe. I can't help but think of how I'm gonna miss them. They all smile at me and I smile as I eat the last of my food. I put my plate in the sink and head for the shower, grabbing pjs and my shower stuff. I get in the bathroom and enjoy my shower for the first twenty minutes.

Someone knocks on the door. "You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"It's Chris. Do you wanna talk about it?"

"Give me ten and we can talk outside."

"In the yard?"

"Yeah."

"Ok."

I finish my shower, get my pjs on, put my stuff in Lance's room and head to the backyard. "Hey."

"What's up? You can tell us anything."

I tell him everything that's on my mind and how I'm gonna miss them. "I have no idea how I'm gonna get over a bad day."

"Like you said earlier-pick up the phone, dial one of our numbers and talk to us. We're always gonna be there for you somehow."

I sigh. "I know, but it won't be the same. You won't be able to give me a hug and tell me it's gonna be ok."

"I know that. At least we can always talk."

"True."

"Is that all that was bothering you?"

"Yeah."

"Come on, let's jump on the trampoline for a few minutes." He pulls me to my feet.

"I don't know."

He pulls me to the trampoline. "Come on. You'll feel better."

"No, it's alright."

"Come on. For me, please? I wanna see you smile."

"Fine." I roll my eyes and get on the trampoline. We start to goof off on it and before I know it I'm jumping around, laughing. Chris probably has years of practice doing this. He's got four sisters for crying out loud! We jump on the trampoline for about an hour before JC comes and tells us to come calm down in the living room. I do a handspring off the trampoline and Chris does a crowd cheer, causing us both to laugh like hyenas.
JC looks at us like we're crazy. "You're BOTH insane."

We come inside and JC turns on the light. Everyone says 'happy early birthday'. I smile. "Thanks. Just so you wouldn't miss it." We share a huge group hug before having a little cake and ice cream in the living room. We stay up till 1am talking and joking, making sure to laugh. They wanted to make their last full day with me full of laughter and smiles (as cheesy and nerdy as it sounds, it's what I think). They succeeded in making it a great day. I fall asleep in the chair while watching Disney movies with them. It may have been 'Little Mermaid', but I'm not too sure. I love how I spent most of today laughing and smiling. I know Lance and Joey were on the loveseat, while Chris, Justin, and JC were on the big couch. I love how they made today a great day.