January 3rd, 2000

To realize that he was done. That they were done with their latest tour. They didn’t have concerts to perform, they didn’t have to run on few hours in between shows, they didn’t have to do a mad dash back to the tour bus. He could just sit at home and relax as they worked on their new album, away from Lou Pearlman.

He jerked suddenly as the thought of their old manager came to his mind, a cold wave crashing over him, through his body, making him shudder a second time, jostling the figure next to him. He turned his head and saw a mess of dark brown hair splayed across one of his many pillows. A stuffed teddy bear, one he quickly recognized, sat between him and the figure.

He instantly relaxed, sitting up in bed, the sheets sliding off his shoulders, down his bare chest, gathering at his waist as he reached for the bear. “Hey, Chip,” he said quietly, taking the bear into his hands. He grasped one of the arms of the bear and made it wave at him. He then turned the bear around and moved its arm to tap the figure lying beside him. “Pssst. Annaleigh. Wake up, Annaleigh.”

Annaleigh made a grunting sound, pushing his hand away. “Stop starin’ at me,” she muttered, pulling the blankets higher up under her chin.

“I thought you were asleep.” Lance continued talking for Chip, making the bear wiggle his fluffy arms in Annaleigh’s face.

“I am. Stop talkin’,” Annaleigh replied. Lance chuckled, giving her the bear back. Annaleigh smiled as she wrapped her arm around the bear’s waist, pulling it to her chest.

“First smile I’ve seen from you in a while,” Lance stated and Annaleigh let out a sigh through her nose, her freckles bunching together for a moment before she blinked her eyes open, sliding them over to fix on him before squinting against the bright sunlight. “Welcome to Orlando.”

“Thanks,” Annaleigh replied, sitting up as well, using her hand to brush her hair back. She hugged Chip to her chest as she sat cross legged on his bed. “Sorry ‘bout…” She waved her hand in the air, motioning around the room.

“Don’t worry about it,” Lance replied waving his hand in the air before rubbing at his burning eyes. As he blinked his eyes, becoming fully awake, a glint caught his eye and he peered over at her before motioning towards his neck. “What is that?”

“Purity ring,” Annaleigh replied as she hooked her finger underneath the chain, pulling it out from underneath her gray tank top to reveal a small band with a dark green gem in the middle of it. “Matthew 5:8 and with my birthstone too.” She dropped the  ring and it thumped once against her chest. “One of dad’s stipulations for lettin’ me audition. He said he was goin’ to give it to me on my birthday, but…”

“He’s just worried,” Lance replied. He doesn’t want you to get hurt. Not by him or anybody else. His fingers twitched and he pressed his lips together. He wanted to tell her what his dad told him, he wanted to tell her why her family had fallen apart, but he knew that it wasn’t his place. “You know how your dad is; he just wants what’s best for you. He’s not entirely old fashioned, but still.”

As her best friend, he wanted to protect her as much as he could, and he knew that she’d go nuclear on him if she found out that he knew about it ahead of time. As a long time friend of her family, he also knew that Ryan Carr was a proud man and wouldn’t want anyone but him or his wife to break the news to her.

“I know, but…that’s not the only reason he gave it to me,” Annaleigh slowly replied and Lance gave her a confused look. “D and I kinda…kissed before I came here.” He blinked in surprise, shaking his head back and forth before putting a hand to his forehead.

“Wait, what?” he asked.

“Actually, he kissed me,” Annaleigh replied, letting go of Chip before lifting her hands to pull her hair back into a ponytail. He recognized that move; she was hiding her cheeks that were undoubtedly turning a bright pink. The mole on her upper lip disappeared as a smile stretched across her face.

He wasn’t upset about the situation, but he was surprised. He had watched his best friend pine after his other best friend for years, never thinking that something was going to happen, mainly from her end. He knew how she felt about relationships and dating after watching her parents split up. Then again, he wasn’t surprised that she gravitated towards either him or Darren; they were both always there for her, providing her stability in her life.

“And?” he prompted.

“It was nice?”Annaleigh asked, making a face for a brief moment. “I mean, it wasn’t just nice, it was…better than I ever thought it’d be. Anyway, I don’t know. He’s not courtin’ me or anythin’.” She then let out a sigh. “Anyway, I told my dad about it and with him knowin’ I’d be living ‘round here with you lot that it was time to give me the ring.”

“Don’t do that,” Lance said with a shake of his head before rolling off of his bed. He adjusted the waistband of his boxers as soon as his feet hit the floor. He could feel her eyes burning holes into her back; he could practically sense the waves of confusion she sent. “Don’t act like that’s not a big deal. You’ve only held a torch for the guy for, like, ever.”

He pulled open the middle drawer to his dresser and reached for a pair of jeans. He could hear Annaleigh scoff as he flapped his jeans into the air before he held them out in front of him before jumping into them. “In fact, that’s why I thought you named him Chip,” he said.

“His nose looks like a chocolate chip,” Annaleigh said with a frown, looking down at the bear. “How’d you get—“

“Ch-Ch-Ch-Chip and Dale, Rescue Rangers,” Lance softly sang, jumping up and down as he zipped up his jeans before reaching for the button. “Ch-Ch-Ch-Chip and Dale; when there’s danger.” Annaleigh’s eyebrows shot up not before she grasped Chip’s leg, pulling her arm back before throwing it towards him. Lance quickly brought up his arms to shield himself from the attack, turning towards the door as it opened.

“Whoa,” Joey loudly declared a smile on his face. “Am I interrupting something kinky?” Lance rolled his eyes as Joey jumped onto his abandoned bed, the force of the bounce, nearly knocking Annaleigh off the bed. “We were looking for you. Chris and I were going to surprise you with breakfast in bed.” He then gave a pout. “But, here you were all this time. Makes the rest of us not feel loved.”

“I thank ya kindly, Joey,” Annaleigh said, giving him a sweet smile, reaching out to pat his cheek.

“Don’t thank him too much,” Lance said in a monotone as he looked for a t-shirt. “He means that literally; he and Chris would’ve eaten their breakfast in your bed or something like that.”

Joey let out a loud gasp, rolling onto his back to put his hand over his heart. “That hurts, Lance, that really does,” he said, blinking over at his friend. “We just wanted to make her feel welcome that’s all.” He then sat up and his grin widened. “I did want to ask her  a question though.”

“Which is…?” Lance asked, pulling his shirt up over his head. He pulled his shirt down over his stomach and down past the waistband of his jeans.

“Just wondered how long you two have been friends, that’s all,” Joey replied before making it a point to look back and forth between the two of them. Annaleigh’s right eyebrow slowly curved upwards before her left eyebrow joined it. Lance pinched the bridge of his nose before looking back at Joey. “I know what this looks like, but nothing happened. We’re just friends that’s it.”

“An’ to answer your question, we’ve been friends fer almost eight years now,” Annaleigh replied, curling her hand into a fist, resting her cheek against it, her elbow digging into her knee. She then gave Joey a sweet smile before climbing out of Lance’s bed. “I assure you, nothin’ happened. You can go ahead and tell Chris.” She then crossed the room to pick up her fallen bear before leaving Lance’s room, adjusting the strap to her tank top and the waist band of her soccer shorts.

“Chris, I found her,” Joey shouted, throwing Lance a wink before following her out of the room. “She was in bed with Lance.” Lance rolled his eyes, shaking his head running a hand over his hair.

“Ha!” Lance could heard Chris’s loud laugh from somewhere down the hall. “Been a long while since he’s had a girl over. I was starting to worry about him.” Lance briefly closed his eyes when he heard Joey’s laughter mix in with his and Justin’s faint laughter.

Lance sucked a deep breath of air through his nose before he made his way out of his room, the ends of his jeans scuffing on the carpet, swishing around his feet. He stretched his arms over his head as he made his way out of the hall and into the kitchen where he found the rest of the *NSYNC members, minus JC who Lance automatically assumed was still sleeping, eating bowls of cereal, looking tired but wide awake.

“Sounds like you had a fun night,” Justin said, milk dribbling down his chin before stirring his wooden spoon through the large mixing bowl he used for his bowl of cereal.

Lance had quickly grown accustomed to Justin’s cereal habit, but at first he was surprised that he could eat so much in the morning. He had a certain routine with it too; find a mixing bowl, fiil it with as much cereal as possible, pour half a gallon of milk into it, and then proceed to dunk every piece of cereal into the milk. Once they all caught on, they started buying gallons of milk specifically for Justin.

“Joey and Chris don’t know what they’re talking about,” Lance said, moving to sit at his self-assigned seat in the kitchen table. “Ace and I are just friends; best friends. That’s all.”

“I’m just sayin’, you sure made a big deal about ‘going to bed early’,” Chris said with a laugh, using air quotes before going back to his oatmeal. “Seemed pretty late if you ask me.”

“Nothing happened,” Lance repeated, putting his face in his hands. “Seriously. I swear.”

“Don’ swear,” Annaleigh immediately said to him, her head bent towards the ground as she pulled her hair up into a side ponytail. She then paused to look up at the boys, putting her hands on her hips. “Nothin’ happened.”

“Not with that ring it didn’t,” Justin pointed out, sitting back in his chair, his lips smacking together as he loudly chewed before indicating to the ring around her neck. “That’s pretty.”

“Yeah, it is,” Chris said, his eyebrows shooting up. “Just maahvelous, daahling.” He flapped a hand in the air. “So, who’s the lucky guy?"

“No idea,” Annaleigh replied, leaning against the kitchen table. She reached into Justin’s bowl of Lucky Charms and grabbed a few marshmallows, ignoring Justin’s screech of protest and slaps with the spoon in his hand. As the words came out of her mouth, Joey choked on his mouthful of cereal.

“So, what, is this an arranged marriage or something?” he asked, a confused look crossing his face. “I’m actually curious about this. How can you be engaged to someone you don’t know?”

“It’s a purity ring, moron,” Justin said with a roll of his eyes.

“A what?” Chris asked. He looked at Joey, to Justin, to Lance, and then at Annaleigh as she munched on the cereal. “Those aren’t myths?” Justin slapped his forehead with his palm.

“No, purity rings aren’t myths, Chris,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. “When you wear a purity ring you make a promise—not only to yourself but to God—that you stay…’pure’ until marriage.”

“So…?” Chris asked.

“You don’t have sex until you’re married,” Justin supplied around a mouthful of food. This got startled replies from both Chris and Joey. “Yes, that means you don’t have sex at all. Not until you’re married.”

“So you haven’t…at all?” Joey asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Nope,” Annaleigh replied with a shake of her head.

“Really?” Joey asked, looking  stunned. She gave him an odd look. “I just meant because you’re really beautiful.”

“That was quick,” Lance commented and Joey merely shrugged, giving a smile.

“How old are you, again?” Chris asked. Lance gave him a warning look, his eyes narrowing slightly. Chris put his hand into the air. “Not for me, I’m just wondering.”

“Turn eighteen in July,” Annaleigh replied and Joey opened his mouth, “and no, not even then. The only men I need in my life are my dad and God.” Lance loudly cleared his throat before giving his friend a teasing look. “Oh, and Lance of course.” She then put her hands up defensively. “I jus’ decided to save myself for my husband and not sleep around or anythin’. But don' think I'm opposed to you guys havin’ a good time or anythin’. You can still do whatever you like; I won’t start preachin’ to you or anythin’.”

“Well, that’s a relief,” Chris said with a smile, before going back to what he was doing. He then pointed his spoon over at Lance and then Justin. “So, you two never wore purity rings or anything? Well, I mean, Just wouldn’t be wearing his now, would he? Not with how things are going with you and Britney.”

“Wait,” Annaleigh said, her eyes popping open. She put a hand to her heart before dropping into the chair across from Justin. “Oh my stars, you’re really datin’ Britney Spears?”

“Yep, she’s my lady,” Justin replied with a smile and a wink before shoving another large spoonful of cereal into his mouth.

“Oh my stars,” Joey repeated with a small laugh, “that’s cute. So, why don’t you wear one, Lance?”

Lance blinked with a start. Why didn’t he wear one? It’d definitely make things easier, he thought to himself, pressing his lips together. His eyes flickered towards Annaleigh—who gave him a curious look—before he gave a shrug of his shoulders. “I never thought about it to be honest with you,” he replied before he put his hand on Annaleigh’s shoulder. “Ace, I’ll get you something to eat.”

“Only good thing we have is cereal, we need to go shopping,” Joey announced.

“I can see why Miss Diane was worried about y’alll on tour,” Annaleigh said, with a shake of her head. “I’m sure y’all have something. You boys have no idea how to make somethin’ out of nothin’.” She clapped her hands together, pushing her chair back, getting to her feet. “I can make you some breakfast with whatever’s lyin’ ‘round here.”

“If she can pull this off, she’s a God send,” Joey said, closing his eyes, a smile coming to his face. “Literally.”

Annaleigh let out a short laugh as she made her way into the kitchen, opening and closing the refrigerator, the freezer and some cabinets. “I’ll have something whipped up for y’all in no time.”

“God bless you,” Chris said with a sigh of happiness, rubbing his stomach as he dropped his spoon onto the table with a loud clatter.

“Ace, you don’t have to do that,” Lance said, reaching for her arm as she started to look around the kitchen. “You’re a guest here. We can make something for you.”

“No offense, Lance, but you’re not known for your cuisine,” Annaleigh replied with a small smile. “It’s fine; I don’t mind it at all.”

“Hey, I make great toast,” Lance protested and Annaleigh gave a laugh, shaking her head. “Are you sure? I think you should be focusing on your audition with Johnny.”

“James,” Annaleigh said, stopping what she was doing to face him, planting a hand on her hip. Lance let cringed slightly, but shot her a curious look. She was like his mom sometimes; the minute he was referred to by his first name, he knew he should pay attention. “It’s fine, really. I mean…I’m happy to do it. I’m happy here; I’ve only been here for a few hours, but…I like it here. I don’ have responsibilities, an’ for a little while I don’ have to worry ‘bout Dad. I can jus’ focus on music, like I’ve always wanted to. ”

She opened the refrigerator and pulled out the carton of eggs, kicking the door shut with her door. She set the carton down onto the table and popped open the top, peering at it for a moment before grabbing an egg out of the carton. Lance watched as she set it down on the table and tried to spin it. She quickly reached for the egg before it wobbled off the side of the table.

“I’m not rulin’ out that I might not get it, but for one fleeting moment, I took that chance at followin’ my dream,” Annaeigh continued, testing eggs on the counter. She then lifted her amber eyes to look up at Lance. “That’s all I ever wanted.”

Lance smiled, putting his arm around Annaleigh’s shoulder, giving her a hug and a kiss on the side of her head. “I’m happy you’re here,” he said to her.

“So’m I,” Annaleigh replied as she smiled up at him, leaning into his side, wrapping an arm around his waist, squeezing him back. She got back to making breakfast as the telephone rang. “Where’re the skillets?”

“Telephone,” Joey, Chris, Justin, and Lance shouted at slightly varying times, a finger flying to press the tip of their noses. Lance looked over at his friends, eyes narrowed slightly as he looked back and forth between them.

“C’s not in the room, he has to answer,” Justin said after a moment of silence, slapping his hand down onto the table. Lance chuckled before dropping back down into his chair, running his hand over his face as JC entered the room, the phone up to his ear. “See?”

“Uh-huh…ok…got it…see you then,” JC said into the phone before removing it from his ear, pressing his thumb into the button, a small blip hitting the air. “That was Johnny; he’s going to come over later to show us the mix for Bye, Bye, Bye just in case we want to change something, and to see Annaleigh to talk about her audition and if she’s to make it into the band. He’s also bringing Wade over, too, taking the time to help us work out our moves while we’re here.”

“It’s the first day off from tour,” Chris groaned, throwing his arms into the air. “When are we actually going to have a break?” He got muttered responses from Joey and Justin.

“Hey, you guys should be used to it by now,” JC said, leaning back in his chair. “Besides, you know how important this album is. After everything with Lou—“ Lance sucked in a sharp breath of air, feeling the temperature in the room changing instantly. Lance looked around the room starting with Justin continued to shovel, now soggy, cereal into his mouth, Joey was looking around the room finding interest in anything he could, and Chris who was humming loudly, and then at JC who momentarily had a far off look on his face. “They’ve always had our back, the least we can do is give them the best performance of our lives.”

“Here, here,” Lance said, giving a quick salute.

“There’s something I’m not used to though,” JC said, his eyebrows shooting up before he closed his eyes, sniffing the air. “Mmmm, that smells good. Finally, something to mask the smell of Justin’s socks.”

“They’re not that bad,” Justin said, wrinkling his nose.

“For someone who shared your room for months while we were in Germany, they were that bad,” Lance replied with a little bit of a laugh before gently hitting JC’s arm. “And you can thank Ace for the good smells. She’s making breakfast for us.”

JC immediately turned in his seat to face Annaleigh. “Sweetie, you don’t have to do that,” he said, getting to his feet.

“Sit down, JC,” Annaleigh replied, not bothering to look up from the bowl of eggs she was scrambling with a fork. She then looked up at him and gave him a sweet smile. “And don’t call me ‘Sweetie’.”

JC slowly sat back down and Lance patted him on the arm for a second time. “Don’t take  it to heart, but a fair warning; and I’m telling this to all of you, she’s a Southern Belle through and through. Justin knows what I mean.”

“Sure do,” Justin replied with a nod of his head. He let out a low whistle, shaking his head back and forth. “Just…no.”

“I’m starting to wonder if it’s a good or bad thing that she’s here,” Chris said, his eyes wide, a look of worry coming to his face.

“Oh my stars, when was the last time you did the dishes around here?” Annaleigh cried. Lance turned around in his seat to see Annaleigh staring in shock at the dirty dishes that were crammed into the dishwasher. “I’m surprised this thing can still close.”

“Definitely a good thing,” Joey replied.

Lance stretched his arms over his head, stretching his legs out as far as he could before relaxing on the couch as best as he could, squished between Joey and JC as they all sat opposite of their manager, Johnny Wright, and their choreographer, Wade Robson who were sitting on a couch. Annaleigh was curled up in a chair between them.

“We’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but I’ve got high hopes for you boys,” Johnny said in his calm, yet serious tone, rubbing his hands together, his elbows resting on his legs. “Very high hopes. This next move for you is important; everybody has their eyes on you. They want to see how you fair without Lou around. Everybody has their eyes on you.”

“Not like they didn’t before with our ‘feud’ with the Backstreet Boys,” Lance said, using air quotes before crossing his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, and I have a bone to pick with them,” Chris added, putting a finger in the air, sitting up straight in his seat, practically driving his elbow into Justin’s side. “Did you see what they said about us in their lat interview.”

Lance shifted his gaze over towards Johnny. The Backstreet Boys were around for a little while before *NSYNC came on the scene. Everybody thought the two bands were rivals mainly because they were working in the same genre of music and because both bands were the most popular bands out there. He had met the Backstreet Boys a couple of times and thought they were pretty cool dudes.

That’s not to say that each meeting was all that awkward. They had met once since everything with Lou went down; they had money stolen from them as well.  Not only that, but higher ups at their record companies would relay stories to the band about “Nick thinking Lance is this” or “JC thought AJ was that.” But, the kicker was that Johnny was their manager, too. That gave the boys more reason to respect the African American man; to work that hard for not one but two of the hottest boy bands? And he sure did know what he was doing.

“They didn’t say anything, Chris,” Johnny said, giving Chris a confused look.

“Exactly!” Chris replied, hiking an eyebrow. “The nerve of those guys.” Joey snorted, putting a hand over his mouth to try and get him to stop from laughing out loud.

JC pressed his lips together, the corners twitching, Justin cleared his throat over and over again, and Lance ran a hand over his face before sticking his tongue out between his lips before he sucked his lips into his mouth. He tightened the muscles of his stomach to try and keep the bubble of laughter in his chest.

Johnny briefly closed his eyes. His shoulders shook as a small fit of laughter escaped past his lips. He shook his head back and forth before removing the navy blue cap on his head, raking his fingers over his short cut hair.

“Be serious, Chris,” he said to him and Chris seemed to deflate a little bit in his seat as he gave a nod of his head. “This is kind of like a comeback for you boys; everyone wants to see how well you can do without Lou. From what I’ve heard, it’s going to be a hit. It’s going to be huge. This is something that no one else has done before.”

“I’m ready for it,” Justin said, a serious look crossing his face, all trace of laughter gone from his face. “This…this’ll be something great, I just know it.”

“That’s right,” JC agreed, nodding his head. “No strings.”

“No strings,” Lance repeated, a half smile coming to his face. Lou isn’t around to hold us back anymore. Now we just have to rely on ourselves. His smile faded slightly as he dropped his gaze into his lap. He reached back to grab the back of the couch, letting out a sigh. We have to fight ourselves. Lou may not be around to hold us back, but we can still do that to ourselves.

“You ok?”

Lance blinked in Johnny’s direction. Both he and Wade were peering curiously at him. He gave a nod of his head. “Yeah,” he replied, giving a smile, “I’m fine. Just thinking about everything.”

“I understand, it’s a lot to deal with, but I’d tell you if I didn’t think you could do it,” Johnny said, looking each of the boys in the eye. “You’ve had to fight hard to get your name out there, don’t stop fighting. Don’t stop trying to be the best you can be.”

“Yes, sir,” JC said quietly.

“And that brings me to my next topic,” Johnny said, clapping his hands together before turning to face Annaleigh, who shifted, sitting taller in her chair. She held the air of confidence; head held high, shoulders rolled back, the perfect pageant stance, but he could see the nervousness in her eyes. “You must be Annaleigh.”

“Yes, sir, Annaleigh Carr, sir,” Annaleigh said, offering her hand towards Johnny. Johnny took her hand in his, shaking it.

“Lance has told me a lot about you,” Johnny said, giving her a pleasant smile. “You have some promise for a young lady your age. I was impressed by the video he showed me.”

“Really?” Annaleigh asked, her eyes lighting up. “Well, I thank ya kindly, sir, for takin’ the time to watch, sir.”

Johnny’s eyebrows shot up and a smile came to his face. “Well, it was my pleasure,” he replied, “But, you don’t have to call me, ‘sir’, Johnny is fine.” Annaleigh nodded her head. “I understand that you haven’t been playing the bass long, but do you have any other experiences with music.”

“My dad taught me how ta play the drums when I was a kid,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. “He used ta play the guitar in our church band. I always wanted to play with him, I would practice with him when he was rehearsin’ at home. I also dance; and I have since I was five, but that was ballet and jazz. I started teaching myself hip-hop lately cause my friend Jasmine was learnin’ it in class.” She gave a shrug of her shoulders. “I jus’ started to learn how to play bass ta fill in at my church. My mom is a pretty decent singer, too. I don’t think I inherited her voice, though.”

“You’re a great singer, Ace,” Lance said to her. He watched as her eye twitched slightly.

“Not good enough to get into Showstoppers or Attaché,” she replied and Lance blinked in surprise.

He felt his jaw drop. He knew she had wanted to be in both groups but didn’t know that she had actually auditioned, let alone have been declined from joining. Lance dropped his hands into his lap, twisting his fingers together.

How much did I really miss when I was gone? Lance thought to himself, looking over at her.

“I see, and your father is…”

“Ryan Carr, sir,” Annaleigh replied. “I mean, Johnny…sir. Mr. Johnny. Sorry.”  Annaleigh pressed her lips together, clasping her hands in her lap.

“Wait…not the Ryan Carr,” Justin said, his eyes widening, leaning forward in his seat. “The guitarist? Of that band?”

“I only know one Ryan Carr,” Annaleigh replied, her eyebrows knitting together. “He did say he was in a band though.”

“Do you know the name?” Justin pressed and Annaleigh shook her head, looking more and more confused.

“Oathkeeper” Lance supplied after a moment of silence. Everybody immediately turned to look at him and he scratched the back of his neck. “I remember my dad talking about it when I was a kid.”

“That’s it!” Justin said, looking excited. “Your dad was the lead guitarist to Oathkeeper.” He started to bounce up and down in his seat. “Man, I listened to their albums all the time. I thought about doing a song of theirs when I went on Star Search.”

“Maybe you woulda won,” Chris commented. JC frowned, reaching behind Justin to slap the back of Chris’s head. Justin drove his elbow into Chris’s side. “What? You never know.”

“You didn’t know your dad was in Oathkeeper?” Wade asked, speaking up, speaking to Annaleigh for the first time since he had set foot in the house, apart from introducing himself to her.

The boys had a good laugh when Annaleigh was shocked at how old he was. Lance didn’t blame her, when he had first met Wade, he was sure Wade couldn’t be any younger than sixteen come to find he was around the same age as Justin and Annaleigh. He did have a boyish look to him so he couldn’t fault Annaleigh when she thought he was fifteen.

“He mentioned bein’ in a band but…he barely ever talked ‘bout that,” Annaleigh replied, her eyes narrowed slightly. “He’s not too fond of what me wantin’ to pursue music right now, he thinks I should continue my education as far as I can before doin’ anythin’ else, so…” She trailed off, shaking her head. “I wonder why he never told me.”

“Uh, Annaleigh, if I may, what is it that you want to accomplish with your music?” Johnny asked, smoothly changing the subject. “Why is it so important to you?”

“I want to show people what I can do,” Annaleigh replied after a moment of silence. “I want to show people to take the chance and to go after their dreams no matter who or what gets in their way.”

“Best case scenario is that you get into the band,” Johnny explained, rubbing at his chin with his fingers, “it’s going to be tough. There’ll be a lot hard work, late night rehearsals; crazy hours, the unpredictability of touring-“

“I can handle it,” Annaleigh said to him.

“Johnny, I’ve known Annaleigh since I was ten years old,” Lance spoke up, “and I’ve never met anyone as dedicated, stubborn, passionate, and loyal as her. Before I came out here to audition, she helped me with my audition; singing and dancing over and over again. I’m sure I drove her nuts, but she’d drop whatever she was doing to help me no questions asked because that’s just who she is.” He bowed his head for a moment before looking over at her, speaking directly to Annaleigh. “And I’ve never thanked her for it, but I’m saying it now. Thank you.”

“Happy to oblige,” Annaleigh replied with a smile. “You’re my best friend, you know that.”

“Well, Little Lady, I admire your confidence,” Johnny said with a smile. “If you were to be in the band, you’d be working closely with Wade, here, as well as the drummer, Billy Ashbaugh.” He clapped Wade on the shoulder who nodded and gave Annaleigh a smile. “You see, the rhythm section is the most important part of a band, it really keeps everybody together, and they keep the boys on the beat when they perform.”

“I understand,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head.

“As well, if you were to be in the group, there are to be a few rules to follow,” Johnny added. “No drugs under any circumstances, and no drinking if you’re underage.” He counted off on his fingers. “No romantic entanglements with any person in the band so as to keep the focus on the music which bring me to number four; this house is for work. I understand needing to blow off some steam, but it’s important that you commit to your work and put your all into it, you can’t do that if you’re distracted.”

Lance couldn’t tell how the interview was going just by watching them. Johnny wasn’t one who showed his emotions a lot, making sure to get down to business and stay on topic whenever he was in talks with the boys. But, Annaleigh was always poised and had an air of confidence even at such a young age; everyone commended her for it. Despite everything that could be going on in her life, the minute she stepped out her front door, it was like nothing could faze her. Lance had always been jealous of that.

“As well, I understand you’d still be partaking in schooling at the time and this rule is simple; keep your grades up and you can perform,” Johnny concluded. “Do you have any questions?” Annaleigh shook her head. “Anything else we can go over if you make it into the band. I’ll give you a couple days to prepare, but I look forward to your audition.” He offered his hand again and Annaleigh shook it, seeming to release the breath she was holding.

“Thank you so much,” she said, grinning from ear to ear. “I won’t let you down, I promise.”

“Just do your best,” Johnny said with a small laugh before he moved to give the boys a hug. Lance caught Annaleigh’s eye as he gave Johnny a quick hug. She gave him a worried look as she gave him a thumbs up before turning it upside down. Lance smiled, giving her a thumbs up in reply and Annaleigh smiled.

“Alright boys, let’s get to work,” Wade said, clapping his hands together. “Let’s get some cardio in before we start putting some combinations together. Meet me in the studio” Lance let out a heavy sigh, running his hands over his face as Wade made his way out of the room. Justin, JC, Chris, and Joey grumbled as well, but they also looked excited.

Doing performance after performance he was able to lock on dance moves as best as he could; but when he had to learn new dances and combinations, he had to start building from the bottom all over again. Lance felt a hand slip into his and he put his head on top of Annaleigh’s as she leaned into his side.

“Think it went well?” she asked.

“Johnny’s hard to read, but yes,” Lance replied with a nod of his head. He gently squeezed her hand. “I have to go get changed, but relax. You did great.” Annaleigh smiled against his arm, looking up as JC walked over to them.

“Hey, uh, I just wondered, do you have you auditioned all worked out?” JC asked her.

“I was thinkin’ of doin’ a song by Reba McIntire,” Annaleigh replied, blinking up at JC, standing up straight. “Why?”

“I think…and this is kind of a long shot…you have a very good chance of getting the spot if you do one of your dad’s songs,” JC replied. Lance slowly nodded his head in agreement. JC opened and closed his mouth a few times.“If you really want this, we could help you out.”

“I’m in,” Annaleigh said, without a moment’s hesitation.

For the umpteenth time in his life, Lance was jealous of her confidence in herself.