~10~

January 16th, 2000
Los Angeles, California

5:00am

“No, Joey! I still have curlers in my hair!”

Lance let out a chuckle before sliding a spoonful of Fruit Loops into his mouth. The sugary taste coated his tongue as the fruity smell twisted and swirled up his nose as he chewed, watching Annaleigh rush through the kitchen, head down, hands covering as much of her hair as possible as Joey chased after her, cackling, a video camera in his hands.

“I’m surprised she’s awake enough to run around this morning,” JC commented around a yawn as he came into the kitchen, using the heels of his palms to rub at his eyes. Lance made a humming sound in agreement as he shifted his gaze to look up at him…only to start choking on his milk when he noticed the state of undress his friend was in.

Whoa. What was that, Lance? He thought to himself as he quickly reached for a napkin to wipe the milk that went dribbling down his chin. JC gave him a look of concern, but Lance stuck his hand in the air giving a brief shake of his head to show that he was ok. “I’m—fine.”

“If you’re sure,” JC replied, lowering himself onto the stool across from him. He let out another yawn before blinking a couple more times, looking less and less tired by the second. That always amazed Lance about JC. How he could really enjoy sleeping one minute, but the next he could be as wide awake as if he had two jumbo cups of coffee.

“I’m sure,” Lance replied, lifting his hand to his chest, slapping at his sternum. “Joey’s been sticking a camera into her face ever since she got up this morning.”

“Crash course in hair, makeup, and wardrobe,” JC said with a nod of his head. “I remember our first time well.”

“Riiight,” Lance replied with a slow nod of his head before shoving another spoonful of cereal into his suddenly dry mouth.

“I’m surprised you’re up so early,” JC added, nodding in Lance’s direction. “You’re always one of the last ones up for this.” He sniffed and let out a sigh before he moved to pour himself a cup of coffee. “I’m surprised she’s up. We had to carry her from the car to the house after our first day of rehearsal.”

Lance laughed a little. “I couldn’t sleep,” he replied, lowering his spoon back into his nearly empty bowl. “Besides, I’ve been worried about how Annaleigh’s been handling everything.” Lance glanced towards the hallway before spinning in his seat to face JCs back. “Joe said she basically had a breakdown at Disney.”

“Can you blame her?” JC asked, looking over at Lance over his shoulder. “This is a completely different world to her. One she’s being introduced to very quickly.”

“No, I guess not,” Lance agreed with a slight tilt of his head.

“You didn’t have a break down, but you weren’t the much better when all of this started for us,” JC reminded him. “None of us were. I mean, J and I kind of had an idea with MMC, and Chris and Joey had Universal, but none of that compared to this.”

“Yeah,” Lance agreed. “That’s true.”

Lance had been too worried worrying about his dance moves and being kicked out of the band than anything he could worry about while being in the band. Everyone had stood up for him, worked with him day and night to make sure his dancing was up to snuff. They helped him stay in the band and he was damn sure he was going to do the same with Annaleigh.

“There are too many people in this house,” Annaleigh declared, the amplitude of her voice quickly rising with her last three words. With a huff of annoyance, she stepped into the kitchen, her head tilted to the side as she removed the curlers from her hair.

The house was noisier than it usually was for the five men. What with everybody screaming at Joey to get his camera out of their faces, the sound of hairdryers going, shouting and calling from across the house, the creaking of wardrobe hooks, the clattering of makeup jars and brushes, and the phones ringing, it was no wonder everyone was up before six that morning. It was dress rehearsal day. They still had a lot they needed to get done before the AMAs tomorrow.

Lance’s eyebrows lifted at the giant hoops in his friend’s hair. That was something he didn’t understand about girls. Annaleigh, for example, naturally had wavy hair. To emphasize that even more, made no sense. He’d be lying if he said it wasn’t a good look for her. It’d look even better on her if she didn’t hold worry and a lack of confidence in the pupils of her eyes.

“At least there are more girls around now,” JC commented, leaning up against the counter, lifting his cup of coffee to his lips. Annaleigh’s eyebrows shot up, corners of her mouth dropping just slightly as she considered his words.

“Come here,” Lance said, lifting his hand, beckoning her forward. “Let me help. Your hands are shaking so much I’m worried you’re going to put a knot in your hair.”

Annaleigh let out a sigh, her bottom lip sticking out in a slight pout as she walked over to the seat in front of him. She plopped down on the chair in front of him and Lance reached for the large green curler that pulled her hair unbelievably tight against her head.

He let out a low whistle. “If you were any tenser you’d be the Hunchback of Notre Dame,” he said to her with a click of his tongue. “What happened to the pageant girl who learned how to be confident in any situation?”

“You’re a pageant girl?” JC asked, his lips making a small pop after he swallowed. He lowered his cup of coffee and used his free arm to hold up his wrist. “That makes so much sense, actually.”

“Ex-pageant girl,” Annaleigh instantly corrected him and JC gave a small bow as if to say “My mistake, m’lady.” Lance could practically see her rolling her eyes. But, that was news to him.

“Since when?” Lance asked, his eyebrows lowering into a look of confusion and curiosity as he stared at the back of her skull. He made a clicking sound with his tongue and slapped at her hand when she tried to reach the back of her head.

“Since…a while,” Annaleigh replied, dropping her hands back into her lap. “I just lost interest in it.”

“But, you and your mom…” Lance trailed off before he quickly unsnapped the rounded plastic end of the curler, the elastic causing it to shoot back into his knuckle. Ow. He carefully grasped the ends of the curler and pulled it out of her hair. “Oh, I get it.”

“And what do you mean ‘that makes sense’?” Annaleigh asked, turning in her seat to face JC. “Ow!” Her hands flew up to her head, grasping at the sore spot.

JC’s eyes widened just slightly as the attention was suddenly put on him. “I didn’t mean anything bad by it, sweetie, I’m just saying,” he quickly explained. “The ‘oh my stars’ and when you walk, you don’t really walk you kind of float, oh, and you kind of have a pageant stance when you’re standing waiting for someone to tell you what to do.”

“You’ve been waiting to tell her that to her face haven’t you?” Lance asked with a laugh as he took all the curlers in his hands and sent them down onto the wooden table. JC gave a simple shrug of his shoulders, his lips curling up into a hint of a smile.

Lance turned back to his cereal, making a face as his teeth squished down on the now soggy colored circles as Annaleigh fluffed up her hair. “I apologize for us not really telling you about all this,” he said to her around his chewing, “we know it’s something you’re getting used to.”

“Yeah, sometimes it’s hard for us to remember that you’re new and not used to jumping from one thing to another so quickly,” JC added. “You look like you’re going to be drop at any second.” He reached back around him with his free hand and grasped the handle of the coffee pot, holding it out towards him. “Do you want some coffee?” He shook the pot and the coffee sloshed against the sides.

“Nah, I don’ drink coffee,” Annaleigh replied waving her hand in the air. She then started gently slapping her cheeks with her hands. “Besides, I can get more sleep when I’m gettin’ my hair done.”

“Suit yourself,” JC replied. “Anyway, we didn’t tell you about all this because it was one of your last days off for a while and we wanted you to have fun.”

“And to get you to stop panicking about the AMAs,” Lance added, putting as much stress on the word as he could. At the same time, he stuck out his finger and prodded her in the side, twisting his finger left and right along with his pronunciation of the syllables in the word.

Annaleigh smiled, letting out a tired laugh as she slapped his hand away.

“You’re not nervous or anything?” she asked, regarding the both of them. “I mean, you’re putting out your new single tomorrow…and ya have a new, and nervous, musician in the *NSYNC band.” She lifted her hand and jabbed her thumb into her chest. “Yeah, hi! In case you forgot, that’s me!”

Lance locked eyes with JC. He quickly looked away from the brilliant blues, ignoring the shock that hit the base of his spine, and the fact that his heart skipped a beat. Lance pursed his lips. “We are nervous,” he admitted. Annaleigh gave a single blink for an answer. “I know what you’re thinking; we’ve been doing this for a long time, so how can we be nervous?”

“Ya got that right,” Annaleigh replied and JC chuckled.

“Well, we’ve been doing this for a while, so in that regard, we could see this as just another performance, or just another song we’re releasing,” JC explained and Lance nodded his head. He noticed that he was talking slowly, choosing his words carefully.

Annaleigh quickly noticed that about him; he liked to be eloquent whenever he talked and to get his point across in a clear and concise way. It was no wonder they always described him as the serious one.

JC darted out his tongue and wet his pink lips and Lance felt a breath of air rush out of his body. Stop it, Lance. Lance lifted his bowl to his mouth and started to drink the lightly warm milk as quickly and loudly as he could.

“But, we always worry about the first song we release from the new album not just because we’re putting ourselves, our work, out there, but because the fad in music changes so fast.” JC snapped his fingers repeatedly to show his point. “You could be a hit one day and then the next…” Annaleigh slowly nodded her head, taking in every word that he said. JC sighed, a slightly distant glint appearing in his eye before it disappeared with a blink.

“And everything with Lou…people are anxious to see what we’ve come up with despite everything that had happened,” Lance added, quickly jumping in to the explanation. JC gave a slight nod of thanks, which Lance returned. Chris and JC, Lance would say, took the knowledge of Lou’s actions the hardest. Or at least, they showed their feelings towards the situation the most—and in some cases, they showed it by not showing their emotions about the situation. “That’s what makes it so nerve wracking. We’re preparing ourselves for all of the questions that we’re going to be asked but…we can only focus on the past for so long.”

JC set down his coffee cup. He started counting off on his fingers, pulling them back with his other hand. “It’s said and done, we learned from our mistake of blindly trusting one person to do everything, we’re working with a group of people we’ve handpicked and trust that share our creative vision, and there’s nothing else to do but move forward,” he said before dropping his hands down to his sides with an audible slap.

“You aren’ scared that somethin’ else Lou has done is gonna mess anythin’ else up?” Annaleigh asked, her eyebrows all but slamming together as she looked back and forth between the two boy band members.

“Not with the team we have,” JC replied, shaking his head back and forth and Lance made a humming sound in agreement. “We know how to handle things now. Don’t forget, there’s still a lot things about this industry that we’re learning as we go along, just like you.” Annaleigh made a noise in the back of her throat.

 “So, what is it that you’re afraid of?” Lance asked her. “Really.”

“I’m from Clinton, Mississippi, James,” Annaleigh replied.

“Trust me, I’m aware,” James said with a little laugh, Annaleigh joining in as she lifted her hand to scratch at her eyebrow.

“And?” JC pressed after a moment of silence.

“I’ve wanted ta leave for so long, but now I’m here, I’m scared I’m not ready for this,” Annaleigh said after a lengthy smile. “I’m scared that I, once again, jumped into something without thinking and wanted ta do whatever it was Lance was doin’ just because it sounded more fun than doing things alone. And once again I never really thought ‘bout what it entailed.” Her lips twitched. “I’m scared I’m going to let y’all down.”

“Do you always do what Lance does?” JC asked, his eyebrows shooting up in amusement.

“Yes,” Lance instantly replied and Annaleigh stuck her tongue out at him. “I’m not complaining.” He gave a half smile before saying quieter, “Not all the time.” That time, Annaleigh actually spat at him, earning a laugh from JC.

“It was mainly because I knew our friend, Darren, would be wherever Lance was so…” Annaleigh admitted and JC smiled. “With my parents fighting all the time, I just wanted any reason to get out.” She let out a sigh, her shoulders slumping just slightly. “But with this, I wanted to be able to support Lance with somethin’ cause he’s always done so much for me.” Her eyes widened and she quickly added, “Not jus’ him, but all y’all.”

Unlike me, Lance thought with a small frown. I couldn’t be there for her when everything went down. A stab of guilt hit him straight in the stomach.

Not only with what he had missed before, but he was still holding back information that she didn’t know about her own life. He felt terrible about it, but he knew that it really wasn’t his place to tell her, no matter how close or distant they seemed to be. He’d support her nevertheless no matter how she’d decide to take the news in the future. He at least owed her that after his years of absence.

“You better get going,” Lance said to break the silence. “You have a lot to do today.”

Annaleigh stared blankly at him for a moment. “Rehearsals aren’t even until the afternoon,” she replied, blinking repeatedly.

“Have you seen your schedule for today and tomorrow?” JC asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

“Puh-lease, I’ve had nightmares from it,” Annaleigh said, slapping her hands to her face. Lance and JC exchanged amused glances as she pulled her hands down her face, stretching her skin as she went. “Nightmares!”

“And so you know that you have photo shoots and interviews and you need to get your hair, makeup, and wardrobe done,” JC pointed out to her, “for different outfits and different styles. Better get used to it.”

Annaleigh grabbed a lock of her hair, pulling it in front of her face, peering at it. “There’s nothing wrong with you, it’s just part of the business,” Lance said, practically snapping at her. “Would you stop? It was weird for us at first, but wardrobe does keep your personal style in mind. The more events you do, the easier it is and the faster it’ll get done.”

Annaleigh opened and closed her mouth as she looked back and forth between them. “No offense, but y’alls outfits have never really been the greatest thing I’ve ever seen,” she said, her upper lip curling just slightly. “I mean, it’s like y’all got dressed in the dark or—“

“Go. Now,” JC said, interrupting her in a mocking parental tone, pointing his finger out the door. “And after the AMAs we’ll talk more about your vocal lessons, little lady.”

“Fiiine,” Annaleigh replied with a small pout, getting to her feet. “I’ll catch y’all later.”

“I think she’s giving Chris a run for his money with how nervous she’s getting,” Lance said as soon as he was sure his friend was out of earshot.

“Just as long a she doesn’t throw up,” JC said with a frown. He gave a brief shake of his head. “I think she’s handling it kind of well, actually.”

“Annaleigh and ‘handling it well’ never go hand in hand,” Lance explained. “I’ve known her for years and she panics before everything.”

“Don’t pageants teach you all about self-esteem and being confident and stuff?” JC asked, his eyebrows knitting together. Lance blinked before hiking an eyebrow. “I’ve been known to watch some on occasion.”

“Well, to answer your question, it does,” Lance said as he got up from the table to clear his place. He set his bowl and spoon into the sink, turning on the faucet to rinse it. “Ace just hates not having control over things. She’s always been like that.”

“Always?” JC asked. “Or since things with her parents started going south?”

Lance was silent, letting the thought crash over him. JC gave his shoulder a gentle squeeze before making his way out of the room. Lance placed his hand over the burning spot where JC’s landed a split second before, gently massaging the area before reaching for the phone

Annaleigh wasn’t sure how long she had been asleep before she was woken up by soft voices, clattering, and the sound of metal hangers clicking together. She blinked open her eyes and pushed up from the mattress she was curled on, rubbing her eyes.

“Oh, good, you’re up,” Monica Blount, her hair and make-up advisor woman, or whatever she wanted to be called, said with a smile. She stuck her hand in Annaleigh’s face. “Chop, chop! We need to get everything worked out before your show tomorrow. And…we need to fix your hair.”

Annaleigh blinked in confusion before getting to her feet, shuffling across the floor and over to the mirror propped up against the side of her desk. “Oh my stars,” she said, her eyes popping wide. Her brown hair, which had been perfectly curled and twisted before was sticking out in every direction. Lines from the edge of her pillow and the lines on her comforter were pressed into her face. “And you and Johanna and Terry have already worked hard on this.” She started finger combing her hair, wincing. “I’m so sorry.”

“Relax,” Monica said, waving her hand in the air to try and catch Annaleigh’s attention. “We started with you early because the boys can take so long.” She rolled her eyes, giving a grin. “You’re not scheduled to start until now, anyway. Plus, you looked exhausted; we thought we’d give you some more time to sleep.”

“Thank ya, kindly,” Annaleigh said with a yawn before rubbing at her eyes. “So, where do we get started?”

“Follow me to the make-up room,” Monica replied with a bright smile, holding out her hand towards the teenage girl.

It has to be illegal to be perky this early, Annaleigh thought to herself as she got to her feet. She took Monica’s hand and allowed the older woman to pull her through the house and out to the back porch.

The table and all the chairs were pushed to one side. A long curtain was strung up in an arc in one corner to make a makeshift change room (which really made no sense to have there as it faced large windows into the backyard). A smaller table was lined up against one wall with a large mirror sitting on it, angled to rest against the wall.

Johanna Pepitone, one half of  the wardrobe team, was unpacking jar after jar of make-up, setting it down onto the table, while Terry Smith, the other half, started unzipping the clothing bags that hung on the metal portable clothing rack at the other side of the room. Shoes lined the floor and sat in a pile in all sizes and styles.

“Everything’s set up for you over here, Mon,” Johanna said with a bright smile. “Nice to see you again, Anna Leigh.”

“It’s Annaleigh,” Annaleigh instantly replied, trying not to snap at the woman. “It’s one word. Anna rhymes with sauna.”

Johanna cringed, her lips pulling down wards as they parted, showing her teeth. “Sorry,” she said, lifting her hand to hit herself in the forehead with the palm of her head. “I’ll remember it, I promise.”

“You better, we’ve got a long tour ahead of us,” Terry said with a short laugh. She waved her hand in the air as if trying to shoo away a fly. “Don’t worry, kid, I’ll make sure she gets it right.”

“Alright, let’s get this party started;” Monica said, clapping her hands together, the sound echoing around the room,”you have a long day today.”

“Where’re the boys?” Annaleigh asked, stretching her arms above her head. She sighed as she dropped her arms down to her sides.

“Phone interviews, radio interviews,” Monica said with a happy sigh. “You name it, they’re doing it.”

Annaleigh let out a muffled cry of surprise when Monica grabbed her cheeks between her thumb and index finger, squishing her face. Her long fingernails pressed into her skin just slightly as she turned Annaleigh’s head this way and that. “Hmmm, I was wrong; you have a cool skin tone.”

“I boo?” Annaleigh asked, reaching up to touch her face. “Beels warm ta be.”

“No, sweetie,” Monica said with a tinkling laugh, shaking her head. “It means that pinks, blues, purples, ad reds are better colors of make-up for you. You can also mix in brown since you have these amazing honey colored eyes.” She gently patted Annaleigh’s face before moving to sort through all the make-up.  Annaleigh lifted her hand and rubbed at her cheek. “We’re going to want to make a statement, so I think I’m going to give you a shimmering winged eye.”

“While she’s doing that, we’re going to get you measured,” Johanna said as she pulled Annaleigh over to the other side of the porch. Annaleigh stumbled over her feet at the sudden pull.

“Uh…you already measured me, didn’ you?” Annaleigh asked as Johanna hook out a tape measure, dropping it down by Annaleigh’s head to the floor while Terry started measuring around her chest.

“Your size could fluctuate pretty easily in this line of business,” Terry explained. “So, we need to measure you as often as we can before any events to make sure your clothes fit your perfectly.”

“Which also reminds me, it’s our job to let you know how important it is that you stay healthy for your mind and body while on tour,” Johanna added. She looked over at the two women who nodded at her. “We’ve seen many girls in this business think they can get more work done, and be better, if they cut things out of their lives.”

“Like eating,” Monica said with a sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. “Eating disorders are common. Sadly.” She lifted a warning finger. “We don’t want to see you going through the same thing. You’re too smart for that.”

“With late nights, and long days, it’ll be easy to fall into the routine of eating junk, fast food, and not working out,” Johanna added. “That along with the stress…” She trailed off, shuddering. “It’s not good.”

“Yes, ma’am, I understand,” Annaleigh said, blinking rapidly, trying to wrap her mind around everything that was being thrown at her.

“Well, we don’t mean to mellow you out,” Monica said as she dragged a chair over to the table. She then stood behind Annaleigh and pulled her hair back from her face, securing it with one of the many elastic bands on her wrist. “We’ve got a lot to fit in before all your interviews and photo shoots and everything today, so let’s get started.”

“32B!” Terry called out.

“Wait, what?” Annaleigh asked, her eyes popping open.

“You don’t know your own bust size?” Terry asked with a snort. Annaleigh turned her head to see Terry standing by her side, tightly pinching the measuring tape between her fingers.

“No! I mean, yes, but…” Annaleigh trailed off, briefly closing her eyes. “I really have ta do all this before rehearsals? “

“You didn’t think this was going to be a cake walk did you?” Johanna asked with a grin.

“Cake does sound good right now,” Annaleigh said with a sigh, earning a laugh from the women.

 Johanna made a humming sound as she finished measuring Annaleigh’s body. She removed a hanger with a floral top from the clothing rack. “What do you think of this?” Annaleigh looked over at her and felt her upper lip curl. “No? OK, then.”

“Now, from our previous meetings, we know you’d like to stick with your personal style as much as possible,” Terry explained, starting to spread out clothes on the rack. “Your accent is something new, something fresh around here. Your story is something everyone is talking about. It’s not only you, but Gabe, too. You’re two of the youngest members of the *NSYNC band, people want to know about you.”

“There’s nothin’ special about me,” Annaleigh replied with a shake of her head.

“That’s where you’re wrong, Cookie,” Monica said with a shake of her head. “Everybody is special, even you. It might take you a while to figure it out, and you might not believe anybody—or any guy—that’ll tell you that.” She leaned into Annaleigh’s line of vision and winked at her before crossing the room to the make-up station. She grabbed a jar of foundation, twisted off the cap, and started swirling a brush inside. “But you are. Don’t forget that and I’m being serious when I say it. The music industry will be tough and it’ll challenge you in many different ways, and may want to change you. Don’t let that happen.”

No pressure or anything, Annaleigh thought, pushing her lips up into a smile. No pressure at all.

Annaleigh tapped the pointed tips of her red tinged cowboy boots against the carpeted floor before lifting her hands to brush the coiled locks of hair that framed her face back behind her ears. She squinted against the bright lights that were pointed directly at her face all the while trying to keep them open wide enough so her face didn’t look pinched in pictures. She slid her fingers underneath the strap to the tank top that started digging into her shoulder before adjusting her sleeveless flannel shirt.

“It’s been a lot of fun,” Gabriel was saying with a small smile. His arms were crossed over his chest and he was leaning back just slightly, looking as easy going as he always seemed to be. “It’s been a lot of work, but you always have to work hard with the things you love doing.”

The reporter gave a nod of her head, a satisfied smile on her face as she scribbled on the pad of legal paper in her lap before glancing at the tape recorder that sat in the middle of the table separating the interviewer and the interviewees.

“And how has it been working with each other?” she asked, looking back and forth between Gabriel and Annaleigh. “You’re both the youngest in the band and this is a big change from what you’ve described your lives as before. Have you found a support system in each other?”

“Yeah, we’re growing to be pretty good friends,” Gabriel replied with a nod of his head. He unfolded his arms and rubbed his hands together before looking over at Annaleigh, eyebrows lifted into a curious gaze.

“Sure ‘nough,” Annaleigh replied, blinking rapidly. A smile came to her face as she sat up straighter, rolling her shoulders back, tilting her chin back just slightly. Classic pageant stance just like JC said, from the waist up, anyway. “No one else is goin’ through what we’re goin’ through so it’s great to have someone ‘round who gets what you’re feelin’.”

“Yeah,” Gabriel agreed with a nod of his head. “Normally, it’s just me and my mom so it’s cool to have someone else around. But, she’s been very supportive.”

“And same with you?” the woman asked, turning towards Annaleigh. “Supportive parents?”

Annaleigh froze for a moment, her jaw going slack. She shifted her gaze over towards the *NSYNC boys who were standing behind the cameras. She locked eyes with Lance whose eyes widened before he lifted his shoulders just slightly, bringing his hands, palms up too.

“Go with it,” he mouthed, his features settling back into a relaxed look.

“Myyyyy dad’s very supportive, yes,” Annaleigh replied, stalling for a moment as she shifted her gaze back towards the interviewer. “It took him a little begging and pleading to let me do this. He just worries.”

“And your father, Ryan Carr, was the lead singer and guitarist for Oathkeeper and now his daughter is touring as well,” the woman said with a bright smile with her chicklet white teeth. Her eyes shone and she leaned forward as if she was going to divulge in a good gossiping session. “He knows what life on the road is like; he just wants to make sure you’re ok. But, what was it like growing up with the Ryan Carr?”

“Fun?” Annaleigh said as more of a question than a statement. How did you answer a question like that? She didn’t know her dad as “the Ryan Carr” she just knew him as dad. He wasn’t a rock star, he was a religious studies professor, and worked at the church. She had no juicy news or gossip for anyone, not that she would spill her guts to just anybody. “Shoot, dad’s been great. He’s always been supportive, but he isn’t afraid to let me know if I’m getting’ my hopes up too high ‘bout somethin’. He’s been awesome.”

“And I’m sure I’m not the only one that thought that Ryan Carr would never settle down.”

Annaleigh was sure the muscles in her face would pop with how hard she strained to keep her face neutral from that statement alone. She looked over at Gabriel whose eyebrows shot up, the only indication he gave—apart from the corners of his lips pulling downwards just slightly—to  the fact that he had heard the statement.

Justin let out a loud cough from where he was standing, turning his head away as he tugged at the collar of his shirt. The interviewer must’ve noticed the tension that was starting to make its way into the room. She let out a short laugh before clearing her throat. She brushed at a piece of invisible lint on her skirt before crossing one leg over the other.

“So, rumor has it, after a little run in at Disneyland, that you and Lance have been friends for years,” the woman pressed, pen tip pressed to the pad of paper, ready to start scribbling down notes.

“I’ve known him since I was…seven,” Annaleigh replied, her eyes narrowing slightly as she thought. “He’s one of my closest, best friends.” She lifted a hand into the air before dropping it down to her lap with a light slap. “He’s always supported me over the years so I thought I’d give it a shot and be there to support him.”

She paused before a sweet smile came to her face. She tilted her head to the side. “Since I know you’re just fixin’ to ask, I’ll tell y’all right now nothin’s goin’ on between me and Lance,” she announced. “We’re friends. That’s all.” A small laugh slipped past her lips. “Shoot, I’ll even right that down for ya. In big letters. Underlined. Twice.”

Gabriel let out a loud snort, one he quickly turned into a cough as he lifted his hand to hide the smile that fought its way onto his face. Annaleigh lifted her eyebrows into a look of innocence over at the woman who blinked, clearly stunned as the NSYNC boys tried to quiet their laughter.

Annaleigh’s smile of laughter quickly faded as a flood of nervous sweat flooded and prickled her armpits. That was stupid, Ace. Your first interview and you had to be rude. Her chest swelled as she took in a deep breath of air. You know better than that. You’ve always been taught to be polite to everybody. But…she wasn’t in Mississippi anymore. It wasn’t a town where everybody knew everybody and wanted to be polite. Here, she’d get weird looks from anyone she gave a cheerful “hi” to on the street.

Annaleigh prepared herself to apologize before the interviewer started speaking. “That won’t be necessary,” the woman replied, quickly regaining her composure. She let out a sigh as she folded her hands down onto her lap. “I think that’s just about it. We should have this out in a couple of days. Thank you for taking the time to speak with me today. I know you have a busy schedule.”

“Happy to oblige, ma’am,” Annaleigh replied with a more genuine smile as she got to her feet, Gabriel following her lead, offering her hand. The woman set her pad of paper aside and clicked off the tape recorder before taking Annaleigh’s hand, giving it a tight squeeze (on purpose?) as she shook her hand before shaking Gabriel’s.

In a matter of moments, everything was packed up; the blinding lights were out of her face, and the clicking of the camera slowly dissipated. She let out a sigh, feeling her body relax from the nervous, tight hold that had taken over her body.

“You think that was ok?” she asked Gabriel, wringing her hands together.

“For your first interview? It could’ve gone worse,” Gabriel replied, his lips parting into a half smile. “All that matters is that you got your point across.”

Annaleigh widened her eyes in innocence before waving her arm towards the boys. “Well…they…they warned me,” she said before stomping her foot with a pout. “I was just listening to instructions.”

“Wait, no, I said there was a possibility they might ask about you and Lance,” Joey quickly rattled off looking startled, “and that you should politely set the record straight.”

“Where I come from, that is putting it politely,” Lance commented. He gave a sympathetic smile. He reached out his arm and looped it around Annaleigh’s shoulders, leading the way out of the small room in the Shrine Auditorium building. “You could’ve been a little bit more polite, Ace.”

“Hey, the guys don’ call me Firecracker for nothin’, right?” she asked, leaning into his side.

“That’s right,” Chris agreed.

“So…nothing happened between you and Lance?” Joey asked, looking back and forth between the two friends. “At all?”

“No,” Lance replied. “Not at all.”

 “I don’t believe that,” Chris declared. “Just like how Justin insists he and Britney are just friends.” Justin said with a bark of sarcastic laughter.

“So you’ve never—“

“No, Joey,” Annaleigh said, interrupting Joey. “I’m not sweet on Lance at all.” She was silent for a moment before twisting her mouth to the side into a hint of a smile. “Besides, I’ve been a little too preoccupied with our other friend, Darren.”

“A little?” Lance repeated with a laugh and Annaleigh gave him a pointed look.

“I knew it,” Justin shouted, causing everyone to jump. Annaleigh gave him a confused look. “I knew all those years ago—when you came to our showcase?--there was something going on with you two.” A grin came to his face before he used his thumb to motion towards Lance. “So, y’all haven’t even kissed or anything?”

“Why does it matter?” Lance all but snapped, pinching the bridge of his nose with his forefinger and thumb.

“Geeze, Grumpy, it’s just a question,” Justin said, his smile getting wider. “Maybe it’s a good thing we took you to Disney. You fit right in with the other dwarves.” He angled his head towards Chris. “You can join Dopey.”  Chris merely lifted his hand into the air, giving Justin the finger.

“Hey, we have a lady around,” JC said with a frown. Chris gave a shrug of his shoulders in response.

“Yeah, what’s with the at-ti-tude?” Joey asked, snapping for emphasis with each syllable before he gave his best friend a curious look. “You ok?”

“Yeah, it’s just…” Lance trailed off, sighing through his nose. He pressed his lips tightly together, feeling his fingers slowly curl into a fist. “I’m just not interested in her like that. That’s all.” He was silent for a moment before repeating, “Why does it matter?”

“Maybe because you’ve been friends since, like, forever,” Gabriel mused aloud. Annaleigh looked over at him. He stared ahead as he walked, his eyes unfocused on any single thing, chin resting in his hand.

“So have you and C, but I don’t see you two into each other,” Lance said with a snort.

“Depends on who you ask,” Joey instantly replied, earning a round of “Ohhhhs” from Chris and Annaleigh as JC practically shouted an obviously exaggerated, “Ha. Ha. Ha.”

“I didn’t mean to snap. People just ask that question all the time, that’s all,” he replied. Lance gave a wicked grin, eyebrows lifting. “Besides, she hadn’t even had her first kiss until she got out here to audition.”

A loud gasp rushed past Annaleigh’s lips as she removed Lance’s arm from around her, eyes wide. “James!” she cried as Justin let out a cackle, clapping his hands together. Her face burned.

“What?” he asked, his eyes widening as well, voice cracking just slightly. He stepped away from her, hands up defensively as she moved to punch his shoulder. “It helps prove my point.”

Annaleigh slowly narrowed her eyes. She pursed her lips just slightly. “This comin’ from the guy who got his first kiss at a game of spin the bottle and practically ate Missy Williamson’s face,” Annaleigh replied, slowly smiling before facing the other boys, placing a hand over her heart. “He was so eager, bless his heart.”

“Ooh, burn!” Chris said behind his fist, laughing.

Annaleigh watched, warning sirens going off in her head, as Lance hiked an eyebrow, his lips twitching upwards into a challenging smile. “Also coming from the girl who chickened out, during that same game, and had the guy kiss her cheek,” he replied. He gave a smile of triumph as everyone around her laughed. Annaleigh opened and closed her mouth for a moment before an idea came to her.

“Shut up, Poofu!” Annaleigh replied and Lance’s smile quickly faded. He ran his hand over his face as it turned bright red. JC, Chris, Joey, and Justin all burst out laughing. Gabriel smiled.

“Ha, ha, ha,” Annaleigh sang, popping her leg into the air.

There was silence for a moment until Chris said, “So nothing really happened between you—“

“Shut up, Chris,” Annaleigh and Lance said in unison.

“Ok, then,” Chris said, the grin still on his face, holding his hands up defensively. He led the way over to the side auditorium door and pulled it open, stepping into the darkness of the wings. “Let the hours of torture begin. And here’s our puppet master now.”

“Very funny, Chris,” Wade said, turning away from the workers who were carefully setting up the five giant marionettes the boys were using for the show. He switched off the microphone in his hand and flipped it once before catching it, tapping it against his chest. “Gabe, Boots. I hope the interview went well.”

“It was fun,” Gabriel replied with a shrug of his shoulders. “They asked about our experience playing, our lives at home, what we expected from the tour, stuff like that.” His tilted his head back just slightly. “Pretty normal questions, I suppose.”

“Better then the repeated questions we always get,” Justin said as he started to stretch his arms in front of his chest as he walked over to his mark on the stage. “But don’t worry; you have that to look forward to when you’re on the red carpet.”

“Oh, goody,” Annaleigh replied with fake enthusiasm. She then put her hands to her head. “I can’t even think about the red carpet right now.”

“That’s good, just focus on what we have to do right now,” JC said, placing a hand on her shoulder, giving her a warm smile. “Just take it one step at a time.” Annaleigh regarded him with surprise when she saw the glint of humor in his eyes. The minute JC stepped into the building, he embodied the idea of getting down to business and getting things done. “Besides, boots are made for walking, right?” He gently nudged the side of her pointed shows with the heel of his toe before he speed walked his way onto the stage. Annaleigh put her face into her hand as soft chuckles and laughter surrounded her.

“Oh, ha, ha.” Annaleigh rolled her eyes. She planted her hands on her hip and stuck out her foot, practically jamming the heel of her boot into the floor. “Seriously, no one wears these unless it’s for a special occasion.”

“So what would you call an awards show, Boots?” Wade asked, his eyebrows shooting up. He rocked back and forth on his heels as he waited for her answer. To think she had actually talked him up when the topic of him and he choreography came up in the interview.

“He does look really young but he knows what he’s doing,” Gabriel had explained as he tugged on the shoelace to his shoe that he had resting over his knee as he had one leg crossed over the other. “Wade knows when to be serious and knows how to push people to do their best. It’s what makes everybody respect him.”

“I’m impressed with his skills,” she had said with a head nod, clasping her hands around her knee. “You can see that he has a real passion for what he does, and like Gabe said, that he knows what he’s doin’. He’s workin’ hard for the boys and he’s not in everybody’s face about it.”

Ha! How wrong she could be.

At times.

“You’re makin’ fun of me,” Annaleigh said as she parted her lips with a small popping sound.

Wade bowed his head for a moment before looking up at her, angling his head to the side. “Yyyep.” He popped the “p” at the end of the word. He sucked in a breath of air before calling in a loud voice, “Alright, I need everybody in their places; we’re going to rehearse this until we get things perfect.”

“Yyyyep,” Annaleigh repeated in a nasally voice, making a face as she turned to watch him leave. She crossed her arms over her chest, shifting her weight from one hip to the other, shaking her head back and forth.

She didn’t know how she was going to make it through the awards show let alone the rest of this day.