~6~

January 8th, 2000
Orlando International Airport
Orlando, Florida

“Are you ok?” Lance looked up from twiddling his thumbs to look over at his band mate. JC’s eyebrows wrinkled together as a look of concern crossed his face. “You’re kind of…out of it this morning. Quiet.”

 “I’m fine…just a lot on my mind,” Lance replied with a shrug of his shoulders. JC’s eyes narrowed slightly and Lance dropped his gaze to his lap for a moment before lifting his head, looking at him. “I’m just worried about Anna.”

JC made a humming sound in the back of his throat before angling his head to look over at the newest addition to their band who was sitting beside her dad, tightly clasping his hand as they waited for their flight to be called. The flight heading back to Mississippi didn’t leave for another few hours and as such, Annaleigh had pretty much stuck to her dad’s side since they woke up that morning.

“You know we’ll make sure nothing happens to her,” JC said to his friend, slumping in his seat just slightly, crossing one leg over the other. “Sure, we’ve only met and hung out with her a handful of times, but we care about her, too.”

“I know,” Lance replied, propping his elbow up on his knee, resting his chin in his hand. “She’s just had it rough at home and I don’t want things to be too out of control for her.” He let out a short laugh. “Guess I can’t really ask for that knowing what we go through.”

“Is it that bad?” JC asked.

Lance was silent for a moment, peering over at him. “It’s something I know she’ll come to terms with eventually, but for the moment, it’s like the sky is falling for her and she’s the only thing keeping it from crushing her life,” he slowly replied. JC nodded his head. “I’d imagine it’s kind of how Chris felt having to provide for his family growing up.”

“His hard work’s paid off,” JC agreed with a shrug of his shoulders. “He enjoys making music and you and I both know his mom deserves to have that weight off her shoulders.”

“I wonder how she’ll feel having to bail him out of airport jail,” Lance said deadpan, looking over JC’s shoulder in time to spot Chris, Joey, and Justin zooming around the terminal on an airport security cart. JC turned in his seat to watch his friends before facing forward, rolling his eyes. They were all a kooky and crazy bunch, but there were times where Lance wondered (jokingly) how he was friends with any of them.

The honest answer was that they just somehow all clicked together. Being together and being a band this long it felt like a part of them was missing when they weren’t together. Even when they had time off and could spend it with their families, there was only a matter of time before they all started calling each other to know what they were doing.

JC laughed to himself, scratching the side of his jaw. Lance found himself watching his friend’s movement. From the subtle twitch of the muscles in his shoulders as he settled himself back into his seated position, to the slight squint of his blue eyes, to the long, nimble fingers that reached for his lion necklace to slide it back and forth on its chain and…to the tightness of his shirt across his chest as his crossed arms pulled on the fabric.

Lance felt an ache start to form in the center of his stomach. He swallowed repeatedly to squash it. JC must’ve thought it was an act of nervousness for he dropped the hand around his necklace and gave Lance a bright, reassuring smile. Lance quickly shifted his gaze to a spot above JC’s head, clearing his throat as he felt a ring of heat around  his shirt collar.

What is going on? I can’t be…nervous around JC. I mean…he’s JC. Lance thought to himself, tugging at the collar of his t-shirt as nonchalantly as he could. “You’re worried about something else,” JC said after a moment of silent scrutinizing.

“Uh, yeah, studio work and dancing and all,” Lance replied with a brief nod of his head.

“Relax,” JC said, waving his hand in the air. “We’re all getting back into the swing of things. Studio work is going well, we just need to put last minute touches on some things. it’ll take a little bit to get used to everything, but that’s how we all feel after a break.” He then winked in Lance’s direction. Lance pressed his lips together, fighting back the smile that was working its way onto his face. “Trust me; you’ve worked your ass off during all of this and it shows. You’re a great performer; you just need to believe that you are.”

“Thanks,” Lance replied, feeling his face grow hot.

He bowed his head for a moment before shifting his gaze to the large windows behind JC, watching as planes lined up for takeoff. The sound of the loud engine roar was muffled by the windows, but Lance could at least imagine how loud it was; loud enough to shake the thought of JC winking at him out of his head, hopefully.

“People are going to find out about Annaleigh pretty quickly you know,” JC said to him, catching his attention. “We had so many fans waiting to see us off, we’re definitely going to have them at LAX. People know who Ryan Carr is. They’ll see Annaleigh with us and eventually figure it out once word goes around.”

“I never thought of that,” Lance said with a frown.

“Now boarding Delta Airlines flight 1060 to Los Angeles, California. If you have any small children travelling with you, please move to the front of the line and we’ll have you boarded shortly.”

Lance got to his feet, reaching for the backpack under his seat, and pulled it up on his shoulders before making his way over to his mom to give her a big hug and a kiss on the cheek in goodbye. “Love you, mom,” he said as he gave her a tight hug, resting his chin on top of her head. “It was great to see you.”

“It was wonderful to see you, too,” Diane replied, cupping his cheeks with her hands. She looked into her “Remember what I told you.”

“I won’t tell her, mom,” Lane said, reaching up his hands to gently grasp her wrists. “I promise.” He gave Diane a gentle smile. “And I promise that I…we’ll keep an eye out for her, make sure things go ok.”

“I know you will,” Diane replied with a proud smile. “You’ve always looked out for her. I’m proud of you, you know.” Lance smiled in return and leaned down to allow her to place a kiss on his cheek. “With everythin’. Have a great tour.”

“We should be home in a couple months,” Lance said to her, letting out a sigh. “Thanks for coming out, mom.”

“Of course, sweetie,” Diane replied before taking a step away from him, dropping her hands to pull the strap to her purse up her arm. “If you need anything, any of y’all, just call.”

“I know,” Lance said, giving her another quick kiss on the cheek. “Thanks, mom. I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Diane said, patting his cheek.

Lance then turned on his heels and slapped Darren on the back. “It was great seeing ya, man,” he said before giving him a quick hug.

“Yeah, you too,” Darren replied with a nod of his head. He lifted his hands and shoved them into his jeans pockets. He then lowered his voice. “You’re not going to tell Ace what I told you, are ya?”

“What’s one more secret to keep?” Lance asked, a hint of sarcasm coming to her voice. He lifted his hand, curled his fingers into a fist and punched Darren on the shoulder. “Even though you know it’d make her happy.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Darren said, shaking his head just slightly.

“Nah, I won’t tell her, promise,” Lance said, lifting his free hand, his pointer and middle finger sticking up into the air. “It’d soften the blow for the news about her dad, but still, I won’t tell.”

“Thanks, man,” Darren said, shaking his shoulder. He let out a sigh through his nose. “So new tour, huh? Probably’ll have more girls than ever flockin’ to see y’all perform.”

“Ha, yeah,” Lance replied, letting out a weak laugh. “Joey and Chris will have a good time. And I’ll be hearing about it for days on end. Justin’s with Britney, JC is still on and off with Bobbie and I’m-”

“Free as a jay bird,” Darren replied, interrupting his friend.

“I was going to say not interested in sleeping around, but that works, too,” Lance replied with a short laugh.

“Who said anythin’ about sleeping around?” Darren asked, lifting his hand to rub it across his mouth, trying to hide his smile of amusement. “Jus’ take the time to get to know a girl. Can’t remember the last time you’ve been out on a date.”

Lance opened and closed his mouth. It had been a long time since he had been on a date. Last real date he remembered was going to homecoming with his friend, Lacey. He had a good time with her…whenever he wasn’t thinking about the fact that Lynn Harless and Justin Timberlake had called to get him to try out for *NSYNC. Lacey didn’t seem to mind, she was having enough fun at the dance. That was back before he was even in *NSYNC. Since then, he’d hung out on group dates with his friends, or just focused on his work a lot.

When he did date, he was considered to be a “safe date.” He never tried anything; he’d give nothing more than a quick kiss on the cheek at the end of the night, but nothing more. Sure, it had made him popular, but he was simply raised that way. He treated girls the way he wanted boys out there to treat his sister.

“Yeah, it’s been a while,” Lance finally answered and Darren elbowed him in the side. Lance held his hand out towards Darren and his friend slapped his palm with his own. “I’ll see you in a couple of months.”

“Yeah, if Ace doesn’t kill all y’all,” Darren replied and Lance let out a laugh.

“Definitely,” Lance replied right before Jasmine careened into his side, to give him a hug. “I’ll miss you, too, Jazzy.”

“Ace’s dad just gave her a credit card. A credit card! She gets to go on a fancy shopping trip in Beverly Hills,” Jasmine said, brushing her hair back behind her ears, rolling her Rs, “and I’m stuck buying outfits at the Gap.” She widened her hazel eyes. “Mom and dad never game a credit card.”

“That’s ‘cause you kept runnin’ over your limit on your debit card,” Darren replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He then pointed a finger at her and poked the tip of her nose. Jasmine made a face before slapping his hand away. “Don’ forget, little sister, you still owe me 46 bucks.”

“You’ll get it, don’ worry,” Jasmine replied, her voice lifting in its pitch just slightly.

“You owe me 20,” Lance added and Jasmine threw her hands into the air.

“I ain’t made of money,” she said as the two boys started laughing. “You’ll get it. Eventually.” Her eyes widened in innocence. “I have stuff I need to buy. Like dance shoes…and snacks. A girl’s gotta eat.”

“Yeah, like a horse,” Annaleigh commented, draping her arm around her friend’s shoulder.

“Watch it, girlie,” Jasmine said with a mocking warning tone. “If you’re not nice to me, I won’t be nice enough to let you buy me something in California.” Annaleigh rolled her eyes, but let out a laugh.

“Excuse me,” Lance said, shuffling around his friends before making his way over to Annaleigh’s father. “Uh, excuse me, Mr. Carr.”

“I’ve told you, Lance, you can call me Ryan,” Ryan said with a half smile, bringing himself up to his full height, setting his forearms on the tops of his crutches. He let out a long sigh through his nose. “Diane told me that she told y’all ‘bout…you know.”

“I promise I won’t tell Annaleigh,” Lance said, putting his hands up defensively as he let out a sigh of relief. Ryan nodded his head. “I don’t want you to think that I think differently of you or anything like that.” The older man’s eyebrows crinkled slightly but he didn’t say anything for a moment.

“Just make sure my baby stays safe,” Ryan said, his voice barely above a whisper. “You and I both know how this business is run. I just don’t want anything to happen to her.” Lance opened his mouth to answer but Ryan kept going. “Her mother…I don’ know where she is…but, trust me when I say that she’s goin’ to find out about this, and I don’ know what she’ll do…or say if they get in contact.”

“I promise you, all five of us, six including Johnny, have her best interest at heart,” Lance said, briefly placing his hand on Ryan’s shoulder. “JC has a lawyer in the family, he looked over our new contracts and the ones we used for anyone that wanted to audition. It’s good.”

“I know, I had my lawyer look over it as well,” Ryan replied before he lifted his hand and ran it over his face and forehead. “Thank you, James. Honestly, I don’ know where Annaleigh would be without ya.”

Lance rubbed the back of his neck, feeling a little uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from foot to foot before shrugging his shoulders. “She’s my best friend, so…” he said, allowing his sentence to trail off at the end.

“I guess I should’ve known she never woulda given up this music thing, huh?” Ryan asked, with a small laugh, his lips pulling back into a half smile.

“Mister Ryan,” Lance said, crossing his arms over his chest, rocking back and forth on his heels, “for as long as I can remember, Anna has used my bedroom window to gain access into my home.” Ryan blinked once, twice, three times and Lance made a popping sound with his mouth. “Which I’m assuming you didn’t know about. She used the front door, too.”

“Knowing my mom, she wasn’t too happy about it, despite knowing that there’s absolutely nothing going on between the two of us, and despite the constant ‘Next time use the front doors’, she kept using the window because that’s how stubborn she is.” Lance lifted half of his mouth up into a smile. “If she was that stubborn about that, you were never going to get her away from music.”

“Yeah, I guess not,” Ryan agreed. “Take care of yourself out there. All y’all.”

“We’ll do our best,” Lance replied, reaching for Ryan’s hand. Ryan slipped his hand into Lance’s and shook it, using his free hand to clap him on the shoulder. “Hang in there, sir.”

“You, too.” Ryan nodded his head. “You boys truly are doin’ amazing things with your music.”

“I appreciate it,” Lance said. He lifted his hand in a parting wave before joining his band mates and best friends to the line of people waiting to be put on the plane. He walked over to Annaleigh who was twisting one of her bag straps in her hands. “You ready?”

“I think,” Annaleigh replied, nodding her head repeatedly. “Yes—no-kinda? My stomach is in knots—but I also feel butterflies—I kind of feel sick too—but, I’m good.”

“And here I thought turning green meant you were jealous,” Joey commented, lifting his hand to place on Annaleigh’s forehead. “Are you sure you’re ok?”

“Just…” Annaleigh trailed off for a moment, looking back at the family she was leaving behind. She then swallowed and looked back at *NSYNC. “Do you miss bein’ home?”

“All the time,” Justin replied with a nod of his head and a shrug of his shoulders. “At first I had my Ma with me, if you remember, but I’m missing home more now that you’re here.” Annaleigh gave him a confused look. “Your accent.”

“Ahhh, I see,” Annaleigh replied, nodding her head.

“Figure you’d have to have problems with your family or something if you didn’t miss it after you leave,” JC added, scratching the side of his jaw. “Your family’s always going to be there, you know?”

“You really didn’t know about your dad’s band?” Chris asked, tilting his head to the side.

“Not a thing,” Annaleigh replied, with a shake of her head. “I mean I knew a few of his songs, but never thought too much ‘bout it.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Why?”

“Just find it kind of weird, honestly,” Chris replied with a shrug.

“Yeah, I mean, his band was pretty big,” Justin added. He tilted his chin back and glanced up at the ceiling of the airport. “I think I have one of his albums around somewhere if you want to check it out.”

“That’d be awesome, Justin,” Annaleigh said with a smile. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Justin replied. “You’re from the Mississippi, you know as well as I do that family is important. The way I see it, you’ve been a part of the *NSYNC family since I met you. I always said Lance’s friends are my friends.”

“Y’all are too nice,” Annaleigh said with a shake of her head. “I guess now I can see why all those girls throw themselves atcha.”

“It’s not like we’re ugly,” Chris said with a snort.

“That’s debatable,” Annaleigh shot back and Chris’s eyebrows shot up.

“Ouch,” Justin said with a loud, obnoxious laugh, slapping Chris on the back as the others jostled him.

“Barely been in the band and you’re already raggin’ on Chris,” Lance said, looping his arm around Annaleigh’s shoulders. “You’ll fit in just fine. You have nothing to worry about.”

“That’s right! It’s going to be a god damn party, baby!” Joey cheered, punching the air with his fist before reaching for the earring in his ear. He started spinning it between his fingers. “Finishing up our album, nominations for the AMAs, working our way towards tour, and all with an old friend.”

Lance felt tired just hearing about it already. He enjoyed doing press and photo shoots, but they took so long to do. It was always a daylong event, sometimes two days as they spent the whole weekend doing pictures of magazine after magazine, website after website, and much more.

 Doing all of that around finishing recording their album, which they were scheduled to finish in about three weeks. It was all just stacking on top of each other. It was already making him so exhausted, but he was excited at the same time. They were finally making the album they wanted to make. They were calling the shots. And one of his best friends was coming along for the ride.

Joey was right, they were free.

Lance lifted his hand into the air, letting out a, “Whoohoo.”

Joey then put a hand over his mouth, eyes widening. “Whoops, sorry,” he said, his eyes twinkling in Annaleigh’s direction. “ I said, ‘God damn’.”

“Shoot, whoever told you you’re funny…you aint,” Annaleigh said, sitting up. Joey’s eyes popped open, and his jaw dropped as JC threw his head back, letting out a loud laugh.

“I like her,” Joey said, pointing his finger in her direction. “I think she’ll make a great addition to the group.” Annaleigh gave a bright toothy smile.

“So do I,” Lance replied.

“And Joey and Chris are helpin’ keep me sane,” Annaleigh said, reaching out a hand to pinch Joey’s cheeks. He made a face, batting her hands away. “You guys are fun. I can see why y’all are so close.”

“Yup, just like husband and wife,” Justin said with a nod of his head. “Nah, we’re like brothers. We get on each other’s nerves, but I know they’ll have my back no matter what.”

“That’s right, brother,” Lance replied, lifting his hand, curling his fingers into a fist. Justin smiled, bumping his fist with his own.

“Aren’t y’all nervous though?” Annaleigh asked as the line shifted forward. They got their boarding passes ready to pass over to the attendant.

“You have no idea,” Lance replied, letting out a sigh as Justin, JC, Joey, and Chris muttered their agreement.

They all were, whether or not they wanted to show it. It was their first single release after everything that had happened with Lou. It was funny, they had all just wanted to forget Lou and forget what he had done to them, but no matter how hard they tried he kept popping back up.

First album after Lou.

First single after Lou.

First concert after Lou.

When it all came down to it, everything was because of him. They would never have had Johnny Wright as their manager without him. They wouldn’t have kick started their careers in Germany. They wouldn’t have anything if Lou Pearlman hadn’t seen something special in them. They all knew that they wouldn’t be as successful without Lou, and they all knew that he would probably be brought up in every interview from here on out.

Lance was brave enough to rip up his check from his ex-boss that day, but despite how badly he felt, he knew that Chris had to have felt a million times worse. If it wasn’t for him, *NSYNC wouldn’t be around. Justin and JC were the leaders of the group, but no one could deny that the group, in a way, was made for Chris.

“You ok?” JC asked, hitting Lance’s shoulder.

“Yeah, I’m good,” Lance replied, trying to ignore the slight burning he felt in that area. He gave the woman behind the counter a smile as he handed her his boarding pass. He turned around to wave goodbye to his mom and friends, just as Annaleigh did. He then reached out his hand and took hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. “Come on. I’m right here.”

Annaleigh smiled and together they boarded the plane.

“I’m goin’ to find ya a girlfriend,” Annaleigh said, to him, swinging their hands back and forth. “Unless ya bein’ friends with Jazzy and I are chasing’ them all away.” Lance blinked in surprise at the sudden change in topics. He gave her a confused look and she gave him a smile. “So you can stop messing’ with my love life. I know you know.”

“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, he did’ bring it up, but dad gave me a purity ring. I don’ know if he knows but—“

“Don’t do that,” Lance interrupted her with a shake of his head. “Don’t act like that’s not a big deal. You’ve only held a torch for the guy for, like, ever.”

“Yeah, well,” Annaleigh said with a shrug, using her free hand to grasp at the chain around her neck. She spotted him looking and pulled the ring out from under her shirt. “One of dad’s stipulations for lettin’ me leave. 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.

“You can’t wait around for him forever,” Lance said, changing the subject back to their previous topic. “Seriously, Ace. I think you like him more now that he was there for you after everything with your mom.” He paused for a moment, gently squeezing her hand. “What happened with your mom? You never told me.”

“Went to help D pack up to head down to UMiss,” Annaleigh replied, “and when I got back, all her stuff was gone. Not much more to it than that. No note or anythin’. Wasn’t ‘till a couple days later she finally called to apologize to me.”

She pursed her lips for a moment. “For a while, I thought it was my fault. Like there was something’ I was doin’ wrong. But, then I couldn’t’ think of anythin’ and it really hit me that it could really jus’ be them. Thing is, I couldn’t begin to believe that they jus’ fell out of love with each other, ‘cause I know they still do. God must have a different plan for them then I thought.”

“Everything happens for a reason,” Lance said, patting the spot beside him. Annaleigh moved to lie down beside him. “You’ve got home here, so it’s not too bad.”

“You’re the best, James,” Annaleigh said quietly before poking him in the side. “I’m still goin’ to find you a girlfriend.”

Lance closed an eye, wincing slightly. “You don’t have to do that,” he said quietly.

He loudly cleared his throat before turning his head to look at her. Just tell her. She’s your best friend. Heat rushed up his body and he could feel his armpits prickle and flood with sweat. He opened his mouth, but no sound came out. What would she say? How would she react?

Annaleigh suddenly let go of his hand, shuffling into a single file line to get on the plane. “Just pray for me,” she said to him.

“Sure,” Lance replied with a nod of his head. Pray for me, too. Long and hard.

January 9th, 2000
ABC Rehearsals
Los Angeles, California

Annaleigh adjusted the strap to her guitar case, rubbing at the sore spot on her shoulder as she made her way through the halls of the rehearsal building, looking for the door to take her through to the rehearsal space she was supposed to be at…

She glanced at her watch, letting out a sigh. “Ten minutes ago,” she said, tilting her head back to let out a loud groan at the ceiling. “First day and I’m ten minutes late. Perfect, Ace, you sure did nail this one. You’re really provin’ yourself right now.” She made a face as she jumped at the spot she was standing at, briefly readjusting the weight of her backpack on her back.

She was going to get an earful from Johnny she just knew it. He had gone on and on about how important and expensive not only studio time but time in general was, as well how important it was to not be late for anything. “If you’re not ten minutes early, you’re ten minutes late,” he said over and over again. Now she was like, a half hour late by his standards or something to that effect.

And she hated being late.

Annaleigh stopped at a four way in the hall and slowly turned a circle, throwing her arms up in the air. “Heavenly father, help me find the way,” she called towards the ceiling, raking her fingers frustratingly through her hair.

“Uh, are you A.C.?” Annaleigh turned around, doing another quick circle, until she came face to face with a brown haired boy walking towards her, practically doubled over from the large black case on his back. “Are you? The new bass player? For *NSYNC?”

“You mean Ace?” Annaleigh asked, her eyebrows shooting up.

“Yeah, that sounds right,” the boy replied, giving a half smile, a dimple appearing in his cheek. “Sorry, I’m not great with names.”

“That’s ok,” Annaleigh replied, offering her hand towards him. “I’m Annaleigh Carr; my friends call me Ace.”

“Cool, I’m Gabriel Hamilton,” he said, managing to offer Annaleigh his hand, and shake it. He gently squeezed her hand as he did so. “But, I don’t know anyone that calls me that anymore.” He gave a lopsided smile. “You can call me Gabe.”

“And that is….?” Annaleigh asked, pointing towards the giant case on his back. Gabriel let out a sigh as he straightened, practically dropping the case to the floor. He briefly closed his eyes before reaching his hands back to massage his back muscles.

“Keyboard,” Gabriel replied, scrunching up his facial features  before his shoulders slumped. “Something came up with their old player, um…Dave, I think. So…here I am.”

“Yeah, I’m replacing’ someone too,” Annaleigh replied. “Obviously.” She lifted her hands in the air. “Unfortunately, I’m late and I don’ have a clue on where to go.”

“Oh, it’s over here,” Gabriel said, nodding his head down the hall. He gave a half smile. “I got a tour the other day.”

Annaleigh mentally kicked herself. I should’ve thought of that, she thought with a frown, briefly wrinkling her nose. “Lead the way.” A grunt slipped past Gabriel’s lips as he lifted the keyboard back up onto his body. After he took the time to steady himself, Annaleigh followed Gabriel over the carpeted walkway and up to a large, heavy door. Annaleigh could hear the muffled cacophony of drums, guitar, keyboard, and saxophones from the other side.

Take a deep breath, it’s now or ever, Annaleigh thought to herself as Gabriel reached for the door handle. He pumped the handle and pulled the door open, making his way inside. Annaleigh held the door open for him and followed him inside.

The room didn’t have any windows, and was one giant block of gray. It looked like whatever made up the floor was plastered all over the walls. She could guess for acoustics or sound proofing or something to that effect. Annaleigh tucked her hair behind her ear when everybody else in the room stopped what they were doing. She instantly spotted Johnny sitting off to the side in a fold out chair.

“You’re late,” Johnny said as he got to his feet.

He removed his cap and scratched the back of his head. He slowly shook his head back and forth before running his hand over his face. Annaleigh pressed her lips together, angling her head down towards the floor, peeking over at Gabriel out of the corner of her eye. He cringed, chewing on his bottom lip.

“Sorry, Mister Johnny,” Annaleigh said, shifting her head upwards to look him in the eye. “I know how important punctuality is to you, sir. I take full responsibility and I apologize.”

“And mine, sir,” Gabriel spoke up. “Ace looked lost and didn’t know where she was going. And there was a lot of traffic and…yeah.”

Johnny briefly closed his eyes before allowing a hint of a smile on his face.”I appreciate it, but you can call me Johnny,” he said to the two of them. “You don’t have to call me ‘sir’.” He clasped his hands together. “I’ll let it slide this time considering it is the first rehearsal for the two of you, but just remember that we have little time before the AMAs. But, now that both of you are here, I can introduce you to everybody.”

Johnny swung his arm out to indicate the other three men in the room. “Ok, first we have Kevin Antunes,” Johnny explained. The African American man nodded his head, giving a two-fingered salute.”He is not only one of the keyboardists, but he’s also the musical director. All credit goes to this main man, here. You’ll report to him each day and let him know if you’re going to be late, if you have to miss rehearsal—which I hope you don’t—what have you. He knows his stuff.”

“And this over here is Billy Ashbaugh; the drummer.” He motioned towards Annaleigh. “You two will be the backbone of the *NSYNC band, the driving force. It’s really important that you two keep things steady, and keep everyone on the beat.”

“Yes, sir,” Annaleigh replied, nodding her head. “I mean, Johnny. Sorry.”

“On guitar, we have Ruben Ruiz. Some of the guys here play the saxophones and trumpet but we also have some musicians on standby for when we go on tour,” Johnny continued to explain. Johnny nodded towards Gabriel. “You’ll be backing Kevin in this group, so you two will be working close together as well. And everybody, this is Annaleigh Carr who will be playing bass, and Br—“

“Gabe,” Gabriel interrupted Johnny, shifting his weight from foot to foot. “Gabe Hamilton.”

Johnny gave a slight nod of his head. “My apologies,” Johnny said, clapping him on the shoulder. Gabriel’s upper lip curled just slightly as he was shaken just slightly from the movement.

“And this is Wade Robson,” Johnny said, angling his head to the side.

Annaleigh looked around the room, wondering where this Wade Robson guy was, before blinking in surprise when a young boy, who was sitting in front of the drum set, go to his feet. She blinked in surprise, and quickly exchanged a look of disbelief with Gabriel, before she put her attention back on Wade, looking him over. If it wasn’t for his facial hair, she had to have guessed that he couldn’t be a day older 16.

“He’s *NSYNC’s choreographer and you guys will be working closely together. He wanted to meet you two before heading over to the video shoot.”

“Nice to meet you,” Wade said, giving the two of them a smile. “Welcome to the family. Can’t wait to see what you bring to the table but I have to get going to help Darren Henson, the other choreographer, with the video.” Annaleigh felt her lips pull own in the corner when she heard the familiar name. I wonder what everyone’s doing right now. She knew she’d be in school and on that note was happy she wasn’t currently there.

Wade lifted his hand and ran his fingers through his brown and blonde hair. “After the video shoot is done, we’ll be working on the AMAs rehearsals together. It’s also the day Bye Bye Bye is premiered as a single so it’s going to be a great show.”

“No pressure there,” Gabriel muttered under his breath.

“Who’re you telling’?” I replied. Wade gave us one last smile before he made his way out of the room.

Johnny seemed to take his lead and loudly clapped his hands together. “Alright, we’ve all got a lot of work to do. I’ll leave you all to it.” Johnny smiled, rubbing his hands together before making his way out of the room.

“Yeah, thanks,” Annaleigh said as Gabriel shifted his weight from foot to foot. Johnny let out a sigh through his nose before turning back around to face

“Relax, have fun,” Johnny said, his serious business-like voice, softening to one of empathy and compassion. “You’re great, both of you. Just remember that it’s your first day; you have a lot of days ahead of you to get things down as perfectly as you want it to be. They’ll help you out with everything you need. Ok?”

“Thanks, Johnny,” Gabriel said, his dimple reappearing as he smiled.

“Thank ya, sir,” I added. Johnny opened his mouth to correct me but decided to keep his mouth shut. Instead he gave a half smile before lifting his hand in the air to bid farewell to the other band members before heading out of the room.

“You two can set up over here,” Billy said, waving his hand in an empty space near the end portion of the arc that the musicians made. As Annaleigh made his way over to the area, Billy got up from his drum set, setting his sticks down onto the snare drum.  He offered her his hand and Annaleigh slipped her tiny hand into his, shaking it. He then turned her hand over to look at her palm, letting out a short laugh as she bent to the side to remove her guitar from her shoulder. “Do you play with a pick or do you fingerpick?”

“Fingerpick,” Annaleigh replied as he let go of her hand. She wiggled her backpack off of her shoulders and set it down before removing her bass from its case. “Why?”

“Because you barely have any calluses,” Billy replied. “Your fingers are going to burn. I’d suggest using a pick every once in a while, until you think you’re ready to go through ten…maybe thirteen songs. You’d be playing an upwards of two…maybe three hours judging on intermission. I mean, the boys get some breaks for wardrobe changes and everything, but we still have to entertain the crowd.”

“Three hours?” Annaleigh asked, feeling her eyes pop open. “Shoot, you ain’t lyin’ are ya?”

“Have you ever been to a concert?” Billy asked, turning his head to the side just slightly.

“Well…yeah,” Annaleigh replied, nodding her head. “Reba McEntire and Trace Adkins. It did’ feel like gosh darn three hours when I was there, though.” Billy let out a good natured chuckle.

“That’s the point; shows are supposed to make you forget everything else. But, don’t worry, if you’re anything like your dad, you’ll work it out no problem,” Billy said as he showed her over to where she could plug her bass into an amp. There was already a chord sitting on top of the box. Annaleigh made a noise in the back of her throat. “What?”

“Guess I jus’ didn’ realize how…successful he was,” Annaleigh replied, slowly setting her bass to the floor, unzipping it. “My dad, I mean.” I can’t believe I never knew about him and Oathkeeper. We tell each other everything. He loves music as much as I do; so what was it that made him try and keep me away from it? She looked over at Billy and saw the look of surprise on his face. “It’s surprising’ I know.”

“Wait…” Billy said slowly, his eyes narrowing just slightly. “You don’t think you got in just because of your dad, do you? You got in because of your talent.” He nodded his head back to the rest of the band. “We all heard the audio of your audition. You were great.”

“Uh-huh,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. “I know.” She plugged one end of the chord into her bass and the other into the amp, flicking it on. A low hum filled the air before she adjusted the knobs of the amp, setting them to the levels perfect for her before testing the sound by plucking a string. She then turned to face him, sitting down on top of the amp, giving him a smile. “This is all jus’ happenin’ so fast. I mean, I’ve always wanted an opportunity like this, but I never thought what I’d do if I got it.”

“Well, answer me this…why did you want to try out in the first place?” Billy asked, lifting his foot to rest it beside her on the amp. “Why is this important to you?”

Because I wanted to get as far away from home drama as possible, Annaleigh thought to herself before giving an odd twitch of her head. Now that I’m here…I just want to be sure dad’s ok. With the money, we’d be better off…so what’s the real reason? And mom and dad aren’t even around to fight with each other. Why’d you want to leave home so badly? She already knew the answer to that: for a while, all she wanted to know was what had gone wrong with their relationship, if it was her fault, or something they had done. Now that they weren’t together and now that she was older…she knew the bomb would drop eventually. And whatever it was, whatever was so bad that it split them up, she didn’t think she really was ready to know.

“Because I want to see what this is all about,” Annaleigh replied, waving her hand in the air. “Seems like a pretty big adventure. If you knew me as a kid, you’d know that that’s what I always wanted to do; go on adventures.”

Billy twisted his mouth to the side in an amused smile. He reached up his hand to run his fingers through his bleached blonde hair. “I see,” he commented, slowly nodding his head. “I think you’ll fit in well.”

“I thank ya kindly,” Annaleigh replied with a smile and a nod of her head. She then looked over in Gabriel’s direction, where he was talking with Kevin as he set up his keyboard. “What do you know ‘bout Gabe?”

“Not much,” Billy replied with a shake of his head. “Just know that he’s covering on such short notice.” He gave a shrug. “Good enough to get in; like you.”

“Are we going to get a chance to play at all, today?” Ruben asked with a short laugh, playing a quick succession of notes on his guitar. “I’m ready to go.”

“Alright, alright,” Kevin said, waving his hand in the air. “First, I’d like to welcome you two to the *NSYNC band. We’re excited that you’ll be working with us, and putting together a good show for the boys. Just like Johnny said, we’ll be working closely with Wade and the boys, as well as their music producers to get an idea of the songs, and how we’ll be performing them. It’ll be a lot of hard work as it gets closer to the album release date, but for now, we’ll just be working on Bye Bye Bye mainly, and their older songs.”

“We all know the older songs well, but Gabe and Annaleigh, just work through them as best as you can,” Kevin explained.

He crossed the room to his pile of bags and pulled out two, thick binders. Annaleigh took it in her hand, blinking in surprise when she felt how heavy it actually was. She started flipping through the pages: I Want You Back, I Drive Myself Crazy, I Thought She Knew, Here We Go, and on and on. And there’d be more songs as soon as the album was finished.

“Here’s your sheet music. Eventually, we’d like you to be off the books, but even then, sometimes we need to read off our music since we have so many changes to things. We like to have fun, we like to have fun when we’re performing, but don’t come in here without practicing, because I’ll know. It’s not just hurting yourself, it’s hurting everybody here and it’s hurting the boys, because then we’ll be spending too much time catching everybody up. Just practice, ask for help if you need it, and let us know if you’re going to be late or missing rehearsal as soon as you know that you will. That’s all I ask.”

Shoot, you’re also askin’ for an arm and a leg, Annaleigh thought to herself, continue flipping through the pages. At least he was asking politely.

“Alright, we’ll start with…I Want You Back,” Kevin said as he reached into his bag for a second time, producing a large CD case. Annaleigh looked around the room, spotting the stereo system she hadn’t noticed was there before. “Let’s bring some energy into this place.” He loudly clapped his hands together. Annaleigh flipped through the pages to find the song, “We’ll listen to it first; mime along to the song to get a feel for it.”

Moments later, Justin’s familiar vocals filled the gray room.

You're all I ever wanted
You're all I ever needed, yeah
So tell me what you do now
Cause (I, I, I, I, I,) I want you back

It's hard to say I'm sorry
It's hard to make the things I did undone
A lesson I've learned too well, for sure
So don't hang up the phone now
I'm trying to figure out just what to do
I'm going crazy without you

You're all I ever wanted
You're all I ever needed, yeah
So tell me what to do now
When I want you back

The bass line was pretty simple, luckily, repeating itself a lot of the times, as well as lining up with the bass drum hits from Billy. Annaleigh never really understood too well what it meant to have bass players and drummers work well together. When it was time for her to actually start playing, she was practically shaking. Billy was the one that was really keeping her in time. Her nerves and rapidly beating heart made her fingers twitch, and she had to fight the urge to speed through the song just to finish as fast as she could.

That’s not to say she didn’t make any mistakes. Billy wasn’t kidding; her fingers were already starting to feel the burn and she had barely done anything. Although, to make up for anything she messed up on, she made it a point to force out the notes and the rhythm, plucking the strings harder and harder. She was sure she was going to get blisters out of it; but that was the beginning formation of calluses from what she understood.

She was lucky she could even bend her fingers by the end of rehearsal.

“Good job, kid,” Billy said, thumping Annaleigh’s shoulder with his fist, his drumsticks smacking the back of her head. “You’ve got natural talent like I said.” He took his drumsticks in both hands and played a quick roll on her arm. “See you tomorrow.”

“Bye,” Annaleigh laughed as she started to pack up her stuff. She let out a sigh, suddenly realizing how tired she was. She reached into her pocket for her phone and pressed a button on the side to check to see what time it was. She made a groaning sound in the back of her throat as she reached for her backpack, lifting it off the ground to place on her shoulder. “Wow, I didn’t’ know it had gotten that late.”

“Better get used to it,” Gabriel commented, with a short laugh as he shook out the cover for his keyboard. “Help me with this?” Annaleigh nodded her head, setting her bass up against the amp. “You did a great job today.”

“Thanks,” Annaleigh replied, reaching for the other end of the cover. She lifted it off the floor and moved it to cover the keyboard. “You’re not bringin’ this home with ya?”

“After lugging it all the way over here? Fat chance,” Gabriel replied, rolling his hazel eyes. He lifted his hand and scratched at the back of his head, closing one eye. Annaleigh felt herself smile as she watched him. “What?”

“Nothing,” Annaleigh replied with a shrug, trying to hold back her smile. “It’s…my dad kinda does the same thin’…that’s all.” She felt her face heat up as the words came out of her mouth, her shoulders dropping slightly. “Guess I miss home more than I thought.”

“Where are you from?” Gabriel asked. He shook his hair out of his face before quickly adding, “Just curious.”

“Mississippi,” Annaleigh replied, turning back towards her guitar, pulling the amp chord out of the end.

“Well, that explains your accent,” Gabriel commented and Annaleigh snorted.

“Clinton to be more precise,” she explained. “Lance and I are old friends. I’ve known him since I was about seven. He was like the brother I never had; helpful, annoying’, but I could always trust ‘im.”

“Oh, you’re an only child?” Gabe asked, his eyebrows shooting up. “So’m I.” His mouth twitched. “After my dad pretty much ran out on my mom even before I was born; it’s basically just been the two of us.”

Annaleigh paused, blinking rapidly. That sounds familiar, she thought to herself, darting out her tongue to lick at her suddenly dry lips. “That sucks,” she commented, wrapping the cord around her hand before setting it on top of the amp. “I know the feeling’; my mom’s not ‘round much as of late.”

“Oh…I’m sorry,” Gabriel said from behind her.

“Thank you,” Annaleigh replied, keeping her gaze on her task at hand; putting her bass guitar in its case. “It’s hard sometimes, but we’re gettin’ through it. Same with you and your mom, I s’pose?” She then hauled her case onto her shoulder, turning around to face him. Her eyes suddenly popped open and she put a hand over her mouth. “Oh my stars, I didn’t’ mean that—well, I guess I did—don’ answer if ya don’ wan to—but, I’m kinda curious—jus’ ignore me—or answer—I don’ know why I asked. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok,” Gabriel replied with a small laugh, putting his hands up defensively. “People always said I’m easy to talk to. That’s not a loaded question or anything; it’s fine.” Annaleigh got to her feet, reaching for her thick binder of music, sliding it, as well as she could, into the side pocket of her case. She could instantly feel the weight difference on her back as she made her way towards the door, letting out a yawn. Gabriel fell into step beside her. “Yeah, things were pretty rough for a few years, but it’s ok. It’s fine; I mean you get it.”

“Yeah, that’s true,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. They made their way towards the front of the building. “So where are you from? Where are you staying?”

“I’m from New York,” Gabriel explained, lifting his hand to brush his hair back from his face. “And while I’m out here, I’m stayin’ in an apartment just outside of LA. Mom would only let me do it because I’m almost 18. I turn 18 the last week of June.”

“Oh my stars, I turn 18 in the middle of July,” Annaleigh said with a smile. “So we’ll more than likely be celebrating’ on the road.” Her nose wrinkled slightly. “That kind of stinks for our parents though, huh?”

Gabriel let out a chuckle. “Yeah, I know what you mean,” he replied before fishing into his pocket. “Hey, look, do you have a ride back to…” He paused for a moment before waving his hand in the air. “Wherever it is that you’re staying?”

“I’m stayin’ with the boys, I have a driver comin’ to get me,” Annaleigh explained, jerking her thumb over her shoulder. She then put her hands up defensively. “Not to sound like a diva or anythin’ like that.”

“Take it where you can get it, I s’pose we’ll all get that treatment sooner or later,” Gabriel said with a brief twitch of his eyebrow, an easy going smile coming to his face. “You mind if I wait with you? Just to make sure you get picked up.” He slid his hands into his jeans pockets. “Only if you want.”

“I thank ya, kindly,” Annaleigh replied with a smile and Gabriel shrugged. “Sure.”