“Hey, Nat, check this out!”

Nat looked up from her bowl of Fruity Pebbles. “Check what out?”

“The guys of ‘N Sync were all spotted at a movie theater last night!”

“So?”

“It was the Pine View Cinema! The same theater we were at!”

Now Nat snapped to full attention. “What? Give me that paper!” She narrowly avoided tearing the Daily News in half when she snatched it from Jamie’s hand. She took a moment to skim the article, then declared, “Well, how about that? Talk about a small world.”

“I knew Chris looked familiar!” Jamie cried elatedly. “Chris Kirkpatrick, of all people! I can’t believe it! I mean, what are the odds of that happening?”

“You got me, girl,” said Nat with her gaze still on the article. “Says here that ‘a hysterical teen mob’ came after them, and they had to split—literally. Where they ended up is anybody’s guess.”

Jamie’s beaming expression disappeared, and she said with a cringe, “Oh, wow. That had to be no fun. For the guys, I mean. It sounds like they can’t be anywhere in peace.”

Nat shook her head, making no effort to hide her disdain. “Dang, people just ain’t got no respect for other people’s privacy. No respect at all.”

“Poor guys. I would hate to be in their shoes.”

“If someone came after me like that,” said Nat, folding the paper in half and slapping it against the table, “I’d hit ‘em so hard, other people would hurt just from looking at ‘em.”

A wry smile played on Jamie’s lips. “Knowing you, Nat, you could scare them off just by looking at them. No one gives the evil eye like you do.”

“This is true.”

The two girls stayed quiet for the next minute or so, with Nat eating and Jamie merely stirring up a whirlpool in her milk. Nat ended up breaking the silence first. “Well, J, now that you know Chris’s true identity, what are you gonna do? You gonna put his number to the test, or what?”

“I don’t know,” said Jamie softly while she watched her cereal spin around. “It would be nice to see him and talk to him again, but I don’t want to overdo it. I don’t want to give him any wrong impressions. And besides, he and I have barely met. We only started becoming acquainted. Chances are he’s already got another girl, and if even he doesn’t…oh, I don’t know. Doesn’t it just seem downright weird to you, Nat?”

With a shrug, Nat only said, “No weirder than asking for his contact info the second his back is turned, and him giving it to you then and there.”

“Hmmm.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me!”

“Why would I kid about something like this, Joey?”

“You’re sure it was Allie?” asked Lance in a much softer, more considerate tone.

“Positive. I would know her anywhere.”

“Dude,” said Joey, spreading his hands, “there are, like, ten million blonde babes in this world! So many of them share a striking resemblance. I’ve come across a few guys that I would have sworn were you from a distance. And besides, what are the odds of winding up in the same coffee house as Allie, on that side of town?”

With his gaze on his untouched bacon and sunny-side-up eggs, Chris muttered, “I don’t know. But I saw what I saw.”

“Maybe it’s just a misunderstanding,” said JC, placing a comforting hand on Chris’s shoulder. “Let’s not jump to conclusions just yet, buddy.”

Chris merely sighed and slid a hand over his throbbing eyes. All through last night, he’d remained tight-lipped, and sleep had been next to impossible. Even as he opened up to his mates this morning, he felt it was doing him more harm than good.

“Did you find out who the other guy was?” asked Justin.

Chris kept his eyes closed and his hand in place, but he answered promptly enough, “No.”

“You didn’t get his name, or anything like that?” Lance queried.

“No. I was too far away and they both spoke too quietly, though I could tell their conversation was not a pleasant one. Then again, I could also tell he was the sort of guy you wouldn’t get along with too well. Even from where I was, I got a bad vibe from him.”

“And they didn’t know you were there?” JC pressed gently.

“I don’t think so. Neither of them looked my way, and I didn’t have the nerve to approach them. I just stayed there and kept my head down, and by the time I dared to look up again, they were both gone.”

“So you couldn’t be a hundred percent sure if it was Allie or not,” Joey said.

“I guess not.” Now Chris lowered his hand to his chin and opened his eyes. “But I still don’t have a good feeling about this at all, guys.”

JC patted his shoulder. “I’d never tell you what to do, Chris,” he said, “but I suggest for now, you give Allie the benefit of the doubt. Wait and see what really happens with her, and then go from there.”

“And who knows?” said Joey with an encouraging smile. “You may not have anything to worry about after all.”

Chris wasn’t convinced, but all he said was, “For once, Joe, I hope you’re right.”

As Justin browsed the morning paper, his eyes grew decidedly bigger and he said, “Well, here’s something to worry about, all right.”

“What?” Lance craned his neck to read the article as well, and in a few seconds, he said with complete dismay, “Oh, no.”

“Let me see that,” said JC, taking the paper for himself.

Chris couldn’t resist peeking over JC’s shoulder, and he felt his heart drop to his feet as he read the mention of their appearance at the Pine View Cinema the previous night. There was even an elaborate description of the mass of teens and pre-teens they had inadvertently aroused, and how he and his mates had taken off like scared rabbits.

“Well, that’s just peachy,” JC grumbled as he tossed the paper aside.

After Joey had his chance to read the fine print, he made a curt nod and stated, “Yep. That’s the last time I’ll be able to show my face there.”

“Lord help us all,” said Justin while Lance buried his face in his hands and Chris dropped his forehead against the table.