“Ow…” I whined as I hit my hand on the corner of my nightstand trying to turn off my alarm clock. It was 5am on a Saturday and I had to go to work. I work at Disneyland as one of the people who push the buttons at the terminals to get the ride going. My usual spot was in Star Tours but today I had to fill in for someone at It’s A Small World because the guy fell into the water and sprained his ankle. What an idiot.

I got up and said “Good morning,” to my Joey and *NSYNC covered walls before heading over to my closet and put on my uniform.

I was almost done buttoning up my shirt when I heard someone knocking on my door, “Jaz! Jasmine! Hurry up! We have to leave in 15 minutes!” It was my roommate Karyn. She worked at It’s A Small World too and she was always in a rush. Technically, we didn’t have to leave for another half hour but she liked to have extra time while driving.

“Okay, hold up! I’m almost done.” I grabbed a jacket and walked out to the living room where she was standing, looking at me with her arms crossed.

“It’s about time!” She nagged.

“We still have plenty of time left!”

“Not me, I have a friend that I’m supposed to meet at the park during my break. I haven’t seen him in almost two years.” She said while opening the door, motioning for me to walk out of the apartment.

I smirked, “Ooh, it’s a guy?”

“It’s not like that. He’s actually going to try and set me up with one of his friends that I’ve been crushing on for a while now.”

I looked at her confused because the only guy I knew she had a crush on was JC but that was obviously not the guy she was talking about. “How come I’m only hearing about this now?”

She started the car and we started to head for the park. We were only a few miles away so working there was super convenient. “Nonsense, I’ve told you loads of times who he is!”

“Ugh, the only guy you ever talk about is JC.” I rolled my eyes.

“He’s a lot like JC, actually. Don’t worry, you’ll meet him and my friend at the park later. But do you know who else is going to be at the park?”

“Who?” I tried to act interested but I was still really sleepy.

“*NSYNC, bitch!” She let go of the wheel and waved her hands above her head.

“Shit! Really?! Don’t lie to me!” I can’t believe that I missed this detail. I was always pretty good about knowing where they were going to be.

“No one really knows about it, I heard that they just want to go in and have fun at the park.”

“Damn it… we’re both working today! How are we ever going to see them?” I frowned.

“I know, right?” Something was off about Karyn because she didn’t seem as upset as I did. In the year and a half that I’ve known her, she was the only one I knew who shared the same level of frustration as me whenever I missed out on something *NSYNC.

I didn’t think much of it because I was too concerned with my own frustrations about not being able to see Joey. My break today was nowhere near long enough to try and hunt down the group. I felt like a little kid not being able to get what I wanted. I slouched in the seat and waited to start my unfortunate *NSYNC free day at work.

**************************************

“Crap… what the hell is wrong now?” I grunted as I tried to mess with the controls. The ride stopped and the lights turned off but the annoying It’s A Small World song kept playing. I had to use a flashlight to be able to read the labels on the switches.

I pressed multiple switches but nothing was working. I was getting ready to contact the park technicians on my radio until I realized that Barry was already trying to contact me. “Jasmine.. Jasmine are you there?”

I picked up my radio and replied, “Yeah, I’m here. The ride stopped.”

“I’m well aware of that. The boats out here stopped too. I already contacted tech so they should be there soon. And one more thing… skrrk.”  Barry’s message was cut off by the radio’s poor transmission.

“Sorry Barry, I didn’t hear you.”

“That stupid boy band is causing all the girls in the park to go nuts. I heard that the group had to split up to try and lose the girls. Unfortunately, it’s causing problems for staff because the girls won’t stay out of Employees Only marked areas.” Barry explained.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the thought of Joey running around frantically for a place to hide. “They’re not stupid Barry,” I replied.

“Whatever. Listen, if you happen to bump into any one of those losers, don’t let them out of your sight. We’re supposed to escort them to a private VIP section.”

“Huh, looks like I might have a higher chance of at least meeting one of them now.” I said excitedly over the radio.

“Just get back to trying to fix the ride. There’s a fat lady whining about not wanting to sit in the boat for too long.”

“Roger that!” I strapped my radio back onto my belt and scanned the controls a few more times.

There were no boats or people in my area so it was starting to get a little creepy. With the song playing and the shadows of the dolls in every corner, I decided to stop messing with the controls and head outside. When suddenly I heard footsteps in the nearby hall. Finally, it was the tech guy.

“Hello?! Anyone here?! Shit this place is creepy.”

The confusion in his voice definitely gave me the impression that it wasn’t the tech guy. I flashed my light in the direction of the footsteps and I saw a tall figure emerge from the corner. He was wearing a Chicago Bulls jersey and jeans. He was blocking his eyes from the light but he kept walking towards me. Suddenly, I noticed the red-dyed hair and mustache and I nearly lost it.

“Karyn, is that you?” Joey said, coming closer.

Karyn? HE KNEW KARYN? He was her friend that she was supposed to meet up with later? Holy crap!

“Karyn?” He repeated until he finally got a good look at me.

My eyes were wide and I was speechless. There he was standing right in front of me. The one guy that I spent most of my days daydreaming about. He looked even better in person. He went into a squat and put his hands on his knees and leaned over until his eyes were leveled with my chest. His eyes were squinting and the corner of his mouth curved up.

Oh man, what the hell is he doing? I had a huge crush on him and everything but his face was a little too close for comfort. So I had to say something, “Um… can I help you?”

His fixation on my chest was suddenly interrupted as he stood back up. “Oh, I’m sorry. I know that looked like I was being a pervert but I was just trying to read your name tag. I uh… I can’t read it cause it’s so dark in here.”

“Oh, I’m J-Jasmine.” I stuttered.

“Hi, J-Jasmine. I’m J-Joey.” He imitated me while smiling. He held his hand out and I shook it.

Geez, not even 5 minutes being around him and I’m already flushed red. Good thing he couldn’t see the blood rush to my face. I grinned, “I know… I’m a fan.” His hand was really soft.

He continued to smile without breaking his stare. It felt like ages before he said something, “So are you going to shake my hand until it comes off? I mean, you could but I’m going to have to need it back.”

I let go of his hand immediately while he pretended to check if his arm was going to fall off. It was really nice of him to try and make a joke of it but I really wished that I wasn’t acting like such a huge dork. “What are you doing in here, by the way?”

“I was on the run from all the fans outside. The longer I tried to look for my friend, the groups continued to multiply. It was insane! So I found the backdoor to this place and I ran inside before anyone could see me. Looks like it was a good idea since… you know… the ride looks broken. No one would think I’m in here.” He explained.

“Are the other guys here?” I asked.

“Just JC and Lance. The others stayed in Florida after our concert in Ft. Lauderdale. I just wanted to come to Cali to say hi to an old friend. By the way, her name’s Karyn Peters. Do you know her? She works here, too.”

I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. My good for nothing roommate has been friends with Joey long enough to make her important enough for him to visit and she never told me. I tried to hide my vexation. “Yeah, she’s my roommate.”

His eyes widened as he smiled, “Oh sweet! Do you know where she is right now?”

I checked my watch and saw that it was almost her break time. “Yeah, she’ll be on break soon. I can take you to her. But I was told I had to ‘escort’ you to the VIP area if I ever bumped into you guys…” I lowered my voice, “God, I hate Karyn.”

“What was that?” He said, coming closer.

I took a step back because I feared that if he got any closer then I would end up smothering him. “Oh uh, nothing. Come on, I’ll take you to her. She’s probably in the VIP area.”

I didn’t realize it was night time until we stepped outside. Joey grabbed my arm and pushed me behind him while he looked around the corner. My heart was racing. I wasn’t sure if I was surprised or if it was the fact that he was still holding onto my arm. Then he turned to me and let go, “Sorry, I just want to avoid the fans. I don’t want them suffocating you.”

“We can go the back way.” I replied.

He followed me through the back way and it was a little hard trying to avoid fans. So we decided to just avoid all people who weren’t employees. By the time we got to the VIP area, Karyn was already talking to Lance and JC.

“Hey, Karyn!” Joey yelled.

She turned around and waved, “JOEEEY!” She ran over and gave him a huge hug. I tried not to show it but I was pretty bitter.

“I see you guys have met.” Karyn winked at me.

“Yeah, she helped me get over here.” Joey explained while putting an arm around me.

I felt my knees get weak. Karyn had a smug look on her face but I looked at her angrily.

“Hey, it’s late, though. I wanted to spend more time with you but the guys and I have to get back to the hotel.” Joey apologized.

Karyn suddenly widened her eyes and smiled. She looked at me and Joey and then she said “Why don’t Jasmine and I give you a ride back to the hotel?”

I looked at her in disbelief. I don’t know what she was trying to accomplish. Being in the same car as Joey was something more than I could ever ask for but at this moment, I wasn’t sure it was such a good idea. I was sure I was going to explode.

“Awesome, sounds good!” Joey waved bye to Lance and JC before we headed towards the car.

The ride to his hotel seemed to last for ages. I was sitting in the passenger’s seat, Karyn was driving, and Joey was in the backseat but he was leaning forward so his face was right next to mine. I didn’t dare to look at him. I could feel sweat starting to form on my face but I was too scared to wipe it off. It would probably cause him to look at me.

He and Karyn were talking the whole time, catching up on everything that happened for the past two years they haven’t talked. It sounded like they were really close before Joey joined the band.

We finally got to his hotel and he said bye to Karyn and I before he got off the car. Instead of walking away, he came to my window and motioned for me to roll it down. I was playing stupid and pretended that I didn’t understand what he was saying but Karyn pressed the button on her side and rolled the window down.

“Yeah?” I asked.

He leaned in the window and looked at me closely, “You should talk more. It’d be cool to get to know you better since you’re Karyn’s roommate and all.” He smiled.

Oh God, I felt my stomach churn. “Oh.. okay. Maybe next time.” I gulped.

“See you later, Joe!” Karyn yelled across from me.

Joey looked at me once more before saying good night to Karyn and we drove off as he walked towards the doors of the hotel. After a minute, I finally got the energy to smack Karyn. “HOW COULD YOU NOT TELL ME THAT YOU’RE FRIENDS WITH *NSYNC?!”

She laughed like a crazy person, “I don’t know. It never came up.”

“Never came up?! What about all those times I would talk about how I thought Joey was so awesome? What about all those times you told me that you wanted to get with…” Suddenly I stopped and realized something. “Oh my God, is Joey here to set you up with JC? Is this what you were talking about this morning?”

She grinned, “Yup.”

“You’re insane! Do you think you have a chance?”

“Hey bitch, what’s that supposed to mean? Of course I think I have a chance. Joey’s helping me!” She looked at me mischievously and started laughing again.

“What?” I asked.

“Looks like I’ve found a way to repay Joey for the favor.”

I dreaded what she was going to say next but I had to ask, “What?”

“I’m going to set you up with Joey. He did say he wanted to get to know you better.” She winked.

“Please don’t. That’s so embarrassing!”

“Hey, you never know. Maybe your dreams will come true. We work at Disneyland for crying out loud. It’s time for that magic to rub off on us.”

I sat frozen in my seat for the rest of the ride. I imagined all the possible scenarios in which Karyn would try to set me up with Joey. It terrified me but at the same time… I was excited.