Kristen and Jake settled into their hotel room before heading down to the courthouse to meet up with other fans.
“I can’t believe we’re here!” shrieked Kristen. “That flight took forever!”
“Tell me about it!” agreed Jake.
The five hour flight from Los Angeles seemed to last an eternity. When they walked onto the plane wearing *NSYNC t-shirts and jeans with “I love J.C. and Justin” written on them they got curious looks from the other passengers.
“Alright,” said Kristen, “Do we have everything we need?”
“I think so,” said Jake. “But let’s go through the list just to make sure.”
Kristen looked down at the paper in her hand. “CDs?”
“Check.”
“Posters?”
“Check.”
“Tour books?”
“Check.”
“Signs?”
“Check.” He held up the signs that read “The Girl Who Has Everything Wants J.C. Will You Marry Me?” and “Justin, You Tear Up My Heart”.
“Lunch?”
“Got it.”
“Let’s go.”
When Jake and Kristen got there fans had already begun to gather outside. They couldn’t believe the magnitude of people that had come to support *NSYNC. They knew there would be some fans there, but not this many. As they tried to maneuver their way to the front of the crowd, they were stopped by a girl, no older than twelve years old.
“May I have your autograph J.C.?”
He looked at the girl quizzically. “My autograph?”
“Um hum.” She held out her *NSYNC CD. “Please? Before you go into the courthouse?”
“I don’t. . .” Jake wasn’t sure how to respond. It was clear that she thought he was J.C., though he couldn’t understand why.
She continued to stare at Jake, waiting for his response. “J.C.?”
“Sure,” he answered. “Anything for a pretty little girl like you.”
Kristen stood there, mouth agape. “What are you doing?” she whispered in his ear.
Jake ignored her, as he handed the autographed CD back to the girl. “Thanks, J.C.!”
The empty courtroom felt cold and dreary. J.C. shivered as he walked inside. This was a nightmare. It had to be. If only he could wake up. He looked around the room, his eyes fixing on the bench where the judge would be sitting; the judge that would decide the fate of his career’s future.
“You okay, man?”
J.C. jumped out of his skin at the sound of Chris’ voice. He hadn’t even heard him walk into the room.
J.C. bit his lip and shook his head. “Not really. You?”
“No. I couldn’t sleep at all last night. I was too nervous.”
Chris began to fidget, playing with his fingernails. “I’m sorry,” he whispered.
“For what?”
“For this,” he said, motioning toward the front of the courtroom. After he’d been rejected by the Backstreet Boys it was Chris who had approached Lou about starting another group. Because of the blind trust that he and the other guys had put in Lou, their worlds were now falling apart.
“Chris, you didn’t do this, Lou did. He’s the one to blame.”
As Chris was about to respond, the court began to fill with people. J.C. spotted his family and walked over to greet them before the proceedings started.
“I’m really glad you’re all here.” He said hugging his parents, brother and sister.
“Where else would we be?” asked Tyler.
“Josh, it’ll all work out in the end. You’ll see,” Heather squeezed his hand and pulled him in for a hug. “We love you.”
“I love you too.” J.C. smiled at her and his parents before going to the front and taking his seat.
“What the hell was that?” Kristen screamed, just loud enough for only Jake to hear. “You’re not J.C! Why’d you let her think that you are?”
“What was I supposed to do? Tell her no?”
“Yes!”
“Come on, Kris! You saw the look on her face. If I told her no, she would have been heartbroken because her favorite *NSYNC member wouldn’t give her his autograph.”
“There’s just one problem. You AREN’T her favorite *NSYNC member! What if she catches the real J.C. outside of the courthouse while he’s signing autographs and thinks HE’S the imposter because she already has YOUR autograph? How do you think they’re going to feel when they realize they’ve both been duped?”
“I didn’t really. . .”
“How would you have felt if that had been Justin?”
Jake sighed. “Okay. Okay. I get your point, but there’s nothing I can do about it now.”
As Lance testified on the stand J.C.’s mind wandered to his audition for the Mickey Mouse Club. He was both nervous and scared. It seemed that most of the contestants had been through this process before. He’d done school and local talent shows, but nothing like this.
If he made it through, he’d be performing in front of a national television audience once a week. Yet he knew this is what he was meant to do and if given the chance he’d make the most of the opportunity. Now, just four years later, it had all been grounded to a halt.
“J.C., J.C.?”
“Yeah?” He looked over at Joey, who was sitting next to him.
“It’s over. We’re free.”
“What?”
“I said we’re free. The judge ruled in our favor.”
“We WON?”
Joey laughed. “Yeah.”
J.C. didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. For nearly two years *NSYNC traveled Europe making a name for themselves. Touring had become a way of life for them as they graced the covers of magazines, sold merchandise, and topped it all off with a platinum selling record. Finally, they’d been vindicated.
“J.C. are you still there?” Joey asked, waving his hand in front of J.C.’s face.
“Huh?” J.C. said, snapping out of it. “Yeah, I’m still here.”
“You zoned out there for a minute. Are you okay?”
“I was just thinking.”
“About what?”
“The album and what direction it should go in.”
“Work. Work. Work.,” Joey teased. “Is that all you think about?”
“Yeah, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Outside the courthouse, fans cheered when they heard the verdict. Everyone jumped up and down and hugged one another waiting for *NSYNC to emerge. Chris came out first, followed by Lance, Justin, Joey, and J.C.
They smiled and waved as they walked down the courthouse steps, stopping to sign autographs along the way. Jake and Kristen tried to maneuver to the front in time to reach J.C. and Justin, but were too late.
“We were almost there!” Jake couldn’t believe it. They were so close, yet so far. “I could almost touch Justin!”
“I think I saw J.C. smile at me!” shrieked Kristen. “Do you think he saw my sign?”
Suddenly, they heard a deep masculine voice come from behind. “Would you like me to give it to him?”
Jake and Kristen turned around and looked directly into the face of Lance Bass. They stood there with their mouths agape. Lance chuckled and repeated his question. “Would you like me to give it to him?”
Kristen was the first to speak. “To J.C.?”
“Um hm.”
“Could you give this to Justin?” Jake piped up. This was his chance and he wasn’t going to miss it.
“Sure.”
“Thanks!” They said in unison.
“You’re welcome.”
When he turned to walk away, Kristin shouted, “Wait! Lance!”
“Yes?” he said, walking back over to them.
“Could we get an autograph and picture?”
“No problem. What are your names?”
“Jake.”
“Kristen.”
He signed the CDs and posed for pictures then set out to get in his car as they went to their hotel.
“J.C., Justin. I have something for you.”
They were all at Jive Studios in Orlando winding down from `the events of the day.
“What is it?” asked J.C.
Lance had a devilish look on his face as he pulled out the rolled up signs in his hands.
J.C. and Justin’s jaws dropped when they read the messages that said “The Girl Who Has Everything Wants J.C. Will You Marry Me?” and “Justin, You Tear Up My Heart”.
“Uh. . .thanks”, said Justin, reaching for his sign. “Who are they from?”
“”J.C.’s is from Kristen and yours is from . . .” Lance paused before continuing, “Jake.”
“Jake?”
Joey and Chris burst out laughing.
“You’ve got a boyfriend, too, Justin?” Chris smirked. “Does Britney know?”
“Shut up, Chris.”
“ ’C, you’re pretty quiet over there. Said Joey. “Making plans with your new fiancé?”
“What?”
“You’ve been zoning out a lot lately. What’s up?” asked Justin. “And don’t say nothing’s wrong, because it’s obvious that something’s bothering you.”
“I’ve just had a lot on my mind, lately, that’s all.”
“We all have. But it’s over now.”
“Yeah, you’re right. It’s over.”
Little did any of them realize that though their journey may be over, J.C.’s was just beginning.
