A week later

She rubbed her eyes and looked around her. The place she was standing looked like a drop off place for donations to the Red Cross or something. If the boxes weren't there it would have looked like the whole city was moving. People were running about, talking on two way radios; transferred trucks surrounded her. One would pull away and another would pull up. But she just stood there by Rick's car, leaning against the passenger door and taking in her surroundings as she fiddled with the pass that was hanging around her neck.

"I hired you. Now move." She jumped when Rick's voice yelled at her from behind. He was at the other side of the car putting something in it, then slamming the door behind him.

He walked over to her and magically placed a heavy cardboard box in her hands. He picked up one from the ground and started walking away. "You didn't tell me what the hell I was supposed to do, jack ass. Don't bitch at me yet. You picked me up, brought me and my shit here and said, "just chill, I'll be back in a few." Then you came back and started bitchin'."

He stopped, turned, and cocked an eyebrow. "Kristen, drop the attitude."

She shrugged and tried to hide her grin. "Plus, its 8:30 in the morning, I don't work at this time."

"Stop being a lazy ass and follow me."

"Aye aye Cap'n." She would have saluted him but her hands were full. So instead she just followed him through the mass of trucks and boxes and other things.

She weaved her way behind him. He spoke to almost everyone that passed them but not once stopped and chit-chatted. Everyone seemed busy, too busy for her liking. She liked things calm and easy. And so far this job had been anything but.

Rick started laughing and she tried to look over his shoulder to see who he was talking to but she was too short. "Steve, dude. I'm tellin' ya. This camera fetish is only gonna lead one way."

She heard a male voice laced with the faintness of a Brooklyn accent. "But what if that's what I want? Porn is good money."

"Thank god you'll be filming it and not IN it. Where's your bro?"

She walked up beside Rick, because he had stopped in his tracks, and took in the man standing in front of them. He had a cheesy, large smile, dark hair and eyes, and was attractive in that Italian way. He had a camera in one of his hands and he was looking through it like it was his glasses. "It's 8:30. The meeting's not until 9:30. So in other words, he wont be here until 9:30."

"Damn, ya know if people really knew them, they wouldn't get as much respect as they do. Everyone thinks they're gods."

He looked up from the camera and gave Rick a knowing look, not once paying attention to her. "Dude, I know. I'm his fuckin' brother. Maybe we should start our own boyband."

Rick ducked his head when Steve started to get close to him with the camera. "Maybe you should point that thing in some one else face."

He shrugged, flicked a button on the camera and let it dangle from his hand by his side. "Yeah, yeah. I'm going to go check out the bus." Then he started walking past them.

"The bus is here?!" Rick asked a little surprised.

"Hell yeah, getting checked. I'm going to put my stuff up and then go talk to some of the visual crew a little bit before the meeting."

Kristen looked back and forth from the men, half curious to what they were talking about and half wishing they would shut up so they could get a move on everything that need to be done. She was surprised at herself for actually wanting to get work done. "Not fair, I tell you."

"What?"

"You carry around a hand held camera and get on a swanky tour bus. Here I am luggin there SHIT around and I get a beat up van."

"But the van is stylin bro." Steve said with a devilish smile then turned to leave for the second time.

"Hey! Wait a sec." The Italian stopped and turned again and she thought she was gonna scream. Could they not get this show on the road? "This is Kristen Topsell, she's gonna be helping me out this tour."

He smiled and started to reach his hand out to her but noticed she couldn't shake hands at the moment. "Sweet. We like females around here."

"Don't even think about it." Rick said in a warning tone. She wanted to smack him, the big brother act had been old for at least 5 years.

"Dude, I'm just saying: They are a rare specimen in the crew."

"Yeah, yeah. But she's like my lil sis, man." He said in a secretive tone, even though she could hear every word perfectly clear.

"I'm Steve Fatone. Nice to meet ya."

"You too." She half-smiled at him and resituated the box in her hand because the edges were digging into her arms.

"Later bro." Steve said and started jogging the other way.

"That was Steve." Rick said a moment later.

"Oh really? I thought it was Frank." She said unenthusiastically.

"Funny. Ok, here we go."

She looked in front of her and wanted to laugh. It had to be a joke. It was rusted, a pale blue color, and looked like something one of her friends in high school would own. "What's this?"

"This is Sarah." He smiled and set his box down.

She set her box down and placed her hands on her hips. "Please do not tell me this junk of a van is named after your strange obsession with Buffy."

A glare was sent her way as she eyed the piece of junk that reminded her of the van from "Who's the boss." It looked like it was just waiting to die. "Shut it. Ok, this is our house for the next 3 months."

"Oh joy."

He put his hands up in defense and opened the two doors on the one side to put the two boxes they carried in the back of the van. "I never said this job was easy. Ok, so we will be loading Sarah with all of our shit and the guys shit. The more fragile stuff will go in the van part and then that trailer which we gotta hook up we'll put the bikes and scooters and big stuff."

"Bikes and scooters?!" She asked, shocked. She knew they were probably spoiled brats but she didn't know they were toddlers.

"Yeah. All the boxes where we were before have written on them "TOY." If it doesn't say TOY- don't bring it. I made it easier for ya by doing the check list for the toys last night, but in each venue we will have to do the check list when we leave and arrive. See, its not that hard. Just moving shit around and loading and unloading. Capice?"

She stared at him for a moment and then closed her eyes and tried to stop the headache that was forming. "So we basically slave over these 5 guys "toys" as you call them and get to live in a van?"

"Correct."

She held out her hand and started counting a list on her fingers. "First of all, they are all grown. They have toys?!"

"Playstation, movies, instruments, ya know...toys."

She looked at him like he was crazy through her grayish eyes. "Riiight. Second, why not just drive his hunk of junk over to the boxes so we don't have to walk as far?!"

"That would make it too easy." He smiled at her and she just rolled her eyes.

"...and Third...they were on Forbes top 5 last year, you think they'd be able to at least get us an Suburban or SOMETHNG but this is like a van from the seventies. I'm surprised it doesn't have a peace sign painted on the side."

"It did when I bought it. It runs like a jewel and has been through a lot. Sarah's part of the crew here."

She sighed and started walking back to the pile of boxes, hoping she could remember her way back. "This is gonna be an interesting job."

"You'll love it." He called after her.

She groaned and stuck her hands in her pockets, mumbling under her breath, "Oh yeah, I'm already having a blast."

-----------

9:50

"So, what'd you end up doin last night?"

Justin slouched down in his seat, yawned and leaned just slightly to his left, towards Chris. "Oh I just chilled at home."

"Dude, again?"

"I had to pack!" He said in a whispered yell. Their tour manager was in front of them talking in a microphone about some specifics and security items that they went over every year, sometimes twice a year before they officially took to the road. They were underneath a white tent with some folding chairs that were somehow neatly lined up underneath it. There weren't enough chairs for people to sit down so the remaining had to stand up on the outskirts of the tent.

"Yeah I didn't do anything last night either. I had a nice long sleep in my bed." Chris said.

"Heh, that's what I'm talkin' bout." Justin yawned and hoped that this meeting thing would end soon. He had heard these speeches many times in the past few years and wished he could excuse himself. But he knew he couldn't.

Anthony kept talking in the microphone, walking around the small area in front of them and waving his empty hand with a rolled up piece of paper in it. It was then when Chris nudged Justin's arm and nodded over to the corner where two people were standing in the shadows. "Who the hell is that?"

"That girl?" he asked for clarity.

"Must be the girl that's helpin Rick this time." Chris said.

"What are they doin?"

They were both looking down and had objects in their hands that were connected by a cord. The girl was biting her lip and smiling, and Rick had his eyebrows furrowed. "Are they playing game boy?"

Justin turned to Chris and gave him a bored look. "Why cant we do that shit? We've heard this speech more than anybody."

"We gotta get up there and speak in a few."

He stretched his legs out in front of him and looked at Rick and the girl out of the corner of his eye. "I'm ready to get on the bus and watch my boy."

"Your boy?"

"Yeah, Tiger's playing some charity tournament on USA."

"You and your golf." Chris shook his head.

Just then Anthony announced them. "That's our cue." Justin stood up with the rest of the guys and stretched, faintly smiling as he took the microphone from Anthony and started talking as everyone else made noises at them. It truly was a family between them and the tour crew. He spoke to everyone, thanking and welcoming them, then he handed the microphone to Joey.

As he talked he looked around at all the people there. His eyes landed on the girl that was standing beside Rick, engrossed with the game boy. He was looking up now at them, listening, but not her. She was wasn't paying them a bit of attention.

There was something about her. She was plain, hiding her petite body in huge skater jeans and a small black tee with the powder puff girls on them. Her tannish hair surrounded her face, blocking much of it from view.

Rick had been right. She wasn't any of their types. Maybe Chris', but since she looked about 16 or 17 he figured that wouldn't work out very well.

But still, there was something about her.

------

That afternoon

Most of the transferred trucks had left. And now she could make out that she was in a HUGE parking lot. She had followed Rick around like a lost dog that day, but had learned that the job wasn't horrible. She basically just moved stuff around, and even though her back was a little achy, she figured she would get use to it. The Steve guy had been right; most of the people there were guys, but she liked everyone. They all seemed really cool and nice. She really liked Anthony, the tour manager. She thought he was cool as shit.

She had met other crew members, some management people, and some security guys. At first she was scared of Mike and Lonnie and the other bodyguards, but after eating lunch with a few of them she realized they were hilarious and hoped she could hang out with them more.

Rick had gone on a cigarette break and she was working on the last few boxes. Two of them were so heavy she had to have Lonnie come over and pick it up for her and put it on the hand truck. She didn't know what kind of TOY would weigh a million pounds but she didn't want to ask too many questions just yet. Her shyness had been on full blast all day, and she wasn't really bold enough to start asking things.

She pushed the hand truck towards the van, which was now just about 30 feet away. Rick had taken her advice early in the day and moved the van. She had set up her stuff inside "Sarah" and was glad that in about an hour they would be on the road. She really did love Rick as a brother. And even though he as occasionally annoying, he didn't act as an older brother when it was just them. She was really looking forward to riding in the van with him and listening to music and talking and not having to worry about anything.

Just then, the wheels of the hand truck got caught on a wire that had some how appeared on the ground and she couldn't get the thing to move. She pushed and pulled but it but it only took the wire with it. She didn't want to get electrocuted or cause a black out, at least not on her first day, so she pushed even harder.

That was a bad mistake.

It happened in slow motion. One of the boxes shifted, then another and the wire let go of the wheels and her hands slipped free and it started to roll away. The two wheels barely held up the weight of the boxes and with a loud bang and several clangs afterward, the boxes fell to the black asphalt and she covered her face.

She could hear things rolling around, hear the sound of metal clang against asphalt and it wasn't until she heard a loud male voice did she peek through her fingers.

"MY WEIGHTS!"

She saw him, blue eyes wide, mouth open, "Bubba Gump Shrimp" hat on his head, staring at the mess she made. She recognized him. He was one of the members of the group and she knew she was about five seconds from being fired.

"I...I'm sorry." She stammered.

"WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED!?" He looked from her to the weights, rolling around.

"I...I don't know. The wire and they got caught and the next thing I know...I'm so sorry." She thought she might cry. She had upset him and now her life was ruined. He'd sue her for all she was worth and then die a poor miserable life.

He had bent down and looked at them. "Fuck, they are all scratched up."

"I'm sorry." She whispered again, trying to dam her tears, not wanting to be too girly on her first day.

"What happened?" She turned and saw Rick suck on the butt of his cigarette and then flick it to the ground. He looked at her, and she felt like a five year old that had broken mommy's vase under his eyes.

"My fucking weights are shot."

Rick put his arm around Kristen and gave her a quick squeeze. "Oh stop whining."

"THIS SHIT IS EXPENSIVE!" She heard him yell. He was mad. This wasn't good. At least Rick was there to help her, she thought.

"Justin...shut up."

"Dammit. My 30 pound hand weight is ruined. Look...it's chipped to hell."

"We'll buy you a new one." She leaned her head on Rick's shoulder not caring that he smelled like cigarettes.

The one he called "Justin" stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. She could feel Rick laughing as she leaned against him. "Oh stop pouting. Come here and meet my little worker bee for the tour."

"Hi." She squeaked out.

"Hi yourself."

She broke away from Rick and said in a low whisper, "I'm really sorry."

The guy sighed and offered her a comforting smile that made her feel 10 times better. "It's ok. I'm Justin."

"Kristen." She said in a quiet voice.

"You guys need some help gettin this in the van?" Justin asked.

"No." She said not wanting to piss him off or do anything more to have anyone hate her. She thought she had done a good job that day staying out of trouble and actually getting people to like her instead of hate her, but now that had all been shot to hell.

She jumped when Rick planted his hands on her shoulders and shook her a little. "Please help her. I'm going to go see how far we are until we roll out."

"Alright."

She kept her head down as she picked up some of the weights. She managed the light ones as Justin carried the big ones. The cardboard box they had been in was broken, but she knew Rick had some packaging tape in the van so she remade the box as Justin carried the weights.

She looked at him when he wasn't looking. She had seem him on TV before, but he looked a lot better in person. He didn't seem too much of a pretty boy, with his patched up jeans and Mr. Clean t-shirt, but she didn't feel worthy to be in his presence. She was just a 19-year-old girl from Michigan who was out on her own trying to make buck or two.

He was the millennium's version of Elvis.

So maybe he wasn't quite Elvis, but he sure was more important than she was. She couldn't even believe he was helping her. She walked over to him with the fixed box and put it in the back of the van.

He smiled at her and started putting some of the lighter weights inside of it.

"I...I'm really sorry." She said again, hoping that the repeating of those words would help him not despise her completely.

"Forget about it. So where are you from?"

She was slightly taken back by his forwardness. Two minutes ago he was screaming at her and now he was introducing conversation. She didn't really know how to respond so she just answered his question quietly. "Michigan, but I lived in Orlando this past summer."

"That's cool. So, how do you know Rick?"

Even more questions. She looked at him carefully out of the corner of her eyes. He was just putting weights up and seemed to be relaxed with everything: Complete 180 from what she just saw. "Oh we grew up down the street from one another. His younger sister use to be my best friend."

"Use to?"

"Yeah." She was gonna say anymore on that subject. He was getting a little too personal for her and she wasn't use to people that one minute are screaming at her, and the next are pleasantly having a conversation.

Now it was his turn to look at her funny. He leaned against the open back of the van. "Mmhmm. Well, its good to meet ya."

"You too. And again, I'm-"

He laughed and cut her off. "I know, you're sorry. You can stop apologizing. It could have happened to anyone. Sorry I yelled. I just ordered these weights a month ago, it's not a big deal. We'll just take the damages out of your paycheck."

She couldn't help it, but he was now closer to him and she could slightly smell the cologne he had put on that morning. He was a lot taller than her and he was making her very nervous at the moment. "Oh..ok."

"I'm kidding. Lighten up girl. We don't bite." He put his hands on her shoulders and rubbed them a little.

She had two thoughts running through her mind. One, to smack him because he was touching her and she didn't necessarily like to be touched. Two, how nice that felt. Her shoulders were sore from the labor she had done that day and the way his fingers lightly pressed into her muscles almost made her eyes close and a groan come out of her mouth.

But instead she found herself staring at him with huge eyes, squeaking out, "Ok."

"What?! Do you think I'm like Tom Cruise in that Interview with a vampire. "I'll give you the choice I never had. bwahahahah."

She couldn't do anything but stare at him as he made biting motions towards her. She could tell that he was just trying to make her laugh but the way his eyes were looking in the afternoon light captured her, and she found herself staring. "Girl RELAX! Oh God, you are gonna die when you meet Chris."

He started to walk away and she realized she didn't want him to leave just yet. Dammit, she thought. She was getting a crush and she had only been there a few hours. Plus, Justin wasn't her type. "Who's Chris?"

"Excuse me?" He looked at her a little shocked, like he couldn't believe she had asked that.

And now she had made a fool out of herself for the second time that day. Her mental bashing was at its highest extent now. She was surprised Justin hadn't run from her screaming for help yet. "Nothing."

He walked over to her and stood in front of her giving her a devilish grin. "Chris is another guy in the group. There's Chris, the crazy old dude. Me, the youngin. Joey, the flirt...even though he's more settled than any of us. JC, the musical one...and Lance, ooo he's dreamy."

She smiled, thought to herself and then blurted out. "Are you the one that's dating Britney Spears?"

"Uhh..."

She immediately felt bad when he turned pale and started stammering. Time number three for embarrassment. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have asked that."

"No its cool. We just split up about a month ago."

"Ouch."

He looked at her knowingly, the color returning to his face slowly. "Tell me about it."

It was silent for a while and Kristen looked at her tan Vans shoes while she felt Justin's eyes on her. All over her. Scanning every inch. Usually she would either smack someone for checking her out or move and start to blush. But with him, she couldn't help but just grin and stay there, hoping she would get the chance to stare at him again.

So he wasn't her type. But he was still hot as hell. And there wasn't any harm in looking.

"Well I better get back to the bus, we probably are gonna head out soon."

And suddenly there was a sinking feeling inside her. She couldn't explain it, and didn't necessarily want to. "Oh ok. bye."

"Nice meeting you Kristen. Oh...and next time..." He had already started to walk away, but turned and smiled at her.

She looked up, hopefully and he winked at her. "Pay attention in meetings. You might miss something important."

Her mouth dropped open and he just started laughing a loud almost obnoxious laugh as he jogged away.

She was gonna have to learn, she needed to contain herself around that Justin guy. He was the devil, and temptation wasn't why she signed up for this trip.