Jenna looked around at her classroom, the walls bare of student work, feeling the need to be filled.  She went through the books in the student and teacher libraries, noting which books from her own collection to bring in. 

She heard the door open, seeing her co-teacher walk in. She was shorter than Jenna, straight blonde hair, about 5 years older than Jenna.

“Wear your fandom on your sleeve, do you?” she asked. 

“What gave me away?” Jenna laughed. 

“Between the music playing and your shirt… I was crazy for New Kids back in the day. Still am I guess.”

“Did you see them when they were here a couple months ago?”

“I grabbed Donny’s hand as they were heading to the rear stage…”

“Justin grabbed my hand at a show in 2019…”

“It’s amazing how things stick with you, isn’t it?”

“Kim, what else can I do before we get our class lists?”

“Well, what theme do you want for the borders? You can check the supply closet to see what they have, or just go to Lakeshore and pick a theme.”

“What would you think of stars?” Jenna asked with a smile.  

“I’m fine with it,” Kim answered. “Might as well go to Lakeshore and get name tags, stuff for their cubbies, all of that.  You wanna go and do that while I go through the curriculum binders and get what we’ll need for the first couple months pulled out?”

“Sure.  I wanna see what your lesson plans and such look like and all that.”

“I’ll show you that tomorrow. For now, go to Lakeshore and we’ll get the room set up as best we can.”

“Ummm, I don’t drive. I mean, I DO, but I don’t have a car and my license is suspended…”

“Is there something I need to know?”

“I have epilepsy. Most days, I win. Last month I had a big one and crashed my car, was pretty banged up. I have medication I take, but extreme stress can cause them, too. I have to stay seizure free for 3 months before the DMV will let me drive again.”

“I’ll drive us then, we can pick up some food on the way back.”

“Sorry,” Jenna sighed. 

“Nothing to apologize for.  Hopefully you stay mostly better.  At least I know now instead of if you have one during class or something.”

“Hopefully that never happens, but yeah…”

They walked to the parking lot and got to Kim’s car. The drive was about half an hour, typical LA traffic, giving them time to talk. 

“Is Justin your favorite guy from *NSYNC? I mean, he grabbed your hand…”

“Well, he is.  But I met Joey at a show he did in Vegas last year, and I saw Lance and JC at Lance’s restaurant last month. I’m going to meet Chris next month, flying up after school to a show he’s doing up north of San Francisco.”

“Wow, that’s pretty cool.  Who was the nicest?”

“Well, they each were in different ways. I always thought of JC as this enigma, but he’s really just a laid back guy. Lance covered my meal, which was nice. Joey was super sweet, I saw him two weeks after my grandfather died, so that was special by itself. I feel like I picked the right group of guys to be a fan of.”

“I’d say so.  Out of curiosity, why do you want the star theme?”

“I’ve always loved stars, wishing on them, watching meteor showers or the night sky when it’s pitch black and I’m somewhere with no lights to ruin my view.  Then there’s the subtle *NSYNC reference. They got a star on the Walk of Fame, there’s a star in their name and logo. I feel like it comes full circle a bit.”

“You know what you COULD do…” Kim started. 

“Hmm?”

“I say we make a boyband theme. Do stars, definitely, but use our boys for different things around the classroom. Maybe like ‘step by step, walk inside’.  Something like that.”

“I love it!” Jenna smiled, knowing this was going to be a great year.

“The moms will love it, for sure,” Kim laughed. 

“Something I did with my last class was to set a timer as they packed up for the day. If they could finish before the timer went off, we’d have a face party to my timer alarm.”  Jenna pulled out her phone, pulling up the clip of Pop that she’d bought as a ringtone. 

“I like it!” Kim replied.

“I also use Justin’s song from Trolls, GoNoodle did a dance along video to the song, it’s great on hot or rainy days when we can’t go outside.”

“I think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship, Jenna.  This is going to be a fun year.”

“I think so too,” Jenna smiled.

…

They finished putting up the borders, putting the large stars up where their student work would go, the room full of stars on just about everything.  They even bought magnetic borders for the white board, to split up the workspace.

“Tomorrow I can show you a sample of boardwork we’ll have them do, get started on the first week’s worth except for their names.  It’s pretty simple.  Let’s grab plenty of the lined paper we need from the supply closet.”

“Will we look at curriculum and such too?  I can help with lesson plans and things…”

“It’s almost 3:00, let’s wrap up here and call it a day.  Do you need a ride home?”

“I can take the bus,” Jenna answered.

“Yeah, that’s a no.  Summer school is over, let me pick up Olivia and we’ll take you home.”

“Olivia?”

“My daughter.  She’ll be in kindergarten this year.  She’ll be in one of the other rooms, you can’t teach your own child.”

They walked next door and got Olivia, an almost spitting image of her mother.  They walked to Kim’s car and Jenna began guiding her home.

Her phone buzzed, a smile on her face.

Good day at work?

Got the room mostly set up until I get the kids’ names.  I’m just lucky they’re paying me for it.  It’s usually unpaid for the staff to set up their rooms, which sucks.  Everyone else gets paid starting next week, once they start requiring teachers to be here.  Anyone setting up now is doing so without pay.

There’s always some way to get people to work hard for what they love but also take the joy out of it.  I know what it’s like to work your ass off and have nothing to show for it.

You guys all got screwed the first few years, but I can see how that could also be your solo career.  You have plenty to show for it, the Internet is full of proof, and the fans you still have, clamoring for any tidbit they can get.  Kim, my co-teacher, ran with my star theme for our classroom, and we’ll have some *NSYNC themed little posters around the room.

How do you mean?

For example, and this is only an idea so far… A picture of you guys in the doctor scrubs from the NSA tour, and the text will say “It makes me ill when you don’t wash your hands.”  An artist on Instagram made a picture of you guys from Sesame Street that says “Believe in Yourself”, things like that.

Wow, that’s oddly cool.  I’d love to see this classroom when you’re finished. Send me pictures?

Yeah, I guess JC Chasez coming to my school would attract attention.

Not as much as you’d think.  Your school is THE school for the Hollywood elite.  I think you’ll be surprised by some of the families that attend the school.

I guess I’ll have to find out.  Kim is driving me home, so I really should be paying more attention.  Talk to you later, see you Friday.

“Texting your boyfriend?” Kim wondered.

“No boyfriend.  Remember how I told you about my accident?  I was texting the guy that saved me, he saw everything and made the 911 call.”

“All I know is you had the biggest smile on your face just then.  Seemed like something from a special someone.  Definitely sounds special now that I have some backstory.”

“Special, yes.  Boyfriend?  No.  He’s seeing someone.”

“Not for long, I’m sure.”

“It’s not like that.  We’re just friends.”

“That smile says otherwise.”

“He saved my life.  I’m allowed to smile like that for someone who saved my life.”

“Jenna, you’re really pretty.  Like Ariel when she’s not a mermaid…” a little voice in the backseat said.

“Thank you, Olivia.  I almost wish I wasn’t teaching with your mommy so I could have you in my class.”

They reached Jenna’s apartment, Jenna saying goodbye before walking into the building.  She took the elevator up to her floor, walking down the hall and unlocking her door.  Kelly was on the couch.

“Check the kitchen table,” Kelly called.

Jenna looked, her eyes bulging as she saw a beautiful floral arrangement.  Simple, but beautiful.  She looked at the card.

Not sure how your day went, but hoping it went well.  Can’t wait for Friday.  See you soon.

“If I didn't know better, I’d swear you’re gonna be the next Chasez girlfriend…” Kelly smirked.

“Stop, Kelly.”

“JC Chasez sends you flowers for no reason, excited to see you on Friday for pizza and TV.  He’s into you.”

“He isn’t.  I like him and Jen together.  He’s being really nice, but only to make up for what happened.”

“Tell yourself that on Friday…”