They got to Justin’s car, Jenna trying to contain her excitement at being so close to her teenage heartthrob, the one she’d dreamed of marrying back when she was 17 and 18.  This wasn’t the same man, though still the apple of her eye.  She gave him the address, Justin putting it into his GPS.  

“How long have you wanted to be a teacher?” he asked, making small talk.

“Since I was about 13.  I’ve worked all kinds of jobs to work with kids while I was in high school and college.”

“You from around here?”

“Born and raised.  We don’t have to talk if it’s too awkward, Justin.”

“Not awkward.  I want to get to know you.  JC and Lance already do, I want a head start on Joey and Chris.”

“Is it always a competition between them?” she laughed.

“No, but I definitely have the advantage, you being in my car.”

“What made you choose to put Silas in our school?  Surely you had lots of choices.”

“In our research, which jess took to a whole other level after preschool, we saw it was the best.  Not just based on scores that probably mean nothing because you either rave about something or bitch about it, no middle ground.  We knew that stuff was important, but we asked friends who had kids in school around here, and getting their recommendation helped.  We had him do a shadow day, sit in on a day in the classroom.  I don’t know if it was his personality or the classroom, but he felt so welcome and comfortable, already started to make friends…”

“Well, he IS a Timberlake, that’s for sure.”

“It felt right.  Not just good stats, but good staff and environment to back up the stats.  It could have been the best reviewed place in the world, but if he wasn’t feeling it, we wouldn’t have either.  How is it as a teacher?  There’s always two sides to any business.  The customers, that felt weird to say as a parent, and those doing the work.”

“It’s great.  I mean, it’s like most schools, there are meetings that should have just been emails, but I feel like most businesses have some form of that.  It’s still new, but the staff have been inviting and welcoming. I love having Kim as my co teacher.  The fact that she let me make our room an *NSYNC themed room…”

“Looked like it was star themed, to me,” Justin interrupted.

“It is, but with *NSYNC in mind.  I guess you didn't look around to see song lyrics and things posted around the room.  JC kinda liked it.  Probably thought it was cheesy and weird, but he didn't complain.”

“I was more focused on you, for sure.  Trust me, cheesy and weird is right up his alley, so you’re fine.  He gets it, we all do.  The fact there are still people out there buying the merch we keep putting out…”

“Cuz it’s the only thing we get that we know all 5 of you have talked about.  It’s the closest thing we feel we’ll get to a reunion.  Thank you, by the way.”

“For the merch?”

“For being the fall guy on why there’s no reunion.  So many people still blame you and your career, your ego.  I know you’d be open to the possibility of a reunion, I could tell in how you answered Lance’s question when you were on his podcast back in 2020.  It was nice to hear you talk about the past with fond memories, not like it was something you were trying to repress.”

“I’m more used to being dragged for things, as much as I hate it all the same.  Most of the time it just rolls right off my back now.  I try not to look at anything that has my name in it if it’s something in the press.  Doesn’t matter what I’m doing.  If I’m doing nothing, they do it because they’re bored.  If I have a project I’m working on, I’m focusing on my career instead of getting the band back together.  It’s the same old same old, but it really is getting old.  I understand why people keep asking, keeping throwing my name out there, but still…”

“No pun intended, but you don’t have to justify yourself to me.  Fans that really know you pick up on the little things.  The tone in the interview you had with Lance, that was genuine.  Your little references to *NSYNC over the years, especially the subtle ones in your music or tours, like the mic stand…”

“Wasn’t sure people would know that, actually,” Justin said, eyebrows raised in gentle surprise.  I’ve known you for all of 20 minutes, Jenna, and I can see why JC…”  He cut himself off before giving too much away.

“Why JC what?”

“Why JC likes you.  You’re not like most fans, not how he sees them.  You’re open and vulnerable, not trying to put on this perfect front of ‘I’m your biggest fan’.  You’re easy to talk to.”

“I feel like it’s more the other way around.  I was practically shaking when I saw you in my classroom.  I’d always wondered when I’d interact with you again, but nothing ever like this popped into my head…”

“Again?  We’ve met before?”

“I was wearing a black one shoulder lacy top and a purple knee length skirt.  My hair was pulled back.  You grabbed my hand during Higher Higher, and I’ll never forget it.”  She was thankful it was dark, that he couldn’t see the red coming to her cheeks.

“Well, hopefully we can add more to that now.  Since you’re apparently part of our ‘group’ as it were now.  I mean, you’ve partied with JC and Lance, so you’ve met Michael…”

“It’s everything younger me dreamed of, and more.”

“Yeah?  What did you dream of back then?”

“Well, you’re my favorite, so a lot of it was about you.  Not sure you wanna hear that.  Part of my plan included opening for you guys on your next tour.”

“Ok, I may not be the best at math, but if you’re 35, wouldn’t you have been like 15 in 2002?”

“I wasn’t honest about my age.  I’m 39, not 35.  My plan was to be the next Britney and steal you away from her.  That was in 2001, so I had no idea how easy that could have been by the timeline I had set out.”

“Nothing would’ve happened.  At least nothing like you’d imagined.  Depending on when we met, it might’ve been a one thing and moved on, or been too close to everything and not happened at all.  Not exactly the romantic fairy tale you’d probably envisioned.”

“Definitely not.  Now, I…”  Her voice trailed off, not even wanting to express her feelings for JC.

“You like him, don’t you?” Justin asked softly.

“He’s a great guy, I don’t think anyone would deny that.”

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.  Where do I park?” Justin asked, seeing he was close to her apartment.  Jenna pointed to the metered parking, Justin thankful someone had just pulled out of a spot.  

They got out of the car, Jenna getting them into the building. They got into the elevator, Justin glad no one else was there.

“You like him,” he pressed.

“Doesn’t matter,” she replied, not looking at him. “He has Jen.”

“What if he didn’t?”

“He does, so I’m not entertaining that thought.”

“Jenna…”

“Ok, IF that were the case, I’m not his type.  I’m not like any of the women he’s been linked to, ever.”

“Kinda close to Bobbie,” Justin chuckled. 

“Still no.  We’re just friends, he’s made that clear.  I’m not his type, there’s nothing there beyond friends, a fan and one of her idols.”

“Ok, what if I was single?” Justin asked, hoping to lighten the mood.

“You’re not. If you were, you’d have hit on me already instead of asking me about JC.  Again, I doubt I’m your type, I’m not any kind of celebrity or attached to the entertainment business in any way.”

“Wrong on a couple counts, but this isn’t about me.”

“Why are you pushing this so hard?” Jenna asked, the elevator doors opening.

“Forget it,” he sighed.  They walked down the hall to her apartment, Jenna signaling him to wait just outside. 

“You decent?” Jenna asked as she opened the door.

“Am I dressed? Yes.  Are we talking personality? Hopefully also yes…” Kelly laughed from the couch. 

“Good, cuz I brought something home…”

“We can’t have animals,” Kelly said, turning to look at Jenna. Her eyes widened at the sight of the front door.  “Please tell me that’s a lookalike…”

“Nope, the real deal,” Justin said.

“Jenna, give me a heads up with this kinda thing! Could have told me JUSTIN was bringing you home.  I’m in my PJs on the couch for god’s sake!”

“This is more fun,” Jenna smiled. “Justin, you are welcome to stay and talk with Kelly.  You both seem to think there’s something between me and JC, you can entertain that fantasy land together.”

“You really brought me up here and then are leaving me here?” Justin teased.

“We surprised her. Whatever happens next is up to you.  Feel free to go home now that she has an embarrassing story of her first time meeting you…”

Jenna’s door clicked closed. Justin looked at Kelly.  “She’s stubborn…”

“You have no idea.”

“Can I tell you a secret?  Though I don’t know if it’s really much of a secret…”

“What?”

“You can’t tell Jenna. She won’t believe it anyway, apparently.”

“What, Justin?”

“Jen left. That night after the thing at Heart,” Justin whispered.

“No…” Kelly gasped.

Justin nodded. “Told him to figure out his feelings for Jenna.  At first he was all ‘I love Jen’, then he started talking about Jenna and it clicked. There was also a lot of alcohol involved, but he was hungover at that point.  But yeah, he’s single and has romantic feelings for her.”

“She’ll never believe it unless it comes from him. Even then, she might not believe it.  He’d have to kiss her before she finally believed it.”

“Well, I hope she realizes how she feels. He’s afraid of getting hurt if it’s nothing more than a celebrity fangirl crush.”

“I think she has her walls up to protect her if he didn’t like her that way.  Yeah, we don’t tell her. It has to be between the two of them.  This isn’t middle or high school anymore, where your friends push you together.  I just hope they can get over the awkwardness of that vulnerability.”

“That’s 4 on team Jenna and JC.  I’m gonna go, but it was nice to meet you and get a little more information.”

“Sorry I wasn’t more presentable,” Kelly sighed. 

“It’s your home, you do you.  Have a good night, Kelly.”

“Goodnight, Justin. Team Jenna and JC…”

He smiled. “Team Jenna and JC.”