Chapter 1

"Your new American Idol is...Jordin Sparks!" Ryan announced and the arena immediately erupted in applause.

Jordin woke up with a smile on her face.  This was the fifth time she'd had that dream; but it wasn't just a dream...it was her reality.  She'd just been crowned the latest American Idol the previous week and her life's been a whirlwind since.  Her daily agenda went from high school from eight to four, to a slew of interviews and performances promoting her first single.  But today was different; today was the day she'd meet the producer for her second song.  Jordin was more excited about this song, she'd actually get to establish her own sound with this one...something she couldn't do with the track the producers picked as the winning song for this season of the show.  She sat up in bed and stretched before turning off her alarm.  Jordin didn't know why she continued to set an alarm since she always woke up before it went off.  She rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and walked to her bathroom to begin her morning routine and was dressed and was walking out of her front door an hour and a half later.  Her manager, Janet, was waiting in the car the record label provided for her and greeted her with an itinerary for the day and breakfast.

"An apple?  What happened to the pop tarts and milk?"

"You need to start eating healthier Jordin.  Whether you like it or not you're now a role model for young girls and you need to promote healthy habits."

"Thanks Mom," Jordin replied sarcastically before biting into the apple.  She made a mental note to grab something else to eat when she got to the studio.  She glanced down at the sheet and saw 'Record with Justin' and cocked an eyebrow in confusion.

"Justin who?"

"Huh?"

"It says 'Record with Justin' on this sheet," Jordin began, "Justin who?"

"Timberlake.  The label is bringing him in to work on your album.  It seems that they've noticed all the hits that he's been putting out recently.  I think I heard someone say that he's making better songs now that he's behind the mic."

"Oh my gosh!" Jordin was now in 'fan-girl' mode, "Do you know how much of an *NYSNC fan I was when I was younger?!"  Jordin was beaming from ear to ear.  She was finally going to get to meet one of her celebrity crushes, and not only was she going to meet him she was going to be working...very intimately with him.  The Lincoln Towncar pulled into the studio's parking lot a half hour later and it was like Jordin couldn't get inside the building fast enough.

"Whoa!  Slow down hun," Janet yelled after her client with a slight laugh in her voice.  Jordin reached the door to the studio and checked her reflection in the glass door before taking a deep breath and pushing door open...right into Justin's face

SMACK!!

"Oh my...I am so sorry!" Jordin exclaimed as Justin rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"It's ok, I don't think it's broken," Justin replied with a slight chuckle, "You must be Jordin."

"Yeah, and once again I'm sorry."

"It's alright, I think I'll live this time."  Jordin could feel the heat rising to her face and tried to cover up her cheeks to hide her embarrassment. 

"I see you two have met," Janet said as she walked in the building.

"You could say that," Justin replied, winking at Jordin.  She had to blink twice...did he really just wink at her?  Justin Timberlake?  Like the Justin Timberlake?  This was the same guy who was in her favorite boy band, but you couldn't really tell now that he was standing in front of her in a pair of jeans and a plain t-shirt with a beanie atop his head.  He looked...normal.

"So, are you ready to get started?" Justin asked motioning towards the studio room they'd be working in.

"Sure, after you," Jordin replied, following him.  This wasn't the first time she'd been in a recording studio, but it felt like it; especially as she watched Justin maneuver around the mixing board like he did. 

"I don't know if I said this before, but congratulations on winning."

"Thanks.  I'm still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that a girl from Smalltown, USA actually won."

"People always sleep on small townsfolk, thinking that we don't have talent because we're not from NYC or LA."

"Oh yeah, you're from Millington, TN aren't you?" Jordin asked.  She regretted the words as soon as they left her mouth.  She didn't want to come of as some sort of a fan-girl; didn't want to scare him off before they even began working together.  Justin cocked an eyebrow out of amusement.

"Yeah, how did you know?"

"I think I read that somewhere," Jordin replied with a shrug, "but anyway, why don't we get started?"

"Sounds good to me."

"I have a few ideas actually." she said as she reached inside her hobo bag and pulled out a composition notebook. 

"Well let me see."  She was kind of hesitant about passing over the tablet.  It was like her diary, the one thing she could "tell" her inner most thoughts to and she didn't want to let just anyone read them.  But he wasn't just anyone, he was Justin Timberlake.  He was a multi-award winning, platinum selling artist and a hit producer on top of that.  If Madonna was ok with him reading her lyric why wasn't Jordin?  After a few seconds of deliberation she finally handed the notebook over and subconsciously held her breath as he flipped through a few pages. 

"Wow, you've got a knack for this lyric thing huh?" he asked, his eyes landing on one page in particular. 

"How do you feel about recording a ballad today.  I wanna test out the range of your voice."

"Sounds good to me," Jordin confirmed with a smile.

"I was looking at this page and this one poem caught my attention."  She walked over behind him to see what he was talking about.  The poem he was reading was one she wrote during a rough patch with her ex-boyfriend. 

"Do you have a melody for this?"  Jordin shook her head.

"No; I was just jotting down a few thoughts...sort of like my own version of a pro/con list."

"Ok, gotcha.  But it is a ballad right?"

"Yeah, I think so.  It's kind of sad for a dance track, in my opinion."  Both of them chuckled at her comment. 

"I think I may have something for this actually," Justin began and he stood up and walked over towards the keyboard on the other side of the room. 

"Timbaland and I came up with this chord progression for the track that he's supposed to be doing with Coldplay, but I think it will fit this song."  He fingered a few keys before beginning the slow melody."

"Come over here, I won't bite you...I promise."  Jordin smiled meekly before walking over and sitting next to him on the bench.  He played five individual notes and played the melody again. 

"I don't know if I should stay," Justin sang when he got to those five individual notes again, "Sing it with me.  I don't know if I should stay."  He smiled after they finished that line. 

"A familiar look, a familiar voice makes it so hard to make a choice.  I don't know if I should stay," Jordin sang softly over the notes Justin was playing.  He echoed the line she sang.  He could hear the nervousness in her voice and remembered when he was like that.  It had been so long since he'd been the one behind the mic and not behind the mixing board.  He'd done the solo thing for a bit after *NSYNC took their hiatus, but eventually decided to stay behind the scenes and produce. 

"Here, let me see the words," Justin said and Jordin held the notebook up in front of his face.

"Where's my will?  Cannot find a way.  The earth is wild, and I can't sit still," he sang, playing around with the melody a bit. 

"I like that."

"Yeah?" Justin said, looking over at her with a slight smile on her face, "Sing it with me."  She did as she was told and when they finished Justin grinned and said, "I think we have our first verse."

"Wow, that was easier than I thought."

"Yeah, it doesn't take long to crank out a hit song when you have chemistry."  Jordin blushed at his comment.

"You have talent girl, and I can't wait to work on the rest of your tracks with you."

"So you're going to produce some more of my songs?"

"If you want to.  You have a great voice, something the industry needs right now.  I'd be honored to work with you."

"And I with you," Jordin said with a smile.  She over towards the door and saw her manager standing on the other side of it and gave her two thumbs up, mouthing "I found my producer". 

"So how about we start working on that second verse?"