October 2002
10:50 PM 

My life is beautiful.  There are things I have that a lot of people can only dream of and wish they had.  But don’t let that fool you.  I still have my burdens to deal with. 

Who am I?  Are you sure you don’t already know?  I’m Joanna Levesque, but you might know me by JoJo.  I’ve had number one hits, sold out shows, and screaming fans asking for my autograph.  I’ve starred in movies, been criticized, and many more.  But I can’t complain; I’m very lucky to be where I am today.  Not bad for a 21-year-old girl. 

Right now, I’m doing club tours for my upcoming sophomore album.  Now don’t get me wrong; I love traveling and touring around the world seeing my fans and performing, but sometimes it can be overwhelming. 

“JoJo, you’re on in ten minutes; you need to be backstage now!” 

The door closes to the dressing room as my makeup and hair are having the finishing touches added to it.  Once it’s done, I get up out of the chair, and continue to warm up my voice. 

“Oh please, stop showing off.  Just because we don’t have the greatest voices in the world doesn’t mean you need to remind us!” My hair stylist Ken Harding jokes. 

“Ya know, Ken, I could just take this piece of hair and--” 

“DON’T TOUCH YOUR HAIR!” I laugh as my personal assistant/best friend Elizabeth Miller comes in the dressing room, “Come on, Jo!  We need you out there now.  Not in a little, not later, but NOW!” 

“I’m coming, I’m coming!”  I reply as I grab a bottle of water to take with me.  “Thanks everyone!”

“Kick ass, girl!” Ken says as we leave the dressing room and head towards the stage. Once I arrive backstage, I can hear the screaming fans as I’m hooked to my microphone, and last minute adjustments are made.  I feel the rush come through me as the band and I gather to pray.  Once we’re done, we all head to our positions, and soon enough the band starts playing. The screaming gets louder as I step out of the dark center of the stage and start to sing the song. 

Posted in the front seat of my maybach, Nowhere to go
Ready to do whatever's clever, Put on a show

The dancers start to come out onto the stage as the rehearsed choreography begins.  It’s cool to watch the fans’ reactions because this is new material that they haven’t heard yet unless they’ve been to earlier shows.  But what’s even better is to see someone you know out there.

Give me the green light, Be there in no time
Play the right position, Baby you can have it all
Put the pedal to the metal, Roll out with my shades low
Get some of that ol you know, good ol, good ol
Kick back and roll down the window, And just let the wind blow
Get high off that ol you know, good ol' good ol' 

Up in the VIP area, my mother is singing along to the song.  She’s also one of my managers.  We have our fights sometimes on what I should and shouldn’t do, but at the end of the day, we’re just mother and daughter.  She’s also one of my best friends.  As I look next to her, my eyes stop on two figures.

We'll beat the traffic, I know all the back streets
We can take the alleys baby there's no hurry
Put the pedal to the metal, Roll out with my shades low
Get some of that ol good ol, good ol 

I see one of my mother’s closest friends, Lynn Harless dancing to my song with my mother.  Standing next to her is her son. 

Do I really need to say who he is?  I’m sure all of you are already gasping and screaming with excitement just to know he’s in this story (and I don’t blame ya).  For those of you who missed out on a few years, Lynn Harless’ son is Justin Timberlake.  Justin and I met back in 1998 when both of our careers were beginning to take off.  I met him with his group *NSYNC and we all quickly became good friends.  Since then, we all go out to lunch when we can, have fun nights that include board games, movie watching, and bowling.  We even make sure we can attend each other’s concerts a couple of times per tour.  And when we are that far away, our phone bills soar as we talk for sometimes hours on the phone. With all this interaction with five men, you’d think some romance would be in place .. nah! 

What I got right here will make the boys hallucinate
Have you braggin, ecstatic, No one can duplicate 

Justin bops his head to the music and winks at me.  I stick my tongue out at him from the stage as I continue the song.  This is the first time he’s hearing any new material due to him promoting his first solo album coming out in a month.  He’s so nervous about the whole thing.  Even though the VMA’s went well, he still thinks he could do better.  That’s Justin for you—never satisfied until its right for him.  I’ve been trying to give him the best advice on being a solo artist whenever he asks about something.  I think the hardest thing for him is that he’s not with the other guys.  They’ve been his brothers for seven years and now they’re putting the group on hold so each one can achieve their other dreams.  Chris is continuing to do his clothing line and has also talked about starting another band.  Joey’s starring as Mark in the broadway musical RENT which I’m so excited about.  Lance is in training to go into space although he’s starting to run into troubles about money.  JC is hoping to start his own solo career which is already on the right track.  I couldn’t be more proud of the guys myself.

We can uh uh uh, let the speakers bump, keep it on the hush, there’s no need to rush   

I think another thing that’s bothering Justin is that he doesn’t have someone else to share his success, to support him, but most of all love him.  I’m sure you all know that he was dating Britney Spears and broke up with her earlier this year.  If there was ever a time I saw him down, it was this time.  What happened between those two hurt him so much he wouldn’t talk to anyone for a couple days—not even his mom.  It wasn’t until one night when I got a knock on my door and Justin was on the other side of the door looking like he was lost and about to burst into a river of tears.  I quickly invited him in, we sat on the couch, and he cried on my shoulder.  All I could do was hold him and cry with him.  Since then, our friendship’s become even closer.. no, not like that.  Don’t get the claws out on me!  I could never see us dating—that’d be like dating my brother.  Gross!

Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce with me
Bounce, bounce, bounce, bounce with me
Let's roll 

I end the song as the crowd continues to scream.  I can’t keep my smile forming from to ear to ear as I wave to everyone. 

“What’s up, Los Angeles?!”  

The screaming gets louder as I continue, “Well, thank you for coming out tonight.  I hope you enjoy the preview of my second album, The High Road.  So let’s keep this show rolling!”  

Once I’m back in the dressing room and changed into a new outfit, I fix up my makeup and hair from the show.  As I reach for my bottle of water, I notice the huge bouquet of white daisies (my favorite flower) resting in a water vase.  I squeal as I reach for the tiny card hidden in the flowers and begin to read it. 

JoJo,You never cease to impress me.Good job on the show tonight—I’m so proud of you. -Justin 

I smile as I set the card down and smell the flowers. 

“Good thing you’re not allergic to those things; there’d be a whole lot of sneezing.” 

I turn around and my smile gets brighter, “Don’t you know how to knock?  What if I wasn’t decent?” 

“That was a chance I was willing to take,” Justin jokes as I hit him on the arm and pull him into a hug. 

“Thank you for the flowers; I love them.” 

“Not a problem; especially after tonight.  God, Jo, you get better every time you get on that stage.” 

I blush, “I guess.  So what did you think of the new songs?” 

“It’s definitely a different sound for you, but I like what I’m hearing.  I think it fits your voice better.” 

“Well, thank you,” I smile pleased. 

“And now that you have my blessing, it is now okay to release this album and continue your shows.” 

I roll my eyes, “Yes, I have Justin Timberlake’s blessing.  Everything’s going well!” 

As he’s about to say something, both of our mothers come in the dressing room. 

“Oh, I’m so proud of you, baby,” my mother says as she hugs me tight. 

“Okay, Mom, I get the love,” I say as I pull away from her. 

“Don’t be embarrassed, Joanna, you truly have a gift.  Any girl would kill to have a voice like yours,” Lynn says. 

“Like him?” I point to Justin as the room starts laughing.  Justin just sits there and rolls his eyes. A knock on the door is heard as I go over to answer it. 

“Finally, someone who knows what knock means,” I joke as Justin’s bodyguard, Eric enters the room. 

“Very nice job tonight, JoJo.  I will definitely be adding this CD to my collection,” he says as he hugs me.  “The car’s ready to go whenever you all are.” 

“All right, I’m ready to go before more fans multiply to prevent us from getting out of here,” Lynn jokes as she and my mother leave.  “You coming, Justin?” 

“I’ll be there in a minute,” he says as the rest of the group leaves the room with just us. “You coming over tonight?” Justin asks. 

I sigh, “I wish I could, but I really shouldn’t.  I leave for Orlando tomorrow morning bright and early.” 

Justin forces a fake smile in reply to my answer.  I can tell he’s not happy, and neither am I. 

“I’m sorry, J, you know I’d come any other time.  Are you staying here until you have to go to New York for your album release?” 

“Yeah, basically.  A few, small trips here and there, but nothing major.” 

“Well then, I guess I’ll see you in New York.” 

Justin’s face lights up, “You’re coming to the release party?” 

“Is that even a question?  I wouldn’t miss even if I had a concert that day.” 

Justin grabs my waist and pulls me close to him, “You never let me down, Jo.” 

Even though he’s done this many times before, I feel an awkward feeling of doing this.  Snap out of it, Joanna, it’s just Justin! 

“Well, I should probably get going.  I got a long flight ahead of me tomorrow.” 

Justin lets go of me, “Yeah, I should probably do the same before Eric comes back searching for me.” 

“Well, then, I guess this is goodbye for now,” I say sadly. 

Justin lifts up my chin, “Never say goodbye; see you later.” 

I smile a little, “Thanks for coming out tonight; I’ll miss you.” 

“I’ll miss you, too, JoJo,” he says as he watches me leave the room.  “I’ll miss you.”