Amanda and James were the best of friends. They had known each other since kindergarten, and were laying on her front lawn at 8:30pm, starring at the stars, and talking about what they were going to do that summer.
“I’m going to Orlando” James smiled and looked over at the moon.
“Aw man! You are so lucky, what are you gonna do there?” Amanda smiled; she didn’t know the true reason why he was going, or how long.
“I…I’m, I’m staying there…”
“What?” she whispered, her frown deepening.
“Well…you know how that guy, Justin called me the other day?”
“Yeah”
“It wasn’t to join a choir, really…it, was to join a band.”
“Oh” she said, fighting the lump in her throat, obviously hurt.
“And…and dad says I should go, and try it out. So I’m moving down there…”
“Orlando is kinda a long way from Mississippi…”
“I leave tomorrow.” Amanda tried to put on a good face, if it was her last night with James, she decided that she wasn’t going to be upset or angry with him, she was going be happy for him.
They talked until the sun began to rise behind the large trees at the back of Amanda’s house, about anything that came to mind. Everything from what he was gonna do while he was down there, to when he was coming back.
They walked back inside; James slung his arm around her shoulder. Their friendship was rare seeing that they were now 18 and had been friends since they were 4; she was what he was going to miss the most.
She walked him to his house before a final goodbye.
“You better call me” she tried to laugh.
“I will” James whispered and pulled her into a hug. “Just don’t you go running off meeting guys that I don’t know or I don’t approve of!”
“Okay, b-bye” before James could see the tears in her eyes, she ran off up the driveway.
~*~
We were talking to each other 'til dawn
You put your arms around me and you asked me what was wrong
I tried to be so serious; you smiled and played along
You had to leave town tomorrow, yeah tomorrow you'd be gone
We must have had the stars above and heaven on our side
'Cause we fell in love before we even made it through the night
But you were leaving town, and started another kind of life
You walked me to the door and we tried to say goodbye…
~*~
James got off his flight and looked around the airport; he didn’t know what the people who were picking him up looked like.
He looked to a guy with blonde ringlets atop his head, who looked like he was about 14, and smiled when he saw the sign he was carrying. James Bass from Mississippi.
“Um, hi? I’m James Bass from Mississippi”
“Hey dude! Have you found him yet?” another guy, who looked about 5 years older than him called out across the terminal.
“Umm…Yeah I think so! Are you sure you’re James?”
“Yes.”
“Fine then what’s my name?”
“Um…I’m not too sure if you’re the guy that I talked to, but, Justin?”
“JOEY! WE FOUND HIM!” Justin called.
“Hey there, I’m JC, Let me take that for you” another guy smiled and took his bag from his hand.
~*~
“Hi…” James smiled nervously.
Maybe I've never found the right way
I kept my love hidden underground
Baby I wish that there was some way
That I could turn the clock around
~*~
Amanda sat by the phone for the first two weeks of her summer vacation, waiting for James to call, it wasn’t until the 3rd week that he did.
“Hello?”
“Hey Mandy!” his cheerful voice sounded through her ear.
“Hey, it took you long enough to call me!”
“I’m so sorry, but it’s just been madness here, trying to get settled in! How are you dude?!”
“I’m good, how are y-” she was cut off by the sound of guys yelling from outside.
“HURRY UP LANCE!” Joey shouted from the pool.
“Lance?” Amanda frowned; it was his middle name, why were they calling him Lance?
“Umm…yeah, that’s what my name is now, James is too dorky…that’s what Joey says, and I kinda agree”
“Oh…”
“Don’t worry, I’m still your Jimmy, and you’re my Mandy”
“Okay…you sound busy, so I’ll let you go…”
“Okay…Oh! Wait! We got our name”
“What is it?”
“Nsync”
“What?”
“Well we took the last letter of our first names: JustiN, ChriS, JoeY, LanceteN, and JC”
“Lanceten then? I gotta go!”
“Okay, bye”
“How’s you’re girlfriend Jimmy?” Chris taunted.
“She’s not my girlfriend, she my best friend.”
No matter what Amanda did that night, she couldn’t get any sleep. She picked up the phone in his room and called all her friends. It didn’t really help, but it took her mind off ‘Lance’ for a while. The next morning, she got on her bike and rode over to Lance’s stables, she knew he wouldn’t be there, but she needed something to remind her of him.
~*~
I couldn't sleep,
I called up everybody that I knew
All my friends said that
I'd be crazy if I waited 'round you
I wanted to believe then so I called to say we're through
But when I heard your voice, it nearly broke my heart in two
Maybe I've never found the right way
I kept my love hidden underground
Baby I wish that there was some way
That I could turn the clock around
Well I jumped into my car but as I headed down the road I knew that when
I got there, there would be nobody home
You had gone away forever, and you left me all alone
Now I was on my own
~*~
Over the next 6 months, Amanda didn’t hear from Lance once. She knew he was busy, but she didn’t see that 5 minutes to say hi wasn’t that much to ask for. She was sitting in her living room, by the phone one weekend, as she did every weekend, while watching MTV, when her best friends face popped up on the screen, along side 4 other faces she’d never seen. They’ve really done it! My Jimmy’s finally lived out his dream, he’s gonna be famous! She smiled to herself and watched the rest of ‘I Want You Back’.
Another 6 months later, still she had no word from her Jimmy, though she missed him more than she could say. She was happy that he was so busy with tours, and albums.
Everyday when she had no errands to run, or no homework, she would sit in the stables, as if to wait for him. But he never came.
~*~
Don't say you're gone
I'll find you
Someday...
~*~
Until one night, when she sat on one of the rails, starring out into the starry sky, repeating the last night she saw him, without him there, a familiar deep voice sounded behind her.
“The moon’s bright tonight” He whispered.
“Yeah” she smiled, as if she wasn’t surprised to see him there.
“I’m so sorry for not calling you, and there wasn’t any way you could call me, coz I didn’t give you the number and-” he was cit off when she pressed her lips up against his…
“Wow” he smiled when they separated “How long have you known I love you?”
“I just found out two seconds ago, how long have you known I love you?”
“Around the same time you found out about my feelings…”
~*~
Maybe I've never found the right way
I kept my love hidden underground
Baby I wish that there was some way
That I could turn the clock around
~*~
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