September 28th, 1995

Clinton, Mississippi

“And here comes the Junior float.”

16-year-old James Lance Bass clapped and cheered along with the other students of Clinton High School as he watched the class floats drive through the football field during the Homecoming festivities. He smiled proudly as a giant Raid can made its way onto the field and the swell of cheers from the Junior section rose to a whole new decibel.

Lance felt a hard slap to his shoulder blade and grinned as his best friend, Darren Dale, wedged his way through the crowd of people in the bleachers to get to his friend’s side. Lance clapped Darren’s shoulder, pushing him away when he gave him a noogie.

“That looks amazing, man,” Darren shouted into his ear. “Way to go, Vice Prez.”

“Thanks, D,” Lance shouted back. “The Hornets are going down, they won’t know what hit them.” He paused for a moment and then laughed. “Pun intended.”

Darren rolled his eyes. “So, you headed to 80 tonight?” he asked, raking his fingers through his hair. “A whole bunch of us are going.”

“I don’t know,” Lance said with a shake of his head. “Since Homecoming is tomorrow and everything, and Ace isn’t going-“

“Gotcha,” Darren replied with a nod of his head. Lance looked over at him out of the corner of his eye. Darren’s eyebrows shot up and Lance turned to face him. “What?”

“That’s what I want to know,” Lance replied, quirking an eyebrow.

“Nothing, dude,” Darren replied, putting his hands up into the air. “It’s just…well she does hang around you a lot. A lot more lately, actually.” He bobbed his head from side to side. “I was just wondering if-“

“She’s my best friend,” Lance replied, interrupting Darren. “And your best friend, too, in case you forgot.” Darren nodded his head. “She’s just having a little hard time adjusting to Sumner Hill. She was just used to being at school with us, you know?”

“At least she’s with all the other Freshman; they can be weird together,” Darren said with a small laugh and Lance couldn’t help but join in. “But, seriously, man, I was just curious.”

“She’s cute, but she’s like my sister, that’s all,” Lance said with a shake of his head. “But, what about you?” He tilted his head to the side. “I mean, we are the Three Musketeers, but-“

Darren shook his head. “Like you said, she’s cute, but, no,” he replied, his nose wrinkling slightly as he smiled. “So she hasn’t made any friends at school yet?” He pretended to look upset for a moment and Lance rolled his eyes. “I guess it won’t be so bad to hang out with her before the dance. Got to look out for the little kids and all; make high school easier for the Minor Niners.”

“Come on,” Lance said with a laugh, shoving Darren’s shoulder. “We used to be in her position, too. She…just doesn’t have a lot of girl friends. I mean Stace leaves to head off to school soon and she and your sister aren’t in the same…social circles.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know,” Darren replied, slapping Lance on the shoulder. “It’s cool, I get it. So, I’ll swing by your place around eight, maybe we could check out the 80 later. See who’s hanging out, what kind of tunes are being played.”

“Sure,” Lance replied with a nod before slapping his palm into Darren’s. “I’ve gotta go anyway, I have to-“

“Pick up Ace, I know,” Darren replied with a nod. There was an announcement over the speakers and students started getting up, heading out onto the field to hang out. Some loud music was already being blasted from cars in the parking lot. “Don’t forget the meeting with David Fair about Attaché this year. It’s on Monday.”

“Won’t miss it,” Lance replied before stepping out into the aisle of the bleachers. “I see Ace. Come on.” The two of them clambered down the bleachers, their footsteps vibrating through the metal plates, smiling and waving at their classmates, pausing to talk every now and then before heading over towards the parking lot.

“Hey, there, Bookworm,” Darren commented, reaching for the book in the brunette’s hands, pulling it away from her.

14-year-old Annaleigh Carr rolled her brown eyes before straightening, abandoning her stance of leaning against the fence. “Chippendale! Pleasure as always.” She then stood on her tiptoes, trying to get her book back from Darren as he held it high above his head. “Give it back.”

“We’re about to beat down the Hornets tomorrow and all you want to do is read?” Darren asked, laughing as Annaleigh started to jump up and down, grasping at his arm, to try and get her book back. “Where’s your school spirit?”

Annaleigh stopped jumping. “In case you didn’t notice the arrows on my cheeks,” she said as she pointed to the red and black arrows that were indeed painted onto her cheeks, pointing towards her nose. She then smiled a little bit. “They weren’t placed well, I think they make my nose look bigger, hence the book.”

“That button nose?” Darren asked, his eyebrows shooting back. “Course not, it’s adorable.” He shot out his hand and gently pinched her nose. Lance’s eyebrows shot up as looked back and forth between his friends before grabbing the book out of Darren’s hands. Darren put his arms across her shoulders.

Little sister? Yeah, right, he thought to himself as he tapped the book against the heel of his palm. “Ace, you ready to go?” Lance asked, handing the book back to her before fishing for his keys out of his pocket. “My stuff’s in the car. Do you need to-?”

“Got all mine right here,” Annaleigh replied as she wiggled her shoulders, indicating the backpack straps. She slid her backpack down one shoulder and unzipped it to put her book inside. “Let’s roll. I’ve got major homework to blow off.” She then looked up at Darren. “You coming?”

“I’ll swing by later,” Darren replied, removing his arm from around her shoulders to muss her hair. “Have to take my sister home, and then I’m swinging by the music store to start checking out songs for my audition for Attaché this year.”

“Oh yeah, you’re finally old enough to audition, Anna,” Lance said as they made their way towards the parking lot. “Are you going to try out this year?”

Annaleigh was big into music like Lance and Darren. She was part of the church’s choir with the two of them and they all had the same taste in music as well. One year, at their church’s Christmas talent show Lance and Annaleigh had wowed the crowd with their version of ‘Baby its Cold Outside.’

“I don’t know,” Annaleigh replied with a click of her tongue. Her eyes then flashed as she looked over at Lance. “And don’t call me Anna.” She shook her head, her pigtails gently slapping her in the face. “Besides, with soccer, I don’t know if I’ll have any time to rehearse or anything and with travel games-“

“Excuses, excuses,” Darren said, waving his hand in the air. “I’m sure you could do both.”

“Between Darren and I you know everybody there,” Lance added, putting a hand on her shoulder. “It’s not like you’d be alone or anything. Or, you could audition for Showstoppers, you have a great voice-“

Showstoppers and Attache were two musical groups that Clinton was known for. Showstoppers was a part of the Mississippi Agriculture and Forest Museum. People would come to the museum to spend a nice day out and during lunch the Showstoppers would perform for them. Lance auditioned in the eighth grade with the song “I Want to Be Loved Like That” perfect for his vocal range. Through Showstoppers he worked with vocal coach, Bob Westerbrook who helped him with his audition for Attaché.

Attache was huge in Clinton. It was a musical performance put on at Clinton High School, made up of 18 boys and girls who performed at the school and in competitions around the United States. People came from all over to see the fall and spring performances.

“Whoa, whoa!” Annaleigh cried, putting her hands up in the air. “Showstoppers is one thing, but Attaché s is another. There’s no way I could do it. Case closed.” A cocky little grin came to her ace. “I mean sure, I am a pretty great singer if I do say so myself, but that’s…Attaché is, like, elite. Maybe with my dancing, yeah, but-“

“Excuse me, but isn’t it your dream to get out of Clinton?” Darren asked. “By any means necessary?” Annaleigh gave a brief nod. “Well, if you’re interested in music as much as you say you are, then Showstoppers and Attaché is the way to go. You get to travel, see the places, meet new people. It’s worth it. Right, Lance?”

“Right,” Lance replied with a nod. “You came out to some shows, you saw how fun it was and the people we met.” He clapped Darren on the shoulder. “If it wasn’t for him, I wouldn’t have been a part of either group.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Darren said, bowing.

“You could’ve turned into a great baseball player, though.”

Lance turned around and gave Alan McIntyre a smile and a nod in greeting. “Hey, man,” he greeted him. He hadn’t had a lot of interaction with his friend since he really started to get into singing. They hung out every now and then at school events and some parties, but they both knew that their friendship had changed. Lance had stopped playing baseball the year he decided to try out for Showstoppers.

“Hey guys,” Alan replied, giving Darren a nod of his head. He shouldered his baseball bag. “Nice float idea, Lance. Secured a Junior win like we hoped.”

“Thanks, man,” Lance replied. “Good luck in the game tomorrow.”

“I heard with your pitching skills, the Arrows are a lock to win,” Darren added, clapping the teenaged boy on the shoulder.

“And with Annaleigh on the soccer field, it looks like we’re in to be a Triple Threat this year,” Alan replied, nodding towards the shorter girl. He gave a small laugh. “Just make sure you don’t take a rebound to the face.”

“Hearty har har,” Annaleigh said dryly as Lance and Alan started to laugh.

“I gotta get going, but I’ll see you guys later,” Alan said. He gave a two fingered salute before heading through the parking lot, towards his car.

“Yeah, I’ve got head out, too,” Darren said, crossing his arms over his chest. “I’ll catch you two later.” He gave a wave before setting off at a jog across the parking lot.

“Well, Madame, your chariot awaits,” Lance said, offering his arm towards Annaleigh. She laughed, rolling her eyes as she looped her arm through his, falling into step beside him as they crossed the parking lot. Their shoes crunched over the gravel, mixing in with the sound of lingering students screaming the school’s cheer.

Arrows, Arrows flying straight

Arrows, Arrows dom-i-nate

The two of them made their way to his car and climbed in before he pulled out of the parking lot, heading towards his home. They sang along to the songs on the radio at the top of their lungs, smiling as the warm Mississippi air rushed past them.  Lance pulled up into the driveway and the two got out of the car, hurrying into the house, dropping their backpacks to the floor and kicking their shoes into a pile.

“Hey, ma,” Lance called into the house as he shut the front door. “We’re home.”

“Hi, Mrs. B,” Annaleigh said as she followed Lance into the living room, dropping onto the couch. “Hey!” Lance dropped down beside her and used his feet to push her to the floor. Annaleigh slapped at his legs and he laughed, pulling them away.

“Hello,” Lance’s mom, Diane Bass, greeted the teenagers with a warm smile, appearing in the kitchen doorway. She crossed her arms over her chest. “How was the pep rally?”

“The Juniors won the parade contest thanks to Mr. VP over here,” Annaleigh said as she jerked her thumb in Lance’s direction.

“Oh, sweetheart, I’m so proud of you,” Diane said, putting a hand to her chest. “I knew you would come up with something great.”

“Thanks mom,” Lance replied, sitting up in his seat. He peered over at his mom, his eyes narrowed slightly. He watched as she grasped at the sterling heart pendant on her necklace-last year’s Valentine’s gift from his father, James Bass-sliding it back and forth on its beaded chain. “Mom, what’s wrong?” His eyes then widened. “Is it Nana?”

“Oh, no sweetie, everything’s ok,” Diane replied with a half smile. “There was an interesting phone call about you today.” Lance’s eyebrows lowered. “All the way from Orlando, Florida. It was a woman by the name of Lynn Harless; she and her son, Justin, was calling for your availability to try out for a band he’s in.” 

“Justin who?” Annaleigh asked, voicing Lance’s question.

“It was a strange last name,” Diane said, a thoughtful look coming to her face. “Something with a body of water…ah, yes. Timberlake. His name was Justin Timberlake.” Lance’s jaw dropped.

“Justin Timberlake?” Annaleigh repeated, her voice getting high pitched as she jumped to her feet. “MMC/Mickey Mouse Club Justin Timberlake? That Justin Timberlake?”

“Yes, he and his mom were looking for Lance,” Diane replied with a nod. “I said that you were out at the time and they said they’d call back later.” As soon as the words were out of her mouth, the phone rang. “I wonder…” She disappeared back into the kitchen and Lance continued to stare, his jaw droppd.

“Mom’s been talking for almost an hour now,” Lance said as he shuffled the small stack of playing cards in his hands, eyes on the now closed kitchen doors. “Do you really think it’s Justin Timberlake on the phone?”

“You don’t just toss that name around, Lance,” Annaleigh replied as she slowly moved to place her cards onto the castle in between them.

After ten minutes of Diane talking on the phone, the two of them had grown impatient and were trying to find ways to pass the time. Finding a deck of playing cards in the drawer of the living room table, they sat opposite each other, trying to make the card castle as tall as possible. Whoever knocked it over, had to go and interrupt Diane and try and get the phone to Lance. 

It was something they did a lot when they were younger; build card castles to see who was the loser and do something that neither of them wanted to do. Diane could get pretty annoyed if interrupted while on the phone.

“I think it’s the real deal,” Annaleigh replied, slowly bringing her hands back from the card castle, letting out a sigh of relief.

“I don’t know,” Lance said with a shake of his head. “I mean, how would they get our number or even hear about me? I’m not special.”

“You were one of the youngest people ever to make it into Attaché, how could people not know who you are?” Annaleigh asked, tilting her head to the side. “Take your turn please.”

Lance sighed through his nose before placing his cards onto the castle, creating a new tier. He then added a card on top of that to start a new row. He then rested his left elbow on his knee, propping his chin up with his fist. “It’s weird,” Lance replied after a moment of silence. “Cool, but weird.”

“Hey, you always said that one day you’d get out of Clinton, James,” Annaleigh replied with a shrug before brushing one of her pigtails over her shoulder. She reached for the deck of cards and grabbed two of them. She carefully constructed a triangle before leaning over the table to add it onto the growing stack of cards. “Why, I do declare, this is your shot.”

“Yeah,” Lance replied with a nod, tilting his head towards the kitchen where he could hear his mom was still talking on the phone. “Do you think she’ll go for it?”

Annaleigh lowered her arms and gently rested them on the table, making sure not to let the card castle fall. “She’d be crazy not to,” Annaleigh replied quietly. She peered over at Lance for a moment, pressing her lips together before letting out a sigh through her nose. “It’s just…if things turn out well for you, just be careful.”

“What do you mean?” Lance asked quietly, his eyebrows furrowing together.

“Fame is…it’s like this card castle for example,” Annaleigh said, indicating to the structure with a pink nail-polished finger. “It takes a while to build, but it’s pretty steady. It has a solid foundation-“ she indicated to the wall of cards at the of the structure, “and with many hands, you’re on the fast track to the top. But, one small thing-“ she tapped at the corner of a card near the middle of the structure and she watched the cards fall back to its base, “could make it all come crashing down faster than you can blink.”

She then looked back at him, a cross between a smile and a smirk coming to her face; something she was famous for. With that smile, you never knew what she was going to say next. It could be something to build you up and just as quickly tear you down. Because of this, she had earned the moniker “Anal-Lee.” Not that it bothered her to be referred to as such.

Lance admired her for that; she didn’t seem to care what people thought about her. “Seem to” being key words, there. He did see that it got to her from time to time, she was only human, but she was strong and confident a lot of the time. If it wasn’t for her and Darren’s constant badgering, he probably wouldn’t have had the nerve to try out for Attaché or Showstoppers.

“Lucky for you, I’ll still be your friend even if your big head gets bigger,” Annaleigh replied, making a circle with her hands, expanding it. Lance rolled his eyes. “I’m serious though; this will work out for you. I just know it. Just don’t’ forget us little people.” She chuckled, putting a hand to her head to indicate her height.

Lance laughed, rolling his eyes. “You want to get out of Clinton as bad as I do,” he said, glancing towards the closed kitchen door. “If I’m going, you’re going with me.”

“Ah, you don’t want a little kid tagging along with you,” Annaleigh said with a shake of her head, tapping the table with the cards in her hands.

“I want my friend tagging along with me,” Lance corrected her. Annaleigh straightened, her face brightening, and Lance pointed a warning finger in her face. “You’re not going to Homecoming with me.”

“Oh come on, pleaaaase?” Annaleigh asked, clasping her hands together, sticking out her lower lip into a point. “You and your date won’t know I’m there I promise.” Lance shook his head back and forth. “It’s not fair that Freshmen and Sophomores can’t go unless inviteeeeed.” She held out the last word in a kind of whine.

“Are you sure you’re 14, Anal-Lee?” Lance asked, arching an eyebrow.

Annaleigh stuck his tongue out at her. “Try 12, Lance Ass,” she replied obnoxiously as she could muster and Lance laughed. Annaleigh laughed a long with him for a moment before shrugging. “I just thought I was going to be asked by someone, that’s all.”

A sly smile crossed Lance’s face. “So you do like Darren,” he said. His smile widened as Annaleigh’s face turned a bright pink. “I knew it. I knew it.”

“Shut up,” Annaleigh muttered, dropping her gaze to the ground. “This-“ she waved her arm into the air, “isn’t about me. It’s about you and your budding music career. You’re going to make it far; I just know it. Your mom would be crazy to turn this down.” She then got onto her stomach and started army crawling towards the closed kitchen door.

“What are you doing?”Lance asked, using the card in his hand to scratch at his eyebrow. Annaleigh waved her hand in the air, motioning for him to be quiet.

She quietly pushed the two doors open, pressing her ear to the crack. Lance let out a heavy sigh before lying flat on the floor, using his arms to propel himself forward, until he was by her side, listening to the clacking of his mom’s shoes against the linoleum.

“I understand…I agree it is a risk…I just…” The clacking stopped and Lance and Annaleigh heard his mom let out a heavy sigh. “Thank you for calling, Mrs. Harless…Lynn…but, I don’t think so.”

Lance gasped. He felt his eyes widen and his jaw drop in shock as he turned to face Annaleigh, who had a similar look of shock. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing and for the second time that day, he was speechless.

“Your mom has totally lost it,” Annaleigh said with a shake of her head.

Clinton, Mississippi

After that initial phone call, the phone at the Bass house wouldn’t stop ringing. Diane left the phone to ring the first few times, adamant that she wasn’t going to let Lance go to Orlando. He understood that she was worried about him and always will be, but the more the phone rang, the more excited he was getting about everything.

When asking his mom as much as he could about the initial phone call, he could see that she was getting annoyed with the questions, but he wanted to know everything. Why was Justin Timberlake looking for him? How did they get his phone number? Who was it that keeps calling? What kind of band was they forming that needed him? And more.

“I’m not talking about this anymore, James,” Diane said with a heavy sigh, rubbing at her temples as the phone rang again. She glanced over at the phone, setting her jaw. “Should disconnect the phone.”

Lance let out a sigh through his nose. Only his mom and Annaleigh ever referred to him by his first name on occasion, and that was only when they were going to tell him something important. Or sometimes in Annaleigh’s case if she was incredibly mad at him.

“But, Mrs. B, this is a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Annaleigh protested, before turning towards Lance speaking to him as if his mom wasn’t there, “she has to say, yes—you can’t expect Lance to just let this pass him by—shoot, this is bigger than him getting into Attaché—that was pretty cool—Even a blind hog finds an acorn now and then. That’s what you always say, Mrs. B.”

Diane stared at her for a moment before chuckling, putting a hand to her head. “It took me a little bit, but I think I understood that,” she said, folding her hands on the kitchen table, on top of the newspaper that sat out in front of her.

Lance nudged her Annaleigh with his elbow and gave her a grateful smile. Annaleigh could be pretty scatterbrained at times, taking on two different conversations at one time. It was pretty hard to follow sometimes, but Lance had gotten the hang of it over the years. In this instance, she was actually helping her out. He sucked in a deep breath of air and slowly let it out.

“Mom, you know how important singing is to me,” he said, rubbing his hands together before he slid them into his jeans pockets. “A-and you’ve watched MMC with me sometimes, so you know that Justin Timberlake is good; he’s got professional experience and everything-“

“Well, so has Lance,” Annaleigh spoke up. “He’s learned loads of stuff through Showstoppers and Attaché and-“she was interrupted by the phone ringing again and moved to grab it before either Diane or Lance could say anything. “Hello; Bass residence, Ace speaking”

Lance watched as his mom’s eyebrows rose in a combination of annoyance and amusement. Her persistence on things did cause her to step on toes every now and then and in most cases he wasn’t really sure if she actually thought things through before saying or doing anything. It did have its upside as she wasn’t afraid to tell him what she really thought of things and it allowed her to give good advice.

If there was anyone he needed advice from right now, it’d be Stacey Bass, his older sister. Not that he wasn’t grateful for Annaleigh standing up for him it was just the simple fact that he always turned to his sister for advice with his parents. Being the youngest of the two kids did have its perks; Stacey was the guinea pig so to speak with how their parents raised her. She was the first to go through groundings, and fights, and the inevitable “talk” with their dad—James Bass was a medical technologist and while he really did only work in medical laboratories, he felt like it was his job to explain the birds and the bees to his kids.

“It’s Bob,” Annaleigh said, holding out the phone. She had her hands cupped around the mouthpiece as she held it out between Lance and Diane, switching it back and forth. “Is someone going to take the phone or-?”

“You’ve already taken the liberty of answering,” Diane commented with a hint of a smile, resting her chin in her hand. Lance laughed quietly as Annaleigh blushed.

“Sorry,” she said quietly, giving a sheepish grin before holding the phone out towards Diane. “Put it on speakerphone.”

Diane’s eyebrows knitted together slightly before she took the phone. She pressed the pad of her forefinger to a button on the phone before holding it out. “We’re here, Bob. Lance, too.”

“Oh, good!” a deep, warm voice said on the other end of the phone.

Bob Westbrook was well known in the area as he was the vocal coach for the Showstoppers. He actually lived in Memphis, Tennessee, but always made the drive down to Clinton, Mississippi whenever they held rehearsals; which was every day. “Dedication calls for sacrifice,” he would always say.

So what would I be sacrificing now? Lance thought to himself as he watched his mom talk on the phone. He had a million thoughts running through his mind about everything, but he couldn’t form any words or full sentences in fear of having his mom instantly shut him down; like she had done with the situation already. And if there was something he tried hard to avoid, it was getting his mom mad. Lord, please let this work out for me.

“We really think this is a good opportunity for Lance,” Bob said over the phone. “I understand that this is all sudden, but I’ve been working with Justin and I’ve known the Timberlake family for years. They’re good people.”

Yes! “See, mom?” Lance said, pushing himself up onto the balls of his feet, leaning towards her. He clasped his hands together in a pleading motion. “And you know Bob is good at what he does. You’ve seen Justin on TV. Let me try at least.”

Diane let out a sigh through her nose.

“The Timberlake family is a very professional family. They told me that they were looking for a bass singer and I immediately thought of Lance. With his work in Showstoppers, furthered by Attaché, he’s a right fit. He’ll have to work on his dancing a little bit, but I’m confident that he can help this group go far. Diane, you need to let Lance go. This is his shot.”

Lance felt his face heat up. He always knew he was a pretty lousy dancer, but he did his best with what he could do. He did start to get a little worried though. How much dancing is needed for this? He thought to himself, chewing on his bottom lip. He looked over at Annaleigh but found it hard to read her face. Only you have control of this, God. Please let this work out.

“I understand that, Bob,” Diane said with a nod of her head. “But, I don’t think this is a good idea. Thank you for calling.” She then hung up the phone for a second time.”

“Moo-oom!” Lance groaned, buying his face in his hands.

“Orlando is too far away, honey,” Diane said with a shake of her head. “And your father and I wouldn’t be able to go with you if things were to work out, you are sixteen after all.”

Then why do you keep treating me like I’m six? Lance thought to himself, pressing his lips together. He didn’t dare to say that out loud. “At least hear them out. You know that Bob is the best, and he’s worked with Justin and Justin was able to use his singing on TV. This could become a big thing and you know how important singing and performing is to me.”

“I know sweetie,” Diane replied with a nod. She sighed, closing her eyes, when the phone rang again. She lifted it to her ear, ready to answer. “Let me at least talk to your father about this and see what he thinks. He’ll be home soon.”

“But-“

“We understand,” Annaleigh cut him off as the doorbell rang. She grabbed her arm and pulled him out of the kitchen and towards the foyer.

“We do?” Lance asked.

“We do,” Annaleigh replied.

“I’m not following you, Ace,” Lance said with a shake of his head. He pulled his arm out of her grasp, grabbing her shoulder, stopping her. “I’m sure I could’ve got her to change her mind.”

“Better leave it up to Bob and Mrs. Harless,” Annaleigh replied with a shake of her head, “and your dad. Remember? She was worried about you auditioning for Showstoppers until she heard you at the church talent show. She’s always worried at first; but you’ve always proven her that you have your head on your shoulders.”

“That’s true,” Lance said with a sigh as he grasped the doorknob to his front door, pulling it open to give Darren a smile in greeting. “Hey. You’ll never believe what happened.” He sighed heavily when the phone rang again. “That’s partly what it is.”

“You didn’t answer to a telemarketer did you?” Darren asked as he stepped into the foyer, allowing the storm door to slam shut behind him. “It’s tough to get rid of them.” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of gum. Annaleigh instantly held out her hand, wiggling her fingers. Darren briefly rolled his eyes before removing a stick from the pack, slapping it into her hand. “So, are we staying here or-“

“I need to get away from the incessant ringing,” Annaleigh interrupted him, putting her hands over her ears. Darren reached out and flicked her on the tip of her nose.

“Don’t tell me you’re actually getting annoyed by your own voice,” he said with a teasing grin. She frowned, batting his hand away.

Lance watched the exchange with raised eyebrows before turning towards Annaleigh, crossing his arms over his chest, giving her a pointed stare. She muttered a “shut up” towards him before moving to get her shoes, allowing her long, dark hair to hide her blushing face. Lance chuckled, shaking his head back and forth.

“Let’s head to the back of the 80,” Lance said to his friend as he also moved to get his shoes. “I’m fixin’ to get out of here for a while.” He scratched the back of his neck. “Besides, I need your advice on something.”

“Yes, I’ll help you learn some dance steps for Homecoming,” Darren replied, reaching out a hand to punch Lance on the shoulder.

“Ha ha,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. “But, my dancing is part of the problem.”

“Well, I could’ve told you that,” Annaleigh replied as she straightened, planting her hands on her hips, giving Lance a teasing smile.

She would know, Lance thought with a sigh. After he got into Showstoppers and Attaché, Darren and Annaleigh had both helped him out with his dancing as much as they could. Darren was a natural born singer and dancer, and Annaleigh had a natural sense of rhythm that allowed her to pick up moves quickly. She wasn’t even in either music groups, but she was able to nail the dance moves faster than he could.

Her smile faded slightly. “It was just a joke, Lance” she said quietly. “I didn’t mean to hurt your feelings.” She gave him a half smile. “If you can do Attaché, you can do this. I know you can.”

“What exactly are we talking about?” Darren asked, looking back and forth between the two of them.

“I’ll tell you on the way,” Lance replied. “Wait here a second.” He then made his way back to the kitchen and leaned in the doorway, finding his mom with the phone up to her ear. He waved his hand to get her attention and she looked up at him, removing the phone away from her mouth. “Darren’s here. I’ll be back later.”

“Be back by 11,” Diane replied in a hushed tone, “and make sure Ace has a ride home, please.” Lance nodded and was about to rejoin his friends, but stopped when he noticed her waving her hand in the air. “I know you really want to do this, James. I know how important singing is to you; I’m just worried about what this all entails.”

“I know, Mom,” Lance replied with a nod before lifting a hand in greeting. “I love you. See you later.”

He rejoined Annaleigh and Darren in the foyer before they all made their way out of the house and towards his truck. They all piled into the front seat, Annaleigh squeezed between the two of them, and Darren headed out of the neighborhood, turning up the radio as he did so. Lance hummed along to Kiss From a Rose by Seal as it played on the radio.

“There is so much a man can tell you so much he can say,” Annaleigh sang as she swayed in her seat. Lance smiled before joining in. “You remain my power, my pleasure, my pain, baby.”

Darren joined in a moment later; their voices mixing together. They broke off into specific layering parts of the song, Lance naturally taking the part in the lowest register. He couldn’t help but smile, a chill always went down his spine when he really got into a song that he was performing, and in this case, just goofing off.

“To me you're like a growing addiction that I can't deny. Won't you tell me is that healthy, baby? But did you know, that when it snows, my eyes become large and the light that you shine can be seen. Baby, I compare you to a kiss from a rose on the gray. Ooh, the more I get of you, the stranger it feels, yeah. And now that your rose is in bloom. A light hits the gloom on the gray.”

Singing in the shower, in the car, or with a group Lane just knew that this was something he had to do for the rest of his life. Even when he was in Seven Card Stud with Darren and five other guys from the Showstoppers group performing at festivals, it was just a taste of what was waiting for him outside of Clinton, Mississippi. It was what he always wanted.

Heck, he had even written in Keri Martin’s yearbook: “Keep this autograph because I’m going to be famous one day.” It was a joke at the time, but deep down he knew it would happen sooner or later even though everyone at school was sure Keri was the one destined for fame and fortune.

As Darren headed towards the back roads, Lance had already made up his mind. He was going to make this happen one way or another.

“So, let me get this straight,” Darren said as he lowered the green bottle of beer from his lips, gripping it tightly in his hand, “Justin Timberlake wants you to fly out to Orlando, Florida, to be in the next New Kids on the Block?”

His face was glowing and flickering from the light of the bonfire that he, Lance, and Annaleigh were sitting around. There were two other bonfires set up with groups of kids from Clinton High dancing around them, whooping, hollering, and singing along to the songs that were being played by the parked cars. The cars were lined up at the entrance to the clearing, car doors wide open, headlights on to give more light to the area.

“Basically,” Annaleigh replied, stretching her legs out in front of her. She leaned back on one hand, lifting her beer bottle to her mouth. “At least, that’s what I’m assuming Justin needs a bass singer for.” Darren let out a low whistle.

Lance knew all about New Kids on the Block, he didn’t know anyone who wasn’t a fan of them. Even his parents knew some of their songs. They were a group of good looking guys who could sing and dance and had hordes of girls chasing after them. Although they had disbanded in 1994, their songs were still popular, getting plenty of airtime. What he did with Seven Card Stud had the same effect and he wanted that kind of rush again.

“You’d just have to worry about lip synching like NKOTB,” Darren commented with a snort before taking a long swing from the bottle.

Great, one more worry, Lance thought to himself. He tried to push the thought out of his mind and stay excited. After all, they could probably have anyone in the band, but they were looking for him.

Darren then pointed the bottle over at Lance. “Is that what you wanted my advice on?” he asked, arching an eyebrow. “Whether or not you should do this?” He shook his head. “Shoot, you’d be crazy to pass this up; I mean, they are looking for you.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Lance said with a nod. He looked down into his beer bottle and swirled the amber liquid around in the bottle before lifting the bottle to his lips. He allowed the alcoholic drink to slide into his mouth. He held it there for a moment before swallowing it, savoring the slight burning sensation in the back of his throat. “My mom already said I can’t do it. You know how protective she is.”

“She let you travel with Showstoppers and Attaché,” Darren said, his nose wrinkling slightly. “Then again, she always went with you-“ He stopped, snapping his fingers, “That’s it, Lance. Just convince your mom to go with you.”

“She already said that she can’t take time off work to do it,” Lance said with a sigh.

“Can’t or won’t?” Darren repeated. Lance paused to think about it and filled the silence by busying himself with taking another drink from his beer bottle. “She knows how important singing is to you. The music business in this entirety is just something she’s not used to. Show her that this is something you really want.”

“It can’t hurt. Also, seek the Lord, and his strength,” Annaleigh added with a shrug and Darren angled his head in her direction. “Remember, Romans 8:28?”

“All things will work together for good,” the three of them chorused and Annaleigh gave a nod of her head and  then lifted her beer bottle in the air. Darren and Lance clinked their bottles against hers and they all tilted their heads back, taking a long swig.

Lord, you’re the only one that sees what my future has in store for me. You’re the only one that knows whether or not this works out. Only you can guide me into making this a reality Please help. With as much faith as Lance put in the Lord, he knew that he was going to need to get the ball rolling a little bit on his own. This was once in a lifetime opportunity; he couldn’t just let it pass him by. He just needed a surefire plan.

September 29th, 1995

Clinton, Mississippi

“I mean, it happened faster than a knife fight in a phone booth. So, he’s trying to find a way to convince Mrs. B to let him go to Orlando,” Annaleigh said as she moved around her kitchen setting out bowls and napkins. She dug her hand into a bowl filled with chips and shoved some into her mouth. She chewed rapidly before licking her lips. “Isn’t that amazing? I mean, you never hear something like this happen in Clinton.” She planted her hands on her hips. “Do we have any salsa, dad?”

Ryan Carr used his elbow to turn off the faucet to the sink. He grasped the dish towel that hung from a hook on the window sill before turning towards his daughter, using his shoulder to brush his hair out of his face. “Check the refrigerator door,” he replied. “So, Lance is headed down to Orlando, then?”

Annaleigh slid over towards the refrigerator in her socks and pulled the door open in search of the dip. “He wants to go, but his mom is completely against the idea,” she replied, locating the jar and grabbing it. She used her hip to shut the door. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity.”

“So I’ve heard,” Ryan replied with a small laugh as he dried his hands before folding the towel and placing it on the side of the sink. “It’s the only thing you’ve been talking about since you found out about it.”

“Come on, dad, this is Justin Timberlake we’re talking about,” Annaleigh said as she set the glass jar onto the table. Her cheeks puffed as she put her hand down on top of the jar and tried to twist off the top. Her face turned a bright red before there was a pop and the cap twisted off.

Annaleigh’s breath rushed out in a sigh of relief before she started to dump the salsa into an empty bowl. “You know, from MMC?” Ryan stared blankly at her and she set the now empty jar onto the table with a loud thunk. “Mickey Mouse Club? Oh my stars, dad, you know what I’m talking about.”

“I know,” Ryan said as he relaxed into a grin. He grasped the jar and stuck his finger into the container, dragging it around the sides before sticking his salsa covered finger into his mouth. “Like I said, it’s the only thing you’ve been talking about.”

“Well,” Annaleigh said with a shrug before holding her hand out towards her dad, wiggling her fingers. Ryan handed her the jar and she did the same, smacking her lips as her tongue stared to sting. Her mouth watered and she reached for a chip scooping out a dollop of salsa before dropping it into her mouth. “I ganted bo axe gu someving.”

“Sorry?” Ryan asked, a confused look crossing his face. Annaleigh held a hand over her mouth, as she chewed.

“I wanted to ask you something,” Annaleigh replied behind her hand.

Ryan peered at his daughter for a moment as she chewed as fas as she could to swallow. “I reckon you’re fixin’ to go with him?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest, quirking an eyebrow. Annaleigh gave him a sweet smile. “I don’t know, Anna.”

Annaleigh’s smile instantly faded. “Why not?” she asked, her features wilting as she frowned. “It’d be a great experience. Orlando is the new place to be for music.” She stuck out her bottom lip. “Please?”

“Sweetheart, this is Lance’s shot not yours,” Ryan said, scratching the back of his neck with his finger.

“I know,” Annaleigh said, her eyes popping open, her voice jumping up into a higher pitch. “I do! But, this could help me prepare for auditions, and—“ She thought quickly, “and Bob really wants him to try out. He has good hopes for this. Dad, I could look at a real recording studio and see how the recording process and professional performance rehearsals go. It’s a way to get out of Clinton.”

“Anna, correct me if I’m wrong, but didn’t you serve as a stage hand for some Attaché shows?” Ryan asked, running a hand over his face. “You traveled with them as well. You went all over the United States.”

“And I was fine then. I was Mrs. B and I’d be with her now,” Annaleigh replied. She started bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet, making a whining noise. “Please? Dad, you know how important music is to me.”

How could he not? Music was pretty much the topic of any and all conversation that came out of her mouth. If she was a part of a conversation that wasn’t about music, she made it that way. Dancing, singing, playing, she wanted to be a part of it in any way shape or form that made her happy. Clinton was a city all about music and sports (especially baseball), but she knew that Orlando was the best place on the East Coast to be to have her career really take off.

She didn’t want to step on Lance’s toes, this was his shot, but it would be a great learning experience. She’d get to see what it really took to get into the profession, and get a taste of what the world outside of Clinton, Mississippi really had to offer her. Plus, while she was there, she could possibly get someone to listen to her sing to give her some tips or something. It was a win-win situation; her friend got to live out part of his dream and she’d be there every step of the way, just like always.

“I do know, sweetheart,” Ryan replied. He laughed a little bit. “I wouldn’t have set you up with vocal lessons, and drum lessons, and dance lessons and—“ Annaleigh made a whimpering sound. “I’m just saying…don’t you think it’s time for you to start walking your own path?”

“What do you mean?” Annaleigh asked, a confused look on her face. She watched as Ryan pressed his lips together running his hands over his hair. “Daaaadd?”

“Oh, sweetie,” Ryan said with a sigh, motioning for her to sit down. Annaleigh frowned before pulling the chair in front of her out so she could sit down. Ryan sat down across from her, folding his hands on the table. Annaleigh twisted a lock of hair around her finger “It’s just that…I wonder if you rely too much on Darren and Lance to figure out what you want to do with your life.”

“They’re my best friends, dad,” Annaleigh replied, playing with the top to the salsa jar. “We all love music and performing, that’s all.”

“Yes,” Ryan replied, slowly nodding. He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose, “but, you weren’t interested in Showstoppers or Attaché until you started hanging around them.” Annaleigh’s eyebrows lowered. “You have a wonderful gift; I’m just worried that you’re doing this for the wrong reasons.”

“I love you, daddy,” Annaleigh said quietly, “but, this is my dream. I’m going to get out of Clinton one way or another.” She then suddenly threw her arms into the air. ““Behold, I am doing something new! It’s already happening; don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.” Ryan rolled his eyes, shaking his head in amusement at her dramatic recitation. She then grinned. “Isaiah 43:19.”

“I know the verse well,” Ryan commented with a warm smile. Ryan worked as a contractor during the day but a Bible Professor at night at Mississippi University in Clinton. He also spent some time on the weekend serving as a Youth Pastor for Youth Group.

“When’s mom getting home?” Annaleigh asked, changing the subject. “I bet she’ll understand how important this is.” She got out of her seat and over to the pantry door. Opening it, she reached for the box of popcorn and pulled out a bag.

Ryan opened and closed his mouth before letting out a sigh through his nose. “She’s running late,” he replied after a moment of silence. Annaleigh nodded, ripping off the plastic to the snack before sticking it in the microwave. Beeps filled the air before a low hum as the microwave turned on. “Out shopping.”

Annaleigh slowly turned around to face her dad. “For what?” she asked in a low tone. Ryan turned his head to look out the sliding glass door that led to the back sunroom. “Please, don’t tell me she’s out looking for a Homecoming dress for me.”

“Ok I won’t tell you, then,” Ryan replied after making a popping sound with his lips.

Annaleigh groaned, rolling her eyes as the sound of popping kernels filled the air. “Daa-aaaad,” she whined, stomping her foot. “I told her a thousand times that I wasn’t going. I wasn’t even invited.”

“You know how your mother gets,” Ryan commented, using a hand to brush his mop of brown hair off of his forehead. “If you can’t use it for Homecoming, maybe consider it for a pageant?” Annaleigh’s upper lip curled slightly. “I know, I know, you haven’t done one in a while. At least pretend that you like it.” Annaleigh lifted the side of her mouth into a half smile. “Try a little harder than that, Sweet Pea.”

Homecoming: the time of year where everyone was in a tizzy about having the perfect dress, the perfect hair, the perfect date, and the perfect night. It was something she had always wanted to take part in, but never had anyone that wanted to ask her to any school event such as this. She wasn’t what one would consider hot, but she wasn’t ugly either. She was…cute. Years before cute was a good thing to be called, back when boys and girls interacted at parties and events just to have fun, not to get anyone’s attention. Those were simpler times that she missed.

“I’ll try,” Annaleigh replied, smiling as the smell of the buttery popcorn hit her nose.

“That’s all I ask,” Ryan replied. “Sweet Pea, I know how important your music is to you, and you’ve proven to me that you can handle working with the church band, church choir, and everything as well as keeping your grades up. I’m just worried about you and what the industry entails, especially with you as a minor.” Ryan put a hand up when Annaleigh turned to face him, opening her mouth to protest. She instantly closed it. “I’ll talk to Diane and your mother, but I have concerns of my own.”

“Concerns about what?” a voice called from the foyer as the front door swung open.

“Hey, Ma,” Annaleigh called, turning back towards the microwave to watch the clock count down. “Jasmine’s spending the night.”

“Wonderful,” Caroline Carr said with a bright smile as she entered the kitchen arms laden with shopping bags, her purse swinging back and forth on her elbow. “I’ve found the cutest shoes for you today.” She started setting down all he bags onto the table before leaning over Ryan, kissing him. “How are you today, sweetheart?”

“Just fine, dear,” Ryan replied, twisting in his seat to face her, quirking an eyebrow. “Nice shopping trip, then?”

“Just lovely,” Caroline replied, removing the sunglasses from her hair, allowing her blonde locks to fall forward, framing her face. “Look at these shoes, Anna.”

Annaleigh popped open the microwave door as it beeped, indicating the end of cooking time for the popcorn and grasped the steaming bag by one of its corners. She pulled the tabs open and dumped the popcorn into the last empty bowl before popping a kernel into her mouth.

“Let’s see, Ma,” she said before stepping forward to kiss her mom’s cheek. “Did you hear about what happened to Lance?”

“Yes, Diane called me first thing this morning,” Caroline replied, reaching into a bag for a gray box. “I think Lance is finally getting his talent recognized.” She set the box down onto the table and flipped the top open to reveal a pair of white, strap high heels. She lifted them out of the box, holding one in each hand. “Cute, right?”

"Yeah, mom, but I already have some heels,” Annaleigh replied, scratching the back of her neck. “Anyway, I wanted to ask you something.” She took the heels as her mom handed them to her and reached down with a hand to take off her socks before slipping her feet inside the shoes. She cringed, her toes becoming cramped in the small space. “So—ow—you think Lance going to Orlando is a good idea?”

“Sweetheart, the Timberlakes called all the way from Florida,” Caroline said, clasping her hands together in delight as she looked her daughter up and down. “If that’s not a sign from God that bigger and better things are out there, waiting for him, then I don’t know what is.“

“So…if Mrs. B lets Lance go to Orlando…can I go too?” Annaleigh asked, staring at her mom, gauging her reaction.

Caroline let out a sigh through her nose, using a hand to brush her hair out of her face before turning to face her daughter. “I don’t know, Anna,” she said with a shake of her head. “I mean, you still have school and your responsibilities to your church group, and rehearsals, and lessons.”

“Mom, please?” Annaleigh asked, adopting a wounded look.

“I don’t know, honey.” Caroline didn’t look at her but instead turned her attention towards Ryan. “You’d be so far away, in a town we’ve never been to before. Your father couldn’t get off work. I couldn’t get off work. There’s just so many…temptations out there in that kind of business.” Ryan’s eyebrows twitched, but he didn’t say anything.

“But-but, you just said earlier that you thought it was a great opportunity for Lance,” Annaleigh said with a huff of annoyance. “Ma, that’s not fair.”

“The Timberlakes called for Lance specifically, Sweet Pea,” Caroline said, turning back towards her daughter, pressing a hand to her cheek; she rubbed her thumb back and forth.

I don’t believe this, Annaleigh thought to herself, feeling her jaw drop slightly. She was all for it just a minute ago. “It’d be a learning experience, Ma,” Annaleigh tried again. “I could learn all about recording studios and—“

“We’ll discuss this with you later, Anna,” Ryan interrupted her in a firm tone and Annaleigh sighed, dropping the subject, her shoulders drooping. “I need to talk to your mother first.”

“Fine, sure,” Annaleigh replied with a sigh through her nose as the doorbell rang. “Coming.” She then left the kitchen and headed to the front door. Grasping the handle and swinging it open, a bag was shoved into her chest as Jasmine Dale stepped across the threshold. “It’s about time.”

“Tell me about it,” Jasmine replied with a roll of her eyes. “You know guys, waiting until the last minute to get ready for dances.” She jerked her thumb towards the front door as Darren and Lance stepped into the house. “Even I have to admit, these two dweebs clean up pretty nicely.”

I’ll say, Annaleigh thought to herself as she set Jasmine’s bag down onto the ground.”Eh, they look good, I guess,” she commented before giving Darren a small wave in greeting.

“Thanks, Ace,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. “Nice to see you, too.”

“Nice shoes,” Darren commented, his head angled down towards Annaleigh’s feet.

Annaleigh looked down at her feet and saw that she was still standing in her high heels and quickly kicked them off. “Oh, uh, yeah, thanks. Mom just got them…for me,” she muttered. She looked over at Lance and saw the knowing look on his face and she shot him a look that was all ‘shut up.’ He merely shrugged, smiling. “But, that doesn’t matter. Lance, has your mom changed her mind about Orlando?”

Lance shook his head, a frown coming to his face. “I don’t know how she expects me to even pay attention to Homecoming knowing that we’re still getting calls from Justin Timberlake,” he commented.

“Your date is the one with the problem, not you,” Annaleigh replied with a smirk before turning on her heels to step into the living room to grab the camera that was sitting on the TV housing unit. “Ok, you guys ready?"

“Don’t you two just look so cute together?” Jasmine cooed, clasping her hands together, her nose wrinkling as she smiled.

“Funny,” Darren commented making a face at his sister before turning back towards Annaleigh, passing her a clear box with a rose in it. “This is for you. Just thought you’d…you know, since no one invited you to the dance.”

Annaleigh didn’t know whether to be flattered by the gesture—I mean hello he had basically given her a rose—or that much more upset by not being able to attend Homecoming.  At the same time, it wasn’t that big a deal, not a lot of freshmen were ever asked to Homecoming by an upper classman anyway. What it really came down to, not that she’d ever say it out loud, but she felt that due to her only being a Freshmen and her two friends as Juniors, that she was being left behind, and wanted to do as much with them as possible before they graduated.

“Thanks," Annaleigh finally managed to get out, a smile coming to her face. The plastic let out a squeak and a pop as Annaleigh opened the top.

“Come on, Darren, put it on her,” Jasmine said with a roll of her eyes before she grasped her brother’s arm, pulling him towards Annaleigh before tossing her friend a smile over her shoulder. “Homecoming tradition and all.” She then took the camera from Annaleigh’s hand, holding it up towards her eye. “Smile!”

Homecoming tradition, my foot, Annaleigh thought to herself, giving Jasmine a small glare. Darren, however, didn’t seem to be bothered as he gave her a warm smile, taking the container from her hands, his fingers brushing up against hers, sending a shiver down her spine. Darren lifted the corsage from the box and slipped the elastic band across her wrist.

“Thanks,” Annaleigh said with a shy smile. She blushed when Darren winked, stepping back from her.

“You’re welcome,” he replied. He then paused when he realized that she was staring at him. “What?” He ran his hands down the front of his shirt. “Did I button up my shirt, wrong?”

"No, you just, uh, look different," Annaleigh quickly replied, feeling her face heat up as she gave him a weak smile. “That's all. Good, different. You look good. Great, really." She caught Lance’s eye and he quirked an eyebrow. Smooth, Ace. Just stop talking.

“Thanks,” Darren replied with a smile. His eyes then moved to a spot over her shoulder. “Evening, Mr. and Mrs. C.”

“Well don’t you two look handsome,” Caroline said with a wide smile. She had her hand up to her necklace, sliding the charm on the end, back and forth on its chain. “You sure have grown to be mighty fine young men.”

“Thank you, ma’am,” Lance replied.

“Your dates aren’t going to know what hit ‘em,” Ryan added from where he was leaning in the doorway. He used his thumbnail to scratch at his top lip, a look of annoyance briefly passing over his face when Caroline snorted.

Annaleigh’s eyebrows twitched as she looked back and forth between her parents before looking over at Jasmine, who shrugged, and then over at Lance who was adjusting his tie and then back at her parents. Something was off, she could just feel it, but had no idea how to bring it up even if she wanted to.

“Alright, pictures,” Caroline said clapping her hands together. “Let’s get some in before you’re late picking up your dates. And I already know Diane would throw a fit if she missed the opportunity to get pictures of you and your dates.” She took the camera from Jasmine and waved her hand. “Girls, go stand next to them. Come on, come on.”

Annaleigh rolled her eyes, mouthing an apology to her friends before moving to stand next to Lance, wrapping her arm around his waist. “If you say anything, I’ll hurt you,” she said through her teeth sa she smiled for the camera.

“I don’t doubt it,” Lance whispered back. “But, for someone who doesn’t want Darren to know, you’re being really obvious.”

“Can’t help it,” Annaleigh replied, through her smile. The camera shutter clicked and she looked up at him. “Was I being that obvious?”

“Considering you’re not a shy person,” Lance replied, “yes.” Annaleigh cringed and then instantly brightened when Caroline called her out on it. “Just tell him.”

If only it was that simple, Annaleigh thought to herself with a brief role of her eyes. Caroline then took pictures of Darren and Jasmine together and Lance and Annaleigh before taking a few pictures of the two boys together before they headed back out the door to head to the school dance.

“Is that popcorn I smell?” Jasmine asked, grabbing Annaleigh’s attention. She turned on her heels and followed her friend into the kitchen. She punched the air with her fists when she saw the bowl sitting on the table. “That’s some mighty fine hospitality, Ms. Carr.”

“You can thank my mom for that,” Annaleigh replied with a small laugh. “Sorry about her, by the way. You know how she gets with ‘milestones’.” Annaleigh used air quotes around the word as Jasmine dug her hand into the bowl of popcorn. She then glanced at the kitchen door. “They’ve been actin’ strange lately.”

"That's fine," Jasmine replied with a smile before shoving her handful of popcorn into her mouth. She crunched down loudly before nodding at the corsage on her friend’s wrist. “Dare made a big deal about that, by the way. Getting you the perfect corsage.”

Annaleigh looked up in alarm. “What?” she asked, feeling her cheeks heat up. “Why?”

Jasmine shrugged. “Didn’t want you to feel left or whatever,” she replied.

A small smile came to Annaleigh’s face before it was quickly replaced by a look of confusion. “Wait a minute,” she said, looking over at her friend, putting her hand on her hip. “Didn’t you get invited to Homecoming?”

Jasmine grinned.

She was one of the few Freshman that had been invited and Annaleigh didn’t blame any guy that asked her out. She was one of the most popular girls in her class, partially due to her love for softball. Having been named MVP of the season the year before, she had a bright future ahead of her.

“I couldn’t leave you here by yourself,” Jasmine replied, planting her hand on her hip. “Especially since my idiot of a brother wouldn’t ask you. Not like I didn’t drop hints or anything.”

“Unfortunately, Jazzy, nothing’s going on between me and your brother,” Annaleigh commented, grabbing a paper plate from the stack at the edge of the table, starting to load it with chips and salsa. “Not like he’d pay attention to me or anything.”

“He got you a corsage,” Jasmine pointed out.

“You know what I mean,” Annaleigh replied. “I don’t know…that was just a friendly thing. Why would he pay attention to me? I mean, he’s been all around the US singing and dancing and performing.” She shrugged and licked her fingers free of salt and salsa juice. “I’ve barely done anything worthwhile or notable. He and Lance became friends because of Showstoppers and Seven Card Stud and everything. Maybe if I got good with singing…forget it, it’s stupid.”

“My brother is stupid, not you or your feelings,” Jasmine replied with a shake of her head. She used her hands to gather her hair into a ponytail before dropping her hair back down around her shoulders. “Besides, I think he likes you, too. “

"Yeah, right,” Annaleigh replied with a brief shake of her head. “Can we talk about something else? Like, how totally unfair my parents are being?” Jasmine grabbed the bowl of popcorn and followed Annaleigh out of the kitchen, through the living room, and up the stairs towards her room. “I asked them, like I planned to, if I could go to Orlando with Lance if Diane said he could. Dad pretty much said ‘no’ and mom was all gung ho for the idea of Lance heading down to Orlando, but not my going with him.”

“Did you tell her that you’d be able to learn how music is professionally recorded and everything?” Jasmine asked with a frown, settling down on her friend’s bed.

“That was the hard sell and she still didn’t go for it,” Annaleigh said with a nod. “I think they were starting to fight, too. They’ve been doing that a lot lately.”

She always remembered her parents being so happy and so in love with each other, that she didn’t notice the arguing at first. Or she didn’t want to notice. Or maybe her parents were just trying hard not fight around her, but the thing was, was that it was starting to worry her.

“You don’t think they’re getting a divorce or anything, do you?” Jasmine asked.

“No way,” Annaleigh replied with a shake of her head. “You know my dad, he sees divorce as a sin and they still love each other. They’ve just been fighting now and then.” She let out a heavy sigh. “I just want to get out of Clinton. I want to get away from the fighting and from…everything. I want to see what Orlando is like and how hard it is to really get into the business.” She scooped a glob of salsa onto her chip before sticking it into her mouth, loudly chewing. “I know going to Orlando is the right thing, but dad is worried that I’m just following Lance, like I supposedly always do.”

“Welllll.” Jasmine held out the word, looking around the room.

“Oh, Jazzy, not you, too,” Annaleigh said with a shake of her head. Jasmine gave a small grin. Annaleigh frowned. “Do I really do that?”

“It’s just that...I think you rely on him too much, sometimes,” Jasmine replied with a gentle smile. She put her hands up defensively. ”There’s nothing wrong with loving to sing and wanting to perform, or even wanting to get out of Clinton. I want that for you, too.”

“I’ll do it,” Annaleigh replied, a look of determination crossing her face. “With or without Lance…this is just the first step towards that. We’ll get down to Orlando. You’ll see.”

September 30th, 1995

Clinton, Mississippi

“Hey, wake up. Come on, Lance.”

Lance squinted one eye open before groaning, squeezing his eye shut, pulling his blanket up over his head. He let out a loud groan when he continued to feel someone shaking his shoulder. Then he felt a stinging blow on his backside and he let out a scream of pain before it morphed into a groan as his forehead throbbed.

“Whhaaat?” Lance asked, sitting up, allowing the blankets to fall down his bare arms and puddle around his waist. He rubbed at his eyes with his fists before blinking rapidly at the figure standing in front of him. A smile blossomed across his face. “Stace?”

“Hey, Squirt,” Stacey Bass replied with a smile as she moved to sit down next to her brother before leaning over, giving him a hug. “How ya been?”

“Good,” Lance replied with a smile as he leaned back against his pillows. “But, I want to know ‘bout you. How’s school? How you doin’?”

“School’s good,” Stacey replied with a shrug. “Classes, teachers, students, homework.” She then patted his knee. “But, s’not important. I heard ‘bout Orlando.”

Lance blinked in surprise for a moment before remembering that he had called her and told her about the news. It also wouldn’t surprise him if his mom had even told Stacey about it. His dad had all but cornered him as soon as he got home to congratulate him of his good news.

His mom had stood by him, reminding him that they hadn’t come up with a decision, and then his parents had gone off to talk about it. He didn’t know the outcome of their conversation, his head was pounding too much at that point, and he was too exhausted to continue to try and fight, what looked to be, a losing argument.

“So, what do ya think?” Lance asked, lifting a hand to block the sun from his eyes.

“I think this is a good opportunity for you,” Stacey replied and Lance felt himself smile. “It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity for ya.” She then gave him a wide smile. “Lucky for you, I’ve mastered the fine art of negotiating with mom.”

“You’re awesome, Stace,” Lance replied, his smile getting wider.

“Don’t thank me,” Stacey warned, pointing a warning finger at him, “haven’t said anythin’ yet.” She then ran her fingers through her hair. “She’s just worried about you, you know. The music business is something completely different then she’s used to.”

“I know,” Lance replied.

“And you’d be gone for so long,” Stacey added, “but I know you can do it.” She reached out a hand and ruffled Lance’s hair. He made a face, pushing her hand away. “You impressed everyone gettin’ into Attaché so young, but I’ve always known you were meant to entertain people.” She laughed lightly. “Remember when we’d put on those shows for mom and dad?”

Lance laughed with her, before putting a hand to his head. He remembered those times as well. He would beg Stacey to sing and dance and be part of a “show” with her for their parents, and grandparents, and anyone that would spare five minutes to watch them. There was something about the smiles, the applause, and the laughter that made all of those performances worthwhile. It was those moments that made him want to perform as much as possible.

“Yeah,” Lance replied with a fond smile. “Those were good times. Thank you for putting up with me so much back then.”

Stacey rolled her eyes. “I have to put up with you all the time,” she said with a teasing smile. It was Lance’s turn to roll his eyes. “I’ll talk to mom and see if I can get her to change her mind. This is obviously somethin’ important to you.”

“Stace,” Lance said quietly. Stacey gave a small tilt of her head, showing that he had her attention. “I feel like I was supposed to do this.” He twisted his fingers in his lap. “Bob must think so too if they keep calling.”

“A Lou Pearlman called, too,” Stacey replied and Lance gave her a confused look. “Accordin’ to mom, she’s the manager for the band. He’s also called, trying to get her to change her mind.”

Wow, Lance thought, his smile getting wider. Even the manager is calling? He felt his heart beat faster. This is it. I know this is what I’m supposed to do with my life. I just know it. He ran his hands over his face, letting out a sigh. He blinked before groaning in pain when a pillow collided with the same of his head.

“God, Stace,” he groaned.

“Someone had to wipe that goofy look from your face,” Stacey replied before sticking her tongue out at Lance. “Just don’t forget us small town folk when you get to travel around to those big, fancy cities.”

“I’ll send you a postcard every now and then,” Lance replied before sticking his tongue out at her in return. “Maybe.”  He grasped the pillow and hit her in the side with it. “Now, get out.”

“Already bossing us around,” Stacey said with a laugh as she got up to head over to his bedroom door. She tapped her finger tips on the wood for a moment before turning around. “Hey.” Lance glanced over at her. “I’m proud of you, you know.”

“Proud of what?” Lance asked.

“Proud of you for always accomplishing what you dream of doing,” Stacey replied, resting her arm against the door. “You’re working hard to make things turn out how you want them to. You had Darren help coach you until your audition for Showstoppers and Attaché was perfect. You sacrificed a lot during Seven Card Stud, but you were travelling and performing, something you always said you wanted to do. You’ve never let anything stand in your way. So…I’m proud of you.”

“Thanks, Stace,” Lance replied. “And thanks for talking to mom for me.”

“Anytime, little brother,” Stacey replied before making her way out of the room, pulling the door shut behind her.

Lance pushed his blankets off of his legs and swung them over to the floor. He slowly got to his feet, wind milling his arms slightly when he got a head rush. He let out a sigh through his nose, and shuffled over to his closet, his pajama pants legs sliding down his legs as he moved. He pressed his forehead against the cool wood of the closet door before pulling it open. He let out a small groan of pain when his closet door creaked, loudly.

Putting a hand to his head, he reached for his hangers, pushing them back and forth before deciding on a pair of jeans. He changed into them before then trying to find a shirt to wear, stopping every once in a while as he succumbed to the pounding of his head.

“So, how’s that hangover working for ya?”

“Why don’t you ever come through the front door like a normal person?” Lance asked, not even bothering to turn around as he straightened. He reached for a shirt hanging off a hanger and tugged it off of the plastic. He turned to face Annaleigh as she climbed in through his, now open, bedroom window, a backpack on her back. He separated the ends of his t-shirt before pulling it up over his head.

“Normal is boring,” Annaleigh replied with a shrug, removing her arm from one of the backpack straps. She unzipped the backpack before pulling out a bottle of water, holding it out to him. Lance took it with a nod of thanks before she reached into her backpack a second time before handing him a bag of white pills. “Advil. So, how was Homecoming? From what you can remember, anyway.”

Lance glanced at his closed door before turning back towards her. “Keep your voice down,” he muttered.

He took the bag from her and twisted off the top to the water bottle, holding it against his palm with his pinky finger. He set the bottle down onto the floor before opening the bag. He reached a hand in and grabbed two pills, popping them into his mouth before grabbing the bottle, drinking the water, pushing the pills down his throat.

“I bet you anything that The Back of the 80 was around even when our parents were our age,” Annaleigh said, looking unconcerned as she dropped her backpack to the ground before moving to sit on her bed.  “I bet they even went to the Fire Tower and had an underage drink or two. I bet they were rebels of their time.”

Lance crossed the room to his dresser to put the bottle of water and the bag of pills down onto the top before brushing his hair into a smooth swipe instead of it sticking up at odd angles. “Not even Homecoming could stop me from thinking about Orlando.”

“I hope your date didn’t notice,” Annaleigh commented.

“We had a good time,” Lance replied before pointing at the closed door with his brush. “Stace is downstairs talking to my mom right now.”

“Well, at least some people are talking,” Annaleigh commented, twisting her mouth to the side. “All my parents do is fight about it.”

Lance frowned, turning around to face her. “They’re still fighting?” he asked, setting his brush down onto the dresser before moving to sit down beside her, pulling his knee to his chest. “You told me they were arguing last night.”

“And that was what they were doing when I got up this morning,” Annaleigh replied with a shake of her head. “They didn’t want me to worry, of course. It’s weird, it was like one minute they were fine, and then I woke up one day and all they did was yell at each other.” Lance watched as she tilted her head to the side, allowing her dark brown tresses to fall over her green eyes. “Maybe if I didn’t bring up the Orlando thing, it wouldn’t have started this fight.”

“That’s not your fault,” Lance said with a shake of his head, “and you know it.”

He had even noticed the Carrs had been arguing more lately, if not shooting some passive aggressive remarks at each other. It was uncomfortable to listen to when sitting a room away from them. He couldn’t blame her for wanting to spend as much time away from it as possible or to even just want to run away from it.

When it all came down to it, that’s what he thought she was doing, wanting to tag along, to run away from the problem with her parents. Maybe she really did think it was because of her, and without her being there, they probably wouldn’t have anything to fight about. Not that she’d ever admit that. They were incredibly close, but most times, she hated talking about her feelings. But, she was always proud of the fact that she put others before herself, something he had to give her credit for. Even when things weren’t going well for her at home, she wanted to be sure that he got what he wanted.

He couldn’t ask for a better friend. That was a girl, anyway.

“It’s hard to tell, they fight about everything nowadays,” Annaleigh replied, running her hands over her hair before letting out a heavy sigh. “I just want to get away from it for more than a few hours.” She then rested her hand on her palm, putting her elbow on her knee. “So, what would be the first thing you’d do if you could go to Orlando?”

Lance lifted his eyes to the ceiling for a moment as he thought about it. He then looked back at Annaleigh and he felt himself smiling with her. “Disney World,” the two of them said together, nodding, before they started to laugh.

She and Darren alike were two of the main reasons why he wanted to stay to Clinton, but at the same time, he knew that they would be behind him 100% if and when he decided to leave Mississippi behind. It would be nice to have a friend there with him and he did know that Darren thought Clinton, Mississippi would be where he’d spend the rest of his life.

He always said that when he attended college he would work on his vocals more all the while studying conducting in the hopes of running a music program himself, if not just working as a choir director one day. Annnaleigh on the other hand just wanted any way to get out of Clinton as much as possible as long as it was music related. Whether she be the next Madonna, Janet Jackson, or Cyndi Lauper, or to be in a group like The Bangles, she, like Lance, just wanted to perform.

“Pirates of the Caribbean is a must-ride from what I’ve heard,” Annaleigh said as she fell back against the mattress, tucking her hands behind her hand. “And I’ve heard the live performances are pretty good, too.” She closed her eyes, letting out a sigh. “That’s what I want to do one day; perform at Disney World. That way once I’m tired from performing, I can ride roller coasters and stuff to get my energy back and to check out Blizzard Beach.”

“Disney’s Wide World of Sports,” Lance replied and Annaleigh made a face, keeping her eyes closed. “How many people can say they’ve ever played at the baseball field in Disney? Too bad it’s not going to be open for a couple more years.” He used his foot to prod her in the side and she blindly slapped at his barefoot, leaving a red mark on his skin. “Most importantly, we’d have to check out Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular.”

“God, remember how obsessed with that movie we were?” Annaleigh asked with a laugh, her blue eyes glowing as she sat up to look at him.

“Yeah,” Lance replied with a small laugh. “Mom got so mad at us for rolling around the hallway, reenacting that swapping of the golden idol scene.”

“You break one vase and you’re branded for life,” Annaleigh replied and then squeezed one eye shut into a cringe. “You break an urn…” She trailed off and Lance cringed as well. He couldn’t remember any other time his mom had yelled at them so much. It really was an accident…but they had been told three, or four, or five times to stop playing in the hallway.

“My backside hasn’t been the same, since,” Lance commented with a shake of his head.

“I can attest to that,” Annaleigh replied with a devilish grin.

“Ace,” Lance said with a shake of his head.

“Not like it’s somethin’ I aint ever seen before,” she said, the devilish smile still on her face. Lance could feel himself blushing. She then sat up, dropping her gaze to her lap. “I’d miss you, you know. If you got to go.” She glanced up at him through her bangs. She then gave a small smile. “Once you leave, Darren and I won’t have someone to get us to stop insulting each other.”

“Silly me, I thought that was the way y’all flirted with each other,” Lance commented evenly. His smile widened when he saw Annaleigh’s cheeks turned bright pink. “I’d miss you, too. I’d miss everything about Clinton.”

“But, it’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,” Annaleigh finished for him. “Yeah, I getcha.” She then punched his leg. He wondered how after all these years, he hadn’t gotten used to her slapping, hitting, or punching him in retaliation for teasing her about her feelings for Darren.

He had wondered what it would be like if the two of them had started dating, but it was just something that was hard to picture. They were just as similar as they were different. He didn’t fully know the extent of her feelings for Darren, but he could see that he only saw of her as a little sister.

“Thanks, James,” she said quietly, tilting her head to the side starting to twist her hair into pig tails. “For being my best friend despite how crazy I can be. For putting up with me all the time, and for believing in my dreams as much as you believe in yours.” 

“Of course,” Lance replied before leaning over her, digging his fingers into her sides. “Someone has to, Freckles.” Annaleigh absolutely hated the freckles that ran across her nose and he knew he wouldn’t be a good friend if he didn’t tease her about it every now and then.

“Stop,” Annaleigh shrieked between fits of laughter. She tried to push his hands away, but he continued to dig his fingers into her sides, tickling her faster over her sides and across her stomach. “So-ah ha ha—stop!” 

“Say it,” Lance urged between his laughs, easily deflecting her hits. “Say it, and I’ll stop.”

“Ok, ok, I give,” Annaleigh laughed before Lance removed his hands. Her face was bright red, making her freckles and her blue eyes stand out even more. “You’re such a jerk, ya know.” She then got up off his bed and turned to face him, eyes flashing as she brushed her pig tails over her shoulders. “This is going to work out for you, James. I just know it. Have faith.” A mischievous grin then crossed her face. “Like I have faith that I’ll beat you downstairs.”

Lance immediately jumped to his feet and hurried after her as she darted out of the room. He quickly moved past her, using his longer legs, and pushed her to the side with his arm. Annaleigh let out a shriek of laughter, grabbing onto his arm before jumping onto his back, nearly knocking him down the stairs. He looped his arms around her legs and carried her down the rest of the stairs, carrying her through the living room and into the kitchen. 

“Morning, son,” James Bass greeted, looking over at him over a mug of coffee. His eyebrows twitched in amusement when he saw Annaleigh hanging off of his back. “Morning, Annaleigh.” He motioned towards the plate of muffins in the middle of the kitchen table. “Got plenty of muffins for ya.”

“Oooh, Lemon Poppy Seed,” Annaleigh said with a smile as she hopped down from Lance’s back, taking the extra seat at the table. “Thanks, Mr. B.” 

“Did you come in through the window again?” Diane asked, gently blowing on her cup of coffee. Lance dropped into his seat at the table, kicking Stacey back in retaliation to the blow to his leg.

“Sorry, Mrs. B,” Annaleigh instantly replied as Lance reached for a chocolate chip muffin. 

Lance held back his laughter noting that she didn’t sound sorry at all. This was a conversation they had had a few times; one that Lance was sure his mom just accepted that she did. Annaleigh always chose to come into the house through his window; despite the fact that walking up the porch to the front door was easier.

She’d been doing it since they were kids and his family had just gotten used to it. It wasn’t a surprise to any of them for her to come have her in the house without hearing the front door open or close. She, at least, had the courtesy to call ahead of time.

His mom was always worried of the two of them being alone in his room, despite knowing that they were nothing more than just friends. He wondered if she thought there was more between the two of them despite him telling her that there wasn’t. She would sometimes go as far as coming into his room, when the two of them were there alone, with an excuse to be in there before leaving, making a show of leaving the door open. 

“You know me, I like to climb things,” Annaleigh commented. Lance all but shoved the muffing into his mouth to block the bark of laughter that was rising in his throat. Annaleigh blushed a bright pink as Diane chuckled, Stacey laughed, and James loudly cleared his throat, trying to hold his laughter in. But, his smile gave him away. “Trees! I like to climb trees!” She pulled off a large chunk of her muffin and placed it on her tongue. “I’ll stop talking now.”

“So, Lance, Stacey came to talk to me about this whole situation with Orlando,” Diane said after a moment of silence.

Lance paused in his chewing before sitting up straighter in his seat. He put a hand over his mouth and asked, “And?”

“Is this something you really want to do?” Diane asked, after another moment of silence. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she peered curiously over at her son. 

Lance chewed rapidly, before swallowing. “Ma,” he said in a quiet voice as soon as he swallowed. “I’ve never wanted anything more than I’ve wanted this. For a while, I though baseball was what I was supposed to do with my life, but I dropped that the minute I started singing, because, somehow I knew that that was what I was going to do for the rest of my life.”

“I thought you wanted to be an astronaut,” James commented, peering over at his son. “Used to talk about going up into space all the time. Asked for space memorabilia for your birthday for years.” Lance shot his dad a pleading look and James put a hand into the air. “Just saying.” 

“Well, they do space launches from Cape Canaveral,” Annaleigh said, playing with the paper holder around her muffin. “That’s not too far from Orlando. With all of his money, he could probably by a rocket.”

“Not that I’d be doing it for the money,” Lance quickly explained. “I want to do it for the experience and no one said it was a done deal. It’s just an audition anyway.” He then clasped his hands together, sticking out his lower lip. “Mom, please?” 

Diane let out a sigh, twisting his mouth to the side. “Ok,” she finally replied and Lance dropped his arms down onto the table, his jaw dropping. “I’ll let you go to Orlando to audition.” She relaxed into a smile. “Your sister gave me the hard sell. She’s always been your biggest fan.” Lance smiled over at Stacey and she winked in reply. “I’ll be going with you to make sure this is going to be ok, because, honestly, I’m still a little worried about all of this.”

“Whatever you say, mom,” Lance replied with a smile. “Thank you!” He then jumped out of his seat and wrapped his arms around Stacey, giving her a tight hug. “Stace, you’re the best.”

“Anytime, Squirt,” Stacey replied with a smile, tapping Lance’s arms.

“And, Annaleigh,” Diane said, turning towards the younger girl. Lance rested his chin on top of his sister’s head to look over at his friend. Annaleigh, bit her bottom lip, looking over at Lance out of the corner of her eye. “As long as it’s ok with your parents, I’d like for you to join us. This really is a good learning experience for you as well.” A wide smile crossed her face. “Only if it’s ok with your parents.”

“Maybe if you talked to them?” Annaleigh asked, her voice lifting into more of a question. “I’ve tried, but that started fight number 35 with them.” She then looked over at the older girl. “Stace, you seem to be the miracle worker, maybe you can get them to change their minds.”

“I’ll try and talk with them, but it is ultimately up to them,” Diane said, reaching for her coffee mug. She then looked back and forth between Lance and Annaleigh. “Well?” She raised her eyebrows. Lance gave her a confused look and she gave a smile. “Figured you’d be on the phone with Darren by now.”

Lance laughed before releasing his sister, making his way over to the phone.

September 30th, 1995

Clinton, Mississippi

“Are you nuts?” Annaleigh asked, watching as Lance and Darren dropped down into patio chairs, sitting around a fire pit. She was standing in the back doorway of the house, curling her sock covered toes. She had her arms wrapped tightly around her, furiously rubbing at her arms. “Chippendale, you of all people should know that lying outside in the cold air is going to affect his vocals.”

“Relax, Anal-Lee,” Darren replied. He looked at the pile of blankets sitting beside him before grabbing one. He then got up and walked over to her to wrap it around her. She instantly relaxed at his touch and smiled up at him as he rubbed his hands up and down her arm, trying to warm up her arms. “He’ll be in Florida in no time. The only thing he’d have to worry about then is the humidity.” 

He then stepped behind her and put his hands on her shoulders, and pushed her over to one of the other empty chairs, forcing her to sit down. Lance made a noise in the back of his throat, cupping the back of his head with his hands, tilting his head back to look at the star studded night sky.

“That’s the least of my problems,” he said before letting out a sigh through his nose. 

Annaleigh looked over at him, an unreadable look on his face as he stared into the fire. His lips were pulled down in the corners, and his eyebrows were angled towards each other in the center. As if sensing that he was being watched, his eyes flickered up towards her, and a smile came to his face. Annaleigh smiled back at him as he leaned back in his chair.

Annaleigh wrapped the blanket tightly around her, bringing her knees up to her chest as she settled down into the chair that sat between Lance and Darren. She couldn’t blame him if he was worried, but it was also kind of unlike him. From what she had seen over the years, Lance could turn himself into a tight ball of worry, up until he suddenly got a burst of confidence that turned him into a completely different person. People often said that he had enough confidence for the both of them and in instances, like now, she had to agree with them. 

“Cold temperatures constrict your vocal chords,” she said, going back to the topic at hand, resting her chin on her knees. “I don’t even want to think about what the combination of humidity and dryness will do to him.”

“He’ll be great,” Darren replied, resting his elbow on his arm rest, resting the side of his head on his closed fist. He quirked an eyebrow at her. “Do you want him to bomb or something?” 

“Of course not!” Annaleigh replied, stung. She scowled at him, hurt that he would suggest something like that. She couldn’t deny that a part of her wanted him to stay, to not leave her behind, and to just stick around in Clinton. But, she knew that Lance wasn’t a small town person. He was always destined for bigger and better things. “I’m just making sure things are…perfect. That’s all.”

“For who?” Darren prompted. “Your or him?” Annaleigh scoffed in reply. 

“Seriously, can you guys stop arguing for a few minutes?” Lance asked, angling his head down, tearing his eyes from the stars before looking over at the two of them.  “I couldn’t imagine how quickly you two would murder each other while I’m away.”

“Just take her with you and you wouldn’t have a problem,” Darren replied as if that fixed every problem. “I could use some Anna free time.” 

“Thanks,” Annaleigh all but snapped at him, rolling her eyes, turning in her seat so her back was facing him more.

“Oh come on,” Darren said. She could hear the smile in his voice. “I was just kidding, Ace.” 

“Humph,” Annaleigh stuck her nose up into the air before sinking down into her blankets. She let out a sigh through her nose. It was so hard to believe that Lance was jumping on a plane the next morning to fly out to Orlando. She was happy, and sad, and excited, and worried, and an assortment of other emotions for him all at one time.

All throughout the day she and Darren had stayed at the Bass house to help prepare Lane for his audition, between their arguments and her failed, and embarrassing attempts at flirting with him; something she was sure that Lance had noticed, but being the best friend he was, didn’t comment on it. After many suggestions of song genres, such as jazz, blues, and pop, and song suggestions including Puttin’ on the Ritz, Just Awearin’ For You, and his audition piece for the Showstoppers, I Want to Be Loved Like That, did they finally agree on Ol’ Man River. 

They helped him run the song as best as he felt he could do. Darren helped him run vocal warm ups and practice different parts of the songs he was having trouble with while Annaleigh helped him sing in a way that made the song his own, as well as work out some quick dance moves that was easy to do while holding a microphone. That was where he had trouble and Annaleigh started to wonder if this was really what he was meant to do. Lance wasn’t the best dancer she had ever seen, but he had a lot of determination, and wouldn’t stop trying until he got it as best as he could.

If he can’t dance, he can’t be in a boy band, she thought to herself, sitting on the arm rest of the cushy leather couch that sat in the basement of the Bass house. She chewed on her thumbnail as she watched Lance perform the song for the umpteenth time. And for that umpteenth time, his rich, deep voice sent shivers down her spine, but she could notice how his features contorted into a look of worry that disappeared a split second later when he messed up a dance move. 

Stacey, who was also around to help for moral support, and to stop Darren and Annaleigh from arguing when Lance couldn’t, knocked Annaleigh’s hand out of her mouth, giving her a pointed look. Annaleigh just smiled sheepishly, and preceded to twist her fingers together in her lap; her second nervous tick.

But, she knew she really didn’t have anything to worry about. Bob Westbrook saw how hard Lane worked with his vocal work and had seen him rehearse and perform with Showstoppers, Seven Card Stud, and Attaché. He had to have suggested Lane to the band for more than just his dancing. She hoped.

“How was it that time?” Lance asked, after lowering the water bottle he held in front of his mouth as a makeshift microphone.  He twisted off the top before taking a long sip from it. “Stace?” 

“You know I think it’s great,” Stacey replied with a smile.

“But?” Lance prompted, using his shirt sleeve to brush the sweat from his forehead before running his hand over his hair, causing it to stick up with his sweat. 

“There’s no ‘but’,” Stacey replied, putting a hand up. Lance quirked an eyebrow, giving her a pointed look. “However—“

“Saw that coming,” Lance muttered before taking another swallow of water. He held the water in his bulging cheeks, a dribble of water sliding down his chin. His cheeks slowly deflated as he swallowed, wiping at his mouth with the back of his shirt sleeve. 

“You’ve got the singing down pat, and your dancing…could use some work,” Stacey said as if she were choosing her words carefully. “But, it’s there. I can see the passion, the fire in your eyes telling me that you want this.” She got up and then walked over to her brother to give him a hug. “You can do this, James. I know you can. Everything you’ve done before this was practice. It was all for this. You can do it.”

“Thanks, Stace,” Lance replied, briefly closing his eyes as he returned the hug. 

The fact of the matter is, she, Annaleigh, Darren, his mom, his dad, Bob, anybody could tell Lance that he had what it takes. The most important thing was whether or not he believed it. That was why Annaleigh was so worried about him. When he was confident, he could bring up everyone’s doubts around him, especially hers.

She didn’t want to say that he, in a way, dictated how she felt about herself, but, she could see where they were coming from. Ever since her parents had started arguing and yelling, not that she could ever say for a fact when it started, she spent all her time with Lance and Darren. Singing, dancing, soccer, anything she could to get some attention from somebody. 

And it wasn’t like her life sucked. Her parents both supported her in whatever it was she did…unless it involved her leaving. If she had to guess, both Ryan and Caroline wanted her at home so they would have someone else to talk to. Arguing got very tiring after a while when all you did was go around and around in circle.

Listening to it was even worse. 

She always thought her accomplishments would make them stop shooting glares at each other long enough to realize how successful their daughter was and maybe reconnect in some way. Wishful thinking mainly. Just like how she knew that hoping her parents would let her go to Orlando was basically a long shot.

“Be strong and courageous,” Annaleigh heard Darren recite. “Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord, your God, who goes with you.” 

A small smile came to her face as she and Lance joined him in saying, “He will not leave you or forsake you.”

“And neither will we,” Annaleigh said as she turned to smile at Lance. He looked back at her, allowing a smile to come to his face a swell. 

“S’mores fixins,” Lance’s dad announced as he came outside, carrying a plate of graham crackers, chocolate, and marshmallows. He also had skewers in his hand, which he gripped tightly underneath the plate. “I’m actually fixin’ to make a few of these myself, y’all don’t mind.”

“Go ahead, dad,” Lance replied before reaching for the bag of marshmallows. He ripped a hole into the plastic before taking a marshmallow out, taking a bite out of it. “Where’s mom?” 

“She’s on the phone with your grandparents,” James replied before holding his hand out for the bag of marshmallows. “Wantin’ to tell them the good news, see if they can drive down to see you off at the airport tomorrow.”

Annaleigh ripped open a Hershey’s bar and took a bite out of it. She closed her eyes, savoring the smooth, sugary chocolate-y taste as her bite melted in her mouth. She looked up at the stars, her eyes darting around, looking for the brightest one she could find. 

“Star light, star bright, first star I see tonight; I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight,” she whispered to herself, looking around.

In Clinton, you’d be lucky to see a meteor shower, so wishing on the brightest star you could find was the staple with the kids as they grew up. She had remembered all the times the three of them had stayed out late in the park, all three of them trying to find the brightest star—one brighter than another’s—to wish on and they wouldn’t leave until they found one. As her eyes settled on one, just above the house, she closed her eyes.

“I wish Lance the best success with his music. Let him have a safe journey, and to have lots of fun.” As she opened her eyes, she took in the warmth of the fire before reaching to start making her own S’mores. James and Darren were already snacking on theirs while Lance was making more than one at a time to pile onto his plate.

“What’d you wish for?”

Annaleigh looked over at Darren as she settled back in her chair, shoving a marshmallow onto her skewer, leaning forward in her seat, holding her marshmallow over the open flame. “If I told you that, it wouldn’t come true,” she finally said, before sticking her tongue out at him. “Besides, since when have I ever told you what I wish for.” 

He gave her a gentle smile. “That’s ok,” he said, licking some of the chocolate off of his thumb. He gave her a pointed look, making her blush, his eyes alight from the fire and from something else. They briefly flickered in Lance’s direction before looking back at her. The corners of his lips lifted up into a small smile. “I think I know what it was, anyway.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you do,” Annaleigh agreed, flicking out her tongue to lick at the small bit of chocolate that stuck in the corners of her lips.

They continued to eat and make S’mores in silence, occasionally breaking it as their chairs scraped against the back porch, or the wrappers and plastic bags rustled as a gentle breeze blew and as they went to make seconds, thirds, and fourths. It was a tradition with the Bass family to make S’mores whenever there was good news to share. When it got too cold to be outside around the fire pit, they would turn up the flames on the stove and cook their marshmallows that way. 

Honk, honk.

“That’s my ride,” Annaleigh said as she set her empty plate down. 

“I’ll walk you out,” Lance offered, wiping the crumbs off of his hands, his cheek bulging from the s’more he was currently chewing on.

Annaleigh got to her feet and removed the blanket from around her arms, the chill of the fall night air, instantly seeping through her clothes. “I’ll see y’all bright and early ‘n the morning. Thanks for the s’mores, Mr. B.” 

“Anytime,” James replied, lifting a hand. “Tell yer parents I say, ‘hello’.”

“I will, sir,” Annaleigh replied, folding up her blanket before setting it down into the chair she had just abandoned. “I’m just going to get my stuff.” 

She then made her way into the house, through the kitchen, and up to Lance’s room. She put grasped her abandoned bag, pausing to look out the window she had come in through that morning, and then around his bedroom. She then turned on her heels and made her way down the stairs, finding Lance in the foyer.

“Don’t think my parents are gon’a let me go with you,” she said as he moved to open the front door before pushing open the storm door. “They would’ve told your mom by now if I could.” 

“I didn’t want to say anything,” Lance said as they made their way down the footpath. He rubbed at his arms with his hands.

“Think it’s for the best,” Annaleigh said with a sigh through her nose. She put up a hand, shielding her face from the bright headlights of the car that sat in the dark in the driveway. “You know how badly I wanna go with ya, but this is the path you have to take, not me. I’ve been doing everything you’ve been doin’ for years now. I need to start doin’ things for myself.” 

“Couldn’t have done this without you, Ace,” Lance said, putting a hand on her shoulder.”You’ll see me off, right?”

“Course!” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head before stepping towards him, wrapping her arms around him in a hug. “How could I not? I’ll see ya tomorrow. Thanks, James.” 

“For what?” Lance asked, hugging her back.

“For putting up with me for all these years,” Annaleigh replied. “You’re meant to do this, I just know it.” She squeezed him tighter for a moment before stepping back. “Night.”

“Night, Ace,” Lance replied as he let her go. She stepped away from him and he lifted his hand in greeting to the car.

Annaleigh made her way across the driveway and pulled open the back door to the car. “Hey,” she greeted her parents as she slammed the car door shut. She buckled up her seat belt and settled in as Ryan backed the car out of the driveway. She frowned when she got silence. “Mom? Dad?”

“Did you have a good time, Sweetie?” Caroline asked, turning in her seat to face her daughter.

“Darren and I spent all day helping Lance prepare his audition,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. She saw something flicker in her mother’s eyes, and her smile widened slightly. “He’s doin’ Ol’ Man River, got it down perfectly. He and Mrs. B are flying out tomorrow morning.” She was quiet for a moment. “I know I can’t go with them, but is it ok if I see him off tomorrow?”

“Of course you can, Sweetpea,” Caroline replied, reaching out a hand to brush some hair out of her daughter’s face. “I’m glad you had a good time.” Her smile faded slightly. “Honey, I know how much you wanted to be able to head down to Florida. I just don’t think—“

Ryan loudly cleared his throat. Caroline briefly closed her eyes before looking over in her husband’s direction. She sucked in a deep breath through her nose, a muscle in the side of her jaw, twitching. Annaleigh looked over at her dad and saw that he was tightly gripping the steering wheel in his hands.

“We don’t think it’s a good idea,” Caroline finally said after a moment of silence. “Both your father and I wouldn’t be able to take off work, and we don’t know how long we’d have to be down there—“

“I could stay with Mrs. B and Lance,” Annaleigh offered.

“We couldn’ ask them to do that, Anna,” Caroline replied, shaking her head back and forth. “We don’t want to impose on them.” She then turned around and sat forward in her seat. “Your father and I don’t think it’s a good idea for you to be down in Florida on your own, sweetie.”

“We’re just worried about you, sweetheart,” Ryan continued, speaking up for the first time. “The music profession isn’t as easy or glamorous as you may think it is.” He paused for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. “I would know.”

“Of course you would,” Caroline swiftly replied, sharply turning her head to look at him.

“Caroline,” Ryan said in a tight voice, briefly taking his eyes off the road to look over at his wife. “Not now.”

“Wait, dad,” Annaleigh said with a shake of her head. “You used to be in a band or something?”

She stared at the back of his head in shock. She had never known that. She knew that he played a little bit of the drums, and sang in the church choir every now and then, but she didn’t know that he had any ties to the music industry at all.

 “Or something,” Caroline repeated under her breath, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Caroline,” Ryan repeated. He looked at her daughter in the rearview mirror. “We’ll talk about this later, Anna.”

“But—“

“Annaleigh,” Ryan interrupted her, raising his voice slightly. “Later.”

Annaleigh closed her mouth, settling back in her seat. She licked her lips before turning her head to look out the window at each car that passed. She lifted up a hand and ran her fingers through her hair. Dad was in a band? kept repeating over and over again. He doesn’t seem like the band type. Which would explain why he thinks my music is just a waste of time. She let out a huff of air. It’s so unfair.

The rest of the car ride was in silence apart from the low toned quick snaps that Ryan and Caroline shot at each other. Annaleigh strained her ears to try and listen to what they were saying, but they were talking to quietly. She could see them gesturing with their hands, stabbing the air with their fingers, and, in Caroline’s case, slapping him on the arm. As soon as they pulled up into the driveway, the two of them were out of the car faster than she could unbuckle herself.

“Annaleigh, go straight to your room,” Caroline said as soon as Annaleigh closed the car door behind her. She was standing on the front porch, arms crossed over her chest, tapping her foot repeatedly as she waited for Ryan to unlock the front door. “Your father and I have things to discuss.”

“Of course you do,” Annaleigh muttered under her breath. Caroline stopped tapping her foot and stared over at her daughter. Her eyebrows shot up, and her jaw dropped slightly. “Sorry, mom.”

“Just go to your room,” Caroline said, putting a hand to her forehead before running her hands over her face.

As soon as the front door was opened, Annaleigh brushed past her parents and hurried up the stairs, her footsteps echoing along the stairwell. But, she didn’t go to her room. She tiptoed into her bedroom and sat her backpack on her bed before tiptoeing out, making a point to slam the door shut behind her. She then stretched out onto the hallway floor and army crawled towards the stairs.

She didn’t have to wait long for her parents to start yelling.

“How dare you talk about me like that in front of your daughter,” Ryan shouted, shortly followed by the sound of something dropping onto the kitchen table, glass rattling.

“How dare you not tell our daughter all about you and your stupid music,” Caroline shot back.

“You think that’s something I want to tell her?” Ryan asked. He let out a loud bark of laughter. “You think I want to tell her that her music is a waste of time and it isn’t going to get her anywhere?” Annaleigh winced at the words. “She’ll stand a better chance at a real job.”

Caroline let out a shriek of wild laughter and Annaleigh’s heart caught in her throat. “Like you have a real job? Building homes and teaching?” There was a long pause of silence. “I guess I should be happy that you’re payin’ off your mistakes. Your stupid mistakes.”

“I said I was sorry, alright?” Ryan asked in a tight voice. “You don’t think I don’t have to pay for it day in and day out? I know what the neighbors say. I hear all the whispers behind my back.”

“Well, you don’t have to hear what’s being said about me,” Caroline replied. Annaleigh could hear footsteps; light and quick. She was pacing. “You know what, Ryan? I don’t think yer going to be able to keep this from her.”

“I wouldn’ have had to worry about it if you didn’t open your big mouth,” Ryan shot back.

“She’ll find out eventually, you know how important her music is to her.” Caroline let out a loud groan. Annaleigh could picture her tugging fistfuls of her hair. “You can’t keep it from her. I’m surprised word hasn’t got back to her already, you know how this town is.” There was a slapping sound. “You know, I bet that’s why she wants out of here so badly.”

“And you think that’s my fault?” Ryan asked. He let out a loud scoff. “It has nothin’ to do with the fact that her mother has abandoned this family?”

“Hello! I’m standin’ right here!” Caroline shrieked. The pacing stopped and she stomped her foot. “I haven’t abandoned this family, I haven’t abandoned her. I’ve been carryin’ this family.”

“Oh, is that what you call it?” Ryan asked. “Stayin’ out late every day; pickin’ up extra shifts. You barely have any time to see your daughter.” More footsteps; heavy and slow. He was pacing. “She sure as hell didn’t need to know ‘bout this, Caroline, an’ you know it.”

Footsteps headed in her direction and Annaleigh quickly got to her feet, hurrying to her room. She closed the door behind her just in time to hear her dad’s footsteps coming up the stairs. They stopped on the top stair before heading down the hall. The silence was punctured by the loud slam of a door.

Annaleigh squeezed her eyes shut before walking over to her bed. She grasped her pillow and put it to her face, smothering her loud, and long scream. She then dropped her pillow to her bed and started punching her pillow repeatedly until her arms gave out and she stopped, breathing heavily. She then straightened and crossed her room to the window, pushing the curtains back.

She looked up into the dotted night sky, searching for a bright star. She pressed her forehead to the cool glass, closing her eyes. She slowly breathed in and out, her breath fogging up the glass. As she crossed her arms over chest, turning her back to the outside world, she wondered if she had wasted her wish from the night before. Right now all she wished for, more than before, was a way out of Clinton.

October 1st, 1995

Jackson, Mississippi

 Jackson-Evers International Airport

Lance’s knees bobbed up and down as he waited for his flight to be announced over the loud speaker. He looked around at the people bustling to and fro in the Jackson, Mississippi airport. He rubbed his tired, burning, eyes, but he couldn’t get to sleep. Nor could he get to sleep last night.

He kept thinking of the warm weather that awaited him, and his future. New Kids on the Block and Backstreet Boys both came out of Orlando, maybe this new boy band would be a big hit, too. That’s what he kept telling himself, and then as he thought about all of the opportunities that could arise from the band, he got too excited to go to sleep. Now he wished he had. He didn’t think he’d be able to get a chance to sleep on the plane either.

“You’re shaking the bench.” Lance chuckled as he looked down at Annaleigh who was stretched out on the row of seats beside him, eyes closed, trying to sleep. She had a coat balled up underneath her head to use as a pillow. 

“Sorry,” Lance replied, reaching out a hand to brush a lock of her hair away from her face.

Annaleigh made a whining noise, pushing her hand away before rolling onto her other side, curling up into a ball. If it was one thing he learned about her pretty quickly, don’t mess with her when she’s trying to sleep. He put his hands on his knees to stop them from bouncing.

“Did you wake up the bear?” Darren asked from Lance’s other side, grinning.

“I heard that,” Annaleigh snapped.

Darren leaned forward in his seat to look at her, still smiling. “I thought you were still asleep,” he said.

“I am, now be quiet,” Annaleigh replied, keeping her eyes closed. She rolled back onto her other side before letting out a sigh, sitting up. She crossed her arms over her chest, pouting. “You people are too loud.”

Lance twisted his mouth to the side. He knew her well enough to know that she was cranky because of her being disrupted from her sleep, but also because of that fact that he would be leaving soon. He couldn’t remember the last time that he had seen her cry, but she was sure as hell putting up a fight against herself now. He could see it in her eyes; how they seemed to shimmer with unshed tears  just by looking at him, or whenever a flight was called, knowing that sooner or later it would be his own.

His stomach was bubbling and gurgling, and twisting and turning from anticipation. He was excited and scared all at the same time. He was really about to get on a flight and be on his way to possibly achieving his dreams. He was getting out of Clinton. Not that he didn’t love his time there, he just always knew that his music would take him to new heights, no pun intended.

“Delta Airlines flight2156 to Orlando, Florida, is now boarding.”

“That’s my flight,” Lance said as he got to his feet. He reached underneath him and grabbed onto the handle of his carryon bag before shouldering it.

“Sing it loud and proud, Half-Pint,” Darren said, clapping Lance on the back, using one of his old nicknames. “Make us proud.” He then stepped forward and gave Lance a hug, one which Lance returned as tightly as he could.

“I will,” Lance replied as he took a step back. “Thanks for everything, D. I know I wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for you.”

“Sure you would,” Darren replied, giving Lance a look as if he was crazy. “You have a natural talent, man. Shoot, if I didn’t spot it, someone else would have.” He winked and clapped his friend on the shoulder. “You’ll do great.”

“Of course he will,” Annaleigh said with a weak smile. She sniffed and blinked rapidly. “This is Lance Bass we’re talking about; our best friend.” Lance smiled at her before putting an arm around her shoulder, bringing her into his side in a hug. She wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her head into his chest. “He’s going to be great because it’s just in him.”

“Come on, Lance, we should get going,” Diane said, adjusting her grip on her bags.

Lance then gave his dad and his sister a hug goodbye before following his mom over to the flight boarding gate. He looked back over his shoulder at his friends and family, who waved, before he gave his boarding pass to the woman at the gate, returning her warm smile.

“Here we go,” Lance whispered to himself, taking in a deep breath of air as he made his way through the long tunnel.

He let it out in a rush of air when he stepped onto the plane. He shuffled behind his mom as she looked for their seats. He looked around at the others who were already on the plane and wondered why they were headed to Orlando. As he dropped into his cushy seat, buckling himself up, he felt his mom take his hand and smiled over at her before kissing her on the cheek, squeezing her hand.

The four hour flight went by faster than Lance could imagine. He faded in and out of sleep, due to his excitement and turbulence on the plane. After the plane landed, waiting to get off the plane, and getting their bags from baggage claim, Lance and his mom made their way through the Orlando Airport towards the front. Lance didn’t let go of his mom’s hand the whole time.

“Mom,” Lance said, side stepping a little girl with a Barbie backpack, “how are we going to know who’s there for us.”

“It’s all taken care of,” Diane replied, squeezing his hand before using her other hand to pat it. “Don’t worry sweetie.” She craned her neck as she looked over the crowed. “We should be right about—“

“There,” Lance said, using his free hand to point ahead of him at a sign with their names on it. Cool. Lance thought to himself, a grin coming to his face. He led the way through the crowds of people, saying, “Excuse me”, “I’m sorry”, as he forced his way through the group. He then came face to face with a woman with lots of curly hair, and a rotund man with thinning hair and glasses.

“Are you James?” the woman asked, giving him a bright smile.

“Lance, actually,” Lance replied with a nod of his head. “But, yes, ma’am, I am.” He nodded his head towards Diane. “And this is my mom.”

“Oh, Diane, it’s so nice to finally meet you,” the woman replied, her smile getting wider before she took Diane’s hand in both of hers, shaking it. “My name is Lynn Harless, I’m Justin’s mom.” She then shook Lance’s hand, shaking his arm up and down in the process. “I’m so glad to have you here.”

“And I’m Lou Pearlman,” the man said, stepping forward, offering a thick hand. Lance gave him a polite smile, taking his warm hand in his hand, shaking it in greeting. “You may call me Lou or Papa Lou, as the boys call me. Whichever you prefer. I’m the manager of the group. The boys are very excited to meet you.”

“Well, if you have everything, let’s go,” Lynn said, clapping her hands together in excitement.

“The car is right this way,” Lou said with a grand sweep of his arm before leading the way out of the airport.

Lance blinked, doing a double take at Lou’s voice and at his request of what the be called. His voice was higher pitched then Lance imagined it to be. Lance looked over at his mom, raising his eyebrows. “Papa Lou?” he repeated in a quiet voice.

“Ssshh,” Diane said, putting a finger to her lips. Although, she had a weird look on her face as well. “Just call him Lou, sweetie. Whatever’s most comfortable for you.”

“Ok,” Lance replied with a nod of his head.

As soon as he stepped out into the warm, sunny Florida afternoon, Lance was taken aback. There was barely a cloud in the sky and not even a cool chill that welcome the fall weather like in Clinton. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath of the Orlando air.

“It’s right this way,” Lynn said, gently taking Lance’s arm, guiding him through the parking lot. As soon as Lance saw it, he stopped and stared.

“Great, huh?” Lou asked, indicating the Rolls Royce he was standing next to. “If this band is a hit, just like I know it will, you can get one of these for yourself.” He chuckled a hyena like laugh as he shuffled around to the driver’s seat.

And then they were off to where they were going to stay, the Enclave hotel. Lance was surprised that their rooms were already paid for, but barely got the chance to look around before he and his mom were back in the car, being drive across the city, coming up to a big house that Lynn called, “The Compound.”

Lance got out of the car and looked over at two guys that were playing basketball in the driveway. One of them was a curly haired boy, significantly smaller than the other, who looked to be way older then the other. Lance swallowed thickly, barely hearing his mom when she said that she was going inside to talk to Lou and Lynn.

Lance slowly walked over to the two boys, just as the biggest one managed a layup, and the smaller one let out a loud curse. “Justin Randall,” Lynn called as she made her way into the house, “watch your tone.”

“Sorry,” ‘Justin’ called back, a sweet smile coming to his face. He gave a wave to his mom as she made her way inside and as the door shut, his smile faded. “You cheated Kirkpatrick.” He bounced the orange ball in his hands against the ground before bounce passing it to the other boy.

“You’re just a sore-loser, Shrimp,” ‘Kirkpatrick’ replied with a grin, grasping the ball in his hands. He then turned towards Lance, lifting his head in a nod. “Hey, what’s up?” He tucked the basketball underneath his arm. “You must be Lance. “

“Yeah, I’m um, Lance,” Lance replied, suddenly feeling incredibly shy. “Lance Bass.” ‘Kirkpatrick’ gave Lance a welcoming smile. Justin, on the other hand, stayed silent, looking Lance up and down.

“I’m Chris Kirkpatrick,” Chris offered his hand, grinning.

“Justin Timberlake,” Justin said with a nod of his head.

October 1st, 1995

Orlando, Florida

“Hi,” Lance said, giving a wave of his hand before sliding them into his pants pockets. “So…you’ve been in the band for a while, then?”

“Chris has been in it the longest,” Justin replied, jerking his thumb towards Chris. He then reached over and smacked the basketball out from underneath Chris’s arm. He bounced it a few times before he spun the ball on his finger. “He made the group. He was close to getting into the Backstreet Boys.”

“Wow,” Lance said. He wasn’t sure who the Backstreet Boys were; something about the same sounded very familiar to him, but to have missed out on one boy band and then start another was pretty impressive. He must be really good, then.

“That’s how I first met Lou, anyway,” Chris said with a shrug. He watched as Justin turned to take a shot at the basket. It bounced off the backboard and into the net. Justin grinned, punching the air with his fists. “He formed the Backstreet Boys and now he’s doing the same with us. Well, actually, he said he’d make another group for me as long as I found the members. Joey, Joey Fatone, and I both worked at Universal and we hung out a couple of times. Lou found Justin through some tapes. He was on the Mickey Mouse Club, you know.”

“Yeah, I know,” Lance replied, looking over at Justin. Justin gave a half smile before jogging after the basketball that rolled across the gravel driveway. “So, it’s you and Justin, and Joey-“

“And JC,” Justin replied, jogging back over to them, bouncing the basketball at his feet. He started sliding his legs back and forth, bouncing the basketball between them. “He was on MMC with me, too.” He then held the ball between his hands and slapped the side of it with his right hand. “We’ve been waitin’ for ya, dude.”

“But, no pressure,” Chris added, shoving Justin’s shoulder. “Come on, I’ll introduce you to Joey and JC.” He waved for Lance to follow him and he couldn’t help but feel relieved. It really was more hot and humid in Orlando, then in Clinton. He didn’t think he could’ve ever been prepared for it. As he followed Chris into the house, he let out a sigh of relief as a blast of cold air hit his face. “Hey, Joey!”

“WHAT?”

Lance heard a shout in reply. Chris suddenly changed directions, nearly causing Lance to walk right into him. Lance tried to look at everything around him, trying to see where each hall went, what each picture on the walls entailed, what the overall layout of the house was. He didn’t know if this would be the last time he’d be able to see everything. He wanted to remember it for the rest of his life.

“Lance is here!” Chris shouted back.

“Ah, fresh meat!”

Lance blinked, taken aback by the response. He looked over at Chris, who laughed lightly, rolling his eyes, before he rounded another corner and they were in the kitchen. A boy, who Lance could assume was Joey Fatone, was standing at the island, smoothing a glob of mayonnaise on a slice of sandwich bread.

“Hey,” Joey said with a tip of his head in Lance’s direction. “I’m Joey Fatone.”

“Lance,” Lance replied, nodding in reply.

“Yeah, I know,” Joey said with a half smile. “You’re our saving grace, dude.”He and Chris laughed. “Dude, this guy had just signed onto the band before deciding that this wasn’t he wanted to do.”

“His loss,” Chris said with a shrug before clapping Lance on the back. Lance coughed, startled at the sudden hit to his back. He cleared his throat as Justin came into the room. He slipped past Chris and Lance and hurried by Joey, grabbing a handful of grapes off of Joey’s plate.

“Hey!” Joey cried, swatting at Justin’s curly head as he rushed by him.

“What?” Justin asked around a mouthful of grapes. He tried to smile, his cheeks puffed up, and managed a tight lipped smile. Some grape juice dribbled down his chin and he started to laugh, trying to chew at the same time before wiping at his mouth with the back of his arm. He breathed in and out of his nose as he chewed. “I’m hungry.”

“So’m I,” Joey muttered, reaching for one of the last few grapes on his plate.

“You’re always hungry,” Chris said with a shake of his head.

“Actually, I’m Italian, asshole,” Joey replied. He tried to keep a straight face, but as Justin let out a loud bark of laughter, after swallowing his mouthful of grapes, he pressed his lips together, trying to stop himself from smiling. He only lost it when Chris started to laugh, too. Lance felt a smile come to his face as he watched the three of them laughing together.

“Hey, what’s going on in here?” Lance turned to see a tall boy with dark hair and dark eyes, looking rather tired, make his way into the kitchen, running his hand through his hair.

“Hey, C,” Justin said with a greeting before he gave a teasing smile, “we’re celebrating that you’re actually up earlier than you need to be.” That earned another laugh from Joey and Chris. “Why so cranky?”

“Hard not to be when you’re all in here acting like a bunch of monkeys,” ‘C’ replied, running a hand over his face.

“Ooh, ooh, ahh, ahh, ahh,” Chris screeched, pretending to scratch at his sides and head, jumping from foot to foot, acting like a monkey. Lance felt himself giving a loud laugh at Chris’s antics, instantly catching JC’s attention.

“C, this is Lance,” Joey said, using the knife in his hand to point at Lance. “Lance, that’s JC Chasez.”

“Nice to meet you,” JC said, offering his hand towards Lance. Lance put his hand into JC’s larger one, and returned his enthusiastic hand shake. “It’s nice to have you here.”

“Thank you,” Lance replied, “it’s nice to meet all of you.” He looked around at the four boys as JC moved to take a seat at the one of the stools surrounding the island. Chris and Justin went to sit around the island as well. Lance hovered behind them, watching the four of them interact, trying to mentally put himself into the group.

Hold on, Lance, you’re not in the group yet, Lance reminded himself and he raked his fingers through his hair before he started to chew on his bottom lip. You still have to sing. Lance hummed to himself as quietly as her could, keeping his song, the melody, and the lyrics fresh in his mind. Don’t get too comfortable, you could still be going home.

He watched as Chris, Justin, and JC started picking off of Joey’s plate, as he tried to swat their hands away so he could eat. He watched as it quickly turned into a game between them, all laughing as Joey tied to slap at their hands as if it was an arcade game.

Their laughter mixed in with each other and Lance could see just how close they were with each other, despite how short a time they were all together. He could only hope that if he were accepted into the group, they’d accept him just as easily.

“So, how long have you been singing for?” Joey asked after his laughter died down after giving Chris a loud smack on the top of his hand. Chris was laughing, waving his stinging hand in the air as JC and Justin loudly, “Ohhhh-ed” before they laughed as well, hunched over the countertop.

“Um, since I was a kid, I guess,” Lance replied, blinking, realizing that Joey was talking to him. “I used to put on shows with my sister, Stacey.”

“Is she hot?” Chris suddenly asked. He seemed to cower in his spot when Joey, Chris, and Justin all shouted in unison, “Chris!” His eyes widened slightly before he grinned. “It was just a question.”

Lance stopped for a brief moment to think about it. He didn’t think he had ever called any girl “hot”. Words like, “beautiful”, “pretty”, and “cute” came to mind and were easily on the tip of his tongue when put in the position to compliment a girl, but never “hot”. That wasn’t to say he hadn’t ever heard anyone else ever refer to a girl as that way. He just had never been entirely comfortable with it.

“I’ve been singing for a while,” Lance continued, ignoring Chris’s question. “I was a part of Showstoppers and Attaché back home, so I’ve had some touring experience, too.” He prepared himself for more questions about girls, and was slightly surprised when they didn’t come.

“Where is home for you?” JC asked, turning to face Lance.

“Clinton, Mississippi,” Lance replied.

“We’ve got another Southern boy, eh?” Chris asked, punching Justin on the arm. He then threw his hands into the air. “Praise the lord!”

“Shut up,” Justin said, punching Chris back. He then turned in his seat and gave Lance a warm smile, one of which he returned. That gave him some comfort, it wasn’t exactly someone who came from his home, but to have someone else who would have, potentially a similar upbringing as him gave him some comfort.

A pang of homesickness suddenly hit him straight in the middle of his chest. He let out a sigh through his nose as he slid his hands into his pockets. I wonder what they’re doing right now, he thought to himself as he thought about his friends and his family. A part of him wished that he was at home, but he knew that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity and that they were all supporting him.

He was happy to have his mom with him, but he also wished his dad and Stacey could be there, too. But, with both of their jobs (his dad working in the hospital lab and Stacey having had to prepare to get back to school soon) it would’ve been hard for them to drop everything to travel with him.

“Oh, guys, we’ve got to get going,” JC said as he looked at his watch before clapping his hands together. “Robin’s waiting for us.” He then grabbed Justin’s shirt collar, stopping him from rushing off. “And I know how eager you are to get back to basketball, but try not to goof off so much in the studio this time.”

“Come on, C,” Justin said in almost a whine. He twisted back and forth to try and free himself from JC’s grasp. “You’re so serious all the time, recording should be fun.”

“I do have fun recording,” JC said as he released Justin who hurried off. Chris followed after him, and Joey was right behind him, quickly finishing up his sandwich. JC turned towards Lance, putting a hand on his shoulder, ushering him out of the room. “Robin Wiley’s our vocal coach, you’ll like her. She’s really good at what she does. From what we’ve heard about you from Bob, she’s really excited to be working with you, to see how you sound with the rest of us.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait,” Lance said.

“Hey, don’t worry about it,” JC said as he removed his hand from Lance’s shoulder, peering over at him. “Bob’s said good things about you. If he personally suggested you, then you must be great. Just take a deep breath and relax. That’s all that matters.” He then crossed his arms over his chest. “We know you may be nervous; we just want you to do your best, Lance.”

“Thanks,” Lance replied. He then took in a deep breath of air before slowly letting it out through his nose. He did this a couple more times before following JC through a door, leading into a recording studio. This is it, Lance. You’re finally here.

“You must be Lance.” Lance turned when he heard a female voice and saw a woman with wavy brown hair sitting at a piano. Justin, Joey, and Chris were all standing around the piano. JC gave Lance a smile before joining the four boys. “I’m Robin; Robin Wiley.”

“Robin is a singer, song writer, and arranger,” Lou said as he walked into the room with Lynn and Diane. Diane gave Lance a small wave and he smiled at her. “She was the vocal coach on MMC, and has also been working with the boys.”

“It’s nice to meet you, ma’am,” Lance said as he took her hand, giving it a firm shake.

“’Ma’am’,” Robin repeated, turning to look at the boys around the piano. “See, here’s someone with some respect.” She gave them a teasing smile before looking back over at Lance. “It’s a breath of fresh air, really.”

“You know we love you, Rob,” Joey said, throwing a wink her way. Robin rolled her eyes, but she had a smile on her face.

“Well, Lance, we’ll just go through some warm ups, and then we’ll let you sing,” Robin said with a warm smile, clapping her fingers together. “Justin, let’s start with you.”

“Sure thing,” Justin replied with a bright smile, rapping his knuckles on the piano.

Joey, Chris, and JC moved to take a seat on the couch at the side of the room. Lance followed  the boys over to the couch and sat down in the last spot, dodging the elbows from the other boys as they all tried to fight for their own personal space on the couch. They all stopped what they were doing as soon as Robin started playing chords on the piano.

Lance listened as each of the boys took their turns warming up. Joey took the time to explain to Lance, their different vocal ranges each of the boys had and they were all impressive. Justin had a two-octave alto ranger, something at 14 years old seemed unfathomable to Lance. Joey was a baritone, being the closest in range to his own bass range, JC was a midrange tenor, and could hit four octaves. But, the most impressive was Chris. He was a countertenor, but you would never have known he naturally sang that high just by listening to him talk.

“Alright, Lance, your turn.”

Just breathe, Lance. You’ve done this hundreds of times, Lance thought to himself as he and Chris traded places. Chris clapped him on the shoulder as he passed the older man. Lance gave a brief smile before standing up beside the piano. He briefly glanced over at his mom and watched as he exchanged smiles with Lynn.

“Alright, just take a deep breath,” Robin said giving Lance an encouraging smile. “Here we go.” Lance moved through the vocal runs, warming up his voice and vocal chords for his audition. As he sang the last note of the scale, Robin gave a slight nod of her head. “Good. You were on the verge of being a little pitchy when we got to the end of your vocal range, but that was good.”

“What song do you have prepared for us, Lance?” Lou asked, shifting in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest.

“I have Old Man River prepared, sir,” Lance replied. Lou’s eyebrows shot up, his lips twitching into a brief smile before waving his hand in the air.

“You may start whenever you’re ready,” he replied.

Lance nodded his head, briefly closing his eyes, letting out a breath of air. He then opened his mouth and started to sing. “Ol' man river, dat ol' man river, he mus'know sumpin', but don't say nuthin',” Lance sang in a slow, and steady voice. He watched as JC’s eyes widen slightly. Justin’s eyebrows shot up, and both Chris and Joey shared smiles. “He jes'keeps rollin', he keeps on rollin' along.”

Lance continued through the song, closing his eyes, allowing his emotions to move through his body, kicking out his nerves. It was his four minutes to shine, to show JC, Justin, Joey, and Chris what it was tha he had to offer them and that he wasn’t wasting their time or his own. It was his four minutes to show his mom that this was what he knew he was meant to be doing with his life.

As he held out the last note, he couldn’t help but smile. Robin’s face was a look of shock and excitement. She stared at him for a moment before shuffling around all the papers that sat on top of the piano, before looking at the cluttered book shelf sitting near her. “That was great, Lance,” Robin said as she continued to search . ”JC, Justin, Chris, Joey, if you could stand by Lance for me please. I want to try something with all of you.”

“She sounds excited,” Joey whispered into Lance’s ear as he moved to stand to his left, JC on his right. “Great job, dude. That was awesome.”

“Thanks,” Lance replied, giving Joey a smile.

“Ah ha!” Robin said with a smile as she found what she was looking for. She handed the boys their own copies of what Lance could see was sheet music. “I want you all to sing this. We’ll run some harmonies to get a feel for each other’s voices, but I’ve had this arrangement for this band for a while, I was just waiting for that perfect voice to put it all together.” She stopped to give Lance a wide smile, her eyes sparkling. “And I think we’ve got it.”

“The Star Spangled Banner,” Chris said, reading the song title out loud.

Lance looked down at his part in his hands and saw that he wasn’t really doing anything vocally challenging with his part. He was relieved about that nevertheless. He had sang the national anthem dozens of times before, and was always comfortable with his part, so it was nice to know he was singing something he already knew.

Robin sat back down on the piano bench before leading the boys through warm ups before having them sing through the national anthem. Lance tried hard to focus on his own part of the song, but he could feel goosebumps raise on his arms as he heard his voice mix in with the other boys. Stares to the pages in their hands turned into smiles at each other as they sang.

When they got to the last note, Lance looked over at his mom and saw that she had tears in her eyes. Lynn patted her hand as she reached up a hand to brush the tears from her eyes. Diane then reached into her purse and retrieved a tissue, wiping at her eyes before she gave what Lance could assume was bruise-inducing clapping.

“Wow,” Lou said, his voice barely above a whisper.

“I think we’ve found our bass singer,” Robin said as she dropped her hands into her lap.

“Holy shit, dude,” Chris said, grasping onto Lance’s shoulders, shaking him. “I didn’t know you could sing like that.”

“Welcome to the group, Lance,” JC said, offering his hand.

“Don’t jinx it, man,” Chris said, playfully shoving JC. “He hasn’t even signed the contract yet.”

“Lou would be crazy to let him go,” Justin said with a shake of his head. “He’s as good as in.” He also offered his hand to Lance. “Great job.”

“Thanks,” Lance said. His cheeks were starting to ache with all of his smiling. As soon as he was able to get a break, he moved over to his mom and gave her a tight hug. “How was it?”

“Wonderful, dear, just wonderful,” Diane replied, taking Lance’s face in her hands before she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. “Oh, I wish your father could be here to see this. He’ll be so proud of you.” She then clasped her hands in front of her mouth.”Oh, honey, it was just wonderful.”

“Why are you crying, mom?” Lance asked, reaching out a hand to brush away the tears in the corner of her eye.

“I’m happy for you, Lance,” Diane replied.”My baby’s going on to bigger and better things.” She sniffed. “I just know that you won’t be coming home for a while, that’s all.”

“Aw, mom.” Lance gave his mom a kiss on the cheek.

“This calls for a celebration,” Lou said getting to his feet. “I’d like to invite you all out for dinner tonight, on me of course, in honor of Lance Bass joining *NSYNC.” Lance made a face at what he presumed to be the band’s name. He looked over at Joey, who mouthed ‘I’ll explain later’ and gave a brief nod of his head. “I’ll give you all plenty of time to freshen up as well as to allow Lance and his mom some time to rest.”

“Thank you, Mr. Pearlman,” Diane replied, dabbing at her eyes before taking Lynn’s hand, gently squeezing it. “And thank you, Ms. Harless.”

“Please, call me Lynn,” Lynn replied with a warm smile, “and it was my pleasure. I’ll see you later, dear.”

Lance gently took his moms hand, looping it through his arm, placing his hand on top of hers before leading her out of the room. “So, what do you think, mom?” he asked.

“I think it’s a good thing I brought you out here,” Diane replied, sniffing. “You really looked like you found your place up there, sweetie.” She gently squeezed his arm. “So, what are the boys like? Do you think you’ll fit in?”

“Well, Chris is pretty laid back and easy going,” Lance said, thinking back to when he first met the boys, “he seemed to want to have me feel comfortable around everybody as soon as I got here. Justin seems to be really cool, and he knows he is. Hard to imagine he’s this young and so talented. Joey is really outgoing and friendly, and JC seems to be the serious type.” He was silent for a moment. “Yeah, mom, I think I’ll fit in.”

“Good,” Diane replied with a smile.”Once we get back to the hotel we can call home and tell them the good news.”

 October 3rd, 1995

Clinton, Mississippi

Annaleigh stared up at the clock as it slowly ticked down the seconds until the school day was over. She felt a poke in her side and turned towards Jasmine who was sitting at the desk beside her. Jasmine lifted her notebook to show her drawing of their science teacher as he droned on and on and on about whatever it was they were covering in Biology. There was a cartoon bubble over it that had the words, “Blah, blah, blah” written in it.

The picture made the teacher looked more like a walrus, which wasn’t too far off from his physical stature. With his large, bushy mustache that hung off the sides of his mouth, and being on the more round side, “Walrus” was one of the nicer names Mr. Kline was called by the students.

Annaleigh laughed as quietly as she could, turning back towards the front of the room. She, and the rest of her classmates, groaned when Mr. Kline’s chalk squeaked across the blackboard as he scrawled down their notes. She felt another prod in her side, seconds later, and turned her head to see Jasmine holding up her notebook, pointing at a spot with her pen. Annaleigh squinted, at the notebook before reached for her glasses, which were folded at the corner of her desk. She reached for it and unfolded the arms, sliding them onto her nose.

What do you think Lance is doing right now?

Annaleigh reached for her pen and quickly scribbled on her notebook with her slanted writing. She then held it up for Jasmine to see.

Dunno. Haven’t heard from him in a couple days.

She chalked it up to him being so busy. It wasn’t hard to find a good time to call what with Orlando only being an hour ahead of them. She could only assume that he had done well if he was still in Orlando, but the other side of her could imagine that if he hadn’t gotten into the group, he would at least spend some time in Orlando as a bit of a vacation.

Jasmine gave a half smile and a shrug before facing the front of the room. Annaleigh did the same before drawing a line over her notebook before she started taking down the notes. She finished just as the bell rang and she gave a small sigh of relief as she started to pack up her things.

“You want to come over?” Annaleigh asked Jasmine as she gathered her books to shove into her backpack. “Soccer was cancelled today.”

“Can’t; I have dance,” Jasmine replied with a shake of her head. She slid her arms into her backpack and gathered her hair up into her hands to remove it from the space between her backpack and her back. “What about this weekend? We can go see Babe, it’s still in theaters.”

“I’ve dyin’ to see that,” Annaleigh said as she joined the line of students making their way out of the classroom. Mr. Kline was standing at the door, passing out their recent tests. “Depends on my grade, though.” She nodded towards the front of the room. “Mom and dad say if I bring home another bad grade from Mr. Kline, then I’m grounded for the rest of my life. Or so they say, they’ve been threatenin’ me with that ever since I broke mom’s vase when we decided ta play golf in the house.”

“Who decided to play golf in the house?” Jasmine asked with a scoff, her eyebrows shooting up.

“Alright, alright, so it wasn’ one of my bright ideas,” Annaleigh replied with a roll of my eyes, leaning up against the desk behind her. “It wasn’ as bad as my super hero phase, though, you have to admit.” She then rubbed at her left wrist. “I wouldnt have fallen out of that tree if you hadn’ gone to get my mom. Her shoutin’ is what startled me.”

“Hey, I was tryna to stop you from breakin’ your neck,” Jasmine said with a bark of laughter, shoving her shoulder. “You woulda missed that mattress, you know you woulda. Thinkin’ you were Wonder Woman and all. That was so stupid.”

“Yeah, I know that now,” Annaleigh replied with a roll of her eyes. She gave Mr. Kline a brief smile as she got to the door. He handed her and Jasmine their tests face down. Jasmine grasped Annaleigh’s arm, pulling her out into the hallway. “The fate of my life depends on this.”

“Do you really think your parents are going to ground you?” Jasmine asked.

“It’s, basically, the only thing the two of them have been able to agree upon lately,” Annaleigh replied before trading her test with Jasmine’s. “On three, ok?”

“One,” Jasmine counted.

“Two,” Annaleigh said.

“Three,” the two of them said together as they flipped over their tests. Annaleigh looked into the top right hand corner and saw a big, bold 92 in the corner. “A-minus, good job.”

“Thank you, thank you,” Jasmine said, giving a couple curtsies. “And, you, Ms. Carr got a…C.”Annaleigh twisted her mouth to the side, scrunching up half of her face as she took the test paper back from her. She immediately spotted the 75 in the corner. “It’s not failin’.”

“That’s true,” Annaleigh replied, dropping her test papers down by her side before the two of them headed towards their lockers. “I don’t know how my parents will see it, though.”

“Are they still fightin’?” Jasmine asked.

“Yeahhh,” Annaleigh replied with more of a sigh as they edged their way through their classmates to their lockers. “It’s really been comin’ to a head with this music thing. I’m sorry I even brought it up in the first place.”

“No one can deny that going to Orlando woulda been a great opportunity for you,” Jasmine said, flipping her hair around to her other shoulder as she reached for the lock on her door. “So, you think this music thing is the root of their arguments?” Annaleigh nodded, making a humming sound in the back of her throat. “I don’t know…to have your parents have that big a reaction…”

“They’re not getting’ a divorce,” Annaleigh said with an edge to her tone as she shoved her books into her backpack.

“That wasn’t what I was going to ask,” Jasmine replied. “You said that your dad used to have a music career in some way. I mean, back then it was all about sex, drugs, and rock and roll-“

“You think he cheated?” Annaleigh asked.

“I don’t know what to think” Jasmine replied. Annaleigh was quiet for a long moment.

“Neither do I,” she admitted after a moment, wrinkling her nose. “But, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.” She slammed her locker door shut and slid the lock into the slot, closing it with a click.

“You need a ride home?” Jasmine asked, using her elbow to close her door.

“Nope, I’m walkin’ it,” Annaleigh replied with a shake of her head. “Besides, I need some time to think up an explanation for this.” She waved her test in the air before folding it, reaching for the zipper of her backpack. “Or an excuse, whichever word you think is best here.” Clinton was a safe city; safe enough that people barely ever locked the doors to their homes, and it was normal to have kids walking to and from places without having to worry.

“You sure?” Jasmine asked, looping her arm through Annaleigh’s, as the two of them headed towards the parking lot. “You know Darren won’t have a problem with it.” She gave her friend a knowing smile and Annaleigh rolled her eyes, feeling herself blush.

“I know,” Annaleigh replied with a half smile. “I have no problem walkin’, it’s fine, I promise you.” The longer I can stay out of the house, the better.

“Shoot, you say that now,” Jasmine said with a shake of her head as she clicked her tongue. She pushed open the doors and the two of them headed down the concrete stairs. She lifted her hand in a wave towards her brother, who was sitting in his truck, honking the horn. “Whatever, go hog wild.”

“I will, thank you, kindly,” Annaleigh replied, with a cheeky grin. “Hey, I want to ask you somethin’.”

“Shoot,” Jasmine replied, lifting her hand to shield her face from the sun.

“Does it bother you that I hang out with Lance and your brother most of the time?” Annaleigh asked, squinting her eyes to see through the glare of the sun.

“No,” Jasmine replied, shaking her head back and forth. “I have dance all the time, anyway." Annaleigh gave a brief nod of her head and then Jasmine grinned from ear to ear. "Besides, then you can marry Darren and then we can be sisters.” She shrugged before grinning from ear to ear. “Y'all will get married one day, I jus' know it. Besides, I need someone to tell embarrassin’ stories to.”

“I’m happy to serve,” Annaleigh said with a bow before she gave Jasmine a hug. “I’ll ring you later.” She gave a wave before heading down the sidewalk. She adjusted her backpack in her hands before she started off in the direction of her home.  She lifted her hand in a wave as Darren drove his truck past her.

She kicked at a rock as she came to the corner, and looked up and down the street before, looking both ways, continuing on home. She hummed to herself as she made her way home, stopping by The Center, an old school soda shop that all of the teens hung out at on the weekends. She bought herself a glass bottle of soda and happily drank out of it, allowing the carbonation to burn her throat as she made her way home.

She had gotten halfway up her driveway when she heard a car honk behind her and turned to see Darren pulling in behind her. “Hey,” he called as he put the car in park, “get in.”

“I jus’ got home,” Annaleigh replied, giving him an odd look before making her way over to the truck, resting her arms on the side of the car. “What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to see how you were doin’,” Darren replied. “I just dropped Jazzy off at dance class and then swung ‘round to get you.”

“Get me for what?” Annaleigh asked.

“Get in the car,” Darren replied.

“And what do you mean, ‘I wanted to see how you were doin’?” Annaleigh asked, quirking an eyebrow. “Did Lance ask you to keep an eye on me while he was gone?”

“Yes,” Darren replied after a moment as he pretended to think. She blinked in surprise; not at Darren’s quick admission, but at Lance’s request. The two of them could get along well enough, but they spent a lot of their time arguing and tearing each other down as well. He reached out a hand and tapped the bridge of her glasses. “Now, get in Bookworm.”

“I’m not in the mood for names, D,” Annaleigh said with a sigh, popping out her hip, giving him a pointed look.

“Sorry,” he replied. “Come on, I want to show you something.”

“You’re not goin’ to push me into a mud puddle are you?” she asked, giving him a weary look. Darren chuckled. “It wouldn’ be the first time.”

When she was 11, and Darren and Lance were both 13, she had, as usual, tagged along with them when they had gone out to go fishing. Lance didn’t have a problem with her around, but Darren wanted to have some “guy time” as he had so eloquently put it, because they had “manly” things to discuss, of which she instantly reminded him that he was “only 13.”

He had stopped arguing with her at that point, later on telling her that he had to show her something. Which ended up being that he had led her through the woods to push her into a mud puddle. She had cried of course, and promptly “told on him” to Lance…right after she threw a handful of mud at him.

“Wouldn’ be the second, neither,” Darren replied with a grin and Annaleigh rolled her eyes. “You comin’ or not?” He put his hand in the air. “Promise I won’t push you and it has absolutely nothing to do with mud. You’ll like it.” He then stuck out his bottom lip into a pout. “Please? It’s not going to take long.”

Ugh, why does he have to be so cute? She thought to herself, feeling herself starting to smile.”Alright, fine,” Annaleigh said, throwing her hand into the air.”Let me just put my stuff inside and leave mom and dad a note.”

“I’ll be waiting right here,” Darren replied.

Annaleigh gave a nod of her head before heading up the path to the front door. She reached for her keys in her backpack, unlocked the front door. As soon as she was inside, she dropped her backpack to the ground and headed into the kitchen, reaching for the pad and pen beside the phone. She quickly write a note to her parents before heading back out the front door, locking it behind her before getting into Darren’s car.

“Have you heard from Lance?” she asked him as he backed out of the driveway.

“Mayyybe,” Darren replied.

“You have,” Annaleigh said as more of a statement then a question. “I know you have. You only say ‘maybe’ like that when the answer is ‘yes’.” She then slapped him on the arm. “Well?”

“Ow, don’t hit the driver!” Darren said, shooting a look over at him. He then gave her a smile. “He got in.”

Annaleigh allowed a smile to come to her face. “Now this is something I wanted to know two days ago,” she said, trying to sound annoyed. She couldn’t help but keep the smile on her face. “Oh my stars, I can’t believe it. “He really got in?”

“Yeah,” Darren replied. “His dad found out after it happened, and he was supposed to relay the information, but you know how busy he gets.”

“True,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. “So, where are we going?”

“You can’t just trust me, can you?” Darren asked with a chuckled as he shook his head. “Or have I ruined all of that over the years?”

“Of course I trust you, D,” Annaleigh replied, her tone dropping as quickly as she dropped her gaze to her lap. Just tell him. She sucked in a deep breath of air. “In fact, I actually…” She trailed off and he peered curiously over at her before putting his gaze back onto the road. “I actually can tolerate you a lot more than I used to, which is saying something considering how annoying you can be.” Darren let out a loud bark of laughter while Annaleigh let out a breath of air, making a face. Stupid, Ace. That was stupid. Why couldn’t you just tell him?

“You’re not too bad yourself, Ace,” Darren said as his laughter subsided. Annaleigh gave a brief smile at the compliment, feeling herself blush for a second time that day.

“Thanks,” she said quietly, smiling shyly. She then looked up as he pulled off the road and onto a dirt road, slowly driving his truck over the dusty, rocky road. “Why are we going to the fire tower?” She then put her hand over her mouth. “Sorry, that was another question.”

“It’s ok,” Darren replied, removing his hand from the steering wheel to gently punch her shoulder. “You wouldn’t be you if you didn’t ask so many questions.” He drove the car out of the tunnel of trees and into a clearing, coming up to the Fire Tower. A part from The Center and “The Back of 80”, the Fire Tower was another place where Clinton teenagers liked to hang out on the weekends. He parked the car and motioned for her to get out.

Annaleigh reached for her buckle and popped her seatbelt free, before climbing out of the car. She slammed the door shut behind her and, adjusting her shirt, followed him over the ground, stepping over empty beer cans, beer bottles, and burned out cigarette butts. She followed him over to the base of the tower and stepped underneath, her eyes instantly falling towards the fire pit where pieces of burned wood sat.

“Check this out,” Darren said, walking over to one of the legs that held up the fire pit. Annaleigh stepped closer and looked at to where he was pointing where DD + JB + AC Friends Forever were written in shaky handwriting on the beam with a pen. “Remember when we wrote this?”

“Yeah, it was just after you boys made Seven Card Stud,” Annaleigh replied, “right after you decided you wanted to try and make it as a touring group.”

“And you were upset because you thought it’d all go to our heads and we’d forget you,” Darren said, running his hand over the letters. “Kind of like now.” Annaleigh gave a nod of her head as it clicked with her.

“So that’s why you brought me out here,” she said before giving him a teasing smile, “and here I thought you just wanted to spend some time with me.” She put a hand up into the air. “Not that I blame you, I mean, I’m that awesome. And-”

“And don’t your forget it,” Darren said in a high pitched voice, mocking her. He then reached out a hand and flicked at her nose. “Like I could forget that, you say it often enough.” He then put his arm around her shoulder, using his hand to mess up her hair, ignoring her cries of protest. “And, it’s true, anyway. So, are you feeling better?”

“Dork,” Annaleigh said, pushing Darren away from her to fix her hair. “I’m smiling aren’t I?” Not that I don’t always smile when you’re around.

“What?” Darren asked, tilting his head slightly. “You look like you want to say something.” Annaleigh just shook her head. “Alright, then, let’s get you back home.” Annaleigh then grabbed his wrist, stopping him from moving. She then put her hand on his shoulder and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek. “What was that for?”

“Just…thanks,” Annaleigh replied.

“You’re welcome.”

October 5th, 1995

Orlando, Florida

“So how’s everythin’ out there?”

Lance let out a heavy sigh, rubbing at his tired, burning eyes before falling back against his bed. He stared up at the ceiling of his room in the band house. There wasn’t a lot in his room at that point and that added to his feeling of emptiness and homesickness.

“You have no idea how good it is to hear your voice, Ace,” Lance said as he crossed one leg over the other.

“Hey, I’m here, too!”

Lance rolled his eyes at Darren’s outburst. “But, it’s good. It’s a lot of hard work. Harmonies, dancing, vocal runs, all day all the time.”

He could hear Darren chuckle on his end of the line. “It’s not like it’s nothin’ you’re not used to, right?” he asked.

Lance didn’t know how any of them had survived without three-way calling. It was nice to hear his friends’ voices. Apart from his mom, Justin, and Lynn, he was the only one in Orlando, that he knew of, that had a Southern accent. It was normal for him to hear the accent all the time and to suddenly be planted in the heart of showbiz on the East Coast, where you had all sorts of accents, was kind of daunting.

He liked to think that he could have Justin become a good friend of his due to the fact that they were both Southern. Justin was incredibly young, but incredibly talented. Lance thought that his mom must’ve known it, too to have her pick up her life and move out to Florida with Justin for MMC let alone *NSYNC. Justin had what they called “it”; something that made people instantly take notice. Whether it was his baby blues, his curly top, or his infectious smile, Lance wasn’t sure, but he certainly had what it took to be in the band.

JC was more quiet and serious, kind of acting as an older brother, or another parent to Justin. Well, not only him but Chris and Joey, too. He knew when to have fun and when to be serious. He could be just as crazy and out there as Joey or Chris when he wanted to be, and with a flick of a switch, he could be the one warning everyone not to do something stupid; like back flips into the pool off a stack of chairs. When singing, he was a smooth crooner with a voice that was uniquely his. It was no wonder both Robin and Papa Lou decided to have the two of them be lead singers. Not that Lance cared as much; he was used to being the bottom layer of a group and comfortable blending in than standing out.

Chris was the oldest in the group, but he sure as hell didn’t act like it. He was the craziest out of him and Joey, and was also the most outgoing. He did or said anything that popped into his head to help get Lance situated in the new home. A lot of the times, Lance laughed at Chris out of pure awe at some of the things that came out of his mouth. In Mississippi, he wasn’t around a lot of the crude humor that Chris was famous for. He had the highest singing voice, something Lance would have never expected, but it really helped round out their sound.

Another thing he wasn’t used to was all the cursing from Joey. Back home, it was a huge deal to hear anybody curse freely. Fingers would be pointed, threats to “tell your momma” was thrown around, and if your parents caught you, you were bound to get a stern talking to because of it. Joey had, what the rest of the guys in the group called, a sailor mouth. Lance wasn’t sure he could say a sentence without a curse word in it. But, he was a great singer and dancer, and knew how to bring a goofy energy to both whenever he was called to do so.

When they were all working together, singing and dancing, Lance constantly had shivers running up and down his spine. He couldn’t believe that their blend of voices could make that kind of music. It was the kind of music that made his mom cry whenever she heard them. It was kind of embarrassing, but at the same time, Lance would rather have his mom around then do this without her. She was his sense of home while he was in Orlando, and he knew that her crying was due to how proud of him she was, or because deep down she knew that they had a good chance at being something big.

“This is way more than what we’ve done with Showstoppers, Attaché, or Seven Card Stud,” Lance replied with a shake of his head. “It’s more serious an’ repetitive. You know how we’d always work on parts and then move onto others when it was adequate enough?”

“Yeah,” Darren and Annaleigh replied in unison.

“With *NSYNC, we go over one part we’re having trouble on over, and over, and over until it’s perfect,” Lance replied. “Unfortunately for me, that’s me and dancing.” He put a hand over his eyes. “Chris had even called me the whitest boy he had ever seen.”

“Well…you are kind of…bad,” Annaleigh slowly replied.

Lance let out a startled laugh. He had always known Annaleigh to be incredibly blunt at times, but even now it sometimes through him for a loop to hear the words he was sure others were thinking. Justin and JC, they had MMC to help them out with their dance moves. Ever episode had a handful of songs they had to learn choreography to, so it was easy for them to pick up no new moves and routine quickly.

Both Chris and Joey worked as part of a show in Universal. They didn’t have to do as many different songs as Justin and JC did, but they worked out the few they had over and over until it was done perfectly. They also learned how to improvise in the slim chance that things went wrong, so they had a leg up with that.

The only thing Lance was sure he had more experience with was when he went on tour with Seven Card Stud. Sure, it wasn’t a real  tour, and it was only to the state fairs that wanted to have them perform, but he got a feel for life on the road, living in hotels for days at a time, and all the screaming girls. It was a rush, something that made him hooked to the idea of doing something like this for the rest of his life. Now that he was here, he wasn’t sure if he could do it on such a grand scale.

Lou was always talking about how “huge” they were going to be and how “huge” a deal it was for them to try and make a group like this. Pop music wasn’t what was in the market, but it was time to bring it back. At least, that’s how Lance interpreted all the technical jargon Lou threw his way. Lynn seemed to know what he was saying and Lance chalked it up to her being in the industry longer than he had been, so he was happy to know that his mom had someone there to help her out at least.

“Thanks, Ace, that’s what I really wanted to hear right now,” Lance replied, rolling his eyes. “Especially when we have a showcase in…” Lance trailed off, looking at his watch, “15 days.”

“Fif-teen days?!” Darren repeated. Lance could practically see Darren’s eyes widening. He had a knack for stressing syllables in words whenever he was shocked or frustrated about something. “There is no way you can ‘ave a showcase done in fif-teen days.”

“It’s nothin’ too big,” Lance explained, “just four songs.” He squeezed an eye shut as he tried to think about it. “Ummm, the songs we’re doing are Dreaming, Give in To Me, We Can Work It Out, and I’ll Be Back For More. Lou and JC, one of the *NSYNC members, wrote a couple of the songs. Or somethin’ like that. They’re pretty good.”

“Why is it called *NSYNC again?” Annaleigh asked. Lance could imagine her wrinkling her nose, her freckles joining together to form a cluster of spots along the bridge of her nose, her blue eyes narrowing slightly.

“It’s the initials of your names,” Lance replied before quickly explaining in depth. “It’s also to show that we’re in sync with our harmonies and our dancing. Justin’s mom came up with it.”Lance shifted his position on his bed and groaned. “I don’t know about the rest of them, but I’m so tired, there’s no way I could even dream of being in step with any of them.”

“I think you mean in sync,” Darren said and Annaleigh let out her familiar tinkling laugh. Lance laughed along with him before grasping his stomach in pain. In addition to singing and dancing, they had been working out to get in shape to help with their endurance, and Lance’s abs were killing him.

“Very funny,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. That was the only body part that didn’t seem to hurt or throb with pain. “I don’t know if I can do this, guys.”

“Don’t you dare back out on it now, James,” Annaleigh all but snapped. Lance pulled the phone away from his ear. “You’ve done so much just to get this far and you’ve actually signed a contract to be a part of the group.”

“Ace is right, Lance,” Darren agreed.

“Of course I am. I’m always right.”

“Everythin’ you’ve done has led up to this: Showstoppers, Attaché, Seven Card Stud, every little bit of that has helped you make it here,” Darren continued as if Annaleigh hadn’t said anything. Lance could hear Annaleigh huff on her end of the phone. “Pray and seek out your passion and God's leading.  What will inspire you? What gives you energy and what drains it? You’ll figure it all out, but this is the steppin’ stone.”

“They only wanted me for my singin’, not my dancing,” Lance replied. “Shoot, they didn’t even ask to see my dancing when I auditioned.”

“James Lance Bass, stop talkin’ like that,” Annaleigh said. “You’re great. You had ta dance in those other groups, you can do this.”

Lance let out a sigh through his nose. Truth be told, a lot of the time, he truly wondered if the only reason he had been accepted on the spot was because of his voice. He knew he could keep time, and slower and medium-paced dances were easier to get through, but after four days with the group, he knew they were starting to worry about whether or not he could make it to the showcase.

He knew that Justin and JC got frustrated from time to time, he could see it in their eyes whether or not they had said it out loud. After long days, their faces bright red with exertion, sweat sliding down their faces, they weren’t progressing as well as they could, but even then, Papa Lou had always given them words of encouragement and praise, taking them out to dinner after a long day of hard work, going to get ice cream after that, and even buying new “toys” for the house. With all the exercise they were doing day in and day out, it was no wonder that he tried to fatten them up, in a way. Lance had already noticed a change in his physique.

The house was huge with every video game and gadget you could imagine. Big screen TVs, boom boxes, a gigantic pool, a basketball hoop around every corner of the house, a recording studio, and a space big enough for rehearsals. It was so big he wondered why anyone would choose to live there by himself. The boys sure made it a home to them with clothes and shoes, empty bags of chips, and food lying around everywhere. Lance tried to be as nice and neat as possible, they could cut him at any time for his less than smooth moves.

What really made it hard was how little he got to see his mom every day. He didn’t even know what she did while he was rehearsing, but she seemed to at least be having a good time sightseeing and looking at all of the shops. He could see a certain glow about her that he hadn’t ever seen before, but like him, she had also accepted that she would be heading home soon. She still had her students to teach at school, and he knew that this glamorous life wasn’t for her.

“Well, how are things back home?” Lance asked, changing the subject.

“Boring,” Annaleigh replied and Darren laughed. “It’s Clinton, what’d you expect?”

“Everythin’s the same here, buddy,” Darren replied. “It’s like you never left it.”

Lance felt his heart pang in his chest. That was what he was worried about; leaving to do something with the band, and nobody noticed that he wasn’t around anymore. Everyone would move on without him. He hadn’t told anyone, not really, about going down to Orlando, but with Annaleigh’s mouth, as well as Jasmine’s he was sure it was out making rounds at the school by now. What he missed he most was just being at home, hanging out at the Fire Tower or being back at the Back of ’80, hanging out, having a few beers and a few laughs with his friends.

Try to make the best of it, Lance thought to himself, repeating his dad’s words. He looked around the white walls of his room. What’s there to make the best of?

“Hey, James,” Annaleigh said quietly. Lance stopped what he was doing, fixing in on her voice. “You can do this. I know you can. We know you can. Just remember us when you get your first Grammy.”

“When is this showcase anyway?” Darren asked. “What time?”

“I don’t know yet,” Lance replied. “Why?”

“Fixin’ to come out to see it,” Darren replied and Lance felt himself smile; the first one in a long time. Despite his aching muscles and cheeks, he smile as wide as he could. “You need as much support as you can get, but I bet it will be good. Justin and JC showed talent on MMC. But no one has the charisma and heart that you have when you put your all into your music.”

“Ace, what about you?” Lance asked.

“I’ll try my best but you know my parents,” Annaleigh replied with a heavy sigh. “Figured I’d just go with D just to get out of here for a while.” There was a shuffling sound on her end. “But, don’t worry about it, worry about what you’re doing and relax. Just breathe.”

Lance was grateful for her words. Annaleigh always put others before herself despite going through her own troubles. That was why he and Darren tried to look out for her as much as possible; to give her a stable place to go when it seemed like, to her, her world was crashing down around her. Annaleigh was the best girl friend he had ever had. She was the easiest person to talk to and always had words of wisdom for him even if they were a bit harsh. She was always looking for something fun to do, even if it got them in trouble and with her smooth talking, she could always convince him to go along with it. He could confide his problems to her and work on his dance moves with her.

Darren was his best guy friend ever since he started getting interested in music as a serious profession. Ever since Lance met him, when he was thirteen, Darren was singing all the time. Lance caught him singing his replies to him over the phone or in class, but he was never embarrassed about it. He was teased for it every now and then, but he always kept his head high, not caring as it was something he loved to do. Plus, with show choir, he got to be around a lot of girls. Darren always gave him singing advice, advice on girls, and was always just fun to hang around with. Darren was his friend who Lance went out drinking with, talked about women, and the one he turned to when looking for a good party to hang out at.

Together, the three of them were inseparable. While they worked well together, they could also get on each other’s nerves pretty easily. Lane felt that Annaleigh didn’t talk about herself enough, Annaleigh thought she had to reel Darren in a lot of the time, and Darren thought Lance was too self-conscious. Darren and Annaleigh had plenty of complaints about each other which led to arguments, which led to Lance being in the middle, trying to get the two of them to stop arguing. Although, he knew that part of the reason why Annaleigh got into arguments with Darren was because it was an easy way to get attention from him if only for a little while. Despite all that, he didn’t know what he’d do without them.

Lance looked up when he heard a knock on the door. “Hey, I’ve gotta go,” he said into the phone, “but I’ll try and call back later.”

“Bye, Lance.”

“Talk to you later.”

Lance reached over to place the phone into the cradle, before calling for whoever was at the door to come in. He jumped when the door was practically kicked open and Chris and Joey stormed into the room. “Uhhh, hi,” he said to the two of them as they jumped onto his bed, jostling him. “What’s going on?”

“You’ve been locked up in your room for a while, we just wanted to check that you were ok,” Joey replied before gently hitting Lance on the leg. “You ok?”

“Yeah, I’m just a little homesick,” Lance replied.

“What, we’re not like family to you yet?” Chris asked, widening his eyes, putting a hand over his heart. He made a face as if he was insulted. “Well, excuse me for trying to make this place home to you.”

Lance laughed, putting a hand in his face. “You guys are great,” Lance replied before shrugging. “I just haven’t been to a place as big as Orlando before.”

“What’s Mississippi like, anyway?” Chris asked, tilting his head to the side. A grin spread across his face and Lance rolled his eyes.

“Ya know,” Lance said, exaggerating his accent as much as possible. “It’s just so wonderful there. We have a great hoedown every Friday ni’t, and then on tha weekands, sometimes, we have what we call a cousin swap and it’s soo much fuuun.”

Joey and Chris were doubled over with laughter. Joey had his arms wrapped around his stomach and Chris had his face buried into his blankets. “Sorry, dude,” Chris said as his laughter died out. “I had to ask.”

“He didn’t really, but Chris isn’t really known to think before he says something,” Joey said as his face slowly returned to its normal color. Lance could detect a New York accent in some of his words. Chris nodded happily, agreeing with his friend. “So come on, dude. We’re going to the pool.”

Lance looked over at the clothes hanging out of his hamper. It seemed like all they wanted to do was hang out in the pool. Lance really enjoyed swimming, and took advantage of the opportunity anytime he had the chance to go to the pool in Clinton, or when it was warm enough to swim in the creek. He wouldn’t be surprised if his hair turned green at some point.

“Pool! Pool! Pool!” Chris chanted, slamming his fists down onto the mattress.

“Pool! Pool! Pool!” Joey added onto the chant. Lance opened his mouth to protest, but started to laugh as the two of them started to jump up and down on his bed. “Pool! Pool! Pool!”

Lance bounced up and down on the bed, his pillows falling down onto the floor. He curled himself up into a ball, covering his arms and legs. “Popcorn!” Chris shouted and started to jump closer towards Lance’s head. Joey let out a bark of laughter, bouncing all over the place. Lance could feel himself unravel before a well placed bounce threw him to the floor with a loud crash. “Yes!”

Chris and Joey jumped to the ground before they slapped each other a high five. “We win,” Joey laughed, punching the air with his fists. “And because we win, you have to do what we say. Chris, grab his arms.”

“No,” Lance shouted, but Joey and Chris grabbed his arms and legs, lifting him up into the air. He tried to pull his arms and legs out of Joey and Chris’s grasp as they pulled him out of his room, laughing all the way. “Get off me!”

“What are you guys doing?” JC asked as they passed by his room. Lance craned his head to see him lounging on his bed, a guitar in his lap.

“Pool,” Chris replied simply. JC’s eyebrows shot up his forehead and he slowly smiled.

“Have fun,” he replied.

Oh, gee, thanks, Lance thought to himself as Chris let out a cackle, continuing down the hall. The two of them were practically giggling like school girls. They pulled him out of the house and to the edge of the pool. “Don’t! Put me down.”

“It’ll be fun, trust us,” Chris said. “You’ve been cooped up in your room all day. Who was it, your girlfriend?”

“The hot one with the freckles?” Joey asked and Lance let out a groan as the blood rushed to his head. They had seen the few pictures from home that he had brought with him.

“Ace isn’t my girlfriend,” Lance replied.

“Ace?” Chris repeated.

“Annaleigh,” Lance corrected.

“Hot name, too,” Joey said with a short laugh. “On three, Chris.”

“Right-o,” Chris replied, giving a nod of his head.

“One,” Joey and Chris called out together, swinging him back and forth. “Two! Three!”

On three, they swung Lance forward and he twisted once in the air…before landing on the top of the cover of the pool. Lance closed his eyes, letting out a sigh of relief. He sat up, the water underneath the tarp causing him to bob up and down. Joey and Chris were grinning at him, but Lance still heard laughter. He lifted his gaze up towards the back of his house and saw JC and Justin hanging out of Justin’s window, laughing.

“It’s a trust test,” Justin explained, his face split open with a wide grin. “They got you good.”

“Not as good as Curly Top,” Chris said, jerking his thumb upwards in Justin’s direction. “Practically peed his pants.”

“Did not,” Justin said with a frown.

“Did too,” Chris shouted back, looking up at him. Justin stuck his tongue out at Chris and JC rolled his eyes before disappearing back inside the room.

“Hey,” Joey called, crouching down beside Lance, offering him his hand. Lance carefully made his way to the end of the pool and grasped his hand, allowing Joey to pull him up. “You ok?”

“Yeah,” Lance replied. “But, I’ll let you know for sure once my heart stops pounding.”

“Sorry about that,” Joey said, clapping Lance on the shoulder as soon as he got to his feet. “Just a little initiation you know. Happened to all of us.” He then lifted his hand, brushing his hair out of his face, giving Lance a toothy smile. “You’ve been feeling down lately, just wanted to cheer you up a bit. We’re in this together, right?”

He gently hit Lance on the shoulder and he stumbled back a little bit. Lance then smiled, hitting Joey back. “Right.”

October12th, 1995

Orlando, Florida

“We can work it out, we can work it out,” Lance sang along to the music that pumped through the room. The bass rocked through his body, kick starting his heart as he tried his best to keep up with the quick dance moves as the song moved into a music break.

Sweat dripped down behind his ears, down the back of his neck, sliding down the curve of his back, sticking his shirt to his body. His pants were becoming uncomfortably hot and sticky as he continued to dance. He peered into the mirrors in front of him and cringed when he saw the he was off from Joey and Chris who were on either side of him.

Not that that was any big surprise. Dancing wasn’t his forte, but he‘d be lying if he said he didn’t spend as much time as possible working his butt off to try and get the movements down right. Joey was a complete ham while dancing, making funny faces in the mirror, exaggerating every move and while it did look silly, he could make them work. Chris, like Lance, was doing the best he could with the choreography, but with all of his prior experience with his show at Universal, he wasn’t surprised that Chris could manage well.

JC and Justin both had the most experience with having to do new songs just about every day for MMC. They knew all about how hard it was to prepare for each live show.  Of anyone, they had the most experience in regards to what they were trying to accomplish. The two of them danced with such power and precision, it wasn’t a surprise that they were front and center. They also had the best voices for it.

They had had a group meeting about who was to be the lead singers of the group. Joey had thought he had a good shot at it, but both Lance and Chris knew they didn’t. Their voices were just too high and too low respectively to have that sound that would hook the listeners the minute they opened their mouths. Joey was a smooth talking and even more smooth walking Italian who could charm the ladies, so Lance wasn’t surprised that he was considered.

“I think it should be JC or Justin,” Lance had said, twisting his fingers together in his lap. Six pairs of eyes—the rest of the *NSYNC boys, Robin’s, and Lou’s—trained on him. They had all been sitting in the piano room before dance rehearsals. He had shifted uncomfortably in his seat, tugging at the collar of his shirt.

“Not a bad idea,” Chris commented, playing with the fray of his jeans. “Sure as hell can’t be me.” Joey let out a bark of laughter, his lips stretching upwards into a smile.

“Who’d want to see your fat ass front and center when they can watch me?” he had asked. Chris had rolled his eyes before lifting his hand, folding every finger down until his middle finger had stood straight. Joey’s eyebrows had twitched, his smile widening slightly. He had then scratched at his eyebrow. “Lance is right; I mean…we’re getting our audience from MMC.”

“Sure would be a hell of a lot better than watching Joey’s fat ass strutting up and down the stage,” Chris had shot back. Joey had then reached for the pillow that he was leaning up against and had thrown it across the room at Chris, punching the air with his fists as the pillow had hit his intended target.

“I don’t know,” JC had said quietly, his face flushed. “What do you think, Just?”

“Me?” Justin had asked, looking up from his lap, adjusting the backwards cap he had worn a top of his curls. He had twisted his hat around to the front, pulling the brim down over his eyes. He had merely shrugged. “I mean…if y’all don’t care…or whatever.”

“It makes sense,” Lance had replied, giving the two of them a smile.

“Yeah, dudes,” Chris had said, tossing the pillow up into the air. “No skin off our noses.” He then stuck his tongue out at the two of them. “Less pressure off us, anyway.” He and Joey had started to laugh as Lance had given the two boys a reassuring smile.

That was how the two of them had staked their claim at the front of the group and Lance couldn’t be any more grateful for it. He had the feeling that Chris and Joey felt the same way. Chris was right, while they did have pressure put on all of them to get everything as perfect as they could before their first live performance. Justin and JC had the most pressure put on them and they were all along for the ride.

That’s not to say that with all of his performances with Showstoppers, Attaché, and Seven Card Stud didn’t help him out. But even then, he wasn’t the greatest dancer. He could get through with enough practice to fake it the best he could. After all, he was one of the few who could sing as low as he could, it wouldn’t surprise him if they kept him around for his singing ability.

Don’t think like that, Lance. He gave a shake of his head, cringing as it through him off the beat even more so than he already was.

“Come on, Lance,” Lou Pearlman’s high pitched voice reached his ears, sending a wave of frustration through him. “Step it up.”

Lance slightly angled his head before lifting his water bottle to his mouth. They were using it as make-shift microphones before their showcase at Pleasure Island in the next few days. Ever since signing the contract to join *NSYNC, it had been nonstop preparation for the show; haircuts, wardrobe, rehearsal, studio work, rehearsal, studio work, rehearsal over and over again.

They had chosen four songs for the showcase: Dreaming, Give in to Me, We Can Work It Out, and I Want You Back For More. JC had written two of the four songs, and Lance couldn’t deny that he was impressed by it. He had never thought about writings songs himself, nor did he think he’d be that great at it. Math and Science were his best subjects despite his mom being an English teacher, but the minute he had started taking music seriously, academics went by the wayside.

Lance lifted his water bottle microphone to his lips as he heard the familiar cue in the song to go back to the lyrics. “Life is very short, and there's no time,” the five of them sang together, moving through the dance moves. “For fussing and fighting, my friend. I have always thought that it's a crime. So I will ask you once again.”

There was another short dance break before Lance spun on his heels, turning towards Joey as they sang, “We. Can. Work it out.  We can work it ooouuutt.” Joey instantly had Lance on the verge of bursting into loud laughter as he watched Joey make faces; stretching his lips downwards and wiggling his eyebrows as he sang. “We. Can. Work it out. We can work it ooouuutt.”

Joey held out his palm towards Lance and Lance slapped Joey’s open palm with his own and his Italian friend threw him a wink. Lance moved back into the line the five boys created, continuing to sing. The song slowed down near the end as they all grouped together, holding out the last note of the song.

“Phew.” Chris’s arms dropped down by his sides before he grasped the front of his shirt, rapidly pulling the material away from his chest, trying to cool himself down. He then lifted the bottom of his shirt, using it to wipe at his face.

“Put the shirt down, Kirkpatrick,” Justin groaned, wrinkling his nose. “No one wants to see that.”

“Stuff it, Timberflake,” Chris replied with a roll of his eyes. He then shot Joey an amused look. “Besides, my chest is much more manly than Mary Mary Way Too Hairy over there.” He jerked his thumb in Joey’s direction. The Italian merely rolled his eyes before uncapping the water bottle in his hands, tilting his head back, gulping down the water.

JC let out a loud laugh, dumping some of the water in his water bottle over his head, allowing the water to drip down his head, cooling him off before the droplets hit his shoulders. They dangled off his ear lobe, catching the light in a way to make it look like he had earrings.

“He’s got you there, Joe-Joe,” he said, his lips pulling back into a grin.

“Ehh, perfect insulation for the hose cold New York winters,” Joey replied with a shrug, breathing heavily after swallowing the last gulp of water, his face bright red. Sweat dribbled down his face and he used his arm to wipe the sweat from his face. That got a round of laughter and grossed out looks from the boys, but he merely smiled, shrugging his shoulders.

“Come on, boys, let’s get back to work,” Lou said clapping his hands repeatedly. “This is a big day for you.”

“Hey, Lou, maybe you should give them a break,” Lynn said quietly. Both she and Diane were sitting in the corner of the room with Lou, watching the five boys rehearse. Robin was sitting with them. Lance could occasionally pick out her voice, calling for them to watch their pitches when singing.

“They’ve been workin’ nonstop for hours,” Diane added, shooting her son a look of worry. “They deserve a break, don’t you think.”

“Pool, pool, pool,” Chris quietly chanted, doing an odd dance. Justin chimed in a second later.

Lance hadn’t loved his mom than he had in that moment, as did his tired legs, his tired arms, and his tired body as he collapsed onto the ground. He looped his arms around his legs, pulling his knees to his chest. JC walked over to him, grabbing his arm, hauling him to his feet.

“Nah,” he said, shaking his head. He used his arm to wipe the sweat from his forehead. “It’s better to walk around until you get your heart rate down.” Lance gave a nod of his head, swaying slightly on his feet and JC tapped his arm with his hand. “Drink up. Stay hydrated.”

Lance nodded his head again and again before twisting off the cap to his water bottle, tilting his head back, gulping down all the water in his water bottle before crushing it in his fist. Lance let out a breath of air through his nose slowly swallowing the water he held in his mouth.

“You’re doing great,” JC said to him, clapping him on the shoulder. “Just keep your head up and remember to breathe.”

“Thanks, man,” Lance replied with a nod of his head and JC smiled, clapping him on the shoulder a second time. “But, I don’t think I’m going to get this.”

“Sure you will,” Lou piped up, and Lance turned around to face him. “You wouldn’t be here if we didn’t think you brought something special to this group.”

“Yeah, my voice, right?” Lance asked. Lou’s jaw dropped slightly.

“You have an extraordinary gift, Lance,” Robin said quietly, leaning forward to rest her arms on her knees. “You have the kind of voice that I haven’t heard in a long time, and I’d be damned—“

“Ooooh,” Justin said with a smile, pointing a finger over in Robin’s direction.

“Justin Randall,” Lynn hissed and Justin instantly snapped his lips shut, crossing his arms over his chest to run a hand over his curly hair.

“I’m just sayin’,” he said quietly. Lynn arched an eyebrow. “Sorry, Momma. I apologize, Miss Robin.”

Robin chuckled, shaking her head back and forth slightly. “I’d be damned if I let you slip through my fingers,” she said, wiggling her fingers for emphasis. “Bob talked highly about you, and I had the feeling that you were someone special. That was further shown to me when I heard you audition. The minute you opened your mouth, I got goose bumps.”

“She doesn’t get those a lot,” Chris piped up.

“Stress zits, maybe,” Joey added before waving a hand in the air. “But goose bumps?”

“Fuggedaboutit.” JC, Justin, and Chris said along with Joey before the four of them started laughing. They quickly shut up when they saw the look on Robin’s face. Justin loudly cleared his throat, muttering another apology, giving a two fingered salute before rocking back and forth on his heels.

“The point is, if we didn’t think you belonged here, you wouldn’t be here,” Robin replied

“Or you’re all just stringin’ me along,” Lance muttered.

“James,” Diane said quietly.

Lance waved a hand in the air before turning and heading out of the room. Joey reached for his shoulder, but Lance brushed past him, making his way out of the room. He passed through door after door until he was in the main living room of the house before making his way out to the backyard and towards the pool.

He kicked off his shoes, pulling off his socks, and rolled his pants up to his knees before sitting at the edge of the deep end of the pool, sticking his feet into the water. He slowly kicked his feet back and forth in the water, watching as the waters rippled towards the edge of the pool. He stared down at his reflection before he closed his eyes, letting out a heavy sigh.

“James Lance Bass, slow down,” 11-year-old Annaleigh Carr said as she tried to pull her hand out from Lance’s. “I can’t keep up.”

13-year-old Lance Bass chuckled as he stepped along the path, heading deeper and deeper into the woods. He guided her over fallen logs and clutters of rocks that lined the path. “We’re almost there, don’t worry. Pick up your feet.”

“I have good place to put my foot,” Annaleigh said through clenched teeth. She then put on a pout. “How much fartherrr?”

“Not that far,” Lance replied with a small laugh. “I think you’ve done too many pageants, you’re starting to sound like a girl.” Annaleigh let out a loud gasp before sticking her nose in the air.

“You’re mean,” she said giving a kick at the ground. She stumbled, tightly gripping his hand to stop herself from hitting the ground. She made a whimpering sound as she moved closer towards him.

“And nice,” Lance replied, continuing down the path. “I coulda let you fall flat on yer face.”

“Shoot, my momma woulda yelled at you,” Annaleigh said with a click of her tongue. “She’d be mad if I couldn’t participate in the pageant this weekend.”

“What better reason to go creek stomping?” Lance replied, starting to swing their hands back and forth. He then dropped her hand as he climbed up over the biggest log they came across and sat at the top before turning back towards her, grasping her hands helping her up one side and carefully down the other. “Just through here and we’re there.”

“We better be,” Annaleigh muttered, brushing her hair out of her face. Lance clicked his tongue before reaching for wrist, pulling at the elastic band. Annaleigh slapped at his hand. “I can do it.”

“Excuuuse me,” Lance replied, putting his hands up into the air.

Annaleigh pouted before twisting her hair up into a high ponytail. “Sorry,” she muttered, sounding as if she didn’t want to apologize at all. “It’s just too hoooot. How’d you convince me to come out here, today?”

“Because I said I’d be your prop in your next three pageants,” Lance replied, making a face. “That’s not worth your complaining though.” He pushed forward, around a line of trees and threw his arms out to the sides. “Ta da!”

“Whoa,” Annaleigh whispered, looking at the large, circular body of water in front of her.

The creek flowed in from a single source from the right before flowing into the bowl of water in front of her. The bowl was encircled by a wall of rock which Darren jumped from, letting out a loud, “Woohoo!” before crashing through the surface of the water. Water droplets shot through the air, raining down on the petals and blades of grass surrounding the lower side of the clearing.

“Told you, you’d like it,” Lance said with a smile before reaching for the collar of his shirt, pulling it up over his head. “Come on.” He led the way down the path, folding his shirt in front of him before tossing it over his shoulder.

“Bout time you made it,” Darren called as he pulled himself out of the water. His shoes squished as he stepped up onto the rocks to face his friends, water puddle at his feet. He adjusted his swimming trunks before putting his hands on his hips. He then twisted his lips to the side, peering over at Annaleigh. “I can see why you took long. So the princess actually wants to step out into the sun.”

“I’m a girl, not a vampire,” Annaleigh said with a roll of her eyes before pulling her shirt up over her head, revealing her pink and purple bathing suit.

“I’ve noticed,” Darren replied with a twitch of his eyebrows. “Surprised; you have no problem dressin’ up for the Little Miss Kettle Korn but you have a problem bein’ in a bathin’ suit.” He hooked his finger into the elastic band of her swimming shorts and snapped it.

“Hey!” Annaleigh cried, slapping at his hand.

“Five minutes,” Lance said, throwing his hands into the air. “Could both of y’all stop getting’ at each other’s throats for five minutes?” Darren opened his mouth and Lance shot him a warning look.

“Fine,” Annaleigh replied. Lance hiked an eyebrow in Darren’s direction.

Darren shrugged, his eyebrows inching up his forehead. He then angled his head towards Annaleigh and Lance caught the glint that came to his eye. Lance whistled to himself as he removed his feet from his shoes. He peeled off his socks before sliding his feet back into his shoes.

Darren lifted a hand to scratch at the back of his wet head before holding up three fingers. He dropped one, and then a second, and when he lowered the third finger he and Lance lunged forward to grab at her arms and legs. Annaleigh let out a shriek at the sudden movement and started flailing her arms and legs as they carried her towards the water’s edge.

“Put me down,” Annaleigh shouted. “I’m gonna tell my momma on the two’a y’all.”

“Miss Caroline loves us,” Darren said, adjusting his grip on her legs. “She ain’t gonna do nothin’.”

“No, but your momma might if she hears how you’re talkin’,” Annaleigh replied as they stepped closer to the water’s edge. Darren and Lance started swinging her back and forth.

“One, two, three!” they counted in unison.

On three, they threw Annaleigh forward, letting her go, watching as she sank beneath the surface of the water with a loud splash. Lance laughed, high fiving Darren before jumping into the water after her. He could hear the muffled crash as Darren jumped in seconds later.

Lance’s shoes pulled him down, but he kicked hard towards the surface and broke through seconds later. He lifted his hands to brush his hair back out of his face before he held his hands out in front of him to shield himself from the water that Annaleigh splashed in his face.

“Hey!” Lance cried, turning his head away.

“You shoulda seen the look on your face,” Darren laughed, treading water.

“Ooh, I’m gonna get y’all,” Annaleigh cried.

“You’re gonna have to catch us first,” Darren replied before he started swimming towards Lance. “Swim, Lance, swim.” Lance turned onto his stomach and started swimming away from her, his laughter mixing in with Darren’s and Annaleigh’s.

“Are you ok?”

Lance didn’t open his eyes as his mom sat down beside him. “Thinking of home,” Lance replied, feeling himself return back to present time, the Florida sun beating down on him. “And wonderin’ if I had made the right decision, coming out here.”

Diane laughed quietly. “Lance, all I heard from you nonstop, and from Annaleigh too, was how this was a big opportunity, and that I should give you a chance,” she said, running her fingers through his hair. “Or did I make that up?”

“No, ma’am,” Lance replied, opening his eyes before turning his head to smile at her. “Maybe I made a mistake.” Diane shook her head back and forth.

“Remember when you begged your father to let you stop playin’ baseball to start singin’?” Diane asked and Lance’s lips twitched upwards into a smile. “You don’t think all this is was a mistake, do you?”

“Starting to think I’m too big for my britches,” Lance replied with a heavy sigh, his cheeks puffing up as he did so.

“Well, sweetie, you had to put in a lot of hard work to get into show choir, and you accomplished so many things,” Diane said before moving to give him a kiss on the cheek. “Who says you can’t accomplish this if you set your mind to it?”

“Me,” Lance replied.

“And I think that’s your problem, Sweetie,” Diane replied, reaching up her hand to brush some of his hair out of his face. “You’re stoppin’ yourself. But, why?”

“I’m scared,” Lance replied.

“Of what?”

“A lot of things.”

Diane nodded her head. “Do you really want to live your live in fear of what’s to come if you decide to go along with this?” she asked, waving her arm around, indicating the pool and then the house. “Or do you want to be my little boy who has never in his life been afraid to jump up onto stage with his sister and to make up all those shows for your father and I?”

Lance broke into a smile before moving to rest his head on her shoulder. “I’ve never been more proud of you, James,” she said quietly. They sat in silence for a moment, gently swishing their legs through the water. “Would it help if we invited Annaleigh and Darren out to see your show?”

“Yes,” Lance replied after a moment of silence. He then quirked an eyebrow. “Cause apart from Justin, these boys don’t know the first thing ‘bout Southern food.”

Diane laughed, resting her head on top of his. She looped an arm around him, rubbing soothing circles into his back. “You ready to go back in?” Diane asked.

“Mmmm, only if you’re willing to carry me back to my bed afterwards,” Lance replied before he removed his feet from the water. He offered his hand towards his mother and Diane slipped her hand in his, allowing him to help her to her feet. She reached for her abandoned shoes.

“Not if you’re going to be that sweaty,” Diane replied with a shake of her head.

“Thanks, mom,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes.

“Hey, Stace has always been my favorite,” Diane joked, shrugging her shoulders.

“We’ll just see how many concerts I’ll give you backstage passes to,” Lance said with a laugh. “We’ll see who the favorite is, then.” Diane let out a tinkling laugh. “I love you, mom.”

“I love you, too, Lance,” Diane replied, giving him a warm smile. “And I know you can do this, you’re not alone. You have four boys who are going through the same thing.” She clicked her tongue. “Even a little more, I mean, they already had someone else who signed onto the group and then left shortly after.”

Lance cringed. “You don’t think they think that I want out, do you?” he asked quietly.

“Only one way to find out, sweetie,” Diane replied. She peered up at him, a questioning look in her eyes.

Lance sucked in a deep breath of air before letting it out. “Come on, mom,” he said, reaching her for her hand. “I’ve already dragged you through this far, might as well keep pulling you along.” Diane laughed again, using her free hand to swat him on the arm.

Lance guided his mom back through the band house and back into the rehearsal space. Joey was the first to jump to his feet and make his way over to the two of them. “Is everything ok?” Joey asked, giving Diane a smile before giving Lane a half smile.

“Everything’s fine,” Lance replied, gently squeezing his mom’s hand, giving her a warm smile before turning back towards him. “We’re in this together, right?”

“Damn straight, we are,” Joey said, grinning at Lance before turning towards his mom. “I’m sorry.” he then looked back at Lance who pressed his lips together, trying not to laugh out loud. “I mean…of course we are.”

Lance laughed.

“Because we’re going to need to rely on each other when we start working on this in the warehouse,” Joey said. Lance’s smile faded slightly.

“Warehouse?” he repeated.

Clinton, Mississippi

“I haven’t asked you for anything more important, more life changing, more awesomely major than this,” Annaleigh said around a hair clip as she brushed her hair out of her face.

“What about you wanting to go to Orlando to begin with?” Ryan asked, turning to face his daughter. Annaleigh quickly stopped walking, nearly colliding with his chest. She took a couple steps back to look up at him. “That was important to you, right?”

“Riiight,” Annaleigh replied, putting her hands on her hips.

“Sweetie, don’t put your hands on your hips,” Caroline said, walking up behind her daughter, gently hitting her wrist. Annaleigh lifted her hand to hand her mom the hair clip and Caroline brushed her hair out of her face, sliding the hair clip in, locking it into place. “You’re going to wrinkle your dress.” She started smoothing out the material that bunched around her waist. “We still need it for Saturday.”

“I’ve barely talked to Lisa in years, why do I have to go to her debutante again?” Annaleigh asked.

“Because I’ve been doing their hair for years and they always ask about you,” Caroline replied with a small huff. Caroline worked part time as a hair dresser and was also a Sunday School teacher. “They want you to come. Now hold still, I need to make sure this fits you.” Annaleigh held her arms out in a T as Caroline walked around her, tugging at the dress, making sure it was snug in the right places. “We can try it with the shoes in just a minute.”

“Here, taste this for me?” Ryan asked, turning away from the stove, holding out a spoon with chili in it, using his free hand to cup the space below the spoon, just in case it dripped.

“Ah, ah!” Caroline said, smacking at his hand. “Not near the dress.”

“It has to taste as good as it smells, dad,” Annaleigh replied, making a show of breathing deeply through her nose. “Or better.” Ryan gave her a smile before sliding some of the chili into his mouth. “So, what do you think? Can I see Lance’s show”

 “I don’t know, Anna,” Ryan replied.

“I won’t be there alone, Darren and Jazz will be going too,” Annaleigh quickly explained, “and so will Mr. Dale. Plus, Mrs. Bass is already down in Florida and she promises to keep an eye on us.”

“I heard her message on the answering machine, Anna,” Ryan replied, putting his spoon back into the chili, stirring it. “And I don’t doubt that she’ll take good care of you, I trust that she will.”

“So, what’s the problem?” Annaleigh asked. “It’d be a great experience.”

“This conversation sounds familiar,” Ryan joked.

“Much like others,” Caroline muttered, picking at a piece of lint from Annaleigh’s dress. “Your father would know all about bringing up past problems.”

“Dad, it’ll be perfect,” Annaleigh said. “Dale and Lance will be with Mr. Dale and Jazzy and I will be with Mrs. B. You wouldn’t have anything to worry about.” She waved her hand in the air. “I’m sure all the *NSYNC families will be there, too.” She then put a finger in the air. “And…we’ll be in Disney World. I’ve never been there and how bad can Disney World really be? The performance will be at Rock N Roll Beach Club and-”

“The fact that it’s at a club worries me,” Caroline said, straightening. She reached for Annaleigh’s hair, tucking some behind her ear.

“A kiddie club at Disney,” Annaleigh pointed out to her. “Disney mom, Disney! Do you know how badly I’ve wanted to meet Pluto in person?”

“He’s a costume, Anna,” Ryan said, giving her an odd look.

“Yeah, at the happiest place on earth,” Annaleigh replied. “Happiest, dad. Happiest! As in, I will not be happy if I can’t go.”

“When did we start raising a teenager?” Ryan asked, turning towards Caroline. Caroline gave a laugh, putting a hand to her cheek.

“Around the time she was born,” she replied and the two of them started laughing. Annaleigh twisted her mouth to the side, crossing her arms over chest. “Oh, Anna, it was just a joke.” She cupped Annaleigh’s cheek with her hand, wiping her thumb back and forth on her cheek. “You know we love you.”

“I know,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head before shifting her eyes towards the pot on the stove. “I love dad’s chili too, but you won’t let me have some of it.”

“Oh, go on, go on, just change out of this dress first,” Caroline replied, throwing her hands into the air. “We’ll try on the shoes later.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Annaleigh replied, moving to give her a kiss on the cheek. She then quickly took the spoon from Ryan’s hand, lifting it to her mouth to take a bite of his chili. “Mmmm.” She then quickly jumped away from her mom’s swat. “Gape gili, bad.”

“I think I’ll take that as a compliment,” Ryan said, giving his daughter a weird look as she made her way out of the room. “Should I?”

Annaleigh turned back around as she reached the doorway and watched her parents. “At this age, I think we should be happy she’s still talking to us,” Caroline replied with a small laugh. She then ate some of the chili from the spoon her offered her. “Mmmm.” A smile came to her face as she licked her lips. “Spicy.”

“I think some things could use some spicing up around here,” Ryan replied before he leaned over to kiss her again, and again, and again. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too,” Caroline replied before taking his face in her hands, kissing him back.

“Y’all are gross,” Annaleigh groaned, making a face as she watched the two of them. But, she was happy. That was the most intimate she had seen the two of them in a while. She looped an arm around her stomach as Ryan pulled her closer. “Seriously? I could leave.”

“Make it quick,” Ryan replied.

“Ugh,” Annaleigh said, making a face. She then gasped as an idea came into her head. She put a hand over her eyes before stepping into the kitchen. “I’ve got an idea. You two can suck face all you want while I go to Orlando.” She shuddered when she heard a sucking sound and slowly lowered her hand to look at her parents. “It’s a win-win situation and if things go well, I could have a little brother or sister by my birthday. I mean, come on, what’s a better gift to our family than another me?”

“Or another me,” Ryan muttered.

“There’s enough of you in this house already,” Caroline said with a roll of her eyes. Ryan rolled his eyes as well. Caroline chuckled as she removed herself from her husband, gently hitting him on the arm before turning towards Annaleigh.

“Get upstairs,” she said, shooing Annaleigh away from the door. “Let’s get you out of this dress before it gets dirty.”

“I’m goin’, I’m goin’,” Annaleigh replied, grasping two handfuls of her dress, making her way up the stairs and to her room. “So, that’s what you and dad do when I’m not ‘round? Make kissy face at each other?”

“You’re the one who always wanted a baby brother or sister,” Caroline pointed out, closing the door behind the two of them. “Remember?”

“Yeah, yeah, I remember,” Annaleigh replied, moving to sit down on her bed. Caroline made a tisking sound and Annaleigh hovered over her bed before cupping her hands around her bottom smoothing out the back, dropping down onto her bed. She then reached for the box that sat beside her, pulling open the top. “Ma, why is it so bad for me to go to Orlando?”

“We’re just worried about you, Sweet Pea,” Caroline replied. “You have a lot ta learn ‘bout the world outside of Clinton.” She held out her hand for the shoe box and Annaleigh passed it towards her. “We jus’ want to make sure you’re ready for it before we send you out on your own.”

“I guess I understand that,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. “But, you’re going to have to let me go sometime.”

“Not unless I have anythin’ to say about it,” Caroline replied, giving her daughter a pointed look and Annaleigh laughed a little bit, holding out her foot. Caroline lifted the heel from the box, sliding it onto her foot.

“Do you still love dad?” Annaleigh asked.

“Of course I do,” Caroline replied, blinking in surprise. “Your dad is the first man I’ve ever been in love with. Sure, it took a while for things to fall into place with us; we’ve been friends for so long, but I was bein’ courted by someone else at the time. That doesn’t mean I didn’t have strong feelins for him the whole time.” She gave Annaleigh a pointed look. “Jus’ like how you’ve been sweet on Darren since the day you met him.”

“Maaa,” Annaleigh groaned, as Caroline reached for her other foot to slide the shoe on her other feet. “Not now.”

“I’m jus’ sayin’,” Caroline said, taking her daughter’s hands, pulling her to her feet. “Darren has grown to be a lovely young man, one Garland and Lucinda should be proud of.” She adjusted the dress before taking a step back from her daughter, giving her a smile. “Perfect. You look wonderful, Sweet Pea.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Annaleigh replied, smoothing down the material that covered her stomach. “Can I get out of here, now?”

Caroline clicked her tongue. “Look at you,” she said, shaking her head back and forth. “So beautiful, yet you can’t wait to get back into those jeans of yours. A skirt won’t hurt; soccer really has done wonders for your legs.”

“Why do you think I stayed with it for so long?” Annaleigh asked with a grin, her eyebrows shooting upwards. Caroline laughed.

“I see you’ve got your wit from me,” Caroline replied with a smile. “And your flirty tendencies from your father.” Annaleigh gave Caroline a look of alarm. “Trust me, Anna, you may not realize it, but you can be pretty flirty and sassy.” She gave her daughter a smile. “And that is exactly what this dress is going to show, once take it in a bit and everythin’.”

“Thanks, Ma,” Annaleigh replied with a small laugh. “I know what you and dad said, but…would it really be bad for me to go to Orlando?” She gave a small smile. “It’d give you and dad plenty of time together. Ma, all I’ve seen you do is fight, maybe it’d help?”

Caroline looked like she was going to protest for a minute, but then her shoulders slumped and a thoughtful look came to her face before she brushed her dark hair away from her face. “Maybe,” she replied, slowly nodding her head. “I know how badly you wanted ta go to Orlando. I know how badly you want to see the world outside of Clinton, but I’m not doin’ this to be a bad guy.”

“I know, Ma,” Annaleigh replied with a nod of her head. “But, I’m goin’ to start thinkin’ that way if I don’t get out of this dress in the next five minutes.”

Caroline laughed, putting a hand to her mouth. “Sweet Pea, if it makes you feel any better, I wasn’t too fond of dressin’ up for anythin’ when I was your age. Your nana was always chasin’ after me, trying to put me in a dress or in a skirt. It wasn’t until I met your father that I turned all that ‘round, and I wanted to impress him. Made a mighty big fool of myself time and again, but that didn’t seem to bother him.” She waved her hand in the air.

“You know, I’ve always wanted a little girl and I was so happy to be pregnant with you so I could have someone to dress up with, to shop with, and to do pageants with ‘cause I always had fun doing that with my mother. I know I could’ve done a better job with you, I could’ve been ‘round at home more often—“

“Don’t say that, Ma,” Annaleigh said with a shake of her head as he reached behind her for the zipper on the dress. “You’re a great mother, the best I ever had.”

“Well, I do appreciate that, Sweet Pea,” Caroline said with a smile, reaching for her daughter’s feet. “I appreciate that so much.” She let out a small sigh. “More than you know.”

Annaleigh’s eyebrows crinkled together slightly as she peered down at her mother before stepping out of her dress. “Ma,” she said with a click of her tongue before glancing over at the window as it was pushed open. A pair of hands reached into the windowsill and Caroline jumped up to grab the blanket from Annaleigh’s bed to cover her as Darren climbed in through the window. “You didn’t knock.”

“Apparently I should have,” Darren replied as he got to his feet, spotting her before clearing his throat, shoving his hands into his jeans pockets. “Not like it’s anythin’ I haven’t seen before.” Annaleigh’s eyes widened before shifting towards her mother. His face burned a bright red. “And I mean that in the mos’ respectful way, Miss Caroline.”

“Mmhmmm,” Caroline replied, pursing her lips. “Jus’ like it’s respectable of you to climb into my house through my daughter’s window, huh?” Darren’s eyes then widened. “Guess I should be happy that there aren’t any grandbabies runnin’ round here.”

“Oh, Ma!” Annaleigh groaned, wrapping the blanket tightly around her before shuffling to her closet. She grabbed a pair of clothes before shuffling towards the bathroom. “You’re not funny.” She kicked her bathroom door shut before quickly changing into jeans and a Mississippi State jersey t-shirt. “Hear about Lance’s showcase?”

“Yeah, that’s why I came over,” Darren replied, his eyes still on Caroline, who was perched on the end of Annaleigh’s bed. “Miss Caroline, you know we’ve been in and out of each other’s houses through the window for years.”

“And yet, you had never heard my thoughts on the matter before, have you?” Caroline asked with a sweet smile.

“Ma,” Annaleigh said with a roll of her eyes. “You have nothin’ to worry ‘bout.”

“I know I don’t,” Caroline replied with a nod of her head as she got to her feet before turning to face Annaleigh. “I’ve never had to worry ‘bout you.” She gave Annaleigh a smile before moving to kiss her on the forehead. “Give me some time to talk to your father and I think I can convince him to let you go to Orlando.” She then winked. “After all, I was able to convince him to propose to me.”

Annaleigh let out a laugh as Caroline made her way out of the room, making it a point to keep the door open. Annaleigh caught Darren’s eye and he put a hand to his lips, trying to stop himself from laughing. “You think it’s going to work?” Darren asked after a moment of silence.

“You know my Ma, she can be a good negotiator,” Annaleigh replied and Darren gave a nod of his head. “A scary one at that.” She crossed her arms over her chest, letting out a heavy sigh. “Tried telling them that it’d give them plenty of time to work out whatever it is that they’re goin’ through. They’ve been gettin’ better recently, but…I never know what’s goin’ to tip them off. You should’ve seen ‘em earlier, Gross Out, USA.”

“Better that than fightin’,” Darren replied. “Dependin’ on how you look at it.”

“Exactly what I was thinkin’,” Annaleigh replied. She then peered over at him. “Back of 80 of Fire Tower?”

“I’m game either way,” Darren replied with a nod of his head before following her out of the room. “Just need to hurry, Jazzy’s in the car. I’ll meet you outside.”

“I’ll be out in a minute, either way,” Annaleigh replied, waving her hand in the air. She rounded the corner and headed back into the kitchen. “I’m headin’ out with D and Jasmine. Well be back by dinner and…what’s up?”

She stopped when she saw Ryan and Caroline sitting at the kitchen table, talking closely with each other, looking up at her as she entered the kitchen. “Your father and I think you should go to Orlando to see Lance perform,” Caroline said and Annaleigh burst into a grin. “We think it would be a good experience for you. Plus, we know that our arguin’ has been hard on you, and we’d like to take some time to work things out.”

“For you, Sweet Pea,” Ryan added and Caroline nodded her head. “This way, it’ll give us time to figure out how to get things back on track between the two of us.”

“You’re the best parents ever!” Annaleigh said, punching the air with her fists. She then hurried around to her parents and gave them both a kiss on the cheek. “I love you. You don’t know how much this means to me. Ma, how’d you get him to change his mind?”

“Your mother reminded me how little time we’ve spent together lately,” Ryan replied, giving Caroline a smile.“It’s a chance for us to get things back on track between us. To work things out.”

 “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you,” Annaleigh said as she skipped around the table. She reached for the yellow paper that sat at the corner before hurrying outside. Jasmine opened the door to Darren’s truck and got out, giving Annaleigh room to climb inside, scooting along the bench seat. “Guess who’s going to Orlandoooo.” She sang the final word as she waved the flyer in her hands.

“Miss Caroline got your dad to change her mind?” Jasmine asked as she climbed back into the truck, slamming the door shut behind her. She reached for her seat belt, pulling it across her chest before taking the flyer from Annaleigh.

“Yeah, they said that they’d take the time to sort out what went wrong with their marriage,” Annaleigh replied. “Today, it was like there was nothin’ wrong between the two of ‘em. I haven’t seen ‘em that way in a while. It was nice.”

“NSYNC is: Lance Bass, J.C. Chasez, Joey Fatone, Chris Kirkpatrick, and Justin Timberlake,” Jasmine read aloud from the flyer, lowering her voice to sound more like an announcer. Darren shifted the car truck into reverse and slowly backed out of the driveway before starting to drive down the street. “Come be part of the audience when we videotape a live showcase performance. Free poster and t-shirt give away, too.” She rolled the flyer in her hands and tapped the tube against the heel of her palm. “You think anythin’s really gonna come from this?”

“Only one way ta find out,” Darren replied as he swung up his hand to hit the turn signal. He slowed the truck to a stop at the end of the neighborhood and glanced over his shoulder before pulling out onto the main road. “At least he’s tryin’. That’s all that really matters.”

“I’m jus’ sayin’,” Jasmine replied, putting her hands up defensively. “So you think your parents can work things out?”

“Yeah, I mean, they’ve been gettin’ better with each other latetly,” Annaleigh replied, starting to twirl a chunk of her hair around her finger. She then clapped her hands together. “But, I don’t want to talk about that anymore. We need to figure out what ride we’re goin’ to be checkin’ out first as soon as e get ta Disney.”

She then looked over at Jassmine who looked back at her, hiking an eyebrow, before looking over at Darren who gave her an amused look. As Annaleigh faced forward they all said in unison, “Dumbo” before they started to laugh.

“Hey, maybe your parents should come to Disney with us,” Jasmine said, gently jabbing her elbow into Annaleigh’s side. “It is the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’, maybit’d help.”

“Funnily enough, I was thinkin’ the same thing,” Annaleigh said with a laugh as she took the flyer from her friend. She unrolled it, smoothing it out on her leg before looking it over. “Couldn’ hurt.”

October 20th, 1995

Orlando, Florida

Pleasure Island

“Ow, ow, ow, ow,” Lance repeated, eyes squeezed shut. His knees bounced as he repeatedly tapped his feet on the floor.

His head was on fire! He licked his lips, repeatedly pressing them together, breathing in and out through his nose as he waited for the bleach to be washed out of his hair. He peered at his reflection in the square mirror in front of him and if he wasn’t in so much pain, he probably would’ve burst out laughing as his face was contorted as if had sucked on a lemon.

“Oh, my God, get this out!” Justin cried.

Lance opened an eye to peer over at Justin who was sitting next to him also in front of a square mirror, practically ripping a hole through the cape he had around him as he bit down on it. His face was scrunched up into a look of pain. His face was a bright red as he held his breath, hair as white as snow due to the goop in it.

“Hold on, time is almost up,” JC said, looking up from the newspaper he was reading in the chair to Lance’s left. Lance started to repeatedly slap his hands onto his arm rests before gripping it tightly in his hands.

“Joey, would you look at that,” Chris said from where he and Joey were sitting. Lance could only see the backs of their chair in the mirror. “I think they’re crying.” Joey chuckled before using his feet to spin his swivel chair around. He then pulled himself forward with his feet until he was sitting beside Justin.

“Would you ladies like us to hold your hands?” he asked before offering his hand towards the youngest band member. He set his hands on the counter in front of him before leaning back in his chair.

“Knock it off,” JC said. He didn’t bother looking up from the newspaper in his hands. “And put four on the floor, we don’t want you to crack your head open.”

I want to crack my head open, Lance thought, clenching his teeth tightly together. If it meant the burning would stop.

They were all backstage at the Rock-N-Roll Beach Club preparing for their showcase. Anytime their makeshift dressing room door was opened, they could hear the faint sounds of a crowd starting to form; the lucky few who got their early enough to see them do their final dress rehearsal.

 “I’ll tell you what you can do with your hand,” Justin said, kicking at Joey’s hand. “You can use it to pull Chris’s hand out of your butt, you puppet.”

“Justin Randall.”

Lance winced, partly from his burning head and partly due to Lynn Harless’s call from across the house. He thought his mom was bad; she could hear any curse word, or any roughhousing, or anything from what, to him at the time, felt like miles away. He was a good kid, but any small chance of trouble he had gotten into, she would bombard him about the second he stepped through the front door, before he could even open his mouth.

It takes a village as they say.

Everybody knew about everybody in Clinton, so he wasn’t too surprised that people would know about his business before he even got home. He couldn’t deny it was a bit unsettling, though.

“Sorry, Ma,” Justin called back, face still contorted with pain before glaring at JC’s back. “Thanks, C, I really needed that.”

“Sink. Sink, now,” Lance said, slamming his fists onto the arm rests. Lord, have mercy.

“Almost done,” Joey said, glancing at his watch. “The hair ladies should be back in here, soon.” He reached for the gloves on the kitchen table and slapped the wood with it. “They’re doing Lynn’s and your mom’s hair. Don’t think they could really pass up the chance to have their hair done. You know how girls are.”

“Not funny,” JC commented.

“Yeah, Joe, that’s not funny,” Chris repeated.

 “Whose bright idea was this?” Justin asked through his clenched teeth.

“Papa Lou’s,” Lance replied. He stretched his legs out in front of him and started slamming his heels into the floor as he kicked his legs up and down. “My head is seriously burnin’ over here.”

“Uh oh, his accent is coming out, he’s talking business,” Chris said, looking in Lance’s direction as he got to his feet.

Lance briefly looked up at the ceiling. He did have a point though. Papa Lou had been trying to get him to speak more without his accent, or to “dumb it down” as Justin often put it. It honestly wasn’t that hard; he was in Orlando now. Not a lot of people there had a Southern accent.

The more he was there; the more accustomed he got to taking up the way they talked. He was sure that eventually, he probably wouldn’t be speaking with his accent at all, and God knows no one could hear it when he sang.

Chris pulled himself out of his chair and grasped the door handle, pulling it open. “Hey, we’ve got burning heads in here,” Chris loudly called. Seconds later, the boys could hear heels clacking on the floor as the two hairdressers hurried into the kitchen, ushering Lance and Justin to the sink.

“Alright, alright, let’s go,” one of the women said, tapping him on the shoulder.

Lance and Justin jumped out of their chairs and rushed out of the room, rushing into the bathroom, practically throwing themselves into the sink, nearly colliding the top of their skulls with the faucets.

 “Careful, careful,” the woman said, grasping Lance’s shoulders, gently removing his head from the faucet so he wouldn’t dent it. Lance slapped at the sides of his legs with shaking hands as he waited for the woman to slide gloves onto her hands, turning on the water.

It wasn’t just the bleach that made his hands shake. It was the nerves bubbling in his stomach that he tried to mask. Today was the day of the showcase and he had woken up a bundle of nerves. Or rather a bundle as he had wrapped himself up so tightly in his blankets that he could barely move. Not that it was a bad thing; if he couldn’t move then he couldn’t embarrass himself on stage.

“I’ll go jump into the fountain just to get this off me,” Lance said practically running in place.

“If you do that, you’ll strip your head bald,” his hairdresser said, trying to keep him still before guiding his head under the water. “I promise, it’ll look great when it comes out. Just wait a little bit longer.” He practically sighed in relief, and gripped the side of the sink in pain as warm water rushed over his head, washing out the bleach, soothing the burning spots on his head.

He closed his eyes as the woman squirted shampoo onto the back of his head. He could hear the suds being built up as the woman’s gloved fingers massaged at his scalp. The warm water rushed down the back of his neck, down the sides of his head, clearing the white goop that was burning his, by now, red ears. He watched as the white mixture swirled down the drain, pushed with the water. He closed his eyes as he could feel the mixture heading towards his eyes.

Moments later, he was back in the dressing room, getting his hair combed and styled. He slumped in his seat, a smile of delight on his face as the pain had subsided.

“Guys,” he heard JC say from where he was sitting. “Today’s the day. We’re really debuting as *NSYNC.” Lance could hear the mystified tone of his voce. Lance could practically see him staring off into space.

“Don’t do that,” Chris groaned. Lance couldn’t blame him.

There was a thick cloud of tension and anxiety in the air, making it almost impossible to not breathe it in. But, they had all tried to be natural that morning, to act like nothing life changing was happening that day.

They had their usual nose-goes game to see who would be the one to make breakfast, the one to clear the table, worked on their dancing and singing before sneaking out to play a game of basketball in the yard, only to be “caught” and sent inside to work on wardrobe and hair for last minute touches before heading over to the performance space to go through a final dress rehearsal.

“Wow, it really is getting close, isn’t it?” Joey asked; all amounts of his normal upbeat, cheerful attitude gone. “Only a few hours.”

“Three hours, twelve minutes, and 23 seconds to be exact.”

Lance shot up in his seat, effectively driving his head into the teeth of the comb as he did so, focusing his eyes on Darren and Annaleigh. The woman doing his hair threw her hands into the air, taking a step back from him.

“What are you doing here?” he asked them, his cheeks instantly starting to ache as his smile widened.

“Why is your hair orange?” Annaleigh replied. Her nose was wrinkled and her upper lip curling slightly as she looked over at Lance.

Lance’s eyes widened before he spun around to look at his reflection in the mirror. His jaw dropped as he stared at his orange hair in the distorted reflection of the spoon.

“My hair,” Lance said, reaching a hand up to touch his wet hair.

“We may have left the bleach in a little too long,” his hairdresser said with a grin. “Don’t worry. It’ll lighten up in no time. With all the lights out there, no one will notice.”

“It’s not that bad,” Darren said, putting a hand over his mouth. Lance looked at him and saw his shoulders shaking as he laughed quietly. Lance twisted his mouth to the side, making a face at his friend, but he didn’t say anything.

“Everybody, that’s Darren Dale and Annaleigh Carr, my best friends from home,” Lance said, using one hand to indicate to his friends.

“Oh, so you’re the hot chick in Lance’s pictures,” Joey said, a wide smile on his face as he held his hand out towards her.

“I guess,” Annaleigh replied, giving Joey and odd look before her brown eyes flickered towards him before a smirk crossed her features, her eyebrow hiking upwards. Lance rolled his eyes before stepping close to his friends.

“That’s Justin, and Chris, and JC, and Joey…who can let go of your hand, now,” Lance said pointing out his friends to them. He removed the towel from his lap, rolled it up into a ball between his hands, and threw it across the room, punching the air with his fists as the towel met their mark and landed on his head. “Anyway, is Jazz here, too?”

“Yeah, she’s checking out the place,” Darren replied as he lifted his hand in greeting when the rest of the *NSYNC members called “Hello” to him. “As for why we’re here, Miss Diane invited us down to check out your showcase. You didn’ think we’d miss your show, did ya?”

“Who are we kiddin’? I wanna go ta Disney World,” Annaleigh said, shooting Lance a bright smile before moving to take one of the empty seats in the room. JC jumped to his feet to pull out her chair for her, giving her a smile as she sat down. “I thank ya, kindly.”

JC blinked, taken aback for a moment before looking over at Darren who shrugged, a half smile on his face. “You’re welcome, Sweetie.”

“Let’s get your hair finished, Lance,” the hairdresser said as she tapped her long fingernails on Lance’s head. She gently grasped his shoulders, moving him to sit back against the back of the chair. “It won’t take long, we’re almost done.”

Take your time, Lance thought to himself. If it meant that he wouldn’t have as much time to sit and worry about the show case, he’d happily burn all his hair off.

“This place is so cool,” Jasmine loudly announced as she made her way into the room. “Looks like somethin’ you’d find in the future. I’d gladly leave Clinton if it meant I could live here.” She pushed her hair back behind her ears. “And it’s so close to Disney World. You could go there anytime you want and you’re actually performin’ there tonight.”

“Everybody, this is my sister, Jasmine,” Darren said, putting his hand on Jasmine’s shoulder. “Jazz that’s JC, Chris, Joey, and Justin.” Jasmine turned and gave Justin a smile, offering him her hand.

“Pleasure to meet you,” she said, giving him a warm smile. Lance hiked an eyebrow in Darren’s direction and he briefly glanced at the ceiling, shaking his head. The hairdresser grabbed his head, holding it in place as she started to run a comb through his hair. “I’m a huge fan of yours. I watched you and JC on MMC all the time.”

“Thanks,” Justin replied with a warm smile, causing a blush to spread across her cheeks. Lance pulled he corners of his lips downwards to stop himself from smiling as a brief look of annoyance passed over Darren’s features. “Glad you could make it.”

“Wouldn’t miss it for the world,” Jasmine replied, her smile widening slightly.

“You can let go of his hand, now, too,” Darren said, putting his hands on his sister’s shoulders before pulled it her back from Justin. “Hey, we’re all excited for your show. We heard it was being taped?”

“Lou is taping the show to shop around to see if anybody would be interested in signing us,” Chris explained. He gave a shrug of his shoulders. “And if nothing happens, we at least have a memento from this.” He then started twisting his fingers in his lap before reaching a hand up to twirl a lock of his hair around his finger. “Is it getting hot in here or is it just me?”

“No, it’s not,” Joey replied deadpan before throwing a smile in Annaleigh and Jasmine’s directions.

“I think I’m getting sick,” Chris said, putting his hands to his stomach, closing his eyes, tilting his head back towards the ceiling.

“Chris, calm down, everything will be fine,” JC said to his friend, getting out of his chair to make his way over to the oldest *NSYNC member, clapping him on the shoulder. “Everything will be fine. Let’s go take a walk, calm you down.”

“Wait up, I want to see if Kelly’s here yet,” Joey said, getting to his feet, hurrying after his friends.

“Alright, you’re all done,” the woman said, tapping Lance on the head, swiping the comb through his hair a couple more times. “Your hair will take a little time to dry, but we’re all done.”

“Great,” Lance said, getting to his feet. “Come on guys, I’ll show you the stage and everything.” He ushered Darren and Annaleigh out of the room. He led them through the twisting and winding halls before coming to a door. Pulling it open, they were at the back of the stage before he stepped out onto the wood. “Well, this is it.”

“Would you stop being so nervous?” Darren asked with a chuckle, gently hitting Lance’s shoulder. “You’ve performed on plenty of stages before.”

“Yeah, and for crowds bigger than this, too,” Annaleigh added, sliding her hands into the back pockets of her jeans.

“Yeah, I know,” Lance replied with a nod of his head, letting out a sigh through his nose. “But, I was also dancing with a group than this, too.” He then shook his head, looking over at his friends. “Thanks for coming out, I really appreciate it.”

“Wouldn’ miss it for the world, Lance,” Jasmine replied.

Lance looked over at her and watched as she spun, twirled, and danced across the stage. It then hit him that he’d be doing his own dancing on the stage soon. His stomach started to bubble and gurgle, spit collecting in his mouth.

“I don’ think can do this,” he said.

“Yes, you can,” Darren immediately replied in a calm and soothing tone. He gave a small laugh. “You always get like this before your first performances and then you always do well.”

“This is so much bigger than that, though,” Lance replied, crossing his arms over his chest. He put a hand to his face before running his fingers through his damp, orange hair. “I don’t have anyone to hide behind up here.”

“You shouldn’ have to hide, James,” Annaleigh said, removing her gaze from the dark house before looking back over at her friend. “You have a natural gift, a natural talent that others would kill ta have.” She reached out a hand and rubbed at his shoulder. “You always shine on stage, whether you realize it or not. You never had to hide.” Lance pressed his lips together, slowly nodding his head. “Come on, what is it I always tell you?”

“Suck it up and deal with it?” Darren asked.

“Exactly,” Annaleigh replied with a bright smile. Lance caught Darren’s eye and the two of them laughed quietly.

“You’ll do great, Lance,” Jasmine said, stepping up on the other side of him. “God gave you this gift. If He didn’ think you were made to share your talent with everybody, He wouldn’ have given you the gift in the first place. Remember, James 1:17…James.”

“’Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning’,” Annalegh recited and Jasmine gave a nod of her head.

“See?” she asked, shaking his arm.

“God won’t ever leave you in a time of need, and neither will we,” Darren added, lifting his hand to punch Lance’s shoulder. He then gave a teasing grin. “Unless you puke, then you’re on your own.”

“Thanks,” Lance replied with a roll of his eyes.

“Hey, dude,” Joey said, walking up behind them. “We’ve got to start going over vocal runs.” He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “And Chris puked.”

“I’m right there with him,” Lance said, rubbing at his stomach. He lifted a hand in a wave to his friends before following Joey back offstage, breathing in through his nose and out his mouth.

“Sheesh, looks like you’re just about to throw up, too,” Joey said, clapping Lance on the shoulder. “Relax. It’ll be fine.” He then put his arm around Lance’s shoulders. “And if you’re going to puke onstage, do it on Chris.” Lance laughed as Joey started to shake him. “If you get nervous just look at me.”

“Yeah, right, your goofy faces and hammy routine will make me forget everything,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes.

“You can’t puke and laugh at the same time, right?” Joey asked with a wink before he shook Lance again. “Come, man. We’ve been through this before, we can’t do this alone. I mean, everybody made a big deal about your voice and everything, but the way I see it, you’d flounder by yourself.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Joe,” Lance replied, gently thumping Joey on the back.

“No problem,” Joey replied with a bright smile.

“There you are,” Lou said as they rounded a corner, clapping his hands together. “We’ve been looking all over for you two boys. We’ve got a lot of work to do; there’s not much time left.”

“Ok,” Joey said, his smile slowly fading, putting a hand to his stomach, his lips twitching. “Now I feel like puking.”

“See, I told you that things would work out,” Annaleigh said bright as she dug her spoon into the ice cream sundae that she, Darren, and Annaleigh were sharing. “And you didn’t puke once.”

“No,” Darren agreed, turning away from the group of teens on the dancefloor, where his sister was dancing. He set his attention on the sundade, working out a chunk of brownie from the ice cream with his spoon before sliding it into his mouth. “But, he looked like he was goin’ to when he had to croon to all the ladies at the beginnin’ of that one song.”

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Lance said with a roll of his eyes. “The guys wouldn’t stop making fun of me for it.” He smacked Annaleigh’s spoon with his own before quickly grabbing one of the cherries on the sundae. As he slid the sweet dessert into his mouth, he took the time to look around the packed Rock-N-Roll Beach Club.

The performance had gone off without a hitch, save for all of the nerves that were bouncing around backstage. JC and Justin had been pacing, muttering the lyrics to all of the songs they’d be performing that night. Chris was outside throwing up everything he had eaten or drank before hand, and Joey and Lance took the time to mime the dance moves one last time.

They were all surprised by their family coming to see their performances, greeting them backstage before they went on. Lance was glad to see his dad and Stacey, and they brought some comfort to him as he shook out his arms and legs, wiping the sweat from his palms so he wouldn’t drop the microphone in his hands. Knowing they would be out in the audience watching and cheering him on helped.

Before he knew it, they were out on stage, greeted by all of the cheers and screams of excitement from the MMC fans. But, they hadn’t just been screaming for JC and Justin, but for all of them. They all knew who each and every one of them were. It gave them enough energy to practically fly through the songs, at least that’s what Lance felt like; like everything was going double the speed then they had rehearsed it.

Lance lifted his hand, giving his mom and dad a wave before scooping out another spoonful of ice cream. “Lou says everything went well,” Lance said after he swallowed, licking his lips. “Only time will tell.”

“What are you going to do now?” Darren asked.

“Go home,” Lance instantly replied. “There’s not much to do here, now. I mean, it’s not like it was a done deal; we perform, we get a record deal.”

“Haven’ you learned by now that the stage is your home?” Annaleigh asked with a roll of her eyes before giving lance a smile. “Things’ll work out, don’t worry.”

“Speaking of which,” Lance said, turning his attention to her and Annaleigh’s eyebrows twitched as she gave him a curious look, “your parents actually let you come out here?”

“I’m sittin’ in front of you, aren’t I?” she asked, hiking an eyebrow. “But, yeah, they decided to take the time to try and work things out.” She then laughed lightly. “I wonder if I can get a trip to California out of them with that excuse.”

“Good luck with that,” Darren said with a snort. “They practically grounded you indefinitely from comin’ here, what makes you think they’d let you go to California.”

“A girl can dream,” Annaleigh replied with a shrug of her shoulders, lifting her spoon to her mouth to lick the melted ice cream and chocolate syrup off her spoon. “This one came true, didn’ it? I got to come out here.”

“That wasn’ a dream, that was constant begging,” Darren said with a roll of his eyes. Lance watched as Annaleigh set down her spoon, looking as if she was preparing to verbally fight him, but Joey came up to the table, asking her for a dance as loud, dance music started blaring through the speakers of the club.

Lance got to his feet, giving Annaleigh room to slid out of the booth before he dropped back down next to his friend. “Haven’t seen her that happy in a while,” he commented, watching Joey and Annaleigh dance for a few moments before turning his attention back towards his childhood friend. “Do you really think Mr. and Mrs. Carr are going to work things out.”

“Honestly?” Darren asked, his eyebrows shooting up and Lance nodded. “Can’t really say. I think it’s up to God to decide whether things’ll work out for ‘em. God and a little compromise on their end.” He worked out a chunk of brownie from the sundae and put it into his mouth, slowly chewing. “But, if they’re anythin’ like Ace, I, personally don’ see it workin’ unless they really want to put their stubbornness aside.”

“Yeah, I was thinkin’ the exact same thing,” Lance replied.

 THE END