The car was packed and very piece of evidence either destroyed or taken.  The only thing left to do was to just get in the car and go.  The girls went around to each of the guys and said their final goodbyes.  Katy felt a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach.  This wasn’t something that she had ever felt before, this was something new.  She sat there for a minute going through the contents of Justin’s wallet, for a famous person there wasn’t much cash in it and nothing out of the ordinary. 

“What are you doing? Are you ready to go?” Mandy asked, as she watched Katy from the basement stairs.

“Did you ever wonder what their driver licensees looked like?  You know, like if they had the same crappy photo that looks nothing like you, and which one of their many houses that they listed as their address?” Katy asked.  The question was odd but somehow it didn’t surprise Mandy coming from Katy.  Now really wasn’t the time to be going through Justin’s things.  “And did you know that Justin is not an organ donor?”

“Probably a good thing, everyone wants a piece of Justin Timberlake.  And what is the verdict on the picture.  Does he look super hot or just average?” Mandy said knowing that Katy was going to tell her the answer any way.  Katy shook her head and Mandy thought she saw her fight back a few tears.  In all the years they had known each other Mandy had only see Katy actually cry just a handful of times, and this wasn’t one of them.  Not a single tear was shed but that may have just been a clever facade.

“Nope, he still looks like a freaking god, even in his stupid driver’s licenses photo.” Katy said with a smile and then slipped his wallet back into his pocket.  “I think I have everything, I gave all the guys their phones back.” She added heading for Mandy.

“Are you sure they are going to be alright?” Mandy asked.

“Yeah of course, don’t worry I’ll take care of everything.  Nothing bad is going to happen to them, I just need you to trust me.”  Katy pleaded.  The hardest part of all of this was going to be getting away without any more issues but with the guy sleeping peacefully now there wasn’t much to stand in their way, other than themselves of course.

They gathered in the living room one last time, no one really knew why but the place just didn’t feel the same as it had when they first walked in the front door over a week ago and it had nothing to do with the guys passed out all over the house.  The tiny shack in the middle of nowhere had really become like a home to them.  They weren’t sure that they would ever be able to return there, it all kind of depended on what the guys did after they wake up and find the girls missing. 

“I am going to miss this crappie house.” Mandy sighed.  The other just nodded in agreement.  All the work the put into it and all the great memories they had here, that was something special all right.  “Hey wait we never got to see the finished video?” Mandy said.  Katy nodded and reached into her bag and pulled out three yellow envelopes with the girls’ names on them.  There was something odd about the fact that Katy seemed to have prepared for this.

“Wait a minute you didn’t just forget to show the video, you weren’t even planning to show it, were you?” Brandi asked. 

“There is a video, right?” Kim asked concerned, she didn’t want to leave here empty handed.  She clutched the envelope that Katy had just handed her, almost afraid to look inside, yet curious at the same time.

“Of course there is, it’s in there.  It’s just… I am scared to show it.  I don’t want to disappoint you guys.  I know how much this all means to you.  It’s something to remember this by.  I know we didn’t get to see it together and I am sorry about that, but I kind of had other things on my mind tonight.  I knew if we watched it the party it wouldn’t end well and we all knew how it really had to end.  I put everything in there for you, all the files and a DVD of the final video.  I would like to know what you think of the video when you get settled in to your new location.” Katy quickly explained.  The girls stashed them away in their carryon bags.

They had to resist the urge to watch the video now, there was no telling how long the guys would be out for and they had already wasted enough time, now they had to go.  It scared them to think that all this work that they had put into this and they were leaving there without knowing what the final product really looked like.  They had put their faith in Katy to make it worth their while and she just promised that she had done her very best to capture what the whole experience had really been about.

Kim and Mandy head out to the cars to put the last of the stuff in them.  Katy paused at the door when she realized that Brandi wasn’t moving toward the door yet.  She was just standing there staring toward the bathroom were Chris was still lying on the floor.

“You know, you can still come back.  Chris will blame me for this just like we planned all along.” Katy whispered in her ear.  The sudden sound startled Brandi as it broke the silence and drew her back from her thoughts. It took her a minute to recall what Katy was talking about.  It was their earlier plan, the one they had even before they kidnapped the guys.  Brandi had almost forgotten about it and certainly didn’t think it had still been in effect. 

“But I have failed you.  Justin doesn’t hate me anymore and he won’t blame me for this, especially after Chris tells him the truth.  You can’t come back…” Brandi said trailing off at the realization that Katy had never planned to come back at least not for herself.  Everything she had done insured that she would be the one to blame for almost everything.  Where ever Katy was headed she was planning to stay there. 

Brandi wasn’t sure if she should be pissed off or grateful at this point.  She felt lied to or betrayed in some way but after the fight they had when JC ran off, their friendship had been brought into question.  Apparently Katy had made up her mind that their bond had been broke and even though Brandi thought it could be fixed, Katy was out to make one last sacrifice on their behalf. 

“Katy don’t do this, Justin loves you.  Can’t you leave him a note or something at least telling him why?  He would understand.  He’s a smart guy.” Brandi begged.

“No, I am doing this for him too.  You know me probably better than anyone else.  I am not good for him.  He deserves someone better than me. ” Katy said softly.  Brandi could see it in her eyes, Katy’s mind was made up and there was nothing anyone could do to change it, even if she was making a huge mistake.  Brandi had to tell the others what Katy had really done but there was just no time and if she called Katy out on it in front of the group, she would just deny it and claim that she was too stupid to have planned something that clever. 

Once in the car and heading down the road, Brandi had her eyes fixed on the road in front of her, but she somehow knew that Kim was crying in the seat beside her.  She was maintaining her composure as best as she could but she couldn’t look at her friend.  She kept her eyes on the bumper of Katy’s car instead.  But the sad sounds were really getting to her.

“You know it’s not too late, you can jump out of the car right now and go back to him.” Brandi suggested.  She heard Kim chuckle in between sobs, the thought of her throwing herself out of a moving car was somewhat comical to her.  Kim knew that she wouldn’t be any good to JC broken into pieces and lying by the side of the road.

 “No, this is what I need to do.  I may never know if JC really loves me, but maybe someday he and I can try again.” Kim reasoned.  Brandi just nodded as they continued down the road. 

“Give it some time and we’ll see what happens.  You can always go back later; JC is not going to blame you for this.” Brandi explained.

“But no one made me leave, I left on my own.” Kim sighed. 

“You were scared and you needed some time to think.  JC will understand that.  That is just what you will have to tell him when you see him again.  Brandi debated on telling Kim about what Katy had done and her fears that Katy wouldn’t return, but Kim was already suffering from the loss of JC so maybe now wasn’t the best time to tell her that she was about to lose more than she thought she was tonight.

The ride to the airport seemed longer than it should have been but LAX was a great place to get lost in the crowd.  They unloaded the few items that they had packed away in the car and headed inside.  The girls gathered in the main lobby, one last time they gave each other hugs.  Brandi lingered a little longer making sure that she thanked each and every one of them.  She wasn’t about to let Katy be the only one to make a sacrifice.  If Katy wasn’t going to return then neither was Brandi.  The group just wasn’t the same without her.

Then just as they had planned it from the beginning they all walked away, all in different directions with different destinations’ in mind, none of them telling the others where they were headed and no one asking about the other plans for the future.  It made thing easier that way.

Katy felt her heart break for the second time that night as she walked away from her friends, never looking back to catch a glimpse of where they might have been heading.  It was better that she didn’t know.  She smiled as she clutched her carry on; there were a few more things that she needed to do before hopping on a plane herself and getting out of here.  It was her special smile, the others were so going to kill her, but it was worth it.  Everything had been worth it.  She made her way through the busy lobby in search of what she needed to finish what she had started.

The plane was packed for some reason but as soon as the plane reached cruising altitude, Brandi pulled her portable DVD player and placed it on the table in front of her.  She had a sneaky suspicion that there was more to this video than they had intended.  There was something else that Katy was hiding and Brandi wasn’t alone in thinking that.  On their own planes Kim and Mandy were doing the exact same thing.  They were all dying to see the video.

            The video started out just as expected, the sweet sounds of ‘N Sync’s voices in tune with the footage that Katy had shot.  Mandy smiled when she saw the cliff shot, recalling all the excitement they had that day, but then something changed, the video started to show images and clips that no one could recall Katy filming.

They watched in awe as footage of Mandy kissing Joey on the forehead that night that they had made dinner.  But Katy hadn’t been there, had she?  Mandy searched the mental images she had of that night, but Katy wasn’t there.  She had been so nervous maybe she could have over looked her but it didn’t seem likely.  The video played on, shots from Brandi’s date were on there and imagines from when JC returned.  Then there was footage from Katy and Justin by the mixing board in the sound stage, they others didn’t know it but that had been their first kiss and they certainly didn’t know what had happened next, clearly it had been edited for content.  Katy only wanted to show Justin in the best light possible.  She knew what they had done afterwards but there was no sign of that footage anywhere.  Not even on the computer.  Katy had wiped it clean, several times over. 

Brandi clinched her jaw as she replayed her part over a few times.  She was angry that Katy had filmed it even thought she had told her not to.  Seeing it again and again was making it harder for Brandi, but her plane was already in the air so there was no turning back now and staying away was going to be even harder than she thought with this to constantly remind her.

Kim looked away when JC came on the screen, their romance scene had been the only one that was staged, but it certainly didn’t go as planned in the end.  Kim was thankful that Katy hadn’t filmed that.  It wasn’t that she was ashamed but no one should have their first time caught on film.  But it appeared that Katy had been smart enough not to shoot when she knew if would cross a line.

Also mixed in from time to time were shoots of the guys just goofing around like the night they had the camp fire, Katy was even in some shots.  The thing that bugged them the most had been Katy’s ability to film these things, some were taken when she hadn’t even been present or was with someone else at the time.  Which lead the others to believe that she has set the camera to record things for her; there may have even been more than one camera?  But the only one that knew the truth was miles away by now.