So I was hoping after going to the mall I’d be able to just go back to the hotel and watch TV, sleep, and maybe order room service. Of course I wasn’t able to do that. Liam peddled me around New York doing different radio interviews. Also in the car on the way back to the hotel he told me that tomorrow I’d be doing phone interviews for radio stations and magazines, a photo shoot for the EP and going to Live with Regis and Kathy Lee and The View, then going back into the studio to finish the EP so they could release it as early as possible, i.e. next month along with the movie. After announcing that I’d be working on an EP the producers at Jive decided to get me back into the studio as soon as possible to finish it. The rock half was done, Pressure was recorded weeks ago as well as my other favorite, Emergency. Now they wanted me to do the pop half and they were brining in Max Martin and Denniz PoP. Liam talked about it the whole way back to the hotel but by then I was hanging onto a few of his words, I was so tired. By the time I got back to the hotel I only had forty-five minutes to do whatever I wanted before we had to head back out to the party.

I was too tired to move once I got to the hotel I didn’t know how I was going to get to this party. The guys came to check on my from time to time. I guess they thought I was dead because I wasn’t “bothering” them as much as I usually did. They’re the ones who bother me, actually, but since I’m the only girl I usually get out voted. Lance decided to spend some time with me, but in reality that meant I had my head on the pillow that was in his lap, relaxing, as he ran his fingers through my hair, the one thing that gets me relaxed the fastest.

“Are you excited?” Lance asked, running his fingers over the perfect spot on the back of my head. A lazy smiled crossed my face and I let out a sigh of content before answering.

“For what?” I mumbled. “Going to sleep?”

He laughed. “No, the party. Your EP. The movie.”

“Ask me that again when I’m awake,” I yawned. “I know you guys said that this would be hard, but this is ridiculous. How do you sleep?”

“We don’t. We’re walking zombies. We’re just waiting for the right moment for you to fall asleep so we can eat your brains!” he let out a little growl and started tickling my sides.

“Aaah! No! Stop!” I laughed as I tried to get away from him. His quick fingers brushed my side in a way that caused me to laugh hysterically. “Lance, quit it!”

“See, there’s that smile that I love,” Lance beamed, letting me sit up. My abs ached more than they did after my core workouts. “Did you pick what you’re going to wear yet?” I shook my head. “What!? The party’s in…half an hour!” I rolled over as he jumped off of the bed and started going through my suitcase.

“Don’t blow a blood vessel, it’s just a party,” I mumbled, flopping back onto my bed and pulling out my cell phone. “It’s not just a party. It’s the party. All the important people of the entertainment business will be there,” he replied, throwing my clothes around the room. “You’ll want jeans, right?”

“Right,” I replied.

“Ok, how’s this?” Lance asked, holding up the clothes. I tapped my chin as I looked them over. Black and white striped t-shirt, dark wash jeans, black jacket. Simple, comfortable, can withstand the brutal New York cold…

“I like it,” I said, taking it from his hands. “That’s another winner, Lance. I swear I should hire you as my stylist.”

“I might take you up on that seeing as I’m the worst dancer in the group,” he joked.

“That may be true but you’re the sweetest,” I said before kissing his cheek. A light blush bloomed across his face as he smiled. “Thanks again.”

“No problem. Ok, we’re going to meet in the lobby in twenty,” Lance said as he looked at his watch. “Cars should be waiting for us to take us to the party. Try not to be late.”

I lifted a finger and corrected him. “Tell that to JC.” He laughed and left the room.

I yawned and shook my head. My day was long but usually I can bounce back from it but for some reason I was dead tired. I shook my head and shuffled to the bathroom, my clothes in hand. I dropped them in a heap on the floor, ran the water, and splashed some onto my face. They say that’s supposed to wake people up…it just got me wet.

I rubbed a towel over my face and peered at myself in the mirror. The only signs of me being tired were my slightly puffy eyes. I figured that would go away with the inevitable amount of sodas I’d end up drinking. Liam says I should stay away from the sugary-drinks but it was a party for fuck’s sake. Since I couldn’t drink yet I might as well get the mother of all sugar rushes to make up for it, right?

I stripped my clothes and hopped into the shower, feeling my tense muscles relax under the beating warm water. It was as if Poseidon’s (or King Triton’s) fingers were working their way into my muscles, gently pulling away the knots and taking away my aches and pains along with it. Sure, I didn’t do much today, just stand, sit and walk but I was hunched over all the time. It felt as if Justin was sitting on my shoulders all day or something.

I wrapped myself in a towel and stepped out of the shower, cursing under my breath about the hotel having hardwood floors instead of tile. I about busted my head on the freaking bathtub. I wiped the fog off of the mirror and quickly blow dried and straightened my hair. If I didn’t then it’d turn all wavy and it takes forever for me to get my comb through it.

After finger combing my hair I quickly changed into my clothes, taking a look at them through the mirror. I tugged at the hem of my shirt, twisting it this way and that. I cuffed, un-cuffed, and cuffed my pants over and over again trying to figure out which way would work better. I stopped once I realized what I was doing. I don’t know why I was so nervous; it’s just a party that’s launching a magazine with a bunch of celebrities there helping celebrate…whom I could easily embarrass myself in front of…crap.

I stared hard at the makeup package that was sitting on my sink. Joey strongly suggested that I wear some makeup tonight, at least around my eyes but nothing too dramatic. And when I say ‘strongly suggested’ I mean practically forced. Ok, so how do I use this stuff? I asked myself as I unzipped the little bag and began pulling things out. I remember––when I was much younger––I used to sit on the sink and watch Momma as she put on her makeup. At the time I thought she didn’t need it, that she was wasting her time, but now I kinda understood why she put it on.

I still didn’t like it though.

Admitting defeat, I pulled out my cell phone and dialed Lynn’s number. There was no way I could ask my mom about this, she’d probably just laugh at me or call me some sort of hypocrite before she helped me out. Lynn, I knew, would help me without questions. That’s part of the reason why I loved her and considered her my second mother.

“Hey, Lynn. I hope I’m not calling at a bad time,” I said once she picked up, making faces at the different types of makeup and the plethora of shades.

“Of course not, sweetie, I’ll always make time for you,” Lynn replied, cheerfully. “How are you doing? Have you gotten enough sleep lately?” Her southern voice was mixed with concern.

I chuckled. “Momma Lynn, you know me too well.”

“Well, I like to think I had a hand in raising you,” she replied. “Did you need anything?”

“I do, actually,” I said, picking up a brush and looking it over. “I was hoping you’d be able to help me…put on some makeup,” I admitted through clenched teeth. It truly was hard getting those words out of my mouth. I thought I was going to throw up or something.

Lynn laughed. “Well, why do you sound so tortured about it?”

“You know I’m not good with this stuff. I would’ve asked my mom but she would’ve carried on about it and teasing me and poking fun instead of helping me and I need to get out of here in…” I paused to look at my watch. “Fifteen minutes.”

“Ok, what are you going for? The whole face?”

“Just my eyes. Nothing too dramatic. Um, I have some black eyeliner and some eye shadow. At least I think its eye shadow.” I groaned. “Lynn, I don’t know what I’m doing.”

She laughed again. I suddenly missed being back in Memphis. I missed my horse and my house and going to the creek and my friends. Huh, I really should’ve thought about this business before I signed that contract. I followed Lynn’s instructions over the phone as I applied the eye shadow to my face. I went through three colors (violet, purple, and light blue) before settling on gray, it looked better with my eyes supposedly. I thanked Lynn and hung up, deciding that I could put the eye shadow on myself. I mean, how hard could that be?

“Heh-looooooooo??” Justin shouted as the door to my hotel room swung open and hit the other wall with a bang. It scared me so much I jabbed the eyeliner pencil into my eye.

“Merde!” I yelled, holding onto my stinging and water eye. “Connard! Bon sang!”

“Are you singing some French song?” Justin asked, pushing open the door to the bathroom. I turned and glared at him with my one good eye. “Ohh, you’re trying to be a pirate!”

“Not funny,” I growled, wiping away the tears that were getting ready to fall from my eye. “I just stabbed myself in the eye.”

“Don’t do that, it’ll hurt.”

“No shit!”

Justin laughed and ducked to avoid my kick that was aimed at his head. “What’re you wearing makeup for anyway? It’s just a party.”

“I know, Joey wanted me to though,” I replied, turning and opening my eye wide to look at it in the mirror. It wasn’t that red, only a light pink now. I picked up the pencil and tried again.

“If he told you to would you jump off a bridge? C’mon, take the stuff of, it’s not you,” he said as he wetted a washcloth. Before I could even protest he pressed the washcloth against my eyes and rubbed until I was sure he was going to rub my eyelids into dust. He pulled it away to check on his work and smiled.  “See? You have a natural face, you don’t need that stuff.”

Despite the compliment what he said bothered me a little. “But what if I want to…I don’t know; bring out my eyes or something?” I mumbled, shrugging.

Justin laughed. Like, full on laughed. At me. As if I told a joke or fell on my face or something. And that hurt. “Why? Are you trying to impress someone?”

My lip twitched. “No, just talkin’.” I sighed. “Are you ready to go?” I questioned, digging in my bag for a pair of converses. I have, like, seven different pairs–all different colors–that I wear depending on my mood. “Which ones?” I asked holding up the white, red, and blue pairs.

“Ummm, red, you need some color,” Justin replied. “And we’re going to have to wait a bit for JC.”

“He’s not changed yet?”

“No, that’s not the problem,” Justin said with a sly smile.

“Then what is?” I asked, lacing them up.

“Well, let’s just say that he’s putting the ‘DO NOT DISTURB’ sign to good use.”

I stopped and looked up at Justin who continued to smile. “Ew,” I muttered. “Ew. Ew! Ew! Bad images! Get it out of my head, it burns!”

“There’s nothing wrong with sex, you know.”

“I’m not saying there is. What I am saying is don’t want images of JC and Bobbie going at it like rabbits in my head.” I groaned when the knot I had made in my shoe laces acme undone in my hands again. Growling, I quickly tied it again and held out my hands. He easily pulled me to my feet. “Room key?” I asked him as I slipped mine into my pocket.

“Got it,” he said, flashing his in my face. He dropped his arm around my shoulders and hugged me to his side, leading us towards the door. “And now let’s grace the others with our presence, darlin’.”

I laughed at his sudden burst of energy. He loved going to parties, it was the only time he had a chance to go and hang out with others that were around his age and actually act normal. Sometimes I wondered if he felt robbed of his childhood. I know I felt that way sometimes but I was able to go back to school sometimes, but I decided not to stay. The kids in my Orlando school hated me and I didn’t really fit in with the kids in my Memphis school except for Rachael and Trace, but they didn’t count.

We got into the elevator and Justin started whistling under his breath as I watched the numbers change on the panel. I still don’t know why I was going to this party. It wasn’t like I knew anyone and if my day tomorrow was going to be as packed as Liam said it would be I would need my sleep, won’t I?

Liam was a little bit too eager to get me to the next level. He has good intentions and all but still it’s too much at one time. I mean, in the last few weeks I’ve been shoved into the studio, pedaled back and forth between New York and Orlando, going to radio stations, going to interviews, taking pictures, publicity stunts, etc. I, admittedly, wasn’t having much fun being an actress, a dancer, and a singer all at one time. If I could take back my decision and do one at a time I’d be so much happier, but I can’t say that to Liam. I can’t even admit it to Justin. He’s excited over the idea that we’d be able to bond over something else and go on tour together, not just as me being their choreographer or assistant or a lucky friend.

The ding of the elevators grabbed my attention. I lightly shook my head and allowed Justin to grab my hand and lead me out of the elevator. Lance, Joey, and Chris were in the lobby with Dani and Kelly. The two were dressed in nice tops and skirts and heels. I twisted my mouth to the side and looked them over. “Um, I thought this party was casual,” I commented.

“It is, but I wanted to dress up a bit for my man,” Kelly replied with a wink towards Joey who got a stupid grin on his face. She then turned to me and smiled sympathetically. “I hear you’re being worked to the bone. How’re you feeling?”

I shrugged. “Good, I guess. All this is still new to me so I’m trying to figure out my sleeping schedule.”

“You’re not going to sleep in New York,” Dani said with a laugh as she shook her head her braided pigtails lightly hitting her in the face. “What with the sirens, the people, the lights, no one ever sleeps here. It’s why they invented coffee.”

I laughed as Joey studied my face and finally asked, “Hey, how come you aren’t wearing the eye stuff like I asked you to do?”

“You asked her to wear makeup?” Chris questioned.

“And she went along with it?” Kelly added incredulously, looking at me with raised eyebrows.

I huffed. It wasn’t like it was news. Well, it kinda was but I am a girl, I can wear makeup if I want to. “I was going to, but, um, Justin suggested that I don’t,” I replied lamely.

“Yeah, Joe. She’s much beautiful without it,” Justin agreed, smiling at me and giving my hand a squeeze.

“Okay,” Joey said slowly, giving me a questioning look with his eyes. I just shrugged and smiled weakly. He turned to talk to Lance about something but he continued to glance at me out of the corner of his eye. I was about to complain about JC taking long when the elevator doors opened with a dang. “Well it’s about damn time! You’re such a slow…fuck,” I muttered.

Justin looked at me before turning around himself. His jaw dropped and his eyeballs about popped out of his head. Chris noticed Justin and turned to look himself, which caused a chain reaction and chocked looks on their faces.

“Well, slow wouldn’t be the word I’d use to describe JC,” Bobbie said with a smile, kissing JC on the cheek. He beamed and ate that stuff up as she clung to his arm and modeled her short, black, skin-tight glittery dress. She looked like a squished disco ball. I turned to look at Dani and Kelly and they looked back at me with what I bet was the same expression on my face: this girl’s too overdressed.

I couldn’t help but look at the other girls and look down at my own clothes. I felt so out of place, it was weird. I turned to Justin. “Can we go? I need to dance. Like, right now.”

Yeah, dancing will do me some good. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about having to see Bobbie slobbering all over JC’s ear, like she was doing now.

Gross.

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“Man, so many fly hunnies around. I don’t know where to start,” AJ said with a laugh, lowering his dark sunglasses to get a better look at the women who mingled through the thick crowd that was on the dance floor as well as mingling with other people in the business.

Kevin rolled his eyes and took a sip from his drink. His on-off-currently on girlfriend, Kristin Willits, was sitting on his lap and taking a sip from her drink as well. She put it down and commented, “Why don’t you start in the doghouse? Oh wait, you’re there all ready.”

She smiled innocently as the others and Brian’s girlfriend, Leighanne Wallace, laughed at his expense. AJ grumbled, “You’re lucky I like your boyfriend.”

“I’m lucky to have this guy as my boyfriend,” Kristin corrected, kissing his cheek. He put down his drink and kissed her cheek in return.

“Please! Don’t make me gag,” Nick muttered, playing with a cube of ice on the table as he scanned the party.

They had gotten an invite at the last minute. They had to stop in New York because their plane was delayed from the snow. It didn’t do much to deter them from their route, though. Their next show wasn’t until the next two days which meant they finally had time to relax and look at the sights and not worry about press or anything. Johnny had gotten the invite from some people over at Jive. They wanted the Boys there to celebrate the launch of a new magazine and to represent the Jive name.

They were all happy to be able to do something fun for once but Nick was bored out of his mind. Frick, his partner in crime, was occupied with his girlfriend. Not that he didn’t like Leighanne––quite the opposite––he thought she was amazing and understood why they were together. It’s just that whenever they were together they left him out of things and he had no one else to hang out with. Sure, there was Howie but after five minutes he somehow managed to get on Howie’s nerves, not that he did it on purpose. He wasn’t even aware he bothered Howie in most cases. Then Kevin, well, he didn’t want to have fun. Not in the way Nick wanted to have fun at least. Kevin would stop Nick in his tracks before he even got there. AJ, those two were good when it came to thinking of something to do or tricks to play but lately the only AJ has been doing was making fun of all of them and Nick wanted to keep his distance. He didn’t want to have to deal with hearing more “fat” jokes.

So what if Nick has been eating a bit more lately? If AJ knew the real reason why he's been acting that way, AJ wouldn’t be making the jokes in the first place. If AJ––or if any of them––knew the real reason why he’d been acting strangely lately then they wouldn’t make fun of him constantly. If they knew, they’d make a decision about letting Johnny and Lou go faster than what they’re doing now. But then, if they knew, they wouldn’t stop looking at him with pity and then the whole world would know, and that’s not what he wanted. He just wanted everything to go away and go back to normal.

Nick moved his ice cube over with his straw and flicked the end. He watched as the clear cube slid across the table, leaving a see-through trail behind it. It slid right off the edge and into the glass that AJ held on the side of the table. He threw his arms into the air in triumph. “And it’s good!” He cheered.

“Wow, you’re having fun with an ice cube? How pathetic,” Howie muttered from his seat.

“No, you’re the pathetic one. You can’t even get a girl to dance with you. How many girls have I danced with? Hmmm, how much is this?” Nick stuck his hand in Howie’s face and wiggled all of his fingers.

“I’ll find someone to dance with,” Howie vowed, getting up and shoving his way through the crowd.

“Go use that Spanish charm,” AJ called, raising his glass. Howie gave him a thumbs up and disappeared in the crowd. “Ok, I bet he’s going to fail in the next ten minutes.”

“Five,” Nick challenged him.

“Guys, come on, have some faith in Sweet D,” Kristin scolded.

“We do have faith in him,” Brian said with a smile. “We have faith that he’ll screw up like usual.” The group burst out laughing and Kristin even cracked a smile, looking around the party. Kevin caught her wandering eyes, put his drink down, took her hand, and led her to the dance floor. AJ also got up, saying something about wanting to see a blond who was making eyes at him. For all Brian and Nick knew it was just his own reflection on his sunglasses but AJ walked off anyway.

“Babe, I’m going to the bathroom. Want to dance when I get back?” Leighanne asked, turning to Brian.

“Of course. Take your time.” He planted a kiss on her cheek. She squeezed his hand before moving through the crowds to get to the bathroom. His eyes rested on Johnny and Lou who were, once again, circling the area as if keeping their eyes on them. “Geeze, their Big Brother routine is giving me the willies,” he muttered.

“You’re telling me,” Nick grumbled. “Can we go now? We’ve been here long enough and the food’s crappy? Let’s go to McDonald’s or something.” He didn’t care that he was whining; it wasn’t like anyone could hear him over the loud music anyway. His stomach was twisted in knots, either from Lou’s glare or the fact that he hadn’t eaten in a while. His head was pounding and the last thing he wanted was to be stuck in a room full of body heat. Really, he wanted to be alone. He was homesick, his friends were constantly putting him at the butt of his jokes, his girlfriend broke up with him two months ago (of which he’s still not over) and he hasn’t been able to get a hold of Mack.

Lately––really since she called them, thanking them for her Christmas gifts––he just wanted to be in the same room as her, talking to her about anything and everything. He couldn’t help but notice that when she was with the ‘N Sync guys she didn’t seem t come to life, no matter how happy she was. However, whenever she was with the Boys she was animated right up to her eyes. Or maybe he was being biased, Nick didn’t know. He just knew he had to be around someone who would listen to him and know what it’s like being the youngest and in the business. Of course, she wasn’t as desired as the Boys were, but he saw her dance, he saw her trailers, he heard her singing. She had it all and he knew that she would do well but at the same time he didn’t want her to go through the same pressures and trouble that they’ve gone through.

“You ok, Frack?” Brian asked, nudging Nick’s arm. “You’re way too quiet.”

“I told you, I didn’t want to come,” Nick grumbled.

“Nick, we’re finally getting a night off and we have the day off tomorrow as well. Might as well have fun with it, right?” Nick grunted. Brian sighed. “Nick, I know it’s been hard for you since...well, you know, but you can’t dwell on that. It’ll only make you feel worse. You didn’t need a girl like that. She didn’t want you for you. She wanted Backstreet Nick, not Nick Carter.” He looked around the room before looking at Nick again. “Think of this tour as a clean slate. You can start over and let the girl come to you instead of going after the girl.”

“Whatever, B,” Nick sighed. “I don’t care right now. I just want some good food.”

Just then Leighanne returned with a big smile on her face. “Hey guys, look who I found!”

Brian looked past her and a grin split across his face. “Canada!”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

“B-rock!” I shouted happily as he crushed me in a hug. “I didn’t know you were going to be here.”

“We came in at the last minute,” he explained, eyes shining. “Our flight got cancelled and we don’t have another show for a few days so we decided to drop by. What’re you doing here?”

“Representing Jive, I guess,” I replied, shrugging. “They’re trying to get me as many appearances as possible. It’s driving me crazy.”

“Been there, done that,” Brain said with a wave of his hand. “You get used to it. It comes with the territory.”

“Don’t I know it? I have a full day tomorrow and I haven’t gotten much sleep and I haven’t eaten and this place has crappy food!” I cried out, throwing my hands into the air, almost knocking over a tray filled with drinks. A lady shot me a glare and I ignored her as Leighanne quickly apologized for me.

“Finally someone agrees with me,” Nick said so suddenly that I jumped. “Let’s get some McDonald’s!”

“Blondie has a good idea,” I said, jerking my thumb in his direction. He smiled and stuck his tongue out at Brian who chuckled.

“Why aren’t you with your friends?” Nick asked me, playing with an ice cube. Ah, the one question I didn’t want, I thought, fighting the urge to roll my eyes. He had a peculiar bitter tone when he said friends.

“What friends?” I grumbled. “Don’t you mean employers?”

Brian, Nick, and Leighanne gave me a confused look. Of course they were shocked at my outburst; I’ve never said anything bad about the guys. Even when I was annoyed with them I’ve never uttered one mean comment, until now.

As soon as we got to the party the guys split up and went their own ways. JC, Joey, and Chris automatically took their women to the dance floor, laughing and being all smiley and basically flaunting that they were happy with their respective other. Lance went to find Johnny to talk to him about something or other. Lance was business-like like that. Justin, well, he’s what made me pissed off in the first place. I was apprehensive about going in the first place but the guys had convinced me I’d have fun. Well, they were WRONG! The worst part? Justin pedaled me around the party introducing me as his choreographer.

Where’s the problem in that? Well, my friend’s, that’s the only way he introduced me. He didn’t bother to mention the fact that I was his best friend of fourteen fucking years. Or that I was there for promotion. No, I could see in everyone’s eyes that they thought I was just some fan of sorts. It didn’t help that most of them mistook me for being thirteen. Ok, I know I’m short and I know I’m small but come on! Surely they could tell I wasn’t a freaking teenie, but no. Curse my short stature.

So, basically, I spent most of the night sitting at a table by myself feeling like a loser, watching everyone else have fun. When it came to parties I didn’t hesitate to bust out my moves and have fun, but here I couldn’t do that. I couldn’t be myself. I didn’t feel like myself. It’s like…being around all of these people had shut me down or something. I didn’t like the feeling at all. Lance at least cared enough to ask if I were ok and I, like usual, hid what I was feeling and said I was fine; I was “just tired”. Come on, Lance, every boy should know that a girl’s lying when they say that.

“Long story,” I said with a wave of my hand.

“Are you ok, darlin’?” Leighanne asked, putting a hand on my shoulder. I just shrugged and suddenly felt a hard slap to the back of my head.

“What the fuck!?” I yelled, rubbing my head, turning around to find the culprit. In my line of vision was a wall of black. I looked up to see Kevin’s apologetic face. “Should’ve known it was you, Train,” I mumbled, rubbing my head.

“I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you,” he quickly apologized.

“Most don’t,” I sighed. “Hey Kristin,” I greeted her with a small wave.

“How are you, Shorty?” She asked, lightly elbowing Kevin in the side.

“I’ve been better,” I admitted. “Long days, no sleep. I’m sure you hear it all the time from Kev. Where are Howie and AJ?”

“Finding some girls to dance with and most likely failing at it,” Nick replied. “Like always. Can we go now? I think my stomach’s eating itself.”

“Geeze, Nicky, stop whining,” AJ commented, coming up to the group. “You’re such a little boy sometimes.”

“I am not! Take that back! I don’t whine.”

AJ smirked. “Then what’re you doing now?” Nick slumped in his seat and pouted. AJ rolled his eyes. “Frack has a point, though. I’m starving. Let’s split, we’ve been here long enough to keep our puppet masters happy, haven’t we?”

“We have to find Howie first,” Brian pointed out. “But ok. I’m getting hungry myself. What about you, Kevin?”

“I think we’ve been here long enough,” Kevin agreed.

“Canada, why don’t you come with us?” Brian asked, turning to me. “Unless you have to stay with your friends…”

“No, I can come. Let’s do it,” I said, nodding.

“Don’t you want to tell them where you’re going?”

I scowled. “I don’t need to report to them. I’m with you guys, aren’t I? It’s not like I’m going off with a bunch of strangers, right?”

“Well, ok then. Let’s go.”

~*~ ~*~ ~*~ ~*~

Justin thanked the girl that was dancing with him with a bow and a kiss on the hand. She giggled, gave him a finger wave, and walked off to find her friends. Justin wiped the sweat off his brown with his palm and went in search for his drink. That lady left him parched, she had a lot of stamina. They danced seven songs back to back and they slow danced at least twice. If only I got her name or her number, he thought as he ran a hand through his sweaty curls, pushing them off of his forehead. Huh, I need to get another cut or I’ll look like a poodle.

“Here you guys are,” Justin called over the loud music that was playing. He dropped down in a chair and gulped the Coca-Cola that was on the table. JC and Joey greeted him with nods of their heads. Next to Joey, Kelly was looking around the room, talking excitedly to Danielle. Bobbie, as always, was perched on JC’s lap, her arms around his neck. “Man, I figured you guys would be on the dance floor? The tunes are sick.”

“The girls’ feet were hurting so we took a break,” Joey replied.

“That’s why you shouldn’t wear heels,” Justin said with a laughing, shaking his head.

“They went with this outfit,” Kelly protested as Joey put an arm around her shoulders. “Plus, I now have an excuse to get Joey to give me a foot massage.”

“I hope you’re talking about a different Joey,” he commented as she stuck her tongue out at him. He stuck his tongue out in return. She returned the gesture and he grabbed her tongue, laughing. She retaliated by slobbering all over his hand. He made a face of disgust and reached out to wipe it on her but she shrieked and backed away from him, laughing as he wiped his hand off on a napkin.

“Wow, now I know why Mack’s not here. She’d gag at your PDA,” Justin commented dryly. “Hell, I’m trying to keep my food down.”

“You didn’t care when you were with Veronica,” JC pointed out, tilting his head slightly as Bobbie’s fingernails grazed his ear.

“I was too blinded by her beauty and besides I don’t like showing off my girl.”

“It’s not showing off J, it’s showing affection.”

“Whatever. Still makes me sick. That’s probably why Lance isn’t here either.”

“Speaking of, where did he and Mack disappear to?” Chris asked, playing with Dani’s braids. He had been making weird engine noises and rocking from side to side in his seat, pretending he was riding a motorcycle or something.

“Lance I saw talking to some people about a half hour ago. He’s probably just mingling, getting names,” Joey said, pausing to take a sip of his drink. “Mack, however, I haven’t seen since we got here.”

“Really? That’s odd,” Justin said, taking another sip of his drink.

“Well, she was with you wasn’t she?”

“Yeah, but then she said she had to go to the bathroom and I haven’t seen her since then.” Justin shrugged. “She’s probably on the balcony talking to some people.”

“In this weather?” JC questioned.

“She’s from Canada of all places; she can deal with a little snow.” He turned his attention to a leggy brunette who had walked by, smirking at him. He grinned at the guys, wiggled his eyebrows, and quickly chased after the girl. Dani and Kelly grabbed their boyfriends’ hands and dragged them to the dance floor. Chris and Joey groaned but eagerly followed their girls anyway.

“You want to dance too?” JC asked, turning to Bobbie.

“I want to dance just…not here,” she said coyly, dragging a finger down his chest.

He took her finger and kissed the pad. “Then where?” He asked with a smirk.

“You know where,” she replied, nuzzling his neck. She smirked when she saw his eyes slide shut at her touch, his skin erupting in goose flesh and a shiver rolled down his spine. Yes, I’ve got him.

“Mmmmmkay,” JC sighed, opening his eyes, his pupils dilated. “Just let me tell the other’s I’m leaving.”

She kissed the side of his mouth. “Hurry back.” He nodded and went to find his friends. The smirk stayed on her face as she watched him hurry through the crowds. She pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number. “Hey Fi.”

“Hey girl. How’s everything going?”

“It’s going good. I have him eating out of the palm of my hand. Or…a little lower,” Bobbie giggled.

“Fi” gasped. “Girrrllll, you are bad!”

“It won’t be long before he’s totally committed to me. I just have to keep that brat he’s so fond of out of the way.” Bobbie rolled her eyes as she twisted a strand of hair around her finger.

“You don’t think he actually likes her do you?”

“No but I think she likes him but it wouldn’t matter. He’s out of her league and I’m twice the woman she is. JC will be mine and stay mine I don’t have to worry about that with what I’m giving him. I just have to make sure his attention doesn’t stray long enough for him to satisfy my needs as well.” She looked up and quickly dropped her finger. “He’s coming back, I gotta go. I’ll call you when I get the chance.”

“Have fun,” “Fi” said with a laugh.

“I always do.” Bobbie quickly hung up her phone and managed to put it back in her purse before JC yanked her out of her chair and pulled her towards the door. “Whoa, Josh, where’s the fire?” She asked, following him as quick as she could with heels.

“You’ll be on fire as soon as we get back to the hotel,” he replied breathlessly.

That’s what I like to hear.