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.