| “If you were older, I’d go out with you in a heartbeat,” He said, trying to break it to Her as gently as possible. “You’re really cute, but you’re only seventeen. I’m twenty-three, that would be practically illegal.” He paused as She turned her eyes away from His and began staring at the sidewalk. “If I was seventeen, eighteen, maybe nineteen, I’d go out with you in a heartbeat. But I’m not… Look, I’m sorry.” She looked at him without any emotion in Her chocolate eyes. “I understand,” She said in a strained voice. She cleared Her throat and went on. “I didn’t think I would, but I do. Well, I guess I’ll see you around, I suppose.” With that, She turned around and walked toward Her car, taking Her keys from her purse. His Friend looked from Her to Him. “You just broke Her heart into about ten thousand pieces, I hope you know that,” He said, walking away. He watched His Friend walk away, then turned His vision toward Her. “Wait,” He tried to say, tried to stop Her, tried to apologize, but She stopped him. “Don’t bother,” She said, turning around to face him. “Seriously, don’t bother,” She said with a coldness in her voice that He didn’t know She possessed. With that, She turned back around, got in her car, started it, and took off, leaving Him standing on the curb, staring after Her car in disbelief. [~~ FIVE YEARS LATER ~~] “Mary-Ellen, could you please fax this for me?” She asked, handing Her manager a letter. “To who?” she asked, looking over the piece of paper. “97THB, it’s the contract for their Summer Blast concert in June,” she said with a smile. “You finally got around to signing that damn thing?” Mary-Ellen asked, looking over the paper. “Yep, it took me long enough, huh?” She asked, leaning over the desk and putting Her hand under Her chin, leaning Her elbow on a few files. “Does this have something to do with… Him?” the older woman asked, raising her eyebrows. She glanced at the window before walking over to it and looking out of it. “Kinda. I thought I got over that when I was seventeen. But it still hurts that He wouldn’t even give me half a chance because of my age… I’ll stop now. I decided to do the concert, it’s just for my career, and that’s all that matters.” She walked over to the couch set up in the office and sat herself down on it, tucking her feet under her. “If this concert doesn’t break my career, it’ll make it.” [~~ HIM ~~] “Are you sure that this chick is gonna get a big enough crowd to come to the Arena? To sell it out?” He asked, looking through papers from His employer. “Of course, she did a few appearances for WZRK and everyone loved her,” His Friend said, looking over His shoulder. “She’s supposed to be really good…” “She’s nothing like Christina, please tell me She’s nothing like Christina,” He pleaded. “She is such a bitch to interview.” “I don’t think she’s like Christina. She’s from around here. From, like, ten minutes away from the station.” He looked up. “Did She grow up around here? Is this Her real name or Her Stage Name?” “I think She grew up around here, I’m not sure, but that is Her Stage Name. Her bio is in with the Press Packet that Her management sent us.” “Can I see it?” “I don’t know. I’ll go and check,” His Friend said, exiting the room. “She can’t be… No, it can’t be Her. There’s no way, no possible way…” [~~ HER ~~] “This is beyond all of my wildest dreams,” She said, walking into the backstage area of Arena with Her manager, followed by Her dancers and crew. “Come on, this must be amazing for you. Performing in front of so many people that you know, so many people who you knew when you went to high school, who are gonna judge your singing abilities on this one single night…” “And now I’m nervous, thanks a bunch Mary-Ellen,” She said sarcastically, momentarily ignoring where she was walking, and consequently, running into someone who was turning a corner. “I’m so sorry,” She began. “Sorry,” He said, looking up and into Her eyes. He forrowed his eyebrows in thought. “You look familiar…” Her heart skipped a beat when He looked into Her eyes. “Are You…” She asked, well knowing the answer. “Oh my gosh, it is You,” He said, not believing His eyes. “You… Wow. Congrads on the record contract.” “Thanks,” She said softly, feeling Her heart skip a beat, like it always did when She was talking to Him. She smiled but quickly said, “I’m kinda busy right now or I’d stay and talk a bit, so I guess I’ll see you at the interview. You are interviewing me, right?” “Yeah, I am,” He said, openly staring at Her. “I guess I’ll see you then,” He said as She walked away. She threw Her bag on an open chair and began talking with Her dancers. He watched Her from around the corner, She would never know He was there. She looked amazing, completely different than She looked at seventeen. He watched Her smile and laugh at one of the dancer’s jokes, He watched Her stretch Her arms above Her head… He watched Her shirt lift a few inches to show Her stomach when Her arms were above Her head… No. He turned around, putting his back to the wall. He couldn’t be thinking this; She was six years younger than He was. And she was pretty much a pop star. There was no way that She would go out with Him, never, not after He basically gave Her a freaking lecture on the Age Thing five years prior. [~~ HER ~~] The whole day, She couldn’t keep Her mind on Her routines. She knew that She should have been paying more attention, her entire career basically rested on this performance, but She couldn’t get over the way that He stared at Her before, in the hallway. He was being extremely blunt, She noticed. He was never that blunt before. He was actually kind of shy when it all came down to it. Back Then He was, anyway… Maybe He had changed. [~~ HIM ~~] “Man, She’s everything that I’ve ever wanted,” He said to His Friend. “I swear, She changed so much… And the six year age difference doesn’t really matter now, She’s twenty-two and I’m twenty-eight. That’s not that bad now.” “But it was when she was seventeen and you were twenty-three, am I right?” His Friend asked, knowing that He was going to want to date Her as soon as He saw Her. That was why He made their boss deny Him access to Her Press Packet, which included Her picture. He knew that She would be pissed that He burned Her when She was seventeen, and something like that isn’t necessarily something that a girl would forget. “What are you doing on Friday night?” She asked Him, smiling brightly. “Nothing, really. I was gonna go to a club, but I don’t know,” He said. His Friend pulled Him aside. “Dude, She wants you. I’ve told you entirely too many times; She wants you to go out with Her. That’s why She asked you what you were doing on Friday, you idiot.” He was shocked, He never thought that She liked Him like that. They were pretty good friends; they had met at a concert when She had expressed Her intentions to become a singer. She had the talent for it, that was for sure, but She wasn’t exactly the Madonna Type, She was more withdrawn than She was outgoing. But that was why She appealed to Him, She was never the type to act like the teenager that She was, She was more mature than most of the women He knew and dated. But Her age was what set Him off… She was just too young. She shouldn’t have to deal with Him and His hormones now, His Friend thought. This performance tonight could make or break Her career. She doesn’t need this on Her shoulders. “You know what, I’ll do the interview with Her tonight, you get your thinking straight,” His Friend said. “But I wanna…” “Don’t question me, She doesn’t need to see you or deal with your emotions right now, you broke Her heart, don’t you remember that? Her performance tonight could make or break Her career, and She just does not need this stress right now. Just go and take pictures with your teenybopper fans and sign autographs or whatever. I’ll handle this, okay?” “Okay,” He grumbled, getting up and walking out of the room. I’m gonna get Her tonight, if it’s the last thing I do, He thought as he walked out of the backstage area of the arena. [~~ STAGE ~~] “Who’s ready to party?” He asked the crowd, and was met with screams and cheers. “Great! We have an awesome chow for you guys tonight, with Aaron Carter!” Screams. “BBMak!” More screams. “O-Town!” Louder screams. “And No Authority!” Louder screams. “But right now, we have our opening act, she’s a local singer, she grew up listening to 97THB, she’s twenty-two years old, she’s been singing since she was seventeen. She just got signed to Jive Records two weeks ago, please welcome…” The crowd went wild as she stepped onstage. They drowned out His announcement of Her name, but it was not needed; every person in the arena knew who she was, most of them went to high school with her or knew her from other promo appearances. Her performance opened with “Whatcha Gonna Do (With Your Second Chance),” a cover of a Nobody’s Angel song. He placed Himself in the Pit, in front of Stage Left. She had gotten better at singing since She was seventeen… She was good then, but now She was amazing. And Her dancing… She could NEVER pull off those moves when She was a teenager. She changed… A lot. “Whatcha gonna do with your second chance, What I wouldn’t give to read your mind, Whatcha gonna do with your second chance, Will you throw it away? Or get it right this time?” She sang, looking at Him. With Her ending, the crowd went wild. This was going to be the performance that made Her career, not broke it. She was going to be an International Pop Star, and it was going to be soon. “Thank you so much!” She said, smiling for the cameras in the crowd. “You guys are such a great audience! Well, my next song is my first single; it’s a song I wrote when I was seventeen,” she said, glancing at Him quickly before getting into position. “Lately you have caught my eye With just the smile on your face Those baby blues seem so much brighter Whenever they’re looking my way. This is about me, He thought, the realization hitting him. “I’ve been seeing you differently With every word that you’ve said Baby, I can’t turn back now With could be right ahead.” I can’t believe She wrote a song about me, when She was seventeen, no less. “I’m not in love, why is my heart pounding I’m not in love, why are my knees weak I’m feelin’ strange, my head keeps on turning Can someone explain to me If I’m not in love, why I’m going crazy Why can’t I get him out of my head Why can’t I explain what I’m feeling When my mind keeps telling me That I’m not in love.” Was She trying to convince Herself that She wasn’t in love with me? Oh my God, what have I done? “Every time you walk by My heart gets to skipping beats Suddenly I’m all tongue tied Whenever I try to speak “I’m not in love, why is my heart pounding I’m not in love, why are my knees weak I’m feelin’ strange, my head keeps on turning Can someone explain to me If I’m not in love, why I’m going crazy Why can’t I get him out of my head Why can’t I explain what I’m feeling When my mind keeps telling me That I’m not in love “I’m not in love, I just can’t admit it I’ve been burned many times before I have got to resist these feelings I have got to put out this fire “I’m not in love, why is my heart pounding I’m not in love, why are my knees weak I’m feelin’ strange, my head keeps on turning Can someone explain to me If I’m not in love, why I’m going crazy Why can’t I get him out of my head Why can’t I explain what I’m feeling When my mind keeps telling me That I’m not in love.” (© 2000 Y2Ali - in other words, I wrote this, do NOT steal it.) The crowd went wild once again, mentally reminding themselves to request I’m Not In Love on THB once they got home. “You guys are great, but I only have one more song. It’s a cover of Brandy’s Have You Ever, I hope you guys like it!” She sang directly to Him for the duration of the song. Every word that came out of her mouth had a meaning behind it. She sang that song with all of Her heart, she put in every ounce of Herself into that song. She meant every single word that came out of Her mouth. “Have you ever been in love, been in love so bad You’d do anything to make them understand? Have you ever had someone steal your heart away You’d give anything up to make them feel the same? Have you ever searched for words to get you in their heart But you don’t know what to say, and you don’t know where to start? “Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so much you can’t sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don’t come out right? Have you ever, have you ever? “Have you ever found the one you’ve dreamed of all your life Do just about anything to look into their eyes? Have you finally found the one you’ve given your heart to Only to find that one won’t give their heart to you? Have you ever closed your eyes and dreamed that they were there And all you can do is wait for the day when they will care?” “Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so much you can’t sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don’t come out right? Have you ever, have you ever? “What do I gotta do to get you in my arms, baby? What do I gotta say to get to your heart? To make you understand how I need you next to me, I gotta get you in my world, cause baby I can’t sleep. “Oh, Have you ever loved somebody so much it makes you cry? Have you ever needed something so much you can’t sleep at night? Have you ever tried to find the words but they don’t come out right? Have you ever, have you ever?” What have I done to Her? He asked himself, walking backstage. How am I gonna fix this? Could She still be in love with me? And if She’s not, how could I possibly fix this? “Thank you so much, you guys are great! That’s all for me, but don’t go anywhere, cause you still got Aaron Carter, BBMak, O-Town and No Authority! Thank you!” [~~ BACKSTAGE ~~] “We have to talk,” He said as She walked into Her dressing room. “What are you doing in here?” She asked, looking around Her room. “What do you mean we have to talk?” “I’m Not In Love, who is that song about?” He asked, standing up and looking Her in the eye. She could never lie when someone was looking Her in the eye, He remembered. She turned Her head toward Her mirror. “No one. I just wrote it, it’s not about one person in particular.” “Don’t lie to me,” He said, looking at Her through the mirror. “I know when you’re lying because you can’t look me in the eye. You’re a horrible liar, you’ve always been a horrible liar. And you can’t write something without some form of inspiration, you’ve told me that a thousand times. It is about me, isn’t it?” She closed Her eyes. “Yes, it is about you. I wrote it about you when I was seventeen, right before you broke my heart.” She opened Her eyes and looked at Him. “I was trying to convince myself that I wasn’t in love with you. I don’t think it worked very well.” “What would you do if I told you that I wanted to go out with you?” He asked, sitting down next to Her and putting a hand on Her shoulder. She shrugged away from His touch. “I have a boyfriend.” “You’ve got to be kidding me,” He said, unbelieving. “I kid you not. He should be here any second, he was in the crowd, sitting behind you.” “Who is he?” He asked carefully, sitting down on the couch. “He’s a DJ and a basketball player at UNC,” She began, sitting next to Him. “I met him That Night when I was seventeen. After I left you, I just started driving… I found myself in the middle of North Carolina, lost, at one in the morning, and I decided to go into Starbucks to get directions and coffee. He bumped into me in line, and we’ve been friends since, we just started dating recently. He’s one of the best things that ever happened to me.” “Well… Thanks for being honest with me. I guess I’ll be seeing you around,” He said, standing up. “JC, wait.” He turned around. “Yeah?” She walked over to Him and gave Him a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry.” “So am I,” He said, walking out the door and straight into someone. “Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention to where I was going.” “That’s okay, I’m not really myself right now.” He opened the door to Her dressing room to find Her sitting on the couch, staring into space. “Sweetie, what’s wrong?” She looked up. “Nothing. I’m fine.” He sat down next to Her. “Are you sure?” “Yeah, I’m fine.” She leaned over into His shoulder. “JC just showed up.” “That guy that you liked a while back?” “Yeah. I told Him about you and He just left.” She paused. “Did I do okay tonight?” “Honey, you did amazing,” He said, rubbing Her arm. “You’re gonna be a star, I told you that.” “As long as you keep playing I’m Not In Love,” She muttered, thinking. “I was thinking about releasing Have You Ever, does that sound okay?” “Wasn’t that the song…” She smiled. “That you played when you asked me out. Yeah, that’s why I wanna release it, granted I get the copyrights to it, which shouldn’t be a problem.” He kissed Her forehead. “I love you, Britney.” “I love you too, Justin,” She muttered, losing herself in His arms. |
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