Thursday, January 25, 2001: Parker High School, Wichita, Kansas

"Look at all these people," Stu said quietly. His voice was awed.

Justin nodded. He looked through the window of the locker room door and into the gym. He saw groups of people dressed entirely in red or blue milling around the court, making the gym look like it was filled beyond capacity.

"It’s wild," he said. There was a familiar energy running through the air--an energy he recognized from the concerts he’d left behind. Anticipation. That was the only word he could think of to describe it.

"This is so many more people than last year," Stu said. "I think I’m going to throw up."

"Why?" Justin asked. He looked over his shoulder at Stu. "There’s only about a 1,500 or so people here."

"That’s a lot," Stu said. "That’s almost our whole town. That’s more people than we’ve played in front of before."

Justin snorted softly. "It could be worse, you know. It could be televised nationally."

Stu glared at him. "You know what I mean."

"It’s just a game, man," Justin said. He forced his face to crack into a smile. "That’s all it is."

"But only one of us will be undefeated at the end of the night," Stu said. He bounced slightly on one foot, before switching to the other one. "How the hell can you be so calm?"

"Practice," Justin said. He looked at Stu again.

"Sorry." Stu ducked his head. "Stupid question."

"This is it," Coach said from behind them. In a rustle of red trimmed white nylon, the Mill Creek players turned towards him. "I have faith in you boys to be the one’s smiling as the final buzzer rings tonight."

"I’ll be smiling if they don’t pulverize us," Matt said. Two of the other players echoed him.

"Let’s win this one," Coach said. "This isn’t our house, but let’s show them who’s the boss. Who’s the boss of this league?"

"We are," the guys said.

"I asked, ‘who’s the boss of this league?’" Coach asked again.

"We are!" the Mill Creek players yelled. "We’re number one."

"Damn right we are," Coach said. "And what are we going to do out there?"

"Win!" the ten players yelled.

"Let’s go out there and show them what Mill Creek’s made of," Coach said. "Take the ball out, and bring it back in."

The sounds of chatter from the gym were amplified as one of the swinging doors was opened, indicating that Mill Creek should begin their synchronized warm-up routine. The players jogged out the door and moved around the painted lines of the court, feet pounding the oiled floorboards.

Yells, screams, cheers, and boos filled the gym. Sound was everywhere. People were everywhere.

Random shrieks entered Justin’s brain as they ran around the gym. "Let’s go Mill Creek!" "Go Kevin!" "You guy’s suck!" He brought his attention back to the person running in front of him. The team turned, running to the center of the court and forming two lay up lines.

It was after Justin rebounded Kevin’s ball that the Parker warm-up music suddenly blared from the speakers.

The Parker fans, a sea of royal blue, began singing, yelling, clapping, and stamping their feet in time with the familiar strains of their warm-up song.

Justin quickly passed the ball to Stu before heading over to the bench.

"They’re just as scary as I remember," Matt said as he ran up to Justin.

"There’re more of them, aren’t there?" Justin asked. He pulled his warm-up jacket over his head. He looked around the stands. "More than at the tournament?"

Matt nodded. "We’re their only real competition this season. They aren’t going to miss this game."

"We’ll just have to give them a show to remember then, won’t we?" Justin asked.

Matt nodded.

"They’re gunning for us," Coach said into the huddle. "They’re going to be focusing their attention on Randy, and probably Josh as well, even if they didn’t play against him in the tournament. The rest of you had better think about stepping up tonight."

Coach looked at Justin, and then at Josh. "They’re probably going to shut you both down. Don’t get frustrated, okay?"

Justin looked at Josh, meeting the other teen’s eyes. "Yeah."

"Matt, watch yourself out there. We’ll need you if Randy gets in foul trouble again."

Justin blushed. Matt nodded.

"On the count of three," Coach said. He stuck his hand into the center of the huddle.

Ten hands slapped on top of his.

"One, two, three."

"Mill Creek," the guys said. They repeated it faster and faster, the volume increasing. "MILL CREEK!" Their hands fell away from the center and the huddle broke.

Justin looked over at the crowded stands. Every single person was standing. He looked for a head of red hair on the visitor side, and then saw Maggie to Emily’s left. He waved. She waved back.

"Hey, Smith," Josh said behind him.

Justin turned around.

"You get me the ball, I’ll get it in the basket, okay?" Josh ran a hand over his hair. "I don’t care how big and scary they look, we’re better than they are. You only lost by one point last time, and you didn’t have me."

Justin nodded.

"You know the phrase," Josh said. "You’ve got to want it to win it, and quite frankly, I want it more. I’ve been waiting for this game my whole life."

"Me too," Justin said.

"That’s what I like to hear," Josh said. He grinned, almost shyly at Justin, before sticking his hand out for Justin to grip it.

Justin looked around the circle of men standing in the center of the basketball court. Kevin was in the center, his normally tall frame dwarfed by the Parker player. Josh and Matt were behind Kevin. Justin stood next to Brent.

The official threw the ball up in the air; the shrill whistle echoed around the gym.

The Parker player easily batted the ball straight to his own teammate. From there the ball flew to the Parker point guard.

The Mill Creek players ran down the court, immediately on the defensive. Justin waited up near half court. An old piece of superstition ran through his head: whatever team gets the tip-off and the first basket wins the game.

He moved up as the point guard crossed the half court line. The opposing player moved slowly, carefully, deliberately, and had perfect control of the ball. There was nothing sloppy about his dribble, or the way he picked it up and passed it straight by Justin.

For the first time all night, Justin felt fear, but that fear quickly abated when the ball rolled off the rim of the basket— straight into Kevin’s waiting hands.

Justin took the ball slowly down the court, focusing on keeping a steady pace, on keeping the ball under his control the entire time. The Parker point guard didn’t crowd him, gave him space, watched his every move.

Justin took a quick glance up at the scoreboard.

Home: 22
Visitor: 20
Quarter: 2
Time Remaining: 2:17

They were so close. So close, yet that two point deficit seemed insurmountable. They’d pull even, and then Parker would make three baskets in a row. Justin picked the ball up, and passed it to Josh. He watched as the other teen stepped outside the three-point line and jumped, releasing the ball in a smooth arch. The gym was silent as the ball fell directly through the hoop.

The Mill Creek side became a pulsing body of red. Screams echoed off the walls, the ceiling, through the players’ bodies.

Justin jogged down the court beside Josh, mentally preparing himself for the inevitable Parker rally.

"I told you," Josh said quietly before he moved over to his player. "I’ve been waiting my whole life for this game. And I want it more."

"We need to be more aggressive," Coach said. He paced around the bench the ten Mill Creek players were sitting on. The Parker players had already gone back out to the court for the halftime warm-ups. "Every time we catch up, they pull ahead again."

"We’re doing good foul wise," Coach continued. "If you need to, foul. Get them behind the line. Their free throw percentage is a lot lower than they’d like it to be."

The ten players nodded.

"I’m proud of all you boys," Coach said. "They never predicted our team would get this far into the season without being defeated. I believe in you, your town believes in you, and now it’s time to make the world believe in you."

The ten players nodded again.

"To being seven and oh," Coach said.

Through the locker room doors the players could hear one of the cheers led by the Mill Creek cheerleaders.

"One! We are the Mustangs! Two! Just a little bit louder! Three! We still can’t here you! We are number… One! We are the mustangs! Two!"

"To being number one," Josh said.

"One!" the nine other players echoed. Hands landed in the middle of the huddle. They were silent, waiting for the appropriate time of the cheer, before adding their yells to the rest of the Mill Creek fans. "We are NUMBER ONE!"

‘N SYNC Compound

Lance turned the page of the book resting on his thighs. He pushed his glasses back up on his nose, and scanned the small black words on the page quickly. He shifted his body so he was curled up on the half of the couch closest to the light. The book rested on the cushion in front of him. He flipped the page again.

His body jerked when the soft knock on the front door of the compound brought him out of his reverie. He looked down at his watch before bending the corner of the page over. His muscles protested as he stood up and walked to the front door.

He looked through the peephole, and smirked as he saw the glass distorted shape of Britney Spear’s head. He opened the door.

"Hey," he said.

Britney looked up at him. Her hair was pulled up into a sloppy ponytail, bumps of golden hair marring her normally perfect look. She eyed Lance.

"Hey," she said.

"We weren’t expecting to see you until tomorrow afternoon," Lance said. "At the warehouse."

Britney moved her ponytail over her shoulder so it was resting down her front. She began fingering the ends.

"Well, I was bored," she said. "And I thought I’d come let you guys know I was here."

Lance stepped away from the door, and back into the living room of the compound. "Well, come in."

"Thanks," Britney said. She stepped through the door, and gently shut it behind her.

"We aren’t being very exciting," Lance said. He looked over his shoulder to the empty living room. "You know how Hell Week is."

"I know," Britney said. "I’m doing it too, remember?"

"And tomorrow we get to do it together," Lance said, his voice light with fake enthusiasm. Britney didn’t speak, and Lance felt his grin fade.

"I haven’t forgiven you, Lance," Britney said.

"I don’t care," Lance said. His expression turned stony.

"I know I was stupid," Britney said. "I shouldn’t have given up on me and Justin without giving us a shot, but—"

"Now there’s nothing you can do," Lance said. "He’s happy, Brit."

"We were meant to be together," Britney said. "Everyone knows it. Out of the entire world, who better understands what I’m going through than Justin? And who could possibly understand what he was going through better than me?"

"Did you ever contemplate running away?" Lance asked. "Did you know he was going to do something that drastic?" He continued before Britney could speak. "I didn’t think so. None of us could possibly understand exactly what being Justin Timberlake is like. Sometimes, I don’t even think Justin could understand what it meant to be him. Maybe now he does."

Britney pulled her lip in between her teeth. She stared at Lance, her eyes calculating.

"Maybe I wasn’t the friend he needed," she said. "I can be there for him now, though. I can help him deal with the stresses associated with being him."

"Well, I’m sure he’ll be thrilled to hear that when he comes back," Lance said. He pointed down the hallway. "You know where everyone’s room is. Make yourself at home." He turned on his heel, walked back to the couch, and began reading his book again.

He barely heard Britney’s footsteps heading down the hallway.

Justin ducked under the arm of his defender, only to feel the hard slap of a hand on his back.

The whistle echoed through the gym. "Foul," the official said. "Number 56, blue. Two shots."

Justin stood up, and glared at the opposing point guard.

The other point guard glared back. He walked around Justin to the circle at half court, positioning himself in the very center of it.

Justin moved to the half circle at the top of the key. He waited as the players filled the slots on the side of the key, alternating blue, and red trimmed white. He caught the ball as the official tossed it to him and bounced it three times. He looked at the Parker fans behind the basket yelling and waving elongated blue and white balloons. He focused on an area of the backboard directly above the basket. The world faded out around him. He moved his hands above his head and flicked the ball through the basket. The net swooshed. He saw the points on the scoreboard increase by one.

He caught the ball a second time as the ref bounced it to him. He blocked out the almost desperate cries of the Parker fans trying to distract him again. They didn’t understand that they couldn’t distract the master. The ball flew through the air, hitting the target spot on the backboard, and falling through the hoop.

The red filled stands dissolved into cheers.

The score on the scoreboard flicked upwards another point.

Home: 47
Visitor: 51
Quarter: 4
Time Remaining: 1:19

Justin moved forward as the Parker players passed the ball in bounds. He stuck close to the point guard as his opponent moved the ball down the court. Justin watched the ball, following the bounce with his eyes. He watched the point guard’s hand move. He saw the tension in the fingers as the ball moved to the right. Justin saw the muscles flex, ready to move the ball back to the left, and moved his hand quickly, batting the ball away. His fingers gripped the ball, directing it back towards Mill Creek’s basket.

He heard the muffled curse of the other point guard, and felt the vibrations of the floorboards as feet pounded after him.

Time seemed to slow as he saw the empty court in front of him. He saw the scoreboard, saw the clock with 49 seconds left. He ran to the basket, pulled the ball off the ground, and made the lay up look simpler than any other basket all night.

"Mill Creek number 39," the announcer’s voice boomed through the gym. "Randy Smith for two."

Justin let his eyes rest on the Parker stands for just a moment. He’d never seen such hate.

"How can you just forgive him?" Britney asked. She hugged JC’s pillow to her chest and leaned against the headboard of his bed. "I look at him, and I see a person who— I just can’t look at him and see the person I thought I knew."

"I don’t think any of us can," JC said. He looked up at Britney. He was stretched the length of his bed, his left arm curled under his head.  "Lance is determined. He does what he thinks is right."

"With no regard to the feelings of others," Britney said. Her lips formed a pout. "Am I being stupid, JC?"

"What do you mean?" JC asked. "Stupid how?"

"In, I don’t know…" Britney twisted the ring on the pinky of her right hand. "In holding this thing for Justin after three months? In holding this grudge against Lance? In praying that Justin’s girl in where ever the hell he is freaks on him?"

"We’re all entitled to hold grudges," JC said. "The only problem with grudges is that they don’t get anything accomplished."

"Yeah," Britney said.

"I haven’t forgiven Lance either, entirely," JC said. His voice was quiet. "I work with him though, and I can’t not talk to him. I see his reasoning, and I almost agree with him, but not quite."

"Yeah," Britney said again. "I wish I could ignore it like you can. Lance used to be a really great guy, and I want to see that in him again. Now I just see the guy who essentially told Justin not to come back."

"It’s what we have to deal with," JC said. "That will always be part of who Lance is."

"So, do you think I’m stupid for still wanting Justin when he’s so obviously moved on?" Britney asked.

JC shrugged. "You can’t choose who you love. You can’t decide to not like him anymore. And who knows what will happen with this girl once Justin comes back."

"Yeah," Britney said. "Anything could happen."

"Anything," JC said.

Mill Creek, Kansas

"You did so good tonight," Maggie said. She giggled suddenly and cuddled her head into Justin’s chest even more. "I wish I could think of something more original to say than that, but I can’t."

"That’s fine," Justin said. He ran his fingers through her hair. "I’m glad I passed approval."

"You more than passed approval," Maggie said. She turned her head so that she was looking at Justin’s face. "You’re seven and oh, Randy. Mill Creek has never been seven and oh."

"And next Tuesday it’ll be eight and oh, and then nine and oh, and then fourteen and oh." He scooted down on his bed so he was facing his girlfriend. Their noses were almost touching.

"That would be so cool," Maggie said. She giggled again. "I think I’m more excited than you."

"Not possible," Justin said. "I’m jumping up and down, really. I’m just too tired to move."

Maggie giggled again. She sighed, and her smile relaxed slightly. "You just did so good. When you batted that ball away, in the last minute? I thought I was going to faint, or have a heart attack, or something."

"Well, I’m glad you didn’t," Justin said. "Because then we wouldn’t be lying here, would we?"

"Nope," Maggie said. "Can we stay like this forever?"

Justin nodded. "Forever. We’ll never leave this moment, okay?"

Maggie moved slightly, brushing her lips across Justin’s. "I love you," she said.

"I love you, too," Justin said. He brushed his lips across hers again, with slightly more pressure. "More than you could possibly know."