*****A Few Years Later****

Chris leaves the office with a smile on his face. (Now all I gotta do is find four more people and I'll be in business. Hmm, how do I find four guys who can sing?)

****A Couple of Weeks and Several Dead Ends Later****

ring, ring

"Hello?"

"Hi, is a Justin Timberlake there?"

"Who may I say is calling, please?"

"This is Chris Kirkpatrick. He doesn't know me but I really need to talk to him. Please."

"Alright, but don't try anything. I'm gonna have him pick the other extension. I will be listening."

"That's fine. Who are you anyway?"

"I'm Lynn Harliss, his mother. JUSTIN, PICK UP THE PHONE. IT'S FOR YOU."

"Uh, thanks," Chris says as he pulls the phone away from his ear.

"Sorry about that, guess I should have moved the phone first, huh?"

"It's alright."

"Hello, this is Justin."

"Hi, this is Chris Kirkpatrick."

"Chris who?"

"Chris Kirkpatrick."

"Do I know you?"

"No."

"Well, then why are you calling me?"

"Um, I'm calling you because...Well...You were highly recommended by several different people."

"Recommended? What are you talking about? Recommended for what? By who?"

"Well, for a group that I'm trying to start."

"What kind of group?" Lynn interrupted.

"Mom! Please!"

"Sorry, hun."

"So, what kind of group?"

"Well, It's gonna be a pop type singing group."

"A singing group? You mean like Boys to Men, or like Metallica, or what?"

"Um, I guess it would probably be like Boys to Men, or that would be the closest example."

"Oooh, that sounds cool. Can I mom? Please?"

"I don't know Justin. I'm gonna have to think about this. Is there any way we can meet with you Mr. Kirkpatrick? I'd like to meet you and hear about this in person."

"That's fine. Where would you like to meet?"

Why don't you come over here and we can talk?" Lynn suggests.

"Ok, when?"

They discussed when and then hung up.

"Damn," Chris said to himself, "I forgot to ask if he knew anybody who might want to join with us. Oh, well. I'll just ask him when I meet him and his mom. I wonder how old he is. He seems pretty young and his mom seems pretty protective."

****Couple of Days Later at the Harliss Home****

knock, knock

"Hello"

"Hi, Chris I presume?" Lynn pressed with a raised eyebrow.

"Yes. Chris Kirkpatrick, at your service, ma'am." Chris smiles.

"Well, nice to meet you Chris. I'm Lynn and that (she points into the living at the lump on the couch) is Justin. Please come in and have a seat. Justin turn that TV off, now. Your guest is here."

"Oh, hey," Justin says as he stands. "How you doing?"

"I'm good," Chris states. Hmm, this kid is different. There is something about him that's different than the others I've talked to. "I'm Chris, by the way."

"Hi, I'm Justin."

They shake hands and Justin asks, "So, this group? What's it about? Give me some details here."

"Ok, here is the deal. I have a guy that will back us. You know money for travel, expenses; help us get a manager and a record deal. All I gotta do is get five guys together."

"So this guy's just gonna back you and five guys. He's not gonna want to meet you, get to know the guys, make sure they can sing?" Lynn questions.

"Well, no," Chris starts. "Once I get the five together then we will have a meeting with him and, of course, we'll have to audition. He is very anxious to get started though. I met with him a couple of weeks ago."

"So, who else is in this group?" Justin questions as he sits back against the couch, getting comfortable.

"Um, well, that's part of the problem. You see I don't know very many people around here and the few people I did talk to kept giving me your name. They couldn't think of anybody else. One person gave me another name but since I hadn't heard it before I just kinda blew it off. I have his name somewhere though. (Digs through his bag.) Here it is. Ah, yes. JC Chases, that name sound familiar to you?"

"You mean Chasez, and yes I've heard of him. We worked on the Mickey Mouse Club show together for a while. We've kept in contact since. He's pretty cool and he has an amazing voice."

"Yeah? I don't suppose you could get a hold of him, could you? Maybe, see if he wants to join this group too?"

"I suppose I could. Hold on, I got his number in my room. (He runs down the hall, grabs a book, and returns to the living room.) Mom, could you hand me the phone? (Lynn hands him the phone.) Thanks. (He dials the number.) Hey, is this JC? Hi, it's Justin. Yeah, I'm good. Yeah, really, cool. Look. I called for a reason man. Ok, yeah. I'll wait. (Looks at Chris, smiles, and shrugs.) He's on another call and had to hang up. Oh, yeah. Hey, dude, calm down. Yeah, it's good to hear you too. Look JC. JC CALM DOWN A MINUTE. No, sorry. I didn't mean to yell. It's just that I really need to ask you something. Ok, you listening? Cool. I got a guy here says he's starting a singing group and he wants me to be in it. Yeah, I'm thinking about it. Yeah, mom's here. No, we haven't decided yet. Geez, JC give me a chance to finish here will ya? Yeah, thanks. Look he needs a few more guys, so I was wondering, what are you doing? Would you like to come and try this thing with me? Mmm hmm. Good. You're here in Orlando? When did you get back? Why didn't you come see me? Oh, ok, just landed. That's cool, so you wanna come by and meet this guy? No? Why not? You got plans? What plans? Oh, meeting Nicki. That's cool. All right, well when will you be able to meet him? Ok, hold on I'll ask him. Hey, Chris?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you meet JC at a club called 'Meltdown' at 7:00 pm tonight?"

"Sure."

"Yeah, JC. He said he'd meet you there. K, I'll talk to you later. Call me sometime man. Bye. Ok, Chris. He said he'd meet you there. He's supposed to meet his girl there."

"Sure, that's fine. I only have one question."

"What's that?"

"Well...I don't have a clue what he looks like."

"Oh," Justin laughs. "I guess that could be a problem. I'm too young to get in. Let me see if I have any newer pictures of him. (He runs back to his room again, grabs a box, then returns to the living room.) Ok, this is the most recent picture I have of him dude. I think he's cut his hair a bit since though."

Laughing Chris says, "Yeah, I can imagine why. He looks pretty silly this way."

"Hey, back off man. He's pretty cool. Wait 'til you meet him."

"Yeah, sure kid. Whatever you say. I guess I better go get ready to go out and meet this guy. Look, here's my number. Please call me when you make your decision. Ok?"

"Sure. If you talk JC into it," Justin whispers as he walks Chris to the door. "My mom'll let me do it."

"Thanks kid. I'll do my best." Man, that kid is young. I wasn't quite expecting anybody that young. Oh well, all that matters is if he can sing. I hope this other guy can sing.

****That Evening, At the Club****

Man, I hope he's here. I hope he goes for this. If he doesn't, and that kid decides against this, then I'm screwed. Ok, where'd I put that damn picture? "Hey man. Has anybody that looks similar to this come into the club yet?"

"Yeah, he's over at the bar."

"Thanks," Chris says as he walks into the club and makes his way over to the bar. He looks around a bit and spots a guy with dark, wavy hair. He leans over, taps him on the shoulder, and says, "Hey, are you JC?"

The stranger turns around and smiles, "Yeah? You Chris?"

"Yep, that's me. Can we go somewhere and talk?"

"I'm supposed to be meeting someone here..." JC starts.

"Oh, well. Can we find a booth or something so we can talk a bit?" Chirs interrupts.

"Man, let me finish," JC smiles. "I was gonna say, but she's already like a half hour late soooo...You wanna go catch a cup of coffee or something? There's a diner down the street a bit."

"Yeah, sure. That sounds great."

"Sooo," JC begins as they walk towards the door. "What's this Justin was telling me? You're tying to start a group or something?"

"Yeah. I am. I'd rather not discuss it here though."

"That's cool. It can wait 'til we get to the diner."

A very large man grabs Chris by the shoulder. "Man, you can't just hit someone like that and then proceed to walk away."

"What? When did I hit you? What are you talking about man?"

"Look you little weasel. You're gonna apologize or I'm gonna beat the shit out of you and your little boyfriend."

"What? What boyfriend? Dude, what is your problem?" Chris stammers.

"I said, APPOLOGISE! NOW!"

"Look mister. I don't know what your problem is," JC states calmly, "but you need to calm down."

"Yeah, or what? Hmm, pencil boy? What are you gonna do about it?" The man questions as he gets up in JC's face.

"I said," JC states his eyes taking on a strange, icy blue 'glow', "you need to back off and leave my friend alone. NOW!"

Chris is looking on with a confused look on his face, and then recognition washes over him. Damn, he's just like me. I wonder if he knows yet?

The man backs away from Chris and JC and stammers, "Huh, what's the matter with you? You some kind of freak? Get the hell away from me." The man runs from the club.

"Dude, thanks." Chris states as they make their way to the door.

As JC and Chris reach the door they hear someone yell JC's name. He turns around and literally runs smack into Joey.

"Hey, JC? Chris? What are you two doing here? Man, I didn't know you were back in town. When'd you get in?" Joey fires at them.

"Dude, whoa. One question at a time. I came here to meet Nicki, she stood me up. I also came here to meet Chris, he says he's trying to start a group and got a hold of Justin who called me. So here we are. We were getting ready to leave when that big guy over there starts hassling Chris. Now we're heading out of here to go discuss this 'group' thing."

"Hmm, that's cool. Mind if I tag along? It's a bit dead in hear tonight."

"Nah, I don't mind. You mind if he joins us Chris?"

"Can you sing man?"

Joey looks at him for a minute, with a puzzled expression and then smiles and says, "Yeah, I've sung before. Why you need a baritone?"

"I don't know yet. So far all I have is a mezzo tenor."

"Really? What about JC here? And Justin?" Joey questions.

"Look guys, I really don't want to get into this here. Can we go somewhere where there aren't so many ears, please?" Chris states as his eyes take on a deep auburn 'glow'.

"Um, yeah, sure." Joey says backing away slightly.

"Dude, calm down," JC warns. "I don't know if you know it but your eyes are, umm, you know? Glowing?"

"Yeah, they do that when I get agitated. Kinda like yours did when that guy was bothering me." Chris stated matter-of-factly.

"What? I...? Damn. Please don't hate me. I don't know what causes it to happen but it does all the time. It seems to be getting worse too." JC blurts, almost in a panic.

"Nah, I'm not going anywhere and I sure don't hate you. Especially since we seem to have the same problem. Anyway," Chris dismissed the topic. "We getting out of here or what? I could use a little coffee or something. What about you Joey?"

"Umm," Joey stutters. "I guess I'll tag along. Just hang on a minute." He runs over to a closet and retrieves a jacket. "Ok, I'm ready. Let's get out of here."

They all head to the diner across the street. They go in, get seated, and order their drinks. After the waitress returns with their drinks and they place their orders JC asks, "Ok, can you tell us about this group now or what?"

Chris smiles at them and begins to explain the whole thing to them. "So, what do you say?" He questions once he's done.

"I'm game," Joey immediately blurts. "I already told you I'm a baritone."

"Well, I don't have anything better to do so I don't see why not. I'll talk to Justin's mom and see if she'll let him do it. That'll give us a mezzo tenor, a first tenor, a second tenor, and a baritone. That gives us four. Didn't you say we had to have five?" JC states.

"Yeah, I could call my man that's gonna back us and see if he has anybody he could recommend. Maybe he's got someone that could fill in that fifth slot." Chris muses.

"Sounds like a plan man. What time is it anyway? Shit, I gotta run. I'm supposed to be back home by now. My mom's gonna kill me." Joey states as he hastily gets up. "Hey, JC where you staying anyway?"

"Shit, man. I got a hotel room for a few days. I was gonna go see Justin tomorrow and see if his mom would let me stay with them like she did during MMC." JC answered.

"Alright. (He hands JC a piece of paper and writes his number on it.) Give me a call and let me know what's going on, alright?"

"Sure. I'll talk to you in a couple days man." JC responds.

"So..." Chris begins. "Lets talk, shall we?"

"Umm, about what man?"

"Umm, how about we talk about those beautiful 'glowing' blue eyes of yours?" Chris says with mischief gleaming in his own brown eyes.