"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.

"Um, Ok. Do we have to do it here?"

"No, we could go back to my apartment or your hotel. This is definitely something we shouldn't be talking about out in public."

"Ok. So you wanna go back to the hotel then? I have two beds there, just in case. I have a very strange feeling this is gonna be a long night. Isn't it?"

"Oh, yeah. I'm thinking it will be."

They get in a cab and head back to JC's hotel. Once they get there, they go up to his room, neither saying anything.

Once they get into the room Chris asks, "So, tell me. How long have you had that 'problem' with your eyes?"

"Um, well, it started when I was about 16 I guess. When did your's start?"

"I was about the same age."

"So what is it? Why am I such a freak?"

"Well, I wouldn't say you're a freak. I'd say you're a 'Warlock'."

"A WHAT!"

"A Warlock."

"And what preytell, IS a warlock?"

"Well, the best definition is a male witch. But you're not the stereotypical witch."

"Well, I could have told you that. I thought witches and warlocks were evil. I'm not evil. At least I don't think I am."

"No you're not. If you were your eyes would glow red not the same color as your power."

"Power? What the hell are you talking about? I don't have a power."

"No, not yet. How old are you?"

"I'm 19. I'll be 20 in August, why?"

"Well, on your 21st birthday, you're gonna get one hell of a birthday present."

"Ok, what are you talking about? You're starting to scare the crap out of me. Talking about powers and witches."

"Ok. Look. Relax. Let me show you something. Take a deep breath and close your eyes. Good. (He reaches behind JC and grabs a piece of paper.) Ok. Now. Open your eyes. Now watch. (He stares at the piece of paper for a few minutes. The paper lifts off the table and floats to the bed.) Now do you understand what I mean by powers?"

"Um, ok. How'd you do that?"

"I moved it with my 'power'. I don't know how it works, I just know it does. It's pretty cool too. I can make shit move and nobody has any idea how it got moved."

"Ok. You move things with what? Your mind?"

"Yeah. What's so hard about believing something like that?'

"I don't know. It just seems kinda strange. You come out of nowhere, trying to start this group and now all of a sudden you have the same thing Joey and I do. Oh shit. I shouldn't have said that. Don't you dare tell him I said anything."

"Don't worry I won't. You can explain it to him."

"So you said my eyes glow with the color of my 'power'. So, what is my 'power'?"

"I don't know. We won't know until your 21st birthday. How old is Joey?"

"He's a few months younger than I am. Why?"

"Well, you said he has the same thing. Right?"

"Yeah, when he gets pissed his eyes take on this really strange color. I can't even explain it. It doesn't happen very often because he's so easy-going. He doesn't get upset my much but when he does look out. He's like a big pissed off Brahma bull, and you definitely don't want to get in his way."

"Hmm. Well. We'll have to see if we can't get him pissed at somebody besides one of us then. I really would like to see what color the glow is."

"Well, it's getting late. You wanna crash here? You can have the other bed. I'm beat. Night."

"Good night. I think I will crash here if you don't mind?"

"Nope. Don't mind at all. Night."

*****The next day****

ring, ring

"Hello?"

"Hey, JC?"

"Yeah, what? Who is this?"

"It's Justin. So?"

"So, what?"

"So, what? What do you think of this group? You gonna join or what?"

"Yeah, I think I will. It sounds like the chance of a lifetime."

"Yeah! Cool. HEY, MOM! JC's GONNA JOIN. CAN I?"

"Um, Justin?"

"YEAH!"

"Could you not yell in my ear? I mean, I'm glad you're excited and all but please move the phone away from your mouth before you yell next time ok?"

"Sorry, Jayce. So what do you think of that Chris guy?"

"He's pretty cool. He spent the night here in my hotel. We were up so late talking last night that he just crashed here."

"Your hotel? Why are you staying in a hotel? Mom, JC's staying in a hotel."

"What? JC? Why are you staying in a hotel? You know you're welcome in my house anytime. Don't you?" Lynn interrupts.

"Well. I was gonna call you today and ask if I could stay with you guys for a while til I got on my feet here."

"JC, you know you're always welcome here. Now, get your stuff together and get yourself over here."

"Yes, ma'am. Um. Do you mind if I bring Chris along? I'm not sure but something tells me he needs a place to stay too."

"That's fine son. If you trust him enough to let him stay in your room with you then I don't have a problem with him staying here. It will make keeping an eye on you boys that much easier?"

"Oh, Lynn. Always looking for a way to keep an extra eye on Justin aren't you?"

"You got it. I better let Justin get back on. I'll talk to you later JC."

"Bye Lynn."

"Hey, Jayce. So when you coming over?"

"I gotta take a shower, and get Chris up and moving, then we'll be over. Ok?"

"Cool. I guess I'll let you go then. Talk to you in a bit."

"Bye, Just. See you in a couple hours. Hey, Chris?"

"Mmmm. Just a few more minutes. Please?"

"Dude. We gotta get up. Time to go see Justin and his mom, and I'm ditches this place. Come on. Get your ass out of bed. You got til I get out of the shower, then it's a cup of cold water if you're not up."

"Fine. I'm awake. Can I order some room service or something? I'm starving."

"Sure. Just nothing too expensive. I don't have that much cash."

"That's cool. Just some coffee and donuts. K?"

"K."

JC goes in the bathroom and takes a shower. Chris calls for room service and then makes another call to Lou.

Ring, ring

"Hello?"

"Hello. Lou Pearlman, please."

"Who may I say is calling?"

"This is Chris Kirkpatrick. I believe he's expecting my call."

"One moment Mr. Kirkpatrick."

"Hello, this is Lou?"

"Hey Lou, this is Chris. I was in to see you a few weeks ago."

"Yeah, I know who you are. So how's is the search coming? You find enough guys yet?"

"I'm up to four. We can't find a fifth though. You wouldn't happen to know anybody, would you? Needs to be somebody with a bass voice though. We got the rest covered."

"I might be able to come up with someone. When can you all come in and see me? You know I need to hear you all sing before I just hand you a contract?"

"Yeah, I know. I already told them all we had to audition for you. When do you have time for us? We'll probably need a couple of weeks to practice together."

"You got two days. I want to see you in two days time. You got that? All four of you."

"Yes, sir. I'll let them know. Thank you."

Chris hangs up the phone as JC comes out of the bathroom.

"You want to take a shower? I probably have some sweats or something you could wear, til we get to Justin's. Then we could wash your stuff."

"Yeah, that'd be great. Thanks."

JC walks over to his suitcase, pulls out some sweats and a T-shirt, "Here ya go. So who was that on the phone?"

"Just Mr. Pearlman. We gotta audition for him in two days. You think we can do this? I'm starting to think maybe I bit off more than I could chew."

"Naw, we'll be fine. Now go take a shower. If we aren't over at Justin's within two hours he's gonna have a search party out looking for me."

"The kid likes you allot, huh?"

"Yeah, he's cool. We've been friends for a while though."

"Yeah. 'Friends.'" Chris mumbles as he walks into the bathroom.

JC picks up the phone and calls Joey. "Hey, Joey. Can you meet me at Justin's in a couple of hours? We gotta get to work on this group thing. We're supposed to meet this Pearlman fella in two days. We got a lot of work to do. Great see ya there. Bye."

**** Couple of hours later at Justin's****

"Hey, Justin? We're here."

"JC! It's so good to see you again. How are you?" Lynn asks.

"I'm good. So are you ok with this? Justin joining this group and all?"

"I'm fine with it. As long as you're around I know someone will be looking after my baby. That's all that matters to me. You're a responsible young man and I trust your judgement."

"Thanks Lynn. So where is he anyway?"

"Where do you think he is? You haven't been gone that long, have you?"

"No. I believe you already met Chris. Is it ok if he stays here for a while? He's been kinda living out of his car for a while now. But don't tell him I told you that."

"I won't say a word, and you know it's fine that he stays here. There's plenty of room in this big house. I'd be happy to have you both stay here."

"Thanks Lynn. I appreciate it. Come on Chris. Justin's out back, playing basketball."

They all head out back where Justin is playing with Joey, "Hey, you made it. About damn time."

"Joseph Fatone, watch your mouth young man."

"Sorry Lynn. So you finally made it huh?"

"Yeah. You guys thought I was bad. Took me ten minutes to get him (waves hand toward Chris) out of bed and into the shower."

"Yeah, well I was comfortable. What do you want?" Chris whines.

"Relax man. I'm just messing with you." JC smiles.

Justin jogs over, "So we got two days before we meet the mystery man huh? Guess we better get to work."

"So what are we gonna work on? We gotta have something to sing for him. Right Chris?" JC questions.

"Yeah, he's expecting to hear us together. He also suggested we work on something like 'The Star Spangled Banner'. He says that would show our strengths and weaknesses." Chris answered.

"So 'The Star Spangled Banner' it is then. Anybody know the words?" Joey jokes.

"Yeah. My mom has them. Come on. Let's go to the basement. It has the best acoustics in the house."