A DAY IN THE LIFE

CHAPTER ONE -- MORNINGS SUCK

"Ugh... What the hell time is it?"

"Five a.m. Time to get up." Slowly, Joey rolled out of bed.

In the bed across from him, J.C groaned. "Nooooo..." He pulled his pillow over his head. "I refuse to get up today. I'm giving myself the day off."

Joey shrugged as he headed for the shower. "Suit yourself. You're the one who'll have to answer to Johnny when we're late for rehearsal."

JC groaned again and mumbled something inaudible. He closed his eyes and tried to go back to sleep. He heard the shower start, and then there was a knock at the door. Deductive reasoning told him it was Chris (because Justin would be too grumpy at this hour to be up and at 'em, meaning Lance was probably in the shower in the room they shared), and he ambled toward the door, wiping the sleep from his eyes. Sure enough, Chris Kirkpatrick stood on the other side of the door. "You're depriving me of precious moments of sleep," JC complained. "Why?"

"Good morning to you too, Sunshine," Chris replied with a smile. He took a bite of the cereal bar in his hand and let himself in the room. "Joey up?"

"He's in the shower."

"Damn. I shoulda come sooner." Seeing JC was looking for further explaination, Chris went on, "Lance is in our bathroom and I gotta use the can."

JC laughed sleepily. "He'll be out soon enough."

Chris took a step toward the bathroom door and listened. Sure enough, he could hear Joey singing in the shower. "Joey's warming up in the shower," he relayed to JC. Then he banged on the bathroom door. "Hey Joe! You're a little off key, Pal!"

The singing stopped abruptly, and not too long after, the shower shut off and Joey emerged from the bathroom. Chris stepped in and shut the door without missing a beat.

"Up yours, Kirkpatrick!" Joey retorted.

"Guys, please..." JC complained, grabbing his head. "You're giving me a headache."

"Sorry Pops," Joey replied with a giggle as he rummaged through his bag for a clean shirt. "What's it like outside?"

JC looked down at his pj's. "Do I LOOK like I've been outside?"

Joey didn't reply. He didn't need to. Chris came out of the john and answered for him, "Partly sunny with a high of 70 degrees, 50% chance of rain."

"But we'll be rehearsing early," JC pointed out. "Dress appropriately so you don't have to bring much in your bag." And with that, he took his turn in the shower.

Meanwhile, in a room down the hall, Justin was attempting to better his morning mood with a single serving box of Oreo-O's. Lance and Chris had left their young friend sleeping while they got ready for their day, knowing full well that Justin had heard the alarm and would get up in good time. They'd also done good in managing to not be around when Justin crawled out of bed in his usual grumpy morning mood.

Just as Justin was finishing his last bite of cereal, Lance came out of the bathroom, fully clothed and ready for the day.

He observed the empty bowl in front of Justin and nodded. "G'morning," he said with a smile.

"Goooodmorning Lancey-poo."

Lance laughed. "Don't call me that, Baby."

"You're only two years older than me," Justin retorted. "So shut your hole."

"Oooo..." Lance reached around him for a pillow, and when he had his hands on one, he swung it at Justin. Justin held his hands up in defense, blocking the blow.

"Oh you're in for it now! C'mere!" Justin jumped up from his chair and tackled Lance. A playful wrestling match ensued.

"Aww... aren't they cute, Chris? They look just like those five year olds we saw last week in the park!"

Lance and Justin presently froze in place and looked up to find JC and Chris laughing quietly to themselves. "It's not my fault," Justin told them. "He started it!"

"Lance is this true?" JC asked, mock sternness masking the laughter he was holding inside.

Lance hung his head. "Yes, Daddy," he replied. "I'm sorry."

"Well in that case Justin probably deserved it. Now come on guys, get moving. We're gonna be late."

Sighing, Justin and Lance stood up and Justin headed for the shower. "Mornings suck," Lance commented as he followed Chris and JC out of the room.

CHAPTER TWO -- AND ONE AND TWO...

"Baby I don't understand just why we can't be lovers. Things are getting out of hand--"

"Freeze!"

'N Sync froze. Johnny Wright stood up from his chair. "Joshua, what the HELL key are you in? And better yet, when you find a key, please stay there. I know it's early and I know you're tired but you all have performed this song a million times!"

"Oooo, JC's in troooouble," Justin whispered to Lance. Lance swatted at his hair and Justin ducked out of the way expertly.

"And Justin! Pay attention." He paused, then addressed the group in general. "Honestly, where are your heads this morning? All five of you... we have a show tonight, for goodness sakes!"

He watched the five young men in front of him exchange looks out of the corners of their eyes. He didn't like blowing up at them like this-- they were truly some of the greatest kids he'd ever seen. But sometimes it seemed they just had other things on their mind when they should have been concentrating on their music. "I'm sorry, boys," he told them with a sigh. "Now level with me. What's the problem? We've got to iron out these kinks and we only have an hour of rehearsal time left. Maybe you have the solutions, because I sure don't."

The room was silent for a few moments. Finally Justin replied with a shrug, "It's the atmosphere, Johnny."

Johnny raised an eyebrow. "The atmosphere?"

"Yeah," Joey supported, stepping forward out of formation. "It's... it's... blah. There's no... no screaming fans, no lights, no cameras..." He shrugged. "That's what gives us the energy, you understand?"

"But there's nothing I can do about that boys," the manager replied. "It has to come from inside you all. You have got to stay focused, even in rehersal. You know that, guys. You're not ameratures. You've been at this for a long time now and you should understand that every rehersal is important, even if you feel like you know the routines inside and out. Just try, that's all I'm asking. Okay?"

Five heads nodded in agreement. "Okay Johnny," Justin replied aloud.

"Alright. Tearin Up My Heart, from the top."

"Nice spaz today, Joshua," Joey mocked.

"Oh shut up, Joey. You weren't so hot either." The ambled onto their tour bus, headed for... "Hey Lance, where're we going?"

"Meet 'N Greet," Lance replied. "At a mall... then to the venue, where we meet and greet some more..."

"Ah, it's another one of those Let's Meet As Many Fans As Possible days," Justin observed.

"Do we at least get an after party tonight?" Joey wondered.

"Yeah," JC replied. "But don't party too hard. We gotta be up and rollin' at a remarkable 5:00 in the morning tomorrow." He purposefully directed the mini-lecture at Joey and Chris.

"Yes Dad," Joey replied, sticking his tongue out at JC.

"Smartass. You're grounded."

"Oooo, major diss!" Justin exclaimed.

"Oh save it, Timberlake," Joey replied with a smile as he stood up from the table.

"As he retreats... where do you think you're runnin' off to?"

"Nature calls," Joey replied. A moment later, the door to the small bathroom on board the bus slammed shut behind him.

JC shook his head in a parental way. "I thought I told you to go before we left the hotel!"

CHAPTER THREE -- HI! MY NAME IS...

Justin scribbled his signature on a poster and smiled at its owner as he passed it back across the table. "There you go, Carrie... thanks so much for comin' down."

The girl smiled shyly and stepped away from the table. Another girl-- a much more bouncy and enthusiastic preteen-- took her place. "Hi!" Justin greeted her, flashing his smile, knowing it would make her day. "What's your name?"

Similar greetings and short conversations were taking place all across the table. It was grueling, even moreso than their rehearsals, but 'N Sync smiled through it all. They really did love it, even if sometimes it got a little tiring. In between fans, they held short conversations among themselves.

"Hey Joey, check out that girl!" Chris exclaimed.

"Which girl?" Joey asked, eagerly looking around at the sea of female fans surrounding them.

"THAT one, genius!" Chris pointed to a girl who appeared to be a little older than most of the fans who were present. "If my eyes are telling me correctly, she might just be legal."

"Legal is good," Lance put in. "It'll keep Joey from getting arrested."

"Legal is bad," JC said as he tossed a dead pen over his shoulder and reached for a fresh one. "It'll keep Joey out all night."

A moment of silence passed while more autographs were signed and 'N Sync talked with their fans. Finally, Joey was able to retort as he had to pause to shake a cramp out of his hand. "Will not!" he exclaimed in a hushed tone.

"Will too." Justin surprised them all by sticking his two cents into the conversation. They didn't even know he'd been listening.

"I wouldn't talk, Curly," JC replied. "Ever since you turned 18, you've been pretty... ahem... friendly toward your adoring public yourself."

Justin didn't have time to reply. Another fan had bounced her way up to the table. This made it extremely easy for Joey to stick it to him. "Look who's retreating now!" he exclaimed in a whispered tone just loud enough for Justin to hear from across the table.

"My public awaits," Justin told him in defense. Then he turned to the fan before him, once again flashing his adorable smile.

"There she is again!" Chris said excitedly, nudging Joey beside him.

Joey looked up as his eyes finally sorted through all of the teenage girls at the table and landed on one of the few fans present who appeared to be within their dating age range.

"Ooooh boy, you've done it now, Chris. Joey's headed into Flirtmaster mode," Lance told him, even as Joey locked eyes with the girl, winked, and flashed a flirtatious smile.

The mysterious girl smiled back, and a moment later, was joined by a young girl who had just stepped away from the autograph table. With a reluctant shrug, the girl walked away.

"Oooh..." Joey threw himself backward in his chair dramatically, as if he'd been stabbed in the heart. Across the table, the others laughed quietly to themselves and busied themselves in signing the posters and CDs in front of them.

After a moment, Lance patted Joey on the shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Joe," he said. "You know there will be others."

Seemingly comforted by Lance's words, Joey sighed and returned his mind to the much younger girl in front of him. "Hi! What's your name?"

CHAPTER 4 -- EAT, EAT, EAT

After an hour and a half of repeatedly signing their names, 'N Sync climbed back aboard their tour bus. "Welcome back, boys," James greeted them from the driver's seat. "How'd it go?"

"How does it ever go, James?" Justin replied, taking a seat in the kitchen. He kicked his feet up on the table and sighed. "You know, I truly do believe we have the greatest fans in the world."

"We do," JC agreed.

"And with that said... let's eat! Where're we goin', James?"

"How does Planet Hollywood sound to you boys?"

His question was met with enthusiastic "Yeah!"'s and "Woohoo!"'s as he pulled out of his parking spot and hit the highway. 'N Sync relaxed in the front lounge of the bus. About ten seconds passed before Justin announced, "I'm bored. Let's... let's..."

"Moon somebody?" Chris suggested.

Joey laughed. "Ha ha... nobody wants to see your ass, dude."

Chris threw up his hands innocently. "What's wrong with my ass?"

"I don't know and I don't want to find out."

Some 20 minutes later, 'N Sync and their security were seated in Planet Hollywood, waiting for their food and exchanging smiles with curious fans in the restaurant. Just as the food arrived, Chris swatted at Joey. "Hey Joe! Check out that girl riiight over there." He nodded his head in the general direction of a young woman who was definitely trying to not stare at them, but Chris could tell she wanted to.

Joey looked. "Ooooh she is fiiiiine!"

"Don't stare at her, genius!" Justin exclaimed. "Hey, I know what I'm doing," Joey defended himself. He smiled and winked at the girl, Justin-style. The girl beamed.

"Joey, eat your food," Lance advised. "I'm sure there'll be plenty of girls to flirt with tonight. You gotta save your energy."

"Ha! I am an endless bundle of energy. I can flirt as much as I want, and still put on a show. I can dance and sing--"

"And leap tall buildings in a single bound!" JC exclaimed. "It's a bird!"

"It's a plane!" Chris chipped in.

"It's SuperJoe!" Justin, Lance, Chris, and JC finished in unison.

"Yeah, you guys are just so funny," Joey replied.

The table grew quiet as the quintet busied themselves with the food in front of them. Finally, in the middle of his burger,

Justin looked up thoughtfully. "You know, I have this theory," he said. "I bet that if we sat on our butts for a week and all we did was sign autographs-- no shows, no rehersals, even no recording in the studio-- we'd work up an appatite just doing that and never gain weight. And on top of it, my guess is we still wouldn't have met all our fans."

The others laughed, and Joey, who was drinking his soda through a straw at that precise moment, brought his hand up to his nose as he felt the sizzling drink come up out of his nostrils, drawing even more laugher from his friends. As he recovered, Joey threw a fry at Justin. "Don't ever do that to me again!"

Justin dug the onion out of his burger and threw it at Joey in retaliation. However, Joey ducked, and the onion hit JC in the face instead. JC went into his Fatherly mode. "Young man! We're in public! Behave yourself or you're not going to the party tonight!"

"Alright, okay. I'm better now." There was a moment of silence before Justin added, "But Joey started it!"

"Did not!"

"Did too!"

"Justin! Finish your burger and behave." JC exclaimed, biting back his laughter.

"Your adoring public is watching," Chris added.

That did it. Justin calmed down and 'N Sync finished their lunch in silence. Then they stood and on the way out of the restaurant, they stopped to sign autographs for the fans who had watched them eat their meal with amusement. Then they got back on the bus.

CHAPTER FIVE -- ON THE ROAD AGAIN

"Here we are, on the bus," Justin sang to the tune of Here We Go. He stopped singing (mainly because he couldn't think of a decent word to rhyme with "bus") but continued humming. "Haha! Gotcha, sucker!" He gleefully threw down his controller to the PlayStation and stood up to do a little victory dance.

Chris stared at the TV screen blankly, his controller still in his hand. "That's not what's supposed to happen! You never win this game!"

"Justin's been practicing," Lance explained. "JC was giving him some pointers."

"I was too!" Joey added from the place where he was lounging on the couch, paging through an entertainment magazine. He paused on a particular page. "Hey look guys, it's us!" He held up the magazine for his friends to see, open to a page covered with a group picture of themselves.

"Amazing," JC said from where he sat nearby. The others could tell he was half asleep. He turned to Joey. "I challenge you to walk into any bookstore and not find something with our picture on it." He tilted his head back and closed his eyes.

"Thank you all so much for helping Justin master the only game I ever beat him at," Chris said sulkily, returning the conversation to the game. He opened the door and called up to the front of the bus. "James, are we almost there yet?"

"About ten minutes," James called back.

"Gaaa..." Chris sat down on the floor and picked up the PlayStation controller once again. "Alright, Justin. Long as we've got time, I want a rematch."

JC stood up from where he was sitting as he heard the music of the game start up once again. "Guys, wake me when we get to the venue," he told his friends sleepily. "I'll be in my bunk."

"We'll be right here!" Justin called after him with a smile on his face. He began humming once again as he frantically pushed the buttons on his PlayStation controller. "I am da man!" he exclaimed somewhere in the midst of the game.

Chris scored a point. "No, I'm da man," he replied. "In your face!"

"It ain't over til it's over!" Justin argued.

"It's over," Chris told him. "Sorry man. Guess you'll have to put in some more practice!"

"Nooooo," Justin whined. He fell backwards, as if he'd had a heart attack. "I'm still da man though," he protested.

"No, you're da boy," Joey said from his place on the couch.

"You hush." Justin picked up a throw pillow that was within reach and threw it at Joey.

Lance threw a pillow at Justin in Joey's defense. "No pillow fights on the bus."

Just as Justin was preparing his reply, the bus lurched to a stop and everything was forgotten. "Wake up JC, we're here!"

Justin exclaimed, pulling the curtain to JC's bunk open and reaching in to bop his friend on the head with a stuffed animal a fan had given him. JC rolled over and Justin quickly exited the bus before JC could get down to retaliate.

CHAPTER SIX -- WHEN THE MIC BREAKS, FIX IT

"Alright guys, time to get serious," Johnny informed 'N Sync. "You've been horsing around all day, now it's time to settle down and get to work. First stop, soundcheck." He led the quintet through the backstage area of the arena and on to the stage. The boys took a moment to look around at the stage and the arena in general, and then clustered around the center of the stage, each one taking his own mic. "Mic check," Johnny instructed.

Justin leaned into the mic. "Yo," he said into it. It came through loud and clear.

Joey was next. "Hey."

"My turn!" Chris said into his mic. "Aloha."

Johnny nodded. "Lance man?"

"Hello," Lance said to the empty seats.

JC took the final turn. "Hey." But Johnny heard nothing.

"Try it again, JC!" He called, concerned. If something was wrong with JC's mic, there wasn't much time to fix it. He knew the sound crew had a backup somewhere, so he wasn't overly concerned, but he didn't like when there were problems like this so close to showtime.

JC tried again. Still nothing. He stepped away from the mic. "What's up with my mic, Johnny?"

"I'm gonna find somebody from sound crew to find that out right now, JC, just hang tight." Johnny disappeared, but returned within moments with Pete, a member of the sound crew. Pete played around with JC's mic while 'N Sync hung out on the stage. "If I was superstitious, I might consider this a bad omen,"Lance told JC with a smirk.

JC tried to shrug it off. "C'mon, guys, it's not like this is the first time this has ever happend," he reasoned. That seemed to hush the others.

"Alright JC!" Pete's voice brought JC to his feet. The others followed slowly. "Giver 'er another try."

JC stepped up to the mic. "Please work," he whined into it.

Answering his prayers, his voice came through loud and clear over the sound system. "Thank GOD." He turned to Pete. "Is it gonna get me through the show?"

"I'm not sure. Something in the wiring is screwed over."

Justin stepped forward. "What if it cuts out in the middle of one of his solos?"

Silence reigned. Finally Pete said, "Alright. We'll replace it." He turned to JC. "Come back out here in about an hour to test the new mic."

JC nodded and 'N Sync headed backstage. It was time to chow down.

With their stomachs full, 'N Sync began their vocal warm-up, followed by their physical warmup. After an hour of all this warming up, Chris raised his hand. "Okay, I'm warm."

"Me too."

"Three."

"Four."

"Five, and I gotta go check my mic anyway." This came from JC, who then stood and headed back to the stage.

JC could already hear the hustle and bustle of fans coming into the arena. He loved when he could hear them and they didn't know he was there. Then he had an idea. "Hey Pete," he adressed the sound man.

"Hey JC." Pete handed JC his new mic. "There you go. Giver 'er a try."

"Hey, do me a favor. Put on the surroundsound-- let the fans hear this."

"You sure?"

"Yeah."

Alright." There was a pause while Pete pushed some buttons on the soundboard. "There ya go, Chief."

JC leaned into his mic. "Hellooo everybody," he said with a sly grin. His smile widened as he heard the fans scream at the sound of his voice. He clicked off the mic. "My job here is done. See you later, Pete." With that, he left the stage to return to his friends. Showtime was quickly approaching, and their presow rituals were yet to take place.

CHAPTER SEVEN -- A SIMPLE PRAYER AND A QUICK HACKEY

"Hey boys!" Johnny Wright greeted 'N Sync as he stepped into their dressing room about an hour and a half before they were due to hit the stage.

"Hey Johnny!" 'N Sync replied as one voice.

"We're gonna have a great show tonight, right?"

"So sayith the shepard!" Justin exclaimed.

"So sayith the flock!" the rest of 'N Sync replied.

Johnny laughed and shook his head. "You boys never cease to amaze me. Alright. I gotta go check on your opening acts." He looked around at them all. "Y'all, get dressed already!" He exclaimed. And with that, he left the room.

The guys laughed and scurried to get dressed. Once that was done, they gathered together outside their dressing room with their crew. "Justin, you want this one?" JC asked.

"Sure." The group formed a circle and piled their hands in the middle, bowing their heads in prayer. "Dear God," Justin began, "We come to You again asking that You bless all of us tonight, let us have a great show. Please keep everyone safe from injury, and Lord, help us to remember that it is not because of us that we are here; that it is because of Your gracious will, and the wonderful fans You have given us. In Your name we pray, Amen."

"Amen," the others echoed. Another moment of silence passed before the group embraced in their traditional hug. "Good luck" and "Have fun out there" could be heard as solomn wishes were passed between the band, crew, and singers. Then the large group seperated into three smaller ones as the band headed for the stage, the crews headed for the arena in general, and Joey, Justin, Lance, JC, and Chris found a quiet place backstage to complete their final pre-show ritual.

"Let's do it to it!" Joey exclaimed as he kicked the hackey-sack across the circle to Justin. Justin expertly kicked it in a backhand sort of way in no direction in particular. "Somebody get it!" he exclaimed.

Chris saved it just before it hit the ground and kicked it to Lance, who swung and missed. The hackey hit the ground, and the other four members of the group groaned in unison. "Lanston!" Lance shrugged innocently and picked up the hackey, starting it over. This time it was Justin who missed it, and the group groaned again. "Justin!"

Just before they started back up again, Johnny poked his head through the curtains nearby. "You boys have about five minutes. Are you ready?"

"We will be," JC assured him. "But we gotta get this hackey."

"I know, I know," Johnny said, shaking his head again. "Just hurry it up."

Joey looked across the circle at Justin and Lance. "That means you two," he told them.

Lance and Justin promptly stuck their tongues out at him.

"Crunch time," Chris informed his friends. He started up the hackey, kicking it to JC, who kicked it to Lance, who this time successfully kicked it to Justin, who kicked it to Joey, who completed the hackey by returning it to Chris. A cheer arose from them, and then they tossed the hackey-sack back into their dressing room.

"Okay guys. Let's go rock the show!" JC exclaimed as he led the way through all the backstage security, who did a final mic check and ushered them one by one into the darkness of the downstage area, where they prepared to make their entrance.

CHAPTER EIGHT -- THERE AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW!

"'N Sync is here..."

'N Sync paused, listening to the screaming grow louder.

"'N Sync is here..."

Their voices echoed and the screaming intensified even more.

"Here we gooo...!" And with that, they let their fans out of the suspense they'd been in, and took the stage.

Justin loved this part. It was one of his favorite parts of the show-- the screaming. Of course, with all the high-tech stuff going on with the little ugly things stuck in his ears, he knew he wasn't hearing it half as loud as the fans were. But still, he could hear, and it was awesome. It gave him a major rush. After taking it all in, he delivered his opening line. "I thought we told you--" he yelled at the computer animated man on the screens...

"THERE AIN'T NO STOPPIN' US NOW!" the others joined in. The screaming magnified as 'N Sync began running and bouncing around the stage entergetically, singing Here We Go. They paused dramatically as the band stopped and then sang at the top of their lungs, "'N Sync is here!" And that was all it took for the girls to go wild. They knew it was going to be a great show.

"A little more tiiiime..."

Justin revelled in the screams of his fans, biting back a smile, but even so, a tiny one crept onto his lips, driving the girls even more crazy. He refused to go on with the song for several moments, just stood, listening to the screams of his fans.

"A little more tiiiiiiime..."

More screams. Justin's smile grew bigger, and the screams grew louder.

"A little more tiiiiiiime...." He looked back at his friends, who were posed as they had been for quite some time now, waiting impatiently for him to finish the song. "Oooon..."

He stopped, nodding enthusiastically. Okay, so it was all an act, but it got him everytime. And it got the fans, too. Drove them wild.

After an unusually lengthy pause, Chris stepped out of formation. "Justin!" he called.

Justin looked back at him oddly. "What?"

"I hate to interrupt you, but you gotta finish the song, man." The crowd errupted in laughter. "We've still got more show to do."

Justin looked confused. "I gotta what?"

"You still got one more word."

"I do?" More laughter from the crowd.

"Yeah. You gotta say 'you'..."

"What do I do?"

"Nothin' fancy, just sing the word, and drop your arms like this..." Chris demonstrated. Justin gave him a look that said 'I don't get it,' and Chris sighed exasperatedly. "Look man, I know you got a lot on your mind right now, so just take a second, clear your thoughts... No, here, I got an idea. Imagine all these people aren't here. Try to imagine all these seats are empty, and you're only singing to one person..." He stepped forward and pulled a little girl out of the front row, bringing her up on stage. The little girl looked like she was in heaven.

Justin looked down at the girl beside him as Chris returned to his place in the formation. "A little more time... on... yoooou."

Exhausted, 'N Sync prepared to close their show, an hour and a half after they'd first set foot on the stage. "Thank you very much for comin' out tonight!" JC called out to the crowd. The others came running from the random places on the stage where they'd gone to wave goodbye to the crowd. "We are Justin, Chris, Joey, Lance, and JC... 'NNNNN SYYYYNC!" He dragged out the name of the group as they joined hands and took their final bow. And then, after slapping hands with a few more fans in the first couple of rows, they ran off the stage and headed for the bus, another show complete.

CHAPTER NINE -- P-A-R-T-...Y? 'CAUSE WE GOTTA!

Still on a high from the excitement of the show, 'N Sync boarded thier tour bus, wrestling and high-fiving each other. They gathered in the front of the bus to wave to all the fans who were walking back to their cars until they were driving past an empty sidewalk. Then the rush returned and excitement reigned in the air. "Guys, that was awesome!" Justin exclaimed.

"Dude, I swear, sometime some girl's gonna faint during A Little More Time On You if we keep playing it like that," Lance said.

"Cool!" This came from Chris, who had been rumaging through the kitchenette cupboards for his misplaced Pixi-Stix. Now he found them and displayed them triumphantly.

"What's cool, a chic fainting or Pixi-Stix?" JC questioned.

Chris considered this. "Both." He plopped the bag of candy down on the table and 'N Sync dove into it. Within moments, they were all high as a kite. Between the rush from the concert and the pure sugar of the candy, any exhaustion they'd had was gone and they were ready to party.

An hour later, Justin found himself on the dance floor in the club where the party was being held, dancing with an extremely attractive young woman. "You guys were awesome tonight!" she yelled to him above the loud music.

"Thanks!" Justin yelled back. He scanned the room for the rest of the group. JC, Chris, and Lance were all on the dance floor as well, dancing either with a single girl or in one big group. Joey, however, was off to the side, working his charm on a pretty blonde. Justin smiled and shook his head. Joey sure did have a way with the ladies. Then he returned his attention to the girl he was dancing with. "Would you like to get something to drink?" he asked.

"Sure!"

Nodding, he led the girl off the dance floor to a table, where he could hear her better. "So umm... what did you say your name was again?" he asked.

"Gina," she replied, smiling. She took a sip from her soda and he took a sip from his, their eyes never leaving each other.

"And I suppose you know mine."

She nodded. "Justin Randall Timberlake," she said with a smirk. "I don't think you'll find a single girl in here who doesn't know at least your first and last name."

"And I'll find some who can recite my entire stat sheet by heart," he added.

"Ooooh, little Justin's found a girl," JC joked as he and Chris came by. He faked a sniffle. "Oh Chris... our little boy is growing up so fast!"

"Save it, you two," Justin told them. "Scram."

"But I didn't say anything! I was good!" Chris protested. "That only happens like, once in a lifetime!"

"Well Chris, that was very thoughtful of you. I might even thank you for it someday. But only if you leave right now."

"What if I don't wanna?"

"Then you better sleep with your eyes open tonight," Justin warned. He narrowed his eyes, giving Chris a look that plainly said, "Go away. Don't ruin this for me."

"Gotcha, Chief," Chris replied, beginning to walk away. Then he turned around and mouthed to Justin... "But I want details!"

Justin leaned over his shoulder to glance at Joey. His older friend was engaged in a lip wrestling match with the same pretty blonde he'd spotted him with not ten minutes before. Joey's gonna get lucky tonight, Justin thought to himself. Damn. How does he do it?

"So uh... Gina. You wanna go for a walk? You know, where it's not so loud?"

"Sure." She smiled, and Justin could feel a shiver go through her as he took her hand. As much as he envied Joey's position, he knew he wouldn't get there tonight. His conscience would eat him alive if he did.

Justin and Gina walked for a good half hour before returning to the club where the party was. Justin could tell by the hour that JC was already back on board the bus, sound asleep, and he wouldn't be surprised if Lance and Chris were there as well. Justin himself could feel the sugar rush coming to an abrupt end, leaving him dead on his feet.

"I had a great time tonight, Gina," he told her.

"So did I, Justin," she replied.

"Well... I gotta get going."

"Yeah... me too." But niether moved. Finally, Justin leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. That seemed to satisfy him, and he stepped back.

"Bye."

"Bye."

With that, Justin turned and boarded the tour bus. He didn't look back-- he never did. It was easier that way, for him and for her.

As he'd suspected, JC and Lance were both already fast asleep in their bunks on the bus. Chris was not there, but he was close on Justin's heels-- Justin himself had barely crawled into his bunk when he heard Chris greet James at the front of the bus. "'Night Chris," Justin called sleepily.

Chris peeked his head in. "G'night Justin," he replied. There was a pause. "Joey in yet?"

"I don't expect him to be."

"Yeah... JC's gonna have kittens."

Justin laughed softly at Chris's choice of words. "He'll ground Joey 'til he's 30."

"Which is what, eight years away?" Chris climbed up into his bunk. "See you in the morning."

Justin rolled over. He laid there for quite awhile, unable to fall asleep. Finally, he just began singing very softly to himself. That did the trick. Justin's eyes began to close, and just before he fell asleep, he heard the door to the bus open and close. Joey had returned, which set Justin's sleepy mind at ease and allowed him to drift off into a deep, peaceful sleep.

Another day in the life of 'N Sync was complete.