"Justin, sit down. You're going to wear a hole in the floor and fall through. Then where would you be?" Mackenzie asked looking up from her most recent attempt at completing her Algebra worksheet.

"I'd be downstairs," he answered, continuing to pace back and forth in front of the couch in the dressing room.

"Justin, that answer sucks, and I'll say it again: sit down."

"Yeah, I know. And I can't sit down."

She rolled her eyes. "You're nervous."

"I'm anxious."

"You're nervous."

"I'm nervous," he admitted.

Mackenzie sighed. Justin was normally a very level-headed person, and seeing him like this scared Mackenzie a little. She closed her Algebra II textbook with a slam that startled Justin. She jumped up and grabbed his wrist. "Come on," she said.

"Macky?" Justin said as he was being pulled out the door into the empty hallway. "Macky, you're not kidnapping me, are you?"

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "Yeah, it's a BIG conspiracy. JC, Lance, and Joey are bound and gagged in the bus and tonight we're heading for Austria. Chris is driving at gunpoint because I can't drive alone, and even if I could, I doubt that I could reach the pedals. Nope, can't get anything past you Justin."

"Veeeeeery funny Macky. You should forget about the Theology degree and be a comedienne."

"I know."

Justin looked around. "Seriously, what are we doing in the hall?"

Mackenzie reached into her back pocket and pulled out...a hackey sack. "There's a whole forty-five minutes before the show starts. Until then," she said, dropping it and catching it with her toe, "We," she flipped it to her other foot. "Hackey." She hit it to him. He expertly handled it with his foot, to his right ankle, and hit it back to Macky who barely saved it with her foot. The game went for awhile until Justin missed it and ran into the wall in the process. Mackenzie's laugh echoed down the hall.

"Oh sure. Laugh at the defenseless," Justin said, still dazed from his literal run-in with the wall.

"Justin, you're hardly defenseless," Mackenzie laughed. "Now pick up the sack. Do you know how much time we've spent hackeying?"

Justin leaned over and picked up the hackey sack. "No, how long?"

Mackenzie looked at her watch. "Ten minutes."

"Seriously?" he asked, throwing the hackey sack between his two hands. "I'd think the guys would be out here by now."

As if on cue, JC and Lance stuck their head out of one door, and Chris and Joey out of another. "Whatcha doin'?" JC asked.

"Speak of the devils," Mackenzie smiled.

"I thought you said they were on the bus," Justin glared at Mackenzie.

"What?" Lance said.

"You had to be there," Mackenzie said, laughing.

"Whatcha doin'?" JC persisted.

"Just hackeying," Justin answered.

"Aw, cool! Can we play?" Joey asked.

"Sure. But you have to play nice," Justin said as the band members revealed themselves.

"Good Lord. We sound like third graders. And I see you were all so ANXIOUS that you got dressed. Justin was in and out of wardrobe forty-five minutes ago. Craziness," Mackenzie stated.

"Really?" Chris asked. "We just got back, like, twenty minutes ago."

Mackenzie looked at the five guys around her. Their faces were a complete expression of how they were handling their internal nervousness. To any other person, they looked ready to go, but Mackenzie knew better. They were each a bundle of nerves. "Come on, you guys. You can't be that nervous." They just looked at her. "Well, okay, maybe you can...but you can't let that stop you from doing this. I've seen you guys rehearse. You. Are. Ready."

"Come on guys. Let's play," Justin said, not giving anyone the opportunity to protest by dropping it and kicking it.

About twenty minutes and fourteen rounds of hackey later, Mackenzie said, "I better be going guys. See ya in the front row."

All the guys looked at her with large sad eyes. "Oh no guys, you know what that looks does to me. Anything but the puppy eyes."

The pleading looks didn't cease.

Mackenzie sighed. She pulled Justin and JC at either side of her closer by putting her arms around their backs. "I should have thought of this sooner."

"Er, Macky, I really hate to ask, but what is it that we are doing?" Justin asked her.

"We are going to pray," she said, and the rest of the guys gathered in.

Justin grinned as he bowed his head. For being fifteen, Mackenzie was very voiced and set in her faith. Justin would bet money that if he wanted answers, Mackenzie would tell him to pray.

"Dear father," she started. "We want to thank you for the success that you have already shown these young men. Help them tonight as they perform, and keep them safe from harm. Continue to guide and bless them. In Jesus' name we pray."

"Amen!" their voices reverberated up and down the hallway. She gave them all a quick hug before taking off to get to her seat in the front.

As she was running, she silently prayed to herself, Dear God, thank you for brothers.

After the show, amidst the crew and others congratulating them on the excellent show, Justin was scanning the backstage frenzy for Mackenzie. All of the sudden, out of nowhere he felt someone jump on his back. He fell forward a little to catch his balance. "Chris, if that's you, God so help me..."

"God so help you what, Justin?" Mackenzie asked from his back. "And as for mistaking me for Chris, you are forgiven."

"I heard that Macky!" Chris called from the other end of the stage.

"No one cares, Chris!" Justin yelled, carrying Mackenzie across the stage to where JC was talking to Mackenzie's dad.

"Hello, Justin," Daniel Nelson greeted. "You still taking Mac to the hotel with you?"

"Yep," JC said.

Justin glared. "Thank you JUSTIN. Yeah, we're stuffing her in the luggage compartment and she'll get there."

"Justin, need I remind you who is closest to that curly little head of yours," Mackenzie warned into Justin's ear.

Daniel laughed. "Thanks. This just makes it a lot easier on me and her mom. Mac, behave yourself."

Justin couldn't see it, but Mackenzie was grinning evily. "Don't worry daddy, they won't feel a thing."

Daniel was now serious. "Mac, no matter how well you think you can hide the bodies, there will be absolutely no murders," her father said sternly, barely hiding a smile.

Chris poked his head around the corner. "JC, Just, you comin'?" he asked. JC immediately started bouncing to the back door that would lead them to the bus.

"Bye Daddy!" Mackenzie yelled as Justin carried her off. They reached the bus and Justin tried to climb the fairly steep stairs onto the bus. Again. And again. "Macky, you're going to have to get off," he said. Obliged, she hopped off and climbed the stairs easily. Justin tiredly climbed those same steps. "How far to the next town?" he asked the driver desperately.

"About an hour and a half's drive," he answered in a thick German accent. "So get comfortable."

Inwardly, Justin groaned. He wanted to sleep, but it wouldn't happen, he knew. He let out a great big yawn and went to the back, to find Joey, Lance, Chris, and Macky back there. JC must have decided to sleep, he thought to himself. "What're we doing?" he asked.

"We were just going to watch a movie," Chris answered. "Star Wars. You gonna join us?"

Justin yawned and sat down next to Mackenzie. "Sure," he said. As the familiar opening credits started, his eyelids began to feel heavy. He yawned again. Mackenzie noticed that and leaned over to him. "Do want to lay down?"

He silently nodded. Mackenzie motioned to him to lay his head in her lap. He did so, and stretched out across the seat. Mackenzie couldn't help but notice how tired he looked. His eyes were half-closed and he looked so vulnerable. She silently started to stroke his hair gently, and he didn't seem to notice. He had seen the movie millions of times, and didn't want to fall asleep. "Did you understand a word of the algebra assignment your mom gave us? You were trying to do it earlier tonight," he asked sleepily. Mackenzie's mom was hired on the tour as a technician, as well as a tutor for Justin and Mackenzie.

She smiled at him. "Yeah, I'll help you with it tomorrow. Don't worry, it's very easy," she said as she continued to stroke his curly hair. It was quite the Kodak moment.

Now, the other guys in the room weren't oblivious to what was going on. They all looked at each other, and they knew that there was an undeniable attraction between the two. It would take Justin and Mackenzie much longer to see it.

(The next morning)

Justin quietly stirred in the hotel room the next morning. He vaguely remembered walking to his room and taking laying down, not even taking off his shoes.

He felt a spray of water. Then nothing. He wordlessly dismissed it as his imagination. Then again, he felt a splash of the cool liquid, this time accompanied by a quiet giggle. Then A LOT of water. He sat up ramrod straight, and a laugh was let loose by the room's other occupant. Mackenzie was laid back on the other side of the bed, laughing at Justin, wielding her Supersoaker. Justin tiredly picked up his pillow and hit Mackenzie with it. She just laughed harder as he put it back down and laid back on the pillow and looked at Mackenzie. "What was that for?" he whined.

"It's time to get up," she said. "I was sent to wake you up," she giggled.

He yawned. "What possessed you to use such a cruel method?" he asked, closing his eyes. "Even better yet, how'd you get in?"

"Lance. Come on sleepyhead, it's already ten o'clock."

Justin tiredly dragged himself out of bed, grumbling incoherently. He grabbed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and went into the bathroom. When he emerged, he was showered, dressed, and his hair was sticking every which way. This caused Mackenzie to laugh even harder. "Don't laugh at me," he whined defensively. "If you had hair like this you'd look like this too."

"But I don't. My hair is as straight as a stick."

"Yeah," he said while he brushed his hair and put in some gel. "So where to now?" he asked.

She smiled mischievously as she held up another room key. "Grab your Supersoaker. We're going to wake up JC."

"I like the way you think."

(Two weeks later)

Two weeks later, the tour-slash-never ending list of appearances was well underway, and adding dates everyday. Mackenzie's dad was indeed signed on as stage manager, and as we have said, Mackenzie's mother was technician/tutor for Justin and Mackenzie. Mackenzie was used to her mother's wacky teaching tactics, but Justin needed a course on having Carol Nelson for a teacher.

"I don't understand," he said. "Gumdrops," he said holding up one hand, "And chemistry," he said, bringing up the other. Moving them up and down alternately, "What's the common ground?"

Mackenzie looked up from her algebra book. "You use the different gumdrops to represent chemicals and use the toothpicks to use them to bond them," she explained.

Justin contemplated that and popped a green gumdrop in his mouth. "I still don't understand."

Mackenzie rolled her eyes. "Well, let's this," she said. "One of the most common chemical bonds is H2O. What's that?"

"Water," Justin answered.

"Right. So you take two gumdrops of one color," she said, taking two red ones. "And one of another," she said grabbing another green one out of Justin's hand, "And you bond them with toothpicks," she explained, sticking the toothpicks in them, forming a triangle of the candy. "And there, you have one bonafide chemical bond," she said, presenting it to him.

"Cool," he said. "I think I can handle it now."

"You sure?" she asked. "I'd hate to get too involved in the Algebra just to be interrupted once more."

"Relax Macky. I swear, you're waaaay too much like JC sometimes."

"I heard that!" JC called from the other end of the bus.

"Yeah, yeah," Justin called back. "Whatcha gonna do about it?"

JC's head suddenly appeared from the curtain separating the front of the bus from the back of it. "Carol said I wasn't supposed to bother you, but I'm sure she could make an exception. And if you don't stop and get back to work, Carol's not going to be the only thing keeping you from performing."

"Ooh. Justin, that was a punch to the gut. Let's get busy," Mackenzie ordered.

Justin sighed defeatedly and went back to his chemical bonds. He had completed several, and had just finished Sodium Chloride, or common table salt, when he looked up as Mackenzie. She was furiously working on an Algebra problem, and Justin couldn't help but notice how serious she looked. He quietly reached into the sack of gumdrops and threw one at her. She looked up, and smiled at Justin's grinning face. He reached for another one, and threw that one also. She looked up. "Don't, Justin," she said, barely keeping the smile off her face. He threw another one. "Justin, I'm warning you," she said quietly. Justin grabbed about five and threw them all at her.

She picked up some that had landed on her textbook and held them up. "Okay, Justy, this is war!"

And hence was the gumdrop war of the century.

(May 1st, 1997)

"Happy birthday to yoooooou...." Chris "sang". Wailed was more the word for it.

Lance rolled his green eyes. "Chris, my birthday isn't for another three...whatever days. Please don't make anymore a fool of yourself than you have already managed to succeed in doing."

"Ha ha. I wasn't singing to you Lansten. Well, technically, I suppose it is. It's one year ago today that you officially joined the group."

"Wow," Justin said. "I forgot all about that. That was a long time ago."

All of the sudden, JC came rushing into the dressing room at their current venue. "You guys heard about Macky's surprise party, right?"

"What surprise party?" Joey asked at the mention of the word "party".

"For what? Other than just for the concept of surprising her?" Justin asked.

"It's her birthday. Tonight back at the hotel, after the show. Nothing really big. Just the crew, us, and a CD player," JC explained. "But it's a surprise party. So that means no telling her, JOE," he said pointedly.

"Is it me, or do we seem to be the last ones to know everything?" Chris asked no one in particular.

"What?" Joey yelled defensively. "I swear on my appetite that Macky will not hear a word from me."

"That's a pretty heavy thing to swear on...that's like me swearing on my North Carolina basketball," Justin said. He was a little hurt that Mackenzie hadn't told him about it being her birthday, but they would get to party, so no matter.

JC raised an eyebrow in mock seriousness. "You're right. You sure you don't want to pick something else?" he joked, barely keeping the smile off his face.

Joey shook his head slowly. "No respect. I get no respect."

Well, the guys had a wonderful show, as usual, and hurried back to the hotel to help decorate the multipurpose room for Mackenzie's surprise birthday party. Mackenzie was being held hostage in her and her parent's room until they were ready for her, or ten o'clock, whichever came first. JC glanced up at the clock, and saw that it was five to ten. "Come on everyone! They'll be here in five minutes." At this, the decorating was quickly finished.

"Okay..."Chris trailed off. "What else do you do for a surprise party?" he asked hurriedly.

"Umm...hide?" Joey suggested.

Justin gave him a look that plainly said Duh. "Where exactly do you want us to hide, Joe?" he asked sarcastically.

"Uh...we could just crouch down and turn off the lights," he said.

Lance was dumbfounded. "I never thought I'd say this, but Joey just had a good idea," he said incredulously. Joey nodded proudly, and then he realized what Lance said.

"Okay, that'll have to work," Chris said.

"We're sorry that the 'surprise' in 'surprise party' was ruined, Macky," Carol Nelson said in the elevator on the way down to the main floor.

"It's okay," she said. "Just don't give me your cell phone and then have people calling you about it!" she joked lightly.

Carol chuckled quietly. "So true," she said.

"Don't worry. I'll fake it," she said. "I'm a pretty good actress."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "You must have improved from nine years ago," he said with a slight laugh to his voice.

"Was that really nine years ago that she was getting into the Mr. Bubbles?" her mother asked and sniffled a little.

Mackenzie was horrified. "I would prefer it if you would not bring up the Mr. Bubbles incident. That was a long time ago and rather embarrassing."

Mackenzie's mother sniffed again as the elevator dinged. "I'm sorry baby. It just seems like yesterday you were playing with your Barbies, and here you are, sixteen."

"It's okay, mom. Just don't cry at the party," she said. They walked down a hall to the multipurpose room where the party was being held. "Okay, I'm ready to act surprised," she grinned.

"Cover your eyes," her father said, and she did so. He opened the door, and let her walk in. He turned on the lights, and said, "Okay, open them Mac."

When she uncovered her eyes, everyone sprang up from their position and yelled, "SURPRISE!" Mackenzie bit back a laugh and put on her best surprised face. "Wow! This is cool!" she said.

"She knew," JC concluded.

"Someone told," Lance said.

"Joey!" Chris accused.

"What?" Joey defended.

Justin was silent for a minute. "Surprise?"

Mackenzie looked up at her parents. "Was I too cheesy?"

About an hour later, thing were going smoothly. Joey was forgiven, as it was not him who had inadvertently spoiled the surprise. The CD player had been turned on, and to Mackenzie it was the best party she had ever had. Everyone had wished her a happy birthday and had gone on to do what they considered fun, whether that had been talking, eating, or dancing. Mackenzie was glad that everyone having fun.

As Savage Garden's Truly, Madly, Deeply came on, she heard Justin's voice come from behind her. "Do you want to dance?"

She turned to face him, and looked for her parents. "Sure," she said when she didn't see them. He led her to a spot that was unoccupied on the unofficial carpeted dance floor. Mackenzie put her arms around his neck best she could, and he the same with her waist. The result: a union almost too close for comfort.

About the first thirty seconds of the dance were spent by Justin ignoring the glances by his fellow bandmates, and Mackenzie by praying that her parents wouldn't come back to find her in Justin's arms. She may be sixteen, and he may be a pop superstar, but her parents wouldn't hesitate to do anything normal parents wouldn't do.

"Why didn't you tell me it was going to be your birthday?" Justin asked, not being able to stand the silence any longer.

She shrugged. "I just didn't want things to get complicated. I'm sorry."

His turn to shrug. "I understand. I'm just sorry that I didn't get you a present."

"It's okay. The only thing I wanted anyways was a driver's license. And I'm going to take the test next week."

"Oh, crunk! Can I come?" he asked.

"Crunk? I guess, but crunk?"

"Yeah, crunk. You know, like, crazy, cool."

Mackenzie was speechless. "Well, at least you could have spoken English," she said. "And besides, you already gave me a pretty neat present. Two, actually."

"Really? Cr-"

"Yeah, I know. Crunk," she rolled her eyes. "One, you gave me my first slow dance. And second," she smiled. "You raided my CD collection instead of you guys'," she said.

"What's wrong with our music?" he frowned.

"Not your music. Your CD collection," she laughed. "You guys have the best music."

"Thank you, that's more like it."

The spent the rest of the dance in silence. The song ended, and they gave each other eye contact. Mackenzie smiled, and disappeared through the door.

Mackenzie headed to the water fountain by the corner. As she bent over to get a drink, she heard her father's voice. "We have to tell her," he said.

"We'll tell her next year," her mother said, choked up. This caught her attention. She knew it was wrong to eavesdrop, but who would know?

"We've been saying next year, next year, since she was nine. We have to tell her sometime," her father said firmly.

This is about me? she thought. I HAVE to hear this.

"Does it have to be this year? She's so happy, and who knows what this could do?" her mother asked hopefully, a hint of a childish whine in her voice.

"We have to tell her. Mackenzie deserves to know that she was adopted," he said, a catch in his voice.

Mackenzie stepped back, as if someone had hit her.What? she thought. I'm adopted?

"Alright," her mother gave in. "We'll tell her tomorrow."

Mackenzie heard her father sigh. "Tomorrow night," he said finally. "Let's go back up to the room. She won't notice we're gone," he said, and Mackenzie heard them quietly shuffle down the carpeted hallway to the elevator, and released the breath she didn't realize that she was even holding until she heard the elevator doors swoosh closed.

She started to take shaky breaths, and noticed that her hands were shaking. She walked a few steps down the hall, then slid to the floor and leaned against the wall, and started to cry silently as a million thoughts ran through her head.

I'm adopted? Why didn't they tell me? Why me? Who else knows? Who's my birth mother? Do I have a whole other family somewhere else? Would they like to know me?

And then she stopped herself at one last thought.

Would I like to know them?

"When you feel all alone
And the world has turned it's back on you...
I know you feel like the walls are closing in on you...
When darkness is upon your dawn and
It feels like you can't take anymore...
When you feel all alone
And a loyal friend is hard to find
When hopes and dreams are far away and
It feels like you can't face the day..."

--Crash and Burn, by Savage Garden