New Part As of June 2001

“Why, oh, why?” Justin moaned. He cast himself into a near by chair.

“Why, oh, why what?” Lance questioned.

“Why, oh, why do I have to be Justin Timberlake?” Justin asked.

“Why wouldn't you be?”

Justin shook his head. Lance would never understand. Lance enjoyed being Lance Bass. Justin was fed up with his life, his job, and just being Justin Timberlake of ‘N Sync. He wanted to be a normal nobody for the day.

“God, I wish I was Jason Dacosta.”

Lance's response to that was to turn off the lights. Justin sighed and fell asleep.

     *~*~*~*~*

“Jason! Get up!”

Justin's eyes flew open. He was in a corner covered in clothes. As his eyes adjusted to the light of the room he saw there was clothes and other junk all over the room. If he was at home, than why wasn't his room clean? He generally didn't mess it up this quickly.

“Jason Alexander Dacosta, do you hear me?” asked a female voice who must be the source of the banging on the door.

Justin picked himself out of the clothes he was covered in and walked over to the door. He paused before he opened it. He had a strange feeling this wasn't his mom or his room. The sight that greeted him was a 40ish woman with long dark hair. She had on a dark blue suit that made her eyes stand out more.

“Huh?” Justin asked, still half asleep.

“Get up. It's 7 o'clock. You need to be at school in a half hour. God, you're 18 and you still need to be awakened by your mother.”

“I'm 19,” Justin said.

“No, Jay, not till November.”

Justin watched the woman walk away down the hall. He turned around and looked around the room. He saw above the dresser was a small mirror. He walked over and a looked it. Instead of his curly bleached blonde hair, he had straight dark brown hair. He ran his hand through it and it fell perfectly back into place.

“Cool,” Justin said, deciding he was liking this dream.

His blue eyes had been replaced by brown eyes. He no longer looked like Justin Timberlake. Who was he?

Jason Alexander Dacosta, age 18, born November 30, 1981. You live at 19 E. Morningside in Lombard, IL. You go to Glenbard East and have your own car that is a 1998 Mustang. You work at Clark Gas in Lombard. This is your wish, Justin,  said a voice in his head.

As Justin looked at the reflection in the mirror he remembered what he had said last night to Lance. He wanted to be Jason Dacosta. Now he was Jason. He was given the chance to be normal.

“Jason!” Jason's mom called.

“Coming,” Justin said.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Justin stepped into the hallway of Glenbard East. He looked around at the white walls and lockers all around him. The front hall he had entered in had more color. At least it had green and white floors. The rest of the place looked really bleak.

“JJ! Did you see TRL yesterday?” asked a young female voice from behind him.

Justin looked at her in question. How could he have seen it? He had been on TRL yesterday. “Sorry.”

“Jason! You promised me you would! You know so we could see how screwed up Justin's nose is. The boy will be getting a  nose job any day now.”

Justin's hands flew up over Jason's nose. The girl just laughed at him. Justin then realized he had Jason's nose, not Justin's.

“JJ, you're pretty funny sometimes. You look nothing like Justin Timberlake.”

Justin watched her walk off down the hall. He shook his head and headed off down the hall. He realized he had no idea where he was heading. He kneeled down and looked through his bag till he found what he wanted. He smiled at the piece of paper in his hands.

“Dacosta, you going out with a piece of paper?”

Justin looked up to see a tall Asian guy standing above him. He was dressed very well in Polo Sport from head to toe. Jason sure talked to a wide verity of people.

“NO, I'm just happy to see it,” Justin said.

“Wow,” the guy said, a struck, “you just said more than three words to me. You're moving up in the word Dacosta.”

I wish I knew these people's names, Justin thought as he walked down the hall looking for room 102.

~*~*~*~*~

“Oh, my God! There is something wrong with Justin Timberlake!”

Justin turned at the mention of his name. A group of girls were huddled around the out side of a store looking a the TVs in the windows.

“Look!”

Justin carefully studied his former self. He looked okay. But there was something wrong with him. He looked nervous, on edge, and he looked like he didn't want to be there.

“Why am I just sitting there?”

The group of girls turned to look at him. He smiled and slowly walked towards the bathrooms. He had gone to the mall after school to find Jason some cool looking clothes. The only thing Justin had found that morning was a Hawaiian print shirt and a pair of khakis. Justin couldn't figure out why Jason didn't have any good clothes. He had a lot of money lying around in his room. So, with the money in hand, Justin had hit the mall that afternoon. It was nice to go out in public without being recognized by girls every three seconds. He had done his shopping in peace. And now he was going home.

“Where have you been?” Jason's mom asked when he walked in the door.

“The mall.”

“You didn't tell me you were going to the mall.”

“That's cause I didn't know I was till I was leaving school. I looked for a cell phone, but didn't find one. How come I don't have one?” Justin asked. He didn't know how anyone could live without one.

“I don't know. You don't have a need for one.”

Justin looked at the woman in disbelief. “I don't have a need for one?”

“Jason,” the woman said slowly. “you never go out long enough or often enough to need one.”

“Don't I have a job?”

“Yes, at Clark Gas. Is there something wrong with you?”

Justin's jaw dropped. Justin Timberlake was going to be working in a gas station? Why hadn't he been told. Oh, wait. He had. He hadn't been really listening to the voice in his head all too well.

“And you should be there. Chrissy called wondering where you were,” said a little kid coming down the stairs.

Justin dropped his shopping bags and ran back out to Jason's car. He started it up and began to wonder where Clark Gas was. He looked through the backpack and found a card that had Clark Gas on it. Justin nodded is head at the card and took off for the station. He parked his car and slowly walked into the small store. A girl with unruly curly blonde hair looked up from behind the counter.

“Where have you been?” she asked.

“Isn't that the question of the day,” Justin joked.

The girl, who he assumed was Chrissy, looked at him in shock. She mouthed the words he had just said and counted them on his fingers.

“You said…seven words.”

Justin shrugged his shoulders. Everyone was shocked today at how much he opened his mouth. Chrissy began muttering she was loosing her mind and left. Justin took her place behind the counter and looked at the register. He had no clue what he was doing. The first customer had to show him how to work the thing. Lucky for him it was a regular who knew what buttons did what. He sat struggling to operate the thing till he heard a loud thumping outside. He looked out the window to see a large blue old car pull in and park. A Hispanic guy got out and trotted over to the store and came in.

“You working today?” he asked.

“Am I at the wrong place? Cause I saw another Clark Gas when I was on my way to the mall,” Justin replied.

Just like Chrissy, the guy counted the works Justin had just said on his hands.

“21. 21, that's the most I've ever gotten out of you. You've beaten Quiet Girl,” the guy said, shaking his head. “Dude.”
Justin gave the guy a funny look. What was with these people and counting his words?

“I get off at seven,” Justin said, giving the guy a look.

This was a guess on his part. The guy seemed to accept this because he left. Justin looked around the small store. There wasn't too much to do. He sat there till seven when the thumping returned. Out of the car popped the same guy who had been their earlier.
“Here to replace you Jay-Jay.”

Justin nodded. “Who's the Quiet Girl?”

“Huh?” the guy asked, looking at him like he was crazy to be asking that sort of question.

“That girl you mentioned before.”

The guy raised an eyebrow. “She's a girl who sits at our lunch table and keeps to herself. We call her Quiet Girl. Why?”
“Just wondering.”

“Why? Do you know her real name?”

Justin shook his head and opened the door to leave. Now what? It was seven o'clock and this Jason guy didn't seem to have much a of a life. What was Justin going to do? He had finished his homework at work.

“Jay!” the guy called from within the store. “What ya doing tonight?”

“I dunno.”

“Ill make you a deal, okay?”

“Sure,” Justin said, coming back into the store. What did he have to loose?

“If you say more than three words to me, Ill invite you to come with me tonight. I think you could use a good party.”

Justin's ears perked up at the mention of the word party the guy seemed amused and went on, “Okay, I'm gonna ask you a question. Here it is: What is wrong with the boy bands of today?”

Justin looked at him in question. What was the press always saying about them? “They all copy off one another and look the same?”

“And what do they never do?”

“I don't sing?” Justin asked.

“No! Besides that. As in…”

“Swear?”

“Score!” he cried, jumping up out of the chair. “You're coming with the Rock tonight. Meet me here at 11 okay?”

Justin nodded and happily went out the door. After pulling some strings, Justin got Jason's mom to let him go out. So at 11 he pulled back into the Clark parking lot. Rock was standing near his boat of a car.

“Jason! You came back!” Rock exclaimed. “Leave your car here.”

“Okay.”

Rock opened his door as Justin walked over and got in on the other side of the car.

“Just push all my shit to the floor,” Rock told him.

“Okay,” Justin replied, pushing the stuff to the ground.

“Dude, who is that?”

Justin looked up to see what Rock was pointing at. It was a little Mercedes M Class. Justin was pretty sure that was his car. And there was a bleached blonde head in it. Rock jumped out of the car as the car pulled into the parking lot. What was Justin's car doing here in Illinois? His car should be in Florida.

“We're closed,” Rock said.

The car turned off.

“We're closed muthafucker!”

Justin Timberlake’s body emerged from the car. Justin watched in horror as he looked at his own face. He had never realized it before, but he looked horrid as a blonde. He was going to have to do something about that. Justin slowly got out of Rock's car.

“I'm looking for Jason Dacosta.”

“That's me,” Justin said.

The real Jason ran over Justin and pulled him around back of the store. He turned the real Justin to face him.

“We both know you are the real Justin Timberlake. Not me. I'm Jason Dacosta.”

“You're point?” Justin asked.

“My point? I want my life back!”

“Well, I like you're life.”

“Yeah, so do I!”

“Oh, so you don't like mine? You can have any girl you want? People love you.”

“I know! Everybody is always looking at me! I hate being looked at all the time!”

“Dude, Jay-Jay, stop talking to that muthafucker. We've got a party to go to,” Rock said, dragging Justin away from Jason.

“Justin! What are you doing! Why am I hanging around with Roque Vallejo?” Jason cried, running after Justin and Rock. “Justin don't do this!”

Justin hopped into the car. Rock pealed out of the parking lot.

“Who might that fucker have been?” Rock asked.

“Justin Timberlake,” Justin said, saying his own name.

“God, is he supposed to be someone?” Rock asked.

“He's in ‘N Sync.”

“Those shit heads?”

“What?!” Justin asked.

“Sorry are you a fan?” Rock asked, with a smirk.

“Well, not really. I just don't think they are shit heads. They're okay.”

“Okay, okay, since you don't hate them, Ill agree. They really got a phat video.”

“Yeah, we do, don't we,” Justin said, smiling. Even a guy like Rock liked their videos.

“We? What are you talkin’ about? That Timberlake character thought you were supposed to be him? Is he just fucked up?”

“In a way I guess. I don't know. I never met him before tonight,” Justin said, looking out the window.

“He's one fucked up man, that Timberlake. What was he doing here?”

Justin shrugged. What was his body and his car doing here? His body should have been still in New York getting ready to leave for LA and his car should have been at home in Florida.

*~*~*~*~*~*

Justin slowly walked into the lunchroom. He had never made it to lunch the day before. He had been caught in the halls after the bell without a pass. They had sent him to the deans because they couldn't believe a senior didn't know where the lunchroom was. Justin immediately spotted a girl sitting all by herself at a table. Justin thought of the Quiet Girl Rock had mentioned the night before. He decided to talk to her.

“Whatcha doing?” Justin asked, sitting across from her.

The girl looked at him in question.

“That's okay. I can see you're writing something. Did you know no one talks to me? But I love to talk to people. So if you'll listen to a crazy guy babble, well be okay, seeing I haven't had a real chance to talk without people counting my words.”

“Jay-Jay!”

Justin looked around to see Rock walking towards him. He forced Justin to give up his seat and Rock placed himself in it.
“So you know Jenny? Thought you didn't know Quiet Girl?” Rock asked.

Justin looked from the girl sitting in front of him to Rock. She looked quite confused.

“No, but I’d like to,” Justin said.

“Jenny, this is Jason Dacosta. He had had a major personality change in the last 24 hours. The Rock helped him,” Rock said nodding.

“Okay, Roque…” she said quietly, looking at Jason.

“Not Roque, it's Rock. R-O-C-K. Not R-O-Q-U-E.”

“That's how you spell it? I thought it was R-O-C-K-Y.”

“Nope. But I'm the Rock. Just Rock, okay Jenny?”

“No. You are Roque. And only Roque.”

“Fine be stubborn.”

“Ill call ya Rock,” Justin said. “Just not the Rock. Might confuse you with that wrestler.”

“See, Jen-Jen, he'll call me Rock.”

Jenny shook her head fiercely. “I don't care. You're mother named you Roque and I will call you Roque.”

“Did you're mother name you Jenny?”

“As of a matter of fact she did.”

“Not Jennifer?”

“Nope.”

“You must be lying,” Justin said. Jenny shook her head. Justin just smiled.

“Anyways, Jen-Jen, what are you doing this weekend?”

“What do I always do? Nothing.”

“That is just not right. I wish your mom was more like Jay-Jay’s. She let him come to a party with me last night,” Rock said.

“Party? Jenny and party do not got together.”

“Then what does Jenny go with?”

“Jason?”

Justin turned around to see the girl who had asked him yesterday if he had seen TRL.

“What?” Justin asked. She looked alarmed. She pulled him up. He looked back at Rock and Jenny who were looking at him in strange way. The girl pulled him all the way across the lunchroom to another table.

“What do you think you are doing?” she asked.

“I don't know.”

“You were sitting with Roque Vallejo!”

“I knew that,” Justin said.

“Why on earth would you hang around with him! He is dirt! He's a fifth time around senior! He's like, I don't know…no good!” the girl yelled. “Sit down at your own lunch table.”

She pulled him down. He was now surrounded by a bunch of people who had their books spread out amongst them. None of them were really talking.

“Where were you yesterday? We missed you at lunch,” some guy said, without looking up from his books.

“I was in the deans office.”

All heads went up at the words deans office. Justin looked around at them.

“What were you doing in the deans office?” the girl asked.

“I was in the halls after the bell rang,” Justin said, growing uncomfortable around them.

New Part as of 6/01

"How the hell could you have been in the halls after the bell rang?" some kid asked, without looking up from his book.

"Um, maybe because I didn't know where the lunchroom was," Justin said.

They all looked at him. He just looked back at them. He had to get up and away. So he did. He walked back over to the  table where Rock sat with Jenny.

"So, came back to us did you?" Rock asked.

"Yeah. You know, I have one question," Justin said.

"Ask away, Jay," Rock said, stealing one of Jenny's carrots.

"Who were those people?"

"People you hung around with, dude. But, you've seen the light. Now, you are hanging around with peeps who will take you places," Rock announced.

"Like where? Detention?" Justin asked.

Jenny started laughing. Rock just looked at Justin and said, "No. Parties, the movies, all the cool places that you've never been."

"Cool," Justin said.

"No, Jay, it's score. Got it?"

"Score," Justin repeated.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Justin sat in Clark looking out the window. It was a hot steamy Sunday afternoon. He had been Jason for almost a week now. In that short week he had changed who Jason hung out with, the way he talked, how many words he said to people (now they stopped counting because they were no longer surprised that he could talk), and changed the way Jason dressed. As far as Justin was concerned now, Jason was an okay person to be. He looked at his watch. It was only six. He still had almost four more hours till close. He looked over at the phone. Maybe he could call Jenny? He knew her number was around the place somewhere. Suddenly he heard thumping coming from outside. He looked to see Rock pull into the lot.

"Waz up, Jay?" Rock asked, coming into the store.

"Well, Rock, it looks like the ceiling," Justin replied.

"Have you heard from that Justin Timberlake person?" Rock asked, going into the back room.

"Why?" Justin asked. Actually, he had been having so much fun just being Jason, he hadn't heard or looked for anything on the real Jason as Justin.

"They say he's going off the deep end," he heard Rock say.

"What do you mean?" Justin asked, getting worried.

"Well, I saw on MTV that the Justin flew to Orlando, got his car, then paid to have them both flown to Chicago. It was around the same time he showed up here. Then, this is the best part, he left the car some where, and vanished. That guy the one with that had the red hair, not maybe it was blonde...the one with the other J in his name..." Rock trialed off.

"JC?" Justin offered, growing even more worried. Jason was ruining Justin Timberlake.

"Yeah, that's the one. Well, he said that Justin hadn't been himself in days. He was really nervous and withdrawn, but no one knows where the hell he went. It's like he's a different person," Rock said.

"Oh, my God," Justin said. "What have I done?"

"What?" Rock asked, coming into the room.

"I have to go," Justin said.

"Why?"

"This may sound really funny, but I'm Justin Timberlake."

"No, sorry, you're Jay-Jay," Rock said. "Are you okay?"

"No, actually I'm not," Justin said, running out the door. He hopped into his car and went tarring off for Jason's house. He ran into to find Mrs. Dacosta seated at the kitchen table. "Where would I go if I were upset?"

"Huh?"

"Where do I go when I'm upset?"

"Herrike Lake, honey. Are you okay?" she asked.

"No, actually I'm not!" Justin called as he ran out the door.