Everything
You Want
He’s everything you want
He’s everything you need
He’s everything inside of you that you wish you could be
He says all the right things at exactly the right time
But he means nothing to you and you don’t know why.
(Vertical Horizon)
New Part!!!!
5/00
New Part as of 9/00
Chapter One
Rylee Carter
I looked out into the crowd of people before me. My band mates stood behind me waiting to go out. The opening act was singing out her little heart. May Winters was unknown at the moment, but she was our opening act. She wasn’t going to be unknown for long. She was opening for Glen Westlake, who just happened to be one of the hottest rock bands around. Our only competition on the charts and on TRL was the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync. All those boy bands seemed to be popping up everywhere. As far as I was concerned, we had nothing in common with them. We were a band. Everyone played an instrument. Well, except me. I don’t consider playing a tambourine an instrument.
“Rylee, let’s go!” Steve, our drummer shouted.
I picked up my tambourine and waited for the lights to go out. The guys ran and picked up their instruments. The music started and the lights slowly came on. I turned on my microphone and shouted, “Are y’all ready to rock with Glen Westlake.”
The overwhelming cry was, “YES!!!!!!!!!!!”
Jason our bass player yelled, “One! Two! Three!”
I ran out on stage, jumping, and skipping. I love this.
All throughout my life
The same question asked
Are you Nick’s sister?
I’ve pulled my hair out!
It drives me nuts!
And I’ve never even met the guy!
No relation to Nick!
I’ve got no relation to Nick!
I don’t think he even knows me,
No relation to Nick!
I swear some people
Were out to get me
I had to work my butt off
All because they thought
I was related to Nick!
No relation to Nick
I have no relation to Nick
I’ve never ever met the guy
No relation to Nick
Are you Nick’s sister?
No.
Are you Nick’s cousin.
No.
Well, you have to be related.
No. I have no relation to Nick.
No relation to Nick
I have never been related to Nick
I have no relation to Nick.
He doesn’t even know who I am
No relation to Nick.
I have no relation to Nick
He doesn’t even know I exist.
I have no relation to Nick.
He may not know me.
But he’ll know me now
I’ve got no relation to
Nick.
(Hildreth. No Relation to Nick)
Every one clapped and screamed louder when the next song started, our current video on TRL began. It was called “Rocky Relationships Have…” It was one of the best ones that I had written. We were going to be in New York the next week on TRL to show the sequel. On our album it was almost like on song. However, to make it a single and video we had to slip it into two songs.
The concert ended and we all went out to the tour bus. Jason, Steve, and Tyler, our drummer, all went straight to bed after a shower. I stayed in the lounge like I always did staring at my cranberry red hair. I made up my mind. I was going back to my original color. Well, as close as I could with the cranberry already in it. I was always changing hair colors. The guys nicknamed me Chameleon. As I sat pondering how I would get ash brown hair color, I spotted a piece of paper on the table. I walked over and picked it up. It read:
Justin Timberlake would like a meeting with you before TRL on Friday.
Harry
I looked at the note. Who was Justin Timberlake? I tossed the note back on the table thinking it must be for someone else, seeing that it had no name on it. I went back and flipped on the TV. Then Harry, our manager, came into the lounge.
“Did you see my note I left you?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
“Well?” he asked.
“I don’t know. Who’s Justin Timberlake?” I asked.
Harry looked at me like I was crazy. I brushed the hair out of my eyes and stared at him.
“Do you know who Nick Carter is?” Harry asked.
“Well, of course, I do. We share the same last name. That’s who ‘No Relation to Nick is written about’,” I lied. It was written about a different Nick Carter then whom you are thinking about.
“Not that Nick Carter. The one from BSB?”
“Yeah.”
“You have heard of ‘N Sync, right?”
“Yeah. They have the number two spot on TRL. Is Justin Timberlake part of that sorry excuse for a group?”
“Rylee Jane Carter, don’t say that,” Harry hissed. I knew he was mad, he used my whole name.
All this was confusing me so I said no. I didn’t know who he was, well let’s put it this way, which one he was. I didn’t even know why he wanted to meet me. Harry was most likely trying to set us up. He’s good at that. He set Steve up with Jessica Biel. Steve hasn’t been the same since.
Any ways, I totally forgot about that note. That was till TRL on Friday. Carson called us out to show our video. The four of us walked out to where Carson was standing.
“Hi, Glen Westlake,” he said.
“Hi, Carson,” we answered.
“Rylee, I see you changed your hair color, yet again,” Carson pointed out.
“Indeed I did. So what do you want to talk about?” I asked, rocking back and forth on my feet.
“Well, what is the concept of the second video?”
“Rylee is going crazy because she likes this one guy but doesn’t want another guy because she hates them,” Tyler explained.
“Who makes a guest spot as the object of her affection?” Carson asked.
“It’s a surprise,” Steve said.
“We dance in this like those boy bands,” Jason added. Carson gave him a strange look. “We do. There’s a dance thing between the two videos.”
“But you’ll only be showing it once, because you never play all of the videos,” I said.
“Well, here is, ‘Rocky Relationships Have…’ and ‘Made me Go Crazy!’” Carson said.
The first video started. I was sitting at a table in the library in a school. The music started. I was tapping my pen against the table. This was my imitation of Ms. Spears. I abruptly stood up as I began singing.
“Rocky relationships/ Destroyed the image that I had/the dream of relationship was no more.”
At this point the librarian throws me out of the library and I’m in the hall. Steve is on one of the stairways playing his guitar, Tyler is playing his drums in between the two stairways while Jason is on the other stairway playing his guitar. I stand in front of Tyler and pace and jump around.
“No, more. No, no, no, no more/ Rocky relationships for me. The dream I had was broke/ into bits and bits/ See what it’s done to me!”
The guys all put down their instruments to pick me up and start carrying me down the hall.
“I may sound like Alanis Morissette/ but men are useless!,” I jump down from their carrying and begin to walk on my own down the hall. I throw open the doors to the school as I sing, “Oh, freedom, oh, freedom, oh, sweet freedom/ Is what I dreamed of.”
The guys are now running after me, as I run through the soccer field, with their instruments. Tyler is trying to carry a snare drum but it’s not working.
“Oh, freedom, oh, freedom, oh, sweet freedom/ Is what I gained from him/ But freedom, oh, freedom, sweet freedom/ Left me bitter/ Till I came to.”
I suddenly stop as the music stops. The guys stop right behind me, their instruments flying into the river before us. I jump into the river, followed by the guys.
“I was floating down a river/ With a saturated liver/ I had come to/ I wish I could forget it/ But I have been bit/ Now I’m Crazy!”
By now I’m out of the river and running on shore. As I announce I’m crazy, we all entered this hall of some sort with dancers in it. This is where the new video starts. We do this dance thing like you see in those boy videos. The second part of the song had more of a pop dance thing going. As the dance thing comes to an end, I spot the boy that’s driving me crazy. I stop moving and look at this boy.
“I spotted you and I went Crazy!”
I go back to dancing. The boy comes and joins me.
“Oh, yeah/ Oh, no way. Oh, no way/ I should have never let you see me/ ‘Cause now I got you flyn’,” I push the boy away. He comes back. “But, I’m a man hating woman/ And it’s just not going to work./ I don’t want to be bitter/ Again so give it up/ I’m never going to change my crazy mind!( the guys sing: Why not?) Oh, because.”
The thing cuts to a new scene. This time I’m standing up on this balcony while the dancers dance with the boy in the streets below. The guys are with me and they are playing.
“Men are useless./ But, oh I, oh I feel like I should end up in your arms at the end/ See! I must really be crazy!”
I jump off from the balcony and fall into the library. All the dancers and the boy are also at tables. I’m tapping my pencil as the music builds. The guys begin to sing, “Oh, no, no, no./ Oh, no, no, no.” I stop tapping it and sing, “Rocky relationships have left me, oh so bitter.” All the dancers get up and start dancing on the tables. I stand up and stand on the table in the middle of all this with the guys all around me.
“So, hit me just do it now! Maybe I’ll wake up and you’ll be gone! You’ve really got me flyn’/ and that just can’t be! Oh, here I go I’m crazy. I can’t hate males! Hit me just do it now! I really can’t be in love now! Oh, no, no, no, no! Oh, yeah. I should have never let you see me, ‘cause now you’re flyn’./ Rocky relationships have broken my dreams/ I see it fall to bits and bit/ Freedom, sweet freedom has left me bitter/ So, baby, I don’t want you/ Flyn’ for me!”
The librarian comes in and tells us to be quiet. We all sit and I sing the last line, “What can I do?/ To tell you that I’m crazy for you?” (Me, Heather. Rocky Relationships Have & Made Me Go Crazy)
Carson looked at us in shock. Everyone in the studio begins to holler.
“Wow, Rylee. Your leading man was Justin Timberlake. What a surprise. Conspiring with the enemy,” Carson said.
My eyes got big. That tall, blonde, blue-eyed, curly haired boy, my love object in that video, was Justin Timberlake of ‘N Sync? No way!
“With your luck, you’ll meet again. Come on out guys!” Carson called.
And out came ‘N Sync. And there was Justin. Smiling like he knew all long. Well, he did. I was just in the dark. I must have been the only one. The guys seemed to know. No one really ever tells me anything. Really!
“Hi,” Justin said, looking at me. I smiled a nervous smile.
“Well, fancy seeing you!” Tyler said, slapping Justin a high five.
“We’ll be seeing you guys a lot. We’re here to announce to the world that this summer ‘N Sync, Glen Westlake, and Blink 182 are going on tour with Battle of the Bands. At the end, we’ll see who wins,” said a man with dark hair. He turned to me. “I’m JC.”
I smiled again. I felt like a total fool.
So, we moved to the Chicago area. To some town called Lombard, I think. Well, they shipped me off to some middle school called Glen Westlake. (That’s were our band name came from. My middle school that I only went to for a month.) Okay, we arrived in May and I graduated from 8th grade at the end of May from Glenn Westlake Middle School. That’s where I met Liz. She introduced me to Tyler, who is only two years older than me. He was a sophomore at Glenbard East, the high school I would be only going to for five months. He informed me that he and these two other guys were in a band. I really got into the local scene at this point. And by the end of the summer I was in their band, Rat’s Ass. The other guys, Jason, who at the time was twenty-two and had graduated from some school called Willowbrook, and Steve, who at the time was twenty, had graduated from some school called York. They had only taken the young Tyler, sixteen, in because he was such an awesome drum player. Well, I was only fourteen when they took me on. But I impressed them. I had loads of talent, well that’s what they told me. And they didn’t even know who my parents were. They still think I made it all up.
Well, we had been together about a month when I got them to change the band’s name to Glen Westlake. They agreed that it sounded cool. So, thus Glen Westlake was born. We took off an ‘n’ to be different from the school. In December some record guy asked us if we wanted to join the label. We all jumped on it. It was with Capital. By January we were off in the studio recording and Tyler and I had tutors. The rest is history, we became big with our first record, Rat’s Posterior. It went to number one. That was back in 1996 or 1997. I’m not sure. These last couple years have been one big year to me. But, I’m 18 now. Maybe that will help.
But, here’s why I won’t let myself fall for Justin. My first boyfriend, Damond, was the worse man out there. He was totally unromantic, not charming, a total dork. I don’t even know why I went out with him in the first place. But, I did. I learned that boyfriends just cause trouble. I enjoy what happens before you and a guy are going out. Flirting. I hate going out, going out. You know what I mean. Also, I really never broke up with the guy. Sent him a note in the middle of some class of his telling him that I was leaving to city and never returning and never wanted to see him again. We were over. Well, I guess that goes for a brake up. So, I became a boyfriend hater. And seeing where I ended up after that I don’t have time and fame and relationships don’t work.
Now the reason, I tell you this is that song, ‘Rocky Relationships Have…’ ‘Made Me Crazy’ is basically my total feeling to the whole boyfriend thing. And the fact Justin is everything that Damond was not isn’t helping me any. But, back to the story.
I sat watching ‘N Sync dance. I was looking at Justin. I caught him wink at me. I winked back. He winked the other eye. I did the same. He raised his eyebrows at me. I didn’t the same. He gave me a big smile. I did the same.
“Stop flirting with Pretty Boy and get your ass down here Chameleon!” Steve yelled over the microphone.
Everyone heard this, might I add. So, I ran down to the stage and jumped on it.
“What song are we gonna do?” Tyler asked.
“How about ‘Flirt?’” Jason suggested.
I smiled and said, “Yes, why don’t we.”
I picked up my microphone and the guys began playing. I looked at Justin the whole time we were playing. That was till the third verse. JC was jumping around in circles. I don’t know if he was trying to get my attention or Justin’s. They were done dancing and the other guys had left. When JC began jumping at looking and me, Justin left. JC stayed and stopped jumping. He was acting really out of character. After this Jason made me stop and start over again from the beginning.
If you think really hard about it
It’s very hard on you
Mentally and socially
To have a friend who is a
Flirt.
She flirts with the guy you like
She flirts with Someone’s boyfriend
She makes people believe
That she and Blank are going out.
Mentally you were crushed
When she flirted endlessly
With your crush
He even fell for her
Only to be crushed by her
All because she’s a
Flirt.
She flirts with the guy you like
She flirts with Someone’s boyfriend
She makes people believe
That she and Blank are going out.
Socially you were outcasy
Because she flirted with
Someone’s boyfriend
Someone cast you out of her
Circle of friends because you had
A friend who was a
Flirt.
She flirts with the guy you like
She flirts with Someone’s boyfriend
She makes people believe
That she and Blank are going out.
You tried hard to put things right
When they say that she and Blank
Are going out.
But they are convinced
Because she’s a
Flirt.
She flirts with the guy you like
She flirts with Someone’s boyfriend
She makes people believe
That she and Blank are going out.
(Hildreth. ‘Flirt’)
I finished it. The crew all seemed happy and told us we were free to go. Jason and Steve walked off with their instruments. Tyler came up to me.
“I think you have a fan,” Tyler said, “and it’s not Justin.”
He pointed to JC who sat on the grass (it was an outside thingy). He was smiling at me. I became uneasy as I stood on stage. I ran my finger through my ash brown hair. Tyler giggled and walked away. I jumped off the stage and walked over to JC.
“You should changed the words of that song. Change all the ‘she’s’ to ‘he’s.’ Then I could sing it,” he joked.
“Huh?” I asked, knowing sort of what he was talking about.
“Well, if you didn’t notice, Justin’s a flirt.”
“I thought that was Joey?” I asked. I had read up on my ‘N Sync since that little thingy on TRL.
“Yes, but…” he trailed off. I looked up at him. He had dark hair, which was pretty much free of bleach, and great blue eyes. I looked at him over my yellow tinted glasses. He asked, “What?”
“Nothing,” I shook my head. What was happening?
JC looked me and smiled. “Well, I think I might be going. Think about what I said about that song.”
He walked off, leaving me very confused.
“Stop, Joshua,” Justin said coldly.
“Yes?” I asked, slowly turning around.
“What was that all about? You now I’m after her. She’s my age.”
“So. Where would you get the idea I liked her?” I asked.
“You were making a fool out of yourself to get her attention.”
“I was a jumping type of song,” I explained.
“JC doesn’t jump. JC sleeps. JC also will stay away from Rylee,” Justin said in a monotone.
“Justin, get a hold on life. You have no chance with Carter,” I said, walking into the bus further. Justin gabbed me. “What?”
“I do have a chance. I do,” Justin repeated.
“Rylee, is lost to you. She’s not your type. She’s no glamour girl. She’s not wholesome like Spears.”
Justin let go of my arm violently and sat back down. I walked into the bus and got into my bunk. I just had lied to Justin. I knew he had a chance with Rylee, but there was no relationship in it. I also had began jumping to get her attention. I wanted…um…. I liked her a bit. And… well, she and Curly would never get along. But, more, I liked her a lot. I had since I had seen their first video. It was called ‘Tired of All These Lies.’ It was a great video. She was great. She had so much energy, and she was a really cute blonde. She made that song about getting ride of a lying guy sound sweet. She had a take charge attitude. And she was just so sweet, even in real life. She was human, not like the girls that Justin generally liked. They always seemed, well, less than human. I don’t know why. Never mind. I really don’t know how to explain it.
That night we were the first to go on stage. We did our thing then ran off. The Battle of the Band also had local bands playing in between each of the major bands. Some band called Chester was on after us, and before Glen Westlake. Rylee was backstage in the makeup chair when I peeked in the makeup room. The lady was trying to get her short hair up in something. She had on orange warm up pants and gray Abercrombie T-shirt. She looked great.
“You ready to go wow that crowd. They’re tough,” I said.
She whirled around and looked at me. She smiled at me. I melted, but wasn’t about to let her see it. No way.
“Of course I am. I’m always ready to wow the world. That’s why I was put here,” she said simply.
I smiled and left the room. I heard Justin running. I slipped behind a corner. Justin walked into the makeup room. The makeup lady left them alone.
“How’s it going babe?” he asked.
“Um, fine Justin. I need to talk to you.”
“What?” Justin asked. By the way he asked I knew he was worried.
“Well, you’re cute and all, but it’ll never work out between us. Friends, yes. What you want, no.”
“But, you were ~”
Flirting, I know, I thought.
“Flirting, I know. But, it didn’t mean anything. That was till I realized, that it would not work out.”
“Why?”
“You know that song? The one you were in?”
It explains the way I feel at the moment, I thought.
“It explains the way I feel at the moment. I don’t… no, I know that kind of relationship will not work out between us.”
“How do you know this? Why can’t you give me a chance?”
Justin, I know it will not work out. My insides are telling me this, I thought.
“Justin, my gut is telling me that it will not work. I know now to trust it.”
Okay, I was close.
Silence came from the room.
“Please understand, I told you so I wouldn’t hurt you. I already did that once,” Rylee said.
I heard her get up and exit the room. Justin knocked something over and stormed out of the room. I made my way to the makeshift showers that were set up and showered. I then made my way back to the bus. Justin sat in there in a mad huff. I looked at him and he glared me down. I think he thought that if he gave me an evil look it would kill me. Chris walked in behind me.
“Ouch! I’ve been shot! JC save me! Justin killed me with his evil eye!” Chris wailed.
Chris fell to the ground and died. I just looked at him. Justin went on glaring at me.
“God, I wouldn’t want you two around if I really got shot. You wouldn’t help me,” Chris said, getting up.
“Sorry, but I’m too mad at JC,” Justin said madly.
“Just because Rylee turned you down doesn’t mean she loves JC,” Lance said walking in. “She asked me what she should do about you. She didn’t want to hurt you. She thought you were old enough to understand.”
“Fine, I’ll just kill you,” Justin spit out at Lance and stormed off to the back of the bus.
She grabbed my hand and pulled me into the lobby. It was a very plain lobby, from what I had gotten use to being in. She pulled me along till we found the guy who be giving us rooms for this place. He raised his eyebrows at the sight of Rylee and me.
“They didn’t mention any girls, but, hey, none of my business. You’re the last one,” he said, looking at me. He handed me the list and left. Rylee giggled as she pointed at the list.
“Room 312: Justin Timberlake and Chris Kirkpatrick. Room 313: Lance Bass and Joey Fatone. Room 321: Jason Gibbons and Steve Harrison. Room 322: Tyler Sazzins and Travis Barker. Room 323: Mark Hoppus and Tom Delonge. Room 424: Carter Rylee and JC Chasez,” I read.
“They thought I was a guy,” Rylee giggled.
“Maybe we should go get another room for you, or I can ~”
“No, that’s okay. We’re adults here. I’ve done it before,” she said, gabbing my hand and dragging me off to the elevators.
We went up to our room and she opened the door with that stupid card they give you instead of a key. It looked like a typical room. There were two full beds, a dresser with a TV and a fridge, a desk, and this closet looking thing. Rylee fell onto the bed in front of the TV and picked up the remote. She began to flip through the channels. I walked over to the window and opened the curtains. The view didn’t look very pleasing. It was a busy street that had houses along it. We were far enough away from the street the cars didn’t sound all that loud. I turned back around and faced Rylee.
“What are you doing?” I asked, walking over the other bed and sitting down.
I watched her closely. Her eyes never left the TV. “Flipping channels.”
“I can see that. Why might you be doing that?”
“I always do this. To find my favorite channels.”
I shook my head. One of her cute little habits. She was so adorable sitting there flipping through the channels. I fell back onto the bed and looked at the ceiling. It was one of those stucco ceilings. It had really neat images in it as I looked at it. I heard Rylee flip off the TV and fall back onto the bed behind her. I moved my head to look at her. She looked troubled. She took a deep breath then began talking.
“JC I have to talk to you. Well, more like ask you a question,” she went on before I could say ‘yes.’ “Now, when I went out with my first boyfriend, yes I only had one boyfriend in my whole life, I had this gut feeling that it would not work. He bugged me. There were things in his personality that bugged the heck out of me. How he just assumed things about me, how he didn’t bother to think for himself, and how he couldn’t explain himself.
“With Justin I had sort of the same thing. I, for one, am in no mood for a boyfriend. What good are they? Justin is a great guy, cute, nice, charming, but he’s too charming, too cute, and too nice. I have this gut feeling it would never work. That’s why I had to tell him, I felt like I was leading him on if I didn’t tell him. So I told him, and he’s not taking it all that well.”
“He’ll get over it,” I said.
“I hope so. He’s a really great guy to hang out with, but I would never want to kiss him. But, what I wanted to talk to you about is this: I like another guy. However, I have this different feeling. I don’t know how to explain it but it’s not like the other times. I know it will work. I know we are like meant to be, but at the same time, I don’t know what to do. I never felt like this before. I want to do something about it, but I’m afraid of rejection.”
I turned my head at her. She was being so up front. However, she was turning a nice shade of red over on the bed. Her eyes were glued to the ceiling. I turned my head back to the ceiling.
“JC, what should I do?”
All my muscles tensed up. I looked the ceiling. Part of me told me to tell her she should do nothing, but that might make her sad and unhappy. I didn’t want that. So I told her what I would have told her if she had been one of the guys.
“Go for it girl.”
“You mean it, JC? I should!”
“Follow your heart,” I said, trying to sound enthusiastic.
I heard her sit up. I made myself look at her face. I knew looking at it would make me happy. It did. She had a smile brimming from ear to ear. The blush had turned pink. Her eyes were sparkling. She looked a whole lot better.
“Thanks JC. I’m gonna go see what the others are going to be doing,” Rylee said, jumping off the bed. I sat up. “You do want to stay in, don’t you?”
How did she know that? I asked myself. “Yeah.”
Rylee smiled in triumph and left the room. I heard the door slam and fell down on to the bed. I put my hands on my face and let out a sigh of frustration. I knew I had done the right thing, but I didn’t know if I was the guy or it was, well, Lance, Joey, Chris, Mark, Tom, Steve, Tyler, Travis, or even Jason. I knew it was not Justin though. I ran my fingers through my hair and looked at the ceiling.
“Being Anti-Social!” Chris called back to the others.
“Why would he want to miss a bunch of hot girls in tight tops?” Mark asked.
I shook my head and got back on the elevator. I took it back up and went back into the room. JC was still on the bed with his hands over his face. I walked over to the bed and sat down hard. This caused the bed to bounce a lot, thus causing JC to scream. He shot up.
“Oh, god, I didn’t hear you come in,” he said.
“Did I wake you?” I asked, hoping he hadn’t been sleeping.
“No, I wasn’t sleeping. Just thinking. What are the other guys doing?” he asked, getting up off the bed.
“Going to Hooter’s. I figured you really wouldn’t want to go there. I certainly didn’t,” I said, as I bounced on the bed on my knees.
“Oh, what are you going to do?” JC asked, getting off the bed.
“Oh, I’m going to Mr. Z’s if it’s still there,” I said, getting off the bed.
“Who’s Mr. Z?” JC asked, giving me a look. He looked worried.
I raised my eyebrows as I asked, “Do you want to see? You could come with me.”
JC gave me another look. “Do I want to come?”
“Yeah,” I said. “I called for a car earlier.”
I pulled him out the door after me. He and I went down the elevator. I stood in the doorway in the lobby. JC was bugging me how people would recognize him and me. I had that solved. I just had to remember where they said that car was parked. I soon spotted it. It was a green Jeep Cherokee Larado. I grabbed JC’s hand and ran over to it. After we go into the car I handed him a hat and some clear glasses. I already had mine on and my hat. He put them on and we were off to Mr. Z’s.
I turned on to Main Street and began the journey down memory lane.
“There’s Glenn Westlake,” I said, pointing at the new looking school behind the older looking one.
“I don’t see the guys,” JC said.
I took a quick glance at him. “The new looking school. That’s where we got out name from. Just changed the spelling of Glenn.”
“I see.”
“I only went there about a month before I graduated from 8th grade. Tyler went there for all three years,” I said as I drove across Roosevelt road. “Soon we’ll go past Glenbard East.”
“Oh, we’ll be playing there on Friday,” JC said.
“Huh?” I said as I stopped at the last stoplight before the school.
“Yep. Since we’re in the hometown of Glen Westlake we’re playing at all your high schools. First for Jason, Willowbrook in the afternoon on Thursday and next Tuesday night, for Steve York on Saturday night and Monday afternoon, and for you and Tyler Glenbard on Friday night and then on Wednesday afternoon.”
“So, instead of one big show, there’ll be many little shows?” I asked, sort of pissed.
You see, I didn’t want to do all these concerts in the stuffy schools. It was the middle of July. Do you know who hot those schools will be?
“Yep. But they only planned this for you. You all are from the same area somewhat,” JC said, as I stop at the light in front of East.
“That’s it,” I said.
“That’s East?”
“Yep. We’ll be at Mr. Z’s shortly,” I said, peeling out from the light.
I drove down to Mr. Z’s and pulled into the parking lot. I turned off the car and looked over at JC. He looked bewildered.
“What?” I asked, knowing what ‘what’ was.
“I thought Mr. Z was a person you were going to see. Not a grocery store,” JC said.
“Yep. Locally owned, small town store. But Mr. Z is a person. I just don’t know him,” I said. “Come on, Jacey.”
JC got out of the car and followed me into the store. They had redone the place since I had moved. However, it was still pretty much the same. We bought some bread and lunchmeat, cookie, crackers, milk, juice, and some ice cream. No one found us out and we were treated like normal people. JC helped load the car and put the cart back. I hopped into the car and waited for him.
“That was pretty cool. Doing normal people stuff,” he said with that great smile of his.
“I know,” I smiled, tucking some hair behind my ears. I started the car and we went back to the hotel.
“Rylee, I don’t think it’ll all fit in this thing,” JC called as I carried the last bag into the room.
I walked up and shook my head. I took the ice cream out the fridge and put it in the freezer part. Now everything fit.
“I can work the wonders of being a woman,” I said.
“Oh, really?” JC asked, giving me a look.
“Yeah,” I said, standing on my tip toes so I came up to his face somewhat.
“I don’t think so, Rye,” he said, tickling me.
I crunched over with laughter. Since I was standing on my tiptoes, I fell into him. He just went on tickling me till I was out of breath. By now we both were on the floor. I fell on my back and let my arm fall out to the side. JC was still sitting up. He was looking at me with this look. I don’t know how to explain it. His gorgeous eyes were just sparkling more than ever.
“Is that an invitation for more?” JC asked with a grin.
“NO!” I squealed, tossing my arms over my stomach.
“That’s too bad. I guess we’ll just have to eat,” JC said, standing up. He held out his hand for me. I looked at him then put out my hand. He took it and pulled me up. “So what are you gonna make me?”
He went over to the table and sat down.
“What!?”
“Yeah, so you can work you wonders of being a woman,” he said.
I looked at him and pulled out some lunchmeat and milk from the fridge, then pulled the bread out. I walked over to the table and set it all down. JC looked at it and then looked at me.
“No cups?”
I whacked him playfully in the head with the bread. He wiggled his fingers at me and I got the hint. I went into the bathroom and got him and me cups. You know, I liked fixing that sorry excuse for a dinner. It was fun.
JC sat up with a start and looked bewildered. At least he didn’t scream.
“Rylee Carter! Too long, too long!” Aurora said, hugging me.
She came into the room and looked at JC on the bed, looking disheveled. She then winked at me.
“NO, no, no. There as a mix up and the guy who put together the rooms thought I was a guy,” I explained.
“Exactly what she said. I’m JC,” JC said, extending his hand.
“Aurora Starr. No relation to Ringo Starr,” she said, shaking his hand.
“Nice to meet you,” JC laughed.
Aurora set herself down on my bed. She looked over at me. “So what have you been up to?”
“Glen Westlake,” I said.
“Oh, Phantom of the Opera,” Aurora said. “What about you JC?”
JC looked at me then at Aurora. He then said, “’N Sync.”
“Ah, one of them are you,” Aurora said.
“How’d you find me?” I asked. “What are you doing in town?”
“Oh, well I’m doing a movie that’s filming here. I have the next two weeks off. Harry found out and asked me to guest host the show. I’m giving that Wannabe VJ a brake,” Aurora said, referring to Carmon Pets who had been hosting the show.
“That’s pretty cool. How do you know Rylee?” JC asked.
“When she was a little kid. I was about ten, she was five. Her parents were in this play I was doing and I looked after her a lot. I ended up here because I wanted a normal teenager life for a while. My parents live here in Villa Park. I went to school with Jason. He was a senior while I was a sophomore. Also my friend Jackie knew him.
“But I didn’t even know Rylee had been going to school down here. Well, by the time Rylee came along I had graduated and was back in New York doing my Tony winning part, but I kept in touch with Jackie. She said Jason had a band with this great lead singer named RJ Something. She gave me a picture of the bands first photo shoot, but it never hit me that blonde was the ash brown haired girl who was Rylee Carter.”
“Master of Disguise,” I said, shooting JC a smile. “Well, how’d you find us?”
“Harry. He asked me to host, remember? He took me out to dinner so we could get everything straight. That’s when I saw Jason. He came over ~”
“Wait, you were at Hooter’s?” JC asked. “Harry took you to Hooter’s?”
“No, TGIF Friday’s. The guys couldn’t find Hooter’s or something along those lines, so they stopped at TGIF Friday’s. We all ate dinner together.”
“What did you think of the guys?” I asked.
“The Blink Boys are a little perverted, but loveable. Lance is way to quiet and shy for me, Joey is the biggest flirt out there, and Justin hates JC at the moment and was pissed he was spending the night at the hotel with Rylee, I could totally feel that, and Chris is just the cutest guy out there.”
“You think Chris is cute? Do you like him?” I asked, hopping on the bed.
“Well, you could say that,” Aurora said, getting off the bed and going over to JC’s bed.
“I could talk to him,” JC said, looking at her out the corner of his eye.
Aurora turned a light shade of red and looked at JC. She then looked over at me.
“You could do that,” she simply said.
JC nodded his head and got up and left the room. Aurora looked over at me. She had this big old smile on her face. I knew what she was thinking. She knew that I liked JC.
“What?” I asked.
“I know. I’m five years older than you are. I know all,” Aurora said. “Rylee’s in love with JC but won’t do anything because of her past.”
I tossed a pillow at her perfect face. However, she caught it before it could do any damage to her perfect hair.
“Well, what are you going to do about it?” I asked, hoping she’d like hook us up.
“Nothing, Rye. You are on your own. I gotta go. Need to be up bright an early to see what I’ll be doing. My parents are listed in the phone book if any one wants my number,” Aurora said, leaving me all alone.
I fell back on to my bed. How Aurora knew about Damond was beyond me. But then she was Aurora. She knew me better than I knew myself at times. People are told their mother’s know them better, but I don’t think mine dose. Come to think about it, I don’t even know where my mother is at this moment.
I rolled over and picked up the phone and paged her. I put the phone back down as there was a knock on the door. I walked over and opened it. Justin stood there. He looked confused.
“Where is JC?”
I ran my fingers through my hair. “He’s down talking to Chris.”
Justin looked at me before he said, “Why are you in JC’s room?”
“It’s my room.”
“SO you dumped me for JC?” he accused.
“Justin, I didn’t dump you. I never picked you up,” I said, trying to joke. It didn’t work.
“But you picked JC up? God, Rylee.”
“What? I didn’t pick JC up either. The guys who set up the room thought I was a guy. There would have been too much hassle if I wanted my own room,” I tried to explain.
Justin just glared at me. He was now mad at both JC and I. I hate when people are mad at me. It makes me feel real bad. It makes me hate myself. Justin just stalked off down the hallway.
“Justin!” I called. “Justin! I’m sorry!”
I don’t think he heard me. I shut the door and sunk to the floor. Why couldn’t anything go right with me and guys other than my guys in the band?
Chapter Seven
“So you think Aurora’s hot?” I asked, changing the subject.
“Yeah. You would agree if you had been there.”
“I saw her.”
Chris looked at me and said in disbelief, “No.”
“Yeah. She came to see Rylee. I was in with her. So I met her and she said something you might like,” I said.
Chris looked really interested then laughed.
“What?” I asked.
“What would she say?” Chris asked, trying to get a hold of himself.
“She likes you and would like to go out with you.”
Chris stopped laughing and grabbed me.
“You are not joking with me, right?” he asked, jerking me back and forth.
“No, I’m the serious one, remember?”
Chris let go of me and began jumping on the bed for joy.
“Aurora and Chris sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G! First comes love then comes marriage then comes a baby in a baby carriage!” Chris sung over and over.
That’s how I left him. Jumping for joy because Aurora Starr liked him. I went back up to my room. I stuck that stupid card in the door thing and tried to open the door. It wouldn’t open all the way. Something was in the way. Afraid, I managed to slip through the spot that was allowed. Once in the room I looked down. At the bottom of the door, between the open door and wall way Rylee. I shut the door and she fell over.
“Rylee,” I said, worried. “What’s wrong?”
“Justin.”
I bent down and looked at her.
“What did he do?” I asked.
“He said that I dumped him for you. I never dumped him for anyone,” she said softly.
“He just not used to not getting what he wants,” I spit out, anger building with every word.
I stood up and went to open the door. He would pay for making Rylee feel bad.
“JC, what are you going to do?” Rylee asked, looking up at me.
“I’m going to wack some scene to that bleached head of his,” I said and reached for the knob.
“Nooooo!” Rylee wailed.
She flung herself out and grabbed my ankle. In the process her glasses flew off and landed on the floor. I was very surprised my her grip.
“I don’t want to make things worse. I’ll talk to him tomorrow after I have some sleep. That’s all I need,” she said, resting her head on the ground.
I smiled in spite of my anger. “Rye, would you mind letting go of my ankle?”
I got no response. I knelt down to find that she had fallen asleep. It was three in the morning. I pried her hands off my ankle and picked her up and put her in her bed. I tucked her in and then got into mine. I turned of the light and tired to go to sleep.
The next morning I awoke to the sound of singing while the shower was going. I pulled myself out of bed and listened to the singing.
“He’s everything you want/ He’s everything you need/ He’s everything inside of you that you wish you could be/ He says all the right things at exactly the right time/ But he means nothing to you and you don’t know why,” Rylee sung over and over till she suddenly switched the lyrics to, “ I am everything he wants/ I am everything he needs/ I am everything inside of him he wishes to be/ I say all the right things at exactly the right time/ But I mean nothing to him and I don’t know why. I know that’s not the way the song goes/ But I don’t really care and I don’t know why!”
The shower had stopped and the blower dyer started. I still could hear her singing that Vertical Horizon song “Everything You Want.” She was singing the chorus over and over but with different words than were really in it. I walked over to the bathroom. The door was open and she was sitting in there fully dressed finishing up her hair.
“What are you doing?”
“I am blow drying my hair/ I am making it dry,” she sung, “And now it is dry and it’s everything I want.”
She got up and left the bathroom. I walked in and started the shower. I could hear her now singing a different song.
“ My loneliness is just killing me/ and I, I must confess I really don’t mind dying my hair/ so give me some color, give it to me right this moment! Give it to me at this moment!/ Oh, baby, baby how was I suppose to know/ That I look dumb as a blonde?/ Oh, pretty baby, you showed me this all right now, yeah./She me how you want it to be/ Should I be brown, black or red?/ ‘cause I need to know, oh because/ I hate looking like this freak I am/ and I , I must confess that JC is one hot guy/ And I loose my mind around him/ so give me a sign, dude/ hit me baby just do it now/ Oh, baby, JC is still in that shower making himself pretty baby, baby I’m leaving to find some breakfast/ I don’t was cereal./ SO JC I’M LEAVEING RIGHT NOW!” she finished, as she slammed the door.
I smiled to myself as I began to sing “…Baby One More Time.”
Chapter Eight
JC Chasez
I opened the front door of the hotel. Everyone was standing out there in the blazing sun of Lombard. Justin was leaning again a gray van giving anyone who looked at him his evil eye. Chris was bouncing around while Tom and Jason made fun of him by imitating him. Joey and Mark were in a real deep conversation, which was really strange when I heard what it was about. It was about Blink 182’s video “All the Small Things.” Lance and Tyler were looking from me to Justin while talking about most likely what was going on in this triangle that had been created. Rylee was sitting in the front seat of the gray van, looking at me with this look. It was like she was thinking whether I was worth the trouble. Steve was talking on his cell phone while Travis stood next to Rylee talking to her, but she wasn’t listening.
“Okay! JC is here, which means we’re all here. Chris stopped jumping long enough to get into the van. No money for limos, only one van,” Harry yelled as we all tried to get into this 13 person van.
Chris, Tom, Jason, and Travis were in the very back, while Justin, Joey and Mark were in the third row. Lance, Tyler, and Steve, were in the second row. Rylee climbed back and sat in the first row with me so Harry could sit in the front and tell the driver to go. She turned around right away and shouted at Justin, “I am only sitting here because Harry has to sit in front. Do you have a problem with this?”
I could hear everybody look at Justin. I even turned around just to glare at him. He was acting like such a baby.
“Yes, Rylee,” Justin shot back.
“Fine, wouldn’t want to upset the Pretty Boy again.”
Rylee turned around and the driver pulled out on to the street and drove us off for our morning sound check before the afternoon concert at Willowbrook.
Rylee bolted out of the car when we reached Willowbrook. She flung the doors opened the school and ran in. Everyone else got out of the van slowly and looked at the massive school with the painted rock in front of us.
“Jay, why is that rock painted?” Mark asked, walking over to it.
“School tradition. Beats me,” Jason said, as the truck with all their instruments pulled up.
“We called them the Rock school,” Tyler announced, walking up to the doors. “You know I’ve never been in this school?”
We all followed Tyler into the school. It was pretty dark in the foyer area. That’s what Jason told us they called it. There were pictures of people all over the walls. There were kids in the gym practicing basketball. Jason walked around this circle wall to a door and opened it up. In there was a good-sized auditorium. Rylee was standing on the stage with Aurora who shot Justin this look when he walked in. Rylee shook her head and walked off stage. Aurora watched her then turned to all us entering guys.
“Hey, Chris,” she said with a flirtatious smile. “Looking hot today.”
“Well, that would be because it is about 100 degrees outside,” Chris said, jumping up onto the stage.
“Okay, I don’t know what I’m going to do with you guys,” Harry said, entering. “You stuff all just got here and we have to set it up. I’ll give you an hour. But don’t leave the grounds. Aurora, do you get what you are doing?”
Aurora nodded.
“Good. Now where is Sig Transit Gloria? They are suppose to be here,” Harry said, walking off.
“Chris, do you want a tour of the theater department?” Aurora asked, taking Chris’s hand and leading him offstage.
“So what are we all going to do to kill an hour?” Travis asked, as the crew began to lug in the stuff.
“Raid the school?” Jason asked.
“Huh?” Tyler asked.
“Well, let’s roam the school,” Jason said, jumping off the stage. “Then raid.”
Steve, Mark, Tom, Travis, Joey, and Lance followed Jason out the door. Justin sat down on the stage then slipped off. He looked at me, then went running after the other guys. I turned to see Tyler standing behind me.
“You know you’ll have to talk to Justin someday,” Tyler said. “You can’t put Rylee through hell forever.”
I sunk to the ground. “I know, I know. I tried to talk to that boy, but that bleach must have gotten to his brain. He doesn’t seem to want to listen to anything anyone has to say.”
“I know. But, someone had to do something, or Justin will ruin everything that you and Rylee have coming,” Tyler said.
I turned around and looked at him.
“You heard me. If everything goes as Rylee would like, she’ll no longer be a boy hater, but Justin can make her a boyfriend hater for life,” Tyler said, jumping off the stage, leaving me with the crew as they brought in all the boxes.
I pulled myself up and walked to the backstage of the area where there were men running left and right getting everything ready. I walked back to the area marked girl and boy’s dressing room. The door to the guy’s room was open. I could hear Chris and Aurora talking in between kisses from what it sounded like.
“What…do… you… mean Justin… has a plan?” Aurora asked.
“He’s going to tear them apart as best he can,” Chris said.
“So, if he can’t have her no one can?”
“Huh,” Chris mumbled.
“I’ll fix that,” Aurora said.
There was no more talking from the room so I left and walked down to the girl’s dressing room and peeked in. Rylee was sitting on the floor looking at the wall.
“Rye?” I asked.
She turned herself around and looked at me over her purple tinted glasses. She raised her eyebrows as she looked at me. “What?”
“Nothing, I was just wondering what you were doing?”
“Oh, just thinking how I have the worst luck with men. That’s all,” she said, getting up.
“Everything will work out,” I said.
“No, I don’t think so,” she said looking at the ground.
I walked up to her and lifted up her chin and looked her in the eyes. She looked up at me totally unsure of what might happen. I smiled at this. The girl who acted all sure and confident to the world was here, in front of me, totally unsure.
“I know it will work out,” I repeated, and the look in her eyes changed. It was like in the movies when the characters find each other and realize that one another are all they ever wanted. I wanted to kiss her so much, but at the same time I didn’t want to scare her and I still didn’t know if she liked me in that way.
“Yeah, it’ll work out because we’ll have one another,” she said.
She reached up and took my face in both her hands and lowered my face till it was inches away from hers. She then lowered it more till our lips touched and we kissed. Chills were sent through my body that when we broke apart I was breathless. She looked at me then wrapped her arms around me. I wrapped my arms around her too.
Chapter Nine
“Yep.”
“That boy has liked you for forever,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I’ve been on tour with them before. Every afternoon he would watch TRL if your video was on. And on this trip I could tell he really cared about you a lot. Patient man, that JC is,” she said, finishing up my raisin colored lipstick.
“Yeah, I’m a blind woman,” I said, smacking my lips together.
“Honey, I think he would have waited till the world ended for you,” she said with a smile.
I smiled too, but then said, “But now what to do about Justin.”
“He’s a pill. Find him a new girl, maybe?” she suggested, as she finished up my eye makeup.
I took my blue tinted glasses from her as I said, “Maybe.”
“Okay, you’re done,” she said.
I slipped out of my chair and walked to the area backstage where I could watch the local band perform. I cannot remember which on they were but they were good. Any ways, I stood back there and watched them. After they were done Blink went on. I love watching them live. They rock. As I watched them I felt these arms about me. I looked up to see JC over me.
“You out of that little world of trouble?” JC asked.
“I don’t know? Is Justin still blonde?” I asked.
“He’s trying,” he said. “We’ll figure out what to do with him.”
“He’ll be worse to deal with if he sees us like this,” I said, sadly mind you.
“I know, I know,” JC said, kissing the top of my head. He then let go of me and stood next to me. He did it just in time because Justin walked up with Tyler.
“JC, the makeup lady wants you,” Justin said.
“Okay,” JC said and left.
We stood in silence for a moment till Tyler said, “Chameleon, let’s go get ready to go on. Sig Transit Gloria will be done soon.”
I hadn’t even realized that Blink was done. I smiled sheepishly at Justin and followed Tyler off to the spot where my mic was. I picked up my mic and flipped it on as Sig ran off the stage. The guys and I ran out on to the stage. It was smaller than what I used to, but maybe that meant I wouldn’t get as tired.
“Y’all want to hear an old one?” I asked.
They all screamed YES!
“Ty, we’re doing ‘Tired of all These Lies.’”
Tyler nodded and started out with the drum solo at the beginning. I don’t know why I wanted to do that song. It’s not like I had any lying guy in my life. I just wanted to sing it.
Tired of all these lies
That’s all you seem to do,( yeah, yeah)
I’m tired of all these lies, (yeah, yeah)
I think I’ll be leaving you behind
Oh, yeah, I’m tired of all these lies
I’ve worked hard for my life
Those tiny little lies, just seem to ruin it
Tired of all these lies,( yeah, yeah)
That’s all you seem to do, (yeah, yeah)
I’m tired of all these lies, (yeah, yeah)
I think I’ll be saying goodbye
Oh, yeah, I’m leaving you behind
I've packed my bags
I’m out the door
Hold up, you say you’re sorry, oh, no
Tired of all these lies,( yeah, yeah)
That’s all you seem to do, (yeah, yeah)
I think I’ve had enough to leave, (yeah, yeah)
We’ll see each other in the end
Tired of all these lies.
(Hildreth. Tired of all These Lives)
I finished the song and they all cheered. We did our set of three songs then ran off the stage. The next local band went on. I grabbed my water bottle and began to drink. That’s when I felt a light kiss on my neck. I almost choked on my water as I turned to see JC.
“Sorry,” he said, laughing at me.
“No you’re not. You’re laughing,” I said, whipping off my mouth.
“You’re just cute, that’s all,” JC, giving me a quick kiss on the head before he went off to get all hooked up with a mic. I smiled and headed to the wing to watch him before I went off to the girl’s locker room to shower before going back to the hotel. All I wanted to do was sleep. Being up till three in the morning doesn’t agree with me all that well. Across the wing on the other side of the stage stood Justin. He was giving me this really sad look. However, I knew what he was doing. He was trying to make me feel bad. I looked at him and then pretended to walk away. I hid behind a curtain till ‘N Sync went on. I peeked out and watched JC since he watched me. When they were done, I ran off before Justin could run back and see if I was still there.
I walked into the locker room and back to the showers. I took my shower alone, all by myself in a shower that as most likely never used during the school year. After that I put my clothes that I had worn to the school and walked out into the hallway. Instead of going back to the foyer I walked down the hallway down to the classroom area. I walked through the school, loving how colorful the hallways were. I made my way back to the foyer after awhile to find the school empty of all fans. Only all the guys and Aurora remained. She was attached to Chris.
“Okay, sorry to tell y’all this, but back to the hotel,” Harry said, waving us to the doors. The security guards escorted us all out to these limos. I was a bit confused, seeing Harry had said there was no money for limos. Oh, well. Who cares? I was shoved into a limo that took off as soon as the door was shut.
“God, that’s stupid. I’m the only one here,” I said, looking back at the crowd of people and the line of limos.
“You’re not the only one here,” Justin said.
I flipped myself around to see Justin sitting across from me. I sunk down into my seat.
"What?" he asked. "Not happy to see me?"
"Well, no, but yes."
"You wanted JC to be here, so you could be alone, huh," Justin suggested.
"I didn't say that," I said, wanting to get out of the car. I may act like I know how to handle these kind of things, but I don't. Really.
"So you don't like JC?" Justin asked, leaning forward.
"I didn't say that either," I said.
Justin sat back to look at me. The way he was looking at me made me uncomfortable. I began to squirm in my seat. Luckily, we reached the hotel. I bolted out of the limo and ran into the elevator. I hit the 'four' button and the doors closed . I ran out of the elevator and ran down to my room. I threw open the door to see Jason standing there. He had his hands on his hips. He was going to go into father mode. I was in trouble.
"Natasha Rylee Jane Carter, what on Earth are you thinking? Sharing a room with JC?" Jason asked with a stern tone.
"I didn't want to cause a fuss?" I asked, knowing I wasn't going to be in the room long.
"Well, I moved all your stuff down to my room with Steve. I'll be staying here," Jason said, pushing me out the door.
"Where's JC?" I asked.
"I don't know. I'll tell him you moved because of me. What would your mother say if she found out?" Jason asked. "She trusted us with you."
"Jay, I'm eighteen," I said.
"Don't mean a thing," Jason said, putting me in the elevator.
I went down to the third floor and started down to Steve's room. That's when I decided to go talk to Justin. I would have to do it some day.
Chapter
Ten
Rylee Carter
I walked into the room. Chris had let me in and I saw Aurora sitting in a chair, looking at me. She wasn't too pleased.
"Um, have you seen Justin?" I asked.
"Nope, haven't seen Bounce since the concert,"
Chris said, bouncing down on the bed. Aurora bounced down next to him.
I watched her wrap her arms around
Chris and kiss him on the neck. Chris went red.
"Okay, then I'll go," I said, turning to go out the door.
That's when the door happened to fly open. Justin stood in the doorway. He got a big old smile on his face and looked at Chris and Aurora.
"There you are, baby," Justin said, drawing me into his arms. "I've been looking for you."
He held me so tight that I couldn't turn around and face Chris and Aurora.
"She's been looking for you," Chris said. I could tell by his tone that he wasn't sure what the hell was going on. I didn't know either.
"Well, I found her. Let's go, babe. Leave the love bird alone," Justin said, kissing me on the head and leading me out.
After he had shut the door he still didn't let go of me. He did let me turn around so I could see where I was going.
"Justin, what the hell are you doing?" I hissed.
He didn't answer me. He led me to the elevator and we got in. I pulled myself loose and pinned him to the wall. It wasn't that hard. I think he let me do it.
"Who the hell do you think you are?!" I yelled. "Just because you are Justin Timberlake means you get everything you want! People like you and Damond make me hate the male race! Why can't you just give it up! I do not like you! I wanted to be your friend but I am having second thoughts about that!"
The elevator doors opened. I let go of him and got out. He just looked at me. I glared him down then turned swiftly and stalked down the hallway. I heard the doors ding shut. I stormed over to the chairs in the lobby and sat down.
Who did he think he was? God, he was making me
hate myself. I could never get involved with JC now. I would tear him and
Justin apart and maybe 'N Sync.
Wouldn't that be a headline. RYLEE CARTER OF
GLEN WESTLAKE TEARING UP 'N SYNC. Yeah, that's all they needed. I banged
my head on the table in front of me.
"Rye, Rye what are you doing?"
I looked up to see Mark standing above me. He sat down in the chair next to me.
"I know Justin is causing trouble, just don't pay attention to him. He's a spoiled little brat," Mark said, putting a hand on my shoulder.
"Yeah, but this all might end 'N Sync. I need some help," I mumbled.
"Help! I need somebody/ Help! Not just anybody/ Help! you know I need someone, Help!," Mark sung, trying to cheer me up.
I played along.
"When I was younger so much younger than today/ I never needed anybody's help in any way/ and now those days are gone/ and I'm not so self assured/ Now I find/ I've changed my mind and opened up the doors" I sung. Mark sang backup for me as I sung all this and I went on with Mark backing me up, "Help me if can/ I'm feeling down/ and I do appreciate you being round/ help me get my feet back on the ground. Won't you please, please help me!/ And now my life has changed in oh so many ways/ my independence seemed to vanish in the haze/ But every now and then I feel so insure/ I know that I just need you light/I've never done before/ Help me if you can I'm feeling down/ and I do appreciate you begin round/ help me get my feet back on the ground/ Won't you please, please. Help me, help me," I finished.
Mark smiled at me and patted me on the head. Everyone was staring at me. After Mark left they stopped and went about their ways. I looked around I had to get out. I put my hand in my pocket and felt the keys to the Jeep. I ran out of the hotel.
Chapter Eleven
JC Chasez
Jason had just explained everything to me. I understood
completely. That's what I told her in the beginning. I just let her talk
me into it, but hey, it was fun. After Jason had finished telling me all
this I went down for a nap. I didn't get much sleep last night. Jason flipped
on the TV to watch The Simpson's. He had turned the TV so he could sit
at the table by the window and eat.
"Where's Rylee think she's going?" Jason suddenly
said.
I sat up and walked over to the window. Rylee went running over to the Jeep, tore the door open and jumped in. She then went taering out of the parking lot. It looked like she would run over anything that got in her way.
"Wonder what got her so mad?" Jason asked.
I knew. Only one person could. Justin.
"Justin," I said in a low mad tone. I violently walked away from the window and started for the door.
"JC, man, stop!" Jason said, jumping in front of me. "I'll go find out what happened. I don't want you bashing little Justin's brains in. That would not be pretty. You're too angry to deal with this. So, just sit here and watch The Simpson's. I'll be back."
I let Jason sit me down in the chair before I grabbed his wrist and said, "You better pray Rylee doesn't get herself killed."
"I know," Jason said, leaving the room.
I sat back and blankly looked at the TV. Jason came back just as the show he told me to watch was ending. I stood up as he entered the room.
"Sit," he ordered.
I sat.
"JC, I think Justin really did it this time," Jason told me when he finished his story.
"When did Mark see her?" I asked, looking back out the window.
"Around the time we saw her leave in that huff," Jason said, sitting down at the other chair at the table.
"God, why can't Justin get the picture?" I asked, anger building with every word.
"JC, what I want to know is why he picked now to do it? And why you two have to put Rylee though hell," Jason asked in a low tone.
I looked up at him. The look he was giving me scared the shit out of me. I knew the guys were all like family to Rylee. And if Rylee had a problem, they were all going to help solve it no matter what.
"I didn't mean for it to happen this way. You see I had this crush on Rylee since I first laid eyes on her in your first video. And that's how it pretty much stayed till this Battle of the Bands. I really got to know her and care about her. And what Justin is doing is putting me through as much hell as it is Rylee is. Maybe not as much, but she hurts, I hurt," I tried to explain.
Jason went looking at me with that look, then looked back out the window. "I know, man. I really can tell, even when we met you guys on TRL for the first time. I could just see it. I didn't see that with Justin. He needs a different type of girl than Rylee."
Jason was silent for a time. He just looked out the window as the sun began to get lower in the sky. I got up and out of the chair and walked over to my bed and fell on to it. I heard Jason turn back around.
"But, there's still no reason to put her though
hell. Did you ever think that the decision Rye makes may make or brake
'N Sync?" Jason asked.
I hadn't even thought about that. But, Justin
wouldn't be that stupid to put his career in jeopardy, or could he?
"The thought had even crossed my mind," I told Jason, as I sat back up. I looked at Jason and saw the pain in his eyes. He sat heavily back down in the chair and put his head in his hands.
"The tour will be the end of one of our groups if this love triangle doesn't end. Or it'll be off to the nunnery for Rylee," Jason said.
"Yeah," I agreed, knowing the way that Rylee felt about the male race. "What did that boyfriend put her though in the first place?"
"Oh, he didn't really care that much about her. He sort of used her. Just called her up five minutes before he was about to go someplace and spring stuff on her, then get all-mad if she already had plans. I hated the guy. He showed that dork face of his at one of our rehearsals. He was all-mad because Rylee couldn't leave and go bowling with him so he could show her off. He also never really told her anything. She hated the guy but couldn't break up with him for some strange reason."
"That's when you guys got the record deal then she just sort of left him?" I asked.
"Yeah, she sent him a note. I don't know what happened, but she hated all guys who showed interest in her. She thought boyfriends just caused trouble," Jason said, that low tone filling his voice.
"I'm really sorry, Jason. I didn't mean for this all to happen," I said, rubbing my face with my hands.
"I know. It's that little punk Justin. Sorry to speak of your friend in such a matter, but he really is," Jason said.
After this I got up and left the room. I didn't know what to do. I walked to Lance's room and knocked on the door. Lance opened it and looked at me, then stepped outside quickly.
"You don't want to be here," Lance said in a whisper.
I threw my arms up in the air. "I'm wanted almost nowhere."
"Well, Justin is in here. I don't think it would be a good time for you to join us," Lance said.
I nodded and walked off down the hall to the elevator. I took it down to the lobby and sat down there till about nine at night. I sat down there thinking about how how much I love Rylee. I was really tired so at nine I went up to my room and went to sleep. Rylee hadn't come back yet, but I figured she wouldn't want to be seeing me anytime soon.
Oh, and we still had so many cities to do. We had Knoxville, Columbus, Lexington, Nashville, Memphis, Boston, Albany, Detroit, Lansing, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and finally the last big one after TRL in New York City. It was such a long time for poor Rylee to be unhappy.
I woke up the next morning to hear Jason talking on the phone.
"Where are you?!" he asked with a low hiss. "I don't care, you can't run from them. We have shows to do. We got one tonight. Get your ass down here, now."
There was a short pause before he said, "I don't care what your mother said. We have a show to do. People come to see you. Get your ass down here now."
Jason hung up the phone. I played asleep. I could feel his eyes watching me for awhile before he said, "Thought running to her mom in Chicago would fix everything."
He left the room. I took a cold shower to torture myself. It was the only thing that came to mind.
As I got dressed there as a knock on the door. I looked through the peephole to see Lance standing out there, so I opened the door. Lance came in and sat down on my bed. He looked up at be with the same look Jason had been giving me since he found out why Rylee had left.
"Did you hear?" Lance asked.
"Sort of, but what do you know?" I asked, pulling a shirt on over my head.
"Well, Rylee told Justin off. Mark's talked to her and didn't help any really because she ran off to Chicago. She doesn't want to come back," Lance informed me.
I put my head in my hands.
"Oh, God," I mumbled, "it's all my fault."
Chapter Twelve
JC Chasez
I sat in the grass watching Blink 182 do their sound check. Rylee hadn't talked to me since the afternoon gig at Willowbrook. Justin hadn't talked to me since then either, other than to tell me to get lost. But to the rest of the world, no one could tell their was any problem at all. Harry had told me to keep it to myself. He most likely also told this to Rylee and Justin. So, Rylee just stayed away from us, which was pretty easy after we got out of the Chicago area. Now we were in Boston. This was our last stop before New York and the end of this hell that had been created. I as sort of happy, though again, I wasn't.
"JC! COME HERE!" Mark yelled into his mic as loud as he could.
He had startled me so, that I didn't move for a second then I slowly went up to the stage.
"What?" I asked.
"I don't know. I just wanted to get you to come over here. Cheer up," Mark said, hitting me on the head. I turned to leave, but he said, "Stop. Why don't we all sing Help!"
I looked at him and asked, "What?"
"You know the song, don't you?" Tom asked, giving me this look.
"Well, sort of," I said sloly, and with growing suspicion in my voice
"Well, come on up Mr. Chasez! This is your lucky day!" Mark said, pulling me up on to the stage.
The music started and Mark pulled me over to the mic. Slowly the words came to me. I smiled at the words about getting help. Everyone on this tour could use some, to tell you the truth. Well, after that little performance, I waited, did my sound check then went off to the bus and sat down in the lounge. I had just closed my eyes when someone entered. I looked to see Rylee. She was now an almost blonde. She looked at me through dark sunglasses so I couldn't see her eyes, like I would have like to.
"JC, I have to clear something up with you," she said. Once again she rushed on before I could say anything, "I don't think we should get together or anything."
She turned to leave but I reached her in one step, and grabbed her arm. I turned her around to face me.
"Not so fast, missy," I said.
She looked at me over her glasses then pushed them back up her nose.
"Sit," I ordered. "We can't leave it at this, Rylee. Just because Justin is acting like a juvenile doesn't mean ~"
"Yes it does, Joshua. If Justin gets madder than he is he might leave the group because he can't stand you because I picked you over him. He'll always see it as that way though is was not that way," Rylee said, and attempted to leave again. Once again I pulled her down.
"Rylee," I stated but never got to finish. She got up shaking her head.
"This is the way is has to be. It hurts me but it is," she said. I was so shocked that she'd just give up like that I didn't think fast enough. She got away. That was the last time I talked to Rylee on that tour.
"JC, you idiot, you were suppose to be down at the MTV studio almost an hour ago! TRL starts in a half hour!" Lance screamed in my face. We were in New York for the last show. It was 3:30 in the afternoon. I'd been asleep all afternoon. That was all I could do with my free time.
We got to the studio around 3:30, which made me in a lot of trouble. Harry ate me out while I was in hair and makeup. However, I was too unhappy to really care, which was really bad. I was letting it get to me too much. As they finished me up and TRL got over and the Battle of the Bands started, I turned around to see Justin standing in the doorway. He looked sorry. I'm sorry was written all over his face.
"It's a little late for that, Justin," I said, walking out of the room.
Once I got out 'N Sync was lead out to the waiting area before we went on. The concert was in the middle of Time Square, which no one knew, so any one who showed up for TRL that day basically got to see it.
Sig Transit Gloria had won for the Chicago area,
so they had been flown out to New York to compete for the best local band.
Glen Westlake was on after them.
When Sig finished, Glen Westlake came out. Rylee
walked up to the mic and took it.
"We're gonna perform a song from our new album. It's called Just Chance," she said, accenting the 'J' and the 'C.'
"What are we doing? Oops," Tyler said, seeing he was yelling into his mic. He put his hand over it and asked again. Rylee told him what she was up to and he nodded. They then went on with the song.
Just when I thought I was through
Chance came to light
It gives me a feeling
I just can't explain
It was different from the other times
I can tell you are different
Between the feeling I have and you
I know it will work out
I'm just no sure how
Just when I thought I was through
Chance came to light
It gives me a feeling
I just can't explain
Maybe I can figure it out
Yet, I don't know how
Because it's do new
It has never been this way before
I know it will work
I'm just not sure how
Just when I thought I was through
Chance came to light
It gives me a feeling
I still can't explain
I just know it is different
It will bring change
Chance came to light
Just when I thought I was through
The turmoil love brings
(Hildreth, Just Chance)
"Okay!
Now we will do 'Rocky Relationships Are,' 'Making Me Crazy!'" Rylee yelled
into her mic.
Glen Westlake finished up their set then Chester
went on. When Chester was finished with it was our turn. We finished, and
Carson came out.
"Good job guys. After this break we will be back
with the winner of Best Local Band! So call in your votes everyone!" Carson
told the cameras. They were putting this on TV live. Everyone at home was
getting to vote. For both the headliners and the local bands. It was only
a five-minute break, so Carson brought out Blink and Glen Westlake during
this. Rylee stood next to him and said something that caused him to put
her into a headlock as the break ended.
"Okay, it might be a bit longer because here at
MTV we are a little slow at counting everything up. Rylee seems to think
we are broke, we can't afford computers," Carson said, letting go of her.
"Well, it's true!" Rylee shouted into her mic.
Steve grabbed the mic from her.
"This is mine now. I just want to tell everyone
that Sig Transit Gloria rocks!" Steve yelled and the crowd went wild. You
see Steve was one of those pretty boys like
"Well, I think we know who will win now," Chris
said.
"I got it! I have the winner!" Carson said, waving
around a piece of paper. Chris ran over and grabbed it.
"No I got it!" Chris yelled.
"NO!" Tom yelled, gabbing it from him, and running
to the other side of the stage. Tyler went running after him. Tom looked
at the paper and said, "And the winner is ~"
His mic went dead. He didn't see that Tyler had
grabbed it. Tyler was yelling stuff but his mic was off too. Carson ran
over and grabbed the paper. Soon we all realized that everyone's mic was
off except Carson's.
"I'm the host, I get to read the winner," Carson
said.
"No fair!" Chris yelled in my ear and he started
to beat Justin with his mic. "It's dead! Fro-Boy killed my mic!"
Chris went on whacking Justin till this horrible
screeching noise sounded over the speakers. I swear everyone's hands went
up and over their ears.
"Stop, man. It's on now," Justin said.
"Sorry," Chris said, looking sorry. He stopped
hitting Justin on the head.
"Okay, enough. And the winner is ~" Carson started
as Steve looked over his shoulder.
"SIG TRANSIT GLORIA!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Steve screamed
as Carson gave him an evil look. "They get the money and the free trip
to New York!"
Sig Transit Gloria came out and accepted their
reward, and Carson sent the show off into another break before the announcement
of who won battle of the bands.
"Hey, Carson, what do we get if we win?" Mark
asked Carson during the break.
"Well, we paid you all summer, isn't that enough?"
Carson asked.
"We get the title of best band in the world!"
Rylee exclaimed.
Carson nodded as the cameraman signaled they were
back.
"Okay, before we announce the winner, would you
all do this again?" Carson asked.
I looked at Justin then Rylee. I would not
want to do this again, and I'm sure that everyone else wouldn't want to
do it again.
"No, because after we know who the best band is
why would we have to do this again?" Lance asked.
"Exactly!" Jason agreed.
"Okay, but do you think it was a success. Should
we do it next year with different bands?" Carson asked, as a man handed
him a paper, which he kept closely guarded.
"Yes," Rylee said.
"Yep," Tyler said.
"Defiantly," Jason said.
"Two thumbs up," Mark cried.
"Yes, sir," Travis said.
"Dunno, come back to me," Tom said.
"Yes," Lance said.
"I think so," Justin said.
"I would. It makes MTV a lot more money than us,"
Chris said.
"Yeah," I said and Carson turned back to Tom.
"Okay, I guess you should," Tom said, shrugging
his shoulder.
"With that settled the winner is..." Carson paused
for affect. "Glen Westlake."
Rylee jumped up in the air. Jason with the rest
of the band jumped along with her before congratulating the rest of us.
After that we all went about our ways of life. I don't know where Blink
went, but Glen Westlake went off to finish up their new album, while we,
'N Sync, went off to Europe to tour till the spring.
Chapter Thirteen
We finished up our album called, Annotation. I
thought it was a cool word and the guys agreed. We were working on the
video for Just Chance. Well, trying, you see we couldn't come up with a
theme for the stupid thing. I was useless. All I could think about was
JC. He was the one it was written about. I though it would have been cool
to have him in it, but I wasn't about to bring that one up. So, we had
to let the director, William Something, come up with it. His last name
was really Something too. He was fresh out of college and the label saw
his work for local bands and wanted him. So, it was all up to William Something
to come up with the concept. I wanted something cool like 'N Sync's Bye,
Bye, Bye, but couldn't think of anything.
"Rylee, is there something wrong with you?" Jason
asked me one day, sitting down next to me on the plane. We were flying
out to Los Angeles to film the video.
"No," I lied. The fact was I was sorry I had given
up on JC. I missed him. Could I just pick up the phone and call him? Would
have talked to me? However, I would never know because I was too chicken
to find out.
"Rye," Jason said, getting up. "Call Aurora."
I looked down at the phone in front of me. I paged
Aurora telling her I was on a plane and to page me with her number. Five
minutes later my pager went off. I called Aurora.
"What's up?" I asked.
"Nothing. I'm really happy I finished filming
before Chris went on tour. It's so fun!" Aurora giggled into the phone.
"Oh, so you're still with Chris?" I asked.
"Of course. I wouldn't trade him for the world,"
Aurora said as someone yelled in the background, "Yes! For the ever hot
me!"
"Who was that?" I asked.
"Joey. Chris is beating him in the head at this
moment. Now I am leaving that room. What did you want?"
"I miss JC," I wined.
"And?"
"I don't know what to do. I told him last summer
that I didn't think we should get involved. You know, Justin and all. I
may have torn apart the group. I acted like such an idiot. I sunk to Justin's
level. Exactly what he wanted," I whined louder. People were looking at
me. I quieted down.
"Rylee, when you wanted to join the band, what
did you do?"
"I went after it. I made the guys listen to me."
"How?"
"I jumped up on stage and stole the mic from Steve,"
I said.
"Was that a chance? Did you go out on a limb?"
"Yeah."
"And what did it get you?"
"Fame, money, away from Damond, being able to
do what I love, and a feeling of family," I said. I must confess I had
no clue what Aurora was getting at.
"So, you wanted what you have and you went and
got it. You miss JC, what are you going to do about it?"
"Nothing. He likely hates me. I broke his heart.
I'm a bitch," I said.
"Rylee, I have to go, but think. Think," Aurora
ordered, hanging up the phone.
I sanked into my seat. I had screwed up my life
once again because I feel for a guy.
Well, we arrived in LA only to find out that the
label had put out the wrong song as our first single. They had put out
cover of the Beatles song "Penny Lane." This was actually good new for
us. Now we had an idea for this video we were doing. Also I didn't have
to hear a song about JC over and over.
"Now," the director started in our first meeting,
"Rylee's going to be walking down a mock up of a Liverpool street. It'll
be raining some of the time then not. Okay?"
"Then Tyler will play the barber, Jason will play
the banker, and Steve will play the fireman. And we will have some unknown
actress who is my friend play the nurse. Rylee will go along and the things
in the song will happen and be played out. There will be special affects
added in here and there for affect. Sound good?"
"Yes," I said.
"Okay, we'll start filming in an hour," he said,
leaving the room.
Well, we made the video and we had to go on TRL
to premiere the thing. Since we were the best band we got to be on the
whole show.
"Okay," Carson said as we came back from break.
"We have a treat for you all. Because this is the same day that 'Yesterday'
by the Beatles hit number one, Rylee and the guys are going to perform
it for us."
"We are?" I asked. I had no idea we were going
to be doing this.
"We don't have any instruments," Steve pointed
out. Some guys carried out instruments.
"Fine, fine," I said and began singing:
Yesterday,
all my troubles seemed so far away
"Cool,"
Carson said as everyone was cheering and screaming. "Now, let's have Rylee
go give the guys in back the tape so we can show it." I took the tape and
ran it back. They showed the video. The next day it was number one. I always
knew we rocked. Now we rule. However, later that day I got a phone call
from Aurora.
"Girl, you looked
so sad when you were singing on TRL," she said.
"I thought you were
in Europe still?"
"Yes, but we have
a, never mind, the point is JC saw it," she said, totally hinting.
"Oh, so?" I asked.
"Rylee, just talk
to the boy. Do something. You just look so sad."
“Why would I have
to do something?” I asked.
“Rylee, I said JC
saw it. He could totally tell. He didn’t say anything, but there was this
total look of pain on the man’s face. You gotta talk to him,” Aurora said.
I panicked. What if
she had JC in the room with her now and she was going to make me talk to
him.
“I gotta go. Jason’s
calling. Coming Jason! Bye,” I said, hanging up the phone.
Jason poked his head
into my hotel room.
“What? I didn’t call
you,” he said with an confused look on his face.
“I know. Aurora was
going to make me talk to JC,” I said, pulling the covers of my bed up over
my head.
“It’d do you some
good,” Jason mumbled, closing the door.
I tossed the covers
back and looked around my room. We had the next two weeks off. Jason was
going to visit his mom and dad, Steve was going out to Los Angeles to see
Jessica, and Tyler was going to England. I don’t know why he was. But he
had been telling everyone about it all week. I, well I was going… I didn’t
know what I was going to do. They were kicking everybody out of the hotel
tomorrow. I had no where to go. My dad was in Paris. My mom was in some
country in the Pacific. I rolled out of bed and pulled out my lap top.
I booted it up and checked to see where ‘N Sync was. Maybe I’d go see Aurora.
Chapter
Fourteen
“I still don’t know
why you are doing this,” Tyler remarked as we got off the plane.
“I’m going to see
Aurora,” I said.
“No, you are not.
You, know I think I’ll come with you. But, then you will have to spend
time with me in London, got it?” Tyler asked.
“Do you have a ticket
to the Netherlands?” I asked.
Tyler pulled out a
ticket. His seat was right next to mine. We walked off and got on the plane
and was off to the Netherlands. That’s where ‘N Sync was. That’s where
JC was. And Justin happened to be there too. But I was going to see Aurora.
Not them. Tyler was going to see them, yeah.
I sat in JC’s dressing
room. I was studying my hair in the mirror. I was a blonde, but I had still
a lot of that cranberry in it. It had been almost a year since I had that
cranberry color in. Any ways, I sat looking at myself. I heard the door
open behind me.
“Um…um….” I stumbled.
I had it all worked out. However, the moment I saw JC I totally forgot
everything I had planned on saying.
“Well, just think
about it. I’m going to take a shower,” JC said, going away.
I sunk back into my
chair. I totally felt like crap. Half of my mind was telling to just get
up and leave. But, that would have been the easy way out. So, I couldn’t
do that. So, I just sat in the chair. I looked around the room. I could
hear Aurora yelling at Justin on the other side of the door. I got up and
walked over to the door and put my ear up to it.
“God, Justin! Just
get your ass in there and say what you have been telling me for ages!”
Aurora screamed.
“But, maybe I don’t
wanna!” Justin yelled back. “Now that you are yelling at me.”
“Well, maybe I wouldn’t
be yelling if you had just went in there before JC did. That was our plan
wasn’t it?”
“Um, yes, but I don’t
like it. They are fine without one another.”
“You don’t believe
that.”
“How would you know?”
Justin asked.
“I can see it on your
face. You have regretted acting like a baby since New York. But you are
not a big enough person to tell Rylee or JC,” Aurora shot back.
“But, I don’t have
to tell JC,” Justin said.
“Why not?”
“He knows.”
“How the hell would
he know if you didn’t tell him,” Aurora asked.
“He just does. He
has since New York, but Rylee had already packed her bags up and was over
him,” Justin said. I could tell by his voice he didn’t believe it.
“Justin Timberlake,
where the hell are you going! I’m not done with you! Don’t you walk away
from me!” Aurora yelled.
I heard her run off
after him. I sighed and began to back away from the door. I ran into something.
I screamed. I turned to see JC looking at him like I had scared the living
daylights out of him.
“Sorry,” I managed
to get out.
“It’s okay. Did you
hear all of what they were talking about?” JC asked.
“Why yes I did. What’s
it to you?” I asked, leaning against the door.
JC ran his fingers
through his wet hair. He was so hot. He had an over sized shirt on and
jeans, but his hair was still wet. He most likely just had thrown them
on because I was out here waiting.
“Oh, I was just wondering
because it sounded like Aurora was plotting again,” JC said, sitting down
in the chair that I had earlier sat in.
“Maybe she was.”
“Well, what did she
have to say?” JC asked.
“Why would you care,”
I said.
“Rylee,” he said in
a tone that I really don’t know how to describe. It was a tone that just
made me want to tell him.
My head shot up. He
was in on this too. It was a set up. I looked around the room.
“Was Tyler in on this
too?” I asked.
“Uh?” JC asked, trying
to play dumb with me.
“JC, I know. This
was a set up. All of it. You knew,” I said. I felt like I should have been
angry or something, but I just couldn’t.
“Well, of course it
was. Chris could never come up with anything like that,” I said, realizing
he was getting pretty close to me.
“Well, since you know
Justin’s not a problem, could we start over? Or are you on your way to
a nunnery?” JC joked.
“No, I think I’m on
my way to a nunnery. That’s why I came here,” I said, with a really dorky
grin on my face.
“That’s too bad. I
really wanted to start over,” JC said, with a really sad looking on his
face. I totally melted for that look.
“JC, I was joking.
I would never become a nun. I’m not Catholic to begin with,” I said.
He put his arms on
the door on either side of me, blocking me in. He lowered his face so it
was inches away from mine. He was so close I could feel his breath on my
face.
“Well, does that mean
we can start over? You know, now that Justin will not be acting like a
ignoramus? Cause I would really like to start over. You know, if it is
okay with you,” he said softly.
“Well, if starting
over means I’ll finally get to kiss you, than okay,” I bargained.
“I think I can arrange
that,” he said, lowering his lips to mine.
Oh, what a kiss that
was. I won’t bore you with the details of it. But, it was the best kiss
that anyone had ever given me. Tingles were sent down my spine. I went
week in the knees. It was one of the best kisses I had ever gotten. Okay,
as I think about it, Damond never really was a great kisser, so I guess
I never really knew. But, as I said earlier, it was one of those knee weakening
kisses where you’re breathless after wards.
JC Chasez
I found Justin sitting
on a box outside out bus. He was aimlessly kicking. I knew he was
waiting for me. He looked up with a hopeful look.
“Did you two work
everything out?” Justin asked.
I just nodded and
walked into the bus. I was gonna make him stew for awhile till I told him
everything worked out for the best.
“JC! How did it go?”
Justin asked, jumping off the box and running after me.
I just shrugged. “Curly,
I’m tired. Good night.”
I walked back to my
bunk and climbed in. I counted to ten and heard Justin run in and rip the
curtain back.
“JC, tell me! I didn’t
just make a total fool out of myself for nothing did I?”
I closed my eyes,
hoping he’d go away. He didn’t.
“JC!” Justin yelled.
“What?”
“Do I have to ask
Rylee?”
“No. I just want you
to stew for awhile.”
“Fine. I’ll just assume
it worked out for the better,” Justin said smugly and waked away.
I smiled to myself
and went to sleep. Rylee would be here for the rest of the week. I had
a little break coming up. And before
The next morning I
was abruptly brought out of my sleep. I figured it was Justin. So I swatted
him away.
“JC, get up. Please?”
asked a voice that was not Justin’s.
“Justin go away,”
I moaned.
“Just because I colored
by hair blonde does not mean I’m Justin!” I heard the voice say.
My eyes flew open.
Rylee was standing with her face hovering a few inches away from mine.
“Yeah,” Chris said,
falling out of his bunk. “Fro-Boy is more brunette than blonde.”
Rylee ignored him
and tried to pull me out of bed. “JC, we gotta start over. Time is wasting!”
I just groaned. Justin
jumped out of his bunk. He knocked Rylee to the ground as he did this.
“I knew it!
You and Jacey made up!” Justin yelled. “I’m sorry Rylee. I learned my lesson.”
Justin helped her
up. Rylee pulled me out of bed and pushed me over to the bathroom.
“We’ve got a lot to
talk about, JC,” she said as she shut the door to the bathroom.
She was at the door
when I came out and dragged me out of the bus. The other guys were all
snickering as she dragged me out.
“Where are we heading?”
I asked.
“Here,” she said,
coming to a sudden stop. “I got a couple things to say.”
I opened my mouth
to say I did too but she went on like she always did.
“I’m immature. Not
like Justin. But, I’ve only had one relationship in my life and it was
really crappy. And since then I had never had anyone like me. Then I got
hit with two! But, during this time I haven’t seen you and came to a realization.
Even though I wouldn’t admit it, I can’t live without you. Every time you
were on TV, I tapped it and would watch it just to see you. I’m such a
teeny-bopper,” she said, looking at the ground.
“Rylee,” I started,
but she cut me off.”
“Wait, I’m not done.
You may not realize it, but you really made me look at myself. I realized
all this boyfriend hating really wasn’t working. It wasn’t helping. And
then, I don’t know. When I had a guy who cared about me right in front
of me, I over looked it and…” she trailed off.
“Rylee, you know,
to tell you the truth, I’d wait forever for you. I was willing to wait
till Justin came around, but you ran. And I know that was really the only
thing you knew. You ran from Damond. And then you ran from me.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I’ll wait,”
I said. I didn’t want to, but I had really no clue what she wanted at this
point. She looked up at me. She two steps closer to me and smiled up at
me.
“What if I don’t wanna
wait?”
“I don’t know.”
“I don’t want to.
I think I might be ready for you to get to know the real Rylee.”
“Oh, and who is she?”
I asked.
She turned red. That
was the first time I had seen her get all shy on me. I put my arm around
her waist and pulled her closer.
“She’s a girl who
doesn’t know what she really wants out of life. She puts on a front to
everyone and really isn’t like the person the world knows,” she said.
“How can that be?”
“I’m not as put together
and confident as I appear to be.”
I smiled. “Rylee,
I knew that. I gathered that from the way you acted last summer on the
tour.” I paused to see if she was going to pull away from me. She didn’t
so I went on. “And I still love you.”
Now that got her to
look up at me.
“GO JC!” I heard someone
yell. I look up to see all the guys and Aurora hanging out the doorway
of the bus.
“That boy has loved
you forever!” Joey yelled. “And it’s not fair!”
Rylee jumped out of
my arms and stalked over to him.
“And why not?”
“I supposed to get
all the girls!”
Rylee smiled devilishly
and turned to look at me. She walked over and wrapped her arms around my
waist.
“Well, this one got
away,” she said.
She then dragged me
off behind one of the many buses out there. She was shaking her head and
muttering how she couldn’t believe them. How could they do that? Spy on
us in our private moment?
“And because of that,
I couldn’t do what I wanted to,” she muttered.
She turned me to face
her and smiled. “I love you too.”
And she kissed me.
It was a really sweet kiss. On of those that makes you wish the world would
just stop so you could stay there forever.
Justin. Except a bit older and already had a
girl friend. He was the guy most of the girls liked.
Rylee Carter
He showed us a picture of the first shot. We
all nodded.
Now it looks as though they're here to stay
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Suddenly, I'm not half the girl I used to
be
There's a shadow hanging over me
OH, yesterday came suddenly
Why she had go, I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
Why she had go, I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said something wrong
Now I long for yesterday
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play
Now I need to hide away
Oh, I believe in yesterday
(Yesterday, Lennon/McCartney)
Rylee
Carter
“What are you doing
here?” JC asked, walking into the room.
“Well, she and Justin
had plotted to talk to me. And Justin was going to say he was sorry,” I
replied, looking at my feet.
“Ah,” JC said. “And
what does that mean now?”
“Okay, you found
me out. But, I’ll say this. It was all Aurora’s idea,” JC said, standing
up.
Chapter
Fifteen
Rylee had shown up
I was pretty sad cause I didn’t know how I was gonna spend it.
Justin.”
All the things
as we down, down
I can’t help but
think
A secret you found
out, baby
All your history
‘Cause nothing
is right
I say that all
you need is time
Maybe its right,
this time
Maybe it’s wrong,
next time
I think so.
She belongs to
me.
Ah, I see the
sun in your eyes
Ah, I see my tears
that you cry
Ah, I see myself
in your eyes
Ah, I see the
sun
The walls come
closing in
And I can’t catch
my breath
Your eyes, the
sunshine way
I’ll love you
to your death
All your history
‘Cause nothing
is right
Maybe its right,
this time
Maybe its wrong,
next time
I think so
You belong to
me
Ah, I see the
sun in your eyes
Ah, I see my tears
that you cry
Ah, I see myself
in your eyes
Ah, I see the
sun
Oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh
My face falls
back
Fall into my arms
I feel your kiss
all around my face
I love the sounds
that she only makes
Ah, I see the
tears that you cry
Ah, I see the
sun in your eyes
Ah, I see my tears
that you cry
Ah, I see myself
in your eyes
Ah, I see the
sun
Oh, oh, oh, oh,
oh, oh
Ah, I see the
sun in your eyes
Ah, I see my tears
that you cry
Ah, I see myself
in your eyes
Ah, I see the
sun
I see the sun
(I See the Sun
by Tommy Hendricksen)
