::Chapter 2::

“How little do they see what really is, who frame their hasty judgment upon that which seems.”

-- Robert Southey

Mira tiptoed up the stairs and into her room. It was well past two in the morning and she didn’t want to risk waking Leanna, who was known to have a temper when woken up. She stepped into her room and closed the door behind her. In the darkness she felt her way to her bed and sat down on it. Through the fabric of her dress, she suddenly felt herself sitting on a hand.

Mira let out a scream. There was another scream in the room, followed by the sound of movement. Mira leapt for the light and flipped it on. On her bed kneeled a wide-eyed Leanna, with a blanket over her shoulders. “Hi,” she mumbled sleepily.

“Uh, hi,” said Mira uncertainly. “What are you doing here Lea? Are you drunk? Do you need me to take you to your bed?” Leanna smirked amusedly.

“No stupid,” she said. “I wanted to have a chance to talk to you,” she said.

“Whatever it is, I didn’t do it,” said Mira, sitting down on her bed. Leanna rolled her eyes unappreciatively. She moved herself to sitting cross-legged and looked at Mira.

“Give me a minute to wake up,” mumbled Leanna, rubbing her eyes sleepily. Mira arched an eyebrow in amusement and waited the following few moments until Leanna decided she was awake enough.

“What the HELL was that today between you and Josh?” she asked finally. Mira looked down at her hands, embarrassed. Even though she didn’t like him, it gave her no right to nearly attack him, considering he was Leanna’s boyfriend.

“Sorry,” said Mira softly. Leanna placed a hand over Mira’s.

“Don’t apologize. I just want to know what it was about,” she said.

“I forget exactly when I started to hate him. All I know is it began over him being really rude when I offered him directions to the business building,” Mira shrugged. “After that, he was just an asshole to me.”

“Well, he is a stubborn guy,” conceded Leanna.

“Where’d you meet him?” asked Mira. Leanna smiled.

“Remember when I did that internship with that record company? Well, he came in one day and tah dah,” giggled Leanna. Mira had to smile.

“Record company? Why was he there?” asked Mira. “Oh Lea! Don’t tell me he’s in a wannabe garage band or something!” she cried in disappointed disbelief. Leanna rolled her eyes.

“Do you ever listen to a word I say? I’ve been talking about him all winter!” she laughed.

“Sorry?” shrugged Mira.

“Well, Josh is a musician,” said Leanna slowly.

“Musician?” asked Mira doubtfully. “He has the mental capacity to play an instrument? What? The kazoo?”

Leanna looked at Mira disapprovingly. “Sorry,” said Mira sheepishly. “Had to get another insult in there. So really, what does he play?”

“Well, he can play the piano, but mostly he sings,” said Leanna.

“Sings?” laughed Mira. “He sings?”

“Yes, he sings,” said Leanna dryly. “He’s in a group.” Mira burst into uncontrollable laughter.

“Don’t tell me… he’s in one of those little boy bands,” she giggled.

“So?” asked Leanna defensively. Mira instantly stopped laughing and stared at Leanna, stunned.

“You’re serious? He is?” she asked in disbelief. Leanna nodded. “Oh God… which one?”

“N’Sync,” said Leanna.

“N’Sync…” said Mira, placing her finger on her chin in thought. “N’Sync. I’ve heard that name before. Probably from my sister,” she shrugged.

“Probably,” agreed Leanna. “Amy is obsessed with anything remotely male related.” Mira stared at Leanna for a moment before speaking again.

“Wow… he’s really in a boy band?” asked Mira.

“Yes, he is,” said Leanna, annoyed.

“It’s worse than I thought,” said Mira softly. Leanna grabbed a pillow and slammed it into Mira’s head. Mira retaliated by launching a full-scale pillow fight. The girls laughed hysterically as the feathers floated down.

Two days later...

“Come on Mir, please?” pleaded Leanna, her hands together underneath her chin. “It’s only one afternoon! Please?”

“Lea, I don’t know why you’re even bothering asking. You know how I feel about Señor Asshole. What makes you think I’d want to spend the afternoon with him and his little pop star friends?”

“Your love for me? Your very best friend in the entire world?” offered Leanna. Mira arched an eyebrow and regarded Leanna skeptically.

“Right…” she said slowly.

“Come on Mira! Please? This would mean so much to me!” begged Leanna. Mira rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

“Fine,” she gave in. “But if any of them are as bad as your little boyfriend, I’m out of there,” she warned.

“Don’t worry! They’re great! You’ll love them!” said Leanna excitedly, clapping her hands. “I’ll go call Josh!” she cried, running off towards the den.

“You do that,” chuckled Mira, laughing at her friend’s excitement. She lay back on the couch and curled into the corner, lying back against the soft cushions. Slowly her eyelids drifted closed, pulling her into a deep sleep.

The next thing she knew, the rhythmic chiming of the doorbell jarred her from her precious sleep. “Leanna!” called Mira sleepily, rolling over onto her side. “Door!” There was no answer, no sound of Leanna’s feet pounding the stairs as she ran down. Mira’s eyes drifted closed again, only to be shot open by the sound of the doorbell. Mira let out an annoyed sigh and sat up, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “Leanna! Aren’t you going to get the door?” she called. Hearing no answer, Mira groaned and stood up, padding her way to the door with her fuzzy slippers.

She threw open the door roughly. Her blurry vision cleared enough to realize that JC stood in the doorway, regarding Mira suspiciously. “What do you want?” snapped Mira, rubbing her eye with her fist, yawning loudly. “You disturbed my nap.”

JC grinned, pleased. “Glad to know I bothered you,” he grinned evilly. “I came to see my girlfriend, obviously.”

“Obviously?” repeated Mira sarcastically.

“Yeah, obviously,” said JC spitefully. “I sure as hell wouldn’t bother coming to see you.”

Mira feigned a gasp and placed her hand over her heart. “Oh, you wound me JC. Really. I’m hurt,” she said sarcastically. “I love to burst your bubble. Leanna’s not here. So your trip was all for nothing. Don’t come back now, ya’ hear?” she said, smiling sarcastically, closing the door.

JC stuck his foot in the path of the doorway, keeping it from closing. Mira’s head appeared once again. “Yes?” she asked, annoyed.

“I think I’ll wait for her,” said JC decidedly, pushing the door open and walking in, despite Mira’s protests.

“Why?” she finally managed. JC shrugged innocently, crossing his legs casually as he sat down on the couch.

“Can’t I simply wait for my girlfriend without you making a big deal about it?” he shrugged. Mira glared at him, finally rolling her eyes in defeat.

“Fine. Whatever. You think you can bug me by sitting there, fine. See if I let it bother me,” she said decidedly, crossing her arms and sitting down on the couch.

“Fine,” responded JC.

The pair sat in the den in silence. JC was searching for a way to bother Mira, while she was dead set against paying any attention to him. Currently she was staring at the ceiling fan, watching it’s blades spin in frantic circles above her head. Granted, it was making her dizzy by watching it, but she decided she’d rather be dizzy than give JC the satisfaction of knowing that he was bothering her.

“So, when did you meet Leanna?” asked JC suddenly. Mira looked at him in surprise.

“Huh?” she muttered.

“How…did…you…meet…Leanna?” asked JC, deliberately dramatically slow. Mira growled under her breath and smiled sweetly.

“Why do you want to know?” she asked between clenched teeth.

“Can’t I ask a harmless little question?” he asked innocently. Mira rolled her eyes and let out a sigh.

“If you must know, I met her my freshman year of high school,” she explained.

“You two seem like such opposites. How could you two be friends?” he asked. Mira regarded him closely, investigating the nature of his questioning. Deciding that it was half out of curiosity and half out of mischief, she decided to play along.

“Opposite how?” she asked.

“Well, from what I know, you’re a first year chemistry masters student, while she’s doing her masters in business administration. You can’t get more opposite from that,” said JC.

“Yeah you can. Artsy majors,” pointed out Mira.

“Ah ha, but see, I also happen to know that you’re a music minor,” smirked JC. Mira’s jaw dropped, and she let out a disgruntled sigh.

“She told you that?” she groaned. JC smirked proudly.

“Then there’s of course the fact that she comes from Maine, while you’re a California girl. She likes Chinese food and you like Italian. You’re Spanish and French, while she’s Dutch and German,” rambled JC.

“Have you been doing homework on me pop star?” smirked Mira.

“I’ve only been trying to find out your weak spot,” defended JC.

“I don’t have any,” said Mira, crossing her arms over her chest.

“Right…” said JC slowly. “Then of course, there’s the fact that she’s nice, and you’re, well, not,” he shrugged.

“You forgot one thing!” said Mira. “You forgot the part where she picks asshole boyfriends while mine are at least decent.”

JC narrowed his eyes at her unappreciatively. “Funny Mira. Very funny.”

“Hey, you were the one who decided to point out differences. Not me,” she said, holding her hands up defensively.

JC opened his mouth to argue when the jingling of keys at the front door interrupted him. Mira flew to the door and opened it to see Leanna standing in the doorway, balancing two grocery bags in her arms and her keys in her mouth. Mira grabbed a bag and motioned to JC.

“Make him go away,” she said simply, walking into the kitchen. Leanna rolled her eyes and smiled at JC, who planted a quick kiss on her lips.

Mira cautiously knocked on the door, slightly pushing open the already open door. “Hello?” she called. The elderly man at the desk looked up and smiled.

“Well hello Mira,” he grinned. “You received my message, I assume?” he asked in his British accent.

“Yes Dr. Cohen,” she nodded. “What did you want to see me for? Did I do poorly on that exam last week?” she asked, nervously wringing her fingers.

“Oh, no. Nothing of the sort,” he said, shaking his head. “Sit down Mira! You’re making me nervous!” he chuckled. Mira let out a nervous giggle and sat down on the edge of her seat.

“Well I’ll get right down to it, since you seem to be really anxious,” laughed Dr. Cohen. “You see Mira, I got a phone call the other day from Rayonex.”

“The pharmaceutical company?” she asked.

“The very one,” nodded Dr. Cohen. “Well, it seems the company has developed a new drug for the treatment of Thyroid disease. They’ve called me and asked me to test it for residual chemicals that could affect its efficiency and reliability.”

“That’s wonderful!” smiled Mira.

“It is wonderful, yes, but there’s a problem…” Dr. Cohen paused.

“What?” asked Mira, suddenly growing concerned.

“Well, at my age, nothing runs quite like it should,” he chuckled.

“Dr. Cohen?” prodded Mira, concern written all over her face.

“Relax Mira,” said Dr. Cohen. “But I have been diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease,” he explained.

Mira gasped. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!”

“It’s alright Mira, but please relax,” chuckled Dr. Cohen. “You’re liable to convince me that I’ll be dead by tomorrow!”

“Sorry,” mumbled Mira.

“Well, as I was saying, my hands aren’t as steady as they used to be. In addition, my eyesight is getting worse with each passing day. To tell you the truth, I’m a danger around the lab. I can’t do this experiment for Rayonex.”

“What are you going to tell them?” asked Mira softly.

“Nothing,” grinned Dr. Cohen. Mira arched an eyebrow in confusion.

“Huh?”

“This is where you come in,” he said.

“You want me to call Rayonex for you?” she asked slowly.

“No!” laughed Dr. Cohen. “Goodness no! I need you to be my eyes, ears, hands, everything, in the lab,” he explained.

Mira’s eyes widened in surprise. “You want… ME?”

“I don’t know any other Mira Stewarts that are as skilled in the lab as you are,” he said.

“Wait, what exactly is it you want me to do? I mean, do you want me to be with you in the lab and just read off stuff or what?” she asked slowly.

Dr. Cohen shook his head. “I want you to do the experiments I ask of you and report back to me.” Mira’s jaw dropped.

“You want me to conduct the experiments?” she asked in awe. “But I’m only a grad student. I shouldn’t be able to conduct experiments for pharmaceutical companies! I'm barely working on my thesis!”

“I have faith in you Mira. You’ve shown so much potential. I know your capabilities. I know you can do this,” said Dr. Cohen.

Mira stared in awe for a moment before standing up. “Thank you Dr. Cohen. I’m honored. I won’t let you down,” she promised.

“I know you won’t,” nodded Dr. Cohen. Mira smiled as she walked out the door.

The next night...

“Come on Mike, let me go,” whined Mira, tugging her arm away from Mike’s grip. Mike shook his head decisively.

“Nope. You haven’t even been here ten minutes and you already want to leave,” he said. “Besides, this is your damn house! You can’t just leave!”

“Yes I can,” she said, crossing her arms.

“Hey Mir! Come here!” called Leanna, motioning wildly. Mira smiled at her friend’s obvious excitement and did as she requested. “Hey Mira. I want you to meet one of Josh’s band mates and best friends,” she said, motioning to the man standing before her. “This is Justin Timberlake. Justin, this is my best friend Mira Stewart.”

Before anything else could be said, there was a crash at the other side of the yard. “Dammit Chris!” cried Leanna, rushing towards the source of the sound. She quickly excused herself, leaving the pair standing together.

“Pleasure to meet you,” said Justin, taking her hand. Mira smiled instinctively.

“Nice you meet you too,” she smiled.

“He wasn’t exaggerating,” said Justin softly.

“Excuse me?” asked Mira, confusion written all over her face.

“Jace,” said Justin. “He said you were pretty, but he didn’t say gorgeous!”

Mira instinctively smiled and blushed, meanwhile rolling her eyes. “I’m sure he wasn’t talking about me. But thank you,” she said, slightly embarrassed.

Justin shrugged. “The point is, you’re very pretty. It doesn’t matter who he was talking about. I only listen to the man half the time anyway.”

Mira grinned. “A man after my own heart,” she laughed. “Only, I never listen to him.” Justin chuckled.

“So I hear,” he laughed. “I understand you two don’t get along so great.”

“Well that’s the understatement of the century!” she laughed. “We can’t stand the sight of each other. He can be such a jerk.” Justin only smiled.

Mira let out a gasp and covered her mouth with her hand. “Oh my gosh. I’m sorry. Here he is, one of your best friends, and I’m sitting here talking bad about him.”

Justin chuckled and shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. Sometimes Jace can rub people the wrong way,” he shrugged. “I’m not gonna turn around and walk away simply because you have a different opinion of him than I do.”

Mira smiled. “That’s very gracious of you. Most people I know would.”

“Well most people aren’t as wonderful as I am,” lisped Justin. Mira laughed immediately, spawning Justin to stop the act and join her. He admired the way her brown eyes sparkled when she laughed. He couldn’t help but smile at her simple beauty.

“Uh oh, man,” thought Justin. “Don’t fall… whatever you do, don’t fall.”

Chapter 3