***The next morning***
"Ummmm." Sarah moaned as she stumbled out of the elevator.
" Oh. My head." JC groaned when he stepped out of another elevator. He had his sunglasses on and seemed to be walking around in a daze.
" Good morning sunshine." Justin said when he ran into Sarah. He saw the bags under her eyes, and watched her try to walk around the lobby. " Oh, need help?" He asked. Sarah nodded. " How many hours did you get last night?" He asked her. She held up all five fingers of one hand then brought down three of them.
"This morning I got two hours of sleep." She said weakly.
" My poor princess." Justin joked and helped her into the van. " So, are you coming with us?" Justin asked. Sarah looked at JC and he made a puppy dog face.
" I guess so." She said and smiled. She looked at JC and he smiled at her. She shook her head, and looked at Justin.
" You are?" Justin said. " Hey guys, she's coming!" He screamed to the rest of the guys in the van.
" Really?" Lance said turning around from the passenger's seat. Sarah nodded her head, and smiled.
" Alright, yeah!" Chris said and began dancing in the van.
" That's great Sarah." Joey said. " Hey get your arm out of my face." Joey said and pushed Chris' arm out of his way.
" Thanks bug." JC said softly.
" Sure." Sarah said to JC.
They all climbed in the van. They were going to the concert hall to rehearse and do a sound check. Sarah sat between Justin and Chris. JC looked over at her and she smiled at him before resting her head on Justin's shoulder. She took a deep breath and mouthed the word "sleep" to JC. He looked at her and nodded and JC rested his head on the seat back.
***Soundcheck***
"JC wake up man!" Justin said to his friend. JC was sitting at the edge of the stage leaning on one arm. " Hey, there's a little thing called rehearsal, remember?" Justin said hitting the back of JC's head.
" Huh?" JC said looking up at his young friend. " Right." He said.
" Sarah keep you up all night?" Justin asked. JC gave him a surprised look.
" She told me that you two were in the lounge until four. And aren't you the one who gets mad when we stay up?" Justin walked away laughing.
" Hey sleepyhead." A familiar voice came behind JC.
" You awake yet?" She asked and sat next to him.
" Hmm?" JC asked and looked to see Sarah sitting beside him. " Oh, no. I'm exhausted." He said.
" Um…I guess I should apologize then huh?" Sarah said nudging his shoulder with her own.
" For what?" JC asked.
" For taking you away from your beauty sleep." She said and yawned. Sarah kicked her legs over the edge of the stage, and looked up towards the ceiling. She was watching the lighting technicians working.
"Hey, I was the one who drank two cups of coffee." He said and laughed. " I guess that wasn't a good idea." JC said and laid on his back.
" I'm still sorry." She said quietly.
" It's not your fault. It's mine." He said and closed his eyes.
" Uh oh. Josh choreographer alert. Josh get off your butt. Hurry." Sarah said. JC jumped to his feet, and looked around. He didn’t see anyone on the stage besides Joey at the drums and Sarah sitting at his feet.
" Hey."
" Just kidding." Sarah said and got up laughing. " Sorry, I couldn't resist." She said and shrugged her shoulders.
" Bug, you never cease to amaze me." JC said and pulled her ponytail.
" Then my spell is working." She joked, and walked away. JC watched her walk away, and studied the way she moved. She walked over to the guitar that was sitting on the stage and picked it up. She sat down on an amplifier and began playing chords. He watched as she concentrated on playing. Her eyes were fixed on her fingers, and she was counting her strumming. JC laughed in amusement. " Are you laughing at something JC?" She said looking up from her guitar.
" No." He said innocently. " Nothing at all"
" Um huh. Whatever Josh. Whatever." Sarah said and put the guitar back in its case.
" Okay you two." Justin said stepping on to the stage. " We must practice now." He said and shooed Sarah off the amplifier. " Off, princess." He smiled and her and she stuck her tongue out at him.
" Have fun." Sarah said to the three guys on stage. " I'm going to go find some place to crash, to sleep, to lay down, to rest, to dream. See you all later." She said to JC and teased him. She walked off the stage and JC shook his head.
" That girl is something." Justin said to JC. JC nodded in agreement.
***The Dressing Room***
" Hey, would you look at that?" Justin whispered to the other guys when he saw Sarah asleep on a couch in the dressing room.
" Don't wake her up man." Lance said when he saw Chris creeping over to her.
" Yeah, she was really tired." Joey said and walked over to the mini fridge.
" Here." He said handing his band mates bottles of water.
" Guys?" Sarah whispered when she heard voices in the room. She opened her eyes, and saw JC half asleep in a chair next to her. She silently laughed, and sat up. " Hey." She said softly as she saw Justin turning on the TV.
" We didn't want to wake you." Justin said and handed her a bottle of water.
" Thanks." Sarah said and took the bottle. " So, how was practice?" She asked Joey. >{?" It was okay, but JC kept messing up the back flips." Joey teased. JC heard Joey and opened his eyes.
" That's not fair man." JC said. " You got more sleep than I did last night." He complained.
" What did you two do?" Chris asked sitting next to Sarah.
" Talked mostly." Sarah said and smiled at JC.
" When did you get in?" Lance asked.
" About four in the morning." JC said to four shocked faces. " Jeez, you guys could kill with that look." He said.
" Four?" Chris said. " Wow JC. You up at four?" He laughed and so did the others.
" Yeah, yeah." JC said back. " Laugh all you want." He said and threw a shirt at Chris' head.