Lance sighed contentedly as he put away the last of his things. Unlike the rest of the guys, he was actually glad to have these few months to himself. Things had been non-stop for the past year or so, with the 'No Strings' tour and his management company. Much to his delight, Krysti and Symone's band, Asylum Star had gotten a record deal within 2 months of finishing their demo tape. The next big thing; that's what Rolling Stone had called them. Lance considered having them tour with 'N Sync, but the idea went away quickly; pop and punk are not usually the best combination. Asylum Star went out on the road with Blink 182 just weeks after finishing their first album. The distance from Krysti was difficult for Lance at first, but then the pain seemed to dwindle slowly. One night, while lying in his bunk, Lance realized that he hadn't thought of his girlfriend in a romantic sense in weeks, possibly months. He ended the relationship the next day, and Krysti had been very cool with it. It turned out that she had felt the same way; she only thought of Lance as her manager and friend. They continued to talk daily, and Krysti became his closest friend. A week before the guys had left on their mandatory vacation, Krysti confided that she was falling for Tom, the lead singer and guitarist from Blink. Lance wished her all the best, but inside he wished that he could find someone to fall in love with.
"Hey guys, you ready to hear the rules?" Emmiline asked, sauntering into the bedroom and breaking into Lance's thoughts.
Justin groaned. "Yippee, more rules!" He lay back against the pillows and groaned dramatically.
"Don't mind him, he's cranky," JC apologized for his younger friend.
Emmiline laughed. "It's OK. Anyway, here are the rules. They aren't too difficult, I promise." She pulled a piece of paper from her back pocket, and read it aloud to the group. "First of all, no drinking or drugs or anything like that, of course. You'll be expected to pull your weight around the farm and the house. There is a phone in the kitchen, but you guys are restricted to 2 calls per week, and anything over that means extra chores, unless it's an emergency."
She paused and Lance smiled at her. "That it Emmiline?"
"Well, basically, I guess. I can take you on a tour of the farm if you want, or we can save that for tomorrow, and you guys can catch some sleep." She brushed her braid back over her shoulder. "And call me Emmi, everyone else does." After a few moments of silence, she spoke again. "So, do y'all want the grand tour now or later?" The 3 brunettes and the curly haired blonde who had yet to speak without whining opted for taking naps. The other blonde, Lance if she remembered correctly, was the only one ready to head out then.
"You don't mind taking just me, do you?" He asked shyly.
"Not at all. I'll just make Anna take those four tomorrow." Emmi walked ahead of Lance out the front door and onto the wraparound porch.
“I feel sorry for Anna, then. No one else is really looking forward to this, but me, I guess. I’m so used to being in the country, after all those years at summer camp. I’m glad to be back out here, after all those months touring...it’s like I’m free again.” He exclaimed, a smile on his face. Emmi grinned at Lance’s openness. “I’m glad you’re here, too. Anna and I get so bored by ourselves, it’ll be fun to have new blood. I’m sure she can’t wait to meet y’all. I wonder if she even knows your here yet...
Anna walked up through the back, towards the house. After all those hours working in the barn with the horses, all she wanted was a nice, long, hot shower. The guests would probably be arriving soon, and she wanted to at least be presentable. She shook her short, light brown hair out of it’s ponytail, and flipped on the hot water. It felt so relaxing on her well-used muscles.
20 minutes later she emerged, refreshed, and wrapped herself in an extra-large bath towel. She went to work on drying her hair, the noise of the hair dryer blocking out the sound of the house.
Joey awoke to find Justin and Chris still sleeping, JC, for once, up before anyone else. He remember that he need to talk to JC about a trip into town over the weekend, and ambled off to find him. Joey heard the buzz of JC’s blowdryer coming from the bathroom. He knocked a couple times, but getting no answer, decided that JC couldn’t hear him a voice in din of the dryer.
Just as Joey was opening the bathroom door, Anna clicked off the hair dryer. In one second, Joey was standing at the open door, looking at the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, standing before him in only a towel.
Anna screamed, her next instinct kicking her into self-defense mode. She grabbed the nearest think, the blasted hair dryer, and started hitting Joey on the arms.
“Get out you creep! What do you think your doing in my house! You pervert get out!” Anna yelled.
This noise awoke Chris and Justin, they emerged from the bedroom at the moment Lance and Emmiline, having been joined by JC, walked back into the house.
They were greeted with this site of this young woman, one hand clutching desperately to keep her towel up, pummeling Joey with a blowdryer.
“Anna! Stop!” Emmi cried, running over to her sister. Anna, seeing her younger sister running towards her, and the 4 other men standing around the room laughing, stopped in her tracks.
“Emmi, what is going on?” she demanded.
“You’re beating one of our house guests for the next three months.” Emmi said dryly.
Anna’s face was overcome with a look of shock. She turned back to Joey, who was rubbing his sore arms. “I am so sorry. I--it’s just---I wasn’t--” Anna fled from the main room, and her door slammed shut.
“Do you always have that effect on women?” Emmi asked, looking Joey over.
“Nah, most of the time they run away before hand, and send their boyfriends to beat him up.” Chris cracked. Emmi stifled a laugh at the wounded expression on Joey’s face.
“Don’t worry, Anna tends to over react. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Just, ah, learn to knock next time, okay?”
“I did but--oh, nevermind.” Joey retreated to an overstuffed chair, sulking.
