***I don't know the tour dates, so these are going to be very, very wrong! Please, don't email me and tell me what the real dates are....k? Just go with the flow...LOL! Enjoy the chapter! ***
Chris's expression contained amusement and confusion. His hand was still outstretched and his other arm shifted a drooling Busta around. "So, how ya' doin'? Are you okay? I didn't hit you too hard did, I?" asked Chris, sounding concerned.
As Kathryn was about to stutter out a "no", a younger man walking towards them yelled out, "C'mon Chris! Don't scare off the tour people before the tour starts! I mean, they'll probably leave once they get to know you, but let's keep 'em as long as we can!" said the man, laughing after what he said, obviously finding it hilarious.
Chris scowled good-naturedly at the man and said, in a perfect imitation of the man, "Actually Justin, you should be worrying about scarin' off crew members! I mean, it's not like they'll stay after they find out how much room your hair takes up on stage!" Chris chuckled after his comment with a satisfied grin.
Justin patted his hair with a frown, but then grinned cheesily at Chris. "My hair rules." Justin remembered that Kathryn was standing right there, and stuck out his hand jovially. "So, pretty lady, what's your name?" he said, with a friendly smile.
Kathryn backed away slowly, mumbling something about checking if she could go onto the bus. She turned on her heel and walked quickly toward her bus, away from Chris and Justin. Obviously, she was trying to get away from them.
Justin scratched his head. Chris shrugged. "Was it something I said?" asked Justin, confused. Nothing like that had ever happened to the two of them before.
"I dunno." said Chris. "She said she's gonna be our pianist for the tour. Was it just me, or did she look kind of scared of us?" asked Chris staring after her retreating form.
"Yeah, she did...what's up with that? Ya' think she's snobby? Did you say something weird to her?? I don't think she likes us." said Justin, cocking his head, casting his confused eyes behind her.
"Nahhh, I think she's just shy." argued Chris.
Justin was about to argue back, but was interrupted by a sharp bark from Busta. The two men looked down at the drooling pug who licked Chris, and remembered the goodbyes they had to make to their family, friends, and everyone. Shrugging, the two men packed the topic of Kathryn in their mind for later.
Kathryn could her face burning up, and bounded onto the bus as she reached it, feeling the stares of the two men behind her. After setting Mouse down to allow him to explore, Kathryn sat down on a chair by a table and sighed. That certainly wasn't how she intended to meet the men of *N Sync. She assumed that they would meet at a soundcheck and become accquaintances for the entire tour.
The poor girl certainly felt embarrassed. She had sounded a little bit snobby while introducing herself, and clueless about who Chris was. But she HAD been a bit dizzy after being knocked into. Then, she sounded like an idiot after stammering to Chris. After that, Justin and Chris must've assumed she was completely crazy when she turned and ran. What else was she supposed to do, though? She'd never been one to deal with embarrassment...she had kept to herself so much, nobody really said anything TO embarrass her.
Kathryn's face slowly heated up as she relived her moment as a complete idiot. "I'm not exactly a bright person, am I?" muttered Kathryn to nobody in particular.
"I'm sure you are, honey." spoke up a voice near Kathryn. Kathryn's head shot up in confusion. She looked around nervously, and saw an elderly woman sitting on the bunk behind her. She looked kind, and...grandmother-ish. Kathryn had never had the opportunity to get to know her grandparents, but this lady looked very, well, grandma-like.
"My, my manners seem to have gotten away from me. Hi, dear, I'm Marie, the hair-stylist for the boys." said Marie happily, the boys, meaning *N Sync. I'm also their mom away from home sometimes. You know, dear, boys certainly can get a little rowdy sometimes...but I can usually keep them in check." said Marie chuckling a little, her love for the members of *N Sync, showing in her eyes. "And, dear, may I ask who you are?" inquired Marie curiously and politely.
"Oh! I'm Kathryn Alender, I'm the pianist for the tour. It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs....?" trailed off Kathryn realizing, she didn't know this lady's last name.
"Honey, everyone's family on this tour, you can just call me Marie."
"Okay, Mrs....uhh, Marie." said Kathryn, finding it a little difficult to call this elderly lady she didn't know by her first name.
"So, dear, why do you think you're not very bright? Care to talk about it?" asked Marie.
"Really, it's nothing, I'm just talking to myself, you know." said Kathryn feeling a bit foolish.
"Yes, we all have those moments." agreed Marie, nodding her head understandingly. Kathryn gave her a small smile. Suddenly, Marie's cell phone began to ring, and she gave Kathryn an apologizing smile. "We must talk later, dear. Excuse me." said Marie, and she walked over to the back of the bus, talking to whoever was on the other end cheerfully.
Kathryn was thankful for the interruption. She tended to be withdrawn around strangers. Anyone who had seen Kathryn with Nana would be absolutely shocked at the radical personality change she had with people she didn't know very well. It was almost like she was a different person.
Kathryn looked to the front of the bus. There was two white papers tacked up onto the wall. The first one listed the people on the bus. There was Kathryn, Marie, Alison (a make-up artist) and a few clothes designers. Surprisingly, there wasn't a great many women on the tour bus. Many bunks were empty. Kathryn decided it was probably for guests or something when they came, or there just weren't too many women on the tour. The second sheet of paper listed all the tour stops and the dates of the stops.
Kathryn scooped up Mouse, who was batting his paw at the strap of someone's bag hanging down from the bunk, and put him on her bed, where she occupied him with a piece of string she brought. She thought about their next stop, Laurel, Mississippi, which would be tonight. How would she do? Would she be prepared enough? What if she messed up? What if she did amazing? Thoughts of the tour chased each other around in her head, and she fell into a restless sleep.
(Meanwhile...)
"Wow." said Lance with a sigh, leaning back in the comfy chair he was sitting in. "Another tour." A small smile graced his face. The bus was just leaving the parking lot of the studio.
JC nodded. "Yeah, man. I can't wait to get out there and sing, and feel the energy....man. This is awesome. Back to the routine of soundchecks and singing, dancing for huge crowds....bigger than ever this time." JC's face lit up as he spoke, thinking of their past tour and the good predictions for their present tour.
"Yeah! YEAH!!! THIS IS GONNA BE CRAZY!!!!" screamed Chris jumping around the small dining area of the bus.
Justin grinned and said, "Yeah, kinda like you."
"You don't wanna mess with me, FRO-BOY!" said Chris in a menacing tone, mockingly walking towards him.
"Ooh, shaking in my sneakers, shorty. I'd rather have a fro than a zillion BRAIDS on the top of my head!!!" said Justin, recalling Chris's old hairstyle and laughing wildly.
"You're asking for it." said Chris before tackling Justin and wrestling with him playfully. After everyone had a laugh, the two broke apart.
"Maybe that'll teach you to respect your elders!" said Chris puffing out his chest, and flexing his muscles.
"You're gonna scare off our crew, Chris." said JC with a grinning shake of the head.
Suddenly, Chris and Justin recalled their encounter with Kathryn earlier in the day and started talking about her. "Hey! We met this girl today, Kathryn, I think? Anyway, I smashed into her, 'cuz I was chasing Busta, and she was chasing this little cat..." said Chris, but was then interrupted by Justin.
"Man! She was hot! And Chris said she's gonna be our pianist for the tour!" he said eagerly.
"How hot?" asked Joey grinning. "Like, a 10?" he asked.
"Definitely!" said Justin.
"Anyway..." continued Chris, pausing to glare at Justin and Joey for the interruption, "We were gonna talk to her, but she..uh..ran away to her bus. She looked scared." said Chris.
"Yeah." said Justin. "She looked weirded out. I think she just didn't like us or something. Or maybe she was totally shocked to see us and couldn't speak."
"Whatever Curly!" said Chris. "She was obviously shy or something!"
"Was not!"
"Was too!"
"Was not!"
"Was..."
"GUYS!!!" interrupted JC. "We're all gonna see her tomorrow at sound-check if she really is the pianist. So we can talk about it then. Anyway, I kinda wanna sleep. I'm really sleepy." JC punctuated his sentence with a yawn, as if to prove his point.
Joey stared at him. "This is a new record. 15 minutes on the tour bus, and he's already hitting the bunks!!!" he exclaimed.
"Yeah, yeah." said JC, rolling his eyes. "If ya'll wanna play my Dreamcast I brought it in my bag. It's in the silver one." And with that he flopped on his bunk, and closed his eyes. Within minutes, his rhythmic breathing could be heard through the bus.
The remaining 4 men looked at each other for a moment. The silence was broken quickly. "I CALL IT FIRST!" shouted Chris scrambling off his seat, and the men grabbed the Dreamcast and raced to the back of the bus.