Kathryn froze in shock, along with everybody else in the elevator. For a minute the entire elevator was encompassed in a silence that was so still you could hear a pin drop. Suddenly 4 voices were all heard at once.
"Uhh, isn't there a "Help" button?" said Chris in vain, as nobody was listening. "Guys? Guys??? Where are the buttons?"
This wasn't happening, Kathryn told herself silently. She was NOT stuck in an elevator...in the dark...with the 5 guys she had been getting away from. Kathryn took a deep breath. Maybe it was all a wierd, wierd dream. She looked upwards, in direction of the heavens, and was met with pure darkness.
"God had a twisted sense of humor today," she muttered darkly to herself, stepping out of character for a moment, causing JC who was right next to her to chuckle silently.
Ms.Kathryn wasn't Ms.Perfect at least, he thought, with a small grin and raise of one eyebrow.
Although Kathryn wished she weren't in the situation at hand, indeed she was...and not without a great deal of commotion.
Justin was muttering something that sounded a great deal like, "Mike's gonna kill me. I went out without a bodyguard and got stuck in an elevator. He's gonna keep saying that if he was here this wouldn't have happened. Dumb, dumb elevator. Dumb, dumb Lance and Joey. Dumb, dumb elevator." He kept repeating this as he stared at the roughly carpeted floor.
Chris was where Kathryn assumed the buttons were. He was feeling them, trying to find the "Help" button. He kept muttering, "Help button. Help button. Where are you? Help button..."
JC was just sitting, humming a song. She recognized it as "No Strings Attached". Kathryn shivered. How adequate. There better be strings attached at the top of this elevator or else they'd be falling...she shook her head, ridding herself of the horrid thought. Meanwhile, Joey and Lance weren't on the best of terms.
"You moron!" yelled Joey to Lance angrily. "You, got us stuck, in an elevator! But you couldn't just get us stuck in an elevator. Oh no. We're stuck between floors....IN THE DARK! WITH 5 OTHER PEOPLE!"
"I'm the moron?!" he said indignantly. "You're the one who had to get to the interview in a rush for some crazy reason. You know perfectly well it's going to be another interview being asked what our favorite food is, and what we like in a girl!"
"Yeah, well!" sputtered Joey. "Maybe I just like to be on time!" cried Joey.
"Uh huh." said Lance sarcastically. "That's why you picked me up 2 hours late for that blind date and the girl was pissed off all night and ended up pouring a burning hot mocha espresso all over me, that's why you always take the longest time to get ready, that's why you said being late shows how smart you are to not forget things, that's why..." Lance was going to continue, but Joey interrupted sullenly,
"Fine, fine. But still!"
"So, the fact of the matter is," said Lance in a final voice, "I was right, and you were wrong. All right?"
Joey heard this with shock. No way was he going to lose a fight with Mississippi even if he WAS wrong! "Nooo, not all right! Why'd you have to be some sorta gentlemen, eh?! Kathryn seemed fine with us going downstairs before her!" Joey retorted.
Lance was about to open his mouth and fire back, but looked in the direction of Kathryn instead, along with everyone else, because by now, everyone was listening. Hey, it was a small space, how could everyone else not eavesdrop?
Kathryn could feel the eyes around and on her. "Wow." said Lance, surprised, being the first to speak. "We were really rude just now, Kathryn. Uh, your here. We kinda forgot! Ha, ha." Lance attempted to chuckle.
Kathryn smiled wanly, although nobody could see her. "Yup. I'm here!" She wished all the attention would get off of her.
"We're really sorry, Kathryn, that you're stuck in an elevator because of us." said Joey in a sincere voice. The rest of the men murmered along their apologies. Kathryn nodded and blushed, saying it was all right. She wished fervently that the attention would avert from her. Miraculously, it switched to Chris, for the time being.
"YES! I FOUND IT!" Chris had found the shape of the help button. Eagerly he slammed in the button. A shrill BEEP was heard throughout the elevator. Justin groaned and covered his ears. It continued, annoyingly.
"MAKE IT STOP!" wailed Justin in a pathetic voice.
"Oh wait." said Chris. "I think it's the elevator phone. I didn't see that earlier...hehe, but I knew that." He groped around on the wall, eventually finding the phone. He picked it up, ending the shrill noise. Justin gave a content sigh and uncovered his ears.
"Hello?" said Chris.
"Hello sir. We've recieved a message on our computer from the elvator. Someone must've pressed the "Help" button! Is there a problem with the elevator?" the almost mechanical voice said cheerfully on the line.
"Is there a problem?" said Chris. "Well, we're stuck between floors, IN THE DARK, in an elevator, ma'am." Chris tried his hardest not to be irritated, but if he pressed the Help button anyone with common sense could see there was a problem.
"Is that all, sir? We'll get someone there right away. May I have your room number?" she inquired sweetly. The girl at the desk poised her pen in her hand to write it down. It was a rule that when things like this occurred the managers of the hotel would send them an apology, and chocolate or something. The girl waited patiently.
Chris responded, "Number 101. Kirkpatrick and Fatone sharing a room?"
The mechanical sound left the girl's voice as she let out a high-pitched squeal. "Kirkpatrick?? FATONE? Oh my GOD! You're *NSYNC!!! Stuck in an elevator?! Who else is there?!"
Chris strained his eyes and somewhat looked at the others. He could see outlines the other men but not their expressions. He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. "All of us and our pianist." he said nonanchalantly.
The girl squealed again. "OOO! Someone will be there in just a moment!" she said. "Oh wow, I'm not supposed to say this, but I totally love Justin, and JC is totally hot, and I totally LOVE Digital Get Down! Oh, my, God! How did he think of that song? And Chris, you are such a cutie! And Joey and La...." the girl was going to continue, but Chris interuppted her worshipful babble.
"Oh wow. Look at the time! I'd just love to chat, but I can't! We'll see you, stay *NSYNC!" he said, hanging up the phone hurriedly.
"Well." said Chris. "That was interesting." For a minute everyone just sat in the darkness, looking around. The lights flickered just then, and slowly a dim, hazy light was cast around the elevator. Eventually it turned brighter, and brighter, almost reaching it's clearness of before, but not quite.
A voice was heard from above, it seemed. "This is hotel mantainnence! Everything all right? Do ya'll have light?" said a man.
JC spoke up, "Yes, we just got it!" he shouted.
"Okay! Glad I can hear ya!" said the man. "Don't you worry! We're really, terribly sorry about this, but don't worry! We'll be having ya'll out in no time!"
Everyone, including Kathryn, heaved a sigh of relief.
The man continued cheerfully. "Probably around an hour or maybe an hour and a half at most! We have to get a mechanic! Something strange happened to the mechanism! Probably some durn kids, playing around!"
The men glared at Lance and Joey. They held up their in defense. "What?!" they said in unison.
"Again, we're sorry. Ya might wanna get comfy, it's gonna be a little bit!" said the man with a chuckle, and with that, the voice was finished.
Everyone slumped to the ground. JC was the first to speak. Looking at the irritated faces around him, he tried to be cheerful. "Well then! That's pretty interesting, I don't think this has ever happened to us before! It's okay, look at it as an oppurtunity! It's a rare expe..."
A sullen Justin cut JC off. "Jace?"
"Yeah?"
"Shutup."
"Oh." said JC, looking at his hands, a bit crestfallen.
"WELL," said Chris gleefully with a sly look in his eyes, "This is great!"
Lance, Joey, Justin, JC, and Kathryn all looked at him with disbelief in their eyes.
"Maybe I'm just hearing things, but I heard you say great, right?" said Joey with a raised eyebrow.
"Yup!" said Chris happily. "We can use this time to get to know Kathryn better!" Chris grinned widely looking directly at the girl in question. "Right, Kathryn?"
"Uh, yeah." said Kathryn helplessly.
The truth was, Kathryn was cornered. In truth, she was nervous and a little irritated. Here she was, making yet another great escape from the guys, and BAM, this time, she couldn't run away. She was in a small elevator with the guys for heaven's sake! Kathryn also felt a bit of fear. What if they made fun of her? What if they called her names? What if they didn't like her and were playing a trick on her? What if...what if...what if she became friends with them?
Everyone was sitting, looking around at each other, but mostly staring at Kathryn. Kathryn just tapped her fingers on her knees, and smiled weakly at everybody.
Chris decided to ask the question that had been burning him for a while now. "Kathryn, what is up? I mean, every time you're near us, you run away! Do you have something against us or something?" asked Chris, curiousity trimming his voice. The other men murmered an agreement and looked at Kathryn questioningly.
"No!" said Kathryn loudly, blushing at the startled looks on their faces. She lowered her voice a little. "No, of course I don't have anything against you!"
"Then how come you always run away from us??" questioned Justin.
"Um....I....you see...really, you're great people.It's kinda hard to...well..."stammered Kathryn, unsure of what to say. Should she just spill it? Say what they wanted to hear, or tell the truth? Make up a story, or not say anything?
Lance studied her carefully and noticed her nervous expression. "Kathryn, I know you don't know us well. But I hope you know that we'd never laugh at you or make fun of you. If you don't want to tell us anything, you don't have to, but we want to get to know you." said Lance after a moment.
JC spoke up. "We want you as a friend. That's it."
As Kathryn heard these words she felt something inside her feel warmer. Friend. They said it. They wanted her, Kathryn Alender as a friend. Kathryn felt like giggling. It wasn't a trick, a joke, they weren't mean people. All they wanted was friendship. Then Kathryn's friendless side kicked in. They'd probably forget her after a day or two, or not talk after the tour, right? What if she wasn't a good enough friend? Suppose they didn't really like her? Kathryn tried to shake away these thoughts. Sternly, she told herself, she'd never know if she didn't try, right?
Before Kathryn could chicken out on herself, she decided to go with the truth, no matter how little she knew these people. If they wanted a friendship, they were going to get one.
Kathryn took a deep breath. "You might wanna get a little comfortable, because you're going to be listening for a little bit..." said Kathryn with a grin.
* * * "...and so I was a little scared to become friends with you all." finished Kathryn.
The five men who were listening intently nodded their heads at this, and looked shocked.
"So, you never had any real friends?" said Justin, stunned.
Kathryn lowered her head bashfully, "No."
"Wow." said Lance, shocked. How terrible, he thought, it must be not to have any friends. Lance had always been very social when he was little, and everyone had been like family so he couldn't imagine not having any friends, and he couldn't imagine not caring to have friends.
JC was sitting, listening intently. He cut off Lance, who was about to say something. "So, you were really dedicated to achieving your goal. But do you care about having friends NOW?" he asked, looking at her intently.
Kathryn responded hesitantly. "I've thought about that question for a while. And, well, yeah. I do. I don't want to be a loner, I don't want to be alone. I don't want to be some sorta hermit, or un-social. I like being around people, so don't get me wrong. I do, want to have friends."
Kathryn thought about her statement, and smiled a little at how different it was from something she said to a girl in elementary school.
****************************************** Flashback*******************************************
"Do you want to come play with me over there on the swing set?" said the Diana, a little pig-tailed girl, interrupting a quietly reading Kathryn.
Kathryn looked up over her book at the girl. "I'm kinda busy..." said Kathryn a little slowly, seemingly entranced in her book.
Diana said, "Are you sure? You're always reading. How come you don't want to play with anybody, ever?" Diana cocked her head and looked at Kathryn, confused. As far as Diana was concerned, nothing was better than playing on the swingset.
Kathryn closed her book for a minute, marking her page. The cover said, "Guide To Becoming A Great Musician".
"I would, but I'm gonna become a pianist when I grow up, and graduate from the best college! If I hurry and don't play on the swingset, I can do it really fast. I wanna be famous, and my mommy and daddy say that it's never too early to start."
"Huh??" said Diana, clueless at what she was saying.
"Sorry Diana, but I don't have time for friends." finished Kathryn confidently.
Diana looked crestfallen. "Oh. Uh, all right. I'll just go play with Sarah." said Diana, turning around and walking a little dejectedly off to fetch "Sarah" to go play.
Kathryn looked after her, and felt bad, but tried to brush it off, and shrugged. She opened her book and continued reading. It's not like she needed friends to succeed anyway.
**************************************End of flashback***************************************
Chris stood up, and gestured to all the others to stand up, including Kathryn. Everyone looked at Chris questionably.
Chris grinned widely at Kathryn's confused expression. The rest of the men looked confused too. "Don't worry, we're not gonna bite." joked Chris to Kathryn.
Kathryn chuckled quietly.
Chris opened his mouth, and spoke. "Kathryn, after hearing you, I've decided to speak for all of us, when I ask you one question."
Kathryn, puzzled, nodded.
"Formally, I'm asking you right now, Kathryn, would you like to be our friend? Because we sure as heck want you as our friend!" said Chris, with a huge smile.
JC, taking his cue, continued. "We want to get to know you, Kathryn."
Lance went on. "You seem pretty cool, and we already like you."
Joey said, "We promise to be the best friends you'll ever had..."
Justin finished, "So, Kathryn, will you do us the honor of being our buddy?"
Kathryn couldn't keep the bright smile from her face. She felt giddy and happy all over. Maybe Nana was right. Maybe she should start to make friends, take her chances. Kathryn knew her answer even as she was thinking to herself. She took a deep breath. "Of course, I will." she said with a giant grin crossing her face.
The rest of the men cheered and gave her high-fives. "Welcome to the club, Kathryn." said Chris, slapping her on the back.
"Welcome to the club." whispered Kathryn to herself, with a smile.
* * *
The men and Kathryn had been sitting on the floor, chatting away about everything really. They were arguing, agreeing, talking, laughing, and just having a generally good time. Kathryn was trying her hardest to open up and be friendly. Apparently it was working. She couldn't deny the fact that she was enjoying herself around these guys. They were funnny, interesting, charming and overall cool to hang around with.
Just as Kathryn was going to answer back at JC at how Italian food could be better than Chinese food, all 6 people in the elevator were startled by a cranking noise.
The metal grating noise continued, and they could feel the elevator moving downwards. Finally, it stopped, on the 2nd floor. Slowly, and smoothly the doors opened. Standing there, were all the men's bodyguards, and a handful of screaming fans.
"Oh boy." muttered Justin.
Then, everything seemed to happen in a blur. The fans were pushed away, Mike was lecturing the guys, the other bodyguards were holding back a few obsessed fans, girls were asking who Kathryn was, and Kathryn was just standing there.
Kathryn looked at the guys, when all the girls were gone, and looked at her watch. It showed that it was 3:00. Kathryn yawned, and realized she was tired after being in that elevator for so long. She tapped Lance on the shoulder.
"Huh?" he said, turning around. "Oh, hey Kathryn, what'cha need?" asked Lance with a friendly tone.
"I just wanted to let you know that I'm going to be heading to my room." said Kathryn, with a smile.
"Okay, I'll tell the guys. We'll see you at sound-check." Lance said.
"All right, see you there." said Kathryn with a smile, and she turned around and walked away to her room.
Finally, Mike stopped talking to Justin and gave him a stern glance to which Justin rolled his eyes to, but then smiled cheesily when Mike raised an eyebrow at him. "You guys need to get to your interview, they can still take you, but ya gotta hurry." said Mike, Justin's bodyguard, as he pressed the button for the elevator.
"Uh, Mike?" asked Lance.
"Yeah?" said Mike, watching the elevator ding, and the doors open.
"We'll take the stairs."