*****I'm sorry for the delay everybody! Here's chapter 9, and please send feedback to tell me where you think the story is going, and where you want it to go.  I have my ideas...but hey...the writing is for you guys...well and for me..but yeah. Enjoy!*****

Kathryn walked back to her room, looking like she had won a million dollars.   After she opened the door with her card key, she waltzed into the room and collapsed on the neatly made bed.  Looking up at the creamy white ceiling, she sighed happily.  She had friends.  She was friends with 5 people.   "Friend."  Kathryn was starting to like that word.

Grinning, Kathryn walked up to her mirror and looked in it.  She practiced talking.  'Yeah, my buddy JC said, 'What's up?' the other day.  My friend Lance, he's just the coolest guy."  She smiled as her lips formed the word, "friend".  

"And, Chris?  He's a great friend....just hilarious.  He always makes me laugh.  Joey is just too nice and Justin is awesome.  They're good friends."  

Kathryn may not have known the men for that long, but she had sat and talked with them for roughly an hour and a half.  That's a pretty long time to talk to a stranger, and when Chris was about to step out of the elevator, he had clapped Kathryn on the back and said, "Kathryn, you're gonna be a great friend, I'm glad I know you." Then, flashing his mischevous grin at her, he went to go poke Lance in the side.

After he said that, Kathryn got a warm tingly feeling around her.  For the first time in her life, Kathryn had friends.  She never thought she'd have real friends, but she did.  She heard an indignant "meow!" behind her.   Turning her head around, she saw little gray Mouse peering at her.

She picked up Mouse and twirled around happily.  "Mew?" Mouse looked confused but happy enough with the attention.  Kathryn sat back down on the bed, and cuddled Mouse.  "Hey Mousey boy, did you know I made 5 friends today?"

Mouse looked up at her curiously with his blue eyes and he looked a little hurt.  "Mew!" he whined.  

Kathryn giggled softly. "Don't worry, Mousey, you're still my best buddy."  

Mouse seemed satisfied enough at that and cuddled against Kathryn's soft fleece coat.  

After dangling some string over Mouse's nose for a while, and watching him pounce around happily, she finally gave him the string, and stretched out on the soft bed.  Finally, with a smile on her face, she fell asleep.                                *       *       * Kathryn yawned and stretched, and looked at her watch.  3:30.  Hmmm, soundcheck at 4.  Kathryn stretched again, and stood up quickly.  Wait, 4?   4:00?  As in half an hour would be soundcheck??  Oh boy.  Punctuality was a bitch, but Kathryn swore by it.

With that thought Kathryn leaped up and grabbed her music, changed her fleece coat into a soft pullover sweater, gave Mouse a quick pat on the head, and ran out the door in record time.  

She took the stairs this time, a little wary of the elevators, and ran outside.  She looked around for a taxi, and was puzzled when she didn't see any.  Then, she realized she was in Mississippi.  

She walked inside, and asked for a taxi to be sent to the hotel, and the lady at the desk nodded with a smile.  "Of course ma'am.  You just wait one little second, it'll be here in a jiffy!"

Kathryn nodded and gave a quick thanks before walking outside and sitting on a bench in front of the hotel.  Finally, a bright yellow taxi appeared in front of the hotel.  Kathryn dashed to it, and hopped in.  

The burly man turned around.  "Where to, ma'am?"

"The arena," said Kathryn.  "Quickly, if you can."

The man chuckled and got a funny glint in his eyes.  "Are you sure?" he questioned.

Kathryn looked at him strangely, but shrugged. "Yeah, I guess."

"Get ready," he said with a slight cackle.  Suddenly, the cab took off with a screeching of tires at the curb.  

Kathryn gasped and covered her eyes.  She could feel that they were going very fast.  Daring herself to look out of her window, she saw buildings pass by in a grayish blur, and buried her face in her hands again.

Finally, she felt the taxi stop with a jolt, that sent Kathryn flying into the seat in front of her.  Sitting up and shaking her head, she looked up in a daze at the driver.  With a grin, he asked, "Was that fast enough?"

Kathryn nodded, still a little disoriented.  The only fact she was sure of was that they were in front of the arena.  She handed the taxi driver a ten, and let him keep the 2 dollar change.  Shaking her head again, she stumbled out of the taxi.  Coincidentally, the men of *NSYNC were there, at the exact moment.  Their bus stopped, and out leapt Justin, Chris, and Joey.  Justin dashed into the building, with Chris and Joey at his heels, yelling at him.   Behind them ran 3 huge body guards hollering for the men to slow down.  

Lance and JC stepped out, chatting about something or other.  JC and Lance's bodyguards stayed a bit away from them, talking amongst themselves.  JC spied Kathryn, and looked at her oddly.  He noticed her stumbling and dazed look, and wondered what was wrong.  Nudging Lance, he gestured to her.  Lance turned to JC and gave him the same questioning look.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Lance.

"I dunno," said JC, "let's go see."

So, the two walked over to Kathryn.  "Hey Kathryn!" said Lance cheerfullyWalking in step with her to the inside of the arena, Lance asked, "We noticed you stumbling outta the cab, are you all right?"

Kathryn grinned, starting to feel comfortable around the two men.  Trying to shed her natural hesitancy, she chuckled.  "Well, my taxi driver was a maniac...I asked him to hurry here and he sorta went at around 100 miles an hour..." she trailed off, her eyes widening as she thought of the wild ride.

JC and Lance laughed.  "Unfortunately, that HAS happened to us before." JC said, with a laugh.  Lance shuddered.  "We had this psycho taxi driver guy in Germany take us to some studio, back when we weren't that big.  Speeding through streets in any country, is still pretty scary, huh?  I closed my eyes."

Kathryn giggled.  "Me too!"  She smiled at Lance, and he smiled back.  "Ya know," said JC, "you're pretty cool, Kat."

Kathryn looked up from her music she was looking over.  "Kat?"

JC grinned and nodded.  "Yup, Kat.  Do you mind if I call you that?"

Kathryn blushed a little.  "No...not at all."

Lance threw his arm over her shoulder.  "You're officially part of the gang, now!" he said.  "You got a nickname!!" he exclaimed.

Kathryn grinned, and felt warm.  Officially part of the gang.  With that, they walked inside for the souncheck.                                        *       *       * As time went on, Kathryn spent more time with the guys.  By mid-June, they had eaten at several restaurants together, she had ridden on their bus a few times, and generally they just hung out in hotels when they had the available time.  By now, Kathryn had a special fondness for all the guys.  Honestly, she was closest to Lance and JC, but Chris, Justin and Joey were still her buddies.  Chris never failed to make her laugh.  Joey was hilarious too, and could imitate a billion acting scenes.  

Justin was great for her to compete with.  They had made up a game with the piano.  One of them would play a quick tune, and the other had to imitate it perfectly.  It was like the game, "PIG" with basketball.  Except it was "PIANO."  Every time one of them messed up, they got a P, then an I, then an A...and you get the picture.

Lance was incredibly understanding.  Kathryn swore that he should be a counselor, every time she looked the least bit sad, Lance asked her, "What's wrong, Kat?"  He had a great sense of humor too.  Most people considered him the quiet, shy Mississippi boy. Kathryn couldn't believe this.  Most of the time, he was far from shy and quiet.  But, Kathryn thought he was awesome.

And JC.  JC was probably who she was most compatible with, in a friend sense. They shared so many interests and things in common, they could talk for hours.  Once, at a hotel, Kathryn talked with JC for 4 hours, and neither of them had noticed the time flying by.  They chatted on the bus sometimes, and generally just enjoyed each other's company.   *************** "Hey, Kit-Kat?"  That was JC's new nickname for her.

"Yeah?" she said.  They were in the bus, going to another arena.  Although Marie insisted Kathryn stay on their bus and talk to her more, Kathryn was forced by the guys to go on their bus.  Kathryn promised Marie they'd talk later.  She'd begun to talk to Marie more too, as she was often around the guys, being the hair-stylist for the guys.

Kathryn stopped keeping track of the cities they were in, and just asked Lance when she needed to know.  She was watching Joey and Justin play Mortal Kombat 3.  The two were entranced in the game, and kept muttering playful insults to each other as their players fought.

"Do you ever write songs?" JC asked.

Kathryn looked up.  "I've tried, but I'm better at composing piano music and guitar music rather than write the words.  Why?"

"Oh," said JC looking down. "See, I wrote some...stuff...and I wasn't sure about how it sounds...and I thought you might know..." he said.

Kathryn jumped up from where she was sitting and sat next to him.  "You wrote a song?" she asked.

"I wrote a lot," said JC with a grin.  "Aside from the two on the NSA album, I mean."

"Could I see?" she said, her eyes pleading with him.

"It's really not that good..."

"Please?"

JC couldn't resist.  "Okay."

Kathryn looked over the music carefully.  From each word she could tell JC wrote it.  The songs were different but many had to do with being hurt, and broken promises.  One verse popped out at her.

"Are you ever gonna leave me again? You say you'll stay, You say you'll be with me, I need you baby, Please, just promise me."

"Are these true?" asked Kathryn.

JC nodded with a small frown.  "Yeah, most of them.  Like the one you're reading right now.  That's true."

"Oh." said Kathryn, surprised at the lyrics.  "When did this happen?"

JC looked very hesitant, and didn't look eager to share his experience.

Kathryn hurriedly corrected herself, "I mean, it's not like you have to tell me.  I was just, ya know, wondering.  Um...sorry."

JC shook his head.  His eyes clouded over.  JC thought back about his story.   There was something about Kathryn that made him able to talk to her, to confide in her.  Normally he wouldn't have showed anybody except the guys his songs, but Kathryn was different.  He took a deep breath, and went on with what he was going to say, deciding he had nothing to lose,  "No, don't be sorry.  Well, I haven't a had a whole ton of girlfriends.  Just a few, and I stayed with them a long time.  That song's about...Cassie."  A bitter look crossed his face as he uttered her name.  

"She was my first real girlfriend. Not the kind in like, 7th grade where you go to movies on weekends sometimes, and hold hands and stuff.  We went on dates, talked...you know. We started going out after the guys and I hit it big in Germany.  Things were going great.  I thought I was in love with her.  
Honestly, she was beautiful.  Silky hair, big blue eyes...she could've been a model.  We spent less time together because of the new hectic schedule.   That's when the lies started."  Anger and pain unknowingly filled JC's features.

Kathryn listened, interested in his story.  She leaned forward, becoming curious.

"When I called her, sometimes a guy answered.  She said it was her brother.   She did have a brother who went to college, but he usually lived in the dorm. I was a little suspicious, because, I mean, you hear about these scenarios, but I didn't think it could happen to me.  She loved me, or so she said.  So, I assumed she'd never cheat on me.  When I asked her if she was seeing another guy, she promised me she wasn't.  She promised that she loved me and me only.  But then on her birthday, I was supposed to be out of the country, but I came back and bought her roses and a diamond necklace to bring to her house.  I had a key, of course.  I walked in, and on her couch..." JC swallowed here, and his voice choked a little.  "She and some guy were...you know." said JC, a slight bit embarrassed.

Kathryn's mouth fell open.  "You saw her cheating on you?" she whispered.

JC nodded sadly. "She saw me, and went dead pale.  She threw on her clothes, and chased after me.  She said she loved me, only me.  Yeah, I'm sure.  You can guess where it went from there.  It was...bye bye bye." JC tried to smile at his little joke, but failed.  

"Anyway," he said to an openmouthed Kathryn, "That's where that song came from. Sorry for getting sorta weird over it...it's just that it's still hard to believe."  

Spontaneously, Kathryn leaned over and hugged him.  Kathryn didn't believe she did that at first.  She rubbed his back, and he hugged Kathryn.  Kathryn felt comfortable, and pulled back slowly.  She blushed, but before she could say anything, JC smiled.  "Thanks, Kit-Kat.  I appreciate it."

Watching from a distance were Lance and Chris.  The two men were in the kitchen, drinking sodas.  They watched as JC and Kathryn hugged, then continued talking.  Chris put down his soda, and rubbed his hands together with the same look in his eyes that he had when he made up Mission: Kathryn.   "Ya know," said Chris, "they'd make a great couple."

Lance raised his eyebrows.  "Well, yeah, but I don't think they like each other."

Chris smiled.  "But wouldn't it be great if they went out?  Think about it.   They're perfect for each other.  They love music, their both great at instruments, they talk for hours, they look good together, they like the same sports....and Kathryn's a great friend of ours.  What's not there?"

Lance had to admit those were great reasons.  He did think they'd look great together.   "Well, Kathryn's never gone out with anybody.  That's one little reason, and the number ONE reason, I don't think they like each other."

"Who doesn't like who?" asked Justin, as he and Joey hopped over to where Chris and Lance were talking.  They each grabbed a Coke, and popped it open, and took a swig.

"Kathryn and JC." said Chris.

"Huh??" said Joey.

Chris sighed.  "We're talking about how they should go out."

"Who?" asked Joey, confused.

"KATHRYN AND JC!" said Chris, smacking Joey on the head.

"Oh." said Joey, rubbing his head.  "Yeah, they'd look cute together."

Justin nodded in agreement.  "But they don't like each other, do they?"

Chris grinned.  "That's where we come in.  Look how compatible they are...it's just a matter of right time and place...and right people pushin' them."

The other 3 guys looked over at JC and Kathryn.  "You know," said Lance, "I'm starting to see what you mean."

Joey and Justin nodded vehemently.  "Yeah, me too," said Joey.  "Me three!" said Justin.  

Chris smiled with a mischievous look in his eyes.  "Good, we've been needing a mission.  Operation: JC with Kathryn will be in effect tomorrow."

But if only Chris knew what would be in the way, he'd never have uttered that sentence.

Chapt 10
Index