Special Birthday Wishes For Cassie!!!

"'Night Cassie!" her friends called as they piled into the cars with their parents. "Happy Birthday again!"

"Thanks!" she yelled back as she stood in the doorway of her house. After the final car pulled off, she turned and went back into her house, finally ready for some rest. "That was one wild party," she grinned. Most of her schoolmates had come over for her party celebrating her 14^th birthday, and from the instant the first person arrived, the party was hyped.

"You goin' to bed now, Cass?" her dad asked as he saw her making her way up the stairs.

"Definitely," she replied. "I'm beat."

"You should be," her mom chimed in. "I don't think you stopped dancing for one second." Her parents embraced her in a big hug and gave her a kiss. "Sweet dreams," her dad called as she trudged wearily into her room.

Cassie was so tired that she didn't even take the time to change into her pajamas; she just plopped onto her bed and started to drift off to sleep. Before she closed her eyes completely, she glanced at her calendar on the wall. "Yeah," she grinned, "I'm finally fourteen, and I just threw the party of the century to prove it. This is one Super Saturday I'll definitely never forget." She added as an afterthought, "Even though I technically don't turn fourteen 'til Monday." With that, she drifted off to sleep, determined to get her well-deserved rest.

The next morning, Cassie woke up to someone calling her name, only it wasn't the voice of her mother, father, or sister. "Cassie," the voice kept calling, growing more anxious by the second.

Cassie moaned and then turned over on her stomach, burying her face in her pillow. "Close the blinds," she commanded, "the sun's entirely too bright this morning."

"No," the voice said. "I gotta get you up quick so we can get our day started. I'm on a tight schedule."

Cassie cracked one eye open, then screamed fearfully as the figure, which was looking more and more like a man, came into focus. The figure also screamed, but only for comic relief. He wanted to make fun of Cassie, whom he thought was screaming because of who he was, but he was quite wrong. Anyone would scream after waking up and realizing that a man is kneeling next to their bed watching them as they sleep. Screaming after realizing who he was came directly after that.

"Oh my God!" Cassie screamed again. "Oh my… oh… oh my…" The man arched an eyebrow and then smiled at her as she continued to go into shock. "What-- Why--" she started, then took a deep breath and then asked her crucial questions. "What are you doing here?" she asked. But before he could answer, she also asked, "Why are you here?"

The man laughed and said, "Aren't those actually the same questions, only in a different form? To answer both of them, I'm here because a friend told me that it was your birthday and you would really appreciate it if something special happened during that time."

"I had a party," Cassie shrugged. "That's pretty special."

"You want me to leave or not?" the man joked, getting to his feet.

Cassie shook her head forcefully. "No!" she exclaimed, sitting up.

"Okay," he said, walking towards her door. "Get some clothes on and stuff, and meet me downstairs. We have an action-packed day today." With that, he walked out, leaving Cassie alone with her thoughts.

"I can't believe it," she whispered to herself. "Christopher Alan Kirkpatrick was just in my room. He was less than an inch from my bed. He actually touched my bed. If he had been an inch closer to my bed, he would have been in my bed. Oh my God!" she screamed again. She quickly jumped up and ran to her bathroom to shower.

Afterwards, she was sitting in her room debating what to wear. She wanted to look nice for Chris, but on the other hand, she wanted to be comfortable. Still, she didn't want to look like a little kid, so she figured she'd wear something seductive. Just then, she remembered some advice that her friend Tammy gave her. "'Cassie' rhymes better with 'classy', not 'trashy'," Tammy laughed. "Remember that and you can never go wrong." Cassie shrugged and decided to be comfortable, throwing on some designer jeans and a cute shirt. She ran downstairs screaming, "Mom! You'll never guess who's here!"

As she rounded the corner and entered the family room, she saw her mom lounged on a couch opposite Chris. "Is it Chris from 'NSync?" her mom said with a smirk.

"Whatever," Cassie rolled her eyes playfully. She looked at Chris. "Ready to go?"

Chris nodded. "You know it. Let's hit the fast life." He and Cassie's mom laughed as he got to his feet.

"So," Cassie's mom said in mock stern, "what time will you have my baby back?"

"Mom!" Cassie cried, ready to go.

"Don’t worry ma'am," Chris tried to keep a straight face, "I'll have her home by nine." As he walked out of the room he called over his shoulder, "A.M.!" When he and Cassie reached the front door, Chris noticed that Cassie had her shirt on backwards. "Poor kid," he thought to himself, "she must've thrown her clothes on in record time." He opened his mouth to tell her that her shirt wasn't on correctly, then stopped himself, wondering if perhaps that might embarrass her. He decided that it would and did the next best thing. "Hey Cassie," he asked, as she started to open the door, "where's your bathroom?"

"Up the stairs and to the left," she answered. She pouted, "Don't tell me you have to go already!"

Chris shrugged, his trademark grin plastered to his face. He could tell that he was gonna like hanging out with her already. "It's better than waiting 'til I get on the road, only to have to hear you say, 'Why didn't you go before we left?'." He handed her his keys saying, "Wait for me in the car, okay?"

"The car?" Cassie repeated, perplexed. "But you don't have a car."

"I know," Chris grinned, "I rented one today just for us. Isn't that cool?!" he finished in a yell as he bounded up the stairs. Once he got to the bathroom, Chris smiled at his reflection in the mirror, and took off his t-shirt, only to purposely put it on again backwards. "Just in case," he said to himself as he walked out.

Once he got into the car and started driving down the road, Cassie was able to fully relax. She still couldn't quite believe that she was spending the day with her favorite 'NSyncer, and knew that any second now she was gonna wake up. "Can we listen to some music?" Cassie asked Chris.

"Sure," he shrugged, turning on the radio. 'NSync's new single, "It's Gonna Be Me" was playing and Chris rolled his eyes, switching the dial to a hip-hop station.

"What'd you do that for?" Cassie asked with a laugh.

"We need some driving music," Chris replied, "and that ain't drivin' music. That's dancing music."

"So where are we headed to first?" Cassie wanted to know after a short silence.

"D.C.," he answered with a grin. "There's gonna be this kick ass outside concert that I want you to escort me to."

"Oh?" Cassie was interested in being his 'escort'. "Who's playing?"

"The Backstreet Boys," Chris answered, the edges of his mouth curving up ever so slightly.

"Uh-uh," Cassie shook her head stubbornly. "I don't wanna see no BSB. Definitely not."

"C'mon, Cass!" he whined, taking his brown eyes briefly off the road and locking them hers. "Think of all the comedic opportunities we're gonna have. You know I'm gonna clown those guys hard. It's gonna be a blast, trust me."

"Okay," she blushed slightly, looking out the window. "He just gets cuter by the second," she thought to herself. In a louder voice she asked, "And why are the Backstreet Boys of all people doing an outside concert like… like…"

"Like they're actually not the big superstars people play them up to be?" Chris offered. He continued, "Well, it's this promotional thing Jive is makin' 'em do for the release of their third album. One of the execs from Jive couldn't go so he happened to give me his two tickets. So I'm taking you."

Cassie smiled. "I still can't believe this is all happening. How'd you know it was my birthday? And how'd you know where I lived?"

"I told you earlier," he chuckled, "a friend told me."

"What friend?" Cassie persisted.

"A mutual friend," he said finally, pressing his foot on the gas as they jumped onto the interstate.

"Who do I know that knows you?" she asked, fastening her seatbelt.

Chris glanced at her and said, "Good idea," fastening his own. "Trust me, you know someone who knows me, okay? And she told me about you and asked if I could come out on my one day off, mind you, to wish you a happy birthday. So I did."

Cassie sat back into the plush leather seat and wondered who the mystery person could be. Finally, she remembered. "Hey," she asked suspiciously, "do you know a girl named Tammy?"

"Tammy?" Chris frowned.

"Well, of course that's not her real name, and I doubt she would let you call her that," Cassie added, "but you might know her."

Chris cleared his throat. "Yeah, I know a girl that me and the guys call 'T' or 'Tam'…"

"Did she set this all up?" she glared at him with a small smile.

"Yeah," Chris answered finally, "but she didn't want you to know it was her. I suck at keeping secrets."

"No," she argued, "I'm just smart like that. So you do know Tammy?"

"You could say that," Chris said with a mysterious smile.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Please. Either you know her or you don't."

"I know her," he said, being careful not to look at Cassie.

"How?"

"I just do, that's all," Chris shrugged.

"Just tell me!" Cassie begged. "She's my friend!"

"If I do," he sighed, "you'll know something about her that she obviously doesn’t want you to know. So I'll just say that I know her, she's my friend, and I'll leave it at that. Now," he continued, "how does it feel to be fourteen?"

"No different than when I was thirteen," she shrugged. "I hate being a kid."

"What?" Chris looked at her again, making shivers go up and down her spine. "I loved being fourteen. I was weird and geeky and couldn't get a girl if my life depended on it, but ya know what? I was sooo happy and carefree, dude."

"That makes one of us," Cassie made a face as she thought about how badly she wanted to be grown up so maybe Chris would like her. "I wish I was grown. I mean, I already look like I can pass for eighteen, why do I have to be a fourteen year old little kid?"

"Well," he said, glancing at Cassie, "you do look older than fourteen," causing her to grin widely at his comment. But he continued, serious for once, "You shouldn't want to grow up too fast. Life is so short, why cut four years off of it? When you get to be my age, you're gonna want 'em back. Trust me."

Cassie nodded. "My friend Tammy," she watched his face for any reaction to their "mutual friend's" name, but got none, "just turned eighteen this year. She told me that once you become an adult, all you do is wish for the times when you were a kid and things were so much simpler."

"She's a smart girl," was all Chris would say. Finally, they got off the interstate and drove into the parking lot of the city park. In the distance, the two could see a stage set up and people gathered around it. "Here we are," Chris said. He looked at Cassie and sent her a smirk that made her catch her breath. "You ready?" he asked.

All Cassie could do was nod in response, then watch as he got out of the car, went around to her side, and opened up her door for her. "God bless him," she sighed as he held out his hand to hers. She grabbed it and he gently helped her out of the car. "This can't be happening," Cassie thought to herself as a huge grin spread across her face and wouldn't leave. But as she saw Chris open the trunk of his car, she realized that it was in fact happening.

After Chris got out the items he needed, he walked back up to Cassie. "For protection," he laughed, putting on a baseball cap and some dark shades. He then pulled out another baseball cap and put it on Cassie's head, then placed a pair of dark sunglasses on her face. "For protection," he repeated, as Cassie swooned under his touch, still unable to believe the scene in front of her.

"We look like the 'Men In Black'," Chris commented as they walked towards the stage. "Even though I'm a 'Man That's White' and you're a 'Girl That's Black'." He and Cassie laughed loudly at his play on words.

Once they got to the back of the crowd, the Backstreet Boys came out, and the crowd immediately erupted into screams. "Aww yeah!" Chris laughed. "Let the games begin!"

As the group started it's song and dance routine, Chris sent Cassie a mischievous smirk and started backin' his thang up. As Cassie covered her mouth, not wanting to laugh to hard, he began to execute to seriously ghetto dance moves, including pelvic thrusts. Just when Cassie thought she was gonna die laughing, Chris began to pantomime smacking somebody's butt in time with the music.

"Would you stop?" Cassie laughed, tears streaming down her face. "People are starting to look at us!"

"Girl, I don't care!" he replied in a ghetto-girl accent. He then grabbed her elbow and started to lead her up to the front of the stage. "'Scuse me," he called as he pushed people out of the way, "lost little girl coming through. We gotta get her back to her mommy."

"Chris!" Cassie hissed, embarrassed.

When they got to the front, Chris grinned at her. "Sorry, but I had to use you for a second. You don't mind, do ya?"

"Mind?" she repeated. "When you use me? No way," she laughed. After they went back to watching the concert, Chris continued to act a fool, only this time he fulfilled his earlier promise of clowning the guys. "Look at his hairline," Chris pointed at A.J. "He's younger than me, yet he looks like a candidate for the "Hair Club For Men"."

"Stop it!" Cassie laughed. "That's mean."

"Yeah, I know," Chris shrugged. "I take that back. A.J.'s alright, 'cept he still hates the fact that his fiancée used to date one of the guys."

"Oh yeah," Cassie said, interested. "Which one was it?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," he teased, going back to the show. He sent a feminine wave and kiss to Howie, who hesitantly waved back. "This is gonna be fun," he said, pulling Cassie closer. "Watch this." As Cassie recovered from the thrill of Chris touching her yet again, she looked up just in time to see Chris lick his index and thumb, then pretend to massage his nipple.

"Oh my God!" Cassie screamed in laughter. "You are so sick!"

"Yeah," Chris laughed as the guys glanced at him in disgust, "but this is too fun!" He smiled at her and whispered in her ear, "I promise I'll calm down, though. Some of them are actually pretty cool guys, ya know?" The concert continued, and three hours later, the Backstreet Boys started their final song. "Bout time," Cassie said, glancing at her watch, which read four p.m.

As the boys launched into "The One", their last song of the day, Chris began to do some lightning fast pelvic thrusts as Brian shook his head slightly and grinned. Right at the end of the song, Chris took off his sunglasses and hat, revealing who he really was, and enjoying the look of shock on the boys' faces. As their jaws continued to stay dropped, Chris laughed and politely waved, walking off with his arm linked through Cassie's.

"Where to now?" Chris asked later as he and Cassie drove off towards the city.

"I wanna see a movie," she grinned.

Chris smiled back and said, "No problem. Point me in the direction, and I'm there." Cassie gave him directions to the theatre, and the two walked up to the ticket booth. "Whaddya wanna see?" Chris asked, staring up at all the selections.

"That one," Cassie pointed.

"Alrighty, then." Chris looked at the ticket vendor from behind his dark shades and said, "Two for 'Love and Basketball', please."

"Is she eighteen?" the girl asked in a bored tone of voice.

"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "Don't I look it?"

"Yeah," the woman sighed, "but we're obligated to ask. I knew you were, though." She gave them the tickets and they walked into the room that the movie was showing in.

"Eighteen?" Chris teased as he and Cassie sat down.

Cassie nodded. "Looking older than you really are comes in handy." The two settled back and started to watch the touching movie of the two basketball players united, torn apart, and then reunited by their love of the game. Because there were so few people in the theatre, Chris and Cassie could watch the movie without their sunglasses on. Towards the middle of the movie, Chris playfully tried to cover Cassie's eyes during the love scene, but Cassie smacked his hand away with a glare. "I'm not a kid!" she whispered in a loud hiss. "So stop treating me like one. Trust me, I've seen worse."

"I know," Chris whispered back, smiling to as a sign of peace, "I was just joking with you. I do the same thing with Justin."

"So you don't see me as a little kid?" Cassie asked quietly.

Chris shook his head and the two went back to watching the movie. At the end, thought, no matter how hard Cassie tried, she couldn't hold in her tears, and they slowly started to trickle down her face. By the time the credits were rolling, she had her hand shielding her eyes and was sobbing quietly. She didn't know why the movie touched her so much, except that she really just wanted someone to love and that would love her like Q and Monica did in the movie.

Chris looked at her, a little uncomfortable, and let her continue crying as the others filed out of the movie. After they were the only two in there, he said quietly, "You okay?" Cassie merely nodded. Chris continued, "Yeah, it was really touching. I cried the first time I saw it. Want a tissue?" he asked, pulling one out of his pocket.

Cassie reached for it, never taking her eyes off the floor, and attempted to fix her face as Chris added, "I dig it when a chick can cry. That shows that she has soul. You know, feels deeply."

"Thanks," Cassie laughed into her tissue.

"Ready to go now?" Chris asked gently. He helped Cassie to her feet after she nodded, and the two walked out.

"Do I look okay?" she asked him, finally looking directly into his face.

"Yeah, you're beautiful," he shrugged, misunderstanding her.

"No," she blushed, "I mean, do I look alright after crying?"

"Oh!" Chris laughed. "Yeah, your eyes are just a bit red, but it's cute." He lead her to the car as Cassie grinned for the umpteenth time that day, overjoyed on how her day was going. "Where to now?" Chris asked after they got into the car.

"I'm hungry," Cassie grinned, patting her stomach.

"Yeah," he grinned back, pulling up his shirt and showing her his slight pot belly. "The tiger's ready for some food, too. You don't hear him growlin'?" He drove off, Cassie's laugh echoing in the wind.

After a few minutes of driving, Chris pulled into an empty, but slightly fancy restaurant. "Is here okay?" he asked.

Cassie nodded, and the two got out of the car. There were only two other couples in the restaurant, because the maitre 'd said that they were usually the busiest during weekdays. "Cool!" Chris exclaimed excitedly. "That means we have the whole place to ourselves." They were seated quickly and during dinner, Cassie told him a little about herself. Afterwards, Chris told funny stories of when the group is on tour.

"Oh my," Cassie gasped with laughter. "I can't believe JC fainted just watching you guys get your second tattoos."

"Dead away," Chris laughed with her. "He sticks by his word when he says one of his favorite pastimes is sleeping." Just then, 'NSync's "This I Promise You" came on through the restaurant's loud speakers, and Chris grinned at Cassie.

"Can't turn the dial now, can ya?" she smirked.

"I don't think I want to," he said lightly. "Remember, we sing dancing songs, and this is definitely a dancing song." He looked at her expectantly and held out his hand. "Well," he asked, rising to his feet, "you wanna dance or not?"

Cassie almost choked on her water, she couldn't believe it. A slow song was playing, and Chris Kirkpatrick of 'NSync wanted to dance with her. Even if he only wanted an innocent dance as friends, Cassie knew she was gonna take it to heart. "Umm…" she glanced at the tablecloth, then at the ceiling, not knowing what to say.

"C'mon," he urged. "What, you don't know how? I'll teach ya. Just come on before the song's over."

Cassie nodded and finally got to her feet, letting him lead her to the dance floor. As Chris put one hand on her waist and grabbed her other hand with his left, Cassie noticed that they were the only ones on the dance floor. "It's like he's my private dancer or something," she mused to herself. As she and Chris swayed to the music, Cassie looked at him and grinned widely. "This was the best birthday I've ever had," she whispered.

"I'm glad I was able to make it special," he replied. "I was sure I was gonna blow it somehow."

"Never," she shook her head. "Can I ask you a favor?"

"Shoot," he shrugged, still twirling her around the dance floor.

"Can you sing to me?" she asked meekly.

"I could," he said slowly, "but you see, I'd sound horrible. That's how it usually is."

"What do you mean?" Cassie asked in confusion.

"I mean," he answered, "that it's all a conspiracy. That's how 'NSync operates. We set up all our songs so that they have to be sang with a five-part harmony. If we attempt to sing them alone, we sound like crap. It's a unity thang," he finished, making Cassie dissolve into giggles.

She happened to look up and saw his t-shirt tag sticking out. "Oh lordy," she giggled, looking at his neck.

"What?" Chris grinned.

Cassie tucked the tag back inside the shirt and whispered, "Your shirt is on backwards."

Chris laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. Nobody has to know except for you and me. Besides, having your shirt on backwards is never a big deal. It's a pretty risky fashion statement that always seems to work out."

"Yeah," she replied softly, "I've always admired you for that."

"Thanks," Chris said. "What about humming?" he asked suddenly after a long pause.

"What?" Cassie asked, laughing nervously.

"I can hum," Chris offered, "and nobody's eardrums would get hurt. How's about that?"

"I think I can accept that," she giggled. "Go for it."

As the song neared the bridge and JC's voice rang out over the speakers singing, "Over and over I fall… when I hear you call. Without you in my life, baby, I just wouldn't be living at all…", Chris wrapped his other arm around Cassie's waist and pulled her a little closer, putting his mouth close to her ear and humming along with the tune. Cassie grinned and wrapped both of her arms around Chris' upper torso, rested her head on his chest, and closed her eyes. For the rest of the song, the two looked like they were engaged in a long, friendly hug.

Later that night, Chris got Cassie home a couple of minutes after nine, as promised. As Cassie sat in Chris' car, she noted how dark everything was. She sighed, and Chris asked what was wrong. She answered, "This day has been so great, I don't want it to end." But that was only part of the truth. She sighed because she was wishing that Chris would kiss her, even though she knew that what he felt for her was only a brotherly type of affection. But Chris did something very surprising just then. He unbuckled his seatbelt, leaned across the console, and kissed Cassie softly…

…on the cheek. "I had a great time today, too," he said sincerely. "It's been fun chillin' with ya and just goofin' around." He sat back in his seat and looked her deeply in the eye. "You know what, Cassie?"

"What?" she asked, elated that he kissed her, but disappointed that it was only on the cheek.

"Someday, you're gonna find a great guy who's just gonna make you feel so wonderful and beautiful that you're gonna wonder how you ever survived before meeting him. He's gonna make you feel whole, and make you feel good about being who you are. You're not gonna feel bad about not being an adult, and you're gonna love yourself, 'cause he's gonna love you as you are."

"What if I've already found him, but he doesn't love me… He only makes me feel good about who I am?" Cassie asked softly, staring out the window. "And then," she added, "just when I think everything is so great, he has to leave me?"

Chris sighed, understanding what Cassie was trying to imply, then reached over and put his hand under her chin, gently turning her head so that she was facing him. "You know what, Cass? You're so beautiful and wonderful, I don't see how any guy wouldn't love you. Hell, I'd date you if I wasn't so old… and didn't have a girlfriend."

Cassie stared at him, surprised. That was the first time all day Chris had brought up the infamous Danielle. But she couldn't help but grin at his compliment. "Really?" she asked.

"Really," he said in the Dr. Evil voice. He continued, "I hope you never forget this day."

"Are you crazy?" Cassie asked. "I'll never forget this."

"Even after you get to be my age?" Chris teased.

"Well…" Cassie teased back, causing Chris to throw back his head in laughter.

He looked down at his hands, and a sincere smile came across his face. "You know what?" he said, looking up at her. "I get the feeling you might forget, so just to make sure you don't forget this day, I got somethin' for ya." With that, he pulled off the only ring on his finger, a ring that had the letter 'C' on it written in diamonds. "I want you to have this," he said, slipping the ring on Cassie's finger. "To remember me by."

"I can't take this!" Cassie gasped at how it sparkled, even in the dark.

"You have to," he insisted. "Besides," he shrugged, "I don't hardly ever wear it, ya know? It's not my type of jewelry. Justin talked me into buying it one time while we were out getting him a new necklace. But for some reason," he smiled softly at her, "I felt that I should wear it today, and I didn't know why. Now I do. I'd be honored if you'd take it."

Cassie nodded, and gave Chris a big hug. "Thank you sooo much!" she whispered in his ear. "I'll never forget this day." She got out of the car and walked onto her porch, turning one final time to the car. "'Bye!" she waved as he turned the car on and started to back out of the driveway. He blew her a quick kiss and she pretended to catch it, and put it on her lips. As he laughed, she blew on back to him, only he pretended to catch and eat it.

Cassie chuckled as she went back into the house. All the lights were off and she figured everyone was awake, but she was wrong. Her mom's voice floated out from the family room, "How was it?"

"Great," Cassie called back with a laugh. "I'll tell ya all about it tomorrow, okay?"

"Sure you'll remember it then?" her mom asked seriously, walking out of the family room towards her.

"Of course," Cassie snorted. "Why wouldn't I?" With that, she bounced happily up the stairs and into her room. After putting her pajamas on, during which she realized that she had her shirt on backwards and understood what Chris was talking about earlier, she reclined on her bed and almost instantly drifted off to sleep.

What seemed to be about three seconds later, Cassie's sister was waking her up saying, "C'mon Cass, get up. It's time to go to church. Just 'cause it was your birthday doesn't mean you're exempt."

"Church?" Cassie mumbled groggily. "Since when do we go to church on Monday's?"

"Only during revival," her sister answered loftily. "But today's Sunday, not Monday."

"What?" Cassie sat up abruptly, her thoughts going a mile a minute in her brain. "It's Sunday and not Monday?"

"Of course," her sister rolled her eyes with a laugh. "You only threw the party of the century last night. How could you forget?"

"But…" Cassie mumbled to herself as her sister exited her room, "if today is Sunday, then that means that the first Sunday never happened. That means," she whispered to herself as a tear rolled down her cheek, "that Chris was never here, and that we never spent the day together. All of that was just a dream." Already, she was starting to forget remnants of her dream of Chris, no matter how hard she tried to remember. Just then, his voice echoed in her head.

Cassie happened to look down at her right hand, seeing that on it was a ring filled with diamonds that spelled out the letter 'C'. Cassie was so shocked that she broke from her practice of clean language, purposely swearing for the first time in a long time. "Well I'll be damned," she whispered, a small grin forming on her face.