"This is the second single from that new boyband who's popularity is rising higher and higher these days. All I can say is look out Backstreet Boys...here's *NSYNC with their latest hit, 'Tearin' Up My Heart'!"

The TV screen was taken over by a group of five handsome guys in a photo shoot jumping off lofts and eating pizza. The screen flashed bright white lights as the men flashed their bright white smiles. They each looked like they were having the times of their lives. Olivia watched it intently, tapping her foot against the floor with the beat of the song. Her eyes locked onto two of the guys, one with curly bleach blonde hair and one with brown hair platted against his head. "I could have sworn I've seen them before.", she thought. "Guess they were look-alikes." After the video ended, she was instantly hooked on the song and made a mental note to herself to buy the album.

"Olivia? Are you home dear?"

"In here mom!", she yelled back as the front door opened.

"Did you get your report card today, honey?"

Liv bit her lip. "Um...yea. Same old grades though.", she lied.

"Glad to hear that, sweetie. Can I see it?"

"I left it in my locker."

"Oh. Well I'm sure you did great!"

"Uh, yeah."

Mrs. Jacobs went upstairs to get changed from work and Olivia quickly went through her bookbag to find her report card. She brought it up in her room and took a quick glance at it before stuffing it under her mattress. The highest grade she had gotten was a C+, the lowest was below failure. It was very unlike Olivia to get anything below an A but nowadays, she just didn't care anymore. The phone rang for a second time, causing her to jump up and run to it out of fear that it was her school again. "Hello?"

"Jail-bird...Jail-bird....Jail-bird...", the deep masculine voice on the other end of the phone repeated over and over.

"Stop calling me that!!!", she shouted back at the phone.

"Jail-bird...."; he hung up.

Olivia flopped onto her bed and started to cry. The words pounded in her head loudly, echoing in her ears, making the experience replay in her mind vividly.

"C'mon, Liv, come with us. Nothing is gonna happen. Just a drive on the town...please?", her boyfriend Greg Lowell begged her.

"Greg, I have to study for History."

"Pleeeeeease Olivia!!"

She looked into his pleading brown eyes and sighed. "Fine fine fine. You owe me."

He smiled and pulled her into his car joining a group of four guys and one other girl.

"Nothing's gonna happen, my ass.", she snorted stopping the memory from going any further. Wiping her wet eyes, she rolled off her bed and flipped on her stereo, blasting the volume. Then she picked up her phone and dialed Sidney Miller, her best friend, the only person who stayed by her side after this huge mess.

"Hello?"

"Hey Sidney its Olivia."

"Hey Liv, did you cut school again? I didn't see you 8th period."

"Yeah. Jeff spit on me and he just brought back so many horrid memories. Sid i think I'm going crazy. No one will leave me alone about this!", she lowered her voice, "And you should have seen my report card. The highest I got was a C+! Mom's gonna freak if she finds it."

"You? A C+? Wow, Liv. Do you want me to come over?"

"Nah, but can I come over there? I just want to talk to you."

"Ok. Come on over."

"Thanks Sid. You're the best!"

"You know it. See you soon.", she said and hung up the phone.

Olivia smiled and put the phone back in the reciever. She ran downstairs, grabbed her keys and yelled to her mom, "MO-OM! I'M GOING TO SIDNEY'S!!! SEE YOU LATER!!"

She was out the door before her mother could answer. When she got to the Millers' house, she walked in and ran up to Sidney's room. Her stereo was on and she was listening to a CD that Olivia hadn't heard before. A girl was sprawled out on the bed on her stomach, her blonde hair tucked behind her ears, and falling all the way down her back. "Hey Sid!" The girl's neck craned around and a smile spread over her face. "Olivia!", she ran to her and embraced her in a hug. "How are you?"

"I've been a lot better, but what am I gonna do about it?", she answered.

"Aww, Olivia! Talk to me, tell me what's bothering you."

Olivia sat down on Sidney's bed. Her attention turned to the stereo. "Hey, what CD is this? I've never heard it before."

"I just got it!", Sid said excitedly. "It's a new group called *NSYNC! They're sooo good, Liv. Seriously, I mean...wow. And the one with brown hair and blue eyes...I think his name is JC. He's like, soooo totally hot!!" She showed her the CD cover and pointed to JC.

"He's cute. This guy is too. Who is he?"

"I think his name is Justin Timberline or something like that.", she looked inside and corrected herself. "Oh, no wait. It's TimberLAKE. Sorry."

"He looks so familiar. Why?"

Sidney shrugged. "I guess you've seen them on TV?"

"Oh...yea! Their song...'Tearin' Up My Heart'...yea, I liked that song. I wanted to get the album."

"I'll let you borrow it."

"Cool. Thanks."

Sidney nodded. "So, what is bothering you?"

Liv fell back on the bed and looked at the ceiling. "Everything. I can't take my life anymore. Jeff is the biggest ass in the world. He keeps calling me and chanting 'jail-bird, jail-bird, jail-bird' and spitting spit balls in my hair, tripping me, and making fun of me. I can't believe I ever hooked up with him! And then my grades are falling, no one likes me anymore, I don't play volleyball or basketball anymore cause I was kicked off the team. All I have is you, Sid."

Sidney felt terrible for her. "Aww, sweetie. Everything will be okay. You'll see."

"No, Sidney.", she turned on her side to look at her friend who was sitting on the floor. "I can't do it. I can't take it. What am I gonna do?"

"Olivia, sometimes life is really hard and you feel like you just want to die, right? Right. But that's the way life is supposed to be. The way your life was...when you were the most popular girl at NFHS, that's not what life is like. I don't mean to sound negative when I say this, or that i'm against you, but now you're seeing how life is like for the unpopular crowd, for the geeks of our school. And you know that taking the easy way out won't do you any good, so don't even think about suicide Liv. You can make it. You're stronger than you think. And anytime you need someone to talk to, or someone's shoulder to cry on, you come to me ok Olivia? I'll always be here for you."

By the time Sidney stopped talking, Olivia was in tears. She got off the bed and dropped to her knees to give Sid a hug. She was her life-line at the moment and she never wanted to let go of her. "Sidney Miller, you are a goddess. I love you, best friend."

Sidney smiled. "And you know I love you too. Now tell yourself you can do it."

"I can...do it.", she struggled out.

"That's my girl."

(next day, 2:45pm)

Five guys were gathered around the television screen in Joey Fatone's house yelling at the game of hockey that was being televised from the Ice Palace in Tampa Bay. The Tampa Bay Lightning were playing the Philadelphia Flyers.

"WHAT THE HELL KIND OF CALL WAS THAT?? DON'T EVEN SAY HE WAS CROSS- CHECKING!!!!", Chris hollered at the big-screen TV in the living room. Tampa right wing Mikael Andersson had just been called for cross-checking Flyers' right wing Keith Jones and was now in the penalty box for a two minute time out. Chris threw his hands up in the air in disgust. Joey laughed and dug his tostito chip into the salsa. "Dude, Chris, that was a totally obvious call. Don't worry about it, we're up by three."

Justin was sitting on the floor, back to the arm of the couch, knees bent up to his chest, watching the screen intently and quietly. He looked over at his four friends who were arguing over the call.

"That ref needs to be locked away!!"

"I thought it was a reasonable call."

"ARE YOU NUTS!?!"

He sighed and rested his head against the fabric. A minute later, Joey's mother Phyllis walked in with a motherly smile on her lips. She looked at the bag of chips laying on the coffee table and laughed. "Joe, did you eat all of those chips?", she joked as Joey stuffed yet another tostito in his mouth. He grinned sheepishly. She shook her head and looked towards the television. "Who's winning?"

"Tampa. We're crushing those Flyers.", Lance grinned.

"The ref just made a really unneccessary call though.", Chris added.

JC snapped back at him. "Chris, drop it. The penalty's just about over. They didn't score on the power pl--"

He was interrupted by the flashing of lights by the Tampa Bay goal, signifying that Philadelphia had just scored. JC quickly took back his sentence. "Nevermind, they just scored."

"Philadelphia goal by number 88, Eric Lindros. Assists by John LeClair and Rod Brind'Amour!", the announcer echoed over the broadcast system.

Phyllis laughed and walked back towards the kitchen, yelling over her shoulder. "I'll leave the hockey to you guys. If you need anything, let me know!"

"Thanks, ma!", Joey called.

After the game ended in a 3-3 tie, the guys switched off the TV and started to clean up. JC noticed Justin still sitting by the couch, looking quite disturbed.

"What's wrong, man?"

Justin shook his head. "I don't know...I just have this weird feeling that something big is about to happen in our lives."

"Duh. You mean the singing thing, right? I know, our song is #1 on Total Request Live!!"

"No...", he shook his head again. "I don't mean our careers...I mean our personal lives. This feeling is lingering over me and I don't know what it is; it's really bothering me. But JC, something is gonna happen. I know it."

Sidney was driving home from work on the main Orlando highway, softly humming to the *NSYNC CD she had in the disc player of her car.

"...Is there someone you know/You're loving them so/But taking them all for granted./You may lose them one day/Someone takes them away,/and they don't hear the words you long to say..."

A steady rain was pouring down on her windshield as she smiled to herself at the song. Interrupting her thoughts, Sid's cell phone rang from the passenger seat. She reached over for it and answered bubbly, "Hello?"

The person on the other line was in tears. "Olivia!! What's wrong, sweetie?", Sidney asked immediately getting worried.

"It's Jeff again. He called and he threatened me this time."

"What did he say?"

"He said I didn't belong in New Falls and that if I didn't get out, he'd come after me. Then he said that he'd come after my family and...and...you."

Sidney felt her heart pound with fury. She thought to herself, "How dare he threaten her? He knows how vulnerable she is. Oo, I'm gonna kill him..." Aloud, she comforted her best friend. "Olivia, listen to me. He's doing that to scare you and obviously it's working. You can't let him get to you like this. You know he would never come after you or hurt you, right? The guy has had the biggest crush on you since freshman year!", she paused wondering if that was the right thing to say. "And remember, no matter what, I'll always, always be there for you. You can't get rid of me."

Olivia smiled at the thought. She was right, Sidney wasn't going anywhere. She would always be right there by her side.

Sidney shifted in her seat, and moved the phone to her other ear. The rain was getting heavier and she was right at the busy intersection of the highway. Olivia was just about to say something but was cut short when suddenly a terrified, blood-curdling scream pierced through the phone lines. Then, the phone went dead.