She sipped her warm coffee slowly while staring at the wall across from her blindly. Nope, today was no different than any other day. Except maybe I'll get a challenge for once today, she thought and then chuckled softly to herself in amusement. Yeah right. Like she ever got any challenges.

She closed her sharp, green eyes as the warm liquid slid down her throat, warming her entire body. These were the simple pleasures of life, she smiled to herself.

Her finger trailed along the edge of the ceramic mug as her eyes glanced over the cozy, suburban house. It was heaven for her to come back home and see family after being on the road all the time. In fact, it was plainly heaven for her to just BE in the warm confines of her bedroom, even if that meant sitting on her bed and staring at the barely decorated walls for hours. It just felt good.

She walked over to the mantle above the stone fireplace and smiled at the awards that sat patiently in front of her. That was something else that felt good. Knowing that people were so in awe of her work that she got rewarded for it.... just amazing. She closed her eyes as she remembered the moments.

"And the award for Best Dance Video goes to... Christina Aguleria's "What a Girl Wants"! Choreography by Kelsie Meyers!"

Kelsie grinned. Not one of her finer onstage moments. She giggled and watched as the gold on the statue shimmered against the newly risen sun. Her eyes slid over each award, her smile expanding a little wider each time. Having these "mementos" in her house was nothing compared to actually seeing the artists perform her choreography. That was by far the most remarkable thing about her job.

Kelsie was known all around the world for her work with not only Christina Aguleria, but with the likes of the Backstreet Boys, Jessica Simpson, Mandy Moore and she even spent time helping the mock boyband 2ge+her get some moves. Working with people of such caliber was something she hadn't expected she would get until she was older and more experienced. It was her determination and perserverance for being the best choreographer she could be that pushed her ahead of all of her competition, shoving her full-force into the world of pop music mania. Sometimes she thought that maybe she couldn't handle working with stars that huge, but every single time, they proved her wrong, showing her that she was as welcome as a member of their own family.

Memories of her "clients'" generosity invaded her thoughts and she grinned, snuggling up against the fabric of her pajamas. She glanced at the clock on the wall and sighed when she realized it was getting late and she was wasting her time dawdling. Blowing the dust off of her MTV award, she turned around and returned to the kitchen, put her coffee mug in the dishwasher, and jogged back to her bedroom to get dressed.

Life couldn't get much better than how she had it now, could it? She was only nineteen years old and already she was on top of the world.

(March 2000) "Kat, if you see ANY spandex bicycle shorts in my size, you grab them and haul your butt to this dressing room, right away, okay?", an anxious voice called through the door of the fitting room in the JCPenny's they were in.

Katherine Montgomery, better known as Kat, rolled her eyes and went off in search for spandex. "Yes, oh exhalted one. I'm on my way."

Kelsie's voice was heard faintly as Kat strolled out of the door. "Katherine, hurry up, I'm supposed to meet with Rick in half an hour and I still want to get FOOD!"

Kat rolled her eyes and smirked, mumbling under her breath, "Oh, what I do for you, Kels."

The two of them had been best friends since very early in grade school, where they met on the swings in the playground. They purposely attended the same high school together, applied to the same colleges together (even though Kelsie had to pull out at the last minute because of her career), and absolutely made sure that they were on the same sports teams all during their childhood. Kat even did dance class with Kelsie, putting aside the fact that she wasn't really interested in it at all. It was like there was an instinctive connection between the two of them. They could basically read each other's minds, and that made it easy for both of them to open up to each other whenever one or the other was in need of a friend. People even called them M&M since they had the same initals, which had ignited the use of their eighth grade slogan: We're sweet like the candy when we're good girls, but we can bite like a baracuda when we're bad girls. They had both matured immensly since they started with that corny phrase, but they would pull it out of their "memory bag" whenever they needed a laugh. Both of the girls agreed that they would spare their own lives to see that the other was safe, that no matter what happened there would always be a shoulder to lean on, and they had yet to break that vow. Together they had been through more than words could describe, from guy troubles to family problems to suicidal thoughts. Kat had been there when Kelsie got her first major job with choreographing and Kelsie had been there when Kat scored the winning goal in her championship soccer game. The kind of friendship they had was what dreams were made of.

A pair of shorts flew over the dressing room door and nearly whacked Kelsie in the head. She jumped in shock and crossed her eyebrows. "Yeah, Kat, just kill me why don't you!"

"Sorry!"

"Yeah, yeah.", Kelsie muttered, while she struggled to get the shorts on. Her eyes lit up when they fit her perfectly. I think that girl knows me better than I know myself!, she thought with a snicker. She tugged them off, pulled on her jean shorts again and threw open the door. "Great! Katherine, I love you! Let's go!"

Kat chuckled. "She loves me, she hates me...", she rolled her eyes. "What time is your meeting or whatever?"

"Soon. We just gotta make a quick stop at a Mickey D's or something because I really need food."

Kat watched as Kelsie paid for the shorts and shook her head. "Oh, no you don't. We're going to Subway because I'm not letting you eat the crap that McDonald's actually calls food. Do you know how fattening that stuff is?", she shuddered.

She groaned in frustration. "Oh, of course. Can't eat the junk food."

They jogged out to Kelsie's car and drove to the nearest Subway for waters and hoagies. Kelsie tossed her sandwich to Kat as she started the car again, in a rush to get to her meeting with her agent, Rick. "Here, can you unwrap that for me?"

The red Mustang convertible took off again while Kat peeled the wrapping off and opened the cap on the water, taking a sip before giving it back to Kelsie. "So, today you're finding out who you're working with next, right?"

Kelsie nodded while taking a big bite out of the turkey hoagie. "You're coming right?"

Kat pretended to think intently for a minute before replying. "No, I think I'm just going to get out of the car right now and wait by the road until Ben Affleck drives by." Kelsie chuckled at her friend's sarcasm and continued to watch the road. Kat stretched her arms over her body and shook her head so that her long blonde hair caught the wind and blew fiercely around her head until suddenly, a thought struck her. "Hey! Kels, did Rick say anything about what kind of music group or singer you're working with? He didn't mention any specific details...like whether or not there were five gorgeous guys, one in particular with curly, blonde hair and big blue eyes...", she trailed off as her voice drifted into a dreamy tone.

"No, he didn't tell me that I was working with *N SYNC, Kat. What do you see in that Justin character anyway?", she sighed. "He seems a little arrogant to me."

"Oh, be quiet. You've never met him, don't make assumptions. He's gorgeous."

"Don't judge a book by its cover.", she mumbled.

A few minutes later, Kelsie pulled into the parking lot of a tall building, grabbed her bag and hopped out of the car. Kat followed her inside still whining about her friend's earlier comments. They entered an office on the third floor and were immediately greeted by an enthusiastic, middle-aged man.

"Ahh, the Bobsey twins have arrived! How are you girls doing?"

"Hey Rick, we're great. In fact, I got your message just the other day... what's up? Did your kids file a divorce suit against you yet?", Kelsie joked.

The man smiled a grin full of sparkling, white teeth and ran his hand through his brown hair, ignoring her last comment. "The sky is up, Kelsie. And it doesn't get any better than where you're heading next."

Kelsie waited for him to continue, but he only sat there with a smile on his face and an expression begging her to take a wild guess.

Kat's eyes began to dilate as the realization hit her. She started bouncing on her toes excitedly. "You're not saying what I think you are, are you? Are you implying that Kels is about to work with *NSYNC?"

Rick's blue eyes sparkled and he nodded slowly. "The boys are getting ready to start their new tour and they need to choreograph their whole new album. And, Kelsie, my dear... you're there."

An expanding smile grew on her pink lips and her brain immediately began throwing new ideas at her all at once. *NSYNC, huh? The holders of the new record for most albums sold in a week. Two point four million copies were gone before the week was over; one point three gone in the first day alone. They sure know how to get their fans to feed them the money. She thought to herself about it for a while before finally looking back up to give her two cents to the situation. "Wow! They're like... the most popular group in the world and they want ME to choreograph their moves?"

"You'll be working with them for a few months. A new kid, Wade Robson, along with a few others will be sharing the stage with you. Do you know where they rehearse?"

Kelsie nodded. "I'm pretty sure they just practice in the Jive studios, right?"

"Actually, I think for now, since they don't have a lot of time left, they'll be doing most of their rehearsals in the WEG compound. That's where their manager lives. I'm sure you'll find out more information as the job progresses. If you agree to doing this, you'll meet with the group in the Jive Studios, though. Do you think you'll be able to keep up with their schedule and still maintain your other projects?"

Kat took it upon herself to butt in and answer for her friend. "Yes! Yes, she SO definitely will... RIGHT Kelsie?"

Kelsie's eyes twinkled with an evil glint and she raised her eyebrows at Kat. "Well... I don't know. They are pretty busy and I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up with them... Plus, you know what I think of them... they seem a little, oh, I don't know...into them--"

Kat's eyes began to widen in worry. "KELSIE!! PLEASE! Come on, you know how much I want to meet them!", she pleaded. "And plus, this opportunity will boost your status and rèsumè immensly! You HAVE to do this! I'm not going to LET you pass this up!"

Kelsie pushed a piece of her dark brown hair behind her ear as she thought about that. Doing this job seriously WOULD put her up there. *N SYNC was pretty much already at world domination... She smiled approvingly, imagining herself bossing around the five most wanted men on the planet. Yes, this sure could reap benefits.

"Okay, I'll do it."

Rick nodded with a grin while Kat jumped up and down, trying to hold in her wails of delight. Kelsie chuckled, rolling her eyes. Yeah, this would be fun. No problem, none at all.

She had never had a problem with anyone she worked with, so this should be no different.... right?

(Two weeks later, Jive Studios)

"This is stupid."

JC Chasez rolled his eyes at the remark that had just left his friend's puckered out lips. "Justin, would you stop complaining?"

"I don't understand why we couldn't just stick with Darrin for this tour. Or Wade could have done the whole tour! We could have just done all the choreography by OURSELVES, for cripe's sake!"

"You haven't even met her yet, how do you know that you won't like Kelsie's style!?", JC groaned.

"Because! Because I know I won't! She worked with Backstreet... and come on, you've seen THEIR stuff.", Justin scowled in disgust.

JC sighed, frustrated. "Jesus, just give her a chance before you condemn her. She's going to be here in fifteen minutes so do us all a favor and go get an attitude adjustment.", he muttered and left the room.

Justin huffed and fell backwards on the leather couch in their manager's office. "Go get an attitude adjustment...", he mimicked JC and rolled his eyes. He didn't need a GIRL that was YOUNGER than he was telling him how to dance. If she thought that she was going to come into his life and show him how to shake the body he already knew how to shake, then she was in for a big surprise.

He chuckled to himself and stretched out on the couch. Oh yes, she was in for a VERY big surprise.