"Good, good. One more time and you guys are done.", the swift teacher smiled at her students. "Ready, here we go..."

Kelsie concentrated on the music that pounded inside of her head and counted quietly to herself as she followed the lead of her instructor. "...Six, left foot, right foot, seven..." She closed her eyes and let the music take control of her body, like it did whenever she had it playing. It was a release of tension for her and somehow it just had the power to free all the negative feelings from her body. She had known that she would be a dancer when she grew up since she was very little. It was in her blood.

"Step...and point.", the teacher's voice interrupted Kelsie's thoughts as the dance came to an end. She smiled and wiped the sweat off her forehead as she jogged over to grab a quick drink, while everyone else gathered up their belongings and made their way towards the door.

After everyone had left, Kelsie stretched out in front of the mirror, watching her mentor and friend clean up the leftover items in her studio. Kelsie had been in this same class for almost fifteen years. She was only five when she met with Mrs. Starks, whom she fondly called Starkie. Once she had begun choreographing for the major recording artists, she had had to miss out on many of these classes, but she had always made sure to visit every once in awhile to join her old friend in the new sessions.

"So, Kelsie, what have you been working on lately?", Mrs. Starks said as she sat down across from her. "What's your new project?"

Kelsie frowned. "I am working with *NSYNC for their new tour..."

"*NSYNC! Doll, why the long face? Aren't you excited?"

She shrugged. "You see, that's the thing. I was, but then I met them... and four of them are great guys, you know, really easy to get along with. But then there's the one..." She looked up from stretching her hamstring into her teacher's caring eyes. "Oh Starkie, he's so MEAN to me and I've only known him for a few days! The worst part about it is that I am going to be working for him for a long time, trying to TEACH him new dances... when I know he wants nothing to do with me..."

Mrs. Starks patted her back comfortingly. "He'll come around, Kels. If he doesn't, he'll realize what a great person you are after it's too late and then you can laugh in his face.", she smiled. "Just keep your chin up and keep truckin'. You'll win out."

Kelsie smiled and leaned over to give her a hug. "Thanks, Starkie. You always know what to say."

Mrs. Starks nodded and stood up, dusting off her pants. "What are your plans for their dances? Have you started working on them yet?"

"Sort of. JC told me that they are going for more hip, stylish, 'get-your-groove-on' moves this tour, and there's also another choreographer that is doing a few of their songs. I've been fooling around with some things I've had in mind, but I just hope that they'll all like what I come up with."

"Well why don't you show me what you have in mind and I'll help you smooth things out if you're unsure of something. Sound okay?"

Kelsie grinned and leaned over to hug Mrs. Starks. "You're the best!"

"Now, now... don't flatter me too much or my head might get to big.", she smiled.

Kelsie chuckled and jogged over to her bag to grab the tape that the guys had given her with their songs on it. She gently placed the casette into the tape deck and hit play, letting the harmonious voices fill the room. She put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Where do I start?"

(next day. WEG compound in Orlando.)

"Hey guys, quit clowning around and come over here!", JC yelled across the room to Justin and Chris who were sitting on the floor a few feet from the door playing with Pokemon cards.

Chris glared over at JC, who was sitting on the far side of the studio, stretching. "We're not clowning around, Joshua. We're doing BUSINESS. He is negotiating trading his Jigglypuff card with my Squirtle."

JC rolled his eyes and shook his head. "Kelsie should be here any minute and..."

"Kelsie should have already been here twenty minutes ago, JC.", Justin retorted.

JC sighed and ignored his comment. "...and you guys should be stretched out so we don't waste any time learning the new stuff..."

"The new stuff that WADE would be much better off teaching us.", Justin again pointed out.

JC grumbled under his breath, but still continued talking. "...because we only have a few months until the tour starts, so..."

Justin began to make another smart comment until JC cut him off. "Justin, I would advise you to SHUT. UP."

"Why should I shut up? Right now, I should be at home with --"

"You should shut up because you are getting way to annoying for your own health."

"No, JC. She should have been here at eleven o'clock. It is now eleven twenty-three. If she is going to be late to our practices, when we don't have the TIME to deal with lateness, than I have the right to be angry."

Suddenly, the door burst open, knocking over the stack of Pokemon cards that sat neatly next to Justin's body. Kelsie stumbled into the room, tripping over Justin's outstretched leg, and fell flat on her face in the middle of the floor with a groan.

Justin raised his eyebrows in boredom and crossed his arms as he watched Kelsie pick herself up. "Maybe you should watch where you walk, Kelly."

She turned around and glared at him. "Maybe YOU should sit somewhere besides next to the DOOR. And it's KelSIE, for the last time."

He put a hand over his mouth mockingly and stood up. "Oh dear, my bad." He bent over to pick up his scattered cards and counted them quietly to himself. His eyes widened when he saw Chris creeping away quickly out of the corner of his eye. "CHRIS! YOU STOLE JIGGLYPUFF!"

Chris placed his hands on his hips defiantly and gave Justin a challenging stare. "I SO didn't."

Justin raised an eyebrow and held up a Squirtle card. "You SO did. And I would like my card back."

Chris smirked and flipped up the Jigglypuff card. "You want it, come and get it, baby."

Kelsie jumped back in shock when Justin almost pounced on Chris while her eyes dilated in confusion. "Okaaaay." She finally made her way over to the three other guys who were sitting in a circle. "At least you three are um, sane."

JC smiled and made space for her to sit down. "I hate to break it to ya, but NONE of us are sane.", he shrugged. "It's the business."

Kelsie laughed and checked her watch. "Listen guys, I am so sorry I was so late. The traffic was horrible and I..."

Lance cut in, "Don't be sorry... we're all late sometimes. Let's just get started so we can get more done now."

"Thanks.", she glanced over to Justin and Chris, who were now both on the floor, wrestling. "Have they stretched?"

"If they haven't, it will be their problems.", JC stated and stood up to put the tape in the tape deck. "Justin, Chris, let's go..."

Instantaneously, they both jumped off the floor and walked over to join the others for the dance. Kelsie's mouth dropped open in shock. Now, if I was the one who had said that, they wouldn't have listened. Unbelievable. She shook her head in disbelief.

"Well, what are you just standing there for? Since you're the big dance expert, show us what you've got already.", Justin snapped at her.

Joey smacked his arm. "Can it, J."

Justin snorted and crossed his arms to watch Kelsie's every move. She swallowed when she felt him staring at her and took a deep breath before introducing her steps to their new dances. "Um, okay guys... I was listening to the track 'No Strings Attached' and I really like the uptempo beats to it, so it wasn't as hard to work with. I got a feel of how you move from watching older performances and I've come to the conclusion that you are pretty fast learners, am I right?"

The guys all nodded their heads in agreement, except for Justin who just continued to give her that cold stare.

Kelsie turned away from him and continued talking. "Okay, good. At least four of you are willing to work with me, here. Now I came up with a dance that I think will fit your style...", she looked at JC. "You told me you wanted more of a hip hop-ish feel, right?"

He nodded and jumped up and down to loosen his stretched out muscles. "Right. That's what we're going for this year."

"Okay. Well, I'm going to show you what I came up with and you can tell me if you like it or not." Out of the corner of her eye, she saw an evil grin spread over Justin's pink lips, so she turned to him and stared him down. "And Justin, watch your mouth. I don't have the time for your smart attitude. Got me?"

He folded his arms across his chest and smiled slyly. "Ohh, I got you all right."

She looked at him for another few seconds before narrowing her eyebrows and turning towards the tape deck. She took a deep breath and quickly prayed for the strength to do this right. Hitting the PLAY button, she set herself ready and laid out the moves for them to either accept or trash...

The music stopped with Kelsie's ending position perfectly in sync with the rest of her dance. Her eyes had been closed as she put all she got into this example performance. The first one done was always the most important one because that was what showed off how much she knew and how good she was. She prayed that they wouldn't reject it. After holding the position for a few seconds, she slowly turned to face the group that had been watching her, opening her eyes hoping to see impressed expressions. She got what she wanted.

JC grinned. "That was awesome, Kelsie! You thought of that whole thing in a few days?"

Kelsie smiled. "Thank you. Actually, I did it last night."

Joey and Lance both nodded in approval. "Wow. We're impressed."

Chris agreed. "That was really good."

Kelsie sighed in relief. "It's not perfect yet. That was kind of just an example of what you could do."

JC nodded. "I definitely think we could work with it...." He turned to look at Justin, who had been standing inmobile for the past five minutes. Joey, Lance, and Chris all turned to watch him for his reaction, each giving him warning glances.

Reluctantly, Kelsie followed their glances and taking a deep breath before looking at him, she bit her lip and waited for a reaction. This was the part that she was the most worried about. She had had no doubt that the other guys would have positive feedback about it, but Justin...he was another story.

Justin could tell that she was nervous about his answer, and that just made him even more excited. He crossed his arms and flat out said what he knew would crush her. "I don't like it and I won't perform it."

Kelsie stared into his dark blue eyes for a moment before ripping her own eyes away and started to study her painted fingernails, scraping the silver polish off with her thumb nail. Wisps of her hair hung in her eyes and she thought about what he had just uttered. Negative comments were never very good for one's self-esteem, and Kelsie had never forgotten one negative response that she had gotten in her life...those things just stayed with a person for their whole life, and even though she hadn't had that many, the ones that she had always chipped away at the wall of strength that she had prided herself on building up inside of her. But this one...the one that had just left Justin's pursed lips, had oddly enough, stung the most. It wasn't that she couldn't take a jab like that, because usually it would be good to get at least some bad reviews. Critical reviews had a tendency to make her work harder to make the dance better in the long run. There was just something different about this one... It was so blunt and said with such coldness that she was left with nothing to say.

She picked her head up and nodded slightly. Her voice was very quiet when she spoke. "Well...I should probably get going if I'm going to have to make up a whole new dance for this song. I'm sorry I can't please you, Justin." She grabbed her tape, water, and jacket and closed the door behind her as she left the room.

Chris shot Justin a violent glare and jogged outside after Kelsie, hoping to catch her before she got to her car.

Joey, Lance, and JC stared at Justin for a minute, their eyes shooting him daggers. Justin did everything he could to avoid their hard glares, but squirmed under the pressure of them. "What? It's not MY fault that I didn't like it."

JC cleared the space between the two of them until he was only a fingertip length away from him. "That was low, Justin. Whether or not you liked it, you just don't act that IMMATURE about it. Words like that will stay with her all her life. If Chris gets her back in here, you're going to apologize because I know that even if you don't admit it, you liked that dance. I know you well enough to see that little sparkle in the back of your eyes that proves that you liked it, so stop denying it. What I don't know is why you think this is a game with her, but you have to find some way to get it through that thick skull of yours that Kelsie IS our choreographer for this damn tour and she WILL be our choreographer for the WHOLE tour. Get over yourself, Justin, and start listening to her."

"JC, you have no--"

"No, don't start making excuses because I am not going to sit here and listen to you ridicule her every chance you get. She is not our ONLY choreographer, and you KNOW that, but she is our main one, so get a grip with yourself and..."

The door opened slowly and Kelsie walked back in with Chris trailing behind her. She glanced at everyone in the room before mumbling something inaudible. JC elbowed Justin in the side, rolling his eyes when Justin grimaced from the blow, and finished his sentence. "...and now is your time to apologize."

Justin grumbled angrily and crossed his arms. "GO!", JC pushed his back until he started walking towards her, tripping over his own size thirteen foot. He swallowed and attempted to extirpate the scowl on his face as hard as he could as he watched Kelsie's back get closer and closer to him. She was talking about the dance with Joey, who was adding his own two cents to what they could do differently with the footwork. When he was less than a foot away from her, he took a deep breath hoping that he could get those two little words out of his mouth when he knew he would have trouble with it.

Kelsie could feel his heavy breathing on her neck and she procrastinated for as long as possible in turning around to face him because she knew that when she did, he would be standing there ready to spit out the next insult. When she heard him clear his throat quietly, she looked over her shoulder with a look of expectation firmly implanted on her face. She turned her body slowly so it would be in symmetry with her head and waited for him to say something.

He didn't.

"Do you need something, Justin, or did you just come over here to tell me what else is wrong with my dance?", she raised her eyebrows.

"Ahem.", he cleared his throat once more, hoping that it would help him with what he supposedly had to do. "Yeah, um..."

She stood there waiting for a response from him and it angered her that all he could say was 'Yeah, um.'. Was this worth the trouble he was putting her through? Her mind groaned to herself and she made a mental note to make sure she talked to Katherine -- she always had a way to see the optimism in everything. She looked back at Justin and saw him fiddling with his hands. "Yeah, um, what?"

"I'm...I'm...", he groaned softly to himself and rolled his eyes. "I'm sorry." There. I did it. Now I can get away from her and this...

"You're sorry? That's all that you're going to say when you practically took every single ounce of my pride away from me and stomped on it until it was as flat as a stale pancake? THAT'S IT?", she shook her head. "Do you even know what the word 'sorry' MEANS, Justin?"

Oh, no. Here it goes... "What more do you want me to say? I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you upset."

Her jaw dropped in total shock and she stared at him like he had four heads. When she finally found her voice, it came out very raspy and full of spite. "You...you don't KNOW what you...YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU DID?" She threw her hands up. "Listen to me closely, Justin. I didn't come here to be treated like this. I came here for one reason only and THAT was to teach not only you, but the four other men who are standing behind us, looking at us like we are about to rip each other's heads off, some new dances so you all don't look like FOOLS when you are on stage. I have NEVER had a problem with anyone that I have previously worked with and I didn't intend on finding one when I came here. But then again, I didn't intend on meeting someone as egotistical as yourself, either."

He opened his mouth to argue back, but never got a chance. She was on a roll, and he made a note to himself to stay away from her when she was mad.

"I will tell you one thing, Justin. I have a short temper, and if that's not obvious to you right now then I don't know how you and I are going to work together throughout this tour. I am a GOOD PERSON, I am a STRONG person, and I am very EASY to get along with, as long as you don't get me ticked off. So I am going to give you an ultimatum right now. Either you get your priorities straight or you get your priorities straight."

His voice was flat when he answered. "That is not an ultimatum." He looked her straight in the eyes. "And I'll tell you something right now, too. We are much more alike than you might think. Everything you just said goes for me too. So if you want to get along with ME,", he tightened his jaw and spoke through his clenched teeth, "DON'T tick me off."