"Justin, watch the road."

He smiled at her voice and nodded, his eyes never leaving hers. "You're beautiful, did you know that?"

She pushed a strand of her highlighted hair behind her ear and smirked, her greyish-blue eyes sparkling. "Yes, you just told me that five minutes ago, baby. You really should stop looking at me now, so you don't get me into an accident. I've got a career about to take off."

He reluctantly turned his eyes to the road in front of him, swerving around cars and trucks that were in his way. "Yeah, you're going to be the next Tyra Banks, Clo."

"I'll be bigger than Tyra Banks.", she said, her apparant self-absorbment emphazising her words.

He winked at her and nodded. "What are you gonna do about school? You still gonna go?"

She shrugged. "I dunno, maybe. Depends on how popular I get."

Chloe had been a student at the University of Central Florida for two years now. She wasn't a big school fan, obviously since she had missed almost a full semester doing shoots or other "important" things for her career. She wasn't a stupid girl, she actually got A's and B's in school, when she was there, and she had a great study sense about her. That was one of the things that Justin had been attracted to when he had met her almost a year ago. He had always gone for smart girls, instead of the ditzy, flashy type. Chloe had held that trait about herself for the beginning of their relationship, but maybe five months in, she had begun to turn to modeling and the superstardom-type lifestyle that Justin lived. He was too wrapped up in her to even notice and the more flashy she got, the more he didn't think to realize. The bite from the lovebug had been too deep.

Justin pushed the buttons to open the huge security gate to enter his driveway quickly and glanced over at his girlfriend as the car eased along the pavement slowly. She was picking at the nail polish on her perfect fingernails and occasionally twirling her hair around her finger. He smiled to himself. She was so perfect and he knew from the first time that he saw her that he was going to be with her for a long time. He had met her at a party for some promotional thing him and the guys had had to do. He remembered he had putten up a protest about going, but in the end, he had been so glad that he had went, he had annoyed the living crap out of the guys for a continual week.

As soon as the car shut off, he jumped out to grab her bags to bring them inside the huge mansion. Chloe lagged behind, something on the floor of Justin's car catching her attention. She bent over to pick up the brightly colored object and held it up to her eye.

A bracelet, huh? She raised an eyebrow while she stared at it. It definitely wasn't Justin's since he didn't WEAR feminine bracelets. Chloe slipped it onto her tanned wrist and cracked her knuckles with a smirk. Ohh, JuJu. What have you been doing while I've been gone?

She grabbed her carry-on knapsack and quickly jogged after the curly haired object of her affection, pondering whether to confront him about it or leave it to her own business. She knew very well that he hadn't been cheating on her, because obviously, every grain of love that the boy held was saved and directed towards her. She had him whipped completely and she knew it. That's what made the relationship so perfect.

Perfect...in her eyes, anyway.

(the next day, at rehearsal)

"Fer real, don't you ever get sick of coming to rehearsal practically every single day and learning the same steps over and over again?", Kelsie asked JC while she stretched out her arm muscles.

"Nah, not really. If you really love what you're doing then you wake up in the morning excited to go and work on new or even OLD steps. Personally, I like rehearsals because I get to contribute to the art of creating the dances, ya know? Plus, I'm not one that can sit still for long periods of time.", he smiled.

She bent over to re-snap one of the pesky little buttons on her snap Adidas pants. "I get what you mean. That's how I feel about dancing, too. I love it so much -- it's my whole life."

He nodded. "Yeah, I feel ya sista!"

She laughed and glanced at the clock. "Well, it's already eleven...Joey, Lance and Chris are just finishing up their little naptime session, right? Where's Justin at?"

JC went over the moves to 'No Strings Attached' with no effort, watching his reflection in the mirror. "I have no idea. I don't think he's here yet."

"Okay, well he should be here soon, I think, so I'm going to go try to find the three stooges. I'll be back in a few."

"Okay. I'll be here."

He watched as she left the room, her longish hair the last to disappear through the doorway. Her tank top fit her perfectly, the curves of her body accentuated with the fabric of the shirt hugging her waist tightly. She was a great girl. He respected her a lot and she was so talented. He only wished everyone could see that. In his mind flashed a vision of Justin. Justin was his very best friend, his brother-like buddy, and he would do almost anything for him. They knew each other like the back of your hand, yet there were just some few things that JC could never quite grasp about him. Especially the way that he had such a strong disliking towards Kelsie. It was a shame, because if they didn't hate each other, he could see them as being a lot more than friends. In fact, he would have bet everything he owned that the two of them would already be together if it wasn't for --

"HEY JOSHIE!", a loud, squeaky voice interrupted his thoughts and he swirled on his heels to turn to see who it was. He almost groaned when he saw the flaunty, curvacious body of Chloe Andrews. God, he couldn't stand her.

"Hey Clo, what's up?"

She put her hands on her hips and strutted towards him. "Jace, aren't you forgetting that I've been gone in Los Angeles for over a month!?"

Of course not. How could I forget? It has been so quiet around here. Please go back. "Oh yeah!! How was the trip ?"

She leaned over to hug him and finally answered, that fake grin never leaving her lips. "It was wonderful! I nailed so many gigs. My agent says that I'll be on the cover of Sports Illustrated in NO TIME!"

JC discreetly rolled his eyes. Could she get anymore full of herself? "That's so awesome, babe! Congratulations!"

"I know, I know! I'm so excited!"

He smiled and changed the subject. "Is Justin here?"

Chloe's tone dropped and she almost had a look of disgust on her face. "I dunno. Yeah, he's here somewhere.", she brought the subject right back. "Guess what? I did a lot of photo shoots for NYC Jeans while I was there! There was this one where..."

JC tuned her out. Amazing. He wondered if she knew how much of himself that Justin gave to her. She didn't give a rat's ass about him, he could see it. No matter what he did, what he said, or how many times he told her he loved her, she would still only care about one thing...his fame.

In his opinion, his fame was her way of getting known, of getting out there for the world to meet. This is Justin Timberlake's girlfriend, who is insanely gorgeous and who just miraculously got a brand new modeling career. He sighed quietly and realized that she had left the room.

Thank God.

He shook out of his daze and checked his watch. It was sure getting late and the MTV cameramen would be here at twelve. He wondered if Kelsie had found the other three guys...

Meanwhile, Kelsie was jogging down the long-winded hallway, occasionally peeking in a few doorways looking for Joey, Lance, and Chris. And Justin if she was lucky. She heard a noise behind her, so she shoulder-checked to find nothing. Before she could turn around, she crashed into someone and went tumbling to the ground.

"Ahh! My hair!", a highly feminine voice rang out in her ear.

She pushed aside the strand of hair in her face and looked at the girl across from her. "I'm sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going."

She hmphed and stood up, putting her hands on her hips. "Well, be more careful next time."

Kelsie took notice to the bright bracelet that the girl was wearing. Hey...that's my bracelet! She dusted off her pants and stood up to face her. She looked back at the bracelet and finally pointed at it. "Where did you get that bracelet?"

Chloe gave her a look until realization hit. This was the girl in Justin's car, wasn't it? She smiled to herself. "I found it."

"It's mine. Where did you find it? Who are you, anyway?"

"Who are YOU?"

"*NSYNC's choreographer...but that's besides the point. Can I please have my bracelet back?"

"No. It's mine.", she uttered and abruptly turned and walked away.

Kelsie stood there in shock for a minute. Ew, what a bitch. "What is it with people around here?"

A voice behind her made her jump. "I don't know, I guess we just all love to irritate Kelsie Meyers."

She turned around to face Lance and laughed. "Hey buddy, where have you been?"

"I came to find you. JC told me, Joe and Chris that you were out here looking for us. We're all waiting for you."

"Justin, too?"

"Yeah, he's there. Not fully with it, but he's there."

She smiled. "Cool beans. Thanks. Let's get started."

They walked back to the room together, Kelsie completely unaware of the fact that the girl she had just encountered would eventually find a way to make her life a living hell.

"Justin, would it be at ALL possible for you to just TRY to WORK WITH ME here?", Kelsie nearly screamed when he kept purposely messing up on a move for 'It Makes Me Ill'. Her outburst caught the attention of one of the MTV people and they immediately turned to focus their cameras at her and Justin.

He noticed the camera on him and smiled at her. "I am Kels. I'm trying to get that one part down, but I just can't seem to master it." He gave her a pleading look and turned to the camera, grabbing it by the sides. "You see this people, learning these steps isn't as easy as we make it look!"

Kelsie rolled her eyes and let out a sigh. She didn't know how much more of his sudden mood swings she could take. He automatically transformed in front of the camera, she guessed to make his personality seem friendlier for the little teenies. What a load of bull, she thought. Even though he still had that arrogant aura to him, she had noticed that his attitude had changed a little since she had been stuck at his house that one night, which meant that she had gotten through to him.

"Justin, it's not that hard. All you have to do is pretend like you're dying!"

"I know, I know.", he smiled and then discreetly gave her a hard look, mumbling, "Don't make me look bad, Kel."

She groaned quietly and clapped her hands. "Jace! Can you get Joe, Chris, and Lance over here? I want to see you guys do 'It Makes Me Ill' altogether."

"Yup." JC gathered the guys and they set up to do the song. As the music started, the door opened quietly and Chloe peeked her head in. Kelsie saw her right away but didn't let it bother her since she wasn't actually inside. She saw Justin look over at the door and smile, then glance at the cameramen nervously, waving Chloe away with a hand, mouthing 'Not now.' to her. She shrugged to herself and put her attention back to the guys that were starting the dance.

Justin and his mood swings.

(later that night)

"Kat, can we do something tomorrow? I have off.", Kelsie spoke quietly into the phone, laying on her back.

"Babe, I've got classes tomorrow. I'm sorry! Why do you have off?"

"The guys are doing their 'up-close-and-personal' parts for the shoot...Classes are starting again? I thought the UCF break was longer than this?"

"Nope, it starts tomorrow. I get to wake up bright and early!", she joked. "Fun stuff."

"Man, you lucky dog, you.", Kelsie laughed and fluffed the pillow that she was leaning on. She turned serious then, letting the whole Justin thing surface, leading to her own breakdown. "Kat?"

She sensed sadness in her voice immediately. "What? What's wrong, hon?"

"I can't take it anymore."

Kat sighed. "What happened? What did he do?"

"Nothing...it's just...his mood swings.. They are so constant and I can't TAKE IT anymore!"

"Aw, hon. Sure you can. You just have to keep your head up."

"No, Katherine, you're not understanding this. You don't have to put up with him and his changing attitude everyday! One day he's fine, he's actually being civil with me and then the next day he's screaming about something absolutely irrevelant to the situation or he's making some crude and plain out mean remark to me that shoots me down and places me back to where I started!

And what makes me even more mad is how everytime he talks to someone that's not ME, he's exactly like the Justin Timberlake you see on TV and read about in interviews, you know? The nice one that can't do any wrong. But as soon as I walk in the room, it's like this deep hatred overtakes him and he can't help but be absolutely CRUEL to me!", she wiped away a tear that threatened to fall on the brim of her eyelid. "I didn't do ANYTHING to him, Kat. Why does he treat me like this?"

"Honestly, Kelsie, I really don't know why he singled YOU out of everyone to just out of the blue, hate. But from the few times that I've gotten to hang out with him and the guys with you, I think that Justin has an insecurity problem..."

"What! How can he be insecure!? He's got the freakin' world at his FEET!"

"You would be surprised at how many celebrities are insecure. I know that I tend to get a little star-struck around them when I meet some of them, but I know that I have a tendency to be able to read them a lot. When I think of someone like Justin, I can definitely see him as being insecure..."

"But why would he be? I don't get it!"

"Sh, listen. Think about it, Kelsie. Justin is young, he's only, what is he, nineteen? Twenty years old? Basically, he's still a kid if you really think about it. Now try to put all the fame and all the attention that he is getting on top of the fact of his age. Maybe he's having a hard time dealing with the fact that he might not be able to handle everything that is hitting him at once. *NSYNC blew UP. They are easily the most popular group in the world right now, and with this new album out right now, they're only going to get even bigger. In my opinion, I see Justin as very vulnerable and somewhat scared of what's happening to him. Do you get me now?"

Kelsie's voice softened and some sense of understanding fell upon her. "Yeah...I do. But I don't get why I'M the one he chooses to let it all out on."

"Maybe he feels that if he opens up to you, he'll be letting his defenses down. Maybe he feels that you are someone he could get close to easier than he would want to and by being nice and open with you will make him succumb to that fear..."

Kelsie thought about that and she smiled suddenly. "Wow, Kat...you're probably right. I don't know how you do it.."

"Do what?"

"How you're able to read people like that. You've only met him a few times and you can totally get him at first glance!"

"I just watch people's body language closely. It gives away a whole lot more than they probably want.", she chuckled.

"Kat, you know I love you right? Seriously, I was really having a break down inside of me and you always know what to say or do. Thanks for being there all the time, I really appreciate it.", she smiled to herself. "You totally showed me a new side to Justin, and now I feel like I understand him so much better. Now, I feel like I have this need to help him..."

Kat grinned. "So help him. Don't wait."

"Yeah...I won't. Thanks, babe. I'm tired though, so much thinking has gotten my brain to fall asleep. I'll talk to you later. Good luck in your classes!"

"Thanks. Goodnight."

Kelsie waited until she heard Kat hang up and put her phone back in the reciever. She smiled.

"Goodnight, Kat."