(The Next Day)
Kayla was humming a tune to herself while sorting through more paperwork. She still had a smile on her face from the night before when Bryce took her and Casey out to dinner. She turned to her computer and started typing a paper Mr. Collins had requested the day before.
“Hello Kayla and how is your day going so far?” Mr. Collins asked, standing in front of her desk.
She blushed, being caught humming to herself, “Great!”
“Well that’s good to hear.”
“Was there something you needed?” she asked, wondering why he was standing at her desk.
“No actually, I was just dropping off this file and telling you I’m taking my lunch break,” he smiled warmly.
“Ok, I’ll put that back once I get the chance,” Kayla said looking at the file title.
“All right,” Mr. Collins said walking towards the door. “Remember! Get some lunch...or at least take a break!” he called over his shoulder.
“Yes sir!” she smiled.
She turned back to her computer and started tapping at the keys again. A knock startled her and she looked up at the doorway to find the same five guys as the day before.
“Hi guys,” she said cheerfully.
“Hey someone’s having a better day,” JC smiled.
Kayla nodded her head, “Was there something I could help you with? Mr. Collins already went to lunch so you’ll have to catch him later.”
JC shook his head, “We came to take you out to lunch...if your not too busy.”
Kayla blushed and smiled, “No...I think I can go out today...I’m a lot more organized than yesterday.”
Joey jumped over to her desk, “Yay! Hurry!”
Kayla stood up and gave Joey a look of wonder, “Why are we in such a hurry?”
“The good food will be gone soon!” he said as if she should know.
“I see,” she laughed.
Justin and Chris joined in on everyone’s laughter as Lance stared from a distance. He smiled with all the happiness, not sure why it was really there, but didn’t mind that it was. He watched Kayla move around her desk, being hurried by Joey. Her dark brown hair fell on her shoulders gracefully and her eyes sparkled with laughter. Lance shook his head of his thoughts and almost laughed out loud the way he was staring at this girl he just met a few days ago. He ignored his thoughts and joined in the conversation everyone was having.
“All right all right Joey, I’m coming,” Kayla said quickening her pace to catch up with everyone.
Joey grinned happily and gave Kayla a little push. They all made their way down to the cafeteria, chatting about pointless things. When they got there Kayla was surprised to see Joey and Justin rush up to the tables set up, full of food.
“Did I take that long?” she asked JC.
JC laughed, “No...you’ll get used to seeing that...sooner or later.”
She nodded her head and walked over to the buffet tables. She made herself a salad and walked back to the table where they all had saved her a seat.
“Yuck, why do girls always eat salads?” Justin asked making a face.
Kayla hesitated for a second, “Because their good...for...you?”
Justin titled his head to the side and gave a goofy grin.
“Are you on a diet?” he asked suddenly.
Kayla looked up surprised, “You know you should never ask a girl that...that and how old they are, you might get slapped.”
Justin studied her, “Well then why else are you eating that salad?”
“Because I like salads...why are you eating that hoagie?” she challenged.
“Because it’s good--”
“Exactly, same reason I’m eating my salad, now stop asking questions and eat your food while I eat mine,” she said shoving a forkful of lettuce in her mouth.
They all turned around, looking at her with a shocked expression.
“You always this polite?” Chris asked.
“I didn’t mean it hostily...” she started, scolding herself for letting her mouth run again.
Chris laughed, “You should have.”
The other guys laughed in response.
“You can say anything you like about fro boy over there, everyone else does,” Chris shrugged.
“I’ll try to watch my mouth,” she said quietly.
“Why? I’m interested in what you have to say,” Joey chimed in, in the middle of a bite.
“Chew...swallow...then talk...do we have to go over this again?” Justin asked giving Joey a disgusted look.
Joey ignored him, “So do you have a boyfriend?”
Kayla looked up a little startled from the question, “No...”
“You sound a little unsure about that,” Justin said taking a bite out of his hoagie.
“No I’m sure I don’t have one...I was just a little surprised from the question,” she said taking a sip of her water.
“Well tell us a little more about yourself,” Lance said, leaning his head in as if to hear better.
“Like what?” she asked uneasily.
“Where you from?” JC asked.
“New Jersey,” she replied.
“Why’d you move down to Florida?” Joey asked.
“My parents.”
“Do you like it down here?” Chris asked.
Kayla nodded her head.
“How old are you?” Justin asked grinning.
Kayla stared at him for a second before responding, “20, your lucky I’m relatively young or else I’d slap you.”
Justin winked in response.
“Do you still live with your parents?” Lance asked.
Kayla paused for a moment and gave a frightened look.
When she realized no one caught onto her fear she answered, “No I have my own apartment.”
“Do you go to college?” Joey asked.
She nodded her head.
“Do you go to mad college parties?” Chris grinned.
Kayla shook her head, “I don’t have time to.”
“Bummer,” Chris commented.
“So you have your own apartment?” Justin asked, interested.
Kayla nodded her head.
“You have any roommates?” JC asked.
Kayla thought about the question for a second, “No.”
“Where do you live?” Lance asked.
They all turned around to look at him.
“Jeese Poofoo, you gonna stalk her or something?” Justin asked laughing.
Lance blushed, “I didn’t mean it that way...I was just wondering.”
“No offense but I don’t know you well enough to tell you where I live,” Kayla said quietly.
They all laughed and Lance’s face turned beet red.
“Do your parents still live down here?” JC asked, breaking the attention from Lance.
“Uh...no...not really...” Kayla stuttered.
“Not really?” Joey asked. “You mean they visit a lot?”
All eyes turned to her and she froze in her seat. She stared down at her salad and started picking at it, avoiding all eye contact.
“Something like that,” she mumbled. “Well it was nice playing ‘Let’s get to know Kayla’ with you but I have to get back to work,” she said standing up. “I’ll see you later and thanks for lunch.”
Kayla grabbed the rest of her lunch, quickly making her way to the door, throwing her trash out on the way out, before anyone could say another word.
“What did I say?” Joey asked, shrugging his shoulders.
They all shrugged their shoulders and stared in the direction Kayla had bolted out of the door.
“She seemed a little edgy when we mentioned her parents,” Lance commented.
“She seemed a little edgy when you asked her where she lived,” Justin laughed.
Lance blushed again and looked down, “I didn’t mean it like that.”
Justin laughed, “I know...but I don’t think she knew that.”
They all decided to ignore the sudden outburst Kayla had, knowing it was probably something personal. They went on with their conversation and talked about the rest of the day ahead of them.
Lance looked over at the door once again, wondering why Kayla had run out of there so quickly. He normally didn’t pry other people’s lives because he liked his own privacy, so he believed he shouldn’t stick his nose in other people’s privacy. He wanted to know her reason for leaving so suddenly but decided to ignore it also. He turned back to face the other guys and join their conversation.
Kayla quickly made her way back to her office, shutting the door behind her. She sat down at her desk and placed her head in her hands. She was a little embarrassed from running out of there without a good explanation, but she panicked when her parents were mentioned. She was trying her best to keep her cool with all the questions they were asking. She could have probably gotten away with not telling them anything, but she always thought of those kind of things after everything happened. She took a deep breath and sat up straight. She found the file she was typing up before lunch and started to work on it again.
Six o’clock finally rolled around and Kayla sighed, grateful that the day was over. She packed her things up and said good bye to Mr. Collins, making her way outside on the first try. She walked at a steady pace to the bus and boarded immediately.
When she got back to her apartment she found a note from Bryce, telling her he went out running errands with Casey and they’d be back soon after she got home. Kayla crumpled up the note and sighed, trying to decide on what to have for dinner.
She walked into her room and flung her shoes off, laying down on her bed. She was exhausted and didn’t want to move, ever. She closed her eyes and sighed tiredly, before she knew it, she was asleep.
“Kayla?” Bryce called out. “We’re home and we brought dinner!”
Casey took off her coat and handed it to Bryce so he could hang it up. Bryce took the coat and Casey took the bags of fast food out of his hand, making her way to the kitchen. Bryce took off his coat and looked around the small apartment for Kayla.
He walked into the kitchen and looked for the note he had left. He noticed it was gone, so he knew Kayla had to be there somewhere. He walked down the hallway and peeked into her room. He found her lying on her bed, fast asleep. He was going to leave her there, when he noticed the time on the digital clock beside her bed. He walked into the room and shook Kayla gently, to wake her up.
Kayla groaned softly, “What?”
“Hey sleeping beauty...prince charming has come to the rescue,” Bryce smiled, towering over her.
Kayla opened her eyes and smiled, “So where’s the prince?”
“Ooooh...ouch that one hurt,” Bryce said softly, clutching his heart.
Kayla smiled softly and rolled over onto her stomach.
“Oh no...you have a class in about an hour and Casey and I are starving,” he said rolling her back over on her back.
“Ohmigod, dinner!” she said sitting up.
Bryce laughed lightly, “Nice hair...I already got it covered, so hurry up and let’s eat.”
Kayla smiled gratefully, “What would I do without you?”
“Kill Casey with your cooking,” Bryce laughed.
Kayla shot him a look and punched him in the shoulder, “I don’t cook that badly!”
“OW! With that right hook you should go out for boxing, when’d you start lifting?” Bryce cried, clutching his shoulder.
“I didn’t, your just becoming a big softie,” she said smiling slyly.
She stood up and ran a hand through her hair, making her way to the door.
“Come on wounded one, let’s eat,” she said walking out the door.
Bryce stood up and followed her to the kitchen. They walked into the kitchen where Kayla greeted Casey with a smile and a kiss on the cheek. Casey didn’t pay much attention because she was wrapped up with her toy from the kid’s meal she was consuming.
‘Nice to see you too,’ Kayla signed.
Casey grinned a lop sided grin and giggled. Kayla smiled and sat down at the table, pulling the rest of the food out of the bag. Bryce got out plates and napkins, sitting down and handing them out. Kayla gave Bryce his food and they ate together, joking around and laughing.
When Kayla was done eating she looked up at the clock and realized the time. She excused herself and walked into her room to change for her night class.
“Thanks again Bryce for baby sitting,” Kayla called into the kitchen, slipping on her coat.
“No problem, I’m used to it,” Bryce called back smiling.
“I’ll be back later!” Kayla yelled back.
Bryce heard the door shut and turned to look at Casey.
‘Your mommy’s a very beautiful lady,’ he signed.
Casey nodded in agreement. ‘I want to be just like her when I grow up,’ she signed back.
‘Oh you’ll be much prettier I’m sure,’ Bryce grinned.
Casey blushed and giggled. Bryce smiled at the small child affectionately. He looked at Casey’s innocent smile and her happy nature. Casey was a happy kid, money or not. Bryce watched her with compassion.
Casey tugged on his shirt arm and snapped him out of this thoughts, ‘Do you love mommy?’ she signed.
Bryce sat there for a moment and thought about her question.
Finally he signed back, ‘Yes very much.’
Casey smiled, satisfied with the answer he had given. To her, Bryce was her daddy, he was the only older male figure she really knew.
‘What do you say we clean up and play a game?’ Bryce signed, breaking himself out of his daze.
Casey nodded her head excitedly and crumpled up her bag full of leftover food and trash, taking it to the trash can and tossing it in. Bryce gathered the left over trash and threw everything out, cleaning up the little mess they had made. When that was all done, he took Casey’s hand and led her into her room to pick out a game.
Kayla came home from her class, even more exhausted then when she had come home from work. She wasn’t sure if she could keep this schedule up, she was barely getting any sleep. She knew she would lose more sleep if she quit her job for her own convenience.
She took off her coat and left her books on the coffee table in the small sitting room in the front of her apartment. She peeked into the kitchen and found no one, so she tried Casey’s room. No one was in there either. She finally found Bryce and Casey laying on her bed in her room, with the TV blaring loudly. She smiled at the sight, a classic Kodak moment. She decided to leave them there, since they looked so comfortable. She walked over to the TV and turned it off, tip toeing over to her night stand and turning off the light. She crept out of the room quietly, after laying a blanket over both of them.
She shut the door softy behind her and made her way to the small sitting room in the front, laying on the battered up couch. Her eyes wandered over to the small family portrait on her coffee table beside her books. She picked it up gently and stared at the people in the picture. There was a man and a woman, her mom and dad, and her and Casey. They were all smiling and Kayla remembered the day like it was yesterday...
“Kayla...get Casey to stand still,” her mom said, fixing her own hair.
“I’m trying mom, she doesn’t want to,” Kayla said helplessly.
“Come on Cathryn, the photographer has other jobs he needs to attend to...you look fine dear,” her dad said, placing a hand on her mother’s shoulder.
“Casey won’t stand still,” her mother said looking down at a fidgety Casey.
“Give her a piece of candy,” Kayla suggested. “Maybe that’ll stop her squirming.”
“It’ll ruin her dinner,” her mom protested.
“One piece of candy? Come on mom, I doubt it’ll ruin her dinner,” Kayla said rolling her eyes.
She walked over to the small table beside the couch and got a peice of hard candy out of the small glass bowl. She unwrapped it and handed it to Casey. Casey’s eyes lit up and reached out for the piece of candy. Kayla led her back to the place where they were supposed to pose for the picture and finally gave it to Casey.
“Watch her, I don’t want her to choke on that...she’s only 3 you know...” her mom said, watching Casey with a worried expression.
“Relax honey, we’re going to take the picture quickly and then you can take the candy out of her mouth if you like,” her dad said in a calm tone.
Kayla’s dad was always a patient man, while her mother was always nervous and paranoid about everything. What could she expect? She was a mother.
“All right everyone ready?” asked the photographer.
Kayla’s dad looked down at everyone, “Ready.”
He stood up straight and leaned his shoulders back, lifting his chin up. Her mother straightened out her skirt again and lifted her chin up also. Kayla looked at the camera and held Casey in place, smiling.
“One...two...” *FLASH* “That was perfect,” the photographer smiled.
“All right now get that candy out of Casey’s mouth...” her mom started.
Kayla snapped back into reality and realized she was crying silently. She sighed and brushed her tears away, placing the picture back on the coffee table. She propped her feet up and closed her eyes, tired from the days activities. In a matter of minutes, she was sound asleep.
The next morning Bryce woke up to a faint buzzing sound of an alarm clock. He stretched and looked down to find a peacefully sleeping Casey in his grip. He gently pulled away from her and glanced at the clock to see what time it was. 5:30am. He turned the alarm clock off and yawned, standing up for a full body stretch. He looked around and didn’t find Kayla anywhere. He walked into the hallway, peeking in Casey’s room, he never knew where she could have fallen asleep. He finally found her in the small sitting room and walked over to her side. He sat down beside her and watched her sleep for awhile.
She was breathing deeply and she had a smile on her face. Her eyes moved around under her eyelids, making Bryce wonder what she was dreaming about. He smiled, watching her sleep peacefully. After awhile he knew she had to wake up to go to work, so he shook her gently.
“Wake up princess,” he said softly.
Kayla stirred and rubbed her eyes. She blinked a few times to get the sleep out of her eyes and stared up at Bryce.
“What are you...doing...?” she asked, confused.
“I fell asleep in your room and I found you out here,” he said standing up. “It’s 5:30...I have to go home to shower and change, I’ll be back before you leave for work,” he whispered.
Kayla nodded her head and sat up, brushing hair out of her face. She checked her wrist watch and yawned, covering her mouth. Bryce walked over to the door and grabbed his coat. He slid into it and left quietly, shutting the door softly behind him. Kayla stretched once and let her arms fall to her side lazily. She looked around and sighed, standing up to get ready for work.
Lance stretched, reaching out to either side of him, yawning loudly.
“Excuse me,” he said politely, covering his mouth.
No one said anything in return, just blinked a few times to wake themselves up more.
“Tell me again why we’re here so early?” Chris asked, rubbing his eyes.
“For the fans,” Joey said yawning.
“Oh yeah,” Chris said nodding his head. “I bet most of them are still in bed.”
The other guys gave a small laugh and yawned again.
Justin was quiet, barely staying awake. JC was dozing lightly, head propped on his fist, which was propped up by his elbow that was resting comfortably on the arm of his chair. Joey was looking around the TV set and watching the audience come in quietly. Chris was yawning repeatedly, looking around for sugar or caffeine, anything that could give him a boost. Lance was staring blankly at the incoming audience, lost in his own thoughts.
“Scoop what else do we have to do today?” Justin asked, speaking in a low tone.
Lance looked up, brought out from his thoughts and looked over at Justin, “Huh?”
“What are we doing today?” Justin asked again.
“Oh...umm...we have this morning show, then back to the dance studio for more practice. I think we get a lunch break after that, then we spend some more time in the recording studio and some time between that we have a meeting with Johnny and Mr. Collins to schedule more tour dates. Also another performance tonight...maybe,” he concluded, thinking about the last event.
Justin groaned, “Ok...thanks.”
Lance nodded his head and leaned back in his chair, thinking about the busy day ahead of him.
“Kayla? May I see you in my office for a second?” Mr. Collins asked over the intercom.
“Yes sir,” she responded.
She stood up and walked into Mr. Collins’ office, shutting the door behind her.
“You needed to see me sir?”
“Yes, I have a meeting with the members of *N SYNC later this afternoon and I’m going to need you there to dictate,” he said not looking up from his papers.
Kayla hesitated, “Dictate? The whole thing?”
“Yes...it’s not as bad as is sounds, you just have to take notes,” he said looking up and smiling.
Kayla’s expression relaxed and she nodded her head, “I think I can handle that.”
Mr. Collins smiled again, “I hope so. We’re also meeting with Johnny Wright, their manager, we’ll be discussing their upcoming tour, deciding on more dates and such.”
“Yes sir,” she said, already starting to mentally prepare for the meeting.
“I just wanted to tell you,” Mr. Collins said, looking back down at his work. “That’s all for now.”
Kayla left without another word, sitting back down at her desk. A soft knock at the door caused her to look up. She found Lance standing at the door, peeking in.
“Come on in,” she smiled. “Is there something I can help you with?
“Yes actually, I need to speak to Mr. Collins, is he in?” he asked, walking over to desk.
“Yes, hold on let me see if he’s available,” she said in a business like tone. She pressed the intercom button, “Mr. Collins? Mr. Bass is here to see you.”
“Send him in,” he responded.
She nodded towards the door and Lance smiled appreciatively. Kayla went back to her work, typing away at the computer and going through more paperwork.
Lance came out after a few minutes and started walking by her desk. He stopped by the door and turned around to face Kayla’s desk.
“How do you like it here so far?” he asked suddenly.
She looked up, startled, “Fine...thanks.”
He nodded his head, thinking of something else to say, “You finding your way around all right?”
Kayla stared at him for a moment before responding, “I’m getting used to it...I’ve only been here for three days...”
Lance blushed, “Yes...well if you need any help I’d be more than happy to give you an official tour.”
Kayla couldn’t figure out for the life of her why he was standing there offering her a tour of the building, but she appreciated the kindness.
“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind,” she smiled.
Lance’s face relaxed and he smiled in return, “Ok...see ya around.”
Kayla waved in response and Lance walked out of the door. Kayla looked after him and smiled to herself. “He was kind of cute,” she thought to herself.
“This is no time to be checking out the guys you work with,” Kayla scolded herself.
But she had to admit, he wasn’t that bad looking. Not at all.
“So those dates are settled?” Mr. Collins asked, looking around the table at the faces staring at him.
“What about July?” JC asked, scooting his chair in.
“We’re getting there, I’m just making sure the June dates are definite,” Mr. Collins said pushing his glasses up.
They all nodded in response. Mr. Collins turned around to look at Kayla who was scribbling down notes as quickly as she could. She finished her last sentence and looked up, wondering why the room suddenly got quiet. She found Mr. Collins looking at her and blushed.
“Sorry, go ahead,” she said ducking her head down slightly.
Mr. Collins smiled, “I was just checking if you were still with us.”
Kayla nodded her head and looked down at her paper. She placed her pen down for a second and flexed her hand to get the small craps building up, out.
Mr. Collins turned around and continued, “In July your last concert will be in PA, correct?” he asked.
“What about Canada?” Joey asked.
“What about it?” Mr. Collins asked.
“Are we doing any concerts up there?”
“Well...let’s see how the rest of the schedule goes, I don’t want any of you guys to land in the hospital from being overworked,” Mr. Collins said.
They had been in the conference room for the past hour, picking locations and planning more dates to add to their upcoming summer tour.
Kayla never knew how actually big these guys were in the public eye, until she heard the results of their concert and record sales. They had skyrocketed through the roof and to say the least, she was impressed.
“Your going to start off in Mississippi and end up in PA...that clear?” Mr. Collins asked.
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement.
Justin was getting restless and started moving his pencil at a steady pace. Chris was shaking his leg and his chair was moving slightly. Joey was getting fidgety in his seat, while Lance was leaning back in his chair, comfortably. JC was sitting up straight, concentrating on what they were working on and Johnny was writing things down. Kayla was taking notes as quickly as possible, but found it almost impossible to keep up with the flow of the conversation.
“Ok, well I can see that you gentlemen are getting fidgety so let’s take a lunch break,” Mr. Collins said, pushing his chair back.
Joey, Chris, and Justin stood up immediately, rushing for the door all at once, tumbling over each other. Kayla placed her pen down on the table gratefully and started to massage her hand, getting out the kinks out from writing. Johnny finished writing his last sentence and closed his folder, standing up with Mr. Collins and starting another conversation with him. JC and Lance stood up at a slower pace and decided to wait for Kayla.
“Would you like to join us for lunch again?” Lance asked smiling.
Kayla stood up and started gathering her notes, “Well...”
“Our treat,” JC offered.
“I...” Kayla started. She looked up to find them both looking at her. “Ok...let me just get these notes back to my desk and I’ll be ready to go.”
The smiled in return and offered to walk with her and help her.
“I think I can carry these papers by myself,” she smiled.
“Fair enough,” JC said putting his hands up.
Instead he opened the door for her and let her leave first. Lance, JC, and Kayla made their way back to Kayla’s desk, chatting quietly. When she had left her notes in a folder and grabbed her things, they all walked downstairs and straight out the door.
“I didn’t think we were going out, out to lunch...” Kayla trailed off, looking back the way they had come.
“We do leave from time to time,” Lance smiled.
Kayla blushed, “I knew that...”
JC held the door open again for her and Kayla slipped by him, thanking him in the process. They chose a Japanese restaurant and were seated.
Kayla looked around at the decoration and smiled, “I love places like this.”
JC rubbed his stomach, “I love their food.”
Lance watched Kayla look around, studying her features. Kayla felt someone staring at her and glanced over at Lance. Lance quickly looked away and Kayla smiled to herself. The waitress came and took their orders.
“Sushi? You like that stuff?” Kayla asked in disbelief, after they ordered.
“Yeah, it’s good! Have you ever tried it?” JC asked.
“Yes...something about uncooked food makes me a little queasy,” Kayla laughed.
JC grinned, “It’s not that bad...and it’s actually pretty good for you.”
“I know, but I rather go on a diet then eat that stuff,” she said squinting her eyes.
JC laughed lightly, “Well at least I know never to take you out for Sushi.”
Kayla laughed, “Your lucky they had cooked food here or we would have left, your treat or not.”
JC smiled, “I like your sense of humor Miss Dudley.”
“Thank you...but call me Kayla, don’t get all official on me. Your more important than I am where we work...in fact I should start calling you Mr. Chasez,” she laughed.
“Please don’t...call me JC, it makes me feel a lot more comfortable.”
“All right then, and call me Kayla...it makes me feel more comfortable too.” She looked over at Lance, “That goes for you too.”
“Yes ma’am,” he replied grinning. “And call me Lance.”
“All right, now that we have our names established, let’s move on in our conversation,” Kayla smiled.
“Very well, tell us a little more about yourself,” JC said, taking a sip of tea out of the little bowls they called cups.
Kayla hesitated for a second, “Such as?”
“What are you majoring in?” Lance asked.
Kayla breathed a sigh of relief, “Business management.”
“Really...?” Lance asked, interested.
Kayla nodded her head, “I hope to have my own business one day, once I graduate college and get on my feet.
“Face it,” she thought to herself. “You’ve been on your feet since you were 18.”
“Well Lance here is starting his own management business,” JC said, breaking Kayla out of her thoughts.
She turned around to look at Lance with a surprise and interested look, “Really? What kind of business?”
“It’s a management business for musical artists, Johnny Wright and I are co-owning it,” Lance explained.
“That’s great, I hope one day I’ll be able to do something like that,” Kayla said, fascinated. “Promise me once I get started you’ll give me some business tips.”
Lance smiled, “Gladly.”
“So what about you two? Tell me a little more about yourselves,” Kayla said, placing her arms on the table. “I must admit, I don’t read all the latest articles about you guys so I know next to nothing.”
“I think that’s a good thing,” JC laughed. “This way, you can hear the stories from us and not all the tabloid rumors.”
“Well tell me one thing that I have heard, does Justin really date Britney Spears?” she asked.
They both looked at her.
“What?” she shrugged. “I was just wondering.”
“Actually no, Justin has a rough time keeping his personal life personal...then again we all do,” JC said sighing.
“I sense that you don’t like everyone digging through your lives?” Kayla asked, catching JC’s sigh.
They both nodded their heads.
“It’s impossible to have a secret and actually keep it a secret...without everyone finding out and blowing it way out of proportion,” Lance commented.
“Wow,” Kayla said, catching both of their exasperated expressions. “I know I value my personal life...I wouldn’t be able to go through everything you guys do.”
“Well there’s ups and downs to the business, the whole rumor thing is a down. But when you get up on the stage, that’s an up that makes up for a thousand downs,” JC said thoughtfully.
Kayla watched his expression when he talked, looking deeper than his outside appearance. So many people stereotyped these guys, she envied them and pitied then at the same time. She sensed there was a lot more to these guys then great looks and amazing voices.
She was determined to find out and become a trustworthy friend, the only thing that held her back was them getting to know her. Some things were ok to reveal, but if they dug too deep into her past, she would close up and leave them out in the cold. She didn’t want to do that, so she made a vow to herself to let them open up to her...and she would keep her life as deeply buried as she could.
