*****
Lasting Impression
Chapter 9
Written By: Jayla
*****

Rolls of film, various camera attachments, blue colored glasses, and a bottle of water were added to her camera bag. Johnny found Jayla mingling back stage taking in the atmosphere she was in and ushered her into a large empty hallway where several people were gathered; opening acts, security, technicians, tour personnel, members of the band, and the guys.

She found herself placed next to Lance and glanced at Johnny who gave a wink. She gave a curt smile averting her attention somewhere else. Her golden brown eyes met his green ones and gave him a small grin before they fell her to her feet. His large hand swallowed hers giving a quick squeeze. The prayer began and the only thing that Jayla could think of was that the butterflies in her stomach were going to bust they're way through.

As the moment of silence passed, she grabbed her belongings and headed out for what would be an incredible experience. Lance was slightly disappointed at how their brief meeting went but he couldn't think about that tonight and joined the rest of the guys who were starting their concert ritual of kicking a hackey sack.

Feeling nervous and fidgety, she ran her fingers over soft material of the jean jacket. Her eyes danced over the environment around her and waved at *N Sync's body guards and laughed to herself when they waved back. Justin had given her an autographed copy of No Strings Attached with little notes welcoming her to the *N Sync family. She read their thank you's inside the cd book jacket and remembered that he had called their security, 'Sexual Chocolate.' Being on the road with him would keep things upbeat.

The coliseum was packed to a sold out audience that night. The lights blacked out as tons of high-pitched screams erupted in the darkness. Jayla had to remind herself to get some ear plugs to drown out the noise. All of a sudden five figures dropped from the ceiling as marionettes on strings as the voice of Disney's Pinocchio started to sing. The guys were lowered onto the stage dressed up in black suits with several colored patches adorning the fabric and matching hats. They took their positions as the band began to play the tune of "No Strings Attached."

She stood off to a corner of the stage and took a few pictures per song noticing that some of the songs were from another album cause she had never heard of them before. Earlier that day, she watched their sound check and she was still blown away at the performance that they put on for their fans. It was incredible.

A couple of girls were screaming to each other over the loud music while Jayla strained her ears to listen what they were saying. She nodded her head in agreement to their comment. "There is no party unless it's an *N Sync party!"

The familiar beats of "It's Gonna Be Me" pulsated through the speakers of the coliseum. She ran over to the other side of the stage holding a pair of blue colored glasses and her camera. When she was out of sight from the guys, her jean jacket was shrugged off to reveal the same red shirt that she had worn when Lance met her. The blond wig was pulled off unveiling her dark hair. Blue tinted glasses were placed over her eyes for added effect. Jayla mixed herself into the large group of media with camera crews, reporters, and photographers.

Adrenaline coursed through Lance's body allowing him to execute the dance moves perfectly. His green eyes darted across the audience with tiny bright flashing lights littering the blackness. After all of this he was still amazed at what a rush performing gave him. The media in the pit was going nuts trying to capture every detail of the high intensity of the show. He grabbed a seat on a couch that was brought out and waited for a familiar ballad from the last album to begin.

A flash of red grabbed his gaze in the pit at the familiarity of the unknown silhouette. A cloud of dark curls came into his line of vision. His heart lurched. 'It's not her, is it?' It took everything inside of him not to jump off the stage to find her.

From the moment he saw her, she had disappeared into thin air within a matter of seconds. Jayla had transformed herself back into Melia and took her spot in front of the stage taking several more pictures. The screams, loud music, and lights were drowning him into a sea of nothingness. 'Did I even see her?'

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