JC Chasez was a normal guy with a not so normal life. At times, he wished he could be the same guy during every second of every day, but his choice of career prevented him from being the one he wanted to be and he hated the person that he was forced to be BECAUSE of his career.
Always... always he was looking for love. That certain girl was out there somewhere, he knew that much for sure. She had to be there somewhere... just waiting to make him whole.
He used to dream of fame, glory, and money, but now that he had it, none of it mattered as much as he thought it would. Money was hollow. Lately, he'd found himself dreaming about being himself, and being happy, but that had yet to happen. When JC thought of himself, the first word that came to mind was lucky. What a lucky bastard he was.
Lucky in money, lucky in whatever other material possession a person could think of... but unlucky in love.
A person's soul could be brutally damaged by all that poking and prodding that the media practiced on a daily basis.
"JC! Over here!" They'd all yell at him during press conferences, interviews, and even when he was walking down the street or shopping. "JC, do you have a girlfriend? What's her name and how did you meet?"
"JC," a voice cut through his tired thoughts. "JC, wake up. It's time to get changed."
He lazily glanced down at his watch. It was six-thirty. "My God!" he yelled, jumping up from his cozy position on the couch in a back room of the stadium. "Why didn't someone TELL me it was so late?"
Katie, the make-up artist, rolled her eyes at him before stepping through the doorway and walking over to him. "I am right now. Now, hurry up and get moving. Chris is so anxious to get going and I'm afraid that you're the only one who can calm him down." She grabbed JC's arm and pulled him toward the door. "You know how he gets on opening night. If something isn't done quickly, the crew will start some conspiracy themselves and we both know that everything THEY do isn't always legal."
She was kidding and he knew it, but it was just that the JC-pity-party had brought down his spirits and he didn't think he could force a smile so soon.
"Is something wrong?" Katie wondered as he followed her to the dressing room.
He had almost forgotten how well she knew him. He considered himself pretty unreadable, but there was something about Katie that made her different from everyone else. She was incredibly more receptive than even he was. In the business, you almost had to be, or you'd more than likely end up getting crushed by everyone around you.
"Nothing's wrong," he lied. "I'm just nervous." Well, at least the second part was the truth. "It's the first big show. How could I not be?"
"I'm sure you are, but is that all that's on your mind? When I walked into that room just a few minutes ago, you had this weird, spacy look in your eyes."
"Everything's fine," he assured her as he reached for the doorknob and twisted it open.
"Okay, well, promise to talk to me if something ever comes up."
He pretended not to hear her, and stepped into the room anyway.
Between songs, they had a few minutes to take a breather and change into their next set of clothes while the audience was being entertained with a video that they'd made just for the show about a month earlier.
Chris fell down next to JC on the couch and wiped his face with a towel. "Man, it's hot," he said, "but the show is going pretty good, don't you think? Considering it's the first one, we only made a few mistakes. And the best part is that I don't think the audience even noticed."
JC nodded in agreement. Chris was right. The show WAS going wonderfully.
"You're so quiet," Chris brought up. "You're usually not this quiet." He paused and a dull silence filled the room. "Is something up, dude?"
JC shook his head and tried to smile. He supposed that he'd have to come up with some sort of excuse for his behavior, now. "Nothing's wrong," he said. "It's just that with all the noise and excitement, I need a few moments of quiet, you know?"
"No, I don't know," Chris admitted, "but I can understand how that could make sense to you."
"Well, good, then that's all that matters, right?" He stood up, and started to walk to the door. It was almost time to go back on stage.
"I guess," he heard Chris say as he shut the door behind himself.
Katie approached him with some powder and before he could protest, she was dabbing it on his face. "Are you sure you're okay? You should be exited! After all, it's your first show of the tour."
He frowned at her. "Do you know how many people have told me that today?"
"Too many, I'm assuming," she said. "Now, close your eyes."
He obeyed, but found it difficult to concentrate. It was weird.
"Thirty seconds, Katie... JC."
His ears felt like they were plugged and his head started to spin. He put his hands over his ears and opened his eyes.
No longer was he in the back room, but on stage. He was dancing... and he wondered where the thirty seconds had gone. His part was coming up, so he got into position.
As he started his verse of 'It's Gonna Be Me,' his eyes caught the sight of something big dangling from up ahead. A wire snapped, and sparks flew. A few lights went out and before he could even finish the line, the fixture crashed to the stage.
The music staggered to a stop and the guys' voices hung in the air. For a moment, the crowd was silent, and then, the screaming started.
JC's heart stopped.
The light fixture hadn't just fallen on the stage, it had landed right on top of Chris. JC couldn't breathe anymore, but he gathered up his strength and ran over to Chris anyway. He fell down to his knees next to his friend, and cried out when Chris didn't open his eyes.
"JC," someone was shaking his shoulders. He slowly opened his teary eyes. "Oh, thank God! He's awake!" There must have been at least a dozen people surrounding him. Katie was in front, her powder next to him on the floor.
"Are you all right?" she asked. "You blacked out and fell so quickly, that I barely had time to stop you from hitting your head on the floor."
JC wiped the tears from his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I don't know," he tried to say in a strong voice, but it came out quiet and trembling. What in the hell had just happened? "I... I had this dream, and it was really bad. I mean REALLY bad."
Chapter 2
Give Me A Reason
JC {Fiction}
My Fiction
I'll Never Stop {Fiction}
Email me: irishgirl982@yahoo.com