In all honesty, Morgan hadn’t thought the crowd could get any louder, but when the guys appeared in the center of the stadium, she thought her hearing was going to be permanently damaged. She craned her neck to look at all of the faces surrounding her. Seeing looks of pure joy, tears streaming down preteen cheeks shook her. She caught sight of Lyn next to her, with her hand over her mouth, seemingly in awe.

Having seen the show hundreds of times, considering rehearsals, run throughs, and actual concerts, nothing about the show was shocking to her. The people surrounding her were refreshing. Sitting in the VIP section, she generally spent more time chatting with parents, siblings and girlfriends than actually watching the show, or more importantly, the fans. The people she was sitting with were the real reason the guys dragged themselves onto the bus every morning.

The fans were the reason Justin had missed Jonathon’s birthday parties the last two years, but he wouldn’t change that for anything. The fans were securing a future for Jonathon and Stephen, at least that’s how Justin felt. Justin was firm on the fact that his brothers were going to be able to attend any college in the world. The greatest joy in his life was being able to provide for his family.

The fans were the reason JC and Lyn couldn’t eat dinner in a restaurant like a normal couple. But in reality, JC would never eat in a restaurant again if it meant being able to make these people, the fans, as happy as they were right now.

“This sucks JC! I haven’t seen you guys in ages, Justin is off with his brothers and I wanted to sit on the patio at that stupid restaurant and catch up with you. I can’t believe we had to have our lunch wrapped up to go.”

JC smirked, “Well Mor, you’re going to have to settle for catching up at my house or your apartment. I just noticed you seemed to be getting a bit overwhelmed with the interruptions.”

“I can’t believe the gall of all of those people! They just walked up to the table like old friends. As if you weren’t trying to eat your lunch with a REAL friend. It’s not as if you don’t have anything better to do than sit and listen to all of those fans tell you how much they love you!”

Looking over the rim of his sunglasses he gave her a hard look, “I DON’T have anything better to do than listen to them. I owe those people everything. I don’t care where I am, I have time for them. Don’t ever bite the hand that feeds you.”

“What are you thinking about?” Lyn yelled over the music.

“Just a conversation I had with your boyfriend a long time ago.”

Lyn raised her eyebrow and grinned, “Anything bad?”

“No. Just a talk about valuing fans.”

“Ahh.” Lyn leaned closer, “This is unreal. I have never even thought of coming up here. This is amazing!”

“I know!” Mor grabbed Lyn’s hand and squeezed.

Morgan laid in her bunk staring at the bottom of Justin’s bunk thinking about the past week. She was attempting to sort out her thoughts and feelings and just couldn’t seem to work anything out. Everything seemed to be changing. Her feelings for Justin were different. Her feelings about Lyn had taken a major turn after things had swirled out of control to an odd point after she and Lyn got back to the bus after the show.

“Justin and JC are not going to want to deal with us tonight.”

“How could they not want to deal with two of their SUPER FANS?” Morgan threw her arms in the air and waved them around. She looked in the mirror and smirked, before flopping down next to her. She had just had more fun with Lyn than she had thought was possible.

Lyn rolled her head to face Morgan, “Thanks for asking me to go with you tonight. I had a GREAT time, and I can’t remember the last time we did something together, just the two of us.”

Morgan looked over at her and shrugged, “Lyn...”She started to say something, but then stopped, she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear the answer to her question.

“What?” Lyn smiled.

“Nothing. Never mind.” She blushed, and shook her head and then began to closely study her cuticles.

“Mor, I have four younger sisters. Don’t try to pull the, ‘Nothing. Never mind.’ thing with me. What’s up?”

Morgan looked down at her hands, “What’s up with you and Justin? I mean...you and JC are ok right?”

Lyn’s eyebrows shot up, “Justin and I? Good Lord! Nothing is up with us! JC and I are great, I love him with all my heart. Why on Earth would you ask THAT?”

The thought began nagging at her after she had gotten into the shower in Rhode Island, maybe he was using Morgan as a Lyn substitute. Maybe the Justin and Lyn had a thing going, it wasn’t likely, but anything was possible at this point and she was completely positive that Justin hadn’t kissed her because he wanted to. “Well, it’s just...I mean, you have been hanging out with him a lot...and I feel like...I don’t know what I feel like.” She sighed and shifted to face the older woman.

“You feel jealous?”

The corners of Morgan’s mouth turned up slightly, “I guess. I guess I feel kind of...replaced. I have always been the only, female friend he’s really had. I mean, he and Stasia are kind of close, but it’s different.”

“Morgan, I can swear to you, on Lisy’s life, I could NEVER replace you in Justin Timberlake’s heart. You are as important to him as Jonathon and Steven. Whether or not you know it, you hold a piece of his heart that NO ONE ELSE will ever be able to touch. I would hate to be the girl he ends up with, because she is NEVER going to be able to live up to your standards, Justin compares everyone to you.”

Mor’s heart ached a little, she had a piece of his heart, just not the piece she wanted. “I just wasn’t sure what was up. I mean, you guys have like these new nicknames for each other and stuff.” She blushed a little deeper.

Lyn laughed, “B.B. and L.S.?”

“Yeah.”

“Mor, Justin has appointed himself my Big Brother, get it...B.B.? He calls me L.S. for ‘Little Sister’. He said, now that JC is so wrapped up in being with me, that he can’t watch out for me anymore. So Justin says he’s going to do it now. That’s all it’s about, nothing more, I promise you.” Lyn grabbed her hand and squeezed.

Morgan smiled weakly, “Sounds like him.”

“It should sound like him, I never realized he was as...deep as he is.” Lyn looked deeply into Morgan’s eyes, “Thanks for asking Mor. I’m glad you didn’t keep wondering. I mean, you could have misunderstood, and then we may not have been able to get along.” She cocked her head, “Is this why you asked me to go with you tonight?”

Morgan’s cheeks flushed, “Well...it’s not the ONLY reason.” They both burst out laughing.

“You know, I really like you. No matter what your reason was, I’m glad you asked me to go with you tonight. I had a BLAST!”

Morgan giggled, “Why-yi-yi-yippie-yi-yay-yippie-yi-yo-yippie-yi-yay!”

Lyn was gasping for air, she wrapped her arms around Morgan a squeezed her tightly, “You’re the best Morgan!”

Morgan rolled her eyes, “YEAH! I’m the best at being jealous and stupid. You could have made this SO PAINFUL! Thank you for not making me feel like a total idiot.”

“You forget, it wasn’t all that long ago that I was in the same position. I mean, think about how close JC and Stasia have gotten, and she was always around, and I was at home. THEN he was taking her to The Grammy’s and I couldn’t go because of school. Can I tell you what a relief it was when her attention shifted to Lance.” Lyn had an evil glint in her eyes.

It made Mor feel so much better that she wasn’t the only irrational woman in the group. “LYN! There was NEVER anything between JC and Stasia. As a matter of fact, she had the two of you pegged from the day she met you.”

“I didn’t say it made sense! That’s just the way I felt, I was jealous for no apparent reason. Stasia had been nothing but nice to me, she had been good for JC, and I was SO JEALOUS!”

“OF ME?” Lyn and Morgan’s heads whipped at the sound of Stasia’s voice. She was standing in the door with her mouth hanging open.

“OH GOD! STASIA! I’M SO SORRY!”

“About what?” Stasia casually leaned against the door frame, her arms crossing.

“I should have told you I was jealous of you! It was so stupid, and I want to die now!” Lyn slouched down, covering her face with both hands.

Stasia smirked, “Lyn, honey...If Lance was out of the picture...I mean if I had never laid eyes on him, JC WOULD have been the one I made a move for.”

Morgan began laughing, “NO WAY!”

“Hey, I know a hot guy when I see him.” Stasia laughed.

“Who’s hot?” JC asked from behind Stasia. All three girls froze.

The look of terror on Stasia’s face was enough to make Morgan laugh hysterically, she pointed at JC, “YOU ARE!”

Justin shoved past JC and Stasia, “I thought I was the hot one!” He flopped onto his back on the floor and Blarney waddled over, climbing onto Justin’s stomach. He scratched her behind the ears and she laid down with her head on his chest, “See my girl still shows me love.”

“We all love you fool.” Morgan kicked him on the foot.

“So what did we walk in on? And why is JC hot?” Justin continued to scratch Blarney’s head.

“Never mind!” Stasia tried to change to subject.

“Oh NO! You three clammed up when we got here, what were you talking about?” JC pushed Stasia forward into the lounge.

Morgan grinned, “Lyn was jealous of Stasia because you were close to her before she started dating Lance.”

“MORGAN!” Lyn’s jaw dropped.

“What? It’s true isn’t it?” Morgan was smiling brightly.

“Only as true as the fact that YOU are JEALOUS OF ME!”

“LYN!” Morgan starred at her wide eyed.

Justin sat up a little, causing Blarney to huff and readjust herself on his lap, “Why are you jealous of Lyn?” His attention was pulled away briefly when the rest of the group joined them.

Everyone squeezed into the small lounge area, and settled in. JC eyed Lyn, “Nice outfit Sweetpea.”

“Why thank you.” Lyn looked down at her t-shirt, and shorts, which had been plastered with NSYNC buttons and stickers, “Morgan picked out my disguise.”

Justin sat up again, “Which brings me back to my earlier question, why are you jealous of Lyn, Mor?”

“Leave it alone B.B.” Lyn kicked him lightly.

Morgan shook her head, “No. It’s ok Lyn.” Turning to face Justin, she swallowed hard and decided to be honest, “I WAS jealous of Lyn, because I didn’t completely understand your friendship. I’m fine now.” She smiled at Lyn.

“Woman, I don’t know why you are so insecure. You have nothing to worry about.” Justin rolled his eyes.

Mor could have sworn Chris shot Justin a dirty look, but she didn’t have time to ask about it before Lyn looked at Stasia and sighed, “May I?”

“Certainly.” Stasia nodded.

Lyn kicked Justin in the ribs, “You know what? You’re an idiot sometimes! You have got the most remarkable best friend in the world. She has been with you since the day you met. How many people do you know that would put up with YOU for that long? OH! THAT’S RIGHT! JUST ONE! Morgan has never let you down, she has never said she couldn’t be there for you. She has put up with nasty rumors and fans saying evil things. She never complains, and she never asks for anything in return. If ONCE for ONE DAY, she gets a little jealous, I think you should consider yourself lucky and SUCK UP TO HER! I swear B.B.! You can be so blind!”

Morgan was completely stunned. She knew that Lyn liked her, but this fierce defense came out of nowhere. Stasia was the person who generally made it her job to cut egos down to size, but Lyn really seemed to want to defend Morgan, as if she understood what was going on in her head.

“Hold on a second killer! I said she has nothing to worry about.” Morgan could tell instantly that Justin was shocked to hear the venom in Lyn’s voice.

“AFTER you called her insecure. I have never met anyone MORE secure! Do you KNOW HOW SECURE she HAS TO BE to be YOUR best friend? You are NOT EASY TO PUT UP WITH TIMBERLAKE!”

Morgan almost swallowed her own tongue when Justin thought for a long moment and then said, “You’re right. I’m sorry Mor. She’s right, I haven’t been easy for you to hang out with lately. I’m sorry...Woman.” He smirked at her.

“No big deal.” Morgan shrugged and made a mental note to buy Lyn a huge gift.

It had all been so strange, if Stasia had shown up two minutes later, Morgan probably would have been in the middle of telling Lyn about kissing Justin. She had suddenly felt much closer to Lyn, who she had been keeping at arm’s length without realizing it. They had know each other for years, but had never been overly close, after this night, that was all going to be different. Lyn had proven her friendship without even realizing it.

Everything in her life seemed to be changing and she had no idea how to make it stop. She didn’t understand why she and Justin had wound up in one another’s arms, and then unable to regain their normally easy relationship.

She listened to the muffled sound of Justin snoring lightly she smiled because the sound was comforting somehow. She knew that he wasn’t going to suddenly fall madly in love with her, but at least she had little moments. Yawning she placed her hand against the top of her bunk, trying to somehow feel him. Sighing, she rolled her eyes, “Get over it.”

July 16, 2001, San Diego, California

Morgan glanced at her watch as she rushed down the hall back to Justin’s dressing room. She had forgotten her sunglasses and had to go back for them, there was no way she was going to stand out in a parking lot watching the taping of Road to Celebrity without them. She unlocked the door and grabbed her glasses off of the counter. She was in a huge rush because Lyn and Stasia both were both going to miss most of, if not all of the taping, so Mor really wanted to make sure she was there.

She growled when her cell phone rang. Debating whether or not to answer it, it dawned on her that it could be Justin. He was always forgetting something, he probably needed her to bring his shirt down to the stage. “Yeah?”

“North?”

“Oh my God! South?”

“Who else calls you North?” Her friend laughed.

Morgan laughed, “Good point.” She sat down on the couch and smiled, “How in the Hell are you?”

“Eh, I’m always fine. Nothing ever changes in my life, you know that. The biggest excitement in my life is that I’m on summer vacation so I guess I’m just peachy. I was thinking about heading down to Orlando to visit you, but you’re not home. I called your house and your mom said you were on the road with Justin. Where are you?”

Morgan’s head flopped back against the couch, “We’re in San Diego. They are taping this huge thing for the album release. You’ll have to watch it on MTV.”

Her friend chuckled, “Oh! I’ll put it in my book right now! And how is the dork?”

“He’s...fine. He’s Justin, you know.”

“And?”

“And what?”

“And what aren’t you telling me?”

Morgan rolled her eyes, “Nothing!”

“Whatever. How long have I known you guys? Like forever. Long enough to know Justin is never ‘fine’. I totally agree that he’s a major dork and that you probably shouldn’t waist your time being friends with him, but for some insane reason you’ve kept up your friendship for this long, so you might as well see it through. What happened? Are you guys fighting? Did you have a lovers quarrel?”

“Funny.”

“How long is it going to take to drag this out of you?” Laura Southard had known Morgan since second grade and she knew her better than anyone...except Justin. Their teacher had sat them at the same table, across from one another because she thought the coincidence of Morgan’s last name starting with North, and Laura’s name starting with South was, ‘Just too cute.’

“I don’t have the energy to hold out too long.”

“So spill.”

“Yeah, so I’m a little confused.”

“About?”

“Rolling around on a bed making out with my best friend all night.”

“We never rolled around on a bed making out all night.”

“Funny.”

“North, why is this so horrible? You guys are grown-ups. You’ve loved each other for at least two hundred years. You guys have spent more energy trying to stay apart than most people spend trying to get together. Do the world a favor and just get on with it.”

“Yeah, not gonna happen.” Mor sighed.

“Why not? Did the idiot try something? Did he say something stupid after? Oh God! He can’t kiss! I knew it! He is all hype!”

“Trust me, he doesn’t have a problem in that department.” Morgan felt herself blush.

“Really? He’s a good kisser? Who knew? Good how? Like, does he have a style? Is he a wet kisser or a dry kisser? Did he swirl his tongue or sort of...poke with it? I’m not a fan of the whole poking thing. Honestly, I just don’t get what you’re trying to accomplish with that whole thing...”

“Can we stay on track here please?”

“Yeah, sorry about that. So what happened? How did it happen? How did it end? Why are you all freaked out?”

“Basically, We hooked up, I thought we both wanted it. We were at a bed and breakfast with the rest of the guys and all of the girlfriends. I guess I was feeling a little...needy. It was hot out, the place was amazing, everyone around us is madly in love, so one thing led to another and, it ended when we fell asleep together. I crawled out of bed at like five in the morning and then when he got up, I told him I had been drunk, we shouldn’t make a big deal out of, to just ignore that it ever happened and it was a mistake that would never happen again.”

“Oh geeze, way to bruise his ego...not that is couldn’t use a little bruising, but that had to hurt. What did he say?”

“Nothing. I didn’t really give him a chance to say anything. Basically, I blurted it out, got up and got in the shower.”

“So you lied and then didn’t listen what he had to say because you were worried about what you were going to hear. He could have been ready to tell you that he is, was and always will be madly in love with you, but you didn’t give him the chance. You were too worried about your own feelings to think that he might, somewhere in that thick head of his have some thoughts on the issue. You didn’t even give him a chance to argue.”

“That sounds about right...well, not the madly in love thing, but the rest of it.”

“You’re not going to talk to him about this are you?”

“Oh hell no!”

“Not smart, not smart at all.”

“I need a change in my life, I’ve got to change something. Change is good right? But that is not a change I’m ready to make.”

“That comment made no sense at all, but I’m feeling like you want the subject changed.”

“That would be good.”

“When are you coming up here to visit me?”

“I don’t know. I wish I had more time this summer.”

Laura laughed, “Do you remember when we were little and we talked about living together when we grew up?”

“Yes. If I remember correctly, you wanted to decorate our apartment with a Hello Kitty theme.”

“Can you imagine if we lived together...we’d be dangerous.”

“Can you imagine? People would be afraid to come over. People would avoid us all of the time, we wouldn’t have any other friends because no one would understand us.”

“Well all you have to do is move up here to finish school and we’ll live together in our Hello Kitty palace. It will be pink, it will be amazing, it will be Hello Kitty!”

Morgan laughed. South had always been able to make her laugh, even when she didn’t want to, “I wish it were that easy.”

“Well, the invitation is always open. I have a spare room!”

Morgan smirked, “I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Should I let you go? We’ve been on the phone a while, didn’t you say that Justin was taping some major thing? He is going to be so pissed when he finds out you’re late because you were talking to me.”

“Yeah. I guess I should head out there. I’ll give you a call later this week.”

“I’ll be sitting right here by the phone waiting. I’ll count the seconds.”

“Shut up.”

“Oh! North, one more thing.”

“Huh?”

“Try to keep you tongue in your own mouth.”

“I hate you.”

“No you don’t.”

“No I don’t. Bye South.”

“Bye.”

Morgan smiled at the sound of her friend laughing as she turned off her phone.

Justin was looking at Morgan in the mirror. She was sitting behind him on the couch in his dressing room reading a book and twisting her hair, “So um, you weren’t there when we started taping. I looked for you and you weren’t there...at least I couldn’t find you.”

Her eyes met his in the mirror and she smirked, “Awe, you missed me.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, “I just noticed. So where were you?”

“I had to come back here to get my sunglasses.”

“For like...an hour?”

She raised an eyebrow, “You ‘noticed’ how long I was missing?”

“Fine.” He rolled his eyes, “Don’t tell me. It doesn’t matter.”

She smiled, “South called me.”

“I forgot you still talk to her. How’s she doing?”

Morgan made a funny face, “I think she’s ok. I sort of did most of the talking. I guess I should have asked more about her.”

“Nice. Is she still a huge pain in the butt?”

“If you’re asking, yes, she still calls you ‘the dork’.”

“What is her problem with me? I never did anything to her, and she’s hated me from day one. I don’t know why you bother talking to her.”

“I talk to her because she is one of my best friends. She has stood by me longer than anyone, longer than you even. You two don’t get along because you were her competition for my attention. Everyone wants to hang out with me.”

“Head swelling today?”He rolled his eyes.

“She told me that once. You’re an idiot. I wouldn’t come up with something like that on my own. She said that she figured you two would never get along because you’d both always be trying to get my attention.”

“So, what did you guys talk about?” He turned to face her, leaning back against the counter.

“Stuff.” She looked back to her book.

Justin growled, “I have never seen you read so much in your life. What is it with the books lately?”

Morgan looked up, “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize I needed to advise you on every detail, of every conversation I have. We talked about things that are private. And as far as reading goes, I like to read. I have read a book a week for my entire adult life. You know that, or at least you should.”

“Oh OK! I’m sorry Morgan! I guess I should have said, ‘I never noticed you use reading to avoid talking to me before.’” He grabbed his shirt and stormed out of his dressing room, slamming the door so hard it bounced back open and hit the wall.

She ran both hands over her face, “Shit.” She tossed her book aside and stood up to follow him.

Stasia’s head slowly appeared around the corner, “Are you alive in here?”

Morgan nodded, “Yeah, I’m fine.”

Slipping into the room, Stasia leaned against the door frame, “So what’s with the door slamming?”

“The two of us seem to be having a hard time...communicating lately. I’m evasive, he’s hot headed and we both like to be dramatic.” She sat back down and sighed, “This is the same stuff that kept us from talking for half of a year when we were in eighth grade. We are both too stubborn to reach out to the other person.”

Stasia’s eyes studied Morgan’s face carefully before she spoke, “Being the person who reaches out first is never easy. As a matter of fact, it can be one of the most difficult things in the world to do, but generally...the result is worth the effort. Not to mention the fact that you’ll get the added bonus of being the person who gets credit for wanting to fix things first. ” She took a few steps into the room and closed the door, “Mor, this is none of my business, but that has never stopped me for voicing my opinion before. I’m going to tell you what I think, and then I’m going to leave you alone.”

Mor nodded slowly, “OK.”

“Something obviously happened in Rhode Island. I don’t know what that was, nor do I want to know. But something happened, and it seems that your friendship with Justin is suddenly a little shaky. You two have gotten through just about everything in your adult lives together and I think that your friendship is worth fighting for. I realize that Justin can be a pain in the ass he’s hard headed and one of the most stubborn people I have ever met. And you have a hard time letting go of stuff, you hate admitting you’re wrong especially when you have to admit it to Justin, but if you’re unhappy, do something about it.”

“Do something about it?”

“Make a change. Change whatever it is that is making you unhappy, and hold onto whatever it is that makes you happy. Hold on to your friendship and let go of all of the other crap, it’s not worth the time spent stresssing out about it.” Stasia pulled on Morgan’s ponytail and then winked at her, “But that’s just my advice. You can listen to this old lady, or you can ignore her...it’s up to you, but I do think you guys need to make some sort of change because things don’t seem to be all happiness and flowers right now.”

Morgan thought for a moment and then said, “Make a change.”