November 14th, 2000. Toronto, Ontario.
Justin was wandering the hotel hallway, trying to remember what he was doing out there in the first place. He stopped in his tracks and glanced up and down the hallway, furrowing his eyebrows in concentration. It was times like these that he wished things would slow down just a bit, because lately he felt like he didn’t know if he were coming or going.
The tour, however, rolled on with an amazing speed. They were more than halfway through the schedule, and were in Canada getting ready to play two nights at the SkyDome in Toronto, Ontario. They were fortunate enough to schedule several multiple night shows in the same city, giving them time off the bus and in real rooms rather than their oh-so-comfortable bunks.
The dance-off between Justin and Gina seemed like it happened ages ago. Although their group of friends planned on the dance-off being a situation that would bring the two together, the tension was still high between them. Wade had pushed to get the dance sequence thrown into the show somewhere, but there was no logical place for it. It was better off that way anyway, because everyone knew that Gina and Justin would most likely practice those steps more than the ones that were meant for the songs they sang.
Justin’s head snapped up; to anyone watching, they would have sworn a light bulb had gone off above his head. He spun on his heel and made his way down the lengthy, well-lit hallway towards Chris’ room. How Chris managed to snag a room at the other end of the hall away from the rest of his groupmates was beyond Justin, but then he did know that Chris had a soft spot for Gina and that her room was somewhere in the vicinity.
Thinking of Gina made him shake his head. The girl made him furious yet intrigued him at the same time, and he really didn’t know why. He rolled his eyes but slowed his pace as he heard music coming from one of the rooms. He turned his head to the left and noticed that the door the music was blasting from was propped open a bit; obviously whoever it was, they were waiting for a visitor. His eyes gleamed of evil as he put his quest for Chris on hold and snuck up to the door. There was no need for sneaking though; the music was so loud that the person inside wouldn’t have heard an elephant running down the hall.
Justin quickly recognized the old school hip-hop beat and his eyes widened in appreciation. Whoever was listening to this knew their hip-hop. Finally, a strong female voice belted out the words with the music, shocking Justin beyond belief.
“It’s driving me outta my mind…that’s why its hard for me to find…can’t get it outta my head…miss her, kiss her, love her…that girl is poisonnnnnn…”
“Gina?” he whispered to himself, and then looked down the hall to make sure no one saw him. He was flabbergasted; he swore he learned something new about her every day. She knew every word to the song, and he would bet millions that she was having her own dance party in her room at the moment.
His curiosity got the best of him as he slowly opened the door, first sticking his head inside to make sure that she couldn’t see him, and then sliding the rest of his body in and returning the door to the way she left it. He wasn’t in her view; she was around a corner, but the mirror on the hotel suite wall gave him a visual of her. She was swinging her arms and hips and was dancing in circles, making up her own bit of choreography. She looked so…
…normal.
He chuckled quietly at his random thought. He never thought of her as a ‘celebrity’…actually, he didn’t really know WHAT he thought of her, he just knew he didn’t like her or her attitude. Seeing her so real and in her own element made him think twice about his opinions, and made her more real in his eyes.
Not that that changed anything.
He crossed his arms and took in her presence; her voice hit everything beautifully, and she wasn’t even trying. Her moves were not to impress anyone; they were just in good fun. Then there was her smile; it lit up the room. It wasn’t forced; it wasn’t for anyone else, just for herself; for her life.
“Michael Bivins here and I’m runnin’ the show…Bell Biv DeVoe…heheh…now ya know…yo slick, blow…” Gina continued, adding hand movements along with her rap.
Justin didn’t know what came over him, but he stepped around the corner and started clapping. Gina jumped about a mile high and screeched an ungodly sound, quickly shutting off her music and spinning on her heel towards Justin, beet red in the face.
“WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!”
Justin tried to appear nonchalant, barely containing his laughter. “That was a great show…Biv.”
If she could, Gina turned redder. How dare he? How dare he come into her ROOM and watch her like that? She was flustered and really couldn’t form an answer. Suddenly Chris came running into the room like a madman.
“Gina! Good Lord child, are you ok? JUSTIN?!”
Gina tried to control her breathing and stood with her hands on her hips, her face still red. Chris looked back and forth between the two and an evil glimmer shone in his eyes. Justin noticed and could only image where his older friend’s thoughts were going.
“Oh NO, it is so NOT what you are thinking…Chris…Oh God. I heard her singing to Bell Biv DeVoe in here and the door was open so I came in and she didn’t see me right away and I thought it would be funny to scare her I swear that was all that was going on I cannot believe you’re thinking something ELSE I mean come ON its Gina and its not like either of us want anything to do with each other anyway…” Justin explained talking a mile a minute.
As soon as Gina began comprehending what Justin thought Chris was thinking, she jumped right in. “I didn’t even know he was there! I left the door open because I thought you were stopping by in a few minutes and I wasn’t sure if Sharlene had her key and then I turned around and there’s Justin clapping and oh my GOD I was singing ‘Poison’ and dancing like a complete IDIOT…”
Chris continued smirking and raised his hand to silence the two. They looked pathetic. The fact that Gina was embarrassed about making a fool out of herself in front of Justin was an interesting thought to entertain. “You’ve both done an AWFUL lot of explaining…and I didn’t even say a word.”
“But we knew what you were THINKING!” Justin protested.
“I never knew that you two considered yourselves a ‘we’,” Chris said, the same smile still intact.
Gina and Justin looked at each other and Gina threw her arms into the air exasperated. “You both can leave, right now.”
“I was coming to look for you anyway, Chris.”
“But you got distracted…by Gina…” he finished. Chris was having a field day with the two; their absolute miserable faces were his reward.
“OUT!” Gina yelled, and the two flew out of her room closing the door behind them.
Sharlene laughed whole-heartedly as Chris explained to her what had happened earlier. She knew that Gina loved to have what she called ‘Dance Party USA’ in whatever room she happened to be occupying. Once that girl felt the need, she just went for it no holds barred.
She then pictured Justin walking in on Gina, and another fit of giggles coursed through her body.
“I cannot wait to tease her about this one,” Sharlene said, wiping the tears from her eyes.
“I can’t believe Justin actually walked into her room like that…well, actually? I can. The boy just does those kinds of things when he’s determined about something.”
“I can only imagine…” Sharlene said, trailing off. She took a deep breath and then continued speaking. “Tell me something, Chris.”
“This sounds a bit serious all of the sudden, Shar,” Chris noted as the two continued to walk around the outside of the venue, by the buses. Chris snuggled a bit more into his jacket and looked over at Sharlene curiously.
“I know…I’m sorry about it too. I figured that since you’re really Justin’s best friend, maybe you could shed some light on him. I just am wondering why he can’t stand Gina so much. I mean, he had, from what I’ve heard, an attitude from the very beginning.”
Chris sighed and nodded, choosing his words carefully. “Well, when we met Gina, he had just really broken things off with Britney. I think he was just cynical towards all females at the time. What made it worse was that Gina is friends with Britney. At least, that’s what I gather from it.”
“I see.”
“I think that he’s upset that she’s really a good person, because it makes it harder for him to dislike her, you know? But what is her deal with him Shar?”
“It’s funny. She’s friends with Britney, so she heard a lot from Britney’s standpoint. She has also heard a LOT about Justin through the media and through the grapevine, and not all of it was ‘hooray for Justin’ if ya know what I mean. She went into that awards show open-minded though, and he just was shitty from the start. Gina’s not one to let people walk on her…not after a lot of the things that have occurred in her life semi-recently. She’ll stand up and fight till the end.”
Chris knew Sharlene was leaving out some key events, as was he. He didn’t want to prod and poke, so he began to tread lightly with his next question. “Something to do with Charlie?”
Sharlene stopped dead in her tracks. Did Gina tell Chris? No, Gina would have told her if she had…wouldn’t she? Chris noticed her hesitation and was quick to add to what he had said.
“I don’t know the story, and wont ask you about it. It’s just that one time she called Justin ‘Charlie’ while they were fighting, and the pain in her eyes was just insurmountable. Everyone has their secrets, and is entitled to them.”
Sharlene sighed in relief; if Chris had asked her she would have had to somehow tell him no, and now that was avoided. She glanced at her watch and noticed that it was getting late and Chris should be getting back to the venue; the guys had sound check before Gina today for some reason.
“Well Christopher, we should be getting back, you have sound check in a bit and I wouldn’t want you all tired from our little walk,” Sharlene teased, patting his back as the two turned and headed back towards the venue, discussing much lighter topics than their two best friends and their dilemmas.
They entered the venue to hear their friends screaming at each other and sighed collectively; this was getting tiresome.
“What are you TALKING about Justin? I have better pitch than you do!” Gina yelled out, stomping her foot for effect.
Justin’s eyebrows rose and he snorted in reply. “Please. You call that pitch? Have you ever BEEN to a vocal coach? Someone needs to pull that frog out of your throat, maybe you’d sound better.”
Chris and Sharlene’s mouth dropped as their ears picked up what was going on. Lately, their fights had been getting meaner and more hurtful. It was as if they were trying to see who could get the other to walk away first, extremely angry.
“For someone who talks about their vocal coach like he was a God, he must have been pretty damn shitty to say YOU were his best student!” she yelled back, pointing at him furiously.
“You have no IDEA what you’re talking about.”
“Oh that’s right Justin, I don’t. Because I haven't been in this business LONGER than you have!”
“Oh see, I know you have because you’re already fading out with the times…and gaining weight it seems. So THAT’S why your dancing is slowly deteriorating. You need to lay off the McDonalds.”
“Oh no he DID NOT…” Sharlene commented, her eyes widening. Gina was extremely self-conscious about her weight; it was one of her only insecurities.
Gina’s eyes widened and she fought hard not to look effected from his last comment. “And there you go with the personal attacks. You can’t defend your inability to sing properly, so you try to get at me by talking about my weight. Yep, you are a BIG person. Thanks a lot Justin, you’ve just ruined yet another stop on this oh so LOVELY tour!” she said and walked away, bringing her hand up to her face and trying to stay composed in front of the rest of the guys and the crew members.
He watched her walk away and shook his head. How did that fight even start? He couldn’t even remember half of the things he just said. Everything was going fine that day…until she walked by and said something to start it off. Or did he start? He wasn’t entirely sure anymore. Its just that he didn’t know what else to do BUT fight when he saw her. That’s all he would allow himself to do.
“We have to sound check. NOW.” JC said in a commanding tone, grabbing Justin and pulling him towards the stage roughly. Justin knew he was in for some trouble with his friends, and he deserved it.
Their sound check went as well as it could have gone when four people were mad at one. They had either witnessed the fight between Justin and Gina, or had heard it due to their screaming voices. So, they would only speak to him when completely necessary, and only about what to do on stage. Justin understood completely; he never imagined stooping as low as to comment about a girl’s weight. He always thought of himself as a stand-up guy who wasn’t a complete bastard, but after today he just couldn’t.
A stage hand walked out onto the stage with five water bottles for the guys, and they finished up their song and grabbed the bottles, eager for a drink. With water bottles in hand, the quintet ran through their last ballad and completed their sound check. JC and Chris were talking amongst themselves as were Lance and Joey, leaving Justin with no one to talk to. Chris and JC looked over at Justin, and then back towards each other. Since Justin was so close to them, he had no idea what was going on until after both JC and Chris dumped the remanants of their water over his head. He stood in shock; that was the last thing he had expected from them. Lance and Joey were in stitches, but could not bring themselves to dump their water on Justin also so they just placed them on the stage by their feet.
JC leaned down and was practically in Justin’s face as he muttered, “I’m not going to even lecture you on what has gone down today. You know you were wrong, and you’re just going to have to deal with the repercussions. However, I swear if I see or hear you say anything like that again to her, I will be on you like white on rice.” With that said, JC simply walked off stage while the others followed. Justin looked down at his water soaked body and sighed. Next time, he would hopefully think before he said things. With that in mind, he wandered slowly off the stage as some of the crew came out to wipe up the puddle of water and place a few more full bottles on the stage before Gina and her dancers took the stage.
Rachel had been hanging backstage, listening to the guys warm up their voices. She couldn’t get enough of their harmonies; it just struck a chord in her. She made her way to the stage and started stretching, thinking about the words JC had said to Justin just a few minutes ago. Once her stretching was completed, she stood up and began doing parts of the routine, looking out into the empty venue and imagining herself as the person everyone came to see. She imagined the stage as her own, and could almost hear the audience screaming her name. The feeling of euphoria ran through her veins and she closed her eyes, tilting her head back. Her dream was cut short when she heard Gina’s distinct voice, along with the rest of the dancers as they made their way towards the stage. She sighed; her dream would have to be put on hold…for a little while.
Gina was trying to focus, putting all of her energy into her sound check and dancing. Her dancers looked on in worry; she never went all out in sound check; it was just a warm up. They continued to dance behind her, hitting their marks and getting ready for the show later that night.
After several songs the dancers were done. Gina had two more songs left to sing, and they were performed on stage alone, with Gina doing some intense dancing. Tony, Holly, Chad and Rachel walked off stage chatting away as Gina watched on longingly. She used to be happy like that, a long time ago. Before all the drama in her life. She decided to go on this tour for a change of scenery, for a little bit of excitement. She never expected to be just as miserable as she had been over the months before the tour.
“Gina…you ok girl?” Eric asked, coming out onto the stage and touching Gina’s shoulder lightly. Gina snapped out of her thoughts and looked up at her bodyguard.
“I’m fine E. What’s up? Why are ya out here on stage with me? You getting an itchin’ to perform?” Gina teased.
“No thanks. I’ll stay down on the floor holding back the screaming people, that’s just fine with me. They know my name you know, its really freaky. Anyway, I'm out here because girl, you have missed your mark about three times in the past minute or so. The DJ was wondering what was wrong with you.”
“Oh…I’m sorry, I was just thinking about something. Don’t worry, I'm ready to finish it up now…so get on off my stage m’kay?”
Eric laughed and turned around, walking off the stage and heading back to talk with *NSYNC’s security. Meanwhile, Gina nodded up towards the DJ, who started the music once again. This time, Gina came in at the right time and began dancing, losing herself in the song.
When the song ended and she looked out into the empty venue, and then down at herself. The next song started up and as she sang and danced another routine, she absentmindedly thought about her dance moves and what Justin had said earlier. Was her dancing really not of caliber? Had she been gaining weight on tour? She thought the exact opposite; being on tour meant working out daily and not having time to really eat or have some sort of life. Maybe she did eat out a bit too much, but only fast food joints were open at 2:30am at a truck stop in between cities. Maybe she did gain some weight.
With that thought in her mind, she stepped back a few feet and asked the DJ to play her album through the speakers. She began singing along and dancing with all her energy. She was already thinking of ways to watch her diet and how to add more sit-ups into her daily routine. She would even talk to Wade about more rehearsal time; that would work for sure.
Her mind was so far away, she never noticed the puddle of water on the stage. She stepped onto one leg and her plant foot slipped, sending her crashing down onto her back and causing her to bump the back of her head hard on the stage. She yelled out in pain, closing her eyes tightly and willing the excruciating pain to go away.
Her scream was heard throughout the venue, causing many to snap their heads up in worry. Justin had been walking right by the stage, deep in thought about what had been going on when he heard Gina’s scream. He immediately reacted, sprinting up the back steps. His breath caught in his throat as he saw Gina laying flat on her back with her hand on her head. He flew over to her side, forgetting about how he was supposed to ‘hate’ this person and knelt down next to her. His eyes were wide as he looked her over, pulling her hands away from her face and checking to see if her head was bleeding. His hands flew over her arms and his eyes traveled quickly up and down her legs, looking to see if any bones were broken.
“Gina are you ok? Can you talk? What happened? Are you bleeding? Does anything hurt?” he asked frantically. Concern and worry radiated from him as he continued to check her over.
Gina had heard footsteps as someone approached her, yet she would have never believed that Justin would come to her rescue. She thought she was half out of it, but she swore that Justin was actually checking to see if she was ok.
“I’m fine…” she muttered, shaking her head and bringing her hands up to her face.
“Are you sure? What happened? Talk to me here,” Justin asked again, still anxious.
Gina put her hands on the ground and tried standing up, but slipped back down to the ground. Justin was quick to catch her and steadied her so she was sitting up.
“Relax Geen, there’s no rush,” he said softly, rubbing her back and looking around the stage, trying to figure out what happened.
Gina sighed and leaned against Justin’s chest; there was no way she could hold herself up and he was the closest thing to steady her. She closed her eyes again and just rested against him, not even realizing that Justin had used a nickname that only Sharlene, her best friend, called her by. His arms were around her and she felt enveloped in warmth and security.
Justin had no idea what was going on, but an overwhelming feeling of protectiveness surged through him. He pulled away and stood up, holding out his hand to help her up. Gina placed her hand in his and he gently brought her to her feet.
Just as she stood, the rest of the guys and Eric had finally reached the stage. They saw Justin and Gina holding hands, both of them looking a bit dazed. Neither Gina nor Justin noticed the group of people; Justin was too busy fawning over Gina and Gina was too dazed to figure it out.
“Gina! What happened? I heard you yell and got here as fast as I could!” Eric said, quickly making his way towards the pair.
Gina shook her head as she tried to gather her bearings and realized that her hand was still comfortably resting in Justin’s. She looked down at their joined hands and pulled hers away quickly; it was like his touch suddenly burned her when just a few minutes ago it was the most comfortable thing in the world.
Justin shoved his hand in his pocket and turned towards Eric. “I got here as soon as I heard her yell…I was right by the stage. She hasn’t told me what happened yet.”
Gina was staring at Justin and just waiting for him to make some smartass comment…but nothing came. His blue eyes turned to her and the only thing she could see was true concern.
Eric waited for the two to break their gaze, and cleared his throat quietly. Gina blinked and turned her head towards Eric, trying to loosen up her neck.
“I was dancing, just doing some extra stuff after the sound check when all of the sudden I slipped and landed on my back, banging my head. I’m fine, just a bit shaken up.”
“I think she should get checked out,” Justin said seriously. His face then furrowed in confusion, where was all of this coming from?
Gina turned towards Justin and shook her head slightly. “I’m fine, I promise,” she said softly, smiling slightly. It was the first real smile she had ever given Justin.
It felt good.
