For some miraculous reason, everyone got the day off on Sunday. It was the first of October, giving the gang roughly two weeks until the tour officially began. Gina was thankful for a day of rest; it also postponed the inevitable interaction with Justin. She was dreading seeing him. Her stress levels seem to soar astronomically whenever he was around.
It was a shame too, because she loved the rest of the guys in *NSYNC and wished there was some way for her and Justin to get along better. It was hard to hang out with just the four of the guys; they seemed almost…incomplete.
It was a beautiful morning and Gina walked onto her balcony, inhaling deeply. She overlooked the city of Orlando and the buzz about it. It was different from L.A., but a welcome change. She saw people about her age with backpacks, and instantly thought of her best friend. Sharlene was at school in New York and living the college life, while Gina was working her ass off and putting in ungodly hours trying to entertain the public. She missed her terribly, and could really use her wittiness and strength at that time.
With her mind made up, she back tracked back into the hotel room and grabbed her cell, glancing at the clock. It was a bit early, but Sharlene wouldn’t mind. She had class anyway…or something. Gina dialed the long-distance number and made her way back outside.
“Hello?”
“Sharshy! I’m so glad I caught you,” Gina said brightly, sitting in a patio chair and propping her feet up on the guardrail.
“Geen! Oh I’m so glad you called! What’s going on girl?”
“I am going insane. I’m in Orlando; we have like, two weeks of rehearsals left before tour starts. Basically I’m on the balcony in my hotel room because I have the day off and I am missing ya.”
Sharlene sighed and smiled to herself. “Aww. I miss you too. How did the video shoot go? I wish I could have been there, stupid school. I should just find some way to get credit for touring with you or something.”
“That would be AWESOME. Whoa…but LIKE your school would do that. Come on now. The video shoot went well, I think its gonna be slammin’. I got to wear all these funkdafied clothes and dressed my age, showing some skin and all that jazz.”
Sharlene laughed on the other end. “ ‘Funkdafied’? Girl you have to be the ONLY person I know that says that. Really, I am rolling over here. I can’t wait to see it, you’ll have to tell me when it’s airing, if you can remember THIS time. I can’t believe you didn’t call me when ‘Get Over Yourself’ was debuting. Imagine my surprise when I see my best friend on TV in a video and DIDN’T know. Who felt like a jackass then?”
Gina winced and giggled, shaking her head. “Dude, I know. I’m sorry, It totally didn’t register that I hadn’t told you. I have to tell you the latest though.”
“That doesn’t sound so good. Tell me, what’s up?”
“OK, you know how I’ve been saying that I need some excitement in my life, my career, whatever? How I’ve wanted to do something different? Well, I don’t think I can do this. I am losing it here, with this tour. For the love Sharshy, I’m practically pulling my hair out!”
“What? What do you mean? Is it Justin?” Sharlene asked, already knowing it was. She knew Gina, and she knew that when she was this upset over someone, it meant one of two things. Either she was totally intrigued by them but was scared of that emotion so she was always on the defensive trying to pick out flaws, or, she really couldn’t get along with them and didn’t have any idea on how to remedy it.
Sharlene put all her money on the former and cursed it, because Gina’s past caused her to do that.
Gina took a deep breath and closed her eyes. “I called Justin, ‘Charlie’.”
Sharlene practically dropped the phone out of her hand. “Dude HOW? What made you think of that rat bastard prick? Justin couldn’t have done anything that bad…Oh that’s IT girl…”
“No no, I don’t know. I think it was a bunch of things, Shar.”
“But ‘Charlie’? No one will ever be like him, Gina. Are you OK? When did this happen?”
“I know, I didn’t mean to call him that. He was picking on me, and I was lost in old memories and it just came out. I’ll be fine, it was good that I got to go to Miami for awhile, it happened right before that.”
Gina sighed heavily and ran her hand through her curls. She knew Sharlene would flip a bit, but she was the only person that knew the WHOLE story.
“Are you sure you’re OK?”
“Dude, I’m sure. I’m just kinda embarrassed you know? I mean, I have to see them all tomorrow and well, I know they are going to be looking at me all funny and shit. I hate that. At least Holly, Di, Tony and Chadman will be there.”
“That’s true. What is your deal with Justin anyway Geen? I mean, yeah, he was talking some smack but you knew he was kind of like that. What’s with all the animosity? He can’t be all that bad.”
“Oh but he is Shar. We just got off to a bad start, and its gone downhill since then. He’s so snappy and irritating and an extreme pain in my ass…”
“Oh LORD Gina don’t tell me you have a thing for him.”
It was Gina’s turn to almost drop the phone. “WHAT? Are you KIDDING???”
Sharlene laughed and rolled her eyes, putting books into her bag for her next class. “Oh come ON. I know how you are, and the only time you bitch this much about a guy is when you’re attracted to him.”
“Oh what-EVER. Like I could be attracted to someone like THAT. He’s a straight up jerk to me.”
“Do you think he’s cute?”
“SHARLENE!”
“Do you?”
“Hell no.”
“You are SUCH a bad liar. Please.”
Gina stomped her foot and growled. “UGH. Fine, he’s semi-attractive. That does NOT mean I’m attracted to him.”
“I so knew it. Dude, he’s more than semi-attractive.”
“He’s all yours. You can HAVE him.”
“Why would I want him when there’s a sexy JC Chasez in that group?”
“I am SO going to tell JC about that if you don’t stop with this ‘I want Justin’ thang.”
“Fine, I’ll stop…for now. You know this isn’t over right?”
“Yeah, I do know, but come ON. You’re being ridiculous. Like I could have any kind of thing for Justin Timberlake.”
“OK, you’re right, you’re always right. I am always wrong. Anyway, I have to go to class so I’ll talk to you later. Keep your head up, everything will be cool.”
They said their good-byes and hung up the phone. Sharlene immediately picked it up again, opening up her planner and looking up the Dean of Students office number. She had a lot of work and pleading to do if she wanted to make it to Orlando before the crew took off for the tour. She felt like Gina needed her there, for support if anything else. She had been on tour before, knew the drill, but that had been over the summer. She crossed her fingers and began making appointments, getting things in order.
Justin was stretched out, relaxing on his bed in his hotel room flipping through the channels on the television. He was the epitome of surreal, lounging in a pair of wind pants and a plain white T-shirt. His eyes were on the TV, but his mind was wandering. He was worried about the tour, more accurately, he was worried about how Gina would wreck the tour. At the very least, his fun on the tour. He couldn’t figure her out, and it bothered him. He pegged her from the beginning and stuck to his guns about it, but something was nagging at him and he couldn’t put his finger on it.
He tossed the remote next to him once he found MTV and began watching. It was a weekend special called “Ultimate Kiss Off Songs”, and it seemed to fit his mood. He briefly thought about Britney and the terms they ended on; it wasn’t a very smooth breakup, but are they ever? He shook his thoughts and noticed that “Bye Bye Bye” came in at number two. All of a sudden, he heard the melody that had become so familiar as of late. Chris Connelly instantly appeared on the screen, introducing Gina and talking about her success.
Justin’s eyes widened and he sat up, cocking his head to the side and watching Gina closely. She looked a bit on edge, almost nervous and he smirked. She wasn’t as tough as she made herself out to be. Chris asked her about “Get Over Yourself”, and Justin found himself drawn in, waiting for her answer and some insight.
“Well, I wrote this song after some things went down in my life—its pretty personal. Actually, I would have to say without a doubt it was a very hard time of my life that I’m still trying to get past. It might even be categorized as THE hardest. It was great to pen out my thoughts though, and by this time I had thought a lot about what occurred and I was pretty upset. Every time I sing it I think of the past, but it does help,” Gina explained quite vaguely as she kept her eyes down on her fingers, picking at her nails nervously and biting her lip. Chris turned her words into an introduction to the video, which claimed the number one spot on the countdown.
Justin’s eyes were riveted to the screen as he listened to the words and watched Gina in the video. It was quickly over and he lay back on his bed, thinking about what he had said to her in the dance studio earlier in the week.
“Timberlake, you are a jackass.”
He shook his head and rolled his eyes; why did he care that she had some sort of difficult time? It was none of his concern. He was beating himself up over some chick that he really didn’t care all that much about…but why did she invade his thoughts twenty four-seven?
Tuesday, October 10th, 2000. One week until tour starts.
Everyone was high-strung. Tour began in exactly one week and it seemed like there was so much more to do before that inevitable day. Their Sunday off felt like it was ages ago, and they all felt overwhelmed with what was going on. Gina and the guys had decided on a song to sing as a finale, and were working out the minor details of that. Justin and Gina were back to their old tricks, beating each other up at every opportunity. What they did not know, however, was that Gina’s dancers and the other four members of *NSYNC were conspiring on ways to get the two to become friends.
Gina and her dancers were running through their set with the choreographers when the unthinkable happened.
“AHHHHHHH! Oh my God…ow, ow OW!!”
Gina’s eyes widened in panic as through the mirror she saw Diane fall to the floor grabbing her ankle in pain. Gina turned and raced to her friend, kneeling on the floor next to her in an instant with her three other dancers.
“Oh Di what happened? Are you OK??” Gina questioned frantically, looking over at Holly, Chad, and Tony with worry.
“Oh my God…something popped…Gina, what am I going to do? I am SO SORRY, I cannot believe this happened…what…why now?”
“I’m so sorry Diane…Wade! Wade! Someone help!”
“Don’t worry Gina, Wade went to call an ambulance already. It’s under control, OK? Diane, what exactly happened?” Chad asked, taking control of the situation. Gina was irrational and Chad and Tony shared a glance. Tony grabbed Gina’s arm and pulled her away from the situation.
“Gina, she’ll be OK. Remember when Holly twisted her ankle and had to dance with that aircast on? It’s probably the same thing,” Tony soothed, slinging his arm around Gina.
Her eyes kept glancing back to Diane frantically. “Yeah…yeah…I remember that…but Ton-“
“It will do you NO good to get worked up Gina, you know that. She’ll be fine.”
*NSYNC made their way into the studio laughing; they were scheduled to rehearse in ten minutes and wanted to drop by to see everyone. They immediately stopped when they noticed what was going on.
Gina’s eyes widened and she placed her head in her hands when she saw them. Chris was quick to approach her and place a hand gently on her shoulder. “Gina? What happened hun?”
She looked up at him and took a deep breath. “Diane’s hurt. She said something popped in her ankle…an ambulance is on the way…I can’t believe this. What are we going to do? The tour starts in a week…I can’t go out there without Di!”
Tony hugged her to him and kissed the top of her head. “She’ll be OK. If she isn’t, we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it. Don’t worry about that right now, got it? Diane is tough, remember?”
Gina let out a small laugh. “Yeah she is, I’m sure YOU remember…”
Two paramedics walked in with Wade and straight over to Diane, who was still wincing on the floor. Gina’s eyes widened and Chris noticed it right away.
“Come on Miss Godfather, we’re going to get a drink. I think it’s the perfect opportunity to show you around a bit…right guys?”
“Oh yeah…we can show her all sorts of fun stuff…like where all the costumes are and where Justin gets reamed by Johnny when he’s been a bad boy,” Joey snickered. Justin shot him a warning look and rolled his eyes. He wasn’t up for baby-sitting a disgruntled pop star. However, she looked totally out of character so he went along with it.
“Please…reamed by Johnny? Why don’t we show her where all the records are hanging in the hall? Better yet, where JC tortures us in the recording booths. Maybe where we keep Chris’ extra Ritalin.”
Gina stifled a giggle as they argued loudly about where to take her, while walking down the hall and most likely disrupting people hard at work. She never pegged Justin as funny, and found it odd that she was actually laughing at him in a joking way.
It must be the shock from Diane’s accident…
Thinking of Diane’s accident, she sobered quickly. She allowed the boys to drag her around and try to distract her as the paramedics most likely dealt Diane some news along the lines of she wouldn’t be dancing for months.
“Oh no Gina Corleone. You are not allowed to be a space cadet right now. Diane will be fine. If she cannot dance, she’ll still be there and either you’ll find someone else or dance with three backups. Diane wouldn’t want you to be mopey girl, got it?”
Gina raised her eyes to look into the startling blue ones of JC Chasez. She nodded and forced a smile; he was right. She looked at all of them and smiled, even at Justin who surprisingly had not made one dig at her. She respected him for it.
“Thanks. To all of you. I think we can go back now and face the music.”
They nodded and began walking back to the dance studio. Gina slipped to the back of the pack, lost in thought.
“Gina?” A strained voice asked. She snapped her head up quickly and looked at Justin walking right next to her with an unreadable expression on his face. She prayed he wasn’t about to be snide with her because she wouldn’t be strong enough to take it at the moment.
“Yeah…” she asked cautiously.
“I’m sorry about Diane. I hope she’s OK,” he said, not quite looking her in the eye. Before she could respond they were back in the studio, so she just nodded even more confused than before.
Diane’s ankle was severely strained and she would not be able to dance for 8 weeks, which ran right through the end of the tour. Diane was devastated, along with the rest of the dancers and Gina. Who would be able to fill in, learning all the choreography in one week? Who did they trust enough to become a part of their family? Who could they possibly accept into their little family?
The choreographers and members of *NSYNC were helping Gina and her dancers think of people that could possibly fill in on such short notice. They were making a list of people to audition when a light bulb went off in Gina’s head, causing her to shriek and jump up off the floor.
“Whoa crazy one! What was that?” JC said.
“I have the PERFECT person! Why didn’t I think of this before? Lord, I am so losing my touch!”
“That’s not all you’re losing. Spit it out!”
“So funny Chris. Really. Do you see me rolling on the floor laughing? Anyway, my cousin! Rachel! She can be the fourth! We’ve danced together all our lives, I trust her with my heart and soul…and most importantly? She knows all of our choreography. I send her tapes and all that jazz, and she was at the video shoot for “All for You” so she can pick up on it. Plus, she’s somewhat of a choreographer herself so she knows Wade and Darrin and everyone else!”
“That’s right…I cant believe it. It was RIGHT in front of our faces the whole time,” Chad added.
Gina was glad to have found someone, all she had to do was call Rachel and make sure she could do it. She crossed her fingers and took the plunge, dialing her cousins number and praying for her cooperation. She knew Rachel would come through for her, she was just that kind of girl.
As it turned out, Rachel was delighted to help and was looking forward to getting out of Miami for awhile. Truth be told, she was also excited to meet *NSYNC. She flew out to Orlando the next day and jumped right in, learning how to dance with Chad, Tony, and Holly quickly. They really worked on the new single, and Rachel picked up the steps amazingly. She worked with Wade one-on-one for a bit after general rehearsals, so she could hit her marks consistently. Then she was whisked off to wardrobe to get fitted for her costumes. If the tour was absolute craziness, than poor Rachel’s life was triple that at the moment.
She pushed on through it though, and by that Friday she was ready to go, but in desperate need of sleep.
Saturday, October 14th, 2000.
The last minute odds and ends were being tied up as the group was getting ready to embark to North Carolina for the first stop of the tour. They would be leaving on Sunday, driving to Charlotte to give themselves a bit of a cushion. Gina was both excited and extremely nervous; she had no idea what this tour would bring.
The men of *NSYNC were thinking along the same lines. Touring was always an exciting time in their careers; they lived for it. They also knew that in a few weeks their bodies would be screaming for them to stop, but they would push on. It was for the fans; they loved seeing their faces and wanted to give them a show they wouldn’t forget.
Gina was pacing her hotel room, making sure everything was packed up and good to go. She’d been living in the hotel room for close to three weeks; it was like a second home to her. She was almost sad to see it go. Almost. However, she did know that she would be missing it in a few weeks, since the bus was now her new home.
There was a knock on her door, but her head was so far buried into her suitcase she wasn’t about to leave it. Who would be at her door? It would be one of two people; either Rachel who was also staying at the hotel, or Chris stopping by. She had grown quite fond of Chris and his silly antics. They clicked, and he was almost like an older brother type. She also found it quite adorable that he was so into her music. He’d stop by her hotel to make sure everything was going alright, and sometimes he’d bring a movie or some food. He also brought some of the guys at times, and they all had the chance to bond. Except for Justin.
“Hang on one second!”
The person knocked again, this time more forcefully. “Housekeeping.”
Gina’s head popped out of her suitcase and she glanced back at the bed, which was already made. It was later in the afternoon; housekeeping had already been through.
“Chris, come on. You can do better than that…housekeeping never comes this late,” Gina giggled, swinging open the door.
“That was all I could think of on a whim,” a shorter girl said with a wide smile on her face.
Gina’s eyes grew wide as saucers and she was completely shocked. “SHARSHY! Oh you are so NOT here! Come in come in!!” she squealed and pulled her friend into a massive hug.
“What are you doing here??” Gina asked, still amazed.
Sharlene smiled and put her bags down. “Gee thanks. I’m here to go on tour with ya. That is, if I’m invited.”
Gina’s jaw dropped and she pulled Sharlene down onto the bed to sit next to her. “Are you for real? You’re touring with me? How did you get outta school? Of course you have a standing invitation, duh. Tell me tell me!”
“If you could let me get a word in edgewise, I would! OK, I am so for real. After we got off the phone last week, I started calling the Dean of Students and my professors and all that jazz, arranging to get this for credit somehow so I don’t fall behind. I don’t know how I pulled it off, but I did. So basically, I’m with ya till the semester starts back up in February. My parents were a little unsure about this, but I showed them all the school documents and they had to let me!”
“That is unbelievable. So you’ll really be on the whole tour with me?”
“OK, maybe I’ll speak slower so you can understand. Yes…I…will. I’ll even whup some ass…of the Timberlake kind. If it ruins my chances with JC though, I might reconsider. Where are the dancing machines? I haven’t seen that crew in awhile!” Sharlene laughed out.
Gina’s eyes went wide as she stood up and ran her hands through her massive curls. “Girl, you haven’t even heard the latest…”
Gina launched into a detailed explanation of what happened earlier with Diane and how Rachel was now filling in. Sharlene nodded as she took it all in; who would have thought anything like that could happen? The girls chatted for awhile and ordered some dinner up, inviting Chad, Tony, Holly, Diane and Rachel to join them. Over three deluxe pizzas, they dished about the overall feel of the tour.
Gina was beyond thrilled to have Sharlene traveling with them. It raised her spirits and happened at the perfect time. She felt unstoppable and that’s exactly what she was going to be-no one could bring her down now.
Sunday, October 15th, 2000. Leaving on tour.
“Gina, for the love I need you on the bus! Everyone else is on there!” Eric called into her room. Gina and Sharlene had been up late talking, and that made 7am come earlier than hoped. Good thing she was packed, or else Eric would be strangling her.
She appeared out of the bathroom, a yellow bandanna covering her wayward locks. She was warm in an oversized gray UCLA sweatshirt, and a pair of yellow Abercrombie board shorts. Yellow sunglasses adorned her eyes and a backpack was slung over her shoulder.
“I’m HERE Eric. No need to shout,” she grumbled as he escorted her through the hotel and to the bus waiting out back.
“You are the last one, as always G. Everyone is waiting, we need to get on the road. *NSYNC’s bus has already left and we would like to arrive at about the same time you know.”
Gina rolled her eyes and walked up the steps of the bus she would call home for the next three months. She tossed her backpack onto the couch and noticed something sitting on the table. She reached over and picked it up, opening up a note that was attached to it.
“Gina! These little walkie-talkies are for us to keep in touch between the buses. Chris wants you to let us know when you’ve left. We’ll see ya at the first pit stop!” Gina smiled at the sloppy note and JC’s signature scrawled across the bottom half of the paper. She glanced at the purple walkie-talkie and grinned. That thing could be a lot of fun.
“Christopher…tune in…” she said in a deep voice. There was no answer right away, so Gina tried again, a bit louder.
“Yeeeeeeees. This is Christopherrrrrr. To whom am I speaaaaaking?”
“This is the coolest girl you know, duh.”
“Oh hi Holly!”
“CHRIS!”
Chris let out a hearty laugh. “Gina I know its you. Have you left yet?”
“We just started rolling. However, I am going to bed now, I need some sleep. OH! Remember how I was telling you all about my best friend Sharlene?”
“Of course I do.”
“Well guess what? She’s here! On the bus with me…coming on tour!”
Chris smiled and looked around at Justin and JC, who were parked on the couch watching some TV in the back room. Justin was staring at the TV, but his mind was definitely somewhere else.
Now I’ll have to deal with her best friend too? Perfect.
JC smiled over at Chris and then lost himself in ‘The Price is Right’.
“I can’t wait to meet her, neither can the rest of the guys…all of them. I’m gonna let you go, but keep this thing by you or whomever so we can talk back and forth OK? Get some rest Miss Godfather!”
Gina called her good-bye and placed the walkie-talkie onto the table where she found it. Since she traveled with her dancers, there were normally five of them on the bus. She just liked it better that way. Now that Sharlene was there too, there were six and that’s a tight squeeze. She made her way to the bunks and climbed into the top one; it was her favorite. She curled under the covers and thought about what Chris said. All of them wanted to meet Sharlene. That meant Justin too. Why? Was he actually going to be civil? These thoughts plagued her mind as she drifted back asleep, well on the way to North Carolina.
