The guys loaded up on the tour bus and plopped down in exhaustion. They had just completed a show at the Hard Rock Café in New York and it was the last appearance they would make for a month.
Justin laughed and sprawled out on the floor of the bus.
“I don’t know about you guys, but I am on VACATION!”
“I swear I’m going to be worthless for the next month. I vow this right now. I’m not going to open my eyes for a month. Hibernation man…HIBERNATION!” JC said as he pulled a Gatorade out of the refrigerator.
Joey took of his shirt and began removing his shoes. “I guess this means I can finally wash my lucky socks. We finished the tour and it was a success!”
“Oh my God what died in here? Joey those things should be illegal. Someone open a window or something.” Lance covered his face with a towel.
Chris popped a CD in the bus player and pushed the “play” button. The sounds of the Beach Boys rang out over the speakers. “Let’s party people! Woooooohoooooooo! Surfing USA…inside outside USA…inside outside USA…everybody’s gone surfing…surfing USA!”
Justin laughed and threw a pillow at Chris who was pretending to surf in the hallway. “Not a bad idea buddy. My lily-white butt is going to be hitting the beach ASAP. I might scare people by how white I’ve gotten. Lance, you’re going with me right? I need someone even whiter than I am to go with me so I won’t feel so bad about it.”
Lance yawned and leaned his head against the window. “Thanks a lot Justin. How can I possibly turn down an invitation like that? You make it so irresistible.”
The bus driver’s voice suddenly sounded over the speakers. “You guys don’t get too comfortable back there. We’ll be at the airport in about twenty minutes.”
Justin smiled at the thought. In an hour he would be on a plane heading home. Home meant a chance at being a normal teenager again. He leaned his head against the window, smiled at the thought, and closed his eyes.
Carly leaned her head against the window of the bus and looked up at the streetlights pass by as the bus made its way down the road. Riding the city bus home in the middle of the night wasn’t something she enjoyed doing, but it was nice to have time to collect her thoughts after such a long day. She only had one-week left of school. Looking back now it seemed to have all flown by so quickly.
Once school was over her life would change completely. She was certain that Adrienne would go to school somewhere other than in Orlando. Her parents were big on her getting the best education possible, and that didn’t really mean staying in Orlando. Carly really didn’t know what she would do once Adrienne left. She’d never NOT had her around. They had met the first day of kindergarten and ever since then they had been inseparable. She did know that she wouldn’t hold her friend back. Adrienne had a good chance at making something of herself.
She got off the bus a block away from the apartment she called “home” and quickly walked to the door. The worst part about coming home at night was walking alone down the neighborhood streets. Her imagination always got the best of her when it was dark and silent. Her ears were always strained to pick up on even the smallest of sounds.
She did breathe a sigh of relief once she opened her front door and closed and locked it behind her.
“Did you have a good day honey?”
Carly jumped and turned to see her father sitting at the dining room table with a glass of milk in his hand.
“It was ok. Just a typical day. Nothing special happened.” She walked into the kitchen, pulled her dinner out of the oven, and sat down at the table beside him.
Mr. Hawkins watched her silently eat her dinner and wondered what had become of his bright eyed, playful, full of life daughter. “Mrs. Williams called tonight.”
Carly didn’t look up. She dipped her fork into the mashed potatoes and chewed them carefully.
“She said that she sent off some of your writing to colleges around the state. She also said that you told her you aren’t going to college.”
Carly shoved more food into her mouth and continued to chew. This time she was chewing forcefully.
“If you are accepted to these colleges you need to go. This is the opportunity you have been talking about for the last three years. Why would you say something like that Carly? Why would you tell her that you’re not going to college?”
She looked up and pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose. “I just don’t think it would be a good idea to leave right now. I can wait.”
He didn’t understand her at all. She was such a bright girl and she had been talking about college ever since she won her first spelling bee in the third grade. “Carly I want you to think about this carefully. Please don’t let anything keep you from your dreams. Your mother would have wanted you to be the very best you could be. I’m going to go to bed now. Goodnight sweetheart.” He leaned down and kissed the top of her head before going into his bedroom and closing the door.
She pushed the plate of food away and stared at his closed door. Her father and Ariel were the only things she had left in the world. They were the most important things in her life and she would always put them ahead of herself no matter what.
After a few moments she stood up and walked into Ariel’s room and smiled at the tiny little form that was snuggled safely under the covers. A Barbie nightlight shined on the wall beside her bed and Carly could make out her sleepy features. Ariel was one of the brightest children she had ever seen. It wasn’t just her observation either. Ariel’s teachers had recommended her for gifted, and had constantly spoken of how sharp of a child she was. The thing that Carly was the most thankful for was that Ariel had so many friends and fit in well with her peers.
Being the outcast was never fun, but Carly had to admit that most of the time she was the cause of it. She purposely ignored people or wouldn’t let them in because of the potential for hurt that was there.
She smoothed her fingers over Ariel’s hair and the child stirred. “Carly? Is it time to get up?”
Carly smiled down at her confused expression and kissed her cheek. “No sweetie. I just came in to check on you before I go to bed. Did you have fun at school today?”
Ariel nodded her little head and snuggled closer to the teddy bear in her arms. “Will you sing to me Sissy? The song mommy used to sing to us when we were sleepy.”
One of the things Carly remembered most about her mother was that she was always singing. She used to walk around the house humming any tune that came into her head. Carly would sometimes join her and they would put on mini concerts for her dolls. Those were the things she missed the most.
She looked down at Ariel and tucked the covers closer around her before she started singing softly.
“All the world is fresh and new
A mystery to you
But now it's time to
sleep my dear
Knowing I'll be near
Close your eyes
Let me rock you
off to sleep
A peaceful slumber calm and deep
Keep you safe through the
night
To greet the morning light
Close your eyes
Tomorrow is a
bright new day
The sun will send a golden ray
Wake you up in the morn
With a new world to explore”
Carly quietly made her way out of the room and down the hall to her own room. There was only one more week of school and then her life would truly begin. It wasn’t going to be the life she always planned on having, but she would never regret taking care of her family.
Pulling on her nightshirt and grabbing her journal she sat down on the bed and sighed. “Luck has to finally shine down on people who need it the most. We are the forgotten ones. The ones who are too shy to lead, but too smart to follow.”
Carly smiled a little and thought carefully before finishing. “This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel. -Horace Walpole.”
She laid the journal on her nightstand and turned off the light. Tomorrow was going to be a better day.
The plane had finally reached cruising altitude and the sound of seatbelts unbuckling was heard throughout it. Justin grinned as he looked out the window. He was going home and no one was going to interrupt his vacation. “I love flying at night and seeing all the twinkling lights when we pass over cities. It’s so calming. Don’t you think so JC?”
When no one answered, Justin looked beside him and smiled at JC’s tranquil face. He had probably fallen asleep the moment he had sat down. Justin, on the other hand, was a little too wired to go to sleep right now. For the last few days he had dreamed of this moment and now that it was finally here he was going to enjoy it. He had also been having a strange feeling that his life was about to change. That was the thought that confused him the most, but he just chalked it up to the fact that he was now going to be on vacation. That’s as different from his normal life as you could get.
When he heard papers rustling behind him he turned in his seat and looked over it. “What are you doing Lance?”
Lance looked up tiredly and smiled. “I’m just looking over a few of these papers since I couldn’t sleep. Sometimes I wish I could be more like JC. I swear he can sleep any time and any where.”
A soft snore penetrated the cabin and Justin and Lance giggled quietly. “What are you going to do this week Lance? Are you going back to Mississippi to see your parents?”
“I’m going to go there in a few days, but I think I’m going to just hang around Orlando for the next few days because you know Lou will call a few meetings even though we’re on vacation.”
Justin turned his head to look around the plane and smiled at all the sleeping faces. These people meant the world to him. They were his family. He knew without a doubt that every single one of them would protect each other at all costs. With that thought in mind he turned around in his seat and closed his eyes. The quicker he went to sleep, the faster they would get back to Orlando.
“Carly…Adrienne is here. Are you up yet?”
Carly swung her eyes to the clock beside her bed and leaped up out of bed when she saw that school was starting in about twenty minutes. “Oh my God. I’m up! I’m up!”
While she was running around the room grabbing clothes to put on Adrienne cracked the door and smiled at what she saw through the crack. “Good morning sunshine. Rough night out with the guys?”
“Very funny Adrienne. Oh what does it matter what I look like? Nobody looks my way anyway. I’ll just wear this.”
Adrienne’s eyes widened when she saw what Carly was about to put on. “Trust me, if you wear that thing people will DEFINITELY be looking your way. Oh my God Carly you need to burn that thing.”
“You’re not helping at all. I can’t believe I overslept. I’ve never done this before and now I’m going to be late, and you’re going to be late, and…”
Adrienne handed her a shirt and a pair of jeans she saw hanging on the doorknob. “Oh stop it. You know nothing starts at that school until…well…actually nothing ever does start at that school. Just stop with the self destruction and get dressed.”
Five minutes later the two of them were running out of her bedroom. Carly kissed her father’s cheek and grabbed an apple on her way by. When the two of them were finally seated inside Adrienne’s car she breathed a sigh of relief.
“I’m sorry about all this. You should have just gone ahead and left me this morning.” She stopped her words by taking a big bite out of the apple.
Adrienne laughed. “What kind of person would I be if I left you with no way of getting to school? Although I have to admit that you seem rather crazed this morning. Are you feeling ok?”
Carly nodded her head and finished chewing. “I’m fine. I just don’t like getting thrown off my daily routine. I usually use the morning to clear my thoughts and I didn’t have time this morning to make any thoughts much less clear them.”
The day didn’t get any better for Carly. She received a lecture from her calculus teacher because she forgot her homework (which was on her desk at home). Then she accidentally dumped her creative writing notebook out and papers flew all over the room. By lunchtime she was ready to just go home.
Carly was getting her lunch out of her locker when Adrienne came up behind her and patted her on the back. “How has your day been going?”
“Remember this morning? Well so far that was the highlight of my day.”
“Ouch. I’m sorry to hear that. I have a favor to ask you.” Carly almost groaned when she saw Adrienne’s pleading look.
“What is it?”
Adrienne looked down the hallway at someone and smiled. “Well Mark…you know who he is…he asked me if I would eat lunch with him today. I think he’s going to ask me out. Can you believe it? I’ve waited practically all my life for that boy to notice me and I think he’s finally coming around. You don’t mind do you?”
Carly looked at her dreamy eyes and knew there was no way she could say “no” to her request. “It’s no big deal Adrienne. I’m not really hungry anyway so I’ll probably just go to the library or something.”
Adrienne grabbed her and kissed her on the cheek. “You are the best. The absolute best. I’ll catch you after school then.”
Carly watched as Adrienne ran over to Mark and he put his arm around her shoulders. The two made a very cute couple and Carly knew how long Adrienne had been after Mark. Ever since the boy’s voice had changed, Adrienne had been chasing him.
She made her way down the hallway and into the library. Usually during lunch the library was empty, but today a class was in there studying for a final. Carly put her head down and pushed through the crowd to grab a table in the back.
She immediately pulled a piece of paper out of her bag and began to write. She had been writing for about ten minutes when the paper was snatched out from under her.
“What’s this?”
Carly felt like screaming when she looked up to see Richard with all his cronies standing around the table. “Can I have my paper back now?”
He flipped the paper around and turned his head from side to side. “What is all this junk? It doesn’t make any sense. I thought someone said you were some kind of writing nerd or something like that.”
Carly reached to grab her paper but he held it away from her. His friends only chuckled at her attempts. “So how would you like to write my term paper for me? I mean, you don’t have anything better to do right? Nobody would ask you out on a date so you have plenty of spare time to kill.”
“Can I have my paper back now?”
He held the paper up out of her reach again. “Your dad is our trash man right? I thought I saw him digging through our trash one time. That is your dad right?”
Carly couldn’t stand it any more so she stood up and slung her backpack over her shoulder. Richard reached an arm out and stopped her. “A total waste of space. Why do you even bother coming to school? Nobody wants you here…and now it looks like Adrienne doesn’t either. Where is she anyway? Oh yeah that’s right. She’s out with Mark. Poor Carly, did you lose your best friend?”
She snatched her arm out of his grasp and ran out of the library. The sound of their laughter rang in her ears as she ran through the school. She didn’t stop until she was under a staircase across campus. Once she was there she allowed the tears to flow freely from her eyes.
She didn’t understand any of this. She had been nice to every one of them, and they loved hurting her at every possible opportunity. Now Adrienne was leaving her and once that happened she wouldn’t have anyone.
One more week Carly. You only have one more week of this to deal with. Wait a minute. Who are you kidding? This has been the story of your life. Do you think it’s going to get any better just because you have that diploma in your hand?
She reached up to pull her glasses off and pushed her hair behind her ear. These were the days she wished she had just stayed in bed. A tear rolled down her cheek and splattered on the paper she had sitting on her lap. The liquid smeared the words in the way that the world had destroyed her dreams.
“Now this is what I’m talking about. Look at the sun, the sand, the water, and damn look at that girl over there.”
Lance laughed at Justin’s words. They had been on the beach for about an hour now and all Justin could talk about was the fact that he was finally on vacation.
“By the way Lance, did you know that I am on vacation?”
Lance groaned and reached down to throw sand on him. “If you say the word ‘vacation’ one more time I’m going to kill you. Then you will be on an eternal vacation. At least I know I will be because you’re usually the cause of all my headaches.”
Justin stretched his legs out and jutted his hip forward in the chair. “Damn this is nice. Perfect weather, perfect water, perfect girls. Hey Lance, why are you working? Haven’t you noticed that we’re on va…um…that we’re on the beach?”
“Justin you know that I have to work on this stuff for my production company. I haven’t had a chance to work on any of it lately so I’m going to have to do it now.”
Justin pushed his sunglasses higher up on his nose, rubbed some sunscreen onto his chest, and leaned his head against the back of the chair to face the sun. “Oh yeah. How is that going? Do you have any new talents that are just itching to enter the rat race of music?”
Lance shuffled through some papers and sighed. “I have a few new prospects that look interesting. I never realized how hard all this would be.”
Justin looked up and smiled at a girl who walked by. “You have a staff don’t you? Please tell me you’re not doing all this by yourself.”
“I have a staff but the overall decisions have to be made by me. I really respect Lou and Johnny now that I’ve been working on this stuff. It’s a lot of hard work.”
Justin raised his sunglasses and winked at the next girl who walked by. She was staring him up and down big time. “How hard can it be? You have the inside track to the music industry and you’re well respected. Just putting your name on the dotted line should be a huge help all by itself.”
Lance looked over at Justin like he was crazy. “Are you serious? You think all it takes is just putting your name on the dotted line and suddenly someone is successful in the music industry? You’ve had too much sun Curly.”
Justin grinned and folded his arms over his chest. “I could do it. You’re just a worrier Lance. I don’t think it would be half as hard as you’re trying to make it out to be. With the right name I could put Pee Wee Herman at the top of the pop charts.”
Lance put the papers down and turned towards Justin. “Are you serious? It sounds like you’re issuing a challenge this way J-man. Or are my ears deceiving me?”
Justin giggled and pushed his sunglasses back down over his eyes. “I’m not issuing any challenges, I’m just saying that I think it’s probably not all that hard to get someone started in the music business because of who you are. That’s all.”
“Oh I smell a challenge Justin and don’t tell me that you aren’t issuing one because I know you too well. How about you put your money where your mouth is. Said in another way, put up or shut up.”
Justin sat up and looked at Lance. “You’re serious?”
Lance grabbed a pad of paper and his pencil. “As a heart attack. Let’s figure out the details.”
Justin continued to laugh at Lance’s stubbornness and he found himself suddenly intrigued by this idea. He wanted a challenge, and now he was about to get one.
“Do you want to work with a group, or just a solo singer?”
“Well since I’m a virgin to all this I think I’ll just start with a solo artist and work my way up.” Justin grinned evilly at Lance.
Lance shook his head and sighed. The boy had no idea what he was getting into. “You have one year to complete the deal. You have to get this singer signed to a major record contract. RCA, Motown, Sony, or something along those lines. Which means you can’t create some phony record label and say that the person has been signed.”
Lance laughed when he saw Justin’s shocked expression. He really did know the boy all too well. “You have to get him or her on tour with us as one of the opening acts. That means that other people have to see the talent because you know how picky Lou and Johnny are about the opening acts.”
Justin laughed out loud when Lance didn’t say anything more. “That’s it? You have got to be kidding me. I could have all that done in the first month.”
“The CD has to go platinum.”
Justin’s jaw dropped. “What? You have to be kidding me. Do you know how hard it is to make a record go platinum?”
Lance stopped writing. “Are you saying you can’t do it? Are you saying that making fans like your musician isn’t important or that it’s too tough for you to do?”
“Naw man. I’m not saying that at all. I just wanted you to repeat it because I didn’t hear you very well the first time. That’s all.” Justin cleared his throat and leaned back in the chair again.
“Uh huh. Sure. So those are the rules. Do you think you can handle that?”
Justin looked around the beach as the idea worked out in his head. It all sounded very exciting. He hadn’t had a project in a long time. “I think we have a deal. Now all I need to do is grab one of these lovely ladies and get to work.”
“Oh no. I get to pick the artist.”
“Why do you get to pick? That’s a little rough don’t you think?” Justin looked over at Lance angrily.
Lance only smiled. “I believe your words were ‘I could make Pee Wee Herman into a pop star’ or am I misquoting?”
The corner of Justin’s mouth curled and he looked at Lance like he was the lowest form of human being on the earth. “Oh I get your game now. You’re trying to make me fail. Well it’s not going to work. You go ahead and pick the girl or guy. I’ll show you I can do it either way.”
Lance looked around the beach and laughed. “I’m sure you will Justin. I’m sure you will.”
Carly was in the parking lot looking for Adrienne after school, but she couldn’t find her anywhere. Her car was still parked in the lot, but there was no sight of the driver.
“Come on Adrienne. I’m going to be late for work.” She mumbled under her breath.
When she still couldn’t find her twenty minutes later she ran over to the bus stop to catch the bus. Looking down the street she saw that the bus had just left.
“Just great. That means the next one won’t be by here for about thirty minutes and I’m going to be even later for work. Will this day ever end?”
“What’s wrong with that girl right there? She’s got the look, the moves, and that probably means she has the voice too. Lance you’ve turned down every single girl we’ve come across out here. Make up your mind!”
Lance took a long swallow of water before answering. “If you haven’t picked up on it by now, I’ve turned down every single girl that YOU have picked out. Wake up Justin.”
Justin and Lance’s beeper went off at the same time and they groaned when they saw the number. “Looks like JC was right. Just when we get a chance to relax, something pops up at the studio. Doesn’t Lou know how to relax?”
Lance grabbed all his papers and pulled his chair out of the sand. “It’s probably just one of those post-tour meetings. Let’s just get to it so we can leave quicker. Besides, you probably need to be in the studio a little bit. That might refresh your memory on what it’s like to start out in the industry. A refresher course if you will.”
Justin watched Lance walk away and he slammed his chair shut. “I don’t like that tone Lance Bass. I don’t like that tone at all.”
“You are new here and you are forty five minutes late. Carly this doesn’t look very good.”
Carly looked down at the floor and sighed. “I know and I’m really sorry. It won’t happen again. I missed the bus after school and then…”
The man held up his hand. “I don’t want to hear your excuses, just don’t let it happen again. You’re too hard of a worker for me to have to get rid of, so please don’t make me do it.”
“Yes sir. It won’t happen again.”
He handed her a list and pointed towards the door. “We’re about to have a meeting so will you please go pick up these things and bring them into the conference room? Most of the food items have already been delivered and they are in the cafeteria. Just arrange them on one of the tables in the conference room.”
She shook her head and walked to the door. “Yes sir.”
This had probably been one of the worst days of her life. Every time she turned around she was screwing up or something was already screwed up before she got there. When she walked into the cafeteria she noticed stacks and stacks of pre-made sandwiches along with drinks and desserts.
“My goodness. What kind of meeting are they planning on having? There’s enough food here to feed a small army.”
About thirty minutes later she had gathered up almost everything and had moved it into the conference room. She was very curious to see who would be eating all that food. No one was inside the conference room yet, but it was only a matter of time before the food would disappear.
What would it be like to have meetings to go to every day? To have people waiting on you hand and foot and serving you whatever you want to have? This is the life anyone would dream of.
She was carrying the last tray of sandwiches out of the cafeteria and was lost in her thoughts. She didn’t see the two guys walking down the hallway towards her, and they didn’t seem to notice her because they were deep in conversation. She almost lost her grasp on the tray and the only thing that stopped the tray from hitting the floor was the fact that the tray, and Carly, ran smack into one of the guy’s chest.
The tray flipped and squished all it’s contents into the guy’s shirt and for a moment all Carly could see were lettuce, ham, turkey, cheese, and tomatoes flying all around her. Two strong hands steadied her by grasping her arms and she stepped back quickly to see the destruction she had caused.
“Oh my God I’m so sorry. I didn’t see you coming and I didn’t mean…” She saw that the entire front of his shirt now contained about five sandwiches worth of condiments and food.
The young man looked down at her for a moment before looking over at his friend. Carly had never seen two more attractive guys in her life. The curly haired one that received the tray all over his shirt looked stunned, and the other guy with gorgeous green eyes merely smiled and giggled.
Lance studied Carly for a moment, grinned brightly, and turned his gaze to look at Justin. He reached a hand over and pulled a tomato off of Justin’s chest before whispering. “I think we have a winner.”