Summer vacation. School’s out and it’s the right time to party for all the highschoolers...well, all of them except for Reagan. This shy, quiet, and plain, eighteen-year-old girl was going to be spending her summer vacation with her aunt, Kiara. Reagan’s aunt is a twenty-two year old wardrobe manager for none other than *N Sync. Reagan had never met the guys of *N Sync, but had heard many tour stories about them, and they seemed like pretty cool guys. Kiara thought that this trip would open up her niece a little. The person in charge of make-up, Tonia, would be bringing her daughter Tyra, with her on tour, and both Reagan and Tyra are the same age, so she would have someone to hang out with. Kiara thought her niece was way too plain for her own good, but despite the many times she had tried to spice her up a little, nothing had worked. Reagan was an average height girl, with medium length, light brown hair (which was always in a ponytail), and bright green eyes that weren’t often noticed because her glasses. Reagan was way too used to being in a small town. She needed to live a little, and that’s exactly why Kiara brought her on the tour.
The two young women dashed around the apartment building, grabbing items that they’d forgotten the night before. They were already going to be late. Reagan and Kiara come running from different parts of the apartment, and stopped hurriedly in front of each other. “You got everything?” Kiara asks.
“Yeah, you got everything?” Reagan asks, slinging a backpack over her shoulder.
“Yeah, so let’s go.” They hurry out of the door, and to the car. “You know, I think this is the first time I’ve been late before the tour.” Kiara says. “Guess that’s what happens when you pack at the last minute. I should’ve learned that from Justin when he left all his stuff that was in the bathroom at the hotel.” She says, remembering that from the last tour. After listening to her aunt, Reagan turns to look back out of the window, watching the scenery quickly pass by. “I’m telling you, Princess, you’re gonna love touring with the guys.” Reagan looks over at her aunt, and smiles at the very familiar nickname. When Reagan was younger she loved anything that had to do with a princess. She had the entire princess Barbie doll collection, a hand-made throne, a crown; she was just head-over-heels in love with that kind of stuff, The nickname Princess just stuck after that phase had passed. “There’s almost never a dull moment when you’re around these guys.” Reagan smiles. “Well, say something, girl! I know you aren’t this quiet. Every time you get your hands on that guitar of yours you’re always belting out that song from your old Mickey Mouse Club CD. What’s it called?”
“Hanging On for Dear Life.” Reagan answers. “I don’t sing that song all the time.” She adds.
“Well, you sing it enough for me to know it. Your voice is too pretty for you to put it to waste by not talking. Express yourself! By the way, did you bring the guitar with you?”
“Of course I did. I made sure I got that first.” She answers. Reagan loved her guitar. Since some songs she knew didn’t have a guitar beat in them, she would improvise and make up some music to go with the song. She was pretty good at it also. Reagan clutches onto the door handle as Kiara makes a sharp turn into the parking lot of the venue they are leaving from. “Jeez!” Reagan exclaims, and Kiara slams on the breaks. Involuntarily, Reagan brings a hand up to her chest, catching her breath.
“C’mon, Princess! We don’t have time to waste!” Kiara exclaims, opening the passenger side door. Kiara turns away from the car and shouts, “Yo! Can we get some help ova here?” A couple of guys come over as Reagan gets out of the car. One of them reaches for her guitar, but she stops him.
“I got it.” She says. The guys bring their things to the bus they were sharing with the hair stylist and assistant, the make-up artist, her assistant, and her daughter, and the wardrobe assistant.
“Thanks.” Kiara says to the guys. Reagan and Kiara begin to load their stuff onto the buses. As soon as they finish, someone announces that it’s time for the buses to head off. The family and friends of the guys of *N Sync and the other crewmembers waved good-bye as the buses pulled out of the parking lot. Reagan stares out of the window in amazement. This was something new to her, something she had never experienced before, and she knew that she was going to enjoy it.
“Hey, what’s up?” Her thoughts are interrupted when a girl about her age sits down in front of her. She has light brown skin, brown eyes, and dark brown hair. Reagan blinks a few times, coming out of her dream-state.
“Oh, hey.” She says.
“I’m Tyra, and you must be...Reagan, right?” The girl asks.
“Yeah, that would be me.”
“First time on tour?” Tyra asks.
“Yeah, I’m here with Kiara, my aunt. What about you?”
“Nope, I’ve been a couple of times. You’ll really like the guys.”
“I sure hope so.”
“Yeah, they’re really cool guys. You’ll learn to love ‘em. How old are you?”
“Eighteen.”
“Oh, cool, me too. You play?” Tyra asks out of the blue.
“What?” Reagan asks, then looked at the guitar next to her.
“The guitar, you play?”
“Oh, yeah, I play.”
“Cool, you’ll have to show me one day.”
“Yeah, okay. Maybe someday soon.” Reagan says with a smile. The two girls were becoming fast friends. “Where exactly are we going?”
“Um, I don’t know, lemme go check with my mom.” Tyra says. She gets up and heads toward the back of the bus. “Mom, where are we going, again?” Reagan heard the girl ask her mother. Tyra returns shortly and sits in front of her newfound friend. “We’re going to North Carolina.”
“Oh, okay.”
“You wanna play cards? It’s pretty boring right now.” Tyra asks, sliding the deck of cards toward the center of the table.
“Yeah, sure.” Tyra raises her eyebrows, as she shuffles the cards.
“Are you up for a game of poker?” Reagan smiles, sensing a challenge.
“You’re on.”
“Hey, Curly, heads up!” Chris yells as a Twinkie goes flying through the air, heading straight for Justin’s head. Justin ducks before the Twinkie hits, and Joey, who is sitting across from him at the table, catches it.
“Thanks, Chris!” Joey calls out.
“Guess what?” Lance says, walking to the
front of the bus, where his other four friends are. The guys look up at Lance, giving him their full attention. “Tyra’s gonna be on the tour again.” JC’s eyes light up.
“Really? I haven’t seen Ty in a while.” JC says.
“Oh yeah. And guess who else is coming...naturally...”
“Who?” Chris asks.
“Kiara.” Lance answers.
“Yay! KiKi’s on the tour!” He exclaims like a little kid.
“She’s not alone, though.” Lance adds. “She brought her niece, Reagan.”
“I didn’t know KiKi had a sister...or a brother. There’s gonna be a little kid running around here?” Justin asks.
“I guess so.” Lance answers. Justin groans and leans his head on the table before him.
“It can’t be that bad.” JC says. “Maybe...”
“Maybe the kid’s a genius and we get along just great with her!” Chris exclaims, catching everyone’s attention.
“Or maybe she’s older than we think.” Joey adds. The guys are silent.
“Maybe.” JC says after a little while.
Hours Later...
The buses for the tour pull into the hotel. Tyra and Reagan are sleeping on the couches in the back. Tonia comes and shakes the two girls awake. “C’mon you two. Just bring your pajamas, clothes for tomorrow, and whatever else you need.” She instructs. The two girls nod sleepily. Reagan stretches and rubs her eyes. She walks over to the bunks, and throws some stuff into her extra duffel bag. She then goes outside and leans on the side of the bus, waiting for Tyra. A few minutes later, Tonia comes off of the bus, followed shortly by Tyra. “Oh, I’m so tired.” Tyra groans, leaning against Reagan’s shoulder. Reagan lays her head on top of Tyra’s.
“Yeah, me too. As soon as I get up to the room, I’m going to sleep.” Tyra slowly lifts her wrist up to her face.
“Man...” She whines. “We might not have time to go to sleep.” She says.
“Why not?”
“Because the guys have to leave for a photo shoot in, like, forty-five minutes.” Reagan groans, and lifts her head up. She pushes the door open to the lobby of the hotel.
Kiara is waiting for her with two keys in her hand. Tyra goes over to her mother. Kiara hands Reagan one of the keys. She notices the tired eyes of her niece.
“Still tired from the ride?” She asks.
“Yeah.”
“Well, you better wake up soon, the guys have a photo shoot today.”
“So, I heard.” Reagan answers.
“Our room is on the fifth floor. Room five twenty-nine.” Kiara explains to her niece. “I have to go get my stuff from off of the bus, but I’ll meet you upstairs. Okay?” Reagan nods, and heads toward the elevator.
Reagan opens the door to the room, and walks over to a bed. She drops all her bag and guitar down on the floor before falling face down on the mattress. “Sleep...” She murmurs. She hadn’t been lying there for ten minutes when there was a knock at the door. Thinking it’s Kiara, she shouts, “You have a key, remember?” The knocking continues. With a groan, she drags herself up from the bed and to the door. Reagan flings it open, and to her surprise, five very familiar faces are standing there. Her eyes widen slightly, but not much.
“Oh, um, we’re sorry, I guess we have the wrong room.” JC says.
“Oh, okay.” Reagan says, not thinking at all.
“Bye.” JC says.
“Bye.” Reagan says, and then closes the door. She goes over to the bed and throws herself onto it.
“I thought you said you knew where the room was, JC.” Chris says as they walk away from the room.
“That’s what it said on the paper!” JC exclaims in his defense.
“Then who was that girl who opened the door.” Chris asks.
“I don’t know. We’re going to see KiKi in about a half and hour. Don’t blame me for going to the wrong room.” JC says. Chris shrugs, and the guys hurry back to their rooms. They had all closed their doors when Kiara comes out of the elevator with two bags slung over her shoulders. She goes into the room and sees Reagan.
“Jeez, Princess, are you alive over there?” She jokes. Reagan turns her head her way.
“Do you have coffee?” She asks.
“You don’t like coffee.”
“Oh yeah. Give me somethin’.” Reagan says, and sits up. Kiara goes through her bags and pulls out a CD player.
“Throw in a CD, and turn it up to full blast. It’ll wake you up in an instant.”
“And blow out my ears too. Thanks, but no thanks. I may be half-sleep, but I’m no dummy.”
“Could’ve fooled me.” Kiara says jokingly.
“Shut up, KiKi.” Kiara didn’t want her niece to call her Aunt KiKi because she claimed it made her feel old. Reagan throws a pillow at her, only to receive a much heavier pillow to be throw at her, knocking her off the bed, and waking her up. “Oh my God, you brought the heavy pillow with you?” Reagan asks, standing up and holding the pillow in her arms. “How can you sleep on this thing?” “Like so.” Kiara takes the pillow and throws it onto the bed. She lies down on the pillow and closes her eyes. “Simple as that.”
“Ha, ha. Very funny.” Reagan says. Kiara and Reagan are extremely close. They’re like sisters. Reagan isn’t an only child; she actually has four younger sisters. Heather is sixteen, Beth is thirteen, Terra is nine, and Naomi is six.
“Ain’t it?” Kiara asks, giving her a sweet smile.
Fifteen Minutes Later...
“So, we get a limo to go to the photo shoot?” Reagan asks as she and Tyra hang out in the lobby, waiting for Kiara and Tonia to meet them downstairs.
“That’s correct.” Tyra asks, still looking at the magazine she’s reading. Reagan nods in approvement, and goes back to listening to her CD player. Suddenly, a loud whistle is heard from behind the two girls.
“Let’s go!” Tonia exclaims. The head outside where a limo is waiting. The limo for the hair, make-up, and wardrobe crew. The bodyguards were coming in a van, which had already left. The guys’ limo had already left also.
“Man, they always get the coolest limos.” Tyra says, messing with anything she could get her hands on. Reagan stares out of the window, taking in the view of the city, and loving every minute of it. Reagan is the shy type of girl, but she could be herself around these groups of people without her shyness taking over, and that surprised her very much. It was like they were family although they’d just met.
At the Photo Shoot...
Kiara hurried around the photo shoot area, going from room to room, looking for the guys outfits. She opens a door, and finds the rack of clothes. “Whew, here we go.” She says.
“Who’s we?” A voice asks from behind her, and she jumps. Kiara turns around to find the five members of the headlining group. They smile widely. “Hey KiKi!” Chris exclaims, and charges at her. He pulls her into a huge hug, almost knocking them both down.
“Hey...Chris,,,” She manages to say. “I can always...count on you...to cut off my breathing in...a hug. You and Joey.” She says. Chris lets go of her, and smiles.
“Yeah, but that’s because we love ya so much. Some of us more than others...” Chris says, and looks at JC. JC shakes his head no. Kiara didn’t notice the look. The rest of the guys proceed to give their greetings.
Kiara stands back, and looks at the five men. “So, what’s been up, y’all?” She asks.
“We’ve been looking for you.” JC says. “We tried to get to your room, but we couldn’t find it.”
“What room did you go to?” Kiara asks.
“Five twenty-nine.” JC answers.
“You went to the right room, then.”
“But...someone else opened the door.” Justin says.
“You sure it was the right room?”
“Yeah, we looked twice.”
“Hmm...” Kiara says. Reagan walks by the door. “Reagan!” She exclaims, and the guys all look at each other.
“Well, we get to meet the five year old...” Justin whispers to Lance.
“She wouldn’t let a five year old run off by herself.” Lance whispers back. Reagan pokes her head in the room.
“What?” The guys look at her and are shocked.
“Come in here, I want you to meet the guys!” Kiara exclaims. Reagan slowly walks in, and the guys look at her puzzled. “Guys, this is my niece, Reagan. Reagan, this is Chris, Joey, Justin, Lance, and JC.”
“Hi.” Reagan says shyly. The guys say hi, still a little puzzled. Reagan definitely wasn’t drop dead gorgeous, but with a little work she could be. Lose the glasses, wear her hair down...oh yeah, some work could be done. She seemed very shy also. The room fills with silence.
“How old are you?” Joey’s voice all of a sudden is heard, and the guys groan. “You guys chill. I’m not going to do anything.” Reagan smiles.
“I’m eighteen.” She answers. All this time, the guys were dreading a five-year-old girl running around the venues, and instead they got an eighteen-year-old.
“Oh.” Joey says. “Because the guys- -” Chris cuts him off, but covering his mouth.
“We were just wondering.” Chris says. Kiara turns to Reagan.
“Where were you going.” She asks.
“I was looking for Tyra. She told me to find her back here somewhere.”
“Oh, okay. Well, you can go look for her. I just wanted to introduce you to the guys.” Kiara says.
“Okay, bye.” Reagan says, and starts to walk out. She turns back and says. “Oh yeah, and nice to meet you.” She says softly, and leaves.
“Tyra!” Reagan calls out to the girl, standing a few feet away. She was standing next to the photographer. Tyra looks up, smiles, and waves her over.
“This camera stuff is so cool. I think I wanna be a photographer.” Tyra says.
“Really?”
“Well, that or a fashion designer. Both of which are intensely cool in my book.” The two girls wander away from the camera, and onto the set, which was set up to look like a small stage.
“And my book also, but I wouldn’t want to do that. I’m really into music, though.”
“I should’ve guessed. You have the guitar with you.”
“And I can also play the clarinet, the piano, and drums...I like the guitar the best though.”
“Girl, you...next thing you’ll be telling me is that you sing too.”
“I sing too...”
“I knew it!” Tyra exclaims, jumping up from her seat on the stage.
“Knew what?” Justin asks, walking onto the set. Tyra turns at the sound of his voice. She smiles, and runs up to him. Justin catches her as she jumps into his arms in a hug.
“Hey, Justin!” Tyra exclaims.
“Hey Ty.” Justin moves his head to the side a little and sees Reagan. “Hey Reagan.” Reagan gives him a small wave and turns away. “Kind of shy, huh?” Tyra turns back and looks at her friend.
“I guess so. She’s not like that around me.”
“That’s because you’re a girl.” Justin teases.
“And what’s that supposed to mean?” Tyra asks, pretending to catch an attitude.
“It means that she will talk to you.” Justin says, rolling his neck, and snapping his fingers at Tyra. Tyra stands there looking at him, before cracking up. She falls down, still laughing and holding her stomach, and sits down against the “stage.”
“That has got to be one of the funniest things I’ve seen you do ever since I’ve been on tour with you guys.” She says. “Well, besides the time you got stuck hanging from the ceiling during a concert.”
“That wasn’t funny at all.” Justin says, sitting on the spot on the stage, right above Tyra who is sitting on the floor. “She’s looking kinda lonely over there.” Justin says, indicating Reagan, who is sitting over on the other side of the “stage” by herself. Tyra looks over at her.
“Reagan!” She exclaims. Reagan looks up at the sound of her name, and over to Justin and Tyra. “Come over here, girl!” Justin starts giving her the signal to come here when she doesn’t move. Reagan hesitantly gets up before walking over to the pair. Tyra pats the space next to her on the floor, and Reagan sits down. “So...what were you doing over there?” She asks.
“Thinking.” Reagan says. In only a matter of seconds, Reagan had stopped joking around, and gone into being quiet and shy, confusing Tyra. She started giving one-word answers.
“About what, may I ask?”
Justin listens to the two girl conversation before a loud voice calls, “JUSTIN!!!” His eyes widen at the sound of Kiara’s scream, and he jumps up. Tyra and Reagan look up at him.
“Y’all, I gotta go.” He says quickly before taking off towards wardrobe.
“You don’t come off that shy.” Tyra says.
“I know, I know. I’ll have to work on that, but anyway, what were we talking about before Justin came?”
“I don’t know. I forgot.”
“Well, so did I. Let’s go do something.” Reagan suggests.
“Something like what?”
“Something like...like...let’s just go look around.” She says.
“Fine by me. Let’s go.” The two girls walk off of the set.