Before the Fame; the Making of Nsync

Author's Note- You know you've watched a movie too many times when you can recite whole scenes, but that should tell you you're watching a really good movie. Now thanks to VH1 showing 'That Thing You Do!' all weekend, I think it's about time I tackle the story line, Nsync style.

My References for this story are: 'Nsync, The Official Book', and 'Nsync, Tearing Up Our Hearts'.

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Summer 1995



Chris drove to his job at Universal Studios, listening to The Jackson Five on the car radio. He admired the group for many reasons; their fame, their talent, and their closeness. Hanson and the Spice Girls were the new present day sensations, and slowly more groups were making their move to the fresh pop sound.

Chris Kirkpatrick was a singer in a doo-wop group in Universal Studios. His stage name was Spike, and he was in charge of the high notes for Hollywood High Tones. The group sang outside a diner in Universal. They were pretty good, and people would often stop to hear the amazing group.

After sloppily parking his unique beaten up car, Chris jogged through the employee entrance of Universal Studios. His legs were warmed in the sun, and a tan line was making itself present where his cutoff jeans stopped. Before he reached the gate, a security guard stopped him and asked for some ID.

"Oh, sure, hold on," Chris stammered, surprised that he was stopped. No one had ever been watching this entrance before, so he never made it a point to keep his ID with him. "Here you go," Chris said, holding out the card to the tall security guard.

"Is this a joke?" the man asked, not smiling.

"What do you mean?" Chris asked. He was confused, and he was about to be late.

"This isn't Food Lion…Chris. You can't get in here with this."

Chris's eyes grew wide as he took the picture back. "Well that's because I just came from there," he said, cursing himself. "My ID must be at home. Please, I'm gonna be late if you don't let me in-"

"That's not my problem," the guard replied.

"It never used to be mine either," Chris said. "Are you new?"

"Yeah, and it's because of punks like you I've been put in charge of guarding this entrance. Now if you don't leave, I'll have to call back up."

Chris sighed, growing irritated. "Look, I sing with the Hollywood High Tones, and I'm gonna miss our performance, then I won't get paid, THEN I won't be able to pay the rent. Now can you just please-"

Chris was interrupted when a younger man walked up behind the security guard. "Hey Ralph, let him in. He's cool."

The guard looked at the Italian with dark brown hair. "You can vouch for him?" "Yeah, I met Chris a week ago," Joey replied.

The guard looked at Chris. "Fine, you can enter. But next time, you won't be as lucky."

"Lucky's my middle name," Chris smiled, walking past the guard and placing his hand on Joey's shoulder. "Thanks man, I owe you one."

"Hey, what are friends for?" Joey smiled.

"I hate to run, but I really gotta get with the guys before they really do cut my paycheck," Chris said, pulling away from Joey.

"I understand," Joey relied. "I gotta get to make up so I can become 'Wolfman'!"

"Have a great show," Chris smiled before he jogged off.

"You too!" Joey called after him. Then he headed to the make up building, where he was transformed daily into characters like Wolfman or Dracula for his show, 'The Beetlejuice Graveyard Review'. Brooklyn native Joey Fatone loved performing at Universal, even if the songs weren't quite what he would sing in his free time. The same went for Chris, and that was only one of the many things the two singers had in common. They had met only days before, and already they had become close friends.

Joey walked to his assigned seat in front of a huge mirror and sat down, where he instantly became surrounded by female makeup artists. 'Here goes another long day,' he sighed to himself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Cut!"

The set of the Mickey Mouse Club buzzed with unrestricted chatter. Another long day had come to a close, relieving all the young actors. Now was the time to goof off with out getting in trouble. Some kids hit the buffet, while others went immediately into their dressing rooms to dress down for the evening.

"Bye Justin," a young girl cooed. She had wavy light brown hair and amber eyes. She also had a crush on another teen actor, Justin Timberlake.

"Goodbye Britney," Justin sighed. He headed to the long table with food, hoping to lose the teenage Spears.

"Somebody's got a crush on you," whispered older Mouseketeer J.C. Chasez.

"Don't remind me," Justin said, rolling his eyes. Together the two piled some snacks on their paper plates and headed to a somewhat quiet corner to eat together. The show had been going down hill slowly for a while, and all the actors were in threat of losing their jobs.

J.C. and Justin shared the same vocal coach and had become fast friends from the moment they met. J.C. had just graduated high school and was looking forward to a summer of relaxing, but the unsteady future of the Mickey Mouse Club might change his plans.

Justin breathed a sigh of relief as Britney passed them and went to talk to Christina Aguilera and Keri Russell. Then he turned to J.C. "So what are you going to do this summer, if the show gets canceled?"

"I don't know," J.C. replied. "I'm moving out to LA for a little while, then I guess I'll just go back to Maryland. What are you gonna do?"

"I'm staying right here," Justin smiled. "Unlike some people, I have to go to school next year."

"I'm sorry," J.C. teased, munching on a handful of chips. "Just as long as I get to sing, I don't care what happens."

"Speak of the devil," Justin said, elbowing J.C. in the side.

A hush fell over the crew and cast. The producer of the show stepped amongst them, and he did not look happy. He put on a fake smile and started, "Hey guys, thanks for another wonderful show today…I, uh, have something to tell you." He took a breath before continuing, "Unfortunately, it was our last one. Disney canceled us today."

Everyone was saddened by the news, even though it was expected. This was some people's life, and now they were left with nothing. All the teens that had become stars would now go back to being nobodies. Justin heard a group of girls quietly begin crying. Even J.C. let out a disappointed sigh.

The producer continued, "Thanks for all your hard work guys, every one of you. None of this would have been possible without you, and I mean that in a good way. There will be a bonus on your last paycheck, which you can pick up at the end of the week." With that, he turned and left the heartbroken cast and crew to clean up the stage for the last time.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Come on, start you piece of crap car!" Chris cursed, turning the key again. The car was in desperate need of new spark plugs, and had been for some time. "I give you gas once a week and change your oil every 2999 miles, what more do you want?" Chris groaned. "Besides the spark plugs that I can't afford?" he added.

A knock on the window startled him, and when he turned to see Dracula standing outside his window, he jumped again. Chris rolled down the window and asked, "Joey?"

"Are you having car troubles again?" Joey asked, taking out his fangs.

"How'd you guess?"

Joey swatted a moth that found itself attracted to his make up as it gathered warmth from the streetlight. "Lucky, I guess," he smiled. "Want a ride home?"

"Me, a 23 year old, bum a ride off a 18 year old high school grad? I don't think so."

"Come on, I'll feed ya dinner," Joey added, smiling.

"It's a deal," Chris replied without hesitation.

"Come on, we'll get a tow truck out here later. Now we gotta pick up Janine and my dad."

"Well I don't want to intrude on your family thing," Chris started.

"No, it's okay. My mom loves you anyway. She'll be glad you're stopping by. Maybe later we can go clubbin' or something."

"So what are we having for dinner?" Chris asked as he followed Joey through the dark parking lot.

"Well, we were going to have spaghetti, but once mom sees you, she'll probably drop everything and make a dozen tacos."

"Hey, that's cool with me!"

"I knew it would be," Joey smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin followed the eighteen year old J.C. through the set and out into the parking lot. "This sucks, doesn't it?"

J.C. didn't bother looking at the fourteen year old. "Yeah Justin, it does."

"I wonder what mom's gonna say," Justin mumbled to himself.

"I guess we'll find out soon enough," J.C. replied, getting in his car. Justin got in the passenger side and put on his seat belt. "Is your mom cooking me dinner again tonight?"

"I don't know, I wasn't paying attention," Justin replied, turning on J.C.'s radio despite previous warnings not to.

"What do you think you're doing?" J.C. asked, looking at Justin as he pulled out onto the highway.

"I, uh, nothing," Justin stammered.

"Do you want to walk home?" J.C. teased.

"Well you don't listen to anything good," Justin replied. "I'm sick of listening to Sting."

"How can you get sick of listening to greatness?" J.C. asked. "Don't you ever get sick of that hip-hop crap you always have on?"

"No."

"Figures."

"What?"

"Nothing."

"J.C.?"

"What?"

"I'm gonna miss you when you leave."

"I'll miss you too buddy."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Thanks for dinner Mrs. Fatone," Chris smiled as he and Joey got ready to leave.

"No problem, I just wish Joey would invite you over more often," Phyllis replied. She began clearing the table as her husband, Joe Sr., met the guys at the door.

"If you want," he started, "Me and Steve can ride back to Universal with you to put in those new spark plugs."

"Oh, no, you don't have to," Chris started, beginning to feel uncomfortable with the Fatone's generosity.

"Oh don't worry about it," Joe replied. "I have to look out after you boys. Orlando is a big place and a lot can go wrong."

Chris thought about it for a minute. He hated using Joey's family, but at the moment, he didn't have any money for a tow truck. "I'd have to pay you back," he promised.

"Of course, whatever," Joe smiled. "Take your time. It's not like we're hurting for money."

Chris ducked his head even though he knew the comment wasn't meant to be a jab at him. He was working two jobs to support himself and his depressed stepfather. His real father died when he was younger, then Beverly remarried and gained three daughters by her new husband. The sibling count rose to five when she and her husband had a daughter together. The rest of his family now remained in Ohio, where Chris had attended high school. Lately, Chris's stepdad had been depressed, leaving more and more responsibility on Chris.

"Well let's get going then," Joey said, interrupting Chris's thoughts. "Me and Chris might go out later."

"See what I mean?" Joe teased. "You boys are always on the run…"

"Leave them be Joe," Phyllis smiled. "They worked hard today, singing and all."

"And I wouldn't trade it for anything," Chris beamed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Mrs. Harless, you keep outdoing yourself," J.C. complimented. "I wish my mom could cook as good as you."

"Well bring Karen over once in a while," Lynn said. "I'd love to have the company while you guys are at Universal."

"I'll have to do that one day," J.C. replied.

"Uh mom," Justin started. "There's something I have to tell you."

"What?"

"Mickey Mouse Club was canceled today," Justin said softly.

Lynn studied the two boys. "Well, we kind of knew it was coming, right? We'll just take a break for a while then find something else. It'll be okay, trust me."

"Yeah, I guess," Justin replied.

"You two can just hang out this summer and be normal kids," Lynn added with a smile.

"Well actually, I'm leaving for LA in a few days," J.C. said. "Then I'll visit my family. I should be back within a year though," he added quietly.

Lynn looked to Justin, who was sitting with his head down. This would be hard on her son since he and J.C. had become such close friends, but Justin was a very outgoing guy, and she knew he would make other close friends. She knew he had already mentioned an older guy from rehearsals, and Justin still had his friends from school. "Well," she sighed, "Orlando will be lonely with out you J.C., but I hope you have a great time."

"Thanks," J.C. smiled. "I'll try. I'm just gonna work on singing and try writing some songs. That's what I really want to do."

"You keep in touch and let us know how you're doing," Lynn said, walking the boys to the door.

"Will do," J.C. said. Then he turned to Justin. "Hey, you wanna come clubbin' with me tonight?"

Justin glared at him as Lynn interrupted, "Maybe he can go with you in a few years. Thanks for bringing him home."

"No problem, and I'm looking forward to having him come," J.C. smiled before he was pushed out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris stood by and watched as Joey father and older brother repaired his car. Joe Sr. insisted it was no big deal, but Chris still felt like he was using his friend and family. After an hour in the parking lot, Chris and Joey hit a local club and danced for a few hours.

Once he and Joey pulled out of the parking lot and hit the highway, Chris instantly put it behind him and concentrated on having a good time. He and Joey knew quite a lot of people, most of them regulars. Chris slowly nursed a beer, making it last all night. Joey was the never-stopping flirt machine, and Chris's high energy made the pair the most lively at the club.

At about 12:30, Chris decided to call it a night since he had to work at the grocery store the next morning. After dragging out a madly in love Joey, the guys headed back to Joey's house. Both men were giggly about their brush with the beautiful women, and Joey had to keep himself quiet as he entered his dark house.

Chris made sure Joey was in the house then pulled away and headed home. Joey was a true friend and the two always had a great time together. Chris considered himself lucky to have met Joey. 'I guess that's one good thing that came out of Universal,' the thought, changing the radio station to a song by Beastie Boys. Chris truly did love his job, but his heart wasn't in that kind of singing. He was beginning to dream of starting a group, but then he would wake up and realize he had no money, not enough people, and his family needed him.

It was almost one in the morning when Chris pulled up to the apartment he and his family shared. I wasn't the best looking apartment in Orlando, but the price was right. Chris didn't bother locking the door to his car, for it was a widely known fact that the car was a piece of crap. He trudged up the dark stairs to his apartment, thoroughly worn out by the long day and night. He had came down from his hypoglycemic sugar rush and now the most attractive looking thing was his bed.

On his way through the living room Chris passed he stepfather, who hadn't moved off the couch since this morning. Chris felt a wave of brotherly concern for his sisters, wondering what they were doing at this time. When his stepfather had divorced his mother, he moved out to Orlando and Chris followed when he felt it was his time to spread his wings. Now he almost regretted it. But as soon as he lay down on his bed, Chris fell into a deep, peaceful sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin sat on the couch and flipped through the numerous channels. "How can there not be anything on?" he wondered to himself. It was six in the morning and J.C. had already left. Now Justin had absolutely nothing to do but sit and watch TV.

After sighing for the tenth time in two minutes, he picked up the phone and decided to call Chris, an older guy he met from auditions. Chris was wild, even for Justin. The two hit it off immediately and kept in contact often. Justin felt slightly out of place hanging out with a twenty three-year-old, but Chris acted more like a fourteen-year-old. He had given Justin a ride home once before when J.C. was sick, and from what Justin could tell, Chris and Lynn seemed to like each other. Justin couldn't imagine Chris not getting along with anyone.

Justin knew Chris sang with the Hollywood High Tones by day, then went out to clubs at night. Justin often felt left out when both J.C. and Chris would go out at night, but Chris often invited Justin to play basketball or to the movies to make up for it. Justin hoped that this summer Chris would come over more often since J.C. was gone.

"Are you going to sit there all day young man?" Lynn asked as she rolled the vacuum in front of Justin.

"Well what am I suppose to do?" Justin asked. "It's six in the morning."

"In Orlando, the day is half over," Lynn smiled. "Why don't you call your friends and see if they want to do anything?"

Justin mentally went through his list of close friends. The only one who might be available at this time would be Chris. Justin sighed again and picked up the phone, hoping he wouldn't be waking anyone at the Kirkpatrick household. The phone rang three times, and then a man picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi, is Chris there?" Justin asked innocently.

"Yeah, hold on…Chris! Phone!" Justin turned his eyes back to the TV while shuffling could be heard on the line. "Hello?"

"Hey Chris, this is Justin."

"Oh, hey Justin. What’s wrong?"

"Nothing, I'm just sitting here all by myself without any friends and was wondering if you could do something," Justin said.

"Well, I gotta work at the grocery store, but only for a few hours. You want to come with me and just hang out until I get off?"

"Why not?" Justin asked. "I don't have anything better to do."

"Okay, I'll be there in fifteen."

"I'll be waiting." After saying goodbye, Justin hung up the phone and started getting ready. Maybe at the store he could meet some girls or see one of his friends. Anything was better than sitting here missing J.C. and the Mickey Mouse Club.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So how come you aren't filming today?" Chris asked as he and Justin drove to the store.

"It was canceled yesterday," Justin replied.

"Oh man, I'm sorry," Chris replied, placing a hand on Justin's shoulder. "What are you gonna do now?"

"Mom says I should just enjoy the summer," Justin said. "Then we'll find something else for me to do."

"You could always go back to Star Search," Chris teased.

"Yeah right," Justin smiled. They pulled into the parking lot and got out, walking towards the doors. Justin smiled when he walked beside the older man, for Justin was a good three or four inches taller. "What about you shorty, how's college going?"

"It's okay. Not going too fast with two jobs, but I love learning psychology. I'm glad I took that instead of theater. Psych and music are my two major subjects."

"That's cool," Justin smiled. "I don't know what I want to do yet, but I know I want to sing."

Something clicked in Chris's head, and he made a mental note of Justin's comment. The kid could sing, and his voice was the next step down from Chris's. If he got Joey in on it, they would have the baritone/tenor, but they would still need more voices.

Chris's put the thought back in his mind as they entered the store. Chris went to the back to get changed, and Justin milled around outside. When Chris took his assigned bagger position, Justin eventually found himself helping Chris out. The two got each of the customers talking, and even the normally grumpy checkers were smiling and wishing customers a nice day.

Unbeknownst to anyone, the district manager had stopped in for his periodic inspection of the store. When he saw the cheerful employees, with a young man named Chris and his young friend in the center of it all, he made a note on his clipboard and added a happy face next to it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After playing a game of basketball and going out to eat, Chris dropped Justin off at his house and headed home. He didn't want to tell Justin, but Chris saw the manager talking about them with another man. Chris figured he had gotten in trouble by bringing Justin along. Now he'd get fired and have to find a new job. The stress was beginning to give Chris a headache, and all he wanted to do was get home and relax.

Chris parked his car and made his way up the stairs to his apartment. He knocked on the door, hoping his stepdad would let him in so he wouldn't have to dig for his keys. After waiting a few seconds, Chris gave up on that idea and fished around for the two silver keys. He let himself in and found his stepfather sitting six feet away, watching TV. "What are you watching?" Chris asked, a little annoyed that the TV was more important than he was.

His stepfather remained silent, not even bothering to turn around. Chris sighed. He had still not grown used to his stepfather's depression, which was so opposite his own sunny disposition. Rowan, Chris's Beta, swam happily in his tank, watching Chris as he tossed his keys on the kitchen table and went to his room, throwing himself on the bed. No sooner had he shut his eyes then the phone rang. Chris groaned and rolled over, grabbing it off his dresser. "Hello?"

"Hey Chris? It's Joey."

"Oh, hey man. What's up?"

"Nothing much. Are you okay? You sound kinda out of it."

"You just woke me up. Why did you call?" Chris asked teasingly.

"Do you work today?"

"I just got off, and in a whole three hours, I get to go to Universal," Chris replied. His eyes fell to a pile of books on the floor and he saw his Psychology book. "Crap!" he yelled. "I got a test tomorrow!"

"Test? What's that?" Joey teased.

"Listen you, just because you're out of school doesn't mean you can be stupid," Chris said. Grabbing his book and opening it.

"Well, I just wanted to know if you could do anything," Joey said.

"You can help me study," Chris replied.

"You serious?" Joey asked.

"Dead," Chris replied.

"Okay, I'll be over when you get off."

"Thanks," Chris smiled.

"No problem. Bye."

Chris said goodbye and forced his eyelids to stay open enough for him to read through the assigned chapters.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joey stood on the sidewalk and watched as Chris and the other members of the Hollywood High Tones sang their final song. Joey could see the joy in Chris's eyes when he sang. It was the same soul-releasing feeling Joey felt when he was on stage. No matter what was happening in his life, singing set him free. The songs may not be what he would sing on his free will, but it was still singing in front of an audience that loved it, and the energy they gave back was incredible. Joey put his heart into everything he sang, and he could see the same with Chris.

When the song was over, the group got a long applause from the good-sized crowd. Joey clapped to, then went to wait for Chris. After a few minutes, Chris nearly ran into him on his way out of the dressing room.

"Great job tonight," Joey smiled.

"Thanks," Chris replied, bouncing with energy. "You ready?"

"Yeah, I'll just follow you to your house," Joey replied, walking beside Chris. "Okay, and don’t use your high beams the whole way home either. You have no idea how much that pisses me off."

"That's why I do it," Joey smiled.

"I was afraid of that," Chris mumbled.

"So, how big is this test tomorrow?" Joey asked as they weaved through the crowd.

"Pretty big," Chris said, his smile fading. "I think I know most of it though."

"That makes my job easier then," Joey replied.

"Just what you need," Chris said. They stopped in front of the cars. "I'll see you there."

"I bet I can beat you," Joey teased.

"Probably could," Chris smiled.

The guys got in their cars and drove back to Chris's apartment. Chris didn't even bother knocking this time, which confused Joey. Chris quickly led Joey past his stepfather, not stopping until they were in Chris's room. Chris pulled out a thick book and handed it to Joey, smiling. "Here you go," he said. "Ask away."

"What chapters?" Joey asked, fumbling with the book as he balanced it on his lap.

"Ten through fifteen," Chris replied, laying on his back on the floor.

"Ten…" Joey mimicked, not believing the amount of material his friend was being tested over. "Whatever. I'm glad it's your butt."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joey and Chris studied for two hours, or tried to. The night ended up in a Nintendo 64 match, which Joey finally won. At eleven thirty, Joey headed back home, leaving Chris in the quiet house alone with his stepfather. Chris sat down and turned on the TV, then was interrupted by the phone ringing. "Hello?" he answered through a yawn.

"Is Chris there?" a female voice asked.

"This is me," Chris sighed.

"Hi, sorry if I woke you. I'm Justin's mom, and I was just calling to thank you for doing things with him today."

"No problem, he's a fun kid," Chris smiled.

"I'm afraid he might ask you to spend more time with him, since the show was canceled and his friend moved."

"That's okay, I'll try to spend time with him as much as I can," Chris replied. "We have a great time."

"How would you like to come over for dinner tomorrow?" Lynn asked.

"That's okay, I don't want to intrude-"

"Nonsense, I'd like to meet you in person. Justin really looks up to you. I hear you work at Universal also?"

"Yeah, Hollywood High Tones at your service," Chris sighed.

"You don't like it?"

"I love it, I just wish I were doing my own thing," Chris replied. "I really want to start a group, but I don't have the people or the money right now."

"Well, everything starts out as a dream," Lynn replied. "I know a bit of managing, if you ever get your group."

"I'll keep that in mind," Chris said. "But I doubt it will happen."

"Keep working on it," Lynn replied. "Dinner's at eight, can you make it?"

"Sure can," Chris smiled. "Thanks again."

"I know why Justin thinks so highly of you," Lynn replied. "You seem like a very nice young man."

Chris blushed slightly at the comment before they hung up. 'Well, one thing came out of that,' he thought. 'I'm sure she'd be a lot cheaper than a professional manager would. Plus she'd be easier to trust.'

Chris fell asleep with new dreams of starting a group, and they seemed to become more real by the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joey awoke the next morning to the ringing of the phone. "What?" he grumbled, picking it up.

"Joey? This is J.C."

"J.C.? What the hell do you want at…nine in the morning?"

"I just wanted to talk."

"Couldn't you come over later?"

"I’m in LA."

"Wh- How- LA? Why?" Joey asked, waking up fully.

"For vacation. I told you in school I was going."

"You did? Why didn't you came say goodbye first?"

"I called your house but your mom said you were out with some Chris guy."

"Oh, right. So how are you doing?" Joey asked.

"I'm fine. Listen, I need you to do me a favor."

"What?"

"There's this kid I'm really good friends with from the Mickey Mouse Club, and I know he's lonely. You two would get along really great, and I was hoping-"

"That I would go baby-sit?"

"Yeah, kinda."

"How old is he?" Joey asked, walking to the bathroom.

"Fourteen."

"What? I am not hanging out with a fourteen year old!" Joey replied.

"Come on, he's really awesome. He's mature for his age and he's up to anything. Please?"

"Fine, I'll go see him," Joey mumbled.

"Are you going to the bathroom?"

"Yeah."

"God that is sick."

"I know."

"Thanks, and I'll leave you to your business now."

"Anytime," Joey smiled. "See ya when you come back."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris walked out of Rollins feeling relieved. He felt the test had gone pretty smoothly and now all he wanted to do was relax. He wanted to play a game of basketball, and who better to play it with than Justin?

Chris got in his car and drove to Justin's house. He had the whole day off, which was extremely rare. Chris smiled and turned on the air conditioning; feeling almost lost with out having to turn down the street that led to work. Before he knew it, he was at Justin's house. He recognized the Acura SLX parked in the driveway, but didn't understand how it could really be Joey.

Confused, Chris got out and walked to Justin's front door. He knocked and waited, then stood face to face with Justin. "Hi," Chris smiled.

"Oh, hey Chris," Justin smiled back, letting the older man in the house.

Chris saw Joey sitting on the couch and asked, "What is he doing here?"

Joey turned around and smiled. "Hey Chris, what are you doing here?"

"I asked you first."

"My friend called me and wanted to know if I could come over here and do something with Justin. It's kinda a brotherly thing, you know? What about you?"

"Justin is one of my best friends," Chris replied, wrapping an arm around the confused Justin. "I wanted to know if he is up for a game of basketball."

"Yeah I'm up, but will one of you explain what is going on here?"

"Me and Joey are friends from Universal," he explained. Then he looked to Joey. "I met Justin at Mickey Mouse Club auditions."

"Well my friend from high school knew Justin from Mickey Mouse too, and he wanted to know if I could keep Justin company while he was gone," Joey said.

"Well now that we all know each other, can we just go play some basketball?" Justin asked.

"Sure, lets go," Chris smiled, leading the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After a hard played game of basketball, the three tired guys headed back to Justin's house. Justin had grown comfortable with Joey and the two were getting along like they knew each other for years. Chris was happy to see his two best friends get along. Now they were even closer than before. Justin didn't seem as lonely as he did before, and the closeness of the three gave him new confidence.

Justin, Joey and Chris parked it in front of the TV and started watching a South Park rerun. Lynn smiled at the three sweaty, exhausted friends. Joey seemed like an extremely nice young man, and she trusted Chris to have decent friends. From the couple of hours she had seen the three together, Lynn could tell they would be true friends.

"Guys, I hate to break this up," Joey started, getting up. "But I have to work tomorrow, so I'm, gonna split."

"Thanks for coming over today," Justin smiled, getting up also.

"You're welcome, I had fun," Joey replied, pulling out his keys. "You're a pretty cool fourteen year old," he added.

"I'll take that as a compliment," Justin said. "You wanna come over tomorrow?"

"I'll see what I feel like after work," Joey said as he walked out the door. "You work tomorrow?" he yelled to Chris.

"Yeah."

"Okay, I'll wait for ya then."

"Okay," Chris replied.

"Bye!" Joey waved.

Lynn, Justin and Chris all yelled goodbye to Joey then Justin shut the door after his new friend. "I really like him," Lynn smiled to Chris. "He seems like a nice guy."

"Joey's awesome," Chris replied. "His whole family is cool. They're really generous and kind."

"Does he have any brothers or sisters?" Lynn asked.

"He has a brother named Steve and sister Janine," Chris replied. "They're both older than him."

"And you have four sisters?" she asked.

"Yeah, my stepdad already had a girl when he and mom got married, then they had three more girls before the divorce."

"Bet that was fun for you, living in a house full of little girls," Lynn laughed.

"I have learned that girls are right, guys are wrong, the end," Chris recited. Then he turned to Justin. "So what do you want to be when you grow up?" he asked.

"I don't know," Justin replied. "Singing would be cool, or acting. But I still got time to decide," he added. "What about you?"

Chris took a breath, but Lynn interrupted. "Chris was talking to me the other night about starting a group."

Justin's eyes grew wide with hope. "Really? That would be awesome!"

"I know," Chris sighed. "But I don't have enough money to get anything going."

"Well like I said before," Lynn started. "I took a lot of management courses in college, and I'd be happy to loan you the money."

"I can't ask you to do that," Chris replied.

"You're not asking," Lynn smiled. "If you have a dream, you should go for it. Nothing's gonna happen unless you make it."

Chris remained silent. He turned to Justin. "You know you'd have to be in it with me," he smiled.

"Me? Really? That would be awesome!" Justin exclaimed.

"Of course. Your voice is under mine, and if we got Joey in on it, we'd have the baritone/tenor," Chris trailed off.

"Sounds like you've given this some thought," Justin said.

"That's all it's been until now," Chris replied. "But if everyone is serious about all this, then let's get going!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A Week Later

Chris, Justin and Lynn continued to work out a plan for starting a group. They knew they needed more voices, but finding the right people would be more difficult. Lynn was brushing up on her management skills, and she felt ready to take on a group of talented singers.

Neither Chris nor Justin had told Joey about it yet, because they didn't want anyone to get their hopes up until they were sure this would happen. They were now concentrating on finding the right voices, and then they would pull everyone together and work things out.

Lynn was careful not to smother Chris or overwhelm him. This whole thing was his idea, and he was calling the shots. Lynn and Justin were just merely helping him out and straightening him out. Lynn could see the new spark in Chris's eyes, and it only grew bigger as his dream became more of a reality. Justin had invited Chris over almost everyday, and the young man practically lived there. Lynn was glad to have his company. He brought out the best in Justin, a part that could only be brought out by an older brother. Paul, Justin's father, was supportive of Justin and Chris's idea, but the man was rarely home and didn't really hang out with Justin the way Chris did.

Justin, Chris and Lynn were having dinner one Friday night, nine days since Lynn had talked Chris into starting his dream. They had pretty much all of the technical stuff under control and planned out, so now all they needed were the other voices.

"Hey, why didn't I think of it before?" Justin blurted out.

"What?" Lynn asked.

"Why don't we ask J.C.?" Justin asked. "He can sing, and he would be the step under my voice. We even shared the same vocal coach," he added for Chris.

"Well call him and see if he's interested," Chris replied.

"He's in Maryland right now," Justin replied. "He wanted to go home to practice songwritting. He even cut his vacation in LA short to get home with his family."

"Do you think he'd do it?" Chris asked.

"Probably," Justin said. "I'll call him tonight and see if he can come back, then I'll introduce you do him. I think you'll get along fine," Justin smiled. "Although you might scare him at first."

"Oh yes, you probably will," Lynn sighed. "Especially the two of you together."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Next Day

Justin excitedly picked up the phone and called J.C. The phone rang twice then was answered by a woman. "Hello?" she asked.

"Hi, this is Justin, is J.C. there?"

"Yeah, hold on," she replied. "J.C!" she yelled away from the phone. "Phone!"

"Hello?" J.C. asked.

"Hey, it's Justin."

"Oh, hey Justin! How are ya? You're not mad because I sent Joey to your house are ya?"

"No, me and Joey are like best friends now," Justin smiled. "Look, I know you already cut your vacation short once, but would you do it again?"

"Why?" J.C. asked suspiciously.

"Well, I got this friend named Chris, and he wants to start a group. Mom said she would manage us until we got a break."

"What do you mean 'us'? You're in this group too?" J.C. asked.

"Yeah, so far it's just me and Chris, but we're gonna get Joey too. So what do you think?"

"The same Joey I know wants to be in this group?" J.C. asked. He couldn't believe this.

"Yeah!" Justin practically shouted. He was getting really excited about being in a group, and he desperately wanted J.C. to say yes.

"I don't know man, there's so many things that could go wrong, and I don't really have money to spare-"

"Chris works two jobs and supports both himself and his dad. He's still doing it. Please say yes. What do you have to lose?"

J.C. sighed. This whole thing would probably just turn out to be a flop and they would only waste all their money. This was just getting everyone's hopes up…but what if they did get a break? What if they turned out to be good enough for a record label? Then he would be kicking himself for doubting the idea so soon. Like Lynn had always said, 'Nothing will happen unless you make it.' He wanted to be a singer/song writer so bad, and now appeared to be as good a time as any. "Fine," he said at last. "But I don't have a place to stay."

"So move in with me!" Justin beamed. "Thank you so much J.C.! This is great! When you come back, I'll introduce you to Chris. I know you two will get along great."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nine days later

J.C. stepped off the airplane and balanced his two duffel bags on his shoulders. He had packed all his clothes and smaller items he could fit in a suitcase, then brought three. He had the maximum amount of luggage he could carry, and yet he still felt he was forgetting something. His adventure of winging his way down the coast had finally come to an end, and it left J.C. exhausted.

He looked around for his ride and found Lynn and Justin waiting off to the side. J.C. made his way through the crowd towards the mother and son and stopped in front of them with a weary smile.

"Welcome back!" Justin beamed, shaking J.C.'s hand quickly.

"Thanks," J.C. yawned through his own smile.

"Have a nice trip?" Lynn asked, taking one of the duffel bags from J.C.

"Yeah, for the most part," J.C. replied as they started walking to the baggage claim.

"So how's it feel to be back in good old Orlando?" Justin asked.

"Great," J.C. said. "Best part is seeing you two again."

The three stopped in front of the baggage carousel and grabbed J.C.'s bags as they passed. Once they had all the bags, they started on their way outside into the hot, sunny weather. "This is one thing I didn't miss," J.C. said, surprised at the heat radiating from the black top.

"We'll have to get you used to it again," Lynn teased. They got through the busy parking lot and made it to the car safely. "So your parents said it was okay that you're moving down here, right?" Lynn asked.

"Yeah, they know my dream is to sing," J.C. replied, causing Justin to smile again.

"Chris is gonna come over after he gets off at Universal," Justin said as they got in the car.

"Where does he work again?" J.C. asked.

"He sings with Hollywood High Tones," Justin replied.

"I've seen them before," J.C. started.

"He plays Spike," Justin added.

J.C. thought for a second. "I think I remember him, but I'm not sure."

"He's friends with Joey," Justin said.

"I still can't picture him," J.C. said.

"Well you will tonight," Justin smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin was helping J.C. unpack when the doorbell rang. He glanced at the clock and saw it was already nine. "Wow, time flies when your helping you friend move in," he said to J.C.

J.C. did feel out of place by moving in Justin's house, but he did feel a little awkward. He was living in the spare room next to Justin, which just barely held all of his belongings. After all, Justin was just fourteen, and J.C. was eighteen. J.C. felt like he was becoming part of the family, which Lynn was making clear that she didn't mind.

Justin returned to J.C.'s room, leading an older man. "This is Chris," Justin introduced. "Chris, this is J.C."

J.C. held out his hand and smiled, studying the stranger in front of him. Chris had deep brown eyes and brown hair that he was trying to grow out. It now hung down to above his ears. Chris smiled and J.C. returned it, surprised at the amount of energy radiating from the older man.

"Hi," Chris smiled, shaking J.C.'s hand. "How was your trip?"

"Pretty good," J.C. replied.

"So you ready to go clubbin?" Chris asked.

The question had caught J.C. off guard. "Well, actually I was just gonna crash-"

"Oh come on, you'll have plenty of time to sleep. If you're gonna be in the group, you gotta be able to party with us, right Justin?" Chris asked.

"Yeah, go on," Justin encouraged. "You guys need to get to know each other."

"Okay, let me get my stuff," J.C. sighed with a smile. He grabbed his jacket and followed Chris to the door.

"Well be back later," Chris told Lynn. "Don't wait up."

"Wasn't planning on it," Lynn smiled. She watched as J.C. and Chris walked out the door together. 'I hope they'll get to be friends,' she thought.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So, do you have a name for this group yet?" J.C. asked.

"No, I figured we would wait until we had everyone so each person could have their input," Chris replied. They got out of the car and walked towards the club.

"So how do you know Justin?" J.C. asked.

"From auditions at Universal," Chris said. "He told me that you two had the same vocal coach?"

"Yeah, but he moved to Mississippi," J.C. said.

They walked in the club and found a table where they could talk and still see all the action. "You want to be a songwriter?" Chris asked.

"That's my dream," J.C. said. "I love singing and I want to be able to write my songs so I have control over what I sing."

"I know how you feel," Chris said. "Singing the same thing over and over gets boring, especially if it's something someone handed to you."

"Sounds like we have some things in common," J.C. smiled.

The two ordered their drinks and continued talking, the whole time watching each other's backs for hot girls. "So how old are you?" Chris asked.

"Eighteen. I graduated with Joey, Justin said you know him too."

"You know Joey too? That's awesome," Chris smiled. "He's a great guy. I like you more and more as we speak."

J.C. laughed. "Yeah, funny how we're all connected and don't even know it."

"So what do you like to do?" Chris asked.

"I like to sleep," J.C. smiled. Then he continued, "It doesn't really matter. I'll try anything."

"Like to go rollerblading?" Chris asked.

"Sometimes," J.C. replied. "Are you a pro?"

"I'm the best," Chris teased.

J.C. laughed to himself when he noticed Chris hadn't stopped moving since he first saw him. The guy had so much energy, and it was all positive. That was rare in people anymore. Chris reminded J.C. of Joey a little. They both had a sunny disposition and never stopped smiling. "I bet we'll have a great time together, even if we don't make it big," J.C. said.

"I know we will," Chris replied. Then his eyes grew excited as he looked over J.C.'s shoulder. "Well speak of the devil," he grinned.

J.C. turned around and found Joey walking towards their table. J.C. wore a grin of his own as Joey came up to them and asked, "What are you two doing here?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"We're friends," Chris beamed, moving over so Joey could sit next to them.

"Friends? What are you talking about? I didn't know you two knew each other," Joey replied.

"Chris is starting a group, and he want's me to be in it," J.C. announced.

"Really? That's awesome," Joey replied. "Am I invited?"

"Of course," Chris smiled. "If you want to."

"Really? I was just wondering," Joey smiled. "Sure, I'd love to!" he looked back and forth between the two happily. A group would be awesome, especially with J.C. and Chris. "So when did all this happen?" he asked. There were so many questions in his head right now it was dizzying.

"I just kinda started talking to Justin's mom about it, and she said that she could manage us until someone signed us, then Justin joined, then he got J.C. to come back, and here we are," Chris explained.

"I can't believe this," Joey said. "I know we all love singing, but I didn't think we could ever do anything like this!"

"Well nothing's been promised, we're just gonna try as hard as we can and see what happens," Chris replied.

"I'd say we're quite the group already, two eighteen years olds, a twenty three year old, and a fourteen year old. We should win an award for originality or something."

"We're gonna win a lot more than that," Chris smiled. "We're gonna start something new. We WILL be the next hot thing."

"Yeah, a group of hot guys that write and sing their own music," J.C. smiled.

The three raised their glasses for a toast and announced, "World, get ready, here we come!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later

"Joey, can't you go any lower?" J.C. asked.

"If I go lower, I'll hurt something," Joey teased.

The guys looked at each other as they sat in Justin's garage. They sighed, then said simultaneously, "We're gonna need a bass."

Lynn watched from her chair in the corner. True, the boys were having fun, but they really did lack something. They sounded too light and airy and desperately needed a good solid base to round it all out. "Looks like you better start hunting for another person," Lynn said.

The guys agreed. They were messing around with some songs J.C. had written, and all of them were helping finish them. They were currently singing 'I Thought She Knew' and they loved it, but they could sound so much better with a bass.

"Do any of you know anyone who would be interested?" Lynn asked.

"Jason might want to, but don't bet anything on it," J.C. said.

"You call him and I'll call the vocal coach," Justin said.

"Why? He's in Mississippi," J.C. replied.

"He still might know someone," Justin replied.

Lynn smiled at how well the boys listened to each other. No one took too much power, and they treated each other with dignity and fairness. She had been afraid at first that Justin might get left out of some of the decision making because he was so young, but not once did she have to step in and stand up for her son. Lynn felt she could trust these boys together when she wasn't there, and that was the best feeling in the world.

Justin ran past her to the phone and picked it up while looking through the phone book. J.C. watched Justin and smiled. "Um, Justin?"

"What?"

"Who you looking for?"

"The vocal coach," he replied.

"What phone book do you have?" J.C. asked, elbowing Chris.

"The Orlando one," Justin mumbled. He continued looking through it then looked up at the others. "It's not in here," he announced.

J.C., Joey and Chris cracked up, then were joined by Lynn. "I wouldn't expect there to be and Mississippi phone numbers in there," Chris laughed.

"Oh," Justin blushed, setting the phone back down.

"We have the number in my address book," Lynn smiled, trying not to make Justin feel worse. "You guys shouldn't tease him like that," she teased, trying to be serious but failing miserably when Joey started laughing again. The Italian was so happy all the time, and he had a face that could make you smile against your will. Lynn envied Joey for his sunny outlook and high tolerance level. He was the clown, but mostly on accident. That was the main difference between Joey and Chris. Chris was funny by mouth, but Joey always seemed to fall into things, and maybe it was mostly because of his clumsiness. But just the same, Lynn loved them all like her owns sons.

Justin returned to the garage, phone in hand. "So we were wondering, do you know anyone you would recommend for a bass?" Justin grabbed a sheet of paper from J.C. and began writing. "Lance Bass? Okay, got it. Thanks!" Justin said goodbye and hung up. "We’re in business!" he smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Justin had called James Lansten Bass, a seemingly good-natured country boy who lived in Mississippi. The minute he heard Lance's voice, he put the eighteen-year old on speakerphone so the others could hear. They looked excitedly from one another as they asked Lance questions and got to know him.

"So are you interested?" Justin asked.

"Yeah, I guess, I mean, it's a big move and all, but it sounds like fun," Lance replied in his southern draw.

"It'll be more than fun," J.C. said. "We're gonna be big. We'll have girls all over the country eating out of our hands."

There was a pause as Lance thought about it. "I'm packing right now," he said quickly.

The others laughed. "So Lance, how old are you?" Chris asked.

"I'm sixteen," he replied. "How old is everyone else?"

"Justin's fourteen!" Joey shouted, smiling.

"Joey's eighteen, I'm eighteen, and Chris is twenty-three," J.C. said.

"What do you like to do in your spare time?" Chris asked, hoping he would have a rollerblading buddy.

"I go horseback riding, acting, singing, stuff like that," Lance replied.

"Horses? What's a horse?" Chris teased.

"Do you play basketball?" Justin asked.

"I do, but I kinda suck at it," Lance said. "What do you people in Florida do for fun?" he asked.

"Jetskiing, surfing, sports, rollerblading," Joey said, adding the last part for Chris's sake. "All kinds of fun stuff. You'll love it down here. And Justin's mom makes the best cookies," he added with a smile.

Lynn smiled and rolled her eyes at the sweet Italian. "Lance, will your parents be moving with you?" she asked.

"I'm not sure," Lance replied. "I can always find a cheap place down there though," he said.

"A sixteen year old will never be able to pay that kind of rent," Lynn said. "If you need to, I'm sure it would be fine if you moved in with Justin and me."

"Thanks, but I don't think I'll need to," Lance replied. A horse whinnied in the background, and Lance said, "Well, I gotta be going but I'll talk to you before I leave."

"Sure," Chris said. "Nice meeting you Lance. Welcome to the group."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A week later

"Only half an hour guys!" Lynn shouted as she went back the hallway.

"Okay!" Justin yelled back. He, J.C., Joey and Chris were all watching TV in the living room and waiting to pick up the newest member of their group. They had talked to Lance a few more time in the last week to straighten things out and they felt they already knew him. J.C.'s friend Jason had said he would join the group, but J.C. told him they didn't need anyone else yet.

Chris's energy seemed to swell well past the normal level, and it rubbed off on the other members, leaving Lynn to look out for a house full of excited young men. All of their dreams were finally coming true, and hopefully with the addition of Lance, all the pieces would fall into place. Lynn was equally happy to be in charge of the guys. She would never steer them wrong, and the guys all trusted her. She noticed differences in all the guys. Justin had become happier, J.C. more talkative, Joey hammier, and Chris…well he seemed to grow more and more attached to Lynn and Justin.

Lynn could see how the young man didn't look forward to going home and he was over at her house as early as he could be. Lynn had confronted Justin one time about Chris's home life, and Justin made the comment that Chris's stepfather wasn't working and Chris almost never talked about when he was younger. But Lynn put it in the back of her mind and concentrated on the present; getting this group going.

Lynn came back the hallway and saw the four young men still sitting on the couch and chair. "Are you guys ready to go?" she asked.

A round of 'yeah's answered her and she sighed. "Sometimes you guys have it too easy," she sighed. "Rake your fingers through your hair and go. I wish it were that easy for me."

"Hey, I take good care of my hair!" Chris yelled.

"How did you hear me?" Lynn asked as she came back in the living room. "I was all the way in the next room."

"I have good ears?" Chris shrugged.

"Why are you growing out your hair anyway?" Joey asked.

"I'm gonna put it in dreads like Busta Rhymes," Chris beamed.

"Yeah, and I'm gonna start wearing a cape," Joey laughed.

Chris looked at the floor as the others laughed. "Let's go guys," Lynn interrupted. "We got a new member to initiate."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The guys gathered at the ramp where passengers got off the plane. They bounced with anticipation as they stood in a line, searching for Lance. Lynn stood behind them and smiled. 'He better hurry and get here,' she thought. 'Before they explode.'

Finally, a young man with light brown hair parted on the side walked up the ramp, looking completely out of place. He was dressed in faded blue jeans and a white shirt under a plain gray one. He was fairly tan, wore cowboy boots and wore no jewelry.

Lynn walked up to stand next to the guys as they asked, J.C. asked, "Are you Lance?"

The young man turned amazing green eyes to them and answered in his trademark bass voice, "Yeah. Are you the crazy guys with a dream?"

A smile lit all their faces as Chris replied, "That's us."

After they all shook hands and introduced everyone, they decided to gather Lance's bags and head back to Justin's house. Lance explained on their way to the baggage claim that the rest of his family was coming out later, after they packed up everything. They had given him a credit card and he was to get a hotel room in town so he wouldn't 'impose' on Lynn. The whole way through the airport, they talked about the group, what to do and other guys things Lynn couldn't really make out. She was so glad they 'fit' and had become such fast friends. She could tell she was looking at something special forming right in front of her.

As they got in the car, the guys were discussing how to make Lance an awesome basketball player and he was teaching them how to ride. "I can't believe you guys have never been on a horse," Lance laughed.

"How could you live without the beach?" Justin asked.

"I guess that's one thing we'll have to do," Lance sighed.

"You don’t know what you're missing," J.C. said. "I can see you on a surfboard."

"I don't know whether I should be scared or not," Lance teased.

"Do you guys want some time to hang out, or should we go home and get Lance familiar with the songs?" Lynn asked.

Lance looked at her in the rear view mirror. "We can start on the songs first," he said politely. "That is the whole reason I'm here."

"They're not that hard," Joey said. "We wrote them together, and then we got songs like the Star Spangled Banner and Happy Birthday."

"Don't you think producers would just laugh at us if we gave them those?" Lance asked.

"They're still going to hear our voices," Chris replied. "And don't worry, we fixed them up."

Lance studied the group of friendly guys he had just met in person. Joey was exactly the person he'd imagined; always smiling and joking around. His dark brown hair matched his eyes, which held a special light that enhanced his charming personality. J.C. had dark brown hair that he parted on the side and wore like a wavy bowl cut. His face was chiseled and soulful, like he'd been around longer than he really had. Chris had brown eyes that lightened with his mood. His dark brown hair was combed back over his head and his only piece of jewelry was a small gold hoop earring. Justin seemed to the baby of the group, but he didn't mind in the least. His head of light brown curls sparkled in the sun, bringing out his sky blue eyes. Then here was Lance, with hair parted on the side and dressed like he stepped out of a western movie.

This was going to be a great group.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lynn sat spellbound as the guys finished their first try together at 'I Thought She Knew'. Tears began to swell in her eyes at their beautiful voices. They went together perfectly and sounded like angels. The song was nearly accapella, leaving their voices free to echo of the walls. This was it. They were now a group. The five voices together would take anyone's breath away.

When they finished the last note and looked at Lynn, their faces were immediately crossed with worry. "What's wrong mom?" Justin asked, jumping up.

Lynn smiled through her tears. "It's nothing sweety," she sniffed. "You guys are just so beautiful."

A smile then crossed all their faces. "Well guys, what are people gonna be screaming when they hear us?" Joey asked.

"The Orlando High Tones!" Justin teased.

"God no," Chris sighed. "It's gotta be better than that."

"Well, there's five of us, why not just Five?" Joey asked.

"Because that's stupid," J.C. replied.

"Then you come up with something," Joey shot back.

"I don't know," J.C. replied. "We need something that expresses our harmony, friendship, and how in sync we are."

After looking at each other for a few minutes, they all looked to Lynn. "What?" she asked. "It's your group, not mine." She went back to doing her paperwork for loans.

"Come on, you gotta help us," Justin whined.

"Yeah, come on mom," J.C. added.

Lynn kept her head down to hide her smile. Those boys were just too sweet sometimes. "I can't think of anything right now," she said, listing all their names on the form in front of her.

"This might be the hardest part," Justin sighed as he leaned back against the couch.

"Didn't you see our name when you were dreaming our success?" J.C. asked Chris.

"No, sorry, guess I wasn't paying attention." Then in a lower voice he added, "I was probably too busy getting it on with a girl."

Lynn pretended not to hear. After all, they were guys. But her son was a tad too young to be listening to their sex lives. She focused her attention back on filing out the back sheets. She had listed the five young men's first and last names, using their nicknames as their first name. She was about to go on to the next question when something about their names caught her eye.

Justin, Chris, Joey, Lansten, and J.C.

'Could there be a word in their names?' she wondered, quickly getting a scratch piece of paper and writing down the letters. J, C, J, L, and J. 'Nope, nothing there.' She sighed and looked again. "Wait a minute, not the first letter, the LAST letter!" she thought out loud. Then she quickly wrote down the last letter of all their first names and announced, "NSYNC!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The others gathered around Lynn and smiled, seeing what she had done. "It's perfect!" they all agreed.

"Thanks," Lynn smiled. "It just sort of happened. When you have a sign that big, you have to use it."

"Nsync," Joey repeated. "I like it!"

"I can see thousands of girls screaming that while they're waiting for us to sing."

"That's another thing," Lynn sighed, leaning back in her chair. "You do realize you can't just stand there and sing. You will have to dance."

"Why not?" Justin asked.

"Because your 'girls' will want to see you from all angels," Lynn replied. "And since they will be in the audience, you will have to do the moving."

"I'll admit it now, I'm not a good dancer," Lance spoke up.

"Well none of us are perfect, but we'll get there," Chris said, placing his hand on Lance's shoulder.

"So what's next on our list of how to become a top selling group?" J.C. asked, leaning over Lynn's shoulder.

"Tomorrow you boys have your first photo shoot as a group, and today we're gonna work on your fact lists."

"What's that?" Lance asked.

"Stuff every girl will want to know, like age, height, weight, stuff like that," Lynn said.

"Sounds like fun," Justin said sarcastically.

"Well, we're also gonna do favorites and stuff too," Lynn smiled.

"Oh, well then, lets get going!" Joey exclaimed, taking a seat on the couch. The others sat down as well as Lynn got a pen and paper.

"Now Justin, I know most of yours, but lets hear you say it anyway," she said, writing his name and underlining it.

"Where do I start?" Justin asked.

"Birth date."

"January 31, 1981," Justin replied.

"Place of birth," Lynn asked.

"Memphis Tennessee!" he replied proudly.

"Eyes blue, Hair, light brown," Lynn mumbled. Then she looked up. "Hold on," she said, getting up and going out to the garage. She returned with a tape measure and roll of masking tape.

"What are you doing?" asked Joey.

"I gotta find out how tall you are," she replied. "Justin just had a growth spurt and now I don't know how tall he is." She stretched out the tape measure as tall as she could reach and taped it to the wall. Then she turned to the guys and said, "All of you take your shoes off and get over here."

The guys obeyed, tossing their shoes in a pile and lining up in front of the wall. Justin was first, and Lynn had to stand on her tiptoes to see his height. "Six foot one," she announced. "You have grown a lot."

Justin smiled. "I know it," he said.

J.C. was next, and he stood with his back to the wall as Lynn found his height. "Five foot eleven," she announced, writing it down. Justin smiled evilly at J.C. as the older man went to find his shoes.

Joey went next, flattening his back to the wall and standing straight. Lynn had to mark his height with a pencil and read it when he stepped away. "Six foot one," she said, recording it on the piece of paper.

Lance took his turn, watching Lynn with his breath taking green eyes as she found his height. "Five foot ten and a half," she smiled.

"Oh come on, can't you round?" he whined.

"Nope, sorry," Lynn teased, playfully pushing him away.

Chris stood watching her until she told him to stand against the wall. He sighed, then took his place, watching her the whole time. Lynn smiled at him and went to mark his height but dropped her pencil. She bent down to get it and saw Chris still wearing his shoes. "Chris…" she started, pointing at his shoes as she stood up. "No cheating."

"I'm not cheating!" Chris exclaimed, trying to sound offended.

"Come on, no one will laugh. Just take your shoes off," Lynn said sternly.

Chris sighed and bent over to take off his shoes. After kicking them off, he stood straight against the wall and glared at the others as Lynn measured him. "Five eight," she smiled, trying not to laugh.

"Can't you round?" Chris whined, mimicking Lance as the others laughed at him. "I did," Lynn whispered.

Chris looked at her with soft eyes, silently thanking her before returning his glare to the others.

"Okay," Lynn sighed, sitting down. "Pretend you're at an interview or something. I'm gonna fire some questions at you, and you better know the answer, okay?"

The guys looked at her then answered, "Sure."

"Okay…J.C., birth date."

"August 8, 1976."

"Joey, birth date."

"January 28, 1977."

"Lance, birth date."

"May 4, 1979."

"Chris, birth place."

"October 17, 1971."

"Really?" Lynn smiled.

"Yeah," Chris answered, not realizing his mistake.

The other guys cracked up and Lynn apologized. "Chris, birth PLACE."

"Oh. Clarion, Pennsylvania," Chris grumbled.

"Okay, moving on," Lynn sighed, looking at her piece of paper. "Lance, favorite movie star."

"Meg Ryan and Tom Hanks," Lance smiled.

"J.C., favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Justin, favorite color?"

"Blue."

"Wait, we have a problem," Lynn said.

"What?"

"One of you has to change your color. There can't be two blues."

"Why not?"

"Because, that's repetition, and you're trying to be different," Lynn said.

"Oh. Well then I pick baby blue," Justin smiled.

"That's better," Lynn smiled. She looked at Chris and saw him sitting somewhat uncomfortably in his chair. "Do you guys want to quit for today?" she asked.

"Yes!" Chris exclaimed, jumping up.

Lance looked at the others with confusion. "What's his problem?"

"He must have just eaten," Joey sighed, smiling at Chris.

"So? I don’t-" Lance started.

"He's hypoglycemic," Joey replied. "He gets really wired after he eats, then a couple hours later he's as good as dead. It’s a never ending cycle."

"Sounds like fun," Lance teased.

"Just don’t ever give him sugar," Justin said, rolling his eyes.

"Guys! Come on!" Chris yelled impatiently.

"Here we go," J.C. sighed, getting up and following Chris out the door.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lynn watched as the five guys exhausted themselves. They all played hard, including Lance who still claimed he didn't play well. She had a feeling about them, and it wasn't just because she was Justin's mother. Something deep down told her they were destined to make it big, and she would see to it they got there.

The wind was picking up and clouds were rolling in. The sweat-covered friends decided to go back in the house and finish working on their favorite song, 'I Want You Back'. This was the song they hoped to get recorded first. The song is up-tempo and tells about wanting that special someone to came back to you. They hoped it was catchy enough to interest a real manager.

"Where did this storm come from?" Justin asked as he and Joey flopped down on the couch.

"It's Florida, storms don't have to come from anywhere," Chris replied.

"Do you boys want anything to eat?" Lynn asked, hoping she wouldn't regret the offer when they ate her out of house and home.

"What do you have in the sugar department?" Chris asked cheerfully.

"Nothing!" J.C. replied quickly.

"Aw, come on," Chris whined.

"You need to relax before your voice gets any higher," Joey yawned.

"So when are we going to be recording anything?" Lance asked.

"I called the studio today, and they said they might be able to fit you in tomorrow. They're suppose to call back," Lynn said.

"Let's take it one more time, straight through," J.C. said, handing Lynn the sheet music to coach them.

The guys sat up straight and focused on counting the beats. They began smoothly, "You're all I ever wanted, you're all I ever needed."

The room came alive with their voices. Their harmonies were perfectly balanced now, Lance proved to be the perfect anchor they needed. Lynn smiled at them encouragingly as they sang accapella to the upbeat song. Their smiles reached their eyes and the guys were nothing short of being at their entirety. 'They're ready to record now,' Lynn thought. 'No rehearsal necessary.'

The wind continued to grow stronger outside and Lynn began to get worried, hoping the guys would all make it home safe. When they were done with the song, Lynn smiled. "Well guys, I hate to break this up but you better get going before this storm gets too bad."

"We can handle it," Joey teased.

"I'm sure you could, but just in case…" Lynn started, pushing him to the door.

"Okay, come on guys," Joey mumbled. "Anyone need a ride?"

"I do," Lance said. "If it’s okay."

"No problem, you're one of us now," Joey replied, placing his hand on Lance's shoulder.

"Thanks," Lance smiled, proud to be part of this close circle of friends.

"Tell you mothers I said hello," Lynn called after them.

Joey, Lance and Chris waved goodbye and headed out into the brewing storm. Lynn watched them go with a smile before turning back to J.C. and Justin, who were now wrestling on the floor. "Break it up guys," she teased, going into the kitchen. "Come help me make you something for dinner."

J.C. and Justin gave each other a final shove before trudging after Lynn. "Coming mother," they echoed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris walked in his front door. Or rather, blew in.

The wind was really turning ugly, but that was typical in Florida. He forced the door shut behind him and started straight to his room, smiling a hello to his Siamese fighting fish.

"Where do you think you're going?" his stepfather yelled after him.

Chris was surprised the man had wasted a breath on him. "To my room. Why?"

"What's this I hear about you starting a music group?"

"I did," Chris replied, moving in front of the older man.

"And you think you're going to become popular?"

"Yeah, we're really good. You'd know if you cared about anyone but yourself," Chris said, instantly regretting it as he dodged a swing from his stepfather.

"Don't talk to me like that. You will never get anywhere if you go off and pretend to get famous. You have to stay at your jobs and work like the rest of the population."

"I will get famous," Chris argued, heading towards his room. "You're just jealous because I am going to make something of myself." Chris went in his room and locked the door behind him, letting out a sigh. He hated arguing like that, but his stepfather's depression was making the man irrational.

Chris sat in the bed and turned on the TV. He flipped through the channels and stopped on the news, seeing someone that caught his eye. Chris leaned in closer as the TV showed a picture of five young men on the screen, shaking hands with a bigger, older guy. Flashes went off all around them, and finally Chris recognized the face of his Puerto Rican high school friend, Howie Dorough.

Chris grabbed the remote and turned up the volume. "…Along with local boy Howie Dorough have been signed to day with major record label Transcon and Jive. Managing them will be Lou Pearlman, who hopes to bring back the era of boybands."

"Why that little…" Chris started under his breath. "He took my dream and shoved in my face. I can't believe him! God that makes me mad, he knew I wanted to start a group…" Chris mumbled, flipping the channel. "Wonder what the name of his group is?" he asked himself before landing back on the news again.

"…The new boy group will be called The Backstreet Boys."

"What the hell kind of name is that?" Chris almost yelled, throwing his remote down in disgust. "Backstreet Boys? Ha! What a bunch of losers. Look at that creepy guy with all the facial hair. God that makes me so mad, I can't believe he got a group before me!" Chris sighed and lay on his back, letting the TV begin showing an episode of the Simpsons. Before he knew it, he fell asleep, listening to the wind howling outside.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next morning, Joey woke with a start when the wind knocked down a tree branch and sent it flying into the side of his house. 'This is getting insane,' he thought, pulling himself out of bed.

He went into the kitchen to join the rest of his family for breakfast. Phyllis and his father were working to board up the windows and pack away all the glass figurines that decorated the kitchen windowsill. "What's going on?" Joey asked, his mind still sluggish with sleep.

"There's a hurricane coming," Steve replied. "Hurricane Erin."

"Woah, that's cool," Joey smiled. "Our first hurricane!"

"It's not that cool Joey," Phyllis replied. "They're predicting a lot of damage. You better call your friends and warn them."

"Joey doesn't have any friends," Steve teased, dodging a playful shove from Joey.

Joey picked up the cordless phone and walked into the living room for some privacy. He dialed Justin first and started to warn him, but Lynn was already getting Justin and J.C. to back everything of value away. The wind was making the phone line fuzzy with static and Joey hurried to call Chris. He was sure everyone in the hotel would already have been alerted, so he didn't bother calling Lance's room. Joey winced as Chris's stepfather picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hi, this is Joey, is Chris there?"

"He just left."

"Oh. Do you know where he went?"

"Don't know, don't care. I think he said something about going surfing."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joey fought hard against the wind all the way to the beach. The car was threatening to blow off the road, but the Ford held it's ground. 'God when I get him I'm gonna kill him,' Joey though to himself as he pulled over to the sand covered parking lot.

The wind was blowing the sand and stinging anything that was brave enough to be outside. Joey pulled his coat close to his body and slowly made his was down the beach, trying to see through the sandy air to his friend. 'This has got to be the stupidest thing anyone has ever done,' Joey told himself, stumbling as the wind blew him sideways. 'If he lives through this, I'll kill him myself.'

The waves pounded the beach, sending salty froth splattering everywhere. Leaves were swirling all around, and it looked like the palm trees wouldn't be that far behind. Joey searched the waves, looking for his insane friend. He was afraid how much worse it could be once the hurricane actually hit.

"Chris!" Joey yelled, throwing his words out into the wind. The waves were swelling right before his eyes, and finally he spotted Chris holding his ground on top of the huge wall of water. 'Please stay up, please stay up,' Joey pleaded, knowing that if Chris was knocked off, he was sure to be carried away by the powerful rip current.

Chris must have seen figure of his worried friend because he rode the wave all the way to shore. Joey half ran, half blew to where Chris was struggling with his surfboard. The long board was being torn from Chris's gasp any way Chris tried to keep his hold. The sand stung his bare chest and legs, sending shivers down his wet body.

"Come on!" Joey yelled, but it sounded more like a whisper over the loud roar of the wind.

Chris tried to struggle against the younger man, trying to get the Velcro around his ankle loose so he could let the board go. Without looking at Chris, Joey gave the older man a yank in the direction of the slipping Acura. Chris was instantly slammed to the ground as he lost his hold on the surfboard. It twirled in the air, pulling tight against the rope that tethered it to Chris's ankle. Chris was pulled through the sand by his ankle, still trying to reach the Velcro to free himself.

Joey realized what had happened and immediately ran to Chris. The surfboard was pulling ferociously tight on the security rope, and the desperate Chris was slowly being dragged through the sand back towards the water. Joey grabbed the older man's ankle and fought against the Velcro, finally getting it unstuck. They watched briefly as the board was sucked into the sky, then turned their attention back to getting back to the car.

Once inside, the battle was not over. Joey started the car quickly and pulled back onto the road, flooring it to even get moving. "Nice day for a swim?" Chris blushed.

"We'll talk about this later," Joey replied, fighting the steering wheel for control of the car. "We won't make it all the way back to my house alive," he said. "We're gonna have to go to Justin's."

"Fine with me," Chris said, wincing as he felt his raw, sand-blown chest.

Joey swerved the car and just barely avoided a flying stop sign. He pushed the car hard, but they still weren't going fast enough. The wind continued swirling around the car, shoving it in all directions at once. Joey finally made it to the first turn and breathed a sigh of relief at making the halfway mark.

"Holy…" Joey started, completely awed at what lie ahead.

They were now driving straight for the hurricane. It was still a good mile off, but they didn't want the front row seats they were forced into. "It's a lot bigger than what was on TV," Chris said softly.

Joey concentrated on reaching Lynn's house just down the street. The wind seemed to be working with them now, and it pushed the car through all the swirling paper and debris. Rocks were thrown at the windows, cracking loudly as a few of the bigger ones turned the clear windows into spider webs.

When the Ford got in front of Lynn's house, Joey slammed on the brakes and threw on the emergency brake, whatever good that might do. He looked to Chris and said, "We're gonna have to make a run for it."

Chris looked at Lynn's long sidewalk and sighed. "Let's do it."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Chris and Joey got out of the car and struggled to close the doors again. The two ran as quick as they could down the sidewalk, Chris stumbling as he stepped on debris in his bare feet. They helped each other get through the wind and after what seemed like a long battle, they reached the door to Justin's house.

The wind roared in their ears as they pounded on the door. Grabbing on to the doorframe, they were able to keep from being blown away until finally Lynn opened the door. Her face turned to shock when she saw Chris and Joey standing on her doorstep and she quickly pulled them in. All three helped push the door shut, and then Joey and Chris stood panting against the door as Lynn bombarded them with questions.

"What were you guys doing out there? Are you insane? Are you okay?"

"It's all his fault," Joey sighed, pushing Chris.

"Hey, I was having fun until this hurricane decided to ruin everything," Chris defended, rubbing his raw shoulder.

Justin and J.C. emerged from the other room, carrying a flashlight. "Is everything okay?" J.C. asked, seeing Chris and Joey.

"What exactly happened?" Lynn asked, gently feeling Chris's chest.

Chris looked at the floor as Joey spoke up, "I caught him on the beach, surfing. It's his own fault he looks the way he does."

"You surfed during a hurricane?!" Lynn asked, disbelieving the young man's stupidity.

"Cool!" Justin exclaimed.

"I didn't know it was a hurricane," Chris replied softly. "Just really strong winds."

"My a- butt," Joey corrected, catching Lynn's glare.

Lynn turned her attention back to Chris. "Come on, let's get you taken care of. You look awful. What happened to your ankle?" she asked, looking down and seeing his bleeding ankle.

Chris shot Joey a slight smile. "Now you gotta admit, that was kinda funny."

Joey rolled his eyes but found himself smiling anyway. "Yeah, seeing you get pulled across the beach by your ankle was kinda funny."

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