An Angel

The following morning Rachel called the adoption agency and actually got an address on her birth parents. Sure enough, they were still living in Tennessee. She remembered that she knew someone from there so she dialed his cell phone number and waited for him to pick up.
"Hello?" said the person picking up the phone.
"Justin hey!" said Rachel enthusiastically. She has known Justin Timberlake since they were little. Even though she grew up in New York and he grew up in Tennessee, their families were very good friends and she and Justin were too. She hasn't had time to call him in a while.
"Rachel! How are you?" exclaimed Justin. "You haven't called for a while." He commented.
"Yeah, I know, I haven't had time." Explained Rachel.
"Is anything wrong?" asked Justin concerned.
"Well, let's see. I found out I have a twin sister, I found out that I was adopted, and I also found out that my twin sister died two months ago." said Rachel just pouring everything out.
"Oh my God! When did all of this happen?" asked Justin shocked.
"A couple of days ago. I was walking down the street and some guy mixed me up with her. Only that guy turned out to be Nick Carter and then everything just sorta, spilled out into the open,” explained Rachel.
"Wait a minute, Nick Carter? From the Backstreet Boys? Yeah, I heard something about his girlfriend dying from a hit and run." Remembered Justin.
"Yeah, apparently, he didn't know that Julie, that was her name, had a twin either," said Rachel. "I confronted my parents yesterday and they told me that I was adopted. But they didn't know about Julie. So I called the adoption agency today in the morning and got an address of my birth parents. That's the reason I'm calling you. They live in Tennessee, and I thought that since you're from there, you can maybe help me find them."
"Sure, I'd love to help. We have a few weeks off right now before the next tour starts, so you just tell me when you need me and I'll be right there,” said Justin kindly.
"Thanks, that means a lot,” said Rachel.
"No problem." said Justin and then they hung up.

*~*~*
Nick woke up in his hotel room and saw a girl in a sparkling white dress standing near his bed.
“Rachel, what are you doing in my room?” asked Nick sleepily.
“It’s not Rachel Nick.” Said the girl. Nick bolted up in bed and rubbed his sleepy eyes. He looked at the girl.
“Julie?” he asked not believing his eyes.
“Oh good, so you didn’t forget my name.” Said Julie grinning. Nick just sat there on his bed and stared. “Well, aren’t you going to say something?” asked Julie.
“If this is a dream, I never wanna wake up.” Said Nick in shock. He jumped out of his bed and ran to hug Julie, but he went right through her. “Huh? What happened?” he asked in confusion.
“I’m still…uh…not alive Nick.” Said Julie helplessly shrugging.
“So how can I see you?” asked Nick.
“I’m an angel.” Explained Julie. At that moment, a pair of sparkling white wings appeared on her back. Nick slowly nodded in understanding.
“Oh, well I always said that you were my angel.” He said smiling.
“Yeah, and now I really am.” Said Julie returning his smile.
“I’ve missed you like crazy, I don’t know how I lived these couple of months without you.” Said Nick his eyes glazing over with tears.
“I know, I saw you.” Said Julie, getting misty eyed herself.
“So I guess you know about Rachel then?” asked Nick.
“Yeah, I do. I can’t believe I have a twin and I never knew it.” She said shaking her head.
“I couldn’t believe it either when I saw her.” Said Nick. “So, can anyone else see you but me?” he asked.
“Yeah, everyone can see me.” Replied Julie.
“Wait a minute, did I really see you that day in rehearsal?” asked Nick.
“Yeah, I sort of dropped by.” Said Julie grinning.
“But why didn’t the other guys see you?” asked Nick.
“They weren’t supposed to.” Said Julie. She looked around Nick’s room. “I see you still didn’t learn how to clean up after yourself.” She joked gesturing towards his mess.
“Yeah well.” Said Nick running a hand through his messy hair. His expression turned serious. “I want to hold you so much, I’ve missed being able to do that.” He said sadly. Julie got sad too.
“Yeah, I wish I could be in your arms again.” she said wrapping her arms around herself.
“Well, let’s not get depressed on a happy day like this.” Said Nick shaking off the sadness. “What have you been doing for the past few months?” he asked.
“I’ve been helping people, I am an angel.” Said Julie smiling. “In fact, I heard that I set some kind of a record for the number of people I helped in such a short time.” she said.
“Short time? It seemed like an eternity to me.” Said Nick gazing at Julie, his eyes full of love. At that moment Brian knocked on Nick’s door and entered without waiting for an answer.
“Hey Nick, we gotta be…” Brian stared in confusion at Julie. “Rachel? I thought you were at home.” He said.
“Bri, how can you confuse me with Rachel? I mean you’ve known me for much longer.” Said Julie putting her hands on her hips.
“What do you mean?” asked Brian, but then realization sunk in. “Julie?” he asked softly. Julie nodded.
“What’s up?” she asked lightheartedly.
“How can this be? I mean, you’re…um no offense…dead.” Said Brian dumbfounded.
“Yeah, but I’m an angel. And I finally got permission to come here to Earth, so that I can see all of you guys.” Said Julie.
“Can everyone see you?” asked Brian.
“Yep.” Replied Julie cheerfully.
“I have to go tell the other guys, don’t go anywhere.” He said to Julie and practically ran out the door.
“So will you be here with me always?” asked Nick with a hopeful expression on his face.
“Well, I can be here for as long as I can. At least until I have to go help someone again.” replied Julie. Nick’s expression saddened a little. “Don’t worry, I’ll be here when you need me.” She said kindly. Nick brightened up. Then they heard the other guys’ voices in the hallway. They heard Brian saying Julie’s name and the other guys saying words like ‘nuts’, ‘crazy’, and ‘out of your mind’. Nick and Julie laughed and then the guys entered the room.
“See for yourself.” Said Brian and then pointed at Julie.
“Rok, that’s Rachel.” Said AJ.
“No it’s not Rachel AJ. It’s Julie.” Said Julie grinning.
“Yeah right, I’m not falling for it Rachel. And what’s with the costume anyway?” Asked AJ crossing his arms over his chest. Howie and Kevin nodded.
“Ok, first of all, it’s not a costume, I’m really an angel. And second of all, look at me guys, you’ve known me for over five years, you should be able to tell me from my twin.” Said Julie coming closer to the guys. They looked closely at Julie and Kevin tried to put his arm on hers, but it went right through. Kevin stared at Julie.
“Oh my God, it really is her.” He said slowly.
“Yeah, it is.” Agreed Howie shaking his head in amazement.
“I’m not falling for it.” Said AJ, his arms still crossed. Julie let out a sigh of frustration and stood right in front of AJ’s face.
“Ok, remember that morning when Nick was sick and I came downstairs to the kitchen and saw you eating?” asked Julie.
“Big deal, Howie could’ve told you that, he was there.” Grunted AJ.
“Ok, but Howie wasn’t there yet when you asked what happened on the day when we were all watching the movie.” Pointed out Julie. “And I told you that it was private and only Brian and the girls knew.” She said. She then saw AJ’s face cloud in confusion.
“You can’t possibly know that, unless…” he said and trailed off looking at Julie.
“Unless, I was there.” Finished Julie. “Now do you believe me?” she asked smiling.
“Yeah, I do.” Nodded AJ.
“Good.” Said Julie grinning in satisfaction. After that, Julie got bombarded by questions from the guys. When she was done answering them, they all had to get a move on or they were going to be late for rehearsal.
“Come on, let’s go.” Said Nick motioning for Julie to go with him and the guys to rehearsal.
“I can’t, I have to go back for a while.” She said shaking her head.
“Will you be back?” asked Nick.
“Of course, don’t worry, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” Said Julie, then her shape shimmered and she disappeared.
“I can’t believe she’s back.” Said Nick a goofy grin spreading over his face. “This is the happiest day of my life!” he exclaimed and then ran downstairs towards the bus.
Rehearsal went perfectly that day. No one messed up and the guys were unbelievably happy and filled with energy. Fatima looked at the five of them in amazement.
“Ok, I know that you guys are good, but since when are you THIS good?” she asked smiling.
“It’s a wonderful day and we’re all very happy.” Said Nick. He still had a goofy grin on his face. Fatima laughed and then told them to go through the last song one more time. When they were done and were gathering their stuff, they saw Julie walk into the rehearsal hall. She was no longer dressed in her white dress, but was dressed in jeans, a sweater, and boots. There was no sign of her wings. Nick ran up to her with a wide smile on his face.
“Hey you.” He said grinning.
“Hey.” Said Julie.
“So where’s your white dress? Cause you know you looked really good in it,” said Nick.
“Aww, I’m sorry that you liked that dress, cause you’re never gonna see it again,” said Julie smiling mysteriously.
“What do you mean?” asked Nick not understanding what Julie was trying to tell him.
“Nick,” said Julie leaning closer to him, “I’m alive.”