Julianna's point of view

I flipped my waist length blond hair over my shoulder and looked into the mirror once again. I had to admit, the stylist did a great job with my makeup and hair. The dress I had previously bought was absolutely beautiful. It was long, sleeveless, made out of white silk, and had a slit that ended about four inches above my knee. No, I wasn't about to go to some fancy party, although I've been to plenty of those, believe me. I was actually about to go and present an MTV Video Award for Best Pop Group.
I stood nervously backstage waiting for my name to be called. I had never presented an award before, and was actually surprised to find myself so nervous. You'd think I would be used to all the fame by now.
“And now to present the award for Best Pop Group here is the star of the movie 'Heads I Win, Tails You Lose' Julianna Palmer!” announced the host and I knew it was time for me to go onstage.
“Hi everyone!” I announced brightly with a smile looking at the thousands of people in front of me. The cheering of the crowd was unbelievable. “Well, we all know how much this category influences everyone, no matter if they like the music or not. So with no further delay, I present to you the nominees for the Best Pop Group Award!”
“Backstreet Boys, 'More Than That'; *NSYNC, 'Girlfriend'; O-Town, 'Shy Girl'; and Westlife, 'Open Your Heart',” broadcasted the pre-recorded voice from the huge speakers.
“And the winners are…” I began as I opened the envelope, “Backstreet Boys, 'More Than That'!” I exclaimed and the crowd cheered about ten times louder than before. The noise was deafening. I watched as the five guys stepped onto the stage. I briefly hugged each one and then stepped away so they can make their speeches. After they had done so, I followed them backstage while paying slightly more attention to the tall blond one than to the other four.
“Congratulations guys,” I said to them after we were backstage getting some refreshments.
“Thank you,” they all replied.
“So how are you enjoying your new fame and fortune?” asked the shorter blonde, I believed his name was Brian.
“It's completely overwhelming and totally chaotic but I wouldn't give it up for anything. I absolutely love acting,” I said honestly. “But I don't think I'll ever get used to not being able to go out in public without my sunglasses,” I added with a laugh.
“At least sunglasses help you,” chuckled the tall blonde I had my eye on.
“Yeah, Nick here has to put a hat over his precious hair,” said the guy with the tattoos, his tone teasing. Nick, so that was the guy's name. Good name for a gorgeous guy.
“Cut it out AJ,” said Nick slapping his friend on the shoulder.
“Don't mind them, Nick is just very overprotective of his hair, and of course AJ has to tease him about it every chance he gets,” explained the tall dark-haired one. I nodded in understanding.
“Yeah, but that's what Nick gets for being the youngest in the group,” added his friend with the long straight hair.
Nick sighed and shook his head. “You'd think after over eight years in the group those four would have run out of insults,” he said. “And Howie, you're supposed to be the mediator in here, are you siding with them?” asked Nick turning his head towards the longhaired guy. Howie simply smiled and said nothing. “Kev, you're a sane person in this group, can't you get them to cut it out with the hair jokes already?” asked Nick talking to the tall dark-haired man.
“Sorry Nick, you're on your own,” said Kevin giving him a small smile.
“Fine, be that way,” said Nick and pretended to pout. I laughed because I found it absolutely adorable. “You think it's funny?” asked Nick turning to look at me. I nodded. “Great, now people I don't even know are laughing at me, just great…” said Nick and trailed off mumbling something about getting some water as he walked away.
“Is he okay?” I asked pointing at Nick's retreating form.
“Yeah, he's fine, just grouchy, as usual,” said Brian with a slight laugh. I nodded and proceeded to chat with the guys some more.

A FEW HOURS LATER

“Ah, home sweet home,” I said as I entered my house. I loved my house. I had just recently bought it with the money I made from my last movie. It was like my dream house, complete with a huge pool, tennis court, and a beautifully manicured lawn and backyard. I plopped down onto my white leather couch and looked around. It was still a bit strange to me how all of a sudden I was this really famous person and was able to buy anything I wanted. My phone rang and I looked at my watch. It was 1:30am, who could possibly be calling at that time?
“Hello?” I said picking up the phone.
“Hey Jul,” said my best friend Jessica.
“Hey! How did you know I wasn't asleep?” I asked.
“Oh please, I've known you my entire life and especially now that you have all these parties and award shows to attend, I knew there was no way you'd be asleep,” replied Jessica.
I laughed. “Yeah, that's really true, but I am tired,” I admitted.
“I can imagine why, but I saw you on TV, you got to present an award to the Backstreet Boys!” squealed Jessica. “You are so lucky!”
“Yeah I know, and that Nick guy is pretty gorgeous,” I said smiling at the memory. “I got to talk to them a little backstage and they're so nice, so down to Earth, really great guys.”
“Did I mention that you are sooooo lucky?” exclaimed Jessica.
“Only about a gazillion times,” I said laughing.
“I'm still really happy for you though, here you are, only nineteen and all of your dreams have already come true,” said Jessica seriously.
“I'm just glad that I made it,” I said.
“I always knew you would.”
“Thanks Jess, but I think I better go get some sleep,” I said stifling a yawn.
“No prob, night Jul.”
“Night Jess.” I hung up the phone and stretched. I then heard a very quiet meow coming from near me. I looked around and spotted my adorable white kitten, Whitie. “Hey you,” I said picking her up. The kitten settled comfortably in my arms and began to purr softly. I made my way upstairs to my room while stroking her soft fur.

Nick's point of view

I woke up in the morning to the sound of someone pounding loudly on my door.
“Go away!” I yelled half-asleep.
“Nick, if you don't get up, you're going to make us late…again!” yelled Brian on the other side of the door.
“Bri, I fell asleep at like five in the morning, it's only seven now, can you count how many hours of sleep I got?” I asked annoyed, while getting up to open the door.
“Yeah, two more than I got, now get up,” said Brian when I opened the door.
“Where do we have to go today anyway?” I asked rubbing my eyes trying to fight off sleep.
“We have a meeting with management about doing a guest star on some TV show and then we have a photo shoot,” replied Brian.
“Fine,” I said sleepily. “I'll be down in ten minutes,” I told him and then literally pushed him out of my room before he had a chance to say anything. I went into the bathroom and took what had to be the fastest shower in history. Since Brian said we had a photo shoot to do, I knew that it didn't matter what I wore since there would be clothes to change into there. I threw on a pair of jeans and a clean t-shirt and was out the door.
“Well look who decided to join us,” said AJ when he saw me come downstairs into the lobby of the hotel we were staying at.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever, can we just go already?” I asked impatiently.
“Got up on the wrong side of the bed Nick?” asked Howie.
“More like with the wrong alarm clock,” I said glaring at Brian.
“Okay, you guys can argue later about this, let's go,” said Kevin ushering us out the door and into the limo waiting outside.

Julianna's point of view

I was hurrying up that morning because I didn't want to be late for work. Yeah, I forgot to mention, I also had my own TV show. It was called 'Unreal' and was going on for about six months now, and seemed to be doing very well.
That day I knew that the producers were bringing in a music group to have them guest star on one of the episodes. Of course, everyone conveniently forgot to mention to me who exactly this group was.
I grabbed a cereal bar for breakfast, put some food in the cat bowl for Whitie, and then ran out the door. I got into my silver convertible and patiently made my way to the set of the show through New York City traffic. See, I lived in the suburbs, so I had to make the forty-minute trip to Manhattan every day to get to work. And of course I had to drive during rush hour in the morning so I knew that I was going to be very late since I had the great sense to oversleep that day.
I sighed frustratingly as the car in front of me stopped moving and so did every other car on the highway. I was totally stuck. Plus I was still about a half an hour away from the set. I plugged in my cell phone and put on the hands-free headset.
“'Unreal' set,” I heard Tom, the director, answer cheerfully.
“Tom, it's Julianna,” I said.
“Hey! Where are you? We're all waiting for you to get here,” said Tom.
“I know, and I am so sorry, but I overslept today and now I'm stuck in gridlock, the cars are not even moving on the highway,” I explained.
“That's not good, I just got a call that said the music group guys are on their way and will be here in twenty minutes.”
“I'll try to get there as soon as I can, I hope the traffic loosens up soon.”
“Okay, Jul, and please, as fast as you can.”
“I'll try, bye.” I hung up the phone and looked disapprovingly at the sea of unmoving cars in front of me. Yep, it was going to be a very long day.

Nick's point of view

“Where is this girl?” I asked in frustration. We had been sitting on the 'Unreal' set, doing nothing, for an hour and a half now, and the show's 'star' had yet to show up.
“She said that she's stuck in traffic and she's trying her best to get here,” explained Tom, the director.
“How long can this traffic possibly last?” asked Kevin.
“Well, since we are in New York, the traffic can make a two and a half hour trip, into a six hour one,” said Tom.
“Wow, how long does it usually take her to get here?” asked Howie.
“About forty minutes, but since she got stuck in rush hour traffic, it may take a whole lot longer,” replied Tom.
“No kidding,” I said bitterly.
Tom left five minutes later to go take care of some things and left us alone in the room.
“Nick, what's your problem?” asked Brian.
“I don't have one,” I said stubbornly.
“Then why are you acting like such a jerk?” asked AJ pointedly.
“I am not,” I said defensively.
“Yes you are,” said the other four guys.
“Did you rehearse that?” I asked sarcastically.
“Grow up,” said Kevin shaking his head.
“Whatever,” I mumbled and walked out of the room. As I was rounding the corner of the hallway I ran into someone. “Watch where you're going,” I said rudely, while getting up.
“I'm sorry, I'm in a hurry,” said the girl I ran into. I looked at her and she seemed familiar. Then I remembered.
“Julianna something-or-other right?” I asked.
“Palmer, Julianna Palmer,” she said correcting me in a cool voice.
“Whatever, where have you been?” I demanded.
“Well, so-rry, I was stuck in traffic,” she said, but I could clearly see the apology was sarcastic.
“We've been sitting in that stupid room for almost two hours!” I exclaimed.
“Geez, I said I was sorry, I overslept,” she said getting mad.
“Well don't oversleep next time, only cause you're the star of this show doesn't mean that the world revolves around you,” I told her. Then I pushed past her and went back to the room where the other guys were.

Julianna's point of view

“What a jerk!” I said out loud after Nick left. What was he doing here anyway? “He may be cute but he's a total asshole,” I added fuming.
“Jul, you're finally here!” exclaimed Tom upon seeing me.
“Yeah, I'm here,” I said curtly.
“Is something wrong?” he asked.
“No, just met someone who I thought was a nice guy and he turned out to be a class A jerk,” I told him.
“Oh, sorry to hear that, but come on, the Backstreet Boys are in the room waiting for you,” said Tom ushering me along.
I stopped dead in my tracks. “Backstreet Boys?” I asked in disbelief. Suddenly it made sense why Nick was there.
“Yeah, they're going to be guest stars on the upcoming episode,” replied Tom.
“No way,” I said shaking my head.
“Why? What's wrong?” he asked concerned.
“I just had a wonderful run in with Nick,” I replied icily.
“Ooh, he's the class A jerk you were referring to?” asked Tom.
“Yeah, there is no way I'm doing an episode with that guy,” I said shaking my head once again.
“We'll work something out, now come on,” said Tom as we walked down the hallway to the room where the guys were.

Nick's point of view

“What a SNOB!” I exclaimed as I entered the room and slammed the door behind me.
“Come again?” asked Brian.
“That girl we're all waiting for, I just met her, and she is such a snob!” I yelled. “She's the same one who presented the award to us yesterday,” I added.
“Julianna?” asked Howie. I nodded. “But she seemed very nice.”
“Yeah right! She thinks that the world revolves around her and that she can come at whatever time she wants and make us wait here for hours!” I shouted.
“Nick, first of all, stop screaming,” said AJ softly.
“And second of all, she was stuck in traffic, there was no way she could've gotten here sooner,” said Brian matter-of-factly.
“She could've not overslept,” I stated.
“Excuse you, but how many times have you overslept?” asked AJ pointing at me.
“Yeah, and made us all late in the process?” added Brian.
“We're not discussing my sleeping habits now,” I said defensively.
“Then we're not discussing hers either,” said Kevin firmly.
“Fine,” I said and plopped on the couch sulking. At that moment Julianna walked in with Tom.
“Hi guys, I am so sorry that I'm so late, I overslept, and then there was the whole traffic thing, and well, you've been to New York before, you know how the traffic is,” apologized Julianna.
“We understand, no problem,” said Howie smiling. The other guys nodded and smiled also. I didn't do either; I just sat there with a scowl on my face.
“Did you look over the script for the episode?” asked Julianna picking up a copy of the script off of the table.
“Yeah, it sounds great,” replied Brian.
“Does that mean you'll do the episode?” asked Tom.
All the guys nodded.
“Great!” said Tom enthusiastically.
“Are we done here?” I asked impatiently.
Julianna turned sharply to look at me. “Is there some place you have to be?” she asked icily.
“Yeah, anywhere but here,” I replied with the same attitude.
“In that case, yeah, we're done here,” she said turning away from me and looking at the other four guys.
“Finally!” I exclaimed and quickly ran out and downstairs deciding that I would wait for the rest of the guys in the limo.

Julianna's point of view

I sighed as I saw the door slam after Nick ran out. What the hell was his problem? He seemed nice the day before, and now he's like a totally different person.
“He's…uh, not himself today,” said Kevin referring to Nick's sudden departure.
“No problem,” said Tom shrugging. “Well, as Julianna said, you're done here, you're free to go, and the episode will be filmed a week from today,” he added and then left.
“Sorry about Nick,” said Howie. “None of us know what's going on in his head.”
“Probably nothing, that's the problem,” quipped AJ.
“Knock it off Bone,” said Kevin. AJ shrugged, waved bye to everyone, and left.
“So I guess I'll see you guys a week from today?” I said to the remaining three.
“Yep, see you then,” said Howie. They all said bye and then left. I sat down on the couch in the room and leaned back. I then felt something underneath me. I got up and picked up the object. It was a wallet. I looked inside and discovered that it was Nick's wallet.
“Oh man!” I groaned. Now I had to go to his hotel and return it to him! This was definitely not my day. I rushed to the window in hopes of seeing the guys' limo still there, but I looked just in time to see it pull away from the curb. I sighed and turned away from the window. Oh well, no sense in wasting time, I had to go and return Nick's wallet.
I found Tom and he told me which hotel the guys were staying at. I told him that I would be back in one hour and then went to the hotel. I reached it about fifteen minutes later and walked inside. The manager there knew me so I had no problems finding out which room Nick was staying in. As I took the elevator to the fifteenth floor, I was hoping that Nick wasn't in the room and that I could slip his wallet under the door or give it to the guy at the front desk.
I stood in front of Nick's room grimacing. I did not want to do this, but I had no choice. I knocked and prayed that he wouldn't answer. Unfortunately, he did.
“What?” he asked opening the door. “Oh it's you,” he added even more rudely.
“Yeah, it's me,” I said just as rudely.
“What do you want? Stalking is illegal you know,” said Nick.
“Don't flatter yourself,” I told him. “I came to give you this,” I said and held out the wallet.
Nick took it and looked at it. “Oh, thanks, I was wondering where I put it,” he said.
“Whatever, bye,” I said and quickly walked away. Spending even five minutes with that guy was five minutes too many.

summary chapter 2