“I’m hoooome!” Stacey trilled as she walked off the plane. “Well, in my home country.”

“This place is huge,” Katherine said. “This is one of the biggest airports I’ve ever seen.”

Summer looked around, trying to spot anyone who looked like they might be waiting for them. “Hey, look!” she shouted, pointing to a large blue sign someone was holding up amidst the crowd.

Stacey looked at the sign, which read: Bonjour, Stacey, Kat, and Summer! “I think that’s for us,” she remarked.

The girls headed over to where the sign hung. “Hello girls!” dark haired man greeted them. “I’m assuming that you’re the Paris contest winners.”

“Yes we are,” Stacey said.

“Well, come on! We have to get you to the hotel immediately! Your tourmates await you! I’m Roger, I’ll be your travel guide.”

Roger led the girls to the parking lot after they gathered all of their bags and went though customs. They stopped at a sleek black stretch limo. “Dude!” Summer said. “We’re goin’ in style!”

They crowded into the back of the limo. “Ooh, mini fridge,” Stacey said. She cracked it open to reveal Cokes, Sprites, just about any type of soda, and lots of snacks. “Ooh, snack food!”

“Someone’s getting awfully excited over snacks,” Katherine said. “It’s just food. No biggie.”

Stacey pulled out a bag of Doritos. “Hey, I am all for free munchies.”

Summer tuned the stereo on and *NSYNC’s “Tearin’ Up My Heart” began playing. “Ooh, this song rocks!” she squealed. “It’s old but it rocks!”

Katherine nodded. “I love this song. It’s my favorite off of their first CD.”

“Here,” Stacey said, passing each of the girls Sprites. “To this summer. May it kick mucho ass.”

“Cheers!” Summer and Katherine said, clinking their sodas together.

-----

“We’re going to introduce you to the groups that will be on the tour,” Roger said as soon as the girls finished dropping off their bags in their hotel rooms. “Are you ready?”

“Are you kidding?” Stacey asked. “We’ve been ready for weeks.”

The girls were now at the arena backstage, getting ready to have their first encounters with the people that they had admired from afar for so long. Roger led them to the dressing rooms.

“First I’ll introduce you to Christina,” he said briskly. “Christina!” he yelled after knocking on the door.

“Yeah?”

“The contest winners are here to meet you.”

“Okay, let them in.”

Summer slapped Katherine on the shoulder. “Ohmigod! We’re actually gonna hang with Christina Aguilera!”

The door opened and the girls walked in. “Hi!” Christina greeted them. She put down the magazine that she had been leafing through. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Christina, meet Summer, Stacey, and Kat,” Roger said.

“Katherine.”

“Nice to meet you all. It’s gonna be a great summer,” Christina said.

“I know,” Summer replied. “It’s going to be so cool to spend the summer hanging with you and the others. We’re really big fans of yours.”

“Thank you!”

“Well, girls, if you want to have time to visit everyone else we’ve got to go,” Roger said.

“Thanks Christina,” Katherine said. “See you later.”

Christina saw them to the door. “’Bye girls!”

“Next stop, *NSYNC,” Roger said.

“We’re here!” a familiar man’s voice yelled from behind them. Stacey turned around and shrieked in excitement.

“Aloha!” Chris yelled. “Wuzzup?”

“Wuzzup!” Stacey said in reply.

The other four guys appeared. “Hey, are you the contest winners?” Joey asked.

Summer nodded. “Yeah, we are. I’m Summer, that’s Stacey, and this is Katherine.”

“Hi,” the others said.

“You weren’t in sync,” Katherine said teasingly.

“Well, we have our out-of-sync days,” Justin admitted. “Nice to meet you girls.”

“Well, got to run!” Roger said. “We’ve still got to introduce you to Backstreet, Jordan, and Britney. Say goodbye girls.”

“Bye!” Stacey yelled.

“Bye!” Katherine shouted.

“Byyyeee!” Summer finished in giggles. The guys laughed as they waved to the girls.

“They’re sorta cute,” Justin said as soon as the girls were down the hallway.

“Yeah,” Lance admitted. “Katherine especially.”

“I know, man,” Justin said. “Hey, she was checkin’ me out.”

“You?” Chris said. “She was checkin’ me out.”

“In your dreams old man!” Justin said.

“Now y’all know that they were diggin’ me!” Joey said. The other guys moaned.

“Please Joey, no they weren’t,” JC objected. “It was all about me.”

“Shut up!” Justin said.

“Let’s cut the crap. We’re fighting over girls we barely know, don’t you think that’s a little on the flip side?” Joey said.

The guys all exchanged a look. “Naah,” they said, laughing.

-----

Dinner was held at a local restaurant that was called The Green Room. The restaurant had been rented exclusively for the singers on the tour just for the night. As the limos pulled up the dozens of fans began screaming with excitement as the doors opened.

The first person out of limo one was Britney Spears, dressed in a white leather halter-top and skirt. The guys began to go berserk, and several cries of “Britney, marry me!” were heard. Inside of limo four, Summer, Stacey, and Katherine all rolled their eyes.

“Please,” Summer moaned.

The next limo held Jordan Knight. As soon as he got out there was a frenzy of screams escaping female mouths as the sexy star made his way into the restaurant.

“It’s hard to believe he’s 30,” Katherine said. “He looks like he could pass as 27 at the most.”

Christina and *NSYNC were in the third limo. Cheers came from the crowd as they walked in and as Christina stopped to give a little boy who held a sign that said “Christina, I turn to you” a kiss on the cheek. Stacey commented, “That was sweet. Let’s see Slutney do that.”

The girls got out of limo four and surprisingly also were cheered for. Stacey beamed. “Thank you, we love you all!” Summer shouted. Katherine rolled her eyes.

The Backstreet Boys were in the fifth limo and got the loudest screams. Summer watched as stuffed animals flew from every direction at the guys and as one hit AJ on the head. She snickered at the sight of AJ stooping to pick up his sunglasses, which had fallen off of his face.

Once everyone was inside dinner began. Summer was at a table with Jordan, Brian, and Joey. She was just getting comfortable when she heard a female voice drawl, “Is it alright if I sit here?” She turned to see Britney, much to her dismay.

“Hi Britney,” Summer said, trying to hide her disgust. “I’m sorry but we don’t have any more room.

“If I pull up a chair then you would,” Britney objected.

“We’ve got room over here, Britney,” Kevin said from across the room. Summer looked and saw Katherine at that table along with Chris and JC. Kat looked terrified.

“Alright.” Britney walked over to the table and mumbled, “At least some people treat me with the respect I deserve.” She sat in the chair between Katherine and Kevin. “Hey y’all. How are you all doing tonight?” she asked, trying to play the role of sugary sweet country girl for the night.

“Fine, thanks,” JC said. “We were just talking to Katherine.”

“Oh really? What about?”

“Just basic things about herself, you know, age, where she’s from and so on,” Chris remarked. “Waiter! We’re ready to order.”

“Oh. So tell me what I missed.”

The waiter came over to the table. “What would you like, sir?” he asked Kevin.

“I’ll just have a steak, medium well.”

“Miss?” he asked Katherine.

“Well, I’ll have the same as Kevin, and could I have fries as a side, please?” Britney noticed the way she spoke. Her voice was soft and articulate, with a slight British twinge in it. She was dressed very conservatively, wearing a light pink, button front blouse, with a white cardigan over it, and a black knee length skirt. Her makeup was minimal; she only had on a light amount of blush and frosty pink lipstick. Her hair was neatly parted off center and was curled at the end. Around her neck was a silver cross necklace and on the ring finger on her left hand was a gold ring with three small rubies inserted in. She looked like a cultured schoolgirl, and clashed completely with Britney’s own wardrobe. The leather halter had two claps in the back and was cut low enough that some cleavage was exposed. Her skirt’s hem was a good three inches above her knee basically short enough to moon anyone if she bent over. She wore seven rings on her left hand, eight on her right, and in her belly button was a gold ring. Katherine looked like a junior high student compared to Britney.

The waiter finished taking orders and quickly left when Britney asked, “So, Katherine, tell me about yourself. Where are you from?”

“I was born in Virginia but my father decided to move back to London--he’s from London--when I was a toddler. So for most of my life I have lived in London, until I got accepted into Ranliegh Academy. That’s the school I go to in Paris.”

“Wow. You lived in London and go to school in Paris,” Chris commented. “You must be a pretty well traveled girl.”

“I’ve also been to Spain, Egypt, Italy, Australia, and Japan,” Katherine continued. “We went to Spain when I was fourteen, Egypt when I was twelve, Italy when I was nine, Australia when I was… ten, and Japan when I was about eight. I love travelling, and my parents were always taking me on great trips. I think if I hadn’t won this contest we would be in the Bahamas or in Puerto Rico.”

Little Miss Thang thinks she’s great ‘cause she’s seen most of the world, Britney thought. “How is school for you?”

“I take a lot of advanced classes. If I work hard enough I might graduate early.” Katherine pushed her bangs behind her ear.

“Wow, smart and very beautiful,” JC remarked. “Do you speak any languages?”

“Spanish, French, Italian, a little Greek, and also Japanese. I’m trying to learn German now.” Just as she finished that sentence Justin came over to the table. “Hey guys. Hey Kat... is it okay if I call you Kat?” he asked Katherine.

Katherine bit her bottom lip nervously. “Yes, it’s fine with me.”

“Dude, this girl’s way awesome,” Chris remarked. “She’s been around the world and speaks six languages.”

Justin raised an eyebrow. “Really?”

“Yeah.” Katherine blushed, slightly embarrassed at Chris noting all of her skills. If anything, she was incredibly modest.

“I was just talking to Stacey, and she mentioned that you girls all go to school in Paris,” Justin said, as he pulled up a chair next to Katherine. “What’s that like?”

“It’s great. It’s almost like how you would imagine going away to college. Everyone has three or four roommates, and mine happen to be Stacey and Summer. It’s so much fun, the extracurriculars are wonderful, and we go on great trips.”

“What kind of extras do you take?” Chris asked.

“Of course my language classes, and I also take art, and drama as well.” Katherine paused. “I’m also considering dance, too.”

“Whoa, don’t get all worked up!” Kevin said. “You don’t want to run yourself ragged at sixteen. You’re an artist?”

“I’m not that good.” She blushed again.

Justin smiled. From the first moment he had laid eyes on Katherine he’d been attracted to her. She was so appealing to him. She was pretty, smart, talented (from all that he had heard), and modest. She looks so cute when she blushes, he thought.

Britney was silently seething with anger. Justin was completely entranced by this girl. What was so special about her that made all the guys like her? She was just the average run of the mill girl. She seemed like a complete prude. And she blushed every time one of the guys complimented her. It drove Britney insane. How dare Justin, JC, Chris, and Kevin ignore her!

“Excuse me, I’m going to go see what everyone else is up to,” Britney said, getting up to leave.

“Okay,” Chris said.

Britney stormed off to the women’s room. She had to do something about Katherine... something major.

chapter 5
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