Chris began to run downstage. “Going!” he yelled.
Kevin whipped the football down to him. It flew in a smooth spiral, then bounced off of Chris’s head. Kevin, Brian, Justin, and Lance broke into a fit of hysterical laughter.
“You had to go and aim for my head didn’t you!” Chris shouted, picking up the ball.
“That was too funny!” Stacey yelled. She was sitting in the front row of the venue. The guys had been goofing around, waiting for sound check to begin, and she had been watching them. Tonight was the night that the “Summer Daze” tour kicked off, and it was important that things turned out well. But until the fans started to arrive at 5:30, the girls and guys all had down time. Christina had gone shopping, and had taken Summer and Katherine with her, leaving Stacey with Britney, the boys, *NSYNC, and Jordan.
“Hey Chris, don’t feel bad that you didn’t catch the ball,” Stacey yelled. “At least you tried.”
“And that’s all that matters,” Lance said reassuringly.
“It’s all ‘cause he can’t throw straight,” Chris said, pointing to Kevin.
Kevin had a shocked look on his face. “I can’t throw straight?” he asked. “Excuse me?”
“Now boys, let’s play nice!” Stacey shouted as she walked up onstage.
“You heard me, you can’t throw straight!” Chris shouted. “If you had thrown it better I would have caught it!”
“Let’s see you throw any better, Shorty!” Kevin yelled.
“Oh no you didn’t!” Stacey said. “Dissed! Oooh!”
Chris’s facial expressions went from competitive to pure evil. “Oh-kay! Give me the ball and I’ll prove it to you! Stacey, go long!”
Stacey shrugged. “Alright.” She ran to the far right end of the stage. “Is this alright?”
“Perfect! Now watch and learn, Richardson!” Chris smiled smugly at Kevin. “Heads!” he whipped the ball in a perfect spiral to Stacey, who caught it successfully.
“Touchdown!” Stacey yelled victoriously.
“What’d I tell ya?” Chris said, turning to gloat a little. “What then? What? What?”
“Chris, please,” Lance said.
“Alright, it was a pretty decent throw,” Kevin admitted. “But I can do better.”
“What?!”
The other guys laughed. “I’m outta here, this could get ugly,” Lance said, heading backstage.
“Ditto.” Justin followed him. As they walked to their dressing rooms they passed by Britney. “Hey Brit,” Lance said, trying to be polite.
“Hello boys,” Britney greeted them coolly. “Care to join AJ and I for a conversation?”
Justin and Lance exchanged a confused look. What did Britney want with them and AJ? “Uh, alright,” Justin said. “But only for a few minutes.”
Britney opened her dressing room door a little wider and let the two men in. AJ was lounging on the love seat wearing a tank top, gray cargo pants, Nikes, a gray fedora, and blue lensed sunglasses tipped low on the bridge of his nose, exposing his deep brown eyes. “Yo guys,” he said, tipping his hat down.
“Hey,” Justin said as he grabbed a folding chair to sit in. “Do you know what this is about?” he whispered.
AJ shook his head. “Naah, Brit just called me in here for somethin’. I don’t know what, though.”
Britney returned in a moment. “Well boys, I’ve called you in here for a reason,” she said as she sat on one of the director’s chairs that were in the room.
“Yeah... but what for?” Lance inquired.
“Katherine.”
“What about her?” AJ asked. “She seems fine to me.”
“That’s just the problem!” Britney shrieked angrily. “She’s Little Miss Perfect! There’s nothing wrong with her! She’s too nice! It’s disgusting! And she doesn’t have a clue!”
“Yeah right,” Justin said scoffingly.
Britney’s mind went to the conversation that she’d had the night before with Katherine. The room that Summer, Katherine, and Stacey were supposed to share was a single bedroom. Katherine had ended up bunking with Britney for the night. (flashback)
“So Katherine, do you have any boyfriends in Paris?” Britney had asked as she flipped through an issue of Cosmo.
“No, just an ex,” Katherine explained as she braided her hair in pigtails. Britney noted that even her pajamas were conservative: they were a pink and gray boxer and t-shirt set.
“Oh really?”
“Yeah, his name is Ray. He’s very sweet. We’re friends.”
“Why did you break up?” Britney was hoping for a dramatic reason.
“We just had differences. He wanted to be independent, I wanted to be settled.” She went into the bathroom to brush her teeth.
“How far did you go with him?” Britney shouted.
“How far? We weren’t that serious, all he did was hold my hand and kiss me a couple of times.” The water in the sink came on, then was quickly shut off. “And they weren’t like, knock-you-off-your-feet kisses. Just quick pecks.” She came back into the room and sat cross-legged on her bed.
Britney sighed. This girl was hopeless. “Have you ever gone all the way?” she asked. “Like, you know, home run, and I ain’t talkin’ baseball.”
“No,” Katherine said modestly. She began to nervously twist the ring on her finger. “I’m sorta...”
“Saving it? That’s nice,” Britney said blandly. So not only is she immaculately perfect, but she’s also a virgin. Damn, I can’t stand her. This must be fixed. “Goodnight Katherine,” she said before clicking off the lamp beside her bed.
(end flashback)
“So what if she’s saving it?” Justin said after Britney explained what had gone on. “That doesn’t give you a reason to hate her, Britney. It's her business.”
“It’s not just that! She is too damn nice! I just want to corrupt her a little,” Britney said, a devilish grin spread across her face. “And that’s where you guys all come into play.”
“Whatever the hell it is, I’m not gonna do it,” Lance said, getting up to leave. Britney stopped him.
“C’mon, Lance, it’ll be a game. It’ll be fun. Sort of like a bet between all of us,” Britney explained to him.
“What are the stakes if it’s a bet?” AJ asked. He always did have a competitive streak, and even though this might involve him hurting an innocent girl, he was willing to chance it if it guaranteed him something.
Britney drummed her nails on the top of a box, creating an annoying noise. “The stakes are this. You all have to go through every romantic stage with her,” she said. “You go from flirting to kissing to dating to all the rest that follows. Until one of you—and only one—devirginates her.”
“No, I am so not in this,” Lance said getting up again. This time Britney pushed him down.
“What kind of a psycho bitch are you?!” Justin yelled at her. “Do you have any idea that what you’re doing is completely wrong and just plain stupid?”
“I might,” Britney said innocently. “But I don’t give a damn either way.”
“Dammit, if you weren’t a girl I’d beat the crap outta you!” Justin replied harshly. “You are such a bitch! What went wrong with you? You actually had a heart at one time!”
“Shut up and finish listening!” Britney screamed. “If you don’t go through with the bet, then you owe me a night in my room. Alone.”
AJ scrambled to his feet. He had lost interest in the bet a long time before, but that was it. “See ya, guys, Brit,” he said. Britney forcefully grabbed the back of his shirt and pulled him to the floor. “You are staying,” she commanded him.
Justin and Lance were held in disbelief. Britney was dead serious with this thing. She didn’t want anyone backing out of it, and definitely wanted someone to win. She wouldn’t be satisfied if she got her one-night stand with one of them... she would be able to die happy if it were Katherine having the one-night stand. That was her goal. She was like an international spy being told that she had to carry out a mission and might have to risk her life in the line of duty. Britney was willing to pull all those stakes in a heartbeat.
“I’m not going to do it,” AJ said. “There is nothing you can do in your power to make me do it.”
“How about money?”
“NO! Damn, woman, can’t you see that I am not about to risk getting slapped with a lawsuit? You’ve forgotten that, haven’t you?” AJ was yelling now. “We’re in the entertainment business, for God’s sake! Anything and everything we do is gonna eventually be found out by the public! If one of us goes and screws a sixteen year old, it’s gonna kill our careers! Do you want that to happen to us, Britney? Better question, how would you like it if you lost everything you worked so hard for after some fan laid you? You would be hated more than you already are! Think about that!”
“Five thousand dollars,” Britney said, acting as if she hadn’t heard AJ’s previous speech.
“Deal,” AJ said quickly.
“I can’t believe you,” Lance said to AJ. “How could you just sell out like that? You’re going to possibly ruin this girl’s life if you do this, AJ! She doesn’t deserve this!”
“Same amount for you Lance,” Britney said.
Lance thought about it. He really didn’t need the money now... but he might need some later on in the tour. Hesitantly he said, “Alright. I’m in.”
“Lance, you idiot!” Justin shouted. “This is all screwed! This is wrong! We can’t do this to her!”
Britney laughed. “Oh yes you can. You should want to do this, Justin. You like her, admit it.”
“Yes, I do. But I don’t want to hurt her by doing this. And she’s a fan, and a minor. I’d never be able to live with it.”
“Here’s a thought,” Britney said. “Just for participating, you all get a thousand dollars. As you advance you get a thousand more. Whoever wins gets five thousand. That makes things a little more fun.”
Where does she get the money? Lance wondered. At a strip bar?
Justin drew in a sharp breath. The money was the only good thing about the bet, not that he needed anymore... but still, it was money. The lust for cash overtook him.
“Alright, I’ll do it,” he said. “But only for the money.”
Britney smiled evilly. “Good. You start tonight. May the best man win.”