“Macey, you sound fantastic!” Ms. Robinson said to me. “You sound so ready for your audition. Are you?”

I drew in a deep breath. The audition was going to be in exactly a week from today—Friday. I’d trained with both Ms. Robinson and with Mr. Randall several times a week, and I was beyond certain that I was ready. But was I really? What if I messed something up? What if this could be my big break… and I failed it miserably? Time will tell. “Yes, I think I’m ready.” I paused. “Okay, maybe I don’t think I’m pretty sure I’m ready.”

“Great! How is your group report doing?”

“Oh… it’s great,” I lied. I’d finished the report, but there was something that had seemed to be missing when I looked at the project. I’d stayed up late on a Saturday night putting everything on a display board, compacting my favorite songs into a ten minute sound “collage”, and typing my report, but despite the elaborate display and clever bonuses, the project missed something. Mainly it was because at the end of my report, I had what every other member of the group had done after the band, except Justin. I secretly hoped at the meeting with Mr. Randall that afternoon I would find answers.

Ms. Robinson nodded at me approvingly. “Of all the projects in the class, Macey, I’m looking forward to seeing your project the most. I can’t wait to see what tricks you have up your sleeve for presenting it. I’ll see you on Monday.”

“’Bye Ms. Robinson,” I called. I picked up my backpack and started to head out the door. Before I did, I was met with my reflection. I was wearing what was considered the ‘latest’ fashion: a denim jacket that was cropped about an inch below my bust line (when Mom had bought it for me, she’d said, “Is that supposed to keep you warm?”), a lime green v-neck shirt, fitted black pants that tied in the front, and on my feet were sliver cross-trainers. I wondered in my mind what my mom would have said upon looking at me in this outfit when she was fourteen, and what she would have said if she knew that I was getting ready to go to music practice with Justin Timberlake himself.

I walked down the halls of the vacant school, and to the auditorium, where Mr. Randall would be waiting for me. The last two practices with him had been held in there. He’d said that it would be the best place for me to feel the real effects of my voice in a large room. He was more sure of me than anyone—than Mom, Ms. Robinson, heck, he had more faith in me than I did.

When I got into the auditorium, there Mr. Randall was, with a microphone near the piano. “Hey Macey. Are you ready for practice?”

“Yes sir. I’m more than ready.”

“Alright.” He walked over to the piano, and played a few chords. “This time we’re going to practice with the music, okay?”

I nodded, and stood back a little. “I’m ready when you are.”

“On three. One, two, three.” He began to play the opening chords to the song, and I began to sing, my voice echoing through the room:

Lying in your arms, so close together
Didn’t know just what I had
Now I toss and turn, ‘cause I’m without you
How I’m missing you so bad
Where was my head, where was my heart
Now I cry alone in the dark

I lie awake, I drive myself crazy
Drive myself crazy
Thinking of you
Made a mistake when I let you go baby
I drive myself crazy
Wanting you the way that I do
Wanting you the way that I do…

I was such a fool; I couldn’t see it
Just how good you were to me
You confessed your love, undying devotion
And I confessed my need to be free
And now I’m left with all this pain
I’ve only got myself to blame, no…

I lie awake, I drive myself crazy
Drive myself crazy
Thinking of you
Made a mistake when I let you go baby
I drive myself crazy
Wanting you the way that I do
Wanting you the way that I do…

Why didn’t I know it?
How much I loved you baby
Why didn’t I show it?
If I had only known
When I had the chance
Oh, I had a chance…

Oh, I lie awake, I drive myself crazy
Drive myself crazy
Thinking of you
Made a mistake when I let you go baby
I drive myself crazy
Wanting you the way that I do
Wanting you the way that I do…

I lie awake, I drive myself crazy
Drive myself crazy
Thinking of you
Made a mistake when I let you go baby
I drive myself crazy
Wanting you the way that I do
I drive myself crazy
Wanting you the way that I… do…

Mr. Randall applauded. “Beautiful, Macey. Absolutely beautiful.” His eyes shone with happiness, the happiness of someone who seemed to have their dream come true. In my mind, I thought of what it must have felt like to be his age, and see someone who reminded you of yourself as a kid—someone who desired the spotlight and stardom. He must have been thinking of the whole time he was in the group—from it’s humble beginnings in Germany, to its heyday in 2000, to the Grammies won, to the turmoil of the last days he was in. I wondered if he feared I would follow that route and become a sensation, then abruptly crash and burn. At that time, I decided I should find out what was on my mentor’s mind.

“Uh, Mr. Randall?” I asked, my voice echoing through the empty auditorium.

“Yes?”

“Would you happen to know who sang that song originally?”

“Who sang it?” His eyebrows drew in close together.

“Yeah, I was just curious.” I prayed he wouldn’t bite my head off about it.

Mr. Randall licked his lips. “It was a group. Some boy band.” I expected him to smile or something, but he looked bitter.

“Really? Was their name *NSYNC?”

The silence in the room was frightening. My knees shook crazily as I waited for Mr. Randall to respond. I didn’t know what to say or what to do.

“Yes, Macey. That was their name.” His voice cracked, and he looked down. Before my eyes, he went from being a forty-something man to a teenage boy in his mannerisms. “They were really popular.”

I cleared my throat. “Yeah. I did my chorus project on them. They were great. But no one knows what happened to one of the group’s members. After they broke up, no one heard from Justin Timberlake again.” My heart beat faster after the name escaped my lips. “He just vanished.”

“Where are you going with this, Macey?” The cold tone in Mr. Randall’s voice made me wish I’d never gotten into this. It made me wish I’d never found out about *NSYNC.

“Mr. Randall… I’ve been thinking, and investigating… and…” Stop the BS! Ask! “Are you Justin Randall Timberlake?” I finally asked, in a mere whisper.

All that Mr. Randall could do was stare at me with a look of awe, disbelief, anger, and relief glimmering in his blue eyes.

“Did you change your name?” I said, my voice still soft, but gaining power. You know—the power that people who are public speakers have; the power to start speaking quietly and softly and gradually become booming. “I mean, whatever happened to make you deny your spotlight made you want to change your name. So Justin Timberlake ceased to exist, and Justin Randall did. Am I right?” My breaths were raspy and erratic as I finished speaking.

The anger in Mr. Randall’s eyes quickly morphed into sadness. Then—suddenly—that look changed into embarrassment. After a hesitant moment, he looked at me.

“Well Macey, you’ve found me out. You’ve really found me out.” His eyes met mine, and I was finally assured that these were the eyes of a former teen idol. “I would ask how you did it… but I won’t.”

“Are you upset with me?”

He shook his head. “No. No, I’m not. I’m surprised. I wouldn’t be mad at my protégé.”

I smiled softly at him calling me a “protégé”. “Can I ask a question?”

“Certainly.”

“After doing all my research and everything, I want to know something. Why did the group break up? Why did you and JC leave?”

Mr. Randall pulled his lips close together, and a dark look crossed his face. “It’s… a long story. And a difficult one.”

“Could you please tell it to me?” I pleaded.

He sighed, and ran his fingers through his curly hair. “Yes… you’ll be the first person to hear it. The first person—besides Joey, Chris, Lance, Caylin, Britney, my family, and JC to really know what happened.”

I pulled up a chair next to the piano bench where he was still seated to listen. “Go ahead.”

“Well, it all started when I met Caylin. She was an extra in the video we did for ‘Just Got Paid’. If you ever see a film clip of that video, she’s the one who’s in the passenger side of the car with me. Between takes, we talked and everything, and I asked her out. Eventually, we decided to announce that we were a steady couple. It startled everyone, especially Britney.

“Britney was my former girlfriend, and one of my best friends. Shortly before I met Caylin, we’d broken up. It sort of hurt her that I was now with someone new, but I promised her that things would still be friendly between us. Thank God that things were. But, anyway, we were a steady couple for quite awhile. She understood me like few people did then—I wasn’t Justin the sex symbol or Justin the pretty boy; I was just Justin. She was kind, intelligent, smart, and funny. And it seemed as though she truly loved me.”

“It seemed?” I asked.

“I’ll get to that later. Well, at the time JC had a girlfriend named Bobbi, and we often went on double dates. From time-to-time I noticed that JC flirted with Caylin a lot. It didn’t really bother me too much, because guys tend to do that, you know? We continued dating, and finally I realized that I loved her. It was the most overwhelmingly wonderful feeling—I was always comfortable with her, we’d been together for such a long time, so I figured that it was time for me to propose.

“At that show in Dallas, I was terrified. I was so scared she wouldn’t say yes, and when she did, I was the happiest man alive. Everyone was excited, and I was too. I was getting married, and Caylin and I wanted it to be perfect. We were going to have a huge wedding back in the country in Tennessee. Everything seemed perfect. Until a night in early September, a few weeks before the wedding.

“We were in New York to do a little work with MTV. We were in the hotel one night, and I wanted to take Caylin out for dinner. I couldn’t find her, so I asked around. Joey had said that he’d last seen her go to JC’s room. I went on up, and when I got to the room the door was closed but unlocked.” He paused for a moment to collect his thoughts. “I knocked first, and when I got no response I walked in. When I got in there… they were in bed with each other.”

I let out an audible gasp.

“That was probably one of the worst moments of my life. They didn’t say anything to me; I couldn’t say anything to them. I just turned around, and I left the place. I went to my room and locked the door. I couldn’t bear to be with anyone. I couldn’t believe that I’d been so naïve to believe that nothing was going on between them, even though they both denied it. After that, I broke the wedding.

“I was so upset at JC that every time we were in the same room, all I could do was yell at him for what he’d done. I hated him for doing it more than I hated Caylin. Eventually, he got so fed up of it that he left. After all that’d happened, I left too. I couldn’t take it. I’d lost one of my best friends, and the love of my life, and I needed time to clear my head. I just went undercover. I changed my name from Justin Timberlake to Jason Randall, and I moved up here to Hyperion. I figured that no one would try to look for me in Conneticut. The only people who knew were Lance, Chris, and Joey, and my family and Britney.

“Eventually I got over Caylin, and I was reunited with Carly, a friend of mine that I’d met in Orlando about the time the group first got started. We ended up falling in love, and we got married. It was a nice, quiet wedding, not exactly what I’d planned when I was engaged to Caylin, but it was beautiful. Since then, I’ve been living here, doing anything to get money. I was a vocal coach for awhile, then I decided to go a little further undercover and became a janitor a few years back. And here I am.” He pressed his lips close together, and looked at me. Though I could tell he was over everything, I could still sense that he still felt betrayed by JC and by Caylin.

“Do you still talk to the guys?”

“Chris and I talk a lot, but when it’s with Joey and Lance, communication is more sporadic. Britney and I are still close. But… I still haven’t forgiven JC. I don’t think I can.” He shook his head. “But why bother hearing about this? We’ve still got practicing to do.” He sat up, and looked at me. “Ready to practice again?”

I nodded. Yes, I was ready to practice again. But I was thinking of something devious… something that might just make Justin uncomfortable, but it would bring closure to everything. The fans would finally find out what had happened with the group, and the world would once again be able to hear *NSYNC’s music. I swore to start my mission tonight.

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