Chapter 2 "Can we unpack?" Dan asked with a smile. Mike M. nodded.

"Go, get away. We’ll talk tomorrow at rehearsal," he said. The guys all got up and went their separate ways. The Mikes looked at each other.

"Do you think it’s a good idea that we have a woman traveling with them?" Mike C. asked. Mike M. shrugged.

"If she has a problem with it, she could always quit before the three months are up," he said. Mike C. nodded and the two of them left.

Maria struggled to get into the loft. She was juggling her shoulder bag of prints, she had a Snickers bar in her mouth and she was carrying a manila folder that contained several magazines containing posters and pinups of the infamous O-Town. She dropped everything, cursed and flipped on the light. Heathcliff came running to meet her and she bent down to pick up the kitten after taking a bite of her candy bar.

"Hi, sweetie," she said as she went into the kitchen. After she fed him, she finished her candy bar and went back over to her things that were on the floor. Picking up the folder, she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch after turning on the lights. She looked up when a knock came at the door.

"Come in," she called. Probably not a safe thing to do, but she knew who it probably was.

"Hi!" Kathleen said as she came bouncing in. Maria looked at Kathleen and smiled as she joined her.

"Are these the magazines?" she asked. Maria nodded. She had called Kathleen and asked her to come over to look at her ‘subjects’ with her. Kathleen grabbed the envelope and pulled out the first magazine, which was an older issue of Popstar!. It was a ‘flip cover’ with O-Town on one side and Justin Timberlake of N’Sync on the other side. "They look so young," Kathleen remarked as she looked at the O-Town cover. Maria took another magazine from the folder. It was another issue of Popstar!with O-Town on the cover.

"Look at this, it’s the ‘Valentine’s Day Love’ issue," Maria said with a smile as she looked at the cover. "They look older here, but who’s this guy?" she asked pointing out one of the O-Towner’s who looked like he didn’t belong with the others. He had a bandanna tied around his head and what appeared to be very short…dreadlocks? Maria was confused. Kathleen looked from her magazine to Maria’s and back.

"It’s this guy," she said pointing out a cute, clean-cut guy with curly, brown, frosted hair and amazing blue eyes on her magazine. Maria looked closely.

"Holy shit. It is the same guy. What the hell happened?" she asked, laughing. Kathleen shrugged."Check out the blonde. He’s really cute," she remarked. Maria looked at him.

"He’s posing. I like my subjects to look natural, not pose and why are they so happy?" she asked. The guys were way too ‘smiley’ for her liking. Kathleen smiled.

"Well, be glad that they’re happy. You have to spend three months with them…lucky bitch," she said. Maria shook her head.

"This guy with the baby-face is kinda cute," she said, and then pulled out another magazine from her folder. It was YM magazine and O-Town was once again on the cover. "Look, they’re all wet," she said. Kathleen looked.

"Oh my God, Maria. I want to go with you. Please take me with you," she begged. Maria’s eyes were once again drawn to the guy with the amazing blue eyes.

"He’s got a goatee now," she said. Lifting her eyes from his image, she turned to Kathleen. "Okay, let’s label. You’ve got the ‘heartthrob,’ that’s the blonde. The guy with the dreads and goatee is obviously the ‘rebel’. This one," Maria said pointing to a cute guy who almost appeared to have an Afro. "This one looks like the ‘sensitive’ one, which is just a hunch. The baby-faced guy…um, he looks ethnic. And what about the last guy? He looks, um, like a nice guy, so I don’t know." Kathleen flipped open the magazine that was still on her lap.

"Don’t you wanna know their names?" she asked as she flipped through the O-Town ‘mini-mag’ as it was called. Maria shrugged. "Okay, let’s see. The ‘ethnic’ one, as you called him, is Erik-Michael Estrada. The blonde is Ashley Angel." Maria laughed. "It’s true. Shut up, he’s hot. The ‘sensitive’ one is Trevor Penick and the ‘rebel’ guy is Jacob Underwood." She turned the page. "And the last guy, or the ‘nice’ one, is Dan Miller." Maria took the magazine. She looked at the photo credits.

"Tony took these. Kyle knows him. God, these pictures are so cheesy. And, Jacob is it? He needs to lose the necklace," she said, referring to a God-awful silver chain that hung around the poor guy’s neck. She gave the magazine back to Kathleen.

"I wanna see the wet issue," Kathleen said as Maria handed YM to her."Don’t get your drool all over it," Maria said, smirking.

"Jesus, they look good wet," Kathleen said as she eyed the photos. "Ooooh, there’s a poster." She turned the pages quickly until she found the two-page poster of O-Town. Maria cringed when she saw it.

"That’s horrible. Look at the nice guy’s shirt. It’s ugly. They look like drowned rats. Whoever thinks that water is sexy is seriously disturbed," Maria said. Kathleen smiled. Putting Maria together with O-Town would prove to be interesting. She glanced at Maria and frowned.

"What happened to your hand?" she asked, noticing the bandage for the first time. Maria started to answer when the door to the loft suddenly opened and Geoff walked in. Maria looked at him, but didn’t move. Kathleen noticed the tension between the two of them.

"Hey, Geoff," she said in greeting. Geoff nodded at her, but his eyes were on Maria. "Okay, I’ll just go now." Kathleen said as she handed Maria back the magazine and stood up. "Maria, I’ll call you. Bye, guys," she said as she made a hasty exit.

Geoff wandered into the room and stood looking at Maria, who looked up at him from the couch.

"I’m sorry," he said. Maria didn’t say anything. "Really. I never meant to hurt you. It was an accident." Geoff waited for her to say something.

"I’m still going on this assignment," she said. Geoff nodded.

"I know. I’m not even gonna try to change your mind. I just don’t want you to go. I’ll miss you too much," he said. He moved to sit down beside her on the couch. Maria crossed her arms over her chest.

"I have to go," she said. Geoff reached over and took her hand.

"Fine. You go. I’ll stay here with Heathcliff," he said with a smile. Maria bit her lip to keep from smiling. She looked at him.

"I’ll miss you too, but I won’t forget our fight," she said. Geoff nodded.

"How can I make it up to you? What can I do that will make you forgive me?" he asked her. Maria shrugged and stood up.

"I don’t know yet," she said as she went into the bedroom. Geoff sighed and leaned back against the couch. He looked at the magazines that were on the table in front of him. He picked one of them up, looking at the cover. At least the band that Maria would be hanging out with didn’t look like it was anything to really worry about. Geoff dropped the magazine and turned on the TV. Maria would come around and forgive him. She always did.

A week later

Ashley woke up and yawned. He smiled. Today was the day that they would finally meet this photographer/writer that they’ve been hearing about all week. Their days leading up to today had been filled with rehearsals and workouts that had the group run down, but feeling confident about the upcoming radio performances.

"Ashley!" Dan’s voice yelled.

"I’m up!" he shouted back as he got out of bed and headed for the spacious bathroom, courtesy of his having drawn the longest straw, which had given him the master bedroom. He smiled as he turned on the shower. No more cameras. ‘I finally get to take a shower without an audience,’ Ashley thought as he reveled in his privacy.

Downstairs, Dan, Trevor, and the two Mikes waited patiently for the remaining three members of O-Town to get their acts together and their asses into the ‘meeting room’ which was actually just a long table next to the rec room.

Jacob wandered into the room with no real expression on his face. He sat down and folded his hands on the table in front of him as he waited. Mike M. glanced at him. It was better that Jacob remained quiet than said what was on his mind. Especially when the photographer got there. Erik and Ashley then came running, racing to try to beat each other at getting to the table first. This resulted in Ashley being pushed into the back of Jacob’s chair.

"What the hell are you doing?" Jacob asked as he turned and caught Ashley, who fell on him.

"Sorry, Jake," Ashley said, trying to avoid falling onto the table. He then turned to Erik, "I won," Ashley said to him. Erik stuck his tongue out at him and took a seat next to Dan. Ashley straightened up and sat down beside Jacob, who readjusted his blue bandanna on his head.

"Kyle Walsh and his assistant will be here shortly. I expect you to behave accordingly," Mike M. told them. "Be good," he said with a small smile.

"Who? Us?" Erik asked innocently. "We’re always good." The guys smiled at each other.

"Do NOT do anything to scare her away, do you understand?" Mike M. then asked. The guys all nodded, but they were still smiling at each other.

"Do NOT do or say anything to embarrass me," Kyle was saying to Maria as he drove her to O-Town’s house. Maria sat in the passenger seat of Kyle’s black Mercedes convertible, swearing out loud as the wind blew her hair all over the place. Not that she cared about what she looked like, but she didn’t want to look like she had just been in a tornado.

"I won’t, Kyle. You need to relax," Maria said as she put her hands over her head and held her hair down. "Can’t you put the freakin’ top up?" she asked. Kyle smiled, but didn’t say anything. He also wouldn’t put the top up. Maria sighed. She had decided to go for a ‘business casual’ look. She didn’t want to dress up, but she also didn’t want to dress down, so she had gone somewhere in the middle. She had on jeans and a tight black, short sleeve top. Over that she had a long, black fishnet sweater, almost like a car coat that reached to her calves. She also had on her black boots and her hair was in a messy pile atop her head---and was getting messier by the minute.

Maria wore makeup, not heavy, but enough to make it look like her skin was flawless. She always accented her eyes, though, knowing that they drew the most attention, which was what she preferred. "Why the hell are we meeting them at their house?" she asked Kyle.

"Because that’s where we agreed to meet. They have a rehearsal at 2 so we won’t be there long," he told her. Maria nodded. She just wanted this meeting over with already. Kyle had been preparing her for a week now and Maria was already sick of these guys who called themselves ‘O-Town.’ She also had some personal problems to deal with, her main one being Geoff, of course. He had managed to make his way back into her bed, but she wouldn’t let him touch her in any way. Maria glanced at the bandage that was still around her hand. The burn had been worse than she had thought and an infection had developed, so she’d had to go to the doctor to have it looked at. She had been given an antibiotic and had to keep it wrapped for another week or until it no longer looked like Freddy Krueger’s hand. "We’re here," Kyle announced. Maria looked up and her eyes widened when she saw the house.

"Nice," she said, impressed. Kyle smiled as he pulled into the driveway and stopped the car. Maria sat, looking at the house, as Kyle got out and walked around to open her door for her. He grabbed a black briefcase from the back seat and waited until Maria joined him. She took off her sunglasses and smiled widely at him. "How’s this?" she asked. Kyle shook his head.

"Too fake. Just be yourself, Maria, and remember: don’t embarrass me," he told her as he started up the sidewalk to the front doors. Maria nodded and followed him.

Erik and Ashley were playing foosball when the doorbell rang. They looked at each other and ran out of the game room. Dan and Trevor looked up from their spot on the couch in the rec room where they were watching TV. Mike M. came in from the kitchen to answer the door. Mike C. was already sitting at the table waiting for the meeting to begin.

Mike M. opened the door with a smile. "Kyle, it’s good to see you again," he said as he shook the older man’s hand. Kyle smiled back.

"Same here," he said, and then turning, he introduced Maria. "Mike Morin, this is Maria Carpenter, a very talented young woman." Mike smiled and held out his hand.

"It’s a pleasure, Ms. Carpenter. Come in, please," he said as he moved aside for Maria to enter, followed by Kyle. Maria walked into a foyer and was surprised to see the pool immediately in front of her, enclosed in glass. To her left was another sitting room with a couch and a huge TV. Two guys stood up when she entered.

"Dan, Trevor, this is Kyle Walsh and Maria Carpenter. Kyle, Maria, meet Dan Miller and Trevor Penick, two fifths of O-Town," Mike said as they held out their hands to Kyle and Maria. Maria smiled as she shook their hands. Just then, two other guys came running into the room, skidding to a stop causing one to run into the back of the other. Maria immediately recognized the blonde and the ‘ethnic’ one as she had called him.

"Damn, Ashley. Don’t stop like that," Erik complained as he backed away from Ashley. Mike turned to them.

"Ashley, Erik, this is Maria Carpenter and Kyle Walsh," he said. Erik practically vaulted over the couch to go shake hands with Maria.

"It’s an honor to meet you," he said as he took her hand and actually kissed it. Maria frowned.

"I’m not exactly royalty here," she said. Erik smiled.

"You should be," he said. Maria had to refrain from rolling her eyes.

"Let’s all go to the table to discuss our business," Mike said as he led them to a long table where another blonde guy was sitting. He stood up.

"I’m Mike Cronin, O-Town’s other manager," he said with a Boston accent. Maria smiled as she shook his hand.

"Where’s Jake?" Mike M. then asked. Maria looked around, not realizing that there were only four members of the group present.

"I’m right here." Maria turned to see the missing band member enter the room. He looked right at her, but Maria felt like he was looking through her. It was a strange feeling. She recognized his eyes from the pictures that she had seen of him---he had very expressive, very blue eyes. Jacob had on jeans and a blue tee shirt. He also had a blue bandanna on his head, covering his hair, but Maria could see the dreads hanging at the nape of his neck.

"Jacob, this is Maria Carpenter and Kyle Walsh from Star Power magazine," Mike M. said. Jacob nodded and shook Kyle’s hand. He turned to Maria and took her hand, giving it an impersonal shake. He then went and sat down beside Erik, who hit him on the arm for some reason. Jacob just shook his head back at him. Maria was already confused. She sat down next to Mike C. Kyle sat on her other side and put his briefcase onto the table.

"I’m sorry for the confusion about who’s doing what. I have a job out of the country and immediately knew that this was a job for my second-in-command, Maria," Kyle said with a smile. "I appreciate you guys allowing Maria to accompany you on your radio tour. If she’s any trouble, just call and tell me and I’ll punish her accordingly." The guys all looked at Maria, who smirked.

"And he didn’t want me to embarrass him," she said.

"Well, we hope that the bus won’t be a problem," Mike M. said. Maria shrugged.

"It’s cool. Really. As long as I have someplace quiet to write, then it’s good," she said, as she pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I don’t expect a lot of privacy, but some would be nice. Don’t worry, though. I’ll let you know when I need my personal time." Maria looked from the Mikes to the group. She hated being stared at and knew that there were five pairs of probing, judging eyes on her. She looked at them, meeting their eyes with a direct look of her own. Erik was smiling, Ashley’s cheeks were flushed and he, too, had a small smile on his face. Trevor was grinning out of excitement, Maria guessed. Dan sat listening and nodding, his attention on the conversation. Jacob looked…bored. Maria had to smile at that. ‘He looks like how I feel about this whole assignment,’ she thought. She made eye contact with him and frowned slightly. His look seemed to be challenging her, but she wasn’t sure how. It was almost an, ‘I dare you to take this job and not go crazy,’ look.

Looking into Jacob’s intense, blue eyes, Maria, once again thought about his pictures in those teenybopper magazines. ‘They didn’t do this guy justice,’ she found herself thinking before she quickly looked away when she heard Kyle say her name.

"Maria?" She looked at Kyle.

"Yes?" she asked.

"I asked you if you needed any special equipment for the photo shoots. Pay attention," he said and Maria could tell that he was a little annoyed with her.

"Sorry, Kyle. Um…I don’t know yet. I’ll just take what I normally use for now. If I need anything, I’ll let them know," she said, indicating the Mikes. "I have some ideas for the group pictures, but as for the individuals, I want to get to know the guys a little better to see what I definitely want to do with them," she said, hoping she hadn’t sounded like she really wanted to get to know them, because she didn’t, really. But, it was necessary for the job.

"Okay. Do you have any questions for the guys right now?" Kyle asked. Maria cocked her head, thinking. What could she possibly ask these guys?

"Well, I hope that you guys don’t mind my coming with you. If I get too nosy, just tell me to shut up or go away and I’ll be happy to. I plan on just watching you, though, at first to see what you’re all about. For your information, I didn’t see the show that you had and I’ve never heard your music, so I’m going into this totally uninformed. My friend, Kathleen, told me a little bit about you, but she was too busy drooling over Ashley’s picture to really give any significant info." Maria smiled. Kathleen would kill her for that one. Ashley laughed.

"You have a friend? I wanna meet her…especially if she’s a fan. She’s not, like, thirteen or fourteen is she?" he asked. Maria shook her head.

"Nope. She’s twenty-two, like me," she said. The guys were surprised by her age. She looked older than twenty-two.

"Well, I’d like to meet her," Erik said. Trevor nodded.

"Any friends. Bring’em along. We don’t mind," he said with a grin.

"Actually, I’m just bringing Susan, my assistant, and Alex, a stylist for the magazine," Maria told them.

"We already have our own stylist," Jacob said. Maria looked at him. He had been quiet, just sitting there with his arms crossed over his chest. Kyle then spoke up.

"I thought that having a stylist who knew Maria would be easier," he said.

"I know what I want when it comes to taking the pictures and Alex is on my wavelength, so it’ll work out better," Maria added. Jacob just gave a slight nod of his head as if he was saying that it was okay for her to bring her own stylist. ‘Who does he think he is?’ Maria asked herself. They stared blankly at each other until Kyle dropped some forms in front of Maria. She frowned as she looked from the forms back to him.

"What are these?" she asked.

"One’s a contract that you have to sign and the rest are some rules and regulations that need to be followed," he replied.

"Oh, really? What kind of rules?" she asked. Kyle gave her a warning glance. Mike M. had what appeared to be a copy of the contract and the rules sheets in his hands.

"It’s nothing, really. Just some things that have to be followed while you’re traveling with the group," he said.

"Like what? Don’t touch?" Maria asked and looked up when Jacob laughed. "Do they get the same ‘rules’ sheet?" she asked, looking at Mike M.

"They know how to behave. Don’t worry," Mike C. answered. ‘They better,’ Maria thought.

"Well, if you don’t mind, I’ll just read these before I sign them," she said as she placed the papers neatly in a pile in front of her and looked at the Mikes stubbornly.

"Go right ahead," Mike M. said. "Just have them read and signed when you arrive on Friday." Maria nodded. Rules? Like she was some kind of child who didn’t know how to behave? Kyle glanced at Maria, noting how stiffly she was sitting. He knew that she was upset by the documents that she had just been handed. Making eye contact with her, she nodded for him to continue.

"Okay, let’s move on," Kyle said.

An hour later, their business was almost done. They had discussed how things would ultimately work. Maria would be allowed to stay with the band for a set number of hours a day. She would have access to them during those hours to talk to them and take notes for her article. The photo shoots were still up in the air and would be arranged as the trip went on. It was all very boring. Maria tried not to yawn and she was extremely restless. It was funny, she could stand behind a camera and set up a shot for the longest time, but she couldn’t just sit and listen to people talk. She just wanted to play it by ear. Let things happen as they happened. She wasn’t much into scheduling stuff. Trying to follow a schedule was too hectic. Maria preferred a less structured way of working.

Maria surveyed the room. It really was a nice house. A curvy staircase led to the upstairs. There was a landing with an iron railing running along it. The rooms that she had seen had looked very…roomy. Maria couldn’t help but want to see the rest of the house. She probably would in time.

Jacob watched Maria as she looked around. She was totally not into the business being discussed. She didn’t want this assignment. If Jacob hadn’t known it before, he knew it now. He wondered why she had accepted the assignment if she didn’t really want to do it. He was interested in seeing some of her pictures, though. Kyle Walsh seemed so high on her talent, Jacob was anxious to see some of it…but he wouldn’t ask her. He was still going to keep his distance.

Maria yawned and Jacob smiled. She was bored. He loved it. He wondered if the Mikes knew what they were getting into with this one. His train of thought then changed and he really looked at Maria. She was attractive; there was no doubt about it. She was not at all like Erik’s ‘geeky A/V’ type that he had thought she’d be. Her eyes were what drew him to her. They were an odd color, a bluish green, but very unusual. Her attitude, though, left something to be desired. Maria was stubborn and Jacob had the sense that she was trying to get it across to them that she would be the one in charge. She wasn’t even into their music---or them. How would she write an article on them? It would be interesting to see how she would pull it off. He switched his gaze from Maria Carpenter to Mike M., who was talking.

"So, that’s about it, unless anyone has anything to add," Mike said, looking around. Maria raised her hand like a good little girl.

"Yes, um, I have something to say," she said and looked at everyone before continuing. "Just so you boys know, I am serious about my work. When it comes to how the article is to be written and what the pictures are going to look like: you have little say. What I say goes, gentlemen. I believe in my work and I know what I’m doing, so don’t underestimate me." The guys all sat there in shock. Erik’s mouth was hanging open and Ashley reached over to close it for him. Erik slapped his hand away.

"Okay, Maria. That’s enough," Kyle warned. Maria stood up.

"Until Friday, then," she said with a smile as she turned and headed for the front door. Kyle gave the group and the Mikes apologetic looks before he followed her. Once they were outside, Kyle pulled Maria around to look at him.

"Don’t mess this up, Maria. It’s the best opportunity that you’ll ever have for a first article," he told her. Maria smiled.

"I don’t intend to mess anything up, Kyle. You’re too nervous. It’s not good for your health," she said as she walked to the Mercedes. Kyle just shook his head and followed her.

Inside, the group was still sitting in silence. Ashley ran his hands over his spiked hair.

"Well, she’s…interesting," he said. "Not to mention kinda pretty."

"Pretty? She’s beautiful, Ash," Erik said. "Are you blind?"

Jacob listened to his band mates’ observations and shook his head. They were doing what he knew they would: they were underestimating Maria Carpenter…and she had already warned them not to. They were so caught up in her looks that they were forgetting that she had a job to do and wasn’t going to be just hanging out with them during the trip. Jacob hoped that she wouldn’t prove to be a distraction for his band mates. He wasn’t worried about Dan, but the other three? Jacob sighed. It could turn out to be disastrous. Actually, it would be interesting to see how Maria handled the group. She claimed to be serious about her work. How serious? ‘Maybe this trip won’t be so bad after all,’ Jacob thought with a smile. They hadn’t even left yet and it was already kind of interesting.

*Author’s note: Hi, everyone. It’s strange to be writing a different story, but it’s fun too. Not that anyone has said anything, but I just wanted to say something about Janie here: I like her. I think, from what I’ve seen of her on MTB and from what Jacob’s said about her in interviews, that she is cool and I’m happy that she makes Jacob happy. But, for my story, I need Jacob unattached, so that’s why they break up. It’s a mutual decision and they’re still friends in the story, so it’s all good. I just wanted to say something about that. I totally support Jacob and Janie and am glad that they’re able to be together even with Jacob doing what he does. Anyway, I hope that you’re liking this story and remember: feedback is always welcome! Thanks!

~Maura (Carolyn)

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Chapter 3