". . .And with Grammys just around the corner, these fellas had better keep their guard up if they want to recieve any awards," Carson Daly announced, his voice blaring from the small television set in Max's office. Beezus had always desliked Carson because of his fake smile and phony laugh. "With all of these new boy bands introducing themselves, older groups like the Backstreet Boys and NSYNC had better watch out. Especially since several bands, such as LFO, 98 Degrees, and BBMak just having released new albums, and 98 Degrees' going platinum this past week. Now that Grammy news is over, let's have a peek at what the five members of NSYNC have been up to lately. I am pleased to present, for the first time anywhere, their newest music video." The image of Carson on his set faded out, and a black screen replaced it. Beezus read the small white lettering as it appeared carefully, and her jaw dropped.
"Dedicated to my very good friend at Jive, Beatrice, with much love. . .What the fuck is going on here? Aw, shit, there is no way! He cannot be serious!" she yelped, jumping off the couch quickly. "Max!" She raced out into the hallway, pouncing on her uncle as he arrived in front of the door. "Max, please tell me that dedication was not for real! It was a joke, right? Please tell me it was a joke!"
"What dedication?" he asked. "Trish, what are you talking about?" The confused expression in his eyes reminded her of a dog that had just been faked out with his favorite toy. He glanced at the tv and smile, pointing proudly. "They helped write that, you know. That's a huge leap from their sophomore album." Beezus snapped, frustration and anger spilling over.
"I don't give a rat's ass, Max! I don't care about the album, or the song, or the video, or anything! Max, I just want to know who made that damn dedication they ran before this aired?!" she cried. Her mind was racing, considering the possiblities as an alarming rate. There was one way to find out for sure, her fool-proof plan for solving any mystery. Bully people into giving information.
"I wasn't aware of any dedications for this video," he answered. "Though I'm not usually the one they call for this sort of thing. Well, I do know that they dedicated Space Cowboy to Minerva, Justin's defunct girlfriend, as of last April. Sorry I can't help you out with this one, Trish."
"No, it's fine." She calmly walked out of the room, collecting herself and carefully running over a plan of what she would have to do.
An hour later, she had interviewed the four logical fifths of NSYNC--without luck. Lance hadn't a clue what she had been talking about, and left the room when she flung a plate that had ended up shattering upon impact with the wall. Joey had been a problem, he had avoided answering the question until she physically threatened him. Chris had been nice about denying it, and had hurried off to join his mother for lunch. That left JC, who she saught out after lunch. He had proceeded to carry on a lengthy conversation after politely denying any interest in her, and rambled on about the life spans of pop groups in the decade.
Defeated, Beezus had returned to the practice studios to work on her song.