"Ummm...why are we here again?," The tall, brunette asked her shorter friend as they walked through the winding hallways.
"Duh! Geez, you are SO incredibly absentminded sometimes!," The shorter, blonde exclaimed.
"Big word for ya there Claire."
"Bite me, please."
The brunette grinned, "Nah, you might enjoy that."
The blonde, Claire, punched her friend in the arm, "You shoulda been born a guy, I swear!"
"Ugh! I resent that! I kinda like being a girl!"
"Ok, okay...anyways..sooo..where are we supposed to meet him Alexa?"
The brunette, Alexa, shrugged, "I don't know..he never said...He just said to come here."
"Ugh! Alexa!!"
"What?! It's not like this is my idea of fun Claire, I don't even know who these people are...except for the whole thing you gave me on the way over here. Jason's favorite color is orange??"
"There is no Jason; it's Justin, and his favorite color is baby blue!!"
"Okay, okay..sorry. Don't get all bent out of shape...geez."
Claire sighed, "I just...I'm tryin' to stay calm here..ya know?"
"I know..I know..look, let's find a payphone and I'll call him..."
Claire nodded, "Sounds like a plan."
The two girls walked around for a little while longer. Not a payphone in sight. Alexa rolled her eyes as Claire stopped and dramatically sighed, "I can NOT believe this...we can't even find a friggen payphone, let alone your brother!"
"Claire, just calm down...Look, stay here, I'll go look around that corner and come back..if you see my brother, grab him..k?"
"Alright..hurry."
"I will."
Alexa turned and walked in the other direction around the corner. She wasn't paying attention (as usual) and ran smack into something warm and hard as a rock. She was on the ground in an instant, a tad dazed. "Shit, I didn't even see you coming..are you okay?," A deep voice asked.
Alexa nodded, "Yeah..I think so..I'm sorry, I wasn't paying attention, like always. I didn't hurt you did I?"
He helped her up, "Nah, you sure you're okay?"
She nodded again and was looking behind him, "Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.."
He looked behind him as well, wondering what she was looking for. "Ummm...then why do you look like you're being followed?"
"Huh? Ohh! No, I'm not being FOLLOWED! I was looking for a payphone so I could call someone but I can't seem to find one.."
"Well, you're like way far away from a payphone, those are on the other side I think..."
"Oh..really?"
"But hey, since we literally just ran into each other, you can use my cell...is it local?"
"Yea...I'm looking for my brother, actually, he works here somewhere and me and my friend are supposed to meet him but I can't remember where..but that's okay..really.."
"Come on, think of it as to make up for me running into you.."
Alexa sighed, "But I ran into you....Oh nevermind, I'll be on it for like 2 seconds..promise."
He grinned, "No problem.."
She was on the phone for a few seconds, hung up, and gave it back to him, "Thank you so much, you saved me and my friend some walkin'...so thanks...what's your name?"
"Joey."
"Well, thank you Joey.."
"You're welcome.....now, since I told ya mine, what's yours?"
"Alexa."
Joey grinned, "Well it was very nice running into you Alexa, and you're welcome for using my phone."
"I better get back to my friend...see ya around."
He watched as she disappeared around the corner, grinning. 'Nice...very very nice.,' He thought as he continued through the doors he was supposed to go through to meet his bandmates.
Alexa walked back to Claire, who was waiting impatiently. "About time! I thought you'd gotten lost or something..did you find a payphone?"
"Well...I kinda ran into this guy...."
"Alexa!"
"What?! Let me finish Claire, geez! Anyways, as I was saying, I ran into this guy like literally and he ended up letting me use his cell phone. Dan should be here in a minute to meet us.."
"Good...was he cute?"
"Claire, you know he's my brother, I can't exactly judge his looks.."
"Not Dan! The guy!"
"Ohhh! Him! He was kinda cute..kinda..flirty, ya know? He had some red hair goin' on though..a tad freaky but he seemed nice."
Both were quiet as they waited for Alexa's brother, Dan, to meet them. Then suddenly, Claire smacked Alexa in the arm and let out a shriek. Alexa grabbed her arm and scowled at her friend, "Hey! What the hell was that for?!"
"Did you say he had red hair???"
"Yeah.."
"Did he tell you his name??"
Alexa nodded, "Yeah..Joey.."
"OHHHHHH MY GOD!!!," Claire shrieked again.
Alexa just looked at her as if she had just grown another head. "Are you okay Claire?"
"You really don't listen to N'Sync, do you?"
"No...you know that.."
"Did he look in the least bit familar to you?!"
Alexa thought for a moment, "Ohhh! Was it that guy Joe from the cafeteria that's always tryin' to hit on you??"
"Ugh! You are so stupid sometimes!! No!"
"Hey! I am not!"
"Anyways...his name is Joey and he has red hair...what else did he tell you?"
"Well I didn't exactly know me and him were playing the dating game so I didn't exactly get around to asking about where he'd like to have the honeymoon and how many kids he wanted Claire. Get to the point!"
"Rome and 2.," A familar (to Alexa) male voice said from behind her.
She turned around, "What? Ohhh..ummm...didn't mean it like that.."
He grinned, "S'okay..just heard the end of the convo. Are you the two that Dan is looking for?"
Alexa nodded, "Yeah..where's he at?"
"Inside, come on.."
Claire grabbed Alexa's arm, "Do you know who that IS?!"
"No....who?"
"Joey!"
"Umm..no, really Claire? He told me his name!"
"Alexa!! That's Joey Fatone, as in Joey from N'Sync!!! You ran into a guy from one of the world's famous groups!!"
"Ok..so?"
"How can you NOT be freaking out about this?!"
"He's a normal guy Claire, I'm sure he doesn't want two girls fawning all over him like he's an Adonis or something..."
"Oh my God...the other guys must be in there too!"
"Are you two coming??"
Alexa nodded, "Yeah..umm..hold on just a second...," She said before turning back to her friend, "Claire! Calm down!! Freak out when we get home later!"
"I think I'm gonna throw up."
"You say that all the time and it's never happened so it's not going to happen now...come on.."
She practically had to drag Claire to catch up with Joey. He smiled and held the door open for them both. Dan, Alexa's brother spotted them, and came over. "About time!"
"Sorry! I forgot where you told us to meet you.."
He grinned, "It's okay..come here girl."
Alexa hopped into his arms and hugged him tightly, she hadn't seen him in a long time. Joey turned to Claire, who had the 'deer caught in headlights' look down pat. He smiled, "I'm Joey, you must be Claire."
"Umm..umm..yeah..I'm Claire."
He shook her hand, "It's okay Claire, we're not gonna break if you talk to us, I promise. There's no need to be nervous."
After that, Claire visibly relaxed.
Dan was working security for N'Sync's tour and now that they were in Orlando, their hometown, he took that opprutunity to invite his sister and her friend to come down before the show and meet the guys. "Hey Joe, I gotta go meet up with Lonnie, take care of the girls?"
Joey nodded and smiled, "Sure.."
"Where should we meet you before the show Dan?," Alexa asked.
"Umm..Joey, just bring them to the catering area, k?"
Joey nodded once more, "Sure no problem."
Dan left and the girls were now left with Joey. "So..how old are you two?"
"I'm 19.," Claire responded.
"I'm 20..," Alexa said.
"Cool..you both live here?"
They both nodded. "Go to school?"
Once again, they both nodded. He grinned, "Do you live together too?"
"No!"
Alexa grimaced, "Oh hell no! We'd kill each other!"
Claire laughed, "That is SO the truth. I live in the dorm and Alexa lives off-campus in an apartment."
"Ohh that's cool...well, how about I go introduce you to the others? Sound cool?"
"For Claire maybe."
"Alexa!"
She laughed, "I was joking!"
"Not."
"Anyways...you see, Claire's the big pop music fan..I'm more into..rap and hip-hop.."
"Ohhhh well that's cool.."
"Yea..in Alexa's car all she plays is Tupac and DMX and stuff like that.."
"I have Destiny's Child, thank you.."
"Anyways...," Claire said.
They arrived backstage and Claire began to get nervous again. Alexa was always the calm, cool, and collected one. She exuded confidence, but it wasn't arrogance, it was in herself. Although, Alexa didn't see it sometimes, but she was a very strong person. Alexa smiled at her as Joey left them to go find the other guys. "It's okay Claire..really."
She sighed, "I know, I know. I try to keep telling myself that they're just normal guys with an abnormal job..but it's soo hard!"
"I know..but hey, look how normal Joey turned out to be, he doesn't seem to have a mean bone in his body."
"True..God, how can you be so calm?"
Alexa shrugged, "I don't know..maybe it's because I don't really..ya know, like them, like you do...I mean, if it was like DMX or Eminem, I'd be freaking."
"Thanks for coming with me Alexa..I appreciate it."
"No prob. girl.."
The door opened and Joey reappeared, this time joined by three other guys. They were introduced as JC, Lance, and Chris and all seemed very nice and down to Earth. "I thought there were five of you..," Alexa said.
She didn't miss the grimace JC tried to hold back and he smiled, but weakly, "There are, that's Justin, our youngest member. He's not feeling so good so we figured it was best that he rest till the show.."
She nodded, "Ohhhhh..thought I'd ask..."
And so, that was their first meeting with N'Sync.
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