Siobhan walked down the long hallway, her heels silent against the thick carpet. She cracked her gum loudly, looking around quickly to see if anyone heard her. She forgot she was being ‘professional Siobhan’. She found a trash can nearby and spit her gum out. She could almost hear Mike’s voice buzzing in her ear saying, “SPIT OUT THAT GUM!”
Siobhan rolled her eyes in annoyance, thinking about Mike bugging her about something new. She rounded the corner and began walking down another long hallway. She finally reached the place she was heading for, the dance studio.
Loud music blared out of the speakers and Siobhan sighed, not wanting to get a headache. She fixed her skirt and walked into the large room. She closed the door behind her and looked around for a seat. She found folded chairs propped along one wall and she crept to them, silently. She grabbed a chair and set it up in the corner, sitting down and crossing her legs.
Siobhan watched the five guys practicing their dance routine and studied them carefully. Their expressions were set in determination and their faces were covered in sweat. The way they hit the beats with their feet, stomping down roughly, or their hands, clapping along with the beat, made Siobhan notice the hard work they put into their performance. She crossed her arms and watched them. They had the stiff movements down pat and the dancing in general seemed natural to them, almost like it was another a form of walking they learned when they were younger.
“How the hell am I supposed to find something bad on these guys?” Siobhan mumbled to herself.
The music stopped and the room grew quiet. Siobhan looked up and noticed the guys spreading out and wiping the sweat off their brows. She sat up straight and seemed to transform again.
Justin bounced over to her, being the first one to spot her in the reflection of the mirror. “Hey Siobhan!” he greeted her.
“Hey...Justin, right?” she waved.
Justin bobbed his head up and down, “The one and only.”
Siobhan smiled weakly and looked past him at the other four guys. Lance was sitting against the mirror, watching the whole scene of the room. Joey and Chris were wrestling around on the ground, arguing playfully over something. JC was going over a certain dance move and Darren was watching him closely. Justin followed Siobhan’s gaze to the rest of the guys. He grinned and turned back around to face her.
“Don’t you need a notebook or something?” he asked curiously.
Siobhan looked up startled, “A notebook?” she asked.
Justin nodded his head, “Yeah something to take notes on.”
She smiled shyly, “I know what it is.”
Justin grinned, “Melinda carried around a notebook to jot down our personality traits when she first started off, until she got to know us better. I was just wondering where your notebook was.”
Siobhan looked at him weirdly, “I don’t need a notebook, I trust my memory.”
Justin shrugged, “Whatever suits you best.”
He spun around on his heels and walked over to Joey and Chris who were still wrestling.
“Well isn’t he Mr. Ego trip?” Siobhan mumbled to herself. She made a mental note about Justin and his cocky attitude. “Maybe this job won’t be as hard as I thought.”
Lance stood up and dusted himself off, wandering over to where she was sitting. He smiled warmly when she caught him making his way over. She smiled in return.
“Hello Miss Westing,” Lance said in a deep tone. “How’s your first day going so far?”
“All right, I’m still trying to get used to everything, I hope you don’t mind me down here,” she said in return.
“Not at all, I’m just warning you, you might be scarred for life.”
Siobhan looked up at him questioningly, “What do you mean by that?”
“Once you hang out with us and get to know the REAL us, there’s no way you can ever recover from all the damage,” he laughed lightly.
Siobhan looked at him, confused now.
Lance stopped laughing and bit his lip, “You’ll see what I mean eventually.” He blushed and waved a good-bye, walking towards the door.
Siobhan looked after him and narrowed her eyebrows in thought. “They’ve got a cocky one and a weird one...we’re getting off to a great start,” she mumbled to herself.
Joey and Chris had finally stopped wrestling and stood up, going their separate ways. Joey bounced over to Siobhan and landed right in front of her. Siobhan jumped from slight surprise and looked up at him.
“Your...Joey...right...?”
Joey nodded his head vigorously, “I’m cuter than Justin, remember to put that in my biography,” he grinned.
“I’ll try,” Siobhan said with a small smile.
“Are you having fun yet?” he asked, tilting his head to the side.
Siobhan shrugged, “Not that much, I’m hoping that that’ll change once I get to know you guys better.”
Joey grinned, “It will don’t worry, just wait until you go out with us.”
Siobhan looked up him, “Go out with you guys...?”
Joey nodded, “Of course, your the new girl and we need to take you out and show you a good time.”
Siobhan stared at him for a second and wondered if he was serious or not. His intentions seemed good, so she eventually shrugged and nodded in agreement.
Chris came sauntering over and waved. “Hey Chev.”
Siobhan raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you always make nicknames for people you hardly know?”
Chris grinned, “Ooohhh, she’s a feisty one, and to answer you question, yes I do.”
Siobhan couldn’t help but break into a smile, she liked this guy. He was snappy and sarcastic, yet had a sense of humor about everything. She was just like him.
“Just checking,” she smiled back.
“I thought I’d come over and save you in case Joey was feeding you any pick up lines,” Chris said, pointing to Joey casually.
“Well thank you for your concern but I’m afraid your too late, he already invited me out and I accepted,” she said.
Chris’ eyes widened, “You accepted? Are you on any medication?”
Joey punched Chris. Chris broke into laughter and Siobhan giggled.
“No I’m perfectly sane, but your making me feel a little mentally challenged the way you talk about Joey over her,” she said looking at Joey.
Joey grinned. Siobhan laughed.
“Do you want the truth...?” Chris asked.
Siobhan shook her head, “I don’t think I can handle it yet, maybe another time, until then let me think I’m normal for saying yes to Joey’s invitation.”
Chris grinned, “Yeah you’ll fit in just fine.”
Siobhan nodded her head once, “Why thank you for your approval your highness.”
Chris stuck his nose up in the air and held out his hand, “Yes...well...” he joked in a congested voice.
Siobhan giggled and Chris laughed. JC had started to make his way over to see what was so funny, as Justin followed him.
“And what’s so funny?” JC asked with a smile. “Surely not something Chris said.”
Chris shot him a look and narrowed his eyebrows challengingly.
Siobhan laughed, “God you guys are brutal.”
They all grinned in response.
“We’ll pull you into it eventually,” Justin grinned.
“I look forward to it,” Siobhan replied. She looked around and noticed Darren had left, “So what do you guys do now?”
They looked around and shrugged.
“Where’s Lance? He’s our talking agenda,” JC said, looking around.
“He headed for the door last time I saw him,” Siobhan said, pointing towards the door.
A few minutes later Lance walked in and found everyone staring at him. “What?” he shrugged. “I didn’t know I was that important for you all to wait for my return from the bathroom.”
They all turned back around and ignored him.
“I was just kidding!” Lance yelled out. He laughed, “Seriously, why where you all looking at me when I walked back in?” he asked, jogging over to them.
Everyone turned back around to look at him and laughed.
“We were just talking about you,” Chris said nonchalantly.
“Saying...what...?” Lance asked uneasily.
“We were just about to tell Chev over here about how you were a Dalmatian and used to sing,” Chris said with a mischievous grin.
Siobhan looked up at Lance as he blushed. “You were a what?” she asked.
“No need to bring that up right now,” Lance mumbled, pushing Chris playfully.
“Hey Poofoo what are we doing today?” Joey asked.
Lance shot him a look.
“Who’s Poofoo? WHAT is a Poofoo?” Siobhan asked, looking back and forth at the guys, thoroughly confused.
Lance shook his head, “A bad nickname that I would like to forget.”
Siobhan stared at him for a second before shrugging her shoulders and nodding her head. “Fair enough, but remember I’ll end up finding out anyway, I’m going to be spending the next two months with you.”
Lance smiled weakly, “I look forward to it.”
Siobhan walked through the carpeted hallway once again, heading towards her office. She had a few mental notes she would like to write down before she forgot them. She swung around the corner and quickened her pace. She finally reached her office and shut the door behind her.
She sat down at her desk and pulled out a piece of gum. She popped the gum into her mouth and started to chew at a rapid pace to get it soft and bubble blowing material. Once she got it just right, she slowed down her chewing pace and blew a big bubble, cracking it loudly.
She smiled satisfied and turned on her laptop that was set up at her desk. She opened a new document and placed her fingers on the keys. She thought about the dance studio scene and began typing away.
A knock on her door brought her out of her thoughts and she looked up. She didn’t respond, expecting someone to just walk into her office like Mike always did. When they knocked again, louder this time, she responded.
“Come in.”
The door opened slowly and a head peeked into the room. JC looked over to Siobhan’s desk and smiled.
“Sorry...if your in the middle of something, then I’ll come back later,” he said, starting to duck his head back out the door.
“No!” Siobhan called out.
Her gum made her voice muffled and JC poked his head back in and looked at her with amusement. She blushed and leaned over, spitting her gum out into the trash can. When she sat back up JC was standing in the door way with a soft smile.
“I was just seeing if you were settled in here all right,” he said shyly, looking down at the floor.
Siobhan smiled, “Yeah everything is fine, sit down please,” she said motioning at the chair in front of her desk.
JC hesitated for a second before walking over to the chair and sitting down. He cleared his throat nervously and shifted in his seat a few times before he finally settled down.
“I was wondering...maybe you could help me out,” Siobhan said innocently.
JC raised an eyebrow, “And how would I be able to do that?”
“Well I need to write a biography on all of you guys, but I don’t know you too well yet so I need a little help with all your personality traits,” Siobhan explained.
JC nodded his head and didn’t say anything.
“So,” Siobhan continued. “I thought maybe you could tell me a little bit about your friends.”
JC smiled warmly, “What would you like to know?”
“Secrets,” Siobhan thought to herself. She smiled and looked over at him, “Anything your willing to tell me.”
JC leaned back comfortably. “Well...” he began, in thought. “To tell you the truth, I can’t really tell you anything.”
Siobhan narrowed her eyebrows, “What do you mean?”
“The other four guys are indescribable, you have to hang around them and you’ll pick up their personality traits. You’ll notice a lot more things about them then I could ever tell you on your own, eventually they’ll just grow on you and you’ll be able to write your biography with no trouble.”
Siobhan nodded her head, he wasn’t cooperating. “I see.”
JC smiled, “You’ll be spending enough time with us, I’m sure you’ll find out everything you need.”
Siobhan’s eyes darted over to his again, “Everything...I need...?”
JC nodded his head, “Yeah for that biography you have to type up.”
Siobhan snapped out of her thoughts, “Oh...yeah...that...”
JC looked at her curiously and she blushed.
“I just don’t know where to start, that’s all,” she mumbled.
“A good place to start is...” JC trailed off.
Siobhan leaned into her desk, as if to hear him better. “Is...” she echoed.
“Is during our free time,” JC finished.
Siobhan leaned back. “And what do you do that’s so great during your free time?” she asked blandly.
JC stood up and leaned over her desk, then replied in a low tone, “We have fun.” He walked towards the door and paused when he reached it. “Talk to you later Miss Westing,” he said with a small mischievous grin.
He walked out the door and shut it behind him. Siobhan was left speechless, mouth slightly hanging open. She stared at the door JC had just walked out of and wondered what he had meant by that last comment. A smile crept across her face and she twirled around in her chair.
“Maybe these guys have a lot more to them than I thought,” she said, gazing out the window view.
JC walked down the long hallway and chuckled to himself. He knew he shouldn’t have said that to Siobhan, but it was just to easy and he felt like having a little fun. She was young, ambitious, and to say the least, very attractive in his opinion. He knew she would eventually learn all the guys’ ways and their practical jokes, but she seemed so uptight about everything, he intended to change that about her.
If she wanted to get any work done, she would have to hang around them. Adapt to their schedule and their lives. But she would also have to learn how to loosen up and have a little fun. JC planned on teaching her all of this, but with time. Otherwise in his over all opinion, he really liked her.
JC walked around the corner and down another hallway, heading for the recording studio. He reached it in no time and strolled in, five minutes early. Lance was already there, talking on his cell phone. Chris, Joey, and Justin were missing, but that wasn’t a big surprise to JC. “Probably off making some sort of trouble,” JC mumbled to himself.
JC sat down in a swivel chair and scooted it up to the control panel. He searched all the buttons and switches and smiled with satisfaction. He loved the recording studio. He would probably live his life in there if he didn’t have a schedule to uphold. He ran his hand down the outline of the panel and felt his stomach do a flip. He lived for music.
Lance clicked off his cell phone and sat down beside JC. “Don’t get too happy C, it’s only a control panel,” he joked.
JC smiled, “I know what it is.”
Lance grinned, “Where’s the new girl?”
“She has a name you know,” JC said, looking over at him.
“Ooohh, getting a little defensive are we?” Lance asked slyly.
“No,” JC said defensively. “I was just saying--”
Lance nodded his head and smiled smugly. “Hey no need to explain to me, it’s whatever you say,” he cut in.
JC sighed. “To answer your question though, she’s in her office because I just stopped by there,” JC said casually.
Lance grinned and nudge JC’s elbow. “Really?” he asked, raising an eyebrow.
“I don’t know what your thinking Lance and quite frankly I don’t want to know,” JC said, ignoring his nudges.
Lance smiled innocently, “I’m not thinking anything bad, my momma taught me manners and I keep those lessons with me to this day.”
JC raised an eyebrow and looked over at Lance, who was smiling. “I don’t know, I think all you Mississipian’s look innocent, but underneath your really not what you seem.”
Lance smiled, “I guess us Mississippian’s will be the only ones to ever know that huh?”
Before JC could say something in response, Justin, Joey, and Chris came bounding into the room. JC and Lance to look up curiously. The three of them beamed brightly and made their way over to the other two sitting down.
Lance sighed and looked at his watch, “You guys are ten minutes late.”
Justin rolled his eyes, “God you sound like JC when you talk like that.” JC shot him a look and Justin grinned. “I meant that in the nicest way possible,” he smiled sweetly.
JC shook his head and looked away.
“All right guys is everyone present?” Allen, their producer asked.
They nodded their heads in unison and stood up to head into the sound booth. They piled into the room and the door was shut behind them. They made their way over to the stand which held their lyrics and headsets. They each placed their headsets on their heads and waited for Allen to come on and give them instructions.
Siobhan chewed noisily on her new and fresh piece of gum. She spun around in her chair once more and placed her fingers on the computer keys. She paused for a second and waited for ideas to come to her head to write down. She sighed, frustrated, when none came. She slammed her fist down on her desk gently and let out a frustrated grunt.
“Why can’t I think of anything?” she asked out loud.
The phone rang and made her jump out of her seat.
“Hello?”
“Si, how’s it going?” a familiar voice asked into the phone.
Siobhan pulled her gum out of her mouth and started twirling it around her finger. She leaned back in her chair and sighed. “This is next to impossible to find something on these guys,” she whined.
“Is anyone around you?” Mike asked sharply.
“No DADDY, I’m not stupid you know,” Siobhan replied sarcastically.
Mike sighed exasperated, “You realize if you blow your cover and we get caught, our careers are over.”
“Then why the hell did you send me on this mission if you knew that?” Siobhan asked, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
“Because if we pull this off and get some good stuff, then we’ll go down in writer’s history!” Mike exclaimed.
Siobhan shook her, “Your sad you know that Mike? You should get out more.”
“Thank you for your input, though it wasn’t needed,” Mike replied dryly. “Now what’s wrong?”
“What the hell am I supposed to hurt them with? They all have perfect back rounds and lives,” Siobhan complained.
“You’ve only been there for a day,” Mike said. “Give it some time.”
Siobhan sighed, “I want to come home.”
“Si, don’t do this to me,” Mike warned.
“Do what?” she asked, acting oblivious.
“Si...come ON,” Mike said, exasperated. “Stop acting like a five year old, where are the guys now?”
Siobhan looked down at the piece of paper on her desk, in front of her, that listed the guy’s schedule for the day. She scanned the paper and checked the time.
“They should be down at the recording studio,” she replied, cracking her gum into the phone.
“Well then quit whining, spit OUT the gum, and get your ass down there,” Mike said roughly. “Damnit Si, do I have to tell you how to do EVERYTHING?”
“No, but since you do, please leave how to be PRICK out of my daily lessons,” Siobhan said with an attitude. “Well your MAJESTY, I’m off to fulfill my slave-like duties and meet all of your demands.”
“Si...” Mike cut in before she could hang up.
“What.”
“Don’t blow this for me...and spit out--”
Click. She hung up on him. She was so sick of him always complaining about something she didn’t do well enough for his standards.
“How did I pick up this loser?” she asked herself.
She didn’t know the answer to that question. She shrugged and picked up a small notebook, just in case. She straightened her skirt and spit out her gum. She walked over to the door and walked out, heading for the recording studio.
Mike slammed the phone down in frustration. “I hate it when she does that!” He leaned back in his chair and took a deep breath to calm himself. “She needs to get her act together and stop being so damn careless,” he mumbled to himself. “She’s probably the best damn writer I’ve ever met, but her attitude and childlike behavior makes me want to take her to day care and have someone else put up with her childish ways.”
Mike sighed and rubbed his temples. He said a silent prayer that Siobhan would be able to pull this off, if she was this antsy and clueless on her first day, he might have to pull her out of the assignment early. He hope he didn’t have to do that, because then he would increase his chances of being caught. He couldn’t afford that, his CAREER couldn’t afford that.
He was going to get this in depth article about *N SYNC and he was going to get all to credit for it, Siobhan was just his play piece. His first pawn had just been moved, with enough concentration and patience, he would win the game and go down in writer’s history.
Siobhan made it to the recording studio and tried to calm her nerves from her phone conversation with Mike. She hated the way he always bossed her around, but for some reason she put up with it. She wasn’t really sure why, but she did.
Siobhan walked into the recording studio and looked over to find all the guys standing in the sound booth, deep in concentration. She took a seat off to the side and opened her notebook to a fresh piece of paper.
She crossed her legs and watched the guys, listening to them sing. Their voices seemed to blend perfectly, almost in a soothing like manner. She listened carefully to the way their voices escaped their mouths, passion dripping off each and every note. Their eyes were always tightly shut when they sang, tilting their heads to the side, while singing their hearts out. Their hands moved in faint gestures, almost as if pushing the music around them in the air, trying to shape it with their hands.
Siobhan got trapped in their smooth melodies and had to shake her head to snap herself out of her thoughts.
“Great,” she muttered to herself. “They have talent, one more thing down, how many more things do they have that are perfect?”
The music stopped suddenly and she shut her mouth, looking up to see if anyone had seen her talking to herself, or more importantly heard her. When she had discovered she hadn’t been spotted or heard she let out a sigh of relief.
She watched the guys move around in the sound booth, either stretching or looking over the lyrics. She heard JC’s voice repeat a note, humming it softly, trying to hit it just right.
“I can’t seem to get that one part,” JC said gently into the microphone.
“Which one?” Allen, the producer, asked.
“The part where it goes up, then falls, and then blends,” JC said, trying to describe the part he was talking about.
“You want to try it again?” Allen asked.
JC nodded his head, “Give me a minute though.”
JC closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The opened his mouth and sang softly. The other guys watched him and listened intently to hear what he was having trouble with.
“C, when you go up, your going really strong,” Justin said, after JC finished singing. “If you go up strong, you have to come down strong. Your going up strong and coming down softly, it’s throwing the whole thing off.”
JC nodded his head and snapped his fingers to the rhythm he wanted. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to sing again. This time he built his voice up to the note and hit the peak perfectly. He then slowly lowered his voice, using the same intensity he used going up, blending it perfectly into the note he wanted. When he was finished he opened his eyes and smiled.
“You got it,” Justin smiled.
JC nodded his head and turned to Allen, “All right let’s try that again.”
Allen nodded his head and fiddled with a few controls before pointing to the guys. They all nodded their heads and waited for the part, picking up from the middle of the song. They built up to JC’s part and he sang beautifully, hitting his notes perfectly and bringing them down gracefully.
They completed the part and they all stopped singing. They opened their eyes and looked around at each other, patting each other on the back and smiling.
Siobhan watched them carefully, their friendship seemed unbreakable and she envied that. The loyalty and support they had for each other, showed through that small scene and Siobhan wondered how she was going to complete this task. Seeing their strong bond made her even more determined to find something on them. She was going to write this article and it was going to be the best damn article she had even written. No one was going to stop her either.
Siobhan walked into her half empty apartment and dropped her belongings by the door. She walked into the kitchen and fixed herself a drink. She walked back into her bedroom and searched through her suitcase, still half way packed. She found her pajama pants and a comfortable T-shirt, changing into them.
She walked back out into the living room and back to the kitchen. She grabbed her drink and walked back into the living room, settling herself down on the couch. She snuggled deeply into the couch and flipped on the T.V. She flipped through all the stations, finally settling on a sitcom.
Siobhan took a small sip of her drink and leaned back, closing her eyes tiredly. Her first day had been a long day and her head hurt from the writers block she was having, not to mention the lack of information she was collecting. She needed dirt on these guys and she needed it quickly.
She sighed heavily and opened her eyes, sitting back up. She continued to sip at her drink slowly, relaxing herself. She rubbed her eyes and she suddenly became overcome with fatigue. She placed her drink on her coffee table and her eyes fell shut slowly. Before she knew it she was asleep.
“Siobhan writing is not what you want to do!” the elder man thundered loudly.
“How would you know!?” she argued, fighting back all her tears.
“It’s not going to guarantee you anything! Become something useful, don’t become a writer it’ll only bring you down,” the man boomed.
Siobhan shuddered from the loudness in her father’s voice and the power it had. She bit her lip and refused to cry in front of this authoritative figure, there was no way she would be brought down to her knees with this subject. She knew what she wanted and she wasn’t going to let him control that part of her life too, she was determined to fulfill her dream.
“You can’t control me anymore!” she cried out angrily.
“Watch me young lady!”
“NO! I refuse you to let me, I’m going to become a writer and I’m going to be a damn good one!” she yelled. She took a deep breath and gritted her teeth, “If you don’t approve then that’s too bad.”
“If you become a writer, then I never had a daughter,” he man said in a chill making tone.
Siobhan couldn’t believe he had just uttered those words. She took a deep breath and held her head up high.
“Well then you don’t have a daughter anymore, good-bye Mr. Westing,” she replied, walking towards the front door.
Her father stiffened up and didn’t respond. Siobhan walked out the front door and slammed it loudly. Once she was outside she fell to the ground, crying. She had just walked out of her house, threatening to never speak to her father anymore and he hadn’t stopped her. Siobhan cried and cried, finally picking herself up. She walked over to her car and climbed in.
“I don’t need you anyway,” she muttered to herself, wiping her tears away. “You just watch dad, I’m going to make you wish you believed in me.”
With that she started up her car and pulled out of the driveway. She took one last glance at her mansion, her home, and turned onto the quiet road with a loud squeal of her tires. She sped down the street, leaving her past behind her for good.
