Chapter 1- Once apon a time....

There can be miracles,

When you believe.

Tho hope is frail, its hard to kill.

Who knows what miracles you can achieve?

When you believe, somehow you will.

You will when you believe.

~Chapter one~

Breathe Rachel, just breathe. You can do this. There is nothing to freak out about. This is only the single most important audition you’ve ever had. If you blow it, there will probably never get a chance like this again. This could be your big break. Great, no pressure.

The highly stressed eighteen year old sighed and reached for her cd player. She studied her reflection in the shiny elevator doors for a moment. She had on her favorite platform sandals, black pants that fit her tightly enough to look good without being trashy, and a blue green tank top that complimented her striking eyes.

She got into the elevator and turned on her Walkman. Since there were a few people in there with her, she continued to think quietly to herself.

Her eyes were her most attractive feature. She was lucky enough to have long eyelashes, so she almost never wore mascara. She smiled at her reflection. She had spent 3 hours getting ready, but it had definitely paid off. She had transformed her frizzy brown hair into a sleek, stylish updo that showed off her golden highlights. All the years of braces had definitely paid off, and she was left with a perfect smile. People always noticed and complemented her beautiful blue eyes, but lately she had been grabbing their attention even more. She didn’t look any different then she had last year, but there were changes on the inside, and they shone through. Her newfound self confidence was through the roof, and it seemed to draw people to her. It was true what they said, confidence is the sexiest accessory a girl can have. She had always wanted to act, but now more then ever she was determined to make it. She was ready. She knew she was destined for the spotlight. It was just meant to be that way. It was fate.

Fate only goes so far, hun. If you screw this up, you may not get another chance. Ok time to think positive. inhale, exhale.

However, in the past few years she had done some growing up. Over the summer she had gotten a tan, gotten taller, and finally taken control of her hair. In this outfit, it was apparent that she did have a rather nice figure. She was amazed at people’s reactions when school had started again. She had always looked forward to senior year, and she couldn’t have chosen a better start for it. Everyone was surprised to say the least. A few guys had come up to hit on her, and when they realized who it was their jaws dropped. It had been a wonderful experience for her. She smiled when she remembered the look on Brian’s face when she had returned from her trip to Hawaii. “Damn girl, look at you. When did you turn into a super model ?”.

Just then the elevator stopped and opened its doors, snapping her out of her daze. She was overcome by anxiousness and quickly turned her cd to the last song, Do Your Thing. It wasn’t her favorite song, but it never failed to pump her up. She realized that everyone had exited the elevator, so she began to sing out loud. Soon she had blocked everything out and was aware only of the song encouraging her.

"believe can’t nobody do it better than you! believe can’t nobody do it better than you! Do your thing!”

She was so caught up in the song she never realized someone had gotten into the elevator with her and was trying hard not to laugh.

“Do your thing, thing girl!”

A hand tapped her on the shoulder, “um, excuse me.” came a deep masculine voice.

“o my god!” she jumped about a foot in the air and dropped her cd player, and it fell to the floor of the elevator. “Damn, you scared me.” Her breathing slowed to normal and she leaned over to grab her cd player. she looked past it and saw a pair of boots, followed by brown leather pants, and a white turtle neck. Her eyes continued up to find a hint of a goatee, a bright, gentle smile, green eyes that were laughing and concerned at the same time, and finally striking blonde hair that was meticulously tousled. Her first thought was how amazingly beautiful he was. Then it dawned on her exactly who it was, and she wanted to just lay down and die right there.

“Are you ok? I didn’t mean to startle you.”

“I’m allright. “

“I’m Lance Bass by the way.”

“Rachel McKinnley.” she shook his outstretched hand. She was shocked by his politeness. He was all southern hospitality.“I know who you are.”

“ I love what you’ve done with the song. Maybe you could guest on our new CD.”

She laughed. “ Right. I was completely off key. You should sue me for mangling your song so badly.”

“I’ll look into it. “ His smile lit up the room, and it was infectious. She couldn’t help smiling along with him. She was still nervous about he audition. Actually, petrified is probably a better word. But for the moment his smile erased her fears, and she was greatful for that.

Just then the elevator stopped. “This is me. Nice meeting you.”

“Actually, I get off here too. Come on, I’ll walk you to the audition.”

“How did you know about that? Are you auditioning? O my god, wait a minute, are you holding the auditions?”

“You got it.” He had to smile at he shocked face. “ I’m sure you’ll do great. I guess I’ll be seeing you.”

With that he turned and walked down the hall into the conference room that was being used to hold auditions.

Great. This is going to be even harder then I thought. And I’ve already made a fool of myself in front of him. Not one of my finer moments. Could this day get any worse?

She was called in about 20 minutes later. She took a deep breath, worked up her courage, pulled open the door, and breezed inside. Here goes nothing. She sat down and saw 10 pairs of eyes starring at her. She ran a hand nervously through her hair. Her eyes caught Lances and he gave her an encouraging wink. She smiled and began the longest audition of her life. By the end she was totally exhausted. She had put all the passion and emotion she could into he monologue, and tried to answer all their questions cheerfully and with assurance. All while trying to fight off the growing nervousness she felt. She had never had stage fright in her life, but auditions terrified her. She shook everyone’s hand and thanked them before leaving. One of them stopped her.

“I would just like to tell you what an excellent job you did. I have never seen a more heartfelt monologue.”

“I have to agree with him. You were great,” a familiar deep voice added.

“Well thank you both very much. I’m glad you feel that way.” She strode out of the room. As soon as the door closed behind her she collapsed against it.

O my god, that was the scariest thing I have ever done. Now all I can do is wait and hope for the best.

She immediately pulled out her cell phone and dialed a number so familiar that she didn’t even have to think about it. The phone rang twice. Come on Erika, pick up. Finally there was a voice at the other end.

“Hey hun. Yea....My nerves are shot.......mhmm, yea....I actually think I did really well actually....you won’t believe how I managed to embarrass myself on the way there though.....ok, lunch sounds so good right now.....I can be there in about an hour..... Call Liz and Elyssa for me....uhuh....i swear....every last detail......later girl.”

An hour later she arrived at the silver diner in the Kentlands. They spent a lot of time here, mainly because it was across the street from The Edge, the hottest club in town. She saw her friends had already grabbed a table so she plopped herself down in the booth next to a slightly blonder girl who was about the same height as she was. “ Hi you guys. I’m so incredibly exhausted. Plus I’m super hungry. Where's the food at? Liz, you gotta scoot in some.”

“Its amazing how you are still perky even when you are exhausted.” remarked Elyssa.

“So, what did you do to embarrass yourself at the audition?” Erika chimed in.

“Lemme guess, you walked into the door on the way out!”

“Thanks Liz, your vote of confidence is overwhelming.”

All four of them shared the same sarcastic sense of humor. It was a weird bond between them that was probably what had kept them close all through high school. She filled them in on the entire elevator incident. Erika spit her water across the table when she heard that Lance was the guy in the elevator.

“You mean you talked to him? You could possibly star in a movie with him?” her eyes widened in disbelief.

“hahaha. Erika snarfed!” Elyssa had a goofy side to her that made most people think she was exactly the same as she had been in middle school. There was also a very mature side to her, but most people saw only the bouncy child like excitement.

“Shut up Elyssa" Erika smacked her on the shoulder.

“ow, what was that for?” she wined

“o my god,” Erika continued, ignoring Elyssa.” you have to get that part. That would be sooooooooooo awesome. You might get to even meet the rest of the guys.” Erika was a bit obsessed when it came to Nsync and she seemed completely thrilled about the thought of her friend working closely with one of them.

“I really want that part, but there is no way to be sure I will get it. Plus, assuming I get it, who says that I will meet them. And if I do, there is no guarantee I will introduce you, I might want to keep them to myself.” she grinned and popped a fry into her mouth.

“oooooooo, you are just plain evil.” At that point she was too busy shoveling food into her mouth to respond to her.

“ Don’t worry, you are sure to get that part. You are so talented. They have to pick you.”

“Thanks Liz.” she was touched and reassured by her support. “I hope you’re right.

* * * * *

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