A Simple Touch
Part Five
I was there, after all the waiting, I was really there! Standing in awe, or something like it, I could not
believe that I was really at the concert!
Justin, JC, Lance, Chris, and Joey looked picture perfect! No, better than a picture. Every dance move was
definitely in sync, and every note was just right.
And I was right there, front row center. I tried to look at my sister and my friends, but I was so
mesmerized that I couldn't seem to tear my gaze away from the stage.
Why didn't I have camera? Were they not allowed? Did I have it at home? Was I holding it? I really had
no idea at all.
Even when they went off stage to change outfits I never took my eyes off the stage. I could hear people in
the background, but not the screaming you'd expect to hear. I found myself wishing for a sweater, it was
rather cold for an indoor theater.
When the guys hit the stage again, they looked better that I had ever imagined them looking. They were a
sort of matching mismatch.
Justin was in a long sleeved dress shirt that was the same color as his WWJD bracelet, baby blue. It was
only partially buttoned, so you could easily see that underneath he was wearing a white tank top. A pair of
wide leg bluish-grey jeans finished off the outfit. They were a little on the baggy side considering his shirt,
but it still looked really good.
JC had on a long sleeved dark blue dress shirt which was being worn all the way unbuttoned so that it
revealed his tight black tank top that was underneath. His necklace contrasted nicely with the darker tops.
His black jeans seemed to be hanging a little lower than you'd expect on a normal guy in a dress shirt, but
with him it was perfectly normal.
Lance was doing a short sleeved dress shirt thing. His top was a light green and was buttoned normally.
the top button was undone so you could see enough to tell his undershirt was white. That along with his
recently bleached hair made his eyes and tan seem just that much more intense. Medium grey slacks pretty
much completed the ensemble.
Chris left an impression, and not a bad one either. A long sleeved black denim dress shirt with silver
stitching was buttoned all the way up, minus the top button, which of course meant you could see his black
shirt underneath. His hair was pulled back into a single ponytail as usual. More black and silver denim
made up his pants.
Joey was in a dark red long sleeved dress shirt, and if it was buttoned or not you couldn't tell because of
his black vest. Same went for the undershirt. He must have dyed his hair a while back, only the tips were
blond now. But he had to of recently shaved, his beard was looking nice and trimmed.
Black dress slacks
finished the job.
The whole arena was dark except for the individual spotlights on each member. Each of them stood
behind their microphone stands, Justin in the middle with Joey and JC to his right, Chris and Lance to
his left.
The screaming from the girls started at the same time as the band began playing. It was a slower tempo,
but I couldn't figure out what song it was.
That's when it struck me, it was a brand new medley.
Justin softly began the first verse. Stepping out
from behind the stand, you could really tell he was putting all of his energy into what he was singing.
I was hearing the music, the words, the harmony, the melody, but none of it actually clicked. It was like
I could hear, but at the same time I couldn't hear.
As JC took over the second verse, he walked the length of the stage, slowing and then stopping right in
front of me. He knelt down onto one knee and reached out his hand.
If I wasn't in a daze before, I was sure in one now! I slowly took his hand and allowed myself to be pulled
onto the stage and led to the center of it.
Holding my right hand, JC finished the second verse, while I spent the whole time wondering when I was
going to pass out.
As the strains of the bridge fell on my ears, everyone else gathered around me. JC was still holding my
hand which I kept at my side, but he was standing about two feet or so from me. Lance was standing behind
and between me and JC. Joey was standing slightly behind me and to my left. Justin was crouched down in
front of Joey, facing me more than the crowd. Chris was kneeling down on one knee at Justin's side.
My mind was probably about a million miles away at the moment, it was the most amazing feeling that I
had ever experienced.
The song faded as it came to a close, I didn't want it to end so soon, but I realized that's exactly what
happened as everyone backed away from me. Everyone but JC that is.
When I looked at him, I found his clear blue eyes almost pulling me in towards him. It felt as though he
could see all the way to the very heart of me.
First the stage, then the whole amphitheater began to spin in front of my eyes. I focused on JC to keep
from getting dizzy, but soon everything became a blur and seemed to just vanish.
JC pulled me in even closer, I closed my eyes in anticipation when he began to lean in towards me, he was
getting closer…closer…now I could even feel his breath…just a little closer….
~ BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! ~
I shot up straight in my bed. It was a dream! The whole concert was a stupid dream! It hadn't really
happened, I imagined the whole thing, made it up in my head!
Grabbing my extra pillow I threw it at the alarm clock as hard as I could. It was still beeping away as it hit
the floor with a somewhat satisfying thud. I don't think it's going to be beeping anymore.
Settling back into my bed, I pulled my covers up from where they had fallen.
I stared at my ceiling until I
fell into a restless sleep, one that was plagued with thought about my dream. Why did I have it in the first
place?
Part Six
The next morning that dream was the only thing on my mind, I almost told Toni about it when I was on the phone with her, but I stopped just short of doing that. How could I explain the dream to someone when I didn't understand in myself?
Those thoughts pretty much consumed me and before I knew it, I was getting ready for bed hoping I wouldn't have another dream like that. As enjoyable as it could have been, one was more than enough for me, thank you.
I lucked out, no freaky dreams. In fact, as far as I remember, I had no dreams.
After convincing my mom that I was feeling much better, I joined Catrina and Toni on an all day shopping spree. Mostly me and Toni followed, and Catrina handed us clothes.
Toni settled on a pair of faded jean flares, and a black spaghetti strap tank top. Talk about being subtle with her tattoos.
She was planning on wearing it with her black combat style boots.
Catrina took a little longer to decide. Her semi-final decision was a baby blue wrap strapless top. It was sort of a wrap around, hard to explain. She paired that with light blue daisy dukes. New platform sandals evened out the whole thing.
I wanted to just grab some new clothes and get out as fast as I could, but neither of them would let me off that easy. Not only did I get a new outfit, but a new look. Let me explain.
The top was a shimmery dark blue crop top, it was weird having my stomach bare. The pants were hip-huggers, color was black, material was I have no idea. Something almost plastic in feel, but as easy to move in as jeans. Open toe sandals were added to my ever increasingly 'showy' outfit. Seemed the more I bought, the less it covered!
As for the new look comment? Start with the hair, the most noticeable change. I wound up at Toni's stylist, never would guess she had one. But none the less, there I was. To start off, she cut about three inches off. That meant it now ended with a flip about an inch above my shoulder. Then she layered it, which added volume. To finish the job, she added a golden blond weave all through out my hair. The end result? A hair cut that looked and felt great, but seemed like it belonged to someone else!
Before we made it back home we had stopped in what seemed like a hundred stores! New make-up, nail polish, hair things, perfume, and more, filled our shopping bags. My mom absolutely loved the new look, even my sister seemed to approve.
We spent the rest of the day trying out new styles, experimenting with combinations and the such. By the time they left, my room looked like a dressing room for a beauty pageant.
I spent a long time looking in the mirror after they had left. My new hair cut left me with mixed emotions. I did like it, but what if other people didn't? At first I wasn't sure who 'other people' meant, but I knew deep down in my heart it meant JC.
It took me a long while to fall asleep with that thought on my mind. I had met him once, and I was on the verge of throwing up the whole time. What was happening to me? Normally I was the sensible one, the girl who had her feet firmly planted on the ground. Now I hardly knew where my next emotion was going to be coming from.
I finally fell asleep after promising myself that I was going to talk to someone about this in the morning. I never did decide who that someone was going to be.
I slept in till almost noon that day. My mom and sister left about half an hour after I woke up. Mya wanted some new clothes for the concert, and I was glad I didn't have to take her.
There would be no surprise when she came home, I knew what outfit she had her eye on. It was a black long sleeved midriff shirt and it showed a little more than our mom would be happy with. She wanted a pair of black overalls to go with them. They were shorts, and if she got her way, you'd think she had been raiding Catrina's closet in search of her clothes.
In just about thirty hours I was going to be at a meet and greet with *N Sync, the group that a week ago I didn't even like. Now, I had butterflies thinking about seeing JC.
Trying to find something to do, I pulled out the letter Lance had sent me. I was too surprised the first time around to really pay attention to details. It looked the same as I remembered, same words, same ink, same everything.
That's when I noticed some writing scrawled on the back. It wasn't the same neat writing, but you could still tell that Lance had put it there.
Flipping the letter over, I scanned what he had put.
Avery, this might sound nuts, but I thought you might like this. If you need to talk before the concert, here's my pager number. Leave a message and I'll get back with you asap!
-Lancsten
My eyes quickly took in the number that was below his name. What did he mean 'I thought you might like this'? You know, weird as it sounds, I do like it.
Grabbing my phone I dialed the number, waited for it to ring, and left a message that probably came out something like 'Hi Lance, this is Avery, the girl who almost barfed all over you! Um…here's my number, just call me back if you have the time later on.'
When I hung up, I felt a little better.
It was almost ten o'clock that night before he got back to me.
For a while we just talked. About pointless things. He didn't press me, and I didn't say anything. It was an accident that he found out why I called. I must have been a little out of it, because I slipped and mentioned that I hoped I looked ok the next day. He asked me why, and I answered that I wanted to look good for JC when I saw him before and after the concert.
After a moment of silence, he spoke quietly into the phone.
"You like him."
"How can you say that Lance? I don't even know him, I just…." I couldn't even manage to finish my sentence. How pathetic is that?
"Avery, I saw it in your eyes. And in his. You may have been out of it, but something clicked."
"You're right," I was getting upset now, "something clicked, but it wasn't with JC. It was with you."
"I know what you mean, but that's not what I mean. Something did click with us, but not the same as with you and JC. It was like I had known you my whole life, I could tell every emotion that was going through your mind. It wasn't romantic in the slightest, I felt more like I had just met my best friend."
Now it was my turn to be silent. I thought over what he said, it was true, every word of it. Lance did seem like a best friend, he could understand how I felt, see what I saw. Lance broke into my thoughts.
"It was weird, yes, but it's happened and I can't change it. You drew comfort from JC just as much as you drew it from me. And I could see it in his face when he came out of your room. Silent, distant, withdrawn. He was fine when we got into the car, but he had something on his mind."
I chose my words carefully when I responded.
"You're right. And this time I mean it. I guess I was scared of what I felt for JC, so I decided to ignore what I felt for you too. I like JC, but at the same time, I just want to be his friend. You guys are on tour half the time, I'd never see any of you. Maybe, if what you say about him is right, we could pursue something afterwards. But not now, not anytime soon. I don't want to wind up getting hurt, and I would never want to do something that would wind up hurting JC."
Even though I couldn't see him, I knew Lance was smiling. Not a little smile. The smile that lights up his whole face, the one that makes most girls swoon. But not me, to me it meant he was happy with what I said. To me, it was a friendship in the making.
We talked until about eleven thirty, after that I let him go so he could get sleep. After my little emotional outburst, nothing more was made of the topic.
Lance was great to just talk to, about anything and everything. I have no doubt the rest of the guys are great, but I knew I was always going to have a special way of looking at Lance.
After we talked, I fell asleep easily that night. For the first time in a week, I actually knew what I was feeling. I wasn't doing this for my friends, for my mom, my sister, I was doing this because I wanted to.
The funny thing though? I didn't fall asleep with any of *N Sync's songs in my head, instead I feel asleep with one of DC Talk's new songs playing on my stereo. The name of the song that was playing? Godsend.
Hoping, praying, I've been waiting
Everybody needs somebody to love
There's no question, straight from heaven
You're my angel, I'm so crazy for you
You're a Godsend
A blessing from above
You've been God-sent to me
You're the Godsend
I've been dreaming of
You're a Godsend
Holding your hand, touching your face
I will love you now and always I swear
I will never forget that first moment we met
When two worlds collided and I found my best friend
As I drifted off to sleep, I tried to figure out who the song seemed to be talking about. Parts of it reminded me of Lance, but other parts made me think of JC. I finally fell asleep with those last two lines repeating themselves over and over inside of my head: I will never forget that first moment we met, when two worlds collided and I found my best friend.
Part Seven
If you can imagine, the next day was pure chaos! I had Catrina and Toni over all day, all of us trying to get ready for the show. For the hour or two it took for us to get everything together, we either had *N Sync's cd blasting, or we had *N Sync In The Mix playing. The bad thing about the home video though, is that since I had never seen it before, I'd forget what I was supposed to be doing and just watch the video.
We had to be at the stadium by five or so. Since I had won the contest, we were being picked up by a limo. Talk about excitement!
The meet and greet started at six, lasted till quarter till seven, and the show was set to start at eight. Of course they had an opening act, so that explains the small amount of time between the greet and the show.
By the time we were ready, the four of us almost looked liked completely different people. Me the most, because of my hair cut and all, but it was true.
I was a little self conscious in my new outfit, I still wasn't used to my hair. It was even weirder with the make-up, I was never big on things like that. Catrina didn't go overboard, as a matter of fact she used very little. But to me it was still weird.
Mya was every vision of a girl Chris would go out with. Not goth, not morbid, but like a happy black? It was playful and fun, but dark schemed. Part of her hair was pulled back, and the rest was in ringlets that fell over her shoulders.
Catrina looked like herself, but just not quite as…something. I couldn't put my finger on it. Maybe it was because she wasn't dressing to impress a ton of guys, just one in particular. If Justin had any amount of sense in him, he would be taking a second look when she walked into the room.
Toni looked as feisty as ever, but subdued in a sense. Her hair was going every which way, but that just added to her charm. The funny thing, she had gel in it, she just styles it wild. A little bit of normally ignored make-up brightened her face. I thought it was funny, because just that morning I found out she liked Lance. Somehow, even though they're opposites, I can see them hitting it off really well.
The limo picked us up at four-thirty, and then we were off. For a while the traffic was so bad that we didn't think we would make it on time. All we could do was talk, and wave like idiots at complete strangers! We saw quite a few cars also headed to the concert, some girls thought that we must have been *N Sync!
Finally after what seemed like hours, we arrived at the front doors. Thanking the driver, the four of us piled out and began to half walk, half jog to the doors. As soon as we got in line, all the girls around us started asking us questions like, why did we have a limo.
Two girls in particular were really nice, I found out that their names were Amy and Kelly. They stood behind us in line so we talked for about forty minutes or so. When they found out that we got to go to the meet and greet, they begged us to take some things with us. We said it would be no problem. Amy had something for Justin, and Kelly brought something for Lance.
Soon the line began moving, with every step I took the butterflies in my stomach decide to practice taking off and landing. I wondered if anyone else felt that way.
Mya was in front of me, Catrina was next to me, and Toni followed behind us. No of us said anything, but we knew just by looking at each other that we were all kind of scared.
By the time we reached the door to go into the meet, I wasn't sure how much longer I could stand. I felt as though my legs would give out from under me at any moment.
"Hey, you going to be alright?" Toni's voice interrupted my thoughts and brought me back to reality.
"Yeah, you don't look to good." Mya added as she stepped in front of me.
"It's ok guys," I replied, "I'm just anxious. Let's go in before I lose my nerve completely."
After we took a moment to compose ourselves, I reached out and opened the door.
The door hadn't even been open for thirty seconds before I heard my name being yelled from across the room.
"Avery! You're here!"
Lance broke away from the conversation he was in and crossed the room.
The rest of the guys followed him over, I guess they had heard about me by now.
"Hi Lance," I waved as he came over to where we were, "These are my friends, Catrina and Toni, and this is my sister Mya."
"Nice to meet you." Lance shook their hands one by one.
Catrina and Mya just shook his hand in return, but Toni just sorta looked at him with this spaced out look. It would be what you call standing in awe.
After JC introduced us to the rest of the guys, like we didn't know who they were already, we joined the rest of the girls, and a few guys as well, who were at the meet and greet.
Not only did we meet JC, Justin, Chris, Lance, and Joey, but we got to meet a lot of fans just like us. We exchanged e-mails with a few of them, but mostly we just mingled. I met a girl named Samantha, she was really cool, I found out she was going to be sitting about ten seats or so away from us.
After about twenty minutes or so I found myself alone on one side of the room with JC. Both of us just sort of stood there, not knowing what to say. I wasn't sure if I was blushing or not at first, but I know I started blushing when Mya ran over to where we were.
"JC! JC! Did you know that Avery thinks you're hot? Well, she does! I heard her on the phone with Lance, I don't know why she was talking to Lance, at least she called them Lance, and she was talking about you!" Mya ran over shouting her 'News' off the top of her lungs. Everyone in the room was just staring at me, now I was blushing without a doubt. How could she do that to me? How?!
There was a moment of silence before JC spoke up. "Well, at least the feeling's mutual."
As he said that he just looked at me and smiled. I'm pretty sure I was the color of a tomato by now.
Chris made some stupid joke about JC taking over Joey's job, which made Joey jump in and list all the reasons why JC could never be as good a flirt as he was, which of course made everyone laugh, and basically forget what just happened. I knew I was going to be hearing rumors after the concert though.
Justin was talking to Catrina and a few other girls, but I don't think he was paying much attention to the conversation. He seemed a little distracted, and I know why. I call Cat the neighborhood flirt for a reason, and at the moment she was pulling all her charm on Justin. Something must of worked, cause a moment later Catrina and the other girls started laughing, and you could see the red creeping into Justin's face.
Toni, Samantha, and maybe five other girls and a guy that I didn't recognize were hanging around Lance. He was doing a good job of entertaining them, telling stories I think. He gets very animated when he's excited, so it was funny just watching him from my viewpoint.
Mya and Chris were talking along with about six more girls and two guys, trading pranking tips no doubt. For some reason that I don't want to know the explanation behind, Chris thought what Mya did to me was the funniest thing under the sun. That was making it hard to go back to a normal color, they kept pointing and laughing.
Joey was keeping three girls I don't know amused, being himself I suppose. I can see why Mya says his nickname is SuperFlirt.
JC was with a few other girls, just talking and stuff. He seemed a little on edge, he kept running his fingers through his hair and looking around the room. Whenever he caught Lance's eye, he would look away again. Something was going on, and I wanted to know what it was.
Soon the meet and greet was over, and we began filing out of the room with the rest of the people. Cat lingered long enough to wish Justin good luck, you should of seen the look an his face as she smiled at him as she left.
I was almost out the door when someone grabbed my arm. When I turned around I found myself looking at JC. He opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. Man, did he look good! Standing next to him made me feel lightheaded, especially since he was still holding my arm.
After a moment of silence on both parts, I gathered enough sense to say something.
"Um…good luck tonight with the show." As soon as I said that I felt stupid. How come I could never think of anything, if I was Toni I'd have something witty, funny, anything but 'good luck'!
"Yeah…I'll be looking for you." JC looked how I felt. Uncomfortable. I wasn't sure why, it was just weird having him standing next to me, talking to me, touching me.
One of the other guys called for JC and told him to hurry up. I think it was Joey, but I could be wrong. I wasn't paying to much attention at that point.
He looked at me one more time as though he was going to say something, but then he reluctantly let go of my arm and backed into the room.
I just stood there as he slowly shut the door, basically in my face, but it was my own fault for not moving. I couldn't, I felt as though a part of my heart had gone back through the door with him. Sappy huh?
Toni lightly took hold of me and pulled me in the direction of the arena. I snapped out of my trance, and began walking on my own to our seats.
I was at a *N Sync concert, and I wasn't going to let some petty emotions ruin my fun. I had front row seats, I was with two of my best friends, and from what I had seen and heard, *N Sync wasn't about to disappoint!
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