DreamsPart 1
I was nervous and excited. I hadn’t seen the guys for about 4 months. Of course I’ve talked to them over the phone, but it’s not the same. I mean, things change. Your dreams changed. Mine dream changed. Like how I used to be friends JC, but now, I think I’m in love with him.
Whenever I had a bad date or something went wrong, I’d call him. We’d talk and he’d calm me down. If I had a bad date, he’d say, “He (meaning my date) doesn’t deserve me”. That would always make me feel better.
When I made the Olympic team for swimming, I called him and he said he couldn’t be more proud. I guess I really didn’t get what that meant. Was he proud of me, or my accomplishments?
I always think of him when I’m happy. Like when I made the Olympic team, I was happy, so I called him on my cell phone. Right then and there, while I was on the phone with him, I wanted to tell him how I felt. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t risk losing a friend, and besides, he’d probably never feel quite the same way.
This whole thing started when Lisa (a swimming buddy of mine) and me earned our way to represent the US in the Pan-Pacific Games. *N Sync performed at the Opening and Closing ceremonies, so they decided to watch some events in between their performances. They came to our 4 x 100-meter relay race final. The rest of the team was made of Olympians, except for me and Lisa; we were 19, and our next chance to be in the Olympics would be in a couple of months.
Our teammates new we sang, so they arranged for us to sing along with our National Anthem if our team won.
Well, guess what? We won! We didn’t even know, so we had a couple of minutes to polish our version. After we were presented our medals, we were handed microphones, and we began to sing. Not to brag, but we sounded awesome, especially for just throwing it together. It just happened to be that the guys of *N Sync were in the audience.
After the day was over, I was gathering my stuff to get ready to go back to hit the shower, when JC came over to me.
“Hey! Great singing! Oh, by the way, I’m JC.” “Oh, thanx. I’m Tessa. Yeah, we didn’t even know about that. What a surprise! I’m surprised we could actually harmonize!”
“Well, you sounded great to me! Anyway, our manager, Johnny, wanted to talk to you two about a record deal!”
“Ar-ar-are you serious!” I stammered. “I’ll be right back.” I ran away to get Lisa.
“Lisa, you won’t believe just happened to me!”
“What?”
“Johnny Wright wants to give us a record deal!”
“What? No way. Yeah, I know we sounded good, but- how was he here?”
“You know how *N Sync’s performing here? Well, they were here, in this arena, watching the competitions, and he heard us sing! Come on!” I pulled her back to where JC had started talking to me. “JC, this is Lisa.” I started to say, except five more guys were there.
“Tessa, this is Justin, Chris, Lance, and Joey, along with our manager, Johnny Wright.” JC read my mind.
“Hey!” I tried to sound cool.
“Lisa, Tessa, you have remarkable voices. If you sounded this good after swimming in a race, imagine how good you would sound just singing! So, how ’bout it? Want a deal?”
“What? Well, yeah, I do.” It was Lisa who was speaking.
“Me too. But I still want to swim competitively.” I was concerned about my athletic career. I wanted to go to the Olympics.
“Well, I’m sure we can work out something.” Johnny said. “But right now, to get you started, how ‘bout a duet with the kings of pop, *N Sync? Is that all right with you guys?”
“Yeah! Great! Sweet! Excellent!” They all answered except for JC. Johnny didn’t notice.
“I’ll talk to you two later. Just enjoy the rest of the meet. OK? And keep this on the down low, k? Same for you guys too!”
“Yeah, whatever you say master!” Justin answered.
They all said good-bye and started to walk away. JC held back. I went to continue to get ready to hit the showers in the locker room, but he grabbed my wrist. “Tessa, it was truly a pleasure meeting you. Seriously. I look forward to working with you.” He kissed my hand and walked away.
Lisa stood a couple of feet away from me. “Ohhh, looks like someone has a crush!!”
“Don’t be thick. He was being nice…” I wouldn’t mind that though, I thought to myself.
So, two weeks later, we met up with *N Sync in the studio and recorded a duet. It was the first single on their new album. It was also on our album. The reason we’re meeting them today is because we’re performing it with them for the American Music Awards. Also, we’re their opening act for their tour this coming summer, so we can perform it then too.
So, here we are. Waiting for the guys to get here. All of a sudden I heard Justin yelling, “Come on guys! We can’t leave some fine ladies waiting!” he ran into the room about 10 feet in front of everyone else.
“Hey! Wassup?”
We stood up and both gave him a hug. “Long time no see ladies. How’s are them medals doing from the Olympics?”
“Fine thanx.” I responded. I had a feeling Justin was on a sugar high. Then in came the rest of the guys. We got up and hugged everyone. When I hugged JC, he wouldn’t let go. I kind of melted in his arms, but didn’t want him to know that. I had to whisper to him to let go.
“So, who’s the choreographer this time?” I asked.
“Ah, it’s Allison. She was great last time, so we got her again.” Johnny answered as he walked in the door.
“Cool.” Lisa said. “Should we get started? “
“Yeah, let’s go!” Justin screamed as he ran into the practice room.
“Tessa, could I talk to you for a sec?” JC asked. He was still red.
“Sure.”
“Umm, sorry about what happened during the hug. Sometimes it has a mind of it’s own.”
“Sure. I understand.” I took his arm and pulled him into the other room with the others.
Allison is a great choreographer. She taught and helped us perfect the dance in one day. “Great job you guys! Take five!” She yelled.
I grabbed a water bottle and sat down next to Lance. “I know something you don’t know!” He told me.
“Do I care?” I answered.
“Well, you should, cuz it’s about you!” He told me in a taunting voice.
“If you wanna tell me, then tell me” I said.
“I can’t!”
“Shut-up! I gatta go practice some more. See ya.” I got up and walked away.
“Tessa, can you come help me with this move?” Justin asked. I looked for Allison, but she was working with Joey.
“Sure. What do you need help with?”
“The part when the chorus comes and JC is echoing.”
“Oh. Okay.” I showed him that, then he showed me it again; he did it perfectly.
“You didn’t need help!” I cried.
“Well, yeah. I wanted to talk to you.” He said.
“What about?”
“JC. He likes you.”
“No way. He likes me as a friend. That’s it.”
“Has he been acting weird around you lately?”
“Well…umm…” I told Justin what happened when I hugged him.
“See! I told you!”
“Forget about it!” I told him. “JC doesn’t like me that way! Though I wouldn’t mind it…”
“Okay, for this part, I want Justin and Lisa, then JC and Tessa up here.” Allison turned to us; “You guys take a break. You’re gonna have a different part, so I’ll teach it to you later.”
We sat down and grabbed water bottles. I started to watch the other guys practice but JC pulled me away.
“What was Justin talking to you about?” He asked. “Oh. He said the craziest thing. He said that… umm…. That…” I didn’t want to tell him what Justin really told me. What if it wasn’t true?
“Justin, Lisa, JC, and Tessa, your turn.” We walked over to Allison. “You guys will be doing some swing dancing.” She took Lisa and taught the guys what they were going to do. Then she had Justin do his part with her to teach Lisa and me what we had to do. “Got it. You’re going to need a lot of practice, so, tonight, at 9, be here.”
“Okay.” We replied.
“What are you waiting for? Start practicing!” JC lifted me up by my hips and we started to dance. This is the best time I’ve had dancing for a while.
Especially since it was with JC. There was this one part where I go on the ground under his legs and he pulls me back up and into the air. That’s really fun. It’s almost like flying. I mean, I feel so weightless especially since JC is so strong.
When we were done for the afternoon, the guys invited us to dinner. We ran back to the hotel to change. I found a pair of tight black bell-bottoms with a blue silk shirt. Lisa wore a pair of khakis and a navy blue silk shirt. We ran down the stairs and the guys met us.
