JC looked at the girl standing in front of him taking in all of her from her long brown hair to her hazel eyes. She was a few inches shorter than him. She looked as though she didn't want to be there. Lance had said something about her being shy didn't he? That was when he realised everyone was staring at him, waiting for him to say something.
"Ahem," he cleared his throat. "Hi I'm JC. You must me the infamous Alanna," he smiled.
Alanna smiled back shyly, her cheeks tinted with a blush. "Nice to meet you JC."
He turned to the rest of the guys. "So what are you all up to then?"
"Just getting to know Alanna. Johnny had to go so I guess the meeting is over," Justin shrugged.
"So Alanna think you're up for the tour then?" Chris said with a mischievous grin.
"I guess," she laughed nervously.
"Alanna ignore him, he loves to tease the new people on tour. If you need anything just let us know okay? I know it can all be overwhelming when you first start," JC said.
She smiled at him gratefully. "Thanks JC. I feel like I'm about to enter a whole new world. My life has been pretty boring up until now. I guess it will take a while to get used to."
"Okay I need to go," Lance announced. He turned to Alanna. "I'll be calling you later to settle some last minute details okay? Go home and spend some time with your family before the tour," he instructed her.
"Okay. Thanks Lance. For everything," she added.
"You're welcome, you're gonna blow them away," Lance called out as he left the room.
Alanna was left standing with the guys in the conference room. There was an awkward silence until Joey's stomach rumbled. "Who's up for lunch?" he chuckled.
A chorus of cheers rang out from the remaining guys.
JC turned to Alanna. "So what about you? Want to join us?" he asked.
"Me?" She was surprised to receive the invitation. "Thanks for asking but my friend is waiting out in the car for me," she explained. "I really should go if the meeting is over. Thanks for asking though," she repeated, mentally cursing herself for how she sounded.
He shrugged. "Okay maybe some other time."
She walked out with the guys and listened to them all joke around with each other. She felt a little better about the prospect of the tour; at least the people she would be working with were nice. The big problem was yet to come though, getting out on that stage in front of thousands of people. How would the fans react? The majority after all would be girls who really didn't want to see her up there. They were only there for the guys. Would she be booed off stage? That was Alanna's biggest fear. She really didn't know if she could handle that. Her and her dancers had been practising hard with a choreographer so she knew they had the dance routine down and it looked good. Would the fans even care about that though?
Alanna was brought out of her thoughts when she realised that they had left the building and were now standing outside in the warm Orlando sunshine. She turned to the guys. "That's my ride over there. It was nice meeting you all."
"You too", "bye", "see ya around", they chorused.
Justin, Joey and Chris headed over towards their cars. JC had been following them but he stopped abruptly and turned around. "See you in a few days," he called to Alanna and then with one last smile he ran to catch up with the others.
Alanna took a deep breath and walked over to where Ashlyn waited in her Jeep.
"Was that JC Chasez I saw you flirting with there?" Ashlyn teased.
"Ashlyn you're such a pain in the ass, he just said goodbye."
"I know," Ashlyn smirked, "I just like teasing you. So what were they like?"
"They were actually really nice after they tried to knock me out," Alanna laughed.
"Huh?" a confused Ashlyn replied.
"I'll tell you later, let's go." She looked back at the Jive building as Ashlyn pulled away. The next time she saw it she would be leaving for the tour, something that would most definitely change her life.
~*~
*3 days later*
"I can't believe my baby is leaving me," cried Anne Scott.
"Mom I'm not leaving you, stop being so dramatic," she laughed. "I'll be back!" Alanna promised as she hugged her mother goodbye.
"You better look after yourself okay? I want a phone call from you every day," Anne warned her daughter.
"Honey she is all grown up now, she can look after herself," James Scott said as he took the place of his wife giving their daughter a final hug before she left.
"Anyway I'll have Ashlyn with me, I'll be fine," Alanna argued.
"Like having Ashlyn with you is gonna make us feel any better about letting you go," James joked as he saw Ashlyn approach from the corner of his eye.
"Hey! I heard that," Ashlyn grumbled.
"You know I'm only messing with you Ash," he laughed. "We're gonna miss you two in the house. What are we gonna do without them Ryan?" James asked Alanna's 9 yr old brother.
"I don't know...watch basketball instead of MTV," Ryan joked
Alanna rolled her eyes at her brother. "I'm gonna miss you too shorty."
"Hey Alanna we better go, everyone is boarding the buses now," said Ashlyn before she headed for the bus herself to leave the family alone for their final goodbyes.
Alanna quickly said her goodbyes not wanting to prolong the ordeal any longer than was necessary. After promising to keep in touch she made her way to her bus to join her dancers - Ashlyn, Rebekah, Ben and Daniel.
When Alanna had discovered she was getting dancers she had immediately suggested Ashlyn. Ashlyn had always been a keen dancer and had taken many dance classes when she was younger. Lance had agreed to let the choreographer take a look at Ashlyn's dancing skills and had impressed her enough to be allowed to join the tour. Rebekah, Ben and Daniel were shortly brought in as well. The 5 of them had gelled remarkably well in the weeks they had been rehearsing together.
"Wow," Alanna marvelled at the inside of the bus.
"It's great isn't it!" shrieked Ashlyn as she ran to the back of the bus to join the others.
Alanna took in her surroundings. This would be her home as well as numerous hotel rooms for the next few months. This might not be so bad after all she thought, as she grabbed a drink from the kitchen area and headed back to where everyone else had congregated.
~*~
October 15 2000
Alanna walked into the arena and as soon as she saw the size of it she felt her stomach churn. She had arrived in North Carolina the previous day.
She hadn't seen Lance since they'd left Florida but she was due to meet him in 10 minutes before her first sound check. She was scared stiff. How many people had their first ever performance as a singer on tour in front of God knows how many fans. There was nothing like throwing her in at the deep end.
Alanna had pretty much tried to put all thoughts of the actual performance out of her head, as bizarre as that sounded. She had found herself at first concentrating on her family before she left, then on getting to know her new dancers. The reality was now hitting her though. That night she would be up on that stage. No longer would she be the one watching the act up on the stage. She would be one of them.
Slowly she started to wander down in between the seats taking everything in. Standing behind her was a large man who had been assigned as her bodyguard. When she was first informed she would need security her first reaction was "why?". It was just another one of those things she would have to get used to. No longer would she be just Alanna Scott. Now she would be "Alanna Scott superstar." She burst out laughing as she got carried away with her thoughts. Her bodyguard, Alex, gave her a strange look and Alanna abruptly calmed down. With a deep sigh she continued down to the front of the stage and just stared up at it.
"Pretty overwhelming huh?"
Alanna spun around and there stood JC.
"Sorry did I startle you? You looked deep in thought, I shouldn't have bothered you," JC apologised.
"No it's okay, really...I still can't believe that I'm going to be up there tonight." She squinted up at the stage again. "I don't think I can do it JC," Alanna sighed.
"If I can do it then you can as well," said JC.
"Oh come on at least you had some experience before you started this whole singing gig. I've only ever done school plays and even then I wasn't out there singing on my own... not to mention the audience was slightly smaller," she said sarcastically.
JC laughed. "You don't give yourself any credit you know that? In some ways putting on a performance at school can be harder," he explained. "You actually know the people out in the audience there. It's not like you have to face tonight's audience at school tomorrow."
"Yeah but I wasn't gonna get booed off stage at school was I?"
JC sighed. "You've just gotta go out there and have fun Alanna. Don't worry what the audience are gonna think, what your friends think, what Lance thinks. Just go out there and do it for you."
"Ugh!" She threw her arms up. "How did I get myself into this!" Alanna groaned.
JC laughed. "I hear you have a certain friend to blame for this."
"Yeah remind me to kill her later," Alanna said as JC continued to chuckle.
"Hey guys. Alanna you ready?" They turned to see Lance and Alanna's dancers up on the stage ready for her soundcheck and run through. Alanna swallowed the lump in her throat. "Ready as I'll ever be," she announced.
Chapter 4
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