The four of us sat in stunned silence while the caller breathed deeply on the other end of the phone. “What a bunch of...” Justin said, hanging up the phone. “I’m going to go see what’s wrong with the breaker.” As Justin stood, Alex stood with him. Justin turned to her. “Alex, your staying here. There’s no reason for you to go also.”
“But Justin...” Alex whimpered.
“Don’t argue with me,” Justin said sternly, walking from the room. Alex slowly sat back down. Justin had been gone for about one minute when there was a loud crash from the kitchen. In one swift motion, Alex was off the couch and between Lance and I on the loveseat.
Seconds later, Justin’s scream echoed throughout the quiet house. Alex tried to jump up, but Lance held her down. “Let me go!” She yelled, struggling against his five foot ten, 165 pound frame.
“No!” He exclaimed, holding Alex’s five foot two, 110 pound body down. “If something happened to Justin, we don’t want it happening to you too!”
Within thirty seconds, Justin stumbled into the room holding his chest, his breathing labored. Alex jumped up and ran to him. Lance and I slowly followed. “Oh my God! Justin! What happened?” Alex screamed. Justin took his hands from his chest so that we could see his ripped shirt, saturated with blood, his hands and arms also covered.
“You guys.... got to get out.... of here,” Justin rasped, taking deep gulps of air.
“Come on,” Lance said, grabbing my arm and gently trying to push Alex out the door. “Justin’s right. We need to get out of here.”
“I’m staying with Justin,” Alex said, shrugging Lance’s hand from her shoulder.
“Alex! Go! Save yourself!” Justin yelled at her.
“Please Justin,” Alex pleaded. He nodded, looking too weak to say a word. Before Lance and I left, Justin reached up from his spot on the floor (where he had sat down) and took my hand.
“Kelly, your my best friend. Remember that I love you and never forget me,” Justin whispered.
Tears filled my eyes. “I promise.” I gently squeezed his hand.
“Lance?” Justin spoke a little louder.
“Yeah?” Lance leaned down next to him.
“Tell the rest of the guys I loved being part of ‘N Sync. It was the best time of my life. Tell them I love ‘em,” Justin’s voice trailed off.
“I will,” Lance promised. I squeezed his hand once more and dropped it. Lance took my other hand and pulled me out the door. In the doorway, I paused and looked longingly back at Justin and Alex. Alex had dropped to the floor beside Justin.
“Come on Kelly,” Lance said softly, tugging on my hand. I turned and without another look back, followed Lance down off the front porch.
We were headed for his car when some movement pulled us in another direction. Lance pulled me behind a tree and waited for whoever or whatever it was to be gone. “I’m gonna die,” I mumbled.
“You aren’t gonna die,” Lance objected.
I ignored him. “I’m going to die. I’ll never graduate college, become a doctor, get my convertible mustang...” I paused. “I’m gonna die a virgin!”
Lance tried not to laugh. “If that’s what your so worried about, I could help out.”
I gave him a look. “How can you even think about sex at a time like this?”
“You brought it up,” he answered.
“It was a rhetorical statement.”
“I’m sorry!” He exclaimed. “I’m a guy. Not only that, but one who’s hormones are traveling faster than a 747 at times! Give me a break! Looking at linoleum makes me want to have sex!”
I raised my eyebrows. “If linoleum does that, remind me never to go into a hardware store with you.”
From the silence, a twig snapped behind us. I gasped and grabbed onto Lance. As quietly as he could, he wrapped me in his arms, which made me feel a little safer. Neither one of us moved. Time felt as though it was passing at a snails pace.
Suddenly, a shadow fell over us. I buried my face in Lance’s arm. The person in front of us began to laugh.
“I know that laugh...” Lance mumbled. He reached up and pulled the mask off the person. “Joey?” Lance stood, and I slowly stood with him. “What the heck are you doing?”
Joey began to laugh again. “All this- my doing. And Chris.”
“Why?” I asked.
“To scare you guys.”
“What about Justin?” Lance asked.
“He’s a good actor, isn’t he?” We all turned to look at the house as we heard Alex scream.
“And that would be?” I turned my eyes toward the house again.
“Chris.”
“Why?”
“Kelly dear, we’ve been through this,” Joey said. Alex screamed again. “Let’s go stop Chris before the poor girl has a heart attack.” Joey, Lance, and I began to run toward the house. We sprinted across the yard, up the porch and into the house.
“Please don’t kill me!” Alex screamed as Chris raised the knife. “Okay, if you insist, do it here so that I can die with Justin!” Alex noticed there were three new people in the room, noting how calm Lance and I were. Then, she realized the new addition: Joey. Her eyes went to Justin and then to Chris. “What the hell is going on?!”
Justin and Chris began to laugh. “Did it work? Were you scared?” Chris asked, removing his mask.
“Like hell it did! What do you think you were doing?”
“Scaring you,” Justin replied, standing.
“You were in on this?” Justin nodded. “What about you Lance? Did you know about this?”
“No. I knew nothing whatsoever. I was just as freaked out as you all were.”
Tears began to stream down Alex’s cheeks. “You stupid son of a bitch!” She began to hit Justin. “Why did you do this to me?”
I took a deep breath and noticed my heart was pounding. I turned on my heel and walked briskly out onto the porch. I sat on the steps, rested my head on my knees, and began to silently cry as the adrenaline rush left my system. I looked up with red eyes as Justin sat down next to me.
“Kelly, I’m sorry,” he apologized.
“It’s okay. Just let me get this stress out by crying, alright?” He nodded and placed an arm around my shoulders. My head was resting on Justin’s biceps as I continued to cry.
As everyone else filed outside, Justin lifted my head as his seat was replaced by Lance. My crying was now comforted by my boyfriend rather than best friend. Alex was now allowing Justin to explain himself. The two of them sat on the swing as Joey perched on the rail of the porch and Chris sat leaning against the house. After about two minutes, the silence was unbearable.
“What would you guys had done if we wouldn’t have watched ‘Urban Legend’ or any other horror movie?” I asked, breaking the silence.
“I was going to call and tell them not to show up,” Justin explained. “Which reminds me: great phone call! Completely added to the scare factor!”
Joey and Chris exchanged a look. “What phone call?” Joey asked.
“You know- the one right after the power went out?”
“We didn’t make any phone call,” Chris said, confused.
“Yeah you did. ‘Do you want to die tonight?’ Genius, absolutely genius.”
“Justin, we didn’t make a phone call,” Chris insisted.
“If you didn’t, who did?” Justin slowly asked. We gave each other worried looks. Just as we were about to make a beeline for the house, JC and Briley came from the shadows laughing.
“YOU!” Alex screamed, trying to jump up. Justin held her down.
“Yup, we made the phone call,” JC admitted, lightly resting a hand on Briley’s arm. “It was to get you four back for your antics at the restaurant tonight.”
“Were you two in on this to?” Lance asked.
“What? In on what?” JC asked in reply.
The two of the found places to sit as Justin began to tell the tale of the evening.
“Lance? Will you take me home?” I softly asked as the others had a good laugh.
“Yeah,” he answered. Lance stood and pulled me up.
“Where are you two going?” Joey asked.
“I want to go back to the hotel,” I answered him.
“Oh, well, be careful,” Justin answered.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Lance asked.
“Be careful driving back there,” Justin replied.
“Okay, we will,” Lance said. We had taken a couple of steps when JC cleared his throat.
“Don’t forget to fasten your condom,” JC said. I turned and stared at him in surprise. “Seatbelt! I meant seatbelt!” My face turned a bright red color and Briley reached over and hit him.
Lance just shook his head and kept walking, practically pulling me off the porch. “Want to drive?” Lance asked, pulling the keys from his pocket.
“Sure!” I replied as he handed me the key. My driving was surprisingly good that evening. Not to say that I didn’t accidentally cut a few people off, but it was good because I didn’t hit a barbed wire fence or try to chase any cows.
We soon arrived at the hotel. (Okay, so I also broke a few speed limits.) I slowly walked to the room, Lance beside me. I unlocked the door, entered the room, and collapsed facedown on a bed. Lance sat beside me and began to massage my back.
After about five minutes, I felt my eyes closing. “Your going to make me fall asleep,” I mumbled.
“You did say you were tired,” Lance said. I attempted to shrug. “How long do you want me to stay?”
“Until I fall asleep?” I asked.
“That’s fine,” Lance answered, stretching out next to me.
I changed my position so I was cuddled up next to Lance with my head on his chest. I closed my eyes and drifted off to sleep.
About two hours later, I wearily opened my eyes and lifted my head. I found the only signs of power in the room was the bathroom light that was on- with the door open, so there was a bit of light in the room- and a stereo that was playing ‘N Sync’s “I Drive Myself Crazy.” I began to wonder why my pillow was so lumpy, and I considered beating on it a little to fluff it up. But, I decided I was too tired to. Then, my pillow actually moved a little. I shook my head and realized my ‘pillow’ was actually Lance. I was then glad that I hadn’t started to punch my pillow. I slowly lay my head back down and I heard laughter coming from outside the door. The door unlocked, opened, and there was more laughter. A conversation soon followed, but I couldn’t tell you who said what, I was so tired.
“Shh! Kelly and Lance are asleep.”
“Where?”
“There!”
“Hmm... on a bed... together...”
“Shut up! Both of them are completely dressed!”
“That’s what they want us to think.”
“Loser! Don’t they look sweet?”
“It’s not sweet! It just proves that Lance is whipped!”
“He’s not whipped! I think you guys could learn from his romantic ways!”
“I don’t need to learn anything!”
“You do.”
“I don’t care what you think!”
“Shut up!”
“Do you think we should cover them up?” I felt a blanket being placed over us.
“Should we wake Lance up so he can go home?”
“No, just let him sleep.”
That was the last thing I heard. I again fell asleep and didn’t wake up until the next morning.
The next morning, I was awakened by Everclear’s “I Will Buy You A New Life” on the radio, the volume much louder than it was the night before. My eyes fluttered open and I sat up and stretched.
“Hey sleepyhead! Sleep well?” Alex asked with a smile.
I glanced down at Lance, then back at Alex and nodded. “Who wouldn’t have slept well?” I threw the blanket off and got up, stopping to softly kiss Lance’s forehead. “Where’s Briley?” I asked as I got my clothes ready for the day. I finally settled on Tommy shorts, Tommy polo shirt, Tommy socks, and of course, Tommy shoes.
“She went to get breakfast for eight,” Alex answered.
“Eight?”
“Yeah. The rest of the guys are coming over a little early to have breakfast.”
I nodded and went to the bathroom to take a shower. After I was finished, I went back to the room to find Lance gone. “Where’d Lance go?”
“Back home to change and in his exact words: ‘Shower, shave, and tell Kelly-Poo I love her.’ Kelly-Poo? Kelly, deary, why do you let him call you that?”
“He never has before...” I said thoughtfully. Then, “Shave what?”
“Dang girl! That was harsh!”
I smiled. “But funny.”
“Yes, very. To help you out here, I won’t tell Lance you said that.”
I sighed. “Thanks.” She nodded.
There was a loud knocking on the door. Alex and I both jumped, turning. “God! That scared me!” Alex exclaimed.
“Me too,” I replied as she got up to answer the door. As she opened it, Justin, Joey, JC, and Chris barged in.
“What? You women deaf or something?” Chris exclaimed.
“Huh?” Alex and I said, sitting in confused mode.
“We’ve been out there for ten minutes. Maybe if the radio wasn’t so loud, you could hear,” JC said, turning the radio down.
There was rustling outside the door and it soon was opened by Briley who had a bag in one hand and two drink trays in the other. Lance was behind her, also loaded down with bags. Lance set the bags down and sat in the chair next to me.
“Oh my! I can’t believe I haven’t seen my boyfriend for almost an hour!” I exclaimed, pinning Lance in the chair and against the wall.
“That’s a little obsessive Kelly,” Justin pointed out.
Briley began to laugh. “No it’s not! It’s ‘Can’t Hardly Wait’!”
I got up from where I had been leaning over. “Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!”
“You are so odd...” JC mumbled.
“I know you are but what am I?”
“Strange.”
“I know you are but what am I?”
“Weird.”
“I know you are but what am I?”
“Stop it.”
“Stop it,” I said, imitating JC.
“Kelly...”
“Kelly...”
“Lance!”
“Lance!”
“Stop it!” JC exclaimed.
“Stop it!”
“Lance, can’t you control her?”
“Lance, can’t you control her?”
Lance just shrugged. “Your on your own this time.”
“Thanks man,” JC said sarcastically.
“Thanks man.”
"FOOD!" Briley yelled, to get our attention.
I stopped imitating JC and practically ran across the room to get my order.
Later, we headed to the Magic Kingdom. From the main parking lot, you had to either ride a monorail or a boat to the park. We all made the decision to ride the monorail because the line was much shorter. About six others (from the looks of it, a family) was in the same car as us.
The littlest girl, who looked like she was about 7, looked curiously at the guys. “Are you five ‘N Sync?” She asked shyly.
Joey knelt down in front of her. “Yes we are. What’s your name?”
“Christina.”
“Well, hi Christina,” Lance said, flashing her a smile.
“Hi Lance,” She smiled. “Will you guys sing for me?”
“Sure. What song?” Justin answered.
“Um...” She paused thoughtfully. “My favorite song is ‘For The Girl Who Has Everything.’”
“Okay guys... ready?” JC asked. He began to count off the beats. “One, two, three, ready, sing.”
The five of them began to sing. During the chorus, Lance gave my hand a slight squeeze. When they neared the end of the song, they each got on their knees in front of little Christina. As their voices faded out, Christina gave Lance a kiss on the cheek. He then returned the gesture.
“Better be careful Kelly! Looks like someone is mackin’ on your man!” Alex said softly. I smiled at her choice of words and Texan dialect.
“I don’t think I need to worry about her stealing him. That would bring a whole new meaning to robbing the cradle,” I said. Alex laughed as we watched Christina give Justin, JC, Joey, and Chris hugs.
Lance got up from his knees and sat back down next to me. He reached over and lightly rested his hand on my bare leg, right above my knee. Christina looked at us, smiled, and walked over to stand in front of me.
“Are you his girlfriend?” She asked, almost in a whisper. I glanced at Lance and saw him nod.
“Yes I am,” I answered her.
“If you don’t marry him, can I?” She asked, her brown eyes sparkling.
“Well...” I paused. Then I whispered in her ear. “If we don’t you can, but I hope we will.”
“Oh.” She was quiet. “Good luck!” Christina gave me a hug.
The monorail jerked to a stop outside the Magic Kingdom. All five members of ‘N Sync pulled out ‘disguises’ so that less fans would recognize them. Lance was wearing a University of Nebraska hat and Tommy Hilfiger sunglasses. Justin wore a baby blue fisherman’s hat and ‘MIB’ sunglasses. Chris wore his eyeglasses and had his hair pulled back. JC had a goatee, an ‘N Sync hat, and fake wire rim glasses. Joey had nothing whatsoever to change the way he looked.
No sooner had we left the monorail than we heard beeping. “What the heck?” I asked, trying to figure out what it was.
“That’s me,” Justin informed us. “I don’t mean me... but my beeper.”
“Who is it?” JC asked.
Justin pulled a small black box from the waistband of his shorts. He looked at it. “It’s Johnny,” he replied. “Lemme go call him real quick.”
JC, Briley, Alex, and Joey went into a small souvenir shop, while Chris went into a chocolate store. Lance and I sat on a bench in front of Cinderella’s castle, while Justin went to make the phone call.
“Well...” I slowly said.
“Well,” Lance repeated.
“It’s too bad your management has all those rules about public displays of affection...” I mumbled, lightly tracing his soft lips with my index finger.
A smile slowly spread across his face. “In my opinion...” he paused, lightly kissing my fingertip. “Some rules are made to be broken.” We leaned in towards each other for a kiss.... and succeeded.
Moments later, we pulled away from each other at the sound of a click and someone hitting someone else. We looked up to see the rest of our group standing in front of us, my camera in Briley’s hands.
“Briley? Why do you have my camera?”
“Taking a picture of you and Lance.”
“Give me it,” I said, holding my hand out. Briley reluctantly handed it over.
“Let’s go ride Space Mountain!” Chris suddenly ran by yelling, grabbing my hand and pulling me from the bench, in the direction of the rollercoaster.
“Okay Chris! I think we get the picture! You want to go on Space Mountain!” I said laughing. I stopped in my tracks. Chris kept running, and everyone else ran by, Lance stopping next to me.
“Is your back okay?” He asked.
“It’s fine,” I answered. “Why wouldn’t it be?”
“Well, you were running and...”
“I’m fine Lance.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m sure!” I exclaimed. A slightly hurt look crossed Lance’s face. “I’m sorry babe. I’m okay, just believe me, all right?”
He nodded, placed an arm around my waist, and kissed the tip of my nose. We walked to the rollercoaster and found everyone waiting outside for us. “Hey Justin! What did Johnny want?” JC asked.
“He wanted... um... he... nothing,” Justin mumbled, looking from me to Alex to Briley to his four groupmates. “I’ll tell you guys later.”
“You can tell us now,” Lance said.
“Are you sure you all want to know?” Just asked, looking at all of us. We were quiet, several of us nodding. He sighed. “Our new song just hit number one-”
“All right!” Joey yelled, punching one fist in the air. The other’s cheered.
“AND we have to go to New York to do some promotional junk for MTV,” he finished.
“So?” Lance asked.
“We leave tomorrow night.”
