As we stepped inside the club, Justin took my hand. I shivered at his touch, but I didn’t pull away. Sometimes I forgot how special I felt when Justin touched me. I tried to convince myself that he didn’t want to start our relationship over—he was over it.

            In the club, we sat down at a leather stall, where the mist and smell of the alcohol blocked out most peoples view of seeing *NSYNC and me in the club. The dance floor was just as foggy, plus with the amount of people dancing already, I wasn’t sure I would even find a space.

            My eyes danced around the room, looking through the haziness. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone who looked stunningly familiar—Tara Reid. As my eyes traveled across the bar, I saw Carson Daly; Fred Durst; Pink; Shakira. I knew that Justin & JC had picked here because they were in the atmosphere. I was, too, but somehow I didn’t feel very famous. I felt like the regular Sophie—the one with a relationship, the one with annoying but sweet siblings. That Sophie—not this one.

            “What is he doing out there?” I asked Kerri incredulously as I watched Chris spin on his heel, then land on his bum in the middle of the dance floor. Kerri smiled delicately and took a sip of her tequila and laughed.

            “Whatever it is, it’s not one of his professional moves, that’s for sure,” She laughed.

            “And if it is...I don’t know why the hell they’re paying Wade so much!” I looked at Kerri, and we burst into a fit of giggles.

            I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned around. Justin stood there, a smile playing on his face.

            “Hi girls. Sophie, want to dance?” He said, as a slow song came on. It was ‘Crush’ by Mandy Moore. I couldn’t dance to it; it was the song I confessed my feelings for Justin.

            My knees weakened; I felt the whole world spinning along side of me. I opened my mouth to speak, but nothing came out.

            “I....I...I...I can’t!” I exclaimed, rushing to the bathroom behind Justin’s flabbergasted face. As soon as I reached the bathroom, I raced to the sink and chugged out every ounce of everything in my body.

            The door opened softly behind me. I looked at the mirror, and saw Kerri coming into the bathroom. As soon as she spotted me, her mouth dropped open.

            “Oh my Gosh, S, are you okay?” She asked frantically.

            “I’m...fine,” I managed to squeak out. I went into a stall, and realized I had just received my... “Kerri, do you happen to have Kotex?” I asked from the stall. She laughed, and I heard her digging through her purse. She slid the stuff under the stall. “Thanks,” I muttered.

            “Are you okay?!” Justin exclaimed as soon as he saw me. I nodded meekly, wanting more than anything to get away from him.

            “Yeah. Don’t waste your night. Go dance.” I instructed. He hopelessly looked at Kerri. She shook her head.

            “The girl says dance. Go dance!” She laughed. Justin threw his hands up in defeat, and went back into the hazy disco dance floor. Kerri slung her arm around my neck, and led me back to our table. I sat down across from her.

            “Thanks,” I said. She nodded.

            “No problem-o. My pleasure, girl,” She chuckled half-heartedly, but her face became serious. “Hey, Sophie. Look, I don’t want to be nosy or anything—don’t tell me if your not comfortable. But honestly, what is up with you and Justin? No one is telling me, and I’m starting to feel...left out!” She pouted playfully. I sighed and smiled.

            “Might as well tell you. Well, to make a long story short, me and Justin were going out. Then, I had this huge fight with Britney—she said some really crude stuff...” I started.

            “Like...” She interrupted.

            “Virginity, all that, since they were dating before Justin and I started going out. Anyways, I had enough of everything—the media, press, fans, public relations, Britney—so I gave up. I guess, I had for 2 years but I didn’t have the nerve to tell Justin until then. So I broke it off with him—we never saw or made contact since then. Until now.” I finished quietly, almost whispering.

            “So that’s why Justin gets all touchy when we get to the subject of girlfriends...” Kerri nodded in recognition. I nodded.

            “I really didn’t mean to hurt him, but...” I trailed off as Justin plopped down across from me, and next to Kerri.

            “Boy, I am pooped! But I’m still hyper, though. Any of you willing to dance with Timberlake? Well, if you can that is,” He smirked. Kerri rolled her eyes.

            “Remember, JuJu. Lance can Dance. Justin is...nothing,” She finished lamely. I laughed a little too loudly, because both of them cast curious looks at me.

            “What?” I asked innocently. Justin smiled and stood up. He ran over to a redhead, and quickly placed a kiss on her head. A slow song started, and they swayed softly to the melody. Great. This was just what I needed.

            I had to face the facts: My life was screwed.