AJ stepped up to the plate next. He wasn’t very good at softball, but he didn’t really care. Justin stood on second base, cheering and clapping. Glancing down at his feet, he noticed his long dark blue jeans and black shoes had already gotten all dusty. Oh well. He adjusted his backwards baseball cap, rested the bat on his shoulder, and stared at Jeff. The first pitch whizzed right by him. Instinctively, AJ swung although the ball already was nested in Taylor’s catcher’s glove.
"That’s OK, AJ!" Rebekah called to her favorite Backstreet Boy, "you’ll get it next time!"
"Doesn’t Taylor look so cute as a catcher?" Erin said dreamily.
Theresa glanced at Isaac to see if he reacted. He pretended not to hear her. "Yeah, but doesn’t Zac look even cuter as a bench warmer?" Theresa giggled since she assumed Ike wasn’t listening. Theresa waved at the other bench. Kristen, Sarah, and Zac waved back.
"Theresa likes you," Sarah told Zac. Kristen kicked her in the ankle. She wanted Zac.
Zac grinned, noticing the subtle kick. "Yeah, Theresa seems cool. So do you, Kristen." Kristen smiled. She was tempted to ask Zac to marry her right then and there.
Back on the other bench, Justin Jeffre jumped up. "Alright, guys, we’re on the field. AJ just got out."
"I don’t wanna go!" Erin exclaimed. She didn’t really like softball that much. Rebekah and Theresa were already on the other side of the dugout pulling on their gloves.
Kevin stood by Erin, examing the field. "There’s already too many people. You, Tim and I are gonna have to sit this inning out."
Theresa looked back into the dugout for Erin. "Erin!" she called.
"Theresa!" Erin called back. She was pretty satisfied hanging out on the bench, though. Rebekah, Isaac, and Theresa headed out into the outfield. Since Brian was a pitcher, he practiced his pitches with Sean while the Gumen established a batting order. Drew was originally going to pitch, but he agreed to let Brian pitch if he could play short stop.
"Who’s gonna bat first?" Chris demanded.
"Batter up!" Justin T hollered from second base.
"Taylor, you go," Zac suggested.
"Yeah, I’ll go," Taylor relented. He could see the Pirates were getting pretty impatient.
Joey sat down next to Amanda. "You guys did really good out there."
"Thanks," Amanda and Katie said.
Aaron plopped down next to Sarah and asked her and Kristen, "Do you guys want to play next inning?"
Sarah got excited. She was sitting by her future husband! He was so cute close up. "Sure, I’ll play in the outfield. Those guys hit hard!"
"I wanna bat," Kristen said.
"Then you have to be agressive. If you just say something, they’ll let you bat first," Aaron reasoned. Kristen nodded absent-mindedly. Aaron Carter annoyed her.
On the Pirate’s bench, Scott, J, and Lance had their heads together and were discussing something. They kept glancing at Erin and Tim, making sure those two weren’t listening. "So, Lance, you say she’s cute, you just gotta put the moves on her," Scott advised.
"It’s not that easy," Lance argued. "She’s so much younger than me. Four years younger I think."
"That doesn’t matter," J put in, "this is the only chance you’re gonna get. If you want to know what she’s like, you have to talk to her."
Lance looked uncomfortable. Trying to get Scott’s attention, he attempted to tilt his head in Erin’s direction. "What?" Scott asked him. "You got a crick in your neck?"
Lance laughed. "No, Erin’s listening," he said in a low voice.
"Good!" exclaimed J. Although Lance couldn’t see how it would be good, he let J talk to Erin. "Erin, do you think Katie would go for Lansten over here?"
"Yeah!" Erin responded hastily, "why wouldn’t she?"
Thoughtfully, Lance answered, "See, that’s the thing. I don’t want her to like me just because I’m in ‘N Sync."
Erin was quick to explain, "You’re Katie’s favorite ‘N Sync because of your personality. She would love to go out with any guy like you."
Lance was satisfied. With a little prodding from J and Scott, he marched on over to the Gumen bench. "Traitor!" Chris, JC, and Joey hooted at their fellow ‘N Sync. "Go back to your own team!" Chris was about to confront Lance, but he was on deck after Aaron, so he went to pick out a bat instead. "What’s up?" JC asked.
"I wanna talk to Katie," he said quietly. Then he lowered his voice even more, "to get to KNOW her."
"Ah! I see," JC said, smiling proudly at his friend.
"What’s he gonna do?" inquired Jeff, who heard part of their conversation.
"Ask Katie out," Joey said loud enough for practically the whole bench to hear. Luckily, Katie didn’t hear, but Amanda did.
"Cool," Jeff said in approval, "she’s adorable."
"Katie!" Amanda hissed. "Lance is going to ask you out! Joey just said. And Jeff called you ‘adorable!’"
Katie glanced at Lance and became flustered. He was walking right towards her. "Mind if I sit here?" he asked, looking into Amanda’s eyes. Amanda giggled and moved over. "So, Katie, are you having fun?"
"Yeah," she squeaked. "Best day of my life."
Lance cleared his throat. How many times had he asked a girl out? It’s not that tough. "Cool." By taking a deep breath, he let all the fear and anxiety out of his body and just relaxed. "Are you single?" he asked casually.
"Mmmhmm," Katie murmurred.
Turning to face Katie, he said, "That’s a good thing because I was just wondering if you’d like to go out with me?" There. That wasn’t too hard at all. Amanda giggled again.
All eyes of the Gumen were on her, awaiting her answer. Katie wasn’t even thinking about how often she would see Lance or that he didn’t even know her. This was Lance Bass after all! She didn’t show her enthusiasm, though. It wasn’t her style. Casually, but with a sweet smile on her face, she answered, "Yeah."
The Gumen exploded. "Katie and Lance are an ITEM!" hooted Abs. In a split second, John Norris was at Lance’s side, interviewing the newly un-single guy.
"Did I just hear that Lance is now taken?" John wondered, pressing the microphone in Lance’s face.
Lance nodded and grinned at the camera. Rich threw his arm on Lance’s shoulder, "Yes you did. He’s breaking a few hearts on national television!"
The camera panned over to show a close up of Katie. "And this is the lucky lady. Amanda’s friend, Katie," John announced. "How does it feel going out with a guy from ‘N Sync?"
"Incredible," she said, switching on her teenybopper mode for the camera while quoting a Hanson song. Lance smiled admiringly at his young girlfriend.
While the camera still ran, Rebekah and Theresa screamed from the outfield, "Yeah, Caz (Katie’s nickname)! Wooooohooooo!"
