Morgan ran into the house, almost jumping with excitement. She slammed the door behind her and immediately headed towards the family room downstairs.
�Phyllis! Phyllis!� she yelled.
�Up here, dear!� she heard a voice call from upstairs.
She turned around and quickly headed to the formal living room on the main floor. She darted in, then suddenly screeched to a halt seeing six new faces unexpectedly--six male faces. She looked to Phyllis expectantly.
�Morgan!� Phyllis smiled. �Come here, dear. I�d like you to meet someone.� Hesitantly, she moved to the center of the room, stopping in front of the six young men sitting on the couches and chairs around the room. She looked to her second mother and waited to be introduced to the guys.
�Morgan, you remember my sons, Steven and Joey.� Morgan looked at her strangely, she�d never met either of Phyllis�s sons before, but didn�t say anything.
Two of the men stood up instantly. One, the older of the two, offered his hand to Morgan. After shaking it, she turned to the second, expecting another handshake. Instead, Morgan found herself wrapped up in a giant bear hug. She squirmed to get out of the man�s grasp and backed away from him once he did release her. She backed right into another man. His arms immediately encircled her tightly, keeping her from falling. Morgan whirled around to face a tall, curly-haired boy who looked to be in his late teens. His deep blue eyes seemed to search hers thoroughly before she could tear her gaze away from his. Startled, she jerked away from him and carefully moved to stand next to Phyllis again. Phyllis put a comforting arm around the young woman and continued to introduce her to the men.
�Steven is the one who shook your hand, and Joey is the one who hugged you.� She said softly. �These other boys are Joey�s group-mates, the rest of *N Sync. From left to right are Chris, Lance, Justin, and JC.� Morgan watched as Phyllis pointed to a rather short man with dark hair and glasses, then a young man with highlighted brown spiky hair and pale green eyes, then the young man that caught her earlier, and finally to a tall man with dark hair, blue eyes, and a chiseled face. The men all seemed frozen for a moment, then JC extended his hand.
�Hi, Morgan. It�s nice to meet you.� He said smiling.
Morgan glanced nervously at him before clasping his hand in her own. �Um, nice to meet you too.�
Phyllis spoke up again. �Boys, this is Morgan Carpenter. She�s the girl I was telling you about.�
Morgan felt all eyes on her and felt her face begin to turn red. I hope she didn�t tell them everything. She thought. When she looked up, she noticed that Joey and Justin were still looking at her curiously. Phyllis continued to talk to all of the guys, and Morgan began to let her mind wander. She didn�t realize that one of them was speaking to her again until she felt a hand land on her shoulder.
�What?� she asked, confused then frightened, noticing that Phyllis and Steven had left the room.
The young man laughed gently at her. �Don�t worry. We just asked you if you wanted to go out to eat with us.�
�Well...Chris, is it?� He nodded. �Well, Chris, I guess that would depend on where you were going and what time you planned on getting back.�
�Planet Hollywood, and around ten, I guess.� He replied.
�Sounds good to me, just let me get ready real quick.�
He smiled again. Morgan noticed how beautiful his eyes were, very dark brown. They seemed to be able to reach straight into her soul, and she quickly looked away. She got up and walked upstairs to her room, where she quickly got dressed to go out. Walking back down the stairs, she ran into Justin and JC.
�Well, hello there Morgan.� Justin said slyly. �You�re lookin� pretty fine tonight.�
Morgan blushed. �Thank you, Justin.� She said softly, hoping that he would stop the flattery before he made her uncomfortable.
He grinned, then opened his mouth to answer her when JC interrupted him. �So, Morgan, how long have you lived with the Fatones?�
�About three years.� She answered. �I�ve known Phyllis for about five years now though. She�s like a mother to me.�
�Three years?� JC repeated. �That�s funny, I could have sworn Joey said he hadn�t seen you in forever.�
Morgan was slightly puzzled by his comment, but hid it well. �He hasn�t ever seen me. We�d never met before today.� Morgan replied smoothly.
�But...� JC began.
Justin interrupted him. �Do you mean to say that you�ve known Phyllis for five years and lived with her for three, and you�ve never met either Joey or Steve?�
�Yeah.�
�That doesn�t make any sense.�
Morgan forced herself to remain calm and collected, when what she really wanted to do was turn around and go back upstairs to bed. She hated answering personal questions. �Phyllis always lets me know when her kids are coming to town to visit. I just make myself scarce for a few days, then come back when things have calmed down. I�ve met Janine before, but never Joey or Steve. They were always on tour or something.�
�You leave? But where do you go?� Justin pressed.
Before Morgan could answer, they reached the main floor again where the rest of the group was waiting for them. Thankfully, JC and Justin allowed the subject to drop, though Morgan could see that they still wanted answers by looking in their eyes. Seeing her enter the room, Joey immediately stuck out a hand to her. Morgan looked at it timidly, afraid to allow the smallest of gestures to get to her. When Morgan didn�t take his hand, Joey looked at her curiously, but let it go for the moment.
Dinner was an experience Morgan knew she would not soon forget. Chris, Justin, and Joey seemed to regress to their child-hoods right in front of her eyes. Laughing and joking around, the three even began a small food fight at their private booth, which JC quickly put a stop to. As the night wore on, Morgan learned more about all five men and their group, and managed to hide the details of her own life they seemed to want to know so badly. Finally, their meal was over, and all six piled into their car to drive back to the Fatones�.
Entering the house, Morgan immediately claimed exhaustion and headed up to her room. She could hear the members of *N Sync downstairs talking and debated whether or not to eavesdrop on their conversation, wondering if it was about her. After deciding not to pursue that angle, she quickly readied herself for bed, slipping into her most comfortable hunter green and navy plaid flannel pajama bottoms and a matching hunter green tank top. After she finished washing her face, she realized that her medication was still in the downstairs cabinet, and she�d have to walk through the living area to get to it. Since she knew the guys were still up talking, Morgan was tempted to simply skip her pill tonight, then thought the better of it, and grudgingly headed down the stairs, hoping that the guys would let her by without asking questions. Her hopes were dashed the second she appeared in the doorway.
�Hey Morgan! I thought you were tired.� Justin said, jumping up and heading toward her.
Instinctively, Morgan started to back away from him. �I am. I just remembered something.�
A look of hurt confusion settled over the young man�s features. �Okay.� he said quietly. �Um... Are you all right?�
�Yeah, fine.� she answered quickly, swerving around Justin and heading to the bathroom. Once there, she opened the cabinet and hurriedly grabbed her pills. Palming them, she turned to head back upstairs, hoping no one would notice the bottle in her hand. She had made it to the stairs and heaved a sigh of relief when she heard a voice behind her. Turning around, she found herself just inches from Joey�s face.
�Joey, can I help you with something?�
�Yeah.� he nodded. �You can tell me what�s in the bottle, and why you�re so scared of all of us. We only want to be your friend, but you back away anytime one of us tries to get close to you.�
Her eyes darted from Joey, to the other boys looking on curiously, then back to Joey. �What... What are you talking about?�
Joey�s eyes narrowed. �You know what I�m talking about. The bottle in your hand, and the way you shy away from any kind of contact with us whatsoever.�
Morgan mirrored his look with one of her own. �What�s in the bottle is my business, not yours. And how can you say I shy away from any kind of contact with you? Did I not spend two and a half hours with you and your friends at dinner tonight? Two and a half hours with total strangers, and you say I shy away from contact?�
Joey flinched at her words, but said nothing. He simply turned around and walked past his friends to the downstairs family room. The others looked from the door to Morgan, confused. Then they all slowly followed their friend downstairs, only Justin lagged behind. He slowly walked over to Morgan, his eyes not leaving the floor.
�Listen, Morgan, I don�t know what was said between you and Joey, but we just want to be your friends. You really have me worried.�
�Worried?� Morgan echoed incredulously. �You�ve only known me a total of three hours, how can you be worried about me?�
Justin�s blue eyes were drenched in sorrow. �You won�t let anyone hug you, or compliment you...you wouldn�t even take Joey�s hand earlier. I know he didn�t act like it bothered him, but his feelings were really hurt by that. And I don�t know what you�re hiding from us, or what kind of pills are in that bottle, but... We�re here for you, ya know? If you let us, I think you�ll find we�re a pretty understanding group of guys. If you ever need to talk, just come find me. And if we�re on tour or something, just give me a call. Phyllis has my number, okay?�
Mutely, Morgan nodded, then watched as he joined his friends downstairs. Still stunned by the two outbursts she�d heard, she silently made her way back to bed, but sleep wouldn�t come. Have I misjudged them? She thought to herself. Maybe Justin�s right. Maybe I just need to loosen up; let someone hug me now and then. After all, they�re not all like him. She knew that�s what she wanted. She wanted...no, she needed to let someone in. She needed someone she could talk with and tell her deepest secrets to, someone she could trust. But she was scared, plain and simple. She honestly did not know how to let Justin in, or Joey. She wanted to, but she couldn�t. Sighing, she flipped over and slipped into a restless sleep.
The next few days were balanced between studying for and taking her final exams at the community college and avoiding Joey and his friends. The latter part was easy for her, as Joey refused to speak to her, and all his friends tiptoed around her, afraid of upsetting him. The only one of his friends that would talk to her for any measurable length of time was Justin. Morgan knew that Joey had gotten upset at her that first night, but she was still unsure of exactly what it was she had said to make him so angry with her. She knew that Justin knew, but he didn�t offer the information and Morgan didn�t want to put him in an awkward position and ask.
She was studying for her Romantic Literature final on Thursday afternoon when the phone rang. Knowing that all five *N Syncers were present in the house, Morgan ignored the phone and returned to the works of Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Keats. A few minutes later, Lance appeared in her doorway.
�Can I help you, Lance?� she asked.
�Phone for you downstairs.�
Morgan sighed. �I�ll be right there.� She marked her spot in the book, and followed Lance downstairs. He took his seat and went back to watching Joey flip through channels on the TV with the others. Morgan rolled her eyes at them, then picked up the phone, dragging it as far as she could to the corner of the room and wishing Phyllis had a cordless phone she could use.
"Hello?�
�Morgan. Long time no see. What�cha been up to, sweetheart?� a strong male voice answered, sending chills up Morgan�s spine.
�Don�t call me sweetheart.� she said forcefully, noticing that every head in the living room cocked up an inch or two to overhear her side of the conversation as best as they could.
David�s voice was syrupy-sweet. �Awww, come on baby. I�ve missed having you around. Won�t you give me a second chance? I messed up. I�m sorry, I told you that.�
�No, you didn�t.� she said coldly. �You never once said you were sorry. Why should I believe you now?�
Morgan heard David sigh. �Morgan, I�m sorry, okay? I�m sorry I didn�t listen to you. I�m sorry I believed Cory over you. It won�t happen again, I swear.�
�I want to believe you, David, I do. I just... That wasn�t the first time he�s lied about me and you�ve believed him. It wasn�t the first time you�ve lied to me either, and you know I hate to be lied to.�
�Please Morgan, just give me one more chance to make this up to you. I know you must be lonely in that house all by yourself, and I can help you.� he said suggestively.
�I�m not here by myself anymore, David.� she said quietly.
�Yeah, I noticed that. Who�s the guy that answered the phone, anyway?�
�He�s one of Phyllis�s son�s friends that�s staying here temporarily.� she answered.
David�s voice became gruff. �One of her son�s friends? Exactly how many guys are staying there?�
�Oh, no, you are not pulling this on me now!� she answered, her voice rising. �I don�t even talk to any of them, save one, so just drop the subject right now!� Morgan saw all five heads shoot up, and Justin blatantly turned around in his seat to stare at her, his eyes questioning. She shook her head at him, waving him off and concentrated on what David was now saying.
�Save one, huh?� He sneered. �Dang, girl, you move on quick.�
�Oh, please, David. Not that this is any of your business anymore, but he�s eighteen, and we�re just friends.� she shot back angrily.
�Sure babe, sure. So, what do you say, will you meet me?�
�After that wonderful display of jealousy? What do you think, Sherlock?�
Anger crept back into David�s voice, replacing the mocking tone he�d used earlier. �Morgan, you just best be at the park at 8:30 Saturday morning. You got me?�
�Is that a threat?�
�Nope, Morg, it�s a promise.�
Before Morgan could react, she heard the buzz of the dial-tone in her ear. Frustrated, she stomped back to the counter and slammed the phone back into its cradle. Glancing up, she noticed Justin standing next to her, with the others trying to look like they were busy watching the TV instead of her. Justin placed his hand on her back gently.
�You okay, Morgan?� he asked quietly.
She sighed. �I�m fine, Justin, but thanks for asking. As for the rest of you, I personally don�t think that the mating habits of salamander are all that interesting...nice try though.� She turned on her heel and walked back upstairs, slamming the door, then opening it up and slamming it once more for good measure. Having relieved some tension, she sighed again, opened her book, and tried to concentrate on the Romantic poets instead of her impending meeting with David.