Prologue:
Christina was so excited. She was actually going to be on the MMC! She was so surprised when the show had asked her to audition again. But she was speechless when they told her she had made it. She danced all around the living room when she found out, unable to form words without screaming. Later she walked around in a daze, anxiously awaiting the day she would become a mousketeer.
~*~Chapter One~*~
Christina anxiously, paced outside the door to the room where the cast party was being held. The MMC cast-old and new were all in there. Christina took a deep breath and pushed her long hair behind her shoulder. She was so nervous that she had been pacing in that same spot for 5 minutes,
feeling very self- conscious and afraid about everything. If she went in she was sure she`d do something seriously embarrassing.
She thought she heard the door begin to open and turned to run down the hall, not looking in front of her. She ran right into someone, nearly knocking them both down.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!" A voice said. Christina looked up to see that the voice belonged to a boy about her age. He looked somewhat familiar.
Christina was still feeling shy but she was never open with her emotions and she wasn`t about to start now.
"No problem, are you okay? Leave it to me to try to knock someone over my first day," she joked.
The guy laughed. "I`m Justin." He smiled and stuck out his hand. Christina took it.
"I`m Christina,"
Justin shook her hand "Pleased to meet you." Christina almost laughed out loud. She never met anyone her age so polite.
"So..." Justin went on. "Are you a new mouseketeer?"
"Yeah...You too?" Christina could see this conversation was going nowhere.
Justin nodded." I think I remember you from the auditions."
"Yeah you look familiar too."
There was an uneasy silence, then Justin blurted out.
"Would you like to walk into the party with me? I`m not usually shy but I feel so darn nervous right now."
Christina burst out laughing. " You read my mind! I need support too!"
Justin held out his arm. "Allow me to escort you to the party, Miss?"
Christina linked her arm through his. "I`d be honored!" she laughed at their little joke.
They walked to the door and they unhooked arms so that Justin could open the door.
Christina took a deep breath. "It`s now or never!"
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
As they stepped into the large room, no one was staring at them like Christina had imagined they would be. Everyone was scattered around, talking and laughing and snacking on punch and cookies. Justin her a thumbs up and a smile that almost looked confident, then her went off to stroll around.
Christina wandered off to the refreshment table and grabbed herself a cookie and some punch.
She sat down in a nearby chair and swept her eyes across the room. She saw kids she recognized that were already members of the show and she saw some kids she thought looked familiar from the auditions and others she had never seen before.
Christina drained the last of her punch and went back to the table for more.
When she got there she saw a boy with blond hair about 12 or 13 years old. He was leaned over the table stuffing food in his mouth and gulping down punch.
" So, I see you just discovered oatmeal cookies, huh?" Christina said, pouring more punch into her cup.
"What?" the guy looked up quickly, cookie crumbs falling from his mouth.
"I said you just discovered oatmeal cookies, huh?" she repeated slowly.
"No," the guy grinned. "I just love to eat!"
Christina laughed.
"I�m Ryan by the way." he said popping a piece of cookie in his mouth.
"I�m Christina. "Um...could I suggest something?"
"Sure, what?"
"A napkin."
"A what-oh!" Ryan grinned sheepishly and grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth.
"I guess you�re a new `teer, too?" Christina observed as they sat down at a table close by.
"Nope, I�ve been on the show for awhile. They pretty much started the show because of me."
"What? I�ve never seen you on the show before." Christina said suspiciously.
"Yup. I�m Mickey Mouse. Don�t you recognize me?" Ryan said, striking a pose.
"Well I certainly see it in the ears." Christina joked.
Ryan pretended to pout then laughed. "Not really. I�m new too." They were chatting quietly when Justin came up.
" So I see you met the one-of-a-kind Ryan." Justin said to Christina as he pulled up a chair.
Christina laughed and looked at Ryan. "We met at the auditions." Ryan explained.
"Yeah it was mostly my good looks that got me in," Justin said, slicking back his hair.
"Me too." Ryan stated.
Christina laughed and rolled her eyes.
"What are you laughing at? It�s true!" Ryan looked at Justin. "At least for me."
"Whatever, man." Justin laughed.
"Well while you guys try to figure out who�s cuter. I�m going to make some friends. One�s who don�t have giant egos!" Christina said, raising her eyebrows.
"Oooh!" Ryan laughed as she strolled away.
Christina breathed easier she wasn`t that scared anymore and she was making friends!
She drifted through the crowds, studying faces and half listening to conversations. She was listening to a conversation about music between one of the "newbies" and an old timer, JC, when someone tapped her on her shoulder.
She turned around and to see a girl her age with long brown hair.
"Hi!" she said. "You look like the only girl here my age so I figured if I wanted to make any friends I should introduce myself to someone." The girl had a nice southern accent.
"Cool," Christina smiled. "I�m Christina Aguilera-oh and I�m 12 if you want to know if we�re the same age."
"Well almost. I�m 11," the girl said.
"That�s close enough for me." Christina said. She smiled at the girl and the girl smiled back.
Wow! Christina thought. Instant friendship! I�m on a roll today. We could become good friends me and-
"Oh!" Christina exclaimed. "You didn�t tell me your name!"
"Oh! I�m Britney Spears. And you�re Christina Agu-u-?"
"Christina Aguilera. Remember it. You�ll be hearing it a lot someday!"