| Chapter 1 |
| "we need a bass voice," justin argued, "we don't have one and we need one." chris shook his head. "what for? we sound fine with just the four of us. don't we, jc?" "naw, chris, j is right. something's missing. i think a bass is a good idea." chris looked indignant. "jc, you're always on justin's side!" he whined. then joey piped up, "chris, knock it off, you're pouting and whining like justin. it makes sense when he does it, he's only 14. you're almost 24. knock it off." "hey, what's being 14 have to do with any of this?" justin stuck in. "i hate it when you guys pick on me for being the youngest. if you didn't want me, then why ask me to be in the group?" jc shook his head, making peace once more. "we want you, j, relax." then joey added his own two cents to the conversation: "i think josh is right, we need a bass. right now we're good, but with a bass we'll be great." "hey, wasn't it my idea?" justin whined. "stop whining, curly," jc reprimanded. "who cares whose idea it was? all we need now is to find that voice. any ideas where to look?" joey said, "all of my pals are wimpy tenors and baritones, sorry. plus one guy from the 'beatlejuice graveyard review' is probably enough," he added with a self-referential grin. "and i'm afraid you and i were the only MMC guys with any real talent, josh," justin said, with just a hint of a smirk. "i'm gonna have to agree with you on that one," jc laughed, "and i can't think of any useful basses from my d.c. days." "you guys are my only friends who can sing," chris concluded. "well, then what?" jc scratched his chin. "i can ask my old vocal coach if you want me to," justin offered. "he taught lots of talented singers." here justin paused dramatically before adding, "including me!" he then bowed low. "get over yourself, cream puff," jc said, playfully slapping the back of justin's head. "but yeah, call him. we need all the help we can get." *** "lance, honey, the phone's for you!" "thanks, mom!" lance called, grabbing the cordless from the den. "hello?" "hi, lance?" lance didn't recognize the voice which was soft, male, and decidedly young, but even in those few words, he could sense the sultry accent of the speaker. something southern, but not too southern. lance couldn't quite place where the speaker was from. he also had no idea who it was on the other end of the line. "yup this is lance," he answered, his voice filled with curiosity. lance was sure the boy on the other end of the line had no trouble detecting that he was from mississippi. his accent was as thick as the bottom of the river that bore the same name as his state. "hi, lance," the voice said again, and lance decided that he liked hearing the sultry accent say his name. "you don't know me," the voice continued, "but my name is justin timberlake and i got your name from your old vocal coach, i used to take from him, too, and he said you might be interested in this little group some friends and i are putting together, and we need a bass voice, so what do you say?" lance listened to justin's almost breathless barrage, then asked one of his typically simple and pointed questions: "what sort of group?" "with you we'd have five people in all, and we'd sing and dance and be stars, wouldn't it be great?" lance blinked. "did you say dance?" "yeah, but if you don't know how, it's cool, you can learn. i can teach you, i'm good at it. we need your voice, lance. and your age is perfect. you're 16, right?" "yeah, just turned it in may." "then it's settled. you'll come down to orlando to meet us all, right?" "whoa, justin? i'm not so sure about this." lance was especially hesitant about the dancing. he could sing ok, that he knew, but dance? but justin said he could teach him, maybe he could -- justin interuppted his thoughts. "not sure about what?" the young man asked, his voice oozing with confidence. "it's gonna be great!" lance scratched his head, wondering how the hell this fell into his lap. it sounded mostly like a wild goose chase to him, but lance was at least curious about justin, the boy with that sultry, unplaceable accent, if he wasn't totally hooked on the idea of being in this group. it sounded suspiciously like the backstreet boys, a boyband that katja, the german foreign exchange student in his bio class, raved about constantly. lance was more than a little wary. "so are you coming?" justin asked again. "lemme go run this by my mom," lance said. she'll never go for it, he added silently. "ok, but be sure you talk her into it. this is the chance of a lifetime, lance. i can't wait to meet you!" "ok." lance wasn't sure if justin was right or not, but the boy's voice alone made him want to give it a try. "i think it would be nice to meet you, too." |