| Katherine and Justin just sat there taking each other in. It had been so long and they had both grown and matured. It was like neither wanted to tear their eyes away from the other. �Umm, Justin? Do you know her?� Chris asked as he watched his best friend study this girl whom he never met before. Justin didn�t answer. He just kept looking at Katherine. It seemed like they were both oblivious to the world around them. �JUSTIN!� Chris yelled. �Wha what man, and why are you yelling?� Justin asked startled. �Do you know her?� �Oh yea. This Katherine JC�s cousin. We met when me and JC were on the Mickey Mouse Club.� �Kate, this is Chris.� �Nice to meet you,� Kate replied. �So,� Justin began, �How come you�re here?� �Josh didn�t tell you that I was coming on tour with you guys?� She asked bewildered. �No! That�s great! We have so much catching up to do,� Justin replied excitedly. �Yea. It� s been awhile,� Kate replied with a smile. Chris just stared as the two teenagers as they stared longingly at each other as if no one else was there. �Man, this is gonna be a long tour,� Chris mumbled. �There you are!� JC exclaimed. Katherine was suddenly snapped out of her gaze at the sound of JC yelling. �Well if you hadn�t left me then you wouldn�t have had to look for me,� she replied sarcastically. �Yeah, but I wouldn�t have left if these two morons over there didn�t call and tell me that Chris had his foot in the wall,� JC replied while slapping Chris on the head. �Hey man that hurt why not hit Justin over there too. It was as much his plan as mine,� Chris said rubbing the back of his head. �Speaking of the boy wonder over there. I see you two have reunited,� JC said with a smirk. �Yes we have Josh. How come you didn�t tell them I was coming on tour with you guys?� �It slipped my mind.� JC said with another smirk, which ultimately meant he was lying. Katherine made a mental note to get the real answer out of him later. �So when does the tour start?� Kate asked trying to change the subject of why she was coming on tour with the guys. It was something that she would have to tell them when she was right. JC didn�t even know the real reason. �Tomorrow morning at 5:00 am,� Justin replied before anyone else could. �WHAT! You have got to be kidding me I�m not getting up that early,� Kate said while putting her head on the piano to rest her head. �You can sleep once we get on the bus okay, and Kitty don�t whine to me about the time because I have no control over it.� Kate signed in defeat. JC knew her too well and sometimes, for example now, and that was a very bad thing. �But I don�t want to get up that early� Justin!� she said, but not forgetting to sneak in a smirk to JC first. �Well Kate I�d love to listen to you whine but I got to go home and finish packing so we�ll catch up later, okay?� Justin asked. �Hey I resent that you won�t listen to me whine. Who will I turn to now?� Kate said. �I don�t know but guys I�ll see you later at the house. JC, is Kate staying with us too?� Justin asked. �Oh that�s right. Yeah she is so when you get home get the guest room ready,� JC said. �Oh great a night filled with the wonderful heart throbs of *NSYNC. I have a feeling I�m gonna be seeing way too much of all of you on this tour,� Kate said. �Whatever Kitty. Let�s go see if we can find Lance before we go back to Lyn�s,� JC said pulling her from the bench. JC and Kate walked down the hallway to Jive again dodging people as they were running past. �Hey guys,� Lance said approaching the two. �Hey Lance we were just looking for you. I was just gonna make sure that we had to be here at 5 tomorrow. We do right?� JC asked. �Yeah that�s right, but guys I got to run because I�m late meeting Erin.� �Okay bye Lance,� Kate said. Lance left ran back down another corridor as JC and Kate continued out the door and to JC�s Jeep. �Hey Josh, who�s Erin?� Kate asked on the car ride to Lyn�s house. �Oh that�s Lance�s girlfriend. They�ve been going out for about a year and a half. You�d like her. She�s real nice yet sometimes she acts pretty dumb. She�ll definitely make you laugh,� JC replied. �Is she gonna be on our tour?� �Yeah, but not the whole time, just like occasional week visits,� JC said still concentrating on the road in front of him. �Oh. Well that�s good at least I won�t miss out on girl talks while I�m away,� Kate said laughing at the memories of her and her friends� talking for hours about everything. The rest of the ride was virtually silent. * * * �Lyn! We�re home!� JC said bombarding through the door to the house. Just then a woman with blonde curly hair walked out from what Kate figured to be the kitchen. �Hello. You must be Katherine.� Lyn greeted her. �That�s me but you can call me Kate,� she replied. �Well Kate, your room is right in between JC�s and Justin�s up stairs on you right if you would like to get settled in. �Okay and thank you for letting me stay the night.� �Oh honey please family of JC�s is family to me too. If you need anything just let me know.� �Let�s go Kitty I�ll show you where your room is,� JC said taking her luggage. Kate and JC walked up the stairs to the second level where their bedrooms were. Kate followed closely behind JC as he walked past one room, which she assumed was Justin�s, and into the room next to it. �Well Kate this is your room hope you like it for the night,� JC said making his way out. Kate just stared in awe at the room. It was so beautiful. It was all done in a pale yellow color and the bed was all in done in white silk. Kate was almost afraid to sit on it for fear that she would wrinkle it or get it dirty. A knock sounded and Kate turned around to come face to face with Justin. �What is it Justin?� Kate asked. �I just wanted to let you know that dinner was ready. So you can come down when you�re done starring at the room.� Justin said and then turned and walked out laughing at Kate. Kate went down to dinner about five minutes later. They all sat down and began eating when Lyn asked, �So what do your parents do Kate?� �Oh well my mom is a secretary for this company in Georgia and my dad�s a lawyer.� �Oh well that�s nice,� Lyn replied. �Yes. Well I�m just about done so I think I�m gonna go to sleep now. Thank you for dinner Lyn it was wonderful,� Kate said while getting up from the table trying to avoid any talk about her parents. �Good night. Oh and Kitty I�ll be sure to wake you up tomorrow morning,� JC replied with a smirk. Kate just grunted something as she walked up the stairs to her room. That night while Kate lay in bed she thought about her family and how she wouldn�t see them for at least 4 months. They probably wouldn�t even miss her she thought. She was just another burden as her mother put it. * * * �Kitty wake up. You have to get ready to go.� JC said while shaking Kate. �Ugh! Alright.� Kate said while getting up from the bed. Kate took a shower got dressed and her, Justin, and JC were all on their way to Jive to leave for the tour. They went to the back lot by the buses and brought their luggage to be loaded. Kate looked around and noticed that all the guys were saying goodbye to what she guessed to be their family. The next thing she noticed was a girl with blond hair standing next to Lance. Kate made her way over to them. �Hey Lance,� Kate said. �Hey Kate, this is Erin,� Lance introduced. �Hi I�m Kate Josh�s cousin. It looks like were gonna be spending a lot of time together huh?� Kate said. �Yeah well I can�t wait to talk to you, but if you�ll excuse I have to say goodbye to my mom,� Erin replied. �Kate!� Kate turned around and saw Lyn calling her name. Kate ran over to Lyn. �Yeah Lyn?� �I just wanted to say goodbye and tell you to have a good time. It was pleasure seeing you again. Oh yea and take care of my baby for me,� Lyn said while pulling Kate into a hug. �Don�t worry Lyn I will,� she replied. JC then called to everyone to board the bus. Kate went on and was taken back by how big it was. It was just like a house. �Yo, Kate. Come here I�ll show you your bunk,� Erin said to her. Kate followed behind Erin. �Here it is mine�s right across from you.� �Okay well I�m gonna lay down for a while,� Kate said. Erin left and Kate just laid there thinking about her life. Just then her curtain flew open. �Hey Kitty how ya doin�? I just got off the phone with your mom. She wanted to see how you were,� JC said. �She wanted to make sure that I wasn�t getting into trouble, Josh,� Kate replied sadly. �Why would you get in trouble?� JC asked. �Josh you don�t even want to know why I�m really here,� Kate said burying her face into the pillow. �Yes I do. Tell me,� JC said. �Okay, but I think you better sit down for this.� Kate said. |