| �Britters!� Natalie poked her head through the door to the catering room and seeing she had finally found the right room, opened it all the way and entered. There were the three other members of �N Sync, only one of which was nameless since she met Joey in the hallway and recognized the AJ guy from everywhere else, and a couple makeup and hair artists and managers, she guessed. She looked up and realized it was the AJ guy who had called out her, or at least Britney�s, name. He was heaping some food on his plate, his head down at the moment. �AJ!� she called out happily, walking towards him. His head shot up, confused. �AJ?� he asked, curiously. Okay, Natalie thought to herself, So that�s not his name. �Yeah,� she improvised, �AJ� as in JA backwards. JA, short for �Jack Ass�.� She grinned at her wonderful adlibbing. Not-AJ frowned. �You�re still mad at me?� �Mad at you for what?� Natalie questioned. Not-AJ groaned. �I will never understand you, you hear me Britney?� he said, waving a spoon at her. Natalie grinned, widely. �I consider that a good thing.� Not-AJ shook his head and returned to the food. �JC!� the unnamed �N Syncer called. Natalie was confused. He was only across the, for the most part, quiet room. She tried to link who this JC person was and realized it was Not-AJ when he replied by calling back, just as loud, �Chris!� Natalie cheered to herself, as she finally knew the name of every person on the tour with her. The door opened again and in walked a young girl, probably about her own age, with dark, dark brown hair and lots of black eyeliner. She was wearing dark denim jeans and a gray sweatshirt. Natalie sucked in a shocked breath; this girl looked almost exactly like she did the night Natalie-the-body died. She was definitely pretty, but nothing close to what everybody now saw Natalie as. Her face held a natural angry and hurt look, like she was sick of the shit the world piled on her. She was for sure a guitar player, like the original Natalie herself, but Natalie still wasn�t sure what this girl�s point of being around was. She didn�t give the vibe of a makeup artist or hair stylist; too young to manage or boss people around; not perky enough to be a bopper that managed to rodie her way onto the tour; absolutely wasn�t the kind of pretty girl one of these guys could be sleeping with. She couldn�t be playing� Natalie�s-body-look-alike had one of those get-out-of-my-way looks on her face and she walked swiftly, like she had so many important things to do. That didn�t make very much sense; everyone else, including those who resembled executive and manager types, seemed laid-back and calm. �JC! Guess what?� Chris yelled. He was sitting in a fold up chair in a far corner, shoveling food into his mouth. �What Chris?� JC shouted back. �There�s something else I needed to tell you, but I�ll tell you later!� �Then why are you talking to me?� �I am now going to tell you that Michelle is here!� JC looked up and smiled warmly at Michelle, the girl who had just entered the room. �Welcome, Michelle,� he said, cheesily, �To our humble eating abode.� �Hi, JC,� she grumbled, and made her way to the fruit. The fruit was just about untouched, since most everyone else had opted for the greasier and more fattening food. Michelle grabbed an orange, ripped off a paper towel, and sat Indian-style next to Chris on the floor. �Hey Michelle!� Chris shouted, even though Michelle was right at his feet. �What�s up?!� Michelle laughed softly, the first time her facial expression had changed since she entered the room, and continued peeling her orange. �Nothin� much Chris,� she chuckled. ��Morning, Michelle,� Natalie said, smiling nicely. Michelle�s head darted up, an irritated, yet shocked, look on her pretty, yet hurt, face. �Since when did you start speaking to me, dollface?� she asked, grumpily. Natalie frowned and turned her head away, grabbing a plate. �Just saying hello, was all.� �Chill out with her. She�s not that horrible,� Natalie heard Chris whisper to Michelle. �Not horrible at blowing you,� Michelle groaned. Chris sighed, sadly. Natalie put her plate back down and grabbed a muffin and a bottled water and sat in the chair next to JC. �Hey, there,� she whispered, unwrapping the muffin. �Well, hello, yourself,� JC said, smiling down at his plate. �Why does she hate me so much?� Natalie was shocked she asked it so flat out. JC looked up at Natalie, a concerned look in his dark blue-green eyes. �Since- I thought- You always- You were never-� JC scratched the back of his neck, trying to figure out the right way to bring the words out. �I�m trying to say this in the nicest, kindest possible way,� he said slowly, �But if you didn't notice, you've always been a real bitch to Michelle." He paused and sighed happily when she didn't bite his head off. "How come all of a sudden you care about her existence?" Natalie sighed. �I don�t- I mean, I didn�t- I mean, I don�t want to mean to her. It wasn�t me who was mean to her. I wasn�t myself. Actually, I�m not sure if I�m myself right now,� she babbled on, and JC gazed at her, keeping the concerned look in his eyes. �I just- I wanna be friends with her, you know? She�s really the only one my age that I can hang out with. Everyone else is a guy� You guys are great and all, but�� �I understand.� �But, how am I ever going to get her to talk to me all nice-wise?� JC looked down at her and was surprised to find a very vulnerable and helpless look on her face. �I don�t know, Brit.� Natalie gasped. She forgot. She wasn�t Natalie. She was Britney now. �I just don�t know. I�ve never been much of the therapist. You just gotta talk to her yourself.� |