Allison looked at the girl, and replied, "Yeah. I-I guess so. Can they sing?"

"They are like the best group around!  Do you get out much? I mean, everyone knows about them."

"Do you have a favorite? I know when I was your age, and a boy group was singing, I always had a favorite."

"Yeah, I do. Him." She pointed to a blonde with curly hair and blue eyes.  "His name is Justin. But, all of my friends like him." She pointed to Lance.  "They fight over him all the time! I mean, yeah, he's cute. But, Justin is hot!"

Allison cringed at the thought of all the preteen and teens being in 'love' with Lance. She put on a fake smile, and said to the girl, "Good-luck getting your tickets. But, my mother and I need to be going."

The mother and daughter left the mall, and walked out into the sunny, yet frigid, morning.

As they walked to the car, Mrs. Gates asked, "Allison, Honey, are you all right?"

"Mom, he's in a music group. And, by the looks of it, he's a teen sex symbol.  A-a teen idol! And, I had no idea he had been a success.  Much less, that he was in a music group! Some friend I am," she muttered.

They stopped walking as they reached Allison's Sunfire. Allison leaned up against the trunk of the car, her eyes on the ground.

"Allison, it's not your fault you didn't know! Come on, you two were so close when you were younger. But, things happened. You both moved on. You moved on. You got help."

"Mom! He became a teen sex symbol!"

"I know. I heard that girl. I saw those kids. Remember? I was there."

"But, he wanted to be an astronaut.  Or we were gonna to persue music together."

 Katherine laughed, "Everyone goes through the astronaut phase."

Allison looked up to meet her mother's eyes, "I never did. I always wanted to be a musician."

"I know, Dear. You didn't go through a lot of phases children go through.  Because, you didn't give yourself a chance to be a child, to go through the phases. You grew up so quickly."

"Five minutes." The stage manager poked his head into the dressing room.

The five members of the singing group were kicking around a small, soft, multicolored ball.

JC kicked the ball, and it went in Lance's direction. Lance kicked the ball, and it went in Chris' direction. He went to kick the ball, but was too late, and the ball fell to the ground.

"That's all for hacky sack." Justin commented.

The group dispersed from the dressing room, and joined the band members.  Once with them, they gathered in a circle, bowed their heads, and spoke to the Lord in prayer. Each one asking to allow them to forget their problems for the day, and allow them to focus on the task at hand.

Afterwards, they shared a round of hugs. The band members went on stage, the lights lowered, the crowd began yelling and cheering. The music began pumping from the amps, and five figures began jumping and dancing around the stage in white space suits, with huge helmets covering their faces.

As the opening dance sequence ended, the music for "I Want You Back" started. The helmets were removed from their heads, allowing the adolescents to see their faces. They began the last verse of the song. The crowd was going crazy. They were singing along, dancing, what little they could in the packed arena. The five guys smiled as the crowd sang along with them.

Suddenly, the music stopped-for only seconds. The microphones were taken from the stands, the helmets went on the now vacant poles. The space suits were ripped from their bodies, and thrown out of the way-the audience was wild as the group revealed Chinese patterned clothing, each in a different color.

"Come on. Let's go back home,"  Katherine told her daughter.

 "No. I want too see him perform, Mom."

 "What are you saying?"

 "I'm saying I'm going back in that mall, waiting in that line with those teenyboppers, and getting tickets to see Lance  perform."

"Honey, are you sure?"

"Yes," Allison simply answered her mother, and began walking back to the entrance. Mrs. Gates jogged to catch up with her daughter.

"What are you doing?"

"You don't think I'd let you go alone, do you? I've always thought of  him as a son, and I want to see him, too. Even if it is with an audience no older than thirteen."

The mother and daughter walked back in the mall, and joined the other teens in line.
 

The music ended and "Giddy Up" began to play. The roar from the crowd was deafening.

The five figures on stage began dancing. Lance's solo was coming up.  Four words, one line in one stanza.   The four other members eyed Lance. Wondering if he would remember the line. Wondering if he was capable of getting the words out.

Lance heard his cue. "Girl, were you alone,"  Lance's bass voice boomed out.

The teens cheered louder, excepting the deep voice. Melting at the sound of it. Joey, Justin, Chris, and JC cheered along with the audience in their heads, and continued singing.
 

"I can't believe this! I really wasn't even expecting to get tickets, much less backstage passes!" Allison squealed with delight.

She and her mother were both in the kitchen, preparing dinner.  Allison was setting the table, while her mother stirred the homemade speghetti sause in the pot.  Katherine looked over at her daughter and commented, "I wish you were like this when you were a teen."

"What do you mean?" Allison asked, clearly bemused.

"You never smiled as a child, never smiled as a teenager. You never got excited over concerts or anything. But, now. Now, that you're older, you're sounding like a teenager. You sound excited. Like you're ready to have fun, now."

"I guess it's better late than never, huh?"

Katherine agreed, and continued stirring. There was a few more moments of silence, until Allison asked looking at her mother, "Mom?"

"Hmm?"

Allison seemed to hesitate before continuing with her question. She lowered her head, looking at the table, and began fiddling with a napkin. "Do you think he'll remember me at all? Do you think he'll still want to be my friend?" She lifted her eyes slowly from the table, and again looked up at her mother. Seeing her mother returning the gaze.

The five members of *NSync, the five friends, were all at Justin's, JC's, and Chris' home in Orlando, Florida. They were each scattered around the living room, watching South Park on TV. All, except, JC, whom was upstairs getting ready for his date.

They were laughing as Kenny, a character on the cartoon, died, again. The doorbell rang, Lance got off his spot on the couch, and went to answer the door. Opening the door, revealed a girl dressed in a black, speghetti-strap knee-length dress, with matching shoes. Her long, light brown hair pulled up into a French twist, with a strand of hair, on either side of her face, hanging loose, and curled.

"Hey, Met," Lance greeted.

"Lance," she smiled.

He opened the door wider, allowing her to pass through the doorway. "You look nice tonight," he complimented.

"Thanks. Is, um, JC ready?" Nimet asked.

"He's upstairs, now. Come on inside. He should be down, soon."

The two of them walked into the living room where the rest of the guys greeted Nimet. They began laughing and joking around. Minutes later JC was coming down the stairs. He saw a girl in a black dress, and her brown hair up in an elegant manner.

He swiftly moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her waist, kissing her neck. "Hello," he whispered in her ear.

"Hi," she said, smiling, turning around to face him. "Ready to go?"

"I'm ready if you are." He moved his hand down, and intertwined his fingers with her.

They began walking out of the door when, suddenly, Nimet stopped walking. She looked down at his khaki pants, and saw his pager hanging from his pocket. She eyed his blue, light weight sports jacket, and saw the slight bulge in the pocket, where he had placed his cellular phone.

"What's the matter?" JC asked.

"This is a date for two, JC," she told him. "Which means, this..."   she said taking the pager off his pant pocket, "and this..." She reached into his coat pocket and took out the cellular phone, "won't be joining us this evening."

"I need those with me. What if they need to get a hold of me?"

"Then, they're out of luck," Nimet answered. "This is a date for two, not four."

"Six."

"What?"

"You always carry your pager and cell with you."

"Not tonight. I left them at home. Tonight we need to talk. Without interruptions."

JC took the pager and phone out of Nimet's hands, and said, "I'm not leaving them here. They are going with me."

"Fine. Then, tell me how to get a hold of you. I'm leaving."

"Met-"

Chris interrupted them.  "We'll be fine."  He removed the cell phone and pager from JC's hand.  "Now.  Go.  Have fun.  But, not too much.  We have a flight to catch tomorrow morning."

"Thanks, Chris," Nimet said, smiling.

"No problem."

"Now, we can go," Nimet said, turning back to JC, and leading him out of the door.

"Okay, why did she pick him up?" Lance asked after the two were gone.

"They take turns planning their dates, and tonight was her turn," Justin answered.

"Oh."

Mrs. Gates quit stirring the spaghetti sauce, and walked over to her daughter, embracing her.

"If he doesn't want your friendship now, then he isn't a friend worth trying to keep," Katherine advised Allison. "But, if he is anything like when we knew him, then you don't have a problem."

"I hope you're right, Mom," Allison said in her mother's hair. "I hope you're right."

"Of course I am, Honey. I'm a mother. I'm always right."

Both women started laughing. They stepped out of the hug, and continued their work in the kitchen.

"Lance, we're all proud of you tonight," Justin stated out of the blue.

Lance just looked into space, his expression blank. The framed picture, again, took over his mind. The words of praise from his friend went unheard.

Just the picture. He and Allison against a blue sky with the sun shining down. Her long, brown hair was pulled into a pony tail, with sad, brown eyes. Her smile-it showed her perfect, pearly teeth-yet showed no happiness. Beside her was Lance. His green-yellow eyes twinkling, with a perfect smile full of life. Full of happiness.

That picture kept haunting his brain. His memory. Allison. He couldn't get Allison out of his head. Why, suddenly, does Allison come back to haunt him?

"Excuse me. But, I need to be going home," Lance got up, and walked out the door to his car.

Joey, Justin, and Chris listened as the hum of Lance's engine faded away.

"There's something wrong with him," Chris said.

"I know," Joey agreed. "But, what is it?"

"And, how can we help?" Justin asked worried.

"Table for two?" The host of the restaurant asked.

"Yes, please," Nimet answered.

The host lead JC and Nimet to a small table. The host pulled the chair out for Nimet, she sat, and he gently pushed the chair up
slightly.

"Thank-you," Nimet said politely.

"Your waiter will be with you momentarily," the host told them, handing them both a menu. "We hope you enjoy your dinner at La Italina." He then walked off.

They both took in the decor of the restaurant. Two white, burning candles in the middle of the table, with white linen covering the table. Soft music was heard about the slight murmur of the restaurant's customers and workers.

"What did you need to talk to me about, Met?"

"I'm leaving tomorrow, JC. I'm flying to Detroit, Michigan tomorrow morning. A patient of mine called earlier today. She asked me to come up."

"Did she say why?"

"No. She just said that she needed me up there tomorrow. So, I'm going."

"You said Detroit?"

"Yes."

"Tomorrow?" Nimet shook her head yes. "We have to go to Detroit tomorrow for a concert."

"Really? That's great. Maybe we'll see each other. I just wanted to tell you I'd be there. I didn't want you to worry."

"Maybe you could bring your patient to the concert. I can give you two backstage passes."

"How do you know she'd like to see a concert?".

"I don't. But, I know I want to see you tomorrow."

"Okay. I'll try to get her to go."

"What is she like?"

"I can't give that information. Doctor/patient confidentiality."

"I don't want to know why she sees you. I don't want to know why she talks to you about her problems, or what her problems are. I want to know what she's like. You know. Does she even like music?"

"I don't know how to answer that question without breaking the code. But, music is a sensitive subject with her. It has a lot to do with the reason she's alive..." Nimet stopped herself, when she realized what she was beginning to say. "I've already broken the confidence."

"Music? A sensitive subject? How? Why?" JC asked, suddenly more curious.

"JC, she's my patient. I've said too much as it is. I can't say anymore."

"Okay, I understand," JC apologized for pushing too far. "But, maybe, you can make Lance an appointment."

"Why would Lance need to talk to a shrink?"

"He's been distant, Met. He zones out. Goes into his own little world. He seems a bit depressed lately. I don't know what it is, but he won't talk to us."

"What makes you think he'll voluntarily talk to me?"

"I don't know if he will. But, he really needs to talk to someone. He's bottling everything up. His mother called me yesterday. She's worried."

"There's nothing wrong with that. It's natural for a mother to worry about her child."

"Did I tell you about the other day at rehearsal? He completely zoned out."

"No. You didn't tell me."

"We were rehearsing 'Giddy Up', and you know his solo?"  Met shook her head, signaling for him to continue.  "He missed his solo.  He was so far gone that he didn't even hear us calling his name.  I don't even think he heard the music!"

"He didn't hear you?" Nimet asked.

"I don't think so. It took him about five minutes to respond to his name."

"JC, do you think that-"

Nimet was interrupted by the waiter, "Are you ready to order?"

"Umm, yeah. I'll have the garden salad and the chicken parmesan," Stephanie told the waiter.

"And to drink, Madam?"

"Water."

"And you, Sir?"

"I'll have the same, thank-you."

"Very well." The waiter walked off.

"JC, do you think Lance's behavior could have something to do with drugs?"

"Drugs?!"  JC asked, shocked that Nimet would ask such a thing. "Met, Lance wouldn't go near that stuff!"

"It was a question. I always ask that question first about my patients. It just gives me an idea about the person."

"You have an idea about him.  You know him.  But, he's coiling away from us. He's staying in the dark more, Met. And, it's beginning to scare all of us."

"How was he today?  At the concert?"

"He was perfect at the concert. But at rehearsals, at home-he's withdrawn and preoccupied."

"Talking about rehearsals. When Lance finally responded to you. What was he like?"

"When he responded, he still didn't realize where he was. Or who we were. He kept saying Allison. Then, he realized where he was, and that was about it. We tried rehearsal again, but he just couldn't get back. So, we had to take him home."

"Allison?" Nimet asked, "A new girlfriend you guys don't know about, perhaps?"

"I doubt it," JC answered. "We all know basically everything about each other. And, we always know when someone is dating someone."

"Then, I really don't know what to tell you, JC. Without him coming to me directly himself, I can't help him."

"And, it doesn't look like he'll do that anytime soon. He doesn't even talk to his mother anymore. Is there anyway-"

"Here you are," the waiter said, setting some plates in front of them.

"Thank-you," they said simultaneously.

"Enjoy your meal." The waiter walked off.

"Do you think there is anyway that you can talk to Lance? Get him to talk to you without him realizing it?"

"JC, I won't do it. If he wants to talk to someone he will. You can't force anyone to get help. To talk. You can only suggest it, and hope that they take the advice."