6 years had passed by since that night... Liz was now 19, and went to Columbia University in NYC. She was a journalist for a magazine, called ETC. and she was one of their most talented, gifted writers. Liz came home to her apartment and threw her keys on the table. She glanced around and sighed. She was lonely. She loved her job, but hated New York. She missed Orlando and Trace. She grinned at the thought of his goofy smile and upbeat outlook on everything. She looked down at that picture of her, him, and Justin hanging out near the school. She looked up and into the mirror. Wow, she had changed a lot. It was hard to believe she was still the same girl in the picture. She was of course taller, and her blond hair longer... She sighed and hit play on her answering machine.
The first message was Whitney telling her, they had to go shopping, and the second was from David, her editor, who had news for her next big assignment, in which she knew nothing about. The third was a female voice. "Lizzie?! Gosh, I hope this is your machine, I haven't talked to you in forever.. It's Christina... I just wanted to say hey, what's up? I'm gonna be in NY for a couple weeks, and we gotta hook up, girl. Call me later!" Liz sat down on the bed, pondering what she just heard. �Wow. I haven't talked to her in a while. I haven't talked to any of them in awhile. What happened to us? We were the best of friends...� She sighed and reached over and called David back. "David? It's Liz. Yeah, what's the big mumbo jumbo assignment? Huh?! You're not gonna tell me?! What's up with that!? Fine, fine, I'll see you in the morning. Yeah, bye." She hung up and called Christina back only to get her voice mail. "Chris? Hey, It's Liz. Look, um, just call me back when ya get this, k? Alright bye." She hung up and fell back onto her bed and fell asleep.
~*Next day*~
Liz got up, got dressed for work and headed out. She reached the office and saw it bustling. She looked around confused. "David! What is this all about?!" He laughed. "Something about Mel Gibson, who knows? But c'mon, we got work to do." He pulled her into his office and made her sit. "Ok, new project for ya. You're gonna do a cover story- "Boy Bands, the Next Big Thing?" Whatcha think?" She grimaced. "Why me?" He sighs. "Because you know you're the best writer I got." She sighed. "Ok." He grinned. "Great! You've got an interview tomorrow at 1. Meet me here at 12:30, got it?"
"Wait, whoa, slow down, there. Interviewing who?" He smiled. "Can't tell ya that." Her mouth dropped open. "Hey! Not fair! I gotta make up questions!" He shrugged. "You're awesome at making questions up at the top of your head." She groaned but walked out.
Calling up her best friend, Liz looked at her watch, exasperated. "Whit? Hey, it's Liz. Mall trip's out for tomorrow. Gotta go do some secret interview. So, let's go right now, k?" She smiled. "I don't care if he gets mad or not." She smiled, waving at David, as she walked out. She reached the mall 20 minutes later, spotting her friend.
"Hey babe!" Whitney grinned, running up to her. "Heya." After shopping and talking for awhile, the girls decided it was time to hit the food court. Liz walked over to the chinese place and ordered her usual orange chicken and lo-mein. She returned a few minutes later and crossed her eyes at Whitney who settled down for a burger and fries. "Wow, on a chinese kick?" Liz smiled. "I love it. Always have, always will." Whitney laughed. "Guess so. But anyways. You hafta call me the second you find out who you're interviewing, k?" Liz nodded. "I will."
"Oh, hey, that NSYNC concert's in a couple days. We gonna go?" Liz looked at her surprised. "Nsync's coming here?!" Whitney gave her a strange look. "Duh. I thought you were gonna write something about it..." Liz shook her head. "No, hadn't heard..." She sat quietly for a few minutes contemplating what she had just heard. Whitney looked at her, strangely. "Girl, what's wrong? Dontcha wanna go?" She nodded. "Sure, I do, but... I don't know if I can.. I mean seeing Justin and Josh.. it'd be a bit overwhelming.."
Whitney looked at her, shaking her head. "Who?!" Liz laughed, realizing she never told Whitney she knew them. "Oh, ok, well, you're never gonna believe me... but.. Justin and JC from Nsync, old childhood friends back in Orlando." Whitney laughed. "Yeah, right." Liz looked at her seriously. "I'm dead serious. Don't believe, it won't hurt me any. But I should get going, now. I'll catch ya later." Whitney stood up. "Wait, lemme come with ya tomorrow. You know David has a thing for me. He'll let me come." She shook her head. "No. You can help me with the concert." She waved, walking off a bit confused.
She woke up the next morning, showered, did her hair, got dressed and found a blue tank top and white capris and put them on. She put her make-up on, and found her black shoes. She looked at her watch. It already read 12:00. Yawning, she hit play on her answering machine.
The first was from Christina again. "Hey, babe, man, we keep missing each other, but um, call me at the hotel tomorrow around 3, and if I'm not there call my cell- here's the number..." The second message was a male voice. "Um, crap, I hope this is right... Lizbeth? It's Trace. Hey hun. Look, call me, when you get this, ok? Ok, um, later then." She looked at her watch. It took 20 minutes alone to get to work, and it was already 10 after 12. David hated it when she was late. She made a mental note to call him later.
She grabbed her black jacket and ran out to her car. She got there and saw David, arms crossed. She smiled through her sunglasses. "Hiya, David. Where we goin?" He got in. "Head to Madison Square Garden please." She looked confused but agreed. "Ok, now who am I interviewing?" He shook his head. "Can't tell yet." She sighed. "Lookit, I'm interviewing some random people. What if I know nothing about them? This isn't fair!"
He smiled, but said nothing. She reached it, and they head in. He said something to the guards, she couldn't hear. David started talking to some people and Liz, the ever so curious one, wandered off and started walking around. She heard laughing voices in a room down the hall, and she decided to check it out.
She was about to look in, when she felt a hand on her shoulder and she gasped. "Hey, whoa, sorry. Didn't mean to scare ya. I'm Chris." Her face paled as she recognized him. "Um, hi. Sorry, I was just looking around.. I'm gonna interview you guys in a little while." He nodded and smiled. "Wanna come in?" She shook her head. "No, no, it's ok, really. I'll just get going."
"No, hey, it's cool, c'mon in." She tried protesting, but it didn't work. "Hey, guys! I gotta guest!" The guys turned around and she looked down at the ground, a little embarrassed. Joey smiled. "Hey! I'm Joey!" She smiled and gave a little wave. Justin, who was perched on the ground playing Nintendo, stood up and looked at her and gasped. "No... no way... shit. It can't be, can it?" She gave a embarrassed smile. "Um, hey, Justin."
He jumped up and ran over to her and threw his arms around her so hard they fell to the floor. Lance raised his eyebrows. "Wow, I never saw Justin go for a girl that fast.." He laughed as he helped pull her up. "Lizzie! I've missed you SOO much!!! Oh, wow. I'm speechless! What are you doing here?!" She smiled. "Whoa, there curly. Take it easy. Just so happens, I got the job of interviewing you guys, only no one would tell me it was you... so I came over here with no clue, it'd be you.. and I'm babbling.." He smiled. "Do you have any idea how much I have missed you?!"
He turned to the guys. "Guys this is Liz!" Chris smiled. "So you're THE Liz, huh? We've heard an awfully lot about you." She shakes his hand. Joey smiled. "He's right, we're heard tons about you." Lance grinned and waved. "It's so nice to finally meet you." She smiled and looked at her friend. "It has been awhile. You're so tall!" He grinned. "And you're so hot!" She smiled. "Well, thank you very much."
He laughed and pulled her over to the couch and sat down next to her. "Talk to me! Tell me everything! It's been awhile since we've talked!" She laughed. "Well, let's see, I go to Columbia now, and I work for ETC. magazine, and I'm doing a cover story on guy groups. Your turn." He laughed. "Obviously I'm in a band, and we all hooked up just a couple years after MMC ended. Chris found me, then I got JC, and... whoa! JC! He's gonna have a heart-attack when he sees you! He's down the hall. Go down there." She looked at him. "Right now?" He laughed. "YES!" She shook her head, getting up. "Ok, ok, sheesh."
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