Prologue

�All summer?� asked a mortified Cordelia.
�Yes, all summer!� her mother replied.
�No way! I�m not going! Not with him!�
�Corey, it was very nice of your uncle Wade to ask the manager if you could go. Just be grateful, �cause if you weren�t going, you�d be grounded all summer anyways.�
�Just �cause I got into a few fights��
Corey was interrupted by her mom, �Nine fights, Corey, nine! In two months at that!�
�Alright!� Corey admitted. �Nine fights! So what? Do you think I actually like depending myself by kicking and punching?�
�Look, Cordilia, your uncle thought it might be fun for you to spend the summer with a boy band! He went through all the trouble to book extra hotel rooms and get you backstage passes so that you might have an interesting summer.� Explained Corey�s mom. �And because of the effort Wade took to make you happy, I�m forcing you to go. For the whole summer.�
�Great.� Corey said. �My least favorite band, too. I�ll have to thank him greatly.�
She sighed as she walked upstairs to her bedroom.

The next day, Corey (short for Cordelia) was packed and ready to go on a two-month tour with one of the bands that her uncle did choreography for. Needless to say, she was a little less than pleased to be leaving her beautiful Okanagan home in British Columbia, to go to the airport and fly to Orlando, Florida.
Corey looked back at her mom before she went through her gate. She remembered how her mom had never wanted to let go of her hand on the first day of preschool�and grade one�all the way up until grade five. She also remembered the summer between grades five and six when she went to her first year at a sleepover camp. Her mom wouldn�t let go of her hand then, either. Maybe now she�d changed her mind about letting her daughter go away to another country. Sure, it was a neighboring country, but it was still a different country, and very far away from home. Corey thought her mom would come running and seize her arm and hold her back from boarding the plane, but today wasn�t her lucky day. Corey heaved a sigh as she went through the gate to board her plane.
Corey turned and waved towards her mom, brother, dad and two best friends: Hannah and Paul. Corey paused just long enough so that her mom would come running. Instead, her mom smiled and blew a kiss from where she and the others stood as she watched her little girl disappear for two long months.

Chapter One

�Hey there, Cordelia!� greeted Wade Robson as he escorted her away from her gate shortly after her flight landed.
�Corey!� the girl corrected sharply as she glared back at her uncle.
�Oh, that�s right! Sorry kid!�
�Kid�. That�s what nearly everyone called Corey. As if she didn�t have a name or something. She hated that with a passion.
�So, are you excited about meeting *N Sync?� Wade asked.
�Oh yeah!� Corey replied sarcastically. �I get to spend my entire summer with four guys I don�t even know! Isn�t that just every teen�s dream?�
�It�s five guys,� replied Wade. �And you�d be surprised!�
�No, I think you�d be surprised!� Corey snapped back. �And I don�t care how many of them there are!�
The car ride to the hotel was excruciatingly silent for most of the drive. Wade asked a few questions about school, family and friends, but got the hint that *N Sync was definitely not Corey�s favorite band. He also gathered that she wasn�t too over-excited to be with them for two months straight from her grouchy comments and replies. Corey began to listen to music on her Discman. Wade looked at a few of the CDs stacked up on her lap. He saw a few of the names of the bands. There was Greenday, Papa Roach, Blink 182 and Lifehouse. He glanced into her backpack to see some more names: Korn, Deaftones and a few others. The only stuff he saw that he believed to be slightly up-beat, happy music was Prozz�k.
Nope, Corey wasn�t going to be enjoying her summer plans too much.
Wade glanced back at the CDs in the backpack. Two of them caught his eye: Nelly and Eminem. Rap. Well, at least she might have something in common with the guys.
�We�re here!� Wade said still as cheerfully as he had greeted Corey at the airport.
Corey glared out the window at the tall hotel building. It was actually a very pretty building. It�s siding was made up of creamy, yellow bricks that had lush, green vines growing all over them. Little purple and pink flowers were intertwined among the leaves. Corey took off her headphones and gathered up her CDs and put them into her backpack. Wade got out of the royal blue intrepid, then Corey stepped out. She looked at her uncle while he got her bags out of the trunk.
�Jeez, is he an idiot or what?� Corey thought to her self as she watched her uncle trying to balance three bags on one arm and close the trunk at the same time.
�Here,� Corey said as she grabbed the bags. �Let me take these.�
Wade slammed the trunk closed and took Corey to her hotel room.
�Royal blue.� Corey thought. �That color doesn�t suit him at all. He needs something more along the lines of purple or lime, maybe even��
��Yellow!� she said out loud.
�What?� asked Wade. He was surprised to hear her talk after the silent car ride.
�My sweater, the yellow one, I left it in your car.� Corey replied.
�I thought your sweater was green.� Wade said.
�Well, it�s a yellowish-green color.� she said.
�Okay then, I�ll go get it after we get all this stuff into your room.�
They got to the room and Wade handed Corey the little keycard.
�Don�t lose this, I�ll be right back.� he called as he left the room.
After a couple minutes, there was a light tap on the door.
�C�me in!� Corey called.
The door opened a little and a man with bleached-blond streaks and spiked hair walked in slowly.
�Oh, umm, I think I might have the wrong room!� the man smiled. �Unless your name is Cordelia, of course.�
�Oh, that�s me.� Corey answered. �Except I�d prefer it if you called me Corey.�
�You�re Wade�s niece?� the man asked with astonishment, as he looked her up and down.
Corey smiled. She really liked his deep, southern accent.
�Yup.� She finished by mumbling, �unfortunately.�
�Cool! I�m one of Wade�s friends.� He said, still checking her out.
�What? Were you expecting a guy or something?� Corey joked.
�No.� the man answered sheepishly.
�Good! So, you�re Wade�s friend.� stated Corey.
�Yeah.�
�Wow!� Corey commented, trying to sound excited.
�I better get going.� he said. �Oh, and I�m Lance. It was nice meeting you!�
�Yeah, great, you too!� Corey tried to sound as cheerful as possible. Maybe if she was really nice to everyone, she could be home within a week or two.
The man, Lance, left the room and in a few short moments, Wade came back.
�Here�s your sweater!� he said triumphantly.
�Great, thanks.� Corey said dully.
�Well, it looks like it�s time for you to meet the guys, *N Sync!� Wade said, glancing at his watch.
�Oh joy!� Corey sang sarcastically.
�Come on Kid, at least act a bit more excited than that! I mean, some kids would do almost anything to be in your place right now!� Wade sulked as they left the room and got on the elevator.
�I�d do almost anything right now to get out of my place right now.� Corey muttered under her breath.
They got out of the elevator on the main floor and walked to the restaurant where they were to meet with *N Sync to have supper. They went towards a booth in the back corner. A man in the booth turned around and smiled at them as they came closer. The man�s hair was spiked and had bleached-blonde streaks in it. Corey recognized him. He was the man who had come to her room to greet her. What was his name? It started with an �L�.
�Lindsay? No, that wasn�t it, not even close. Larry? No, something else. Lance? Yes! That was it! Lance!� Corey remembered.
�Hey guys!� Wade smiled.
�Hey!� replied Lance with his deep, southern accent.
�Yo, Wade!� said a guy with a buzz cut.
Corey thought the guy with the buzz cut was kind of cute, although he sounded like an idiot when he continued by saying: �Word!�
Corey and Wade sat down and Wade began to introduce the guys.
�Word!� Wade responded to the man with the buzz cut. �Okay, this is my favorite niece, Cordelia! She prefers to be called Corey though��
�Wade, I�m your only niece.� Corey reminded him.
�All the more reason you should be my favorite niece, right?� he smiled.
Man, he looked like such a dork with that weird smirk he gave her once in a while.
Wade continued, �This is Justin.�
Wade motioned towards the guy with the buzz cut.
�Word!� Justin said.
�Whatever.� Corey replied.
�This is Chris,� Wade motioned towards a man with nearly black hair and goatee.
�Hey!� Chris greeted.
�He�s a leprechaun.� Thought Corey. �A really big, scary, psycho leprechaun!�
Corey smiled at Chris and waved slightly.
�This is J.C.� Wade said, motioning towards the guy with the longest hair.
The man had one of the weirdest hairstyles that Corey had ever seen on a guy before. His hair reminded her of a palm tree for some reason.
�Hi!� Corey said, trying not to laugh.
�This is Joey,� Wade said, motioning to the guy with a vangoe.
�This guy�s gonna be a freak,� Corey decided. �All honky-dory fine and happy one minute, all crazy the next.�
�And last but not least, Lance!� Wade finished.
�Hello again!� Lance smiled.
As far as Corey was concerned, Lance was the only normal one out of these guys.
�Yeah, hi!� Corey greeted.
This time, she didn�t have to fake the cheerfulness in her voice.
�Well, maybe a few weeks with this guy won�t be so bad!� Corey thought as she and Lance shook hands.
�And you�ll meet the manager and crew tomorrow.� Ended Wade.
�Oh great,� thought Corey. �More people, more names, more phony smiles�more boredom!�
�Umm�great?� she tried to smile again.
�Menus?� a short waitress asked.
�Sure!� answered the little leprechaun�I mean Chris.
�Here you go!� the waitress smiled as she handed out the vinyl-covered booklets.
�Wow! If the food costs this much, I wonder how much the rooms cost!� Corey gasped, staring at the horrifically expensive prices.
�A whole lot!� answered Justin.
�No kidding!� Corey glanced at the prices again.
A little while later, the waitress came back to take their orders.
�Umm, I can�t pronounce this, but it looks good!� said Chris. �Could you maybe help me out here?�
�Oh yes! That�s one of our specialty dishes today!� exclaimed the waitress.
�Cool, I�ll have that then!� Chris announced proudly.
The waitress took the rest of the orders and left. When she came back, with the orders, everyone dove into their food. It was really good. Chris found his meal quite interesting and different. It smelled horrible, but it wasn�t half-bad.
�So Chris, what was it you�re having again?� asked J.C.
�It was something in Spanish or something. I can�t pronounce it, but it�s spelled e-s-t-c-a-r-g-o, with soup.�
�Ew! Estcargo? Do you even know what that is?� Corey exclaimed.
�Sure, it�s umm, what you said!� he replied.
�Estcargo is French,� Corey informed Chris. �French�for snails!�
Corey tried not to laugh.
Chris immediately spit his mouthful across the table, hitting Justin�who was sitting right across from him�in the face.
�Ew!� Justin and Chris yelled at the same time.
�Dude, I don�t think I like slugs any more than you do!� Justin cringed as he wiped the chunks off of around his mouth.
�I don�t like eating slugs!� Chris spat as he tried to wipe his tongue on his napkin.
�I think now is the time to tell Chris what his caviar is made of!� Joey joked with J.C. and Lance.
�Ew! You guys eat that stuff? I wouldn�t eat fried fish eggs if my life depended on it!� Corey exclaimed as she made a disgusted face.
Chris gagged. Now was not the time he wished to be reminded of what his food and appetizers were made of.
�Mmm�fish eggs!� J.C. teased Chris. �Fried fish eggs!�
Lance, Joey, Justin and Corey tried to hold in their laughter, but were unsuccessful.
�I need to use the men�s room,� Chris said as he went pale. �I�ll be back in a while.�
Chris got up and fled to the washroom.
�Poor Chris.� sighed Corey.
�Poor Chris?� exclaimed Justin. �Poor me! Now I�m contaminated! He spat all over me! Not only that, but it was snail guts he spat all over me!�
�Better keep his caviar out of his sight, or he�ll be spitting a little more than snail guts all over you!� laughed Lance.
Everyone laughed until their faces were red.
�This isn�t so bad,� thought Corey. �Maybe I�ll stick around for three weeks!�

Chapter Two Is Coming Soon!

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