| 9 |

The clock rang early the next morning as Mya leaned over to smack it. She winced as she sleepishly rubbed her hand which now stung and had turned red. The clock read 6 a.m. as she sat up and yawned. She looked over at Amy and Drew who were out like a light. They promised to go with her to the auditions but she knew better than to think that they would actually wake up. She walked over, turned on the coffee pot and added some coffee before jumping into the shower.
"Mmmm...I smell coffee." Amy said as she slowly sat up in bed while keeping her eyes closed. She shook Drew a couple times until he finally woke up also.
"What time is it?" he asked as he rolled over.
"Around quarter after 6." she paused. "Mya is in the shower."
"Oh yeah, the auditions."
"Uh, yeah." she mocked him before smacking his leg.
"Hey, ouch!" he joked as he rubbed his thigh.
Amy rolled her eyes as she stepped out of bed. "I'm getting some coffee."
"Bring me some." Drew demanded with a smirk on his face.
"I'm not your maid. Get your own!" she exclaimed as she dissapeared behind the counter.
"Hey guys! You're up!" Mya said cheerfully as she stepped out the door, fully refreshed with her hair wrapped in a towel.
"Not really." Drew grumbled into his pillow.
"Get up you big lugg!" Amy yelled as she poured Mya a cup.
"She's so cheery today." Drew smiled as he stumbled into the bathroom.
"So, are you nervous?" Amy asked as she took a sip of her coffee.
"Yeah, alot." she replied, biting her lip. "I"m glad you guys are gonna be there though."
"Can I ask a question though? I mean I don't wanna sound negative or anything but, if you don't get the part, what is going to happen with you and Justin?"
Mya sighed as she walked back around the counter and stood at the balcony door. The sun was starting to rise and the city was starting to awaken as the streets below became busier.
"I didn't really think of that." she finally answered. "We'll be heading back home and away from here. And, really, me and Justin aren't really going out. We are like just testing the waters in a way. Its just a fling. I'll go back home and he'll forget about me."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring you down. You were so cheery before."
Mya turned to her as she took another sip of her coffee. "No. It's okay. I mean, its the truth. Everything that you said. It's better to realize it and deal with it beforehand instead of it all hitting me like a ton of bricks later, right?"
Amy looked down into her cup. Mya was right, but as much as she didn't like it, she didn't want the reality to sink in either. "Let's just deal with one thing at a time I guess. Sorry, I shouldn't have even said anything."
"Yeah well, let's just go do this and get it over with." Mya finished as she put her cup back down on the counter and took the towel off her head. Drew had finally come out for his own coffee and Mya went back into the bathroom to do her hair.
"What's she all grumpy about?" Drew asked while pouring the coffee in his cup.
Amy sighed as she walked around him and searched through clothes to wear that day. "I think I made her mad."
"About what?" he said, looking up at her.
"I kinda asked her what would happen with her and Justin if she doesn't get the part."
"Oh." he paused. "I never thought of that."
"Tell me about it." she said sarcastically.
"Well, she needs to talk to Justin about that."
Amy turned around and stood on the other side of the counter. "She says that they aren't really serious anyway. That its just a fling."
"Now, if I was a girl," he smiled as his face turned red. "and I got ahold of Justin Timberlake, I would do anything to keep him."
Amy snickered but she knew what he ment. "But, we would have to go back home."
"Well, yeah and no. I mean, we should go home. We live there, our families are there and we work there. But, Justin stays with the group most of the time in Florida anyway, so, he wouldn't be too far away."
"But, he's going to be here for at least six months to tape the movie."
"Well..." he paused. "Then she can stay here and we can go home." "Shut up!" she joked with him as she smacked his arm.
"Geez woman, your abusive today!"
"Amy what are you doing?" Mya laughed as she walked back out the bathroom.
"She's beating me up!" Drew protested as Amy took her turn in the bathroom.
Mya walked over to the counter and put her shoes on. She sighed heavily without saying a word to Drew.
"Everything will be fine." Drew jumped in to break the silence. "Kick some butt today."
Mya looked to him and smiled. "Thanks." she replied as she gathered her composure while looking again out the balcony window.
Ten minutes later everyone was ready to go. Mya grabbed everything she needed for the long day. She hoped that she wouldn't be back too far in the line so that she wouldn't be standing there all day. The sooner she could get the interview and first reading over with, the sooner she could be with Justin.

Mya was amazed that the line wasn't too long. It was long enough for her to be standing for at least three more hours but it wasn't as long as it was expected to be for the rest of the day. She looked around for Justin but she knew that it was best for him not to be seen with so many people standing around on the street.
"I need you to take this and go find Justin." Mya whispered to Amy as she handed her an ID with a bar code on for accessibility to the back studios.
"What is it?" she looked down at the plastic pass.
"It's like a backstage pass like they have at concerts. Justin gave me one so that I could get back in the studio."
Amy looked at her strangely. "Is that even like, legal?"
"Just take it and go around the back and find Justin!"
"Are you nuts? I'll get caught for sure."
"C'mon, it's not like it has my face on it!"
"What am I supposed to say?"
"Just tell security that you are there to see Justin and tell them your name. Hopefully Justin will remember who you are."
"Oh great!" she exclaimed as she rolled her eyes. "Ok, so, if I get in, what do I say to Justin?"
"Just tell him that I am here and ask him if we can get together later after the auditions, stuff like that."
"Ok, and what if he's not here?"
Mya looked at her strangely. "Well, then just come back."
"I don't think I can do this."
"Please, Amy?"
"What if I get in trouble?"
"Would you just go already?"
Amy grumbled as she turned away. "Fine!"
"Thank you!" she smiled as Amy walked around the building to the huge gates that led into the studios.
Almost immediately, security guards were on her and demanding to know who she was.
"Hi..." she studdered nervously. "I'm Amy. I'm here to see Justin Timberlake."
"How do you know Justin?" the one guard asked.
"How did you get this pass?" the other jumped on quickly.
"I uh, I am friends with Justin. He gave it to me."
"We've never seen you around here before."
"We'll, me and him were friends from awhile back. I just got into town. I don't think he knows I'm here yet."
They stared at her inquizitively as the one guard got onto his handheld radio and began talking to someone. Amy couldn't hear what he was saying but could pick up a few words like Justin's name and something about identifying her legible pass.
Amy winced at the thought. Mya didn't tell her what comes up when they scan the bar code on the pass and she hoped it wasnt any personal identification about Mya. She then realized that Mya would have told her any of that information if it was needed.
"What is your last name?" the guard with the radio asked, breaking Amy out of her thought.
"Uh, Williams." she studdered again. She knew Justin didn't know her last name. She only hoped he would realize who she was.
The guard continued to talk to someone on the other end of the radio. A few times he gave her surprising looks and harsh glares. She really didn't know what to expect.
"Well, Miss Amy Williams," he snickered with a slight attitude. "Justin doesn't know who you are."
Amy didn't say anything. She feared that Justin wouldn't realize that it was her. The guard came closer to her. He was about to take her pass and kick her out when Justin's voice called out to her.
"Amy, hey! I didn't realize it was you!"
"See, he does know who I am." Amy snickered back as she met Justin halfway.
"What are you doing back here?"
Amy put her finger over her lips as she turned away from the guards. "Can we talk in private?"
"Uh, yeah, sure." he answered as he lead her into the building and into one of the vacant rooms of the huge office building.
"I thought for sure I was gonna get caught!"
"Your lucky you didn't. Why do you have Mya's pass?"
"Well she told me to come back here while she was auditioning. She wanted to know if you both can get together after the auditions."
"So, you pretty much snuck back here to ask me that?"
"Well, I really didn't sneak."
"If I wouldn't of come down to see who you were, that's what it would have looked like."
"Sorry, it wasn't my idea. I think she's crazy about ya. No pun intended."
Justin laughed as he sat down. "Of course I'll get together with her later. I love being with her. She's a really nice person."
Amy paused as she thought about her conversation with Mya earlier and decided to ask Justin if he thought of what would happen with them in the future.
"I have a question of my own to ask. I don't know if Mya will ask so I better do it myself."
"Uh. Ok."
"I hope you don't mind me asking you this but, what kind of relationship do you two have?"
"What kind of relationship do we have?" he asked with a puzzled look on his face. "Well, obviously we haven't know each other long enough to be acting like we are crazy in love or anything. But, I do really like her and I think we are getting along pretty good. Like I said, I love being with her. She's really great."
Amy smiled. "You couldn't imagine how happy she is. I mean, its not like everyday we meet someone famous like a Justin Timberlake, ya know?"
Justin blushed. "Nah, I'm normal like everyone else. I just have a little more money than the rest." he laughed as he tried to joke with her.
"I have to ask you a serious question." she changed the subject.
"Oh." he stopped laughing. "Ok."
"What happens between you two if Mya doesn't get the part?"
"Uh, I dunno." he studdered.
"I figured you wouldn't know either."
"Well, she can stay around here can't she?"
"For six months or more? I don't know if she will do that. Everything we have is in Florida."
"Did you say Florida? I didn't know you guys lived in Florida."
"You mean this whole time you didn't know where we were from?" "No." he replied with stunned expression. "We never really talked about it."
"Oh. Well we live in Bellwood. We went to college at Warner Southern about fifteen minutes north of there. Orlando is about an hour west."
"Yeah, I know where Bellwood is. That's good to know."
"So, about her staying here," she continued with what she was saying. "I'm not sure if she will."
"If not, and she still wants to see me, then I will just fly out to see her alot. During the movie I will also be running back and forth from here to Orlando anyways to start recording again so I'll be able to see her one way or another."
"Well, that's good that you at least figured out something."
"If she is serious then so am I. But, let's just hope for the best and just hope that she can stay here shooting the movie herself."
"Yeah, that would be really great." she smiled from ear to ear.
"And, if you guys decide to go back, she will be fine with me. Or if you guys decide to stay, I'll make sure to get some long term arrangements at the hotel so ya'll won't have to keep footin' the bill."
"Are you serious?"
"Sure. Why not?"
"Thanks. I really appreciate it. I'm sure we all will."
Justin paused as he looked at the clock on the wall. "I hate to cut this short but I have some work to get done if Mya wants to meet me later. I'll walk you out so the guards don't give you a hassle."
Amy smiled as Justin grabbed an extra pass and led her back out of the office room and back out of the building.
"Eric, authorize this please." Justin asked the guard that was talking earlier on the radio. He handed him the extra pass that he grabbed on the way out. He grumbled under his breath as he took it into his little makeshift office by the gate.
"I'll give you this one." Justin said to Amy as Eric handed it back to him. "Give the one you are wearing back to Mya. Both you and Drew can use this pass. Please don't let anyone else use it. I am going to trust you with it."
Amy took Mya's pass off and put her own on. "I promise."
"Good. Tell Mya that I will see her this afternoon around six or so. I'll meet her up in the suite."
"Ok. Thanks for everything."
"No prob. Get going!"
Amy waved goodbye as Justin stood and watched to make sure she got out alright. She dissappeared around the corner of the building and Justin went back to work.

Three hours later, Mya finally finished her interview and reading. She stepped back out into the warm sunshine to meet Amy and Drew who returned to pick her up. It was almost twelve and they were all hungry for some McDonald's quarter pounders and chicken nuggets.
Amy had told Mya everything that she and Justin talked about earlier, giving Mya a little more of an optimistic outlook on her whole situation with Justin. She felt better knowing that Justin was as serious as she was about everything and that he wanted to keep things going even if they are on other sides of the country.
"So, how did it go?" Amy asked as she looked at Mya from the rear view mirror.
"It went as good as can be expected." she bluntly replied.
"Translation please?" Drew said as he turned around in his seat.
"It was alright."
"Ok. Did you see Jess at all?" Amy asked again as she pulled up to the drive-thru window at McD's.
"Thankfully no. Maybe she got the hint and went back home."
"That would be great but I'm sure she's still lurking around somewhere." Amy finished as she started placing their order.
"How bout right over there?" Drew replied as he pointed to a girl sitting in a car in the parking lot.
"That's not her, is it?" Mya asked as she squeezed between the two seats to look through the front window.
"Jess doesn't eat at McDonald's. It would ruin her perfect body." Amy said as she pulled up to the next window.
"I think it is her." Mya said as they pulled up near the car. They looked over and noticed that it was Jess sitting in a rental car.
"What do you want?" Jess mumbled as she tried to talk with her cheeks filled with food.
Mya laughed as Jess made a fool of herself. "Did they kick you out before you got in the door because I mean, c'mon you look so attractive today!" she said with a bit of sarcasm.
"Shut up!" she spat out the window.
"Yeah, later sis!" Mya joked as they drove away.
"Ooh, I bet that hurt!" Drew laughed as they headed back to the hotel.
"I hope so. I hope she feels as small as she always made me." she added as she sank back into the seat.
"Don't worry, Mya. You will be so much bigger than she could ever be." Drew added as Mya stared out the window.

"Hey, how was your day?" Justin asked Mya as he came up to the suite later that day.
"It was okay I guess." she sighed.
"Only okay? How did the audition go?" He asked as he closed the door.
"It went well. They said they were going to let everyone know in about three days or so."
"Yeah. It might be awhile. I heard that around three thousand or more showed up today."
"This hotel is going to be an expensive home for awhile." Mya added as she sat down on the couch beside Amy and Drew.
"I'll pay it." Justin said as he sat down.
"No you're not."
"Why not?"
Mya gave him a stern look. "Because it's not up to you to pay it."
"Please?" Justin pouted.
"Justin."
"C'mon, you know I have more than enough to pay for it."
"So do I."
Justin smirked. "Oh yea. Well, I have more."
"Why is this money thing always an issue?" Amy joked with him.
"It's not." he sat back. "I just like to play around. But, for real though, I do want to pay the bill for this place."
"Uggh." Mya grumbled.
"Just agree." Amy jumped in.
"Fine."
"Good because I might as well since I'm gonna drag ya'll away from here for awhile anyway."
"Whadya mean?" Mya asked.
"I have to go back to Florida for some music business until the end of the week. I figured that would really bum ya out if I wasn't around so, I decided to take ya'll along with me back to Florida. You can go back home and catch up or whatever and then come back out here with me at the end of the week."
Justin finished and the three just sat with wide eyes as they tried to sink in everything that he said.
"Are you serious?" Mya broke the silence.
Justin laughed. "Ya know, you guys say that alot. But, yeah I'm serious."
"Wow, uh, I dunno." Mya studdered.
"I'm leaving tomorrow morning so I need to know."
"Well, how will I know about the audition if I leave?"
"I can let them know to call me when they get a decision about you."
"Are you sure we won't get in trouble that we have gotten closer since I am auditioning for this movie?" Mya wondered.
"Well, with us getting together, no one can get in the way of that. If you are worried about getting the role because you have been with me then stop worrying. I don't think there is any rule about that and besides, it's not my job to choose that role. I have nothing to do with it."
Mya sighed as she sat back on the couch again. "I know, you did tell me all this before but I want to make sure."
"So, does that mean ya'll will come with me tomorrow? You'll get to meet the other guys too." he smiled.
Drew and Amy turned to Mya with brightened smiles on their faces. She looked at everyone and saw how excited they were. Never in a million years would she ever think that one day she would be in L.A. auditioning for a movie and have the star of the movie and a member of the biggest pop band in the world in her suite. She swore it was just a dream, that it was all too real to believe, but there she was and there he was, right in front of her. She couldn't ever let it go away.
"Yes. We'll go with you. It should be fun." she finally answered.
"Believe me, you'll have alot of fun." Justin said with a sparkle in his eye. Mya smiled back. She couldn't wait to find out what he had planned for her.

~ Chapter 10 ~