| "No way! Nope! Not happening!" Justin paced around the promoter's office, hands flailing about, and angry frown upon his normally easy going face. He glared at the N Sync publicist. "How could you even attempt to commit us to something this heinous?" JC sat on a couch in the far end of the poshly decorated suite, staring hard at the proposal in front of them. Joey bounced a rubber ball anxiously against the wall. "Stop it," Chris grumbled, reaching over to snatch it away. Joey sighed and looked at his friends. "Guys, it is for charity. Come on, how bad could it be?" Lance peeked up from the proposal. "It's can be bad, Joe, really bad." JC had enought of Justin's pacing and ranting. He jumped up and crossed the room, forcing Justin down into a chair. "Man, JC we can't...." JC silenced him, holding a hand up. Someone needed to take charge of this fiasco, someone who was calm enough to speak clearly. Sitting in the chair directly opposite the promoter, JC gathered his wits and stared hard at him. "Why should we do this? Have the Backstreet Boys agreed yet?" Lance joined him, eager to hear how this promoter planned to try to get this over on JC. The man cleared his throat, not expecting such a harsh response from these kids. "No, actually we wanted to approach your group first since your so much more....." He pleaded with their publicist for help. She jumped in. "....easy going," she smiled. "Yes, easy going," he continued smoothly. "I'll give ya easy going," Justin growled, leaning forward. JC shot him a warning look, and the 19 year old shrank back slightly in his chair. "So then, what makes you think they'll agree? They aren't exactly fans of ours and the thought of them singing one of our songs, well, quite frankly, it's creepy." Chris stared up at the ceiling. "Not to mention us performing one of their songs. Don't forget that, JC, tell him." JC nodded, looking up at Lance for some kind of help with this decsion. To his dismay, his friend was amused. "What's funny?" he asked through narrowed eyes. Lance shrugged. "It is for charity guys. And the publicity is priceless. Us sharing a stage with Backstreet, each singing one of the other's songs. Come on." Justin just couldn't take being silent anymore, and now Lance was actually considering this. He flew up and stood in Lance's face, nose to nose. "If you do this, it'll be as a four piece, I promise you that!" Lance shoved him back, playfully. "Justin, think of all those little kids we'll be helping." He looked around the room at four faces, filled with contempt at the very idea of sharing anything with the group that called them names in public. "It's just an hour of our time. We don't have to hang out with them or anything," he paused to look at their puclicist, "do we?" She shook her head. Joey inhaled sharply, then smiled. "You know they're going to say no anyway." He stood up and stretched his arms over his head, rather bored with the whole thing. "I say we be the bigger sports here and agree." "You may have something," JC said, scratching his head. "Group meeting." The five of them huddled in the hallway outside the office suite. "What if they agree?" Chris questioned miserably. "Can you imagine?" Lance chuckled at the thought of the Backstreet Boys singing Bye Bye Bye. "I highly doubt they'll agree." "Yeah, you know you really can't do Bye Bye Bye with a troupe of dancers in the background," Joey added sarcastically. Justin stood silently, not liking the way this was looking. He folded his arms over his chest and shook his head in disgust, realizing his idiot group mates were actually going to agree to this insane stunt. He was about to be outvoted, and didn't like it at all. "Justin, come on. It'll be fine. Backstreet will never agree, like Joey said." JC tried to comfort his youngest friend. "We'll be the good ones in the press while they look like the tormented young singers who just can't escape their younger rivals. Oh the travesty!" JC smiled at the thought. If there was anything he loved, it was good press for N Sync. Justin kicked a piece of a gum wrapper to the side and tried not to crack a smile. He wanted to stay angry at this whole thing, but the thought of making bad press for Backstreet was kind of enticing. "Okay," he finally said, "But I am under no circumstance wearing those dumb ass get ups, never!" Joey put his hands on Justin's shoulders. "Then we're agreed to agree." "It's a go," Lance said, clapping his hands together. Chris leaned against the wall, studying his fingernails. "You guys better just hope that it doesn't backfire and those fools agree." Justin nodded his agreement. Shrugging Joey's hands off him, they marched back into the office and accepted the proposal. One by one, they signed the contract and were told they would have Backstreet's answer within the week. Two days later, Justin hopped out of the shower in his hotel room. He saw the little light blinking on his cell phone, letting him know he had messages. Rubbing his hair with the white towel, he sat on his bed, and punched in his code, listening. "Nooooo!" the cry rocked throught the room and Justin threw his phone across the room. "They're dead, they're all dead!" he seethed. Throwing his towel from his body, he pulled on his boxers, and a tee shirt and stormed out into the hall. Looking around, he tried to decide which of his moronic friends would get it first. He pounded on the first door he saw. "Open up!" he yelled. JC's less than pleasant voice yelled back. "Go away Justin!" Clenching his fists, Justin pounded harder. "Get your ass out of bed and get out here NOW!" Lance opened his door and peeked out, his eyes half closed with sleep. "J? What's...." Justin spun around, seeing another culprit in this whole mess, and charged for him. Lance's green eyes opened quickly, and he backed up, not liking the fierce look in those blue eyes headed his way. Justin stared at Lance, dispise filled eyes meeting confused green ones. "Check your voice mail, Lance." "Why? What's wrong? "Just do it," Justin seethed. Lance picked up his phone and listened. "Hey N Sync. Just wanted to let you all know it's a go with Backstreet for the charity event. They decided they didn't want any further bad press, especially where you all are concerned, so they accepted the deal. We'll need you in rehearsals three days from now, so you can practice the songs you'll be doing, and the show is next Friday. I'm so....." Lance clicked the phone off and bit his lip. He knew why Justin was here. "I am now going to kill you all. I can go solo," Justin reasoned, grinding his left fist into his right palm. "Not a problem, I'm still young. They'll never catch me." He rambled on and on, with Lance standing by, unsure if he was really going to be hit, or what. JC flew open the door, his hair sticking up in all different directions, and a upset look on his face. "Justin, why the hell were you knocking at my door?" He blinked the sleep out of his eyes and noticed something wasn't right. Lance took the opportunity to escape to his bathroom, locking the door, in case. "Ah, JC. Good, you should be the first to go, since this was YOU'RE DOING!" Justin's face was red, and he eyed him carefully. "We are going to be singing a BACKSTREET BOYS SONG! Are you happy now?" JC groaned, and flung himself onto the bed. "Oh no," he muttered. Chris and Joey entered the room. "Guess everyone heard huh?" Joey asked. "Where's Lance? You didn't hurt him did you Justin?" He laughed, oblivious to the fact that he was next on Justin's list. "And you, with your 'oh they'll never agree' " Justin used his best Joey voice, causing Joey to double over with more laughter. Lance peered out just as Justin was ready to charge into Joey. He stood between them, looking around the room. "Listen to me!" he hollered, shoving Justin away. "Especially you Timberlake. We are now going to have to do this, so there isn't any need for us to fight. Deal with it!" Silence fell upon the room as everyone came to grips with what they had to do, happy or not, it was going to happen. Three days later, five emotionally frazzled N Sync memebers stepped into Jive's offices, tired and exhaused. They flopped down in the huge waiting area where they were supposed to meet with their publicist to go over the plan. Justin pulled his hat down over his eyes. "Wake me when it's over," he mumbled unhappily. Lance shook his head, and rubbed his eyes. "I gotta use the bathroom," he announced. Only grunts replied to him. "So, don't go in without me," he stressed. JC threw a magazine at his head. "Shut the hell up and take a piss already, Bass." Lance ducked out of the room frowning. No one had been getting along and he was so tired of playing peacemaker. He kicked open the door to the men's room and came face to face with Brian, from Backstreet Boys. The two stared at one another in shock. "What are you doing here man?" Brian asked, wiping his hands on a paper towel. Lance noticed that Brian looked like he felt. "I'm guessing the same thing you're doing here." he replied, sourly. "Charity event?" Brian asked. "Yup," the reply came. Lance moved over to the urinal and closed his eyes, knowing once the guys heard BSB was in the building, all hell would break loose. He could feel Brian still in the room. "So, what do you think about this?" he asked. He'd always liked Brian. He seemed like he could relate to him. Brian let out a long sigh. "The guys aren't happy," he grimaced. "Especially Nick. He's having a fit." "Tell me about it," Lance countered, zipping up and washing his hands. "Justin is going nuts." Brian laughed a bit. "Guess the babies of the group are the babies for a reason." Lance looked over at him and chuckled. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all. He walked out into the hall with him, not noticing 8 perplexed and less than happy faces staring at them. Lance and Brian glanced up to see N Sync on one side of the hallway, BSB on the other side, all glaring at the two of them. "Uh oh," Brian whispered. Lance nodded in agreement. Justin shook his head and grabbed Lance's arm. "They're ready for us," he hissed. " 'They're ready for us' " Nick mimicked back. Justin pressed his lips together and tightened his fists. "Oh no he did not just imitate me!" The anger was at a dangerous level, and JC pulled Justin backwards, as Nick let out a laugh. "Tough boy can't fight his own battles," he yelled. JC shot him the finger and dragged a pissed off Justin to the back of the hall, where the meeting was taking place. He pushed him down into a metal chair and slammed his fist on the table. "This is not going to work. I just know it!" Chris put his head down on the table. The meeting began and the outcome was less than pleasureable. Backstreet Boys would choose whatever song they wished for N Sync and they in turn would choose an N Sync song for them to sing. It progressed from bad to really bad when they were lead down the stairs into a huge dance studio. "Who the hell are they?" Joey asked, pointing to a dozen dancers. "We are Backstreet's dancers. Now we are yours for the event." Justin threw himself down on the floor and stared up at the ceiling. "God, is this a test? Please tell me now." Lance pulled his friend up. "Come on, let's just get this done with." The word came in that BSB had chosen "Larger Than Life" for them to sing. "I am NOT wearing these!" Chris cried, as the "spacy outfits" were brought into the room. "Hell no," JC agreed. "We'll do the song, but no outfits. It's not fair. We don't wear outfits like that. We don't have anything to get them on." Lance smiled. "Give them Bye Bye Bye to sing. They won't be able to dance without them." He motioned to the dancers, who were huddled in the far side of the room, wishing Backstreet Boys would come save them from this. "And," Justin added. "They don't have Lance. They'll never get the bass down low enough." The five singers sent the message to BSB that they chose Bye Bye Bye. The dancers stood nervously in the corner of the room, waiting to show them the dance moves. Joey eyed a cute one and winked her way. She rolled her eyes at him, but that didn't stop him. "Come on," he said slyly, "This could be fun." Four hours later, the dance was down. N Sync gathered their things, said good bye to the BSB dancers and headed out. On the way, Joey glanced down a long hallway, hearing curses flying fast and furious. "Sounds like AJ," he grinned, motioning for his friends to follow him. They heard the beginning to their song, and crept carefully to the room where BSB were. Peeking in through the glass, they watched in amusement as the five of them tried in desperation to get the "lasso" move down. Justin bit back a loud laugh, watching Nick trip over his feet, in attempts to sing and move around. "For Christ's sakes!" Nick screamed, throwing his towel across the room. "I hate this fucking dance." Lance almost felt pity for them, realizing that dancing with dancers was a lot easier than dancing alone. N Sync had always danced alone, and were so known for it, they never considered dancers like BSB. "Maybe we could go help them," he suggested. "No way!" Justin snapped. "They go it alone. Hell, we learned the damn thing. It's not that hard." Just then, AJ looked up, hearing voices. "Those little shits are out there," he seethed, "they're watching us." JC grabbed Justin. "Let's go," he demanded, starting backwards. Lance pulled at Joey and Chris and they were creeping out when Kevin and AJ spotted them. "There they are! Get them!" The N Syncers tore off down the hall, nervous laughter erupting as the slid on the newly waxed floors. Chris bit it around the corner and Howie tackled him. Lance held onto Joey's jacket, looking back at his fallen friend. "Justin, JC, stop! Chris is still back there." Lance was out of breath and started back to Chris when he saw the Backstreet charge head his way. "Oh my God, they're really pissed," he hollered. JC and Justin watched in hysterics as Brian and AJ grabbed Lance and Joey, dragging them back down the hall. "Shit," JC laughed. "What do we do now?" He didn't have much time to think, as Kevin jumped out from the other direction, grabbing JC in a headlock. Nick wasn't quite so playful, jumping onto Justin's back, and knocking the wind out of him. Justin looked up in surprise. "Get your fat ass off me!" he screamed. Nick, who had taken offense to the fat comment, reached down to his rival to help him up. "Hey Timberlake, would you mind showing me the Bye Bye Bye moves? I just am not as graceful as your ugly ass." He grinned down at him. Justin rolled over to see Lance, Brian, Joey, AJ, Chris, and Howie all walk into the dance studio. He found JC, who was being let go by Kevin. "Come on, J," JC said, smiling. "They are requesting our assistance." He pushed Nick off him and stood up, brushing the grim from the floor off his jeans. Glaring at Nick, he shoved him back. "You're such a dick, did I ever tell you that?" Nick threw his head back and laughed. "I may have read that somewhere. Oh, no that was me saying it about you!" Justin rolled his eyes, and headed for the studio with the rest of them. "Okay, now follow closely," he said, once inside. The five N Syncers lead the five Boys through the moves for Bye Bye Bye, and waited patiently until they got it down. When they were done, and said their goodbyes, JC, Lance, Joey and Chris patted Justin on the shoulder. "You handled yourself very well," they told him. "Why?" Justin shook his head. "They're just like us. And it's all for charity. We're all doing a good thing. That's all that matters." |
| SWITCH by destiny |