CHAPTER 2

A flight attendant walked over to them smiling. “I’m sure you guys are very excited to be seeing the Nsync concert tomorrow, but do you think you could keep your excitement to a minimum out of courtesy for the other passengers?” she kindly asked them.

“Sorry” Kellen said with his head faced down.

“Yeah Sorry” Jordan mumbled.

“I’m going to the concert myself.” She said. When the flight attendant walked away, they both looked at each other and snickered.

The plane ride only lasted for an hour and a half. For Nicole it seemed like more. She considered it to be very boring talking with Jordan about who the cutest members of Nsync were. But since she had nothing else to do, she tried to make the best out of it. Kellen sat playing on his laptop the whole time. He was working on some sort of music arrangement. Nicole recognized the interactive software that he was using. For his birthday the last year she had bought it for him. The program allows one to compose music on the computer and actually listen to the results of the arrangement. Soon everyone’s attention was drawn to the lit up seatbelt lights. The flight attendant came on and announced that the plane would be landing shortly. Kellen shut off his laptop and tightened his seatbelt. Once the plane was down, and being taxied to the runway, Nicole turned to Kellen and Jordan “So what are we going to do? Site see? Check into a hotel? What do you guys want to do?” she asked.

“Don’t you have to go check on the store?” Kellen inquired.

“Not until tomorrow.”

“Well then in that case, I want to find a hair salon.”

“Jeez Kellen! You’re worse about your hair than girls are.” Jordan commented.

“You better watch out or you’ll walk to Mile High Stadium tomorrow.” He said triumphantly.

The plane came to a stop and they stood up to make their way off the metal bird. Once off, they took a look around at the airport. “It’s big,” said Nicole. They made their way to the concourse subway. They heard an automated voice telling them to stand back. A door opened and they stepped in. The car started moving. “I heard this whole airport is a joke,” said Kellen. As the car moved, they could see what looked like thousands of pinwheels spinning in the tunnels. Once they got to baggage claim and got their luggage, they went to the rental car counter. The receptionist took their receipts and made a call. By the time the trio made it out the doors, their transportation was waiting for them. Kellen and Jordan put their luggage in the Cherokee. Nicole put hers in the Blazer.

They got on a highway and made their way into Aurora. Since Kellen had never been to the Denver area before, he followed his older sister. Soon they had made their way to a mall. “Hey. I’m going stop in here. Can you two come back in a while and get me? I’ll call you when I’m done.” Kellen announced insisting that he get his hair styled for the concert.

“Okay just don’t go far out. Ok.” Nicole ordered.

“Look at who you’re talking to Nicole. He’s the king of boredom.” Jordan said playfully.

“Yeah you’re right Jordan I don’t know what I was thinking.” With that Jordan and Nicole walked off laughing at Kellen.

“I’ll show them boring.” Kellen said walking into the salon.

Three hours later, Nicole and Jordan were getting quite tired of the mall. Suddenly Nicole’s cell phone rang. “Are you finally ready you idiot?” She yelled tiredly into the phone.

“I’m sorry Nicole, but this your mother and I most certainly am not an idiot.” Mrs. Bradley said over the phone.

“Oops. Sorry Mom. I though it was Kellen.”

“Wait, where is Kellen? Are you at the hotel yet? And why didn’t you call me after you got off the plane. I’ve been worried.” Mrs. Bradley said nervously.

“Sorry Mom. We forgot to call. Right now we are in a mall in Aurora. Kellen is getting his hair done at a salon here. And no, we haven’t checked into the hotel yet.”

“Kellen is cutting his hair? How did you get him to cut his hair? Wait; let me see if I can guess. He’s going to a concert tomorrow and has to look good for the girls there?”

“I think that about sums it up Mom” Nicole said as her phone beeped. “Hey Mom? Can I call you back later? Kellen is on the other line.”

“Ok. Just remember to call me this time. Be careful. Talk to you later. Bye.” Mrs. Bradley said as she heard a click on the line.

The girls made their way back to the salon. When they walked in, both of them were shocked. At the site of Kellen’s hair, Jordan playfully fainted and Nicole just laughed so hard she fell over. “Cornrows?” she said laughing hysterically. “You got cornrows? Oh God! Mom is so going to kill you when she sees.” Looking back at Kellen’s predicament just brought another round of laughter. Jordan jumped up off the floor and just looked at Kellen. When she finally found her tongue, she said something that caught Kellen by surprise. “Well I stand corrected. You do know what style is.” With that they walked back to the cars. Thirty minutes later found them on the highway driving west towards downtown Denver to their hotel. They found the hotel, checked in and found their rooms. They unpacked their things and decided to go find something to eat. They left their rooms and stepped into the elevator. When they got back to the ground floor, they found the lobby packed with screaming girls.

“Shoot! I left my phone in the room! I’ll be right back.” Kellen said as he turned to go back into the elevator.

“Hurry up or we’ll get trampled by all these people. Jeez, you’d think Nsync were here or something.” Nicole said flustered. All three of them shared knowing glances before Kellen disappeared behind the closing elevator doors.

The elevator stopped on the 13^th floor. Kellen made his way out and to his room. He opened the door and grabbed his cell phone. Then he left and made his way back down to the elevator. The doors opened and he went in pressing the lobby button. The elevator slowed and stopped on the tenth floor. The door opened and in walked two guys. One of them had spiky blond hair and was wearing khaki shorts and an A&F T-shirt. The other had dark brown hair. He was wearing a black T-shirt, dark blue jeans and flip-flops.

“I’m telling ya Jace, This guy is cool. He lives in Oklahoma. I’ve been talking to him for six months. You and he are a lot alike. Talk to him sometime. I can give you his screen name.” The spiky haired guy said. The dark haired guy just shrugged his shoulders. When they saw Kellen they stopped talking. All except the one called Jace,

“That’s a neat outfit dude.”

“Uh, thanks. “ Kellen said noticing that he was wearing a black T-shirt, dark blue jeans and flip-flops as well. Then he saw it. Kellen had recognized them the moment they had stepped on the elevator. The Leo necklace gave it away. Then it sunk in. He was standing here talking to 2/5 of Nsync and before he could stop himself, he blurted out “Your Nsync.” Then he fainted.

The two guys bent down to him, “Hey Man are you alright?” Kellen suddenly opened his eyes and looked into the face of an angel. Though the angel was JC Chasez, he was still an angel. ‘God he looks hot’ “Wait a second, He’s hot? I’m not gay am I?’ Kellen thought to himself. Kellen stood up as the elevator stopped on the ground floor. The spiky haired guy Kellen now recognized as Lance pushed the stop button on the elevator control panel and turned toward him.

“Are you a fan?” He asked casually.

“Yeah, my two sisters and I flew up here from Oklahoma today to see your concert tomorrow night. My mom and dad got me tickets for my graduation gift.” Kellen said. The look of realization on Lance’s face was priceless. If Kellen hadn’t known why Lance was suddenly looking at him like that, he would’ve laughed. “Well it was nice meeting you guys. My name is Kellen by the way.” he said as he pushed the Door button to open the door. “Well, my sisters are waiting for me. Good luck tomorrow night.” He said and stepped out of the elevator waving at them. He had to get out of there and figure out what he was thinking.

Lance just stood there in a daze. JC had to lightly slap his cheek to get his attention off the closed doors. “Yo Scoop? You in there?” JC asked.

“Do you know who that was?” Lance asked. Before JC could respond, Lance finished. “That was the guy I was telling you about. The one I talk to online.”

“Are you serious?” JC asked, “Well, that is a coincidence.” He finished. ‘But oh God was he hot.’ JC thought to himself. The doors opened and the three remaining Nsyncer’s yanked them out. As they made their way through the third level of the parking garage of the Marriott, they discussed dinner.

The Bradley children occupied there time by going out to dinner and driving around to see some of the sights of Denver. After that, they decided to go back to the hotel to rest. Once they were in their rooms, Nicole called her mom to let her know everything was okay. Jordan went to sleep and Kellen dreamed about JC that night. The next morning Jordan was awake before anyone so she decided to call her brother’s room.

“Hello?” came a groggy reply from Kellen.

“Get your butt out of bed. Tonight is the concert and there ain’t no way I’m going until I’ve gone shopping.” She said “Oh and you’re taking me. Now get up or I’m going to come over there.”

Twenty minutes later, Nicole left for the store. Kellen and Jordan were on there way shopping. While Jordan was in a store looking around, Kellen went looking in a men’s clothing store they both came out carrying sacks. “Well, I’m ready to go back to the hotel. Are you?”

“Yep. Let’s go.”

While Jordan and Kellen were in the hotel frantically waiting for the concert, Nsync was at Mile High Stadium doing rehearsals and sound checks. However, neither JC nor Kellen could stop thinking about the other. It was almost intoxicating. Kellen couldn’t figure out why this guy was having this kind of affect on him. He wasn’t gay was he? He finally got bored with watching TV so he plugged his phone into his laptop and signed on to messenger. No one was on. He was about to sign out, when a dialog box appeared.

Mouseketeerboy: Hey what’s up?

Kis4kool: uh, hi? Who are you?

Mouseketeerboy: I’m a friend. Fishin4bass gave me your screen name.

Kis4kool: Oh. Ok. Well, what’s going on in your life?

Mouseketeerboy: Just the same old thing everyday. What about you?

Kis4kool: Oh, well I’m just waiting for the Nsync concert tonight. My mom and dad got my sister and I front row tickets to see the concert. They also got us back stage passes.

Mouseketeerboy: Really? You gonna be backstage?

Kis4kool: Yeah, why?

Mouseketeerboy: Oh no reason. I know some of Nsync’s music. I think it’s cool that you’re going to a meet-n-greet plus you get to go backstage and see everything.

Kis4kool: I know. Hence the reason I’m giddy.

Mouseketeerboy: Giddy? Well James may have told me some things about you, but he didn’t tell me you were giddy.

Kellen was just about to make a smart comment when another IM box appeared.

Fishin4bass: Hey Man! What’s up?

Kis4kool: Not much just chatting with a friend of yours James.

Fishin4bass: Really, who?

Kis4kool: As if I needed to tell you. I’m talking to Mouseketeerboy.

Fishin4bass: What? Did you say Mouseketeerboy?

Kis4kool: Yeah I did. Why?

Fishin4bass: Oh nothing, nothing at all. I was just doing a friend of mine a favor.

Kis4kool: What kind of favor?

Fishin4bass: Well my friend has been really depressed lately. His ex cheated on him. Nothing I or my friends do cheer him up.

Kis4kool: Okay, where do I fit in?

Fishin4bass: Well you and he are so much alike. I figure that maybe if he has someone who he doesn’t know that is like him, maybe he might talk to someone. Plus, you painfully got out a relationship not to long ago. Maybe you guys can share some insights with each other.

Kis4kool: You know what? If I wasn’t a friend of your online, I would have taken that remark the wrong way. But I’m just gonna let it go.

Fishin4bass: Good. Hey I gotta go. My posse and I have to be somewhere in like five minutes.

Kis4kool: Okay bye.

Mouseketeerboy: You still there?

Kis4kool: Oh sorry. I was talking to a friend.

Mouseketeerboy: That’s okay. So what do you like most about Nsync?

Kis4kool: I would have to say JC.

Mouseketeerboy: You’re in love with JC Chasez?

Kis4kool: No I’m not in love with him. I’m not gay. I mean I was getting some weird vibes off of him in the elevator last night but that doesn’t mean that I’m in love with him does it?

Mouseketeerboy: No it doesn’t I guess.

Mouseketeerboy: Hey I have to go, James is rounded us up. We have to be somewhere.

Kis4kool: Okay. I have to get ready for the concert.

Mouseketeerboy: Yeah. It might be a good idea to get there early. I heard that the Nsync concert is supposed to be packed with people.

Kis4kool: Okay. Talk you later?

Mouseketeerboy: you can count on it.

After Mouseketeerboy signed off, so did Kellen. He went into his bathroom to get ready. After taking a shower, he bounced back into the room clad in only a towel and singing It’s Gonna Be Me at the top of his lungs. Truth be told, he wasn’t a bad singer at all. In fact, Kellen was quite convinced that he could one day land his own singing career. As he moved to the sack, he pulled out his ensemble of clothing. Twenty minutes later he heard a knock at his door. He got his keys and wallet and opened the door to find Jordan in the exact same thing he was wearing; only hers was made for a girl. They were both complete with new brown Doc Martin’s, blue jeans, brown belts, and white button-up t-shirts. They both stared at each other and chuckled at their sense of style. After a few comments and bantering at each other, they were in the Cherokee and on their way to the stadium. When they got there, they found that the stadium parking lot was almost full completely full.

“I can’t believe it’s full already. The concert doesn’t start for another two hours.” Jordan complained. Kellen just ignored her and found a parking spot close to the back. He wasn’t going get stuck in this traffic when the concert was over with. They got out and Kellen pushed the button on his key chain locking the doors. They walked up to the gate that was quickly filling with people. After waiting twenty minutes, they got in and were shown to where the meet-n-greet was going to be. They were the first ones in the room so they got seats at what they thought was the front. Kellen’s phone went off. “Hello?” He said into the phone.

“Kellen, its Mom. I know you are probably at the concert by now but I got a message to call you quickly” She said laughing.

“What’s the message?” Kellen asked.

“Your cousin wants to spend some time with you when you get back.”

“You talked to Tyler.” Kellen asked. Tyler Bradley was his ten-year-old cousin who lived in near him, but didn’t get to see much of each other. Tyler worshipped his older cousin though. Kellen always liked spending time with Tyler by taking him to games and to the movies. “When you talk to him next, tell him that I’ll spend a day with him when I get back. Okay?”

“Okay I’ll tell him. You have a fun time. I’ll talk to you later Kellen.”

“Okay Mom, love you. Bye.” with that, Kellen hung up and turned his phone off.

After a few minutes, more people came into the room until all the chairs where full. A lady came in who had brown hair. She was petite and when she spoke, it kind of sounded like a chicken, “Hello everyone. I’m Melinda Bell. Before we start, I just want to remind you all that the guys are your normal everyday people. You are welcome to ask them questions. I know they will ask you questions.”

Kellen and Jordan were both on the edge of their seats when the five members of Nsync walked in accompanied by three huge black men. Kellen gulped at the sight of them. They looked like they could tear him limb from limb if they wanted to. Then, Kellen saw him. JC walked into view. He could tell that JC was looking for someone. When JC and Kellen’s faces met, they stared at each other. Time seemed to stand still until JC winked at him and looked away to say hi to some of the girls who were in the aisles. After the boys made their way to the chairs at the front, they started asking the crowd questions. When it was JC’s turn, he looked tight at Kellen. “Kellen, this question is for you. Who is your favorite Nsyncer?” They looked at him and grinned. Kellen felt all the color go strait to his face as he spoke the words. He was very surprised that JC had remembered his name.

“JC is my favorite.” He replied.

“See I told you.” Justin said dejectedly. Then he started laughing. “JC gets all the fans.” Every one in the room cracked up at his remark. The other guys laughed with everyone else also, but it was only because they knew Justin was the real heart-throb of the group. JC and Kellen both blushed knowing they were the cause of everyone’s laughter. The Meet-n-greet continued on for another few minutes before Melinda came back into the room.

“Guys your on in twenty minutes.”

“Hey everyone, thanks for coming it was nice getting to meet you.” Chris said to everyone as he stood to get up. Nsync and their guards left the room.

“How did they know your name Kellen?” Jordan said wild eyed as she looked at her brother.

Oh, I bumped into them last night on the elevator.” Kellen responded. After about three minutes, everyone else was allowed to leave. As Kellen stood up and walked out of the room, Melinda came up to him.

“Are you Kellen?” She asked him.

“Yes I am. Why?”

“I was asked to give you this invitation.” She said as she handed it to him and turned to walk off. Kellen opened it up and inside he found a note that made him get even more excited.

Dear Kellen,

I know your wondering why I’m inviting you to come meet me outside my dressing room after the concert, but I have to talk to you abut something. Just give this note to Melinda after the concert. She’ll take care of everything else.

JC Chasez,

Kellen folded the note and stuck it in his pocket. When he came back to reality, he realized that he had followed his sister to their seats and was already sitting down. JC wanted to meet Kellen. But Kellen was a nervous wreck. He didn’t know how he felt about JC. Was he gay? He had gone out with women. He had gone out with Ashley for two years before she broke his heart. He knew that he liked women but he never thought of them in the sexual sense before. Why?

The lights went low and the music started. Everyone in the stadium shouted and proclaimed their love for Nsync, even though they still had to wait for the opening groups to finish their portion of the show. Kellen stood along with everyone else in the front row. The opening acts were good, but the real noise started when Nsync took over. JC continuously looked in his direction throughout the whole show. After the boys sang the last phrase of Bye, Bye, Bye, they disappeared into the floor and were gone. Everyone clapped and cheered. Kellen and Jordan made their way through the hoards of crowds to the backstage area. They saw Melinda and walked up to her. He handed her the note and she directed him down the hall. He told Jordan to wait in the hall for him. Lance had come down the hall and stopped to talk to Jordan. She just nodded like she was star struck. Kellen made his way through the stadium halls. Melinda stopped at a door and knocked.

“Come in came a reply from the other side.” Melinda directed Kellen in and walked off saying bye to him and telling him how lucky he is. Kellen turned to look at JC. He was talking on the phone. He had changed into what looked like blue jeans and a T-shirt.

Kellen stood there for a second afraid to touch anything as JC talked on the phone with someone. “Hey can I call you back. I have a guest here? Yeah, okay. Bye.” He said as he hung up the phone and looked at Kellen. JC was mesmerized at the way Kellen looked. He looked like a god to the singer’s eyes. JC had invited Kellen to his dressing room to tell Kellen something. It was something that he needed to get off his chest. “Kellen I have something important I need to tell. I’m not quite sure how to put this but since last night I…

TO BE CONTINUED…