CHAPTER 3

"I knew you before we met in that elevator. At least I had heard of you before that." JC looked really nervous. He started to bite on his fingernails.

"What do you mean you had heard of me before that?" Kellen asked as his interest was now peaked in what JC's response was going to be. Kellen then remembered that his family did own the chain of one of the largest sport's stores in the country. Perhaps that was where JC had heard of him.

"Well did you talk to someone online today?" JC asked

"Yes I did, but how did you know that?"

"I, um, I talked to someone online also." JC said still biting his fingernails.

"Hey that's cool man. We all talk to people online." Kellen said still not catching what JC was trying to tell him.

"That's true, but I talked to someone who is very cool." JC said. "Can you guess who I talked to?"

"Nick Carter? I don't know." Kellen said

"Nick Carter? Why in the world would I talk to him?" JC asked.

"You said you talked to someone who is very cool. Its another celebrity right?" Kellen asked. He was starting to get tired of playing guessing games with JC. Of course catching glances at JC's toned muscles that were present under his shirt made up for it. Kellen still couldn't figure out why he was so interested in JC like this. He didn't think he was gay, but there was something about JC that just mesmerized him. He had been told that he would one day meet someone who would just set his soul on fire and right now, JC was doing a very good job of it.

"Actually I talked to you, Kis4kool." JC replied. "I'm Mouseketeerboy." He stared strait into Kellen's eye as he said it.

"You what? How did you know my screen name?" Kellen asked blinking. He was excited that JC knew his screen name and was claiming to talk to him. He was hurt though as the realization hit him. James, Lance. "Oh my God." Kellen said as he sat down in one of the chairs in the room. It was Lance who he had talked to all these months. It was Lance who had pretended as if he didn't know Nsync when Kellen mentioned the concert. Kellen could understand Lance and JC's points of view though. If he had been a big star, he wouldn't have told anyone who he was either. But, that still didn't change the fact the Kellen was going get Lance back for it.

"I know your screen name because a friend of mine gave it to me."

"Huh, what? Oh don't worry about, wait, you. I can't believe it you sneaky little, you acted like you didn't even know you were JC online today. You asked me who I like most in Nsync. Why?" Kellen asked amused.

"Oh, that. Well I couldn't just tell you who I was. I didn't want to risk you freakin’ out." JC said as he tried to explain himself in a reasonable manner.

"Oh, so why did you decide to tell me now?"

"Well I kind of realized that I had to tell you. You seemed so into the concert and the meet-n-greet. I just wanted to tell you. And after you mentioned that you could sing, and had an interest in music, I thought that maybe we could talk about music stuff without me having to hide my identity all the time."

"Ok, you're off the hook. But, Lance on the other hand isn't." Kellen said playfully.

"Lance? What does he have to do with this?" JC asked.

"I'm not stupid JC. I know who 'James' is. I just can't believe I

didn't figure it out before you told me. He gave me so many clues. "

"What do ya mean?"

"Well last week, I talked to him and he said that Anthony and Randall were wanting to talk to him. That's, Joey Anthony Fatone and Justin Randall Timberlake. Oh, and today he said that he had to go round up his posse because you all had to be somewhere. I'm guessing that somewhere was sound check?"

"Yeah, but don't fault him. He hid his identity from you for the same reasons I did." JC said in more serious tone. He might have had an interest in Kellen, but his friendship with Lance and any of the other guys was worth more than that.

"Oh don't worry, I won't do anything to hurt him. But, that doesn't mean I can't play with his head a little." Kellen said rubbing his hands together and snickering.

"Oh, do I sense a prank in the near future?" JC asked in a playful joking way.

"Actually yes, but its going to require your cooperation." Kellen said looking right at JC.

"Ok, what do I have to do?"

"First, you can't tell Lance that I know who you guys are. Second, I'll fill you in on it as I go. Just act like I don't know who you are Ok?"

"Coolios. Gotcha."

Kellen started to look around JC's dressing room taking in his current situation. Suddenly there was a knock on the door. They both turned around as it opened. Christopher Kirkpatrick poked his head inside the room. "Oops, sorry C. I didn't mean to interrupt. Joey, Justin, and I were just wondering when you were going be ready to go get some munchies."

"Hold on I'll just be a minute ok?" JC said looking at Chris.

"Ok. I'll wait on your slow as hell ass." Chris said laughing.

"Hey Kirkpatrick, eat me!" JC said as he gave Chris the bird.

"Yeah you would like that would ya my boy." Chris said as he scurried out the door dodging a pillow.

"Sorry about that. That was Chris." JC said as he moved around to gather his things.

"I know." Kellen said. There was an awkward silence as JC packed and Kellen watched. "Well, I guess I better go find my sister." Kellen said as he made his way to the door.

"Hey wait a sec. Would you and your sister like to join us for dinner?"

"I don't want to intrude."

"Oh, don't worry about it. The guys will love ya. They love me and you and I are kind of alike." JC said shrugging his shoulders.

“Uh huh, yeah right."

"Let's just go find your sister. What's her name again?"

"Her name is Jordan."

"Cool. I can't wait to meet her." JC said as they moved down the hallway.

"Well I have a feeling that after we find Lance, we'll find Jordan."

"Why do you say that?" JC asked

"Because we are standing right here talking to each other," Lance said startling JC. He was too busy looking at Kellen to be looking in front of him. JC couldn't understand what was going on. He had never felt this way about any guy before. He had come close to feeling this way about

his last girlfriend. But that was after they had known each other for months. He hadn't even known Kellen for two days. It just felt right to think about the possibility of him and Kellen becoming very close friends. But JC knew he had to get over thinking about Kellen so much because Kellen wasn't gay. He had a girlfriend for years. He just couldn't be gay.

"Oh hey Scoop. Where are we going for dinner?" JC asked Lance.

"Did I hear my peoples talking about dinner?" Justin said as he, Chris, and Joey came around the corner.

"Oh we have guests." Justin said looking at Kellen and Jordan. "Forgive me, but you guys look familiar."

"Duh Justin, they were at the meet-n-greet." Joey said as Justin jabbed him playfully in the ribs. Joey just grabbed Justin in a headlock and ordered Justin to say uncle.

"These two clowns are Justin and Joey, but you two already know that. So where are we going for dinner. Since you two are our guests, you get the honor of deciding." Lance said look in between the two.

"I'm for whatever you guys want, but Mexican is sounding good." Jordan said. She had gotten used to her moment of stardom. Talking with Lance had been fun. It was a dream that she never thought would come true. She would have to tell her mom and dad thank you for getting them tickets.

"Someone's speaking my language. Mexican" Lance said.

"Does anyone know of any good restaurants around here that is Mexican?" Joey asked looking between Kellen and Jordan.

"I don't know we flew up here from Oklahoma. But, I think my sister Nicole might know." Kellen said as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He dialed Nicole's cell phone.

"Hello?" Nicole asked.

"Hey it's me. Guess what?" Kellen said into the phone

"Do I even want to make a guess?" Nicole asked. She knew by the tone of Kellen's voice that she was going to find out whether she wanted to or not. "Okay, what?”

"Jordan and I are standing here talking Justin, Lance, Joey JC and Chris of Nsync and we are all wondering where to go for dinner. I thought you might be able top recommend a good Mexican restaurant in Denver."

"Yeah right, you and Jordan are with Nsync right now. Okay Kellen, I thought you would have known by now that getting drunk was illegal until you're 21." Nicole said.

"What? I'm not drunk, I really am here talking to them." The guys began to snicker at Kellen's remark. "I'll prove it to you." Kellen defended. "Guys, could you sing the opening lines of Bye Bye Bye?"

"Don't worry Kellen I'll play along with your imaginary mind. Let's see in Denver?” she said pausing. “Oh, go to Casa Bonita." Nicole finished. She gave Kellen directions and then hung up to finish some work at the store.

"Ok, I can get us there by her directions; I just hope they are correct." Kellen sighed.

Lance made a phone call to their security personnel asking for a vehicle. Once they made it out to the front entrance, they quickly decided that the back entrance would be much better. There were at least five hundred people outside waiting for them to come out. Kellen opened on of the back door and saw two black suburbans waiting for them. Each had two security guards in them.

"Hey can you guys pull around to the front and drop us off at my car?" Kellen asked.

"I thought you said you flew here." Joey asked.

"We did, but how do you think we got to the concert? We rented a car."

"Duh Professor Joey! Man you really are dense." Justin teased.

"You just don't know when to keep your mouth shut up do ya Curly Top." Justin started to run from Joey. He jumped into one of the SUVs locking the door as he went.

"Do you mind if I ride with you?" JC asked looking at Kellen.

"Um sure I don't mind. Do you Jordan?"

"Not at all."

As they moved to get into the vehicles, Lance pulled JC aside. "You sure are making a friend rather quickly. You didn't tell him about me did you?"

"What do you mean 'Tell him about you'?" JC asked in a hushed voiced

"I mean, you didn't tell him that I talk to him online?"

"Oh no, I didn't." JC responded rather quickly. Lance just look at him with one eyebrow raised. "I'm serious Man. I didn't mention anything about you." Technically it was true. JC hadn't brought Lance into the conversation with Kellen. Kellen had figured it out on his own, but JC wasn't about to tell Lance that.

"Ok, I believe you. Now let's go get some food. I'm starving." Lance said as they climbed into the second suburban with Chris. The two vehicles made it around to the front where Kellen had told the driver his Cherokee was. The two got out accompanied by Justin and made their way

over to the other car. JC was just getting out.

"Man that's a nice set of wheels. I love Jeep Cherokees."

"Ha, you should see the one I got for my graduation. It's at home in my garage. Shall we?" Kellen said pressing the keypad. The door unlocked and the three climbed in. Justin climbed back into in the Suburban with Lance and they were off.

It took them twenty minutes to get to Casa Bonita. It would have taken another thirty to wait in line, but security had called ahead and arranged for a short-cut. The line extended outside where a man on stilts was greeting people. As they walked up to the restaurant, they noticed that there was a brightly-lit fountain by the front doors. As they made their way through the front of the restaurant, they all marveled at the intricate Mexican style decoration. A waitress took them to their seats. The restaurant was huge. There was a water fall with people doing trick dives into the water, an arcade, a gift shop, and even a Mexican band with instruments going around to the lavishly decorated tables. Nsync and their party were seated at a table on a balcony. The view of the place was fantastic. A waiter made his way over to the table to take their drink orders. Justin, Joey and Chris all ordered Dr. Pepper. JC and Kellen ordered iced teas. Jordan and Lance ordered Sprites, and the bodyguards, who were ordered to sit and join the group, ordered waters. Forty-five minutes later, after a time of joke trading and life sharing stories, they were all finishing their meals and talking about which games they were going play in the arcade. JC and Kellen had gotten into a deep discussion about chord harmonics and decided to continue it as they walked around the gift shop. The others had all went to the arcade and show Jordan their 'manly' skill with the games. An hour later they met up at the exit and left the restaurant. Kellen and Jordan drove back to the hotel following the convoy of Suburbans. When Kellen arrived at his door, his cell phone went off. He picked it up looking at the caller id and giggled to himself as he pushed the talk button. "Hey sport" he said into the phone.

"Kellen! I miss you." said the excited voice of his cousin Tyler.

"I miss you too Tyler. I'll be home in a couple of days. When I get back, you and I are gonna hang out."

"YEA! You really mean it?"

"Of course I do. Why wouldn't I mean it?" Kellen asked.

"It's just that you've been so busy." Tyler said with a saddened voice. Kellen mentally cursed himself for neglecting his biggest fan.

"Tell ya what. When I get back, you and I are going spend so much time together, you’ll start to hate me." Kellen said laughing.

"I'll never hate you Kellen. You're like the big brother I never had."

"Thank you Tyler. I'm going let you go Sport. I've had a busy day and I'm kind of tired. I can call you tomorrow if you'd like."

"Really? Okay. I can't wait 'til tomorrow." Tyler said with glee. Kellen could see the brightness in his cousin's eyes; even over the phone.

"Goodnight Tyler."

"Night Bubba."

Kellen hung up his phone and put it on the charger. He got undressed and into his nightclothes. Falling into sleep was easy for Kellen tonight mainly because he fell asleep thinking about his dreams coming true.

The next morning passed by rather quickly for Kellen as he, Jordan and Nicole toured. They had decided to drive to Canyon City, Colorado to the Royal Gorge. They rode across the gorge in a cable car and walked across the bridge. They decided to head back to Denver when the sun started to set. When Kellen got back to his room he opened the door to find that housekeeping had already been to his room. He unpacked his laptop and turned it on. After he signed on, he found that he had several messages.

Fishin4bass: Sorry I missed you last night. My friends and I decided to go out for dinner last night with a couple of friends. We're getting ready to leave. We have a gig in Kansas City tomorrow. Hope to hear from you soon.

"Dinner indeed." Kellen said scoffing as he read.

Mouseketeerboy: Hey

Mouseketeerboy: Guess you're not online. Dinner was fun last night. Lance asked me if I told you about him, but I told him I didn't. He believed me. I hope you are having fun today. We are on the bus on our way to Kansas City. That's in Kansas by the way. When are you and your sisters traveling back to Oklahoma? Have a safe flight. Talk to you later. Bye

Kellen replied to the messages and signed off. He decided to shower and turn in early. It was only 9:30, but He had a nine o'clock in the morning and wanted to be rested up. As he lay in bed, he thought about what his mom was going to say about his hair. He fell asleep shortly after.

The next morning dawned rainy. It was a storm like no other. The rain was so hard that Kellen couldn't even see out the balcony doors. He wondered if his flights were going be canceled. After getting ready, he moved his bags out into the hallway and met his sisters to leave. They

left the Cherokee at the hotel with instructions for delivery back to the rental shop. Nicole thought it would be best to just take one vehicle in the rain. It took them an hour and a half to get to the airport. Traffic on I -70 was backed up very bad. Once they made it, they left the Blazer at the entrance and with their bags in tow they went inside to escape the sheets of rain that was pelting them.

The plane was canceled for two hours. The kids called their mom and dad to let them know. Then they waited for the weather to clear up. It did enough for the plane to take off. The ride was so bumpy. Kellen could see flashes of lightning outside his window. Every time there was a wind gust, the plane shook violently. Kellen decided to sooth his nerves by signing on to messenger. He was lucky that a friend was online.

Mouseketeerboy: What's up my bratha.

Kis4kool: a very bad plane ride.

Mouseketeerboy: What do you mean?

Kis4kool: It is storming very badly, and I'm in the air on this plane

that is shaking badly and jolting every few seconds.

Mouseketeerboy: You mean they let your plane take off? I check the

weather this morning online and it said that Colorado, Texas, Oklahoma and

Kansas were all having micro-bursts and tornados and stuff. Be careful.

Kis4kool: I will be. Hey you have a cell phone right?

Mouseketeerboy: Yeah

Kis4kool: If I give you my number, will you call? We can talk

about music.. I need something to keep my mind clear.

Mouseketeerboy: Okay what is it?

Kellen gave his number to JC and told JC to give him a few minutes to sign off and disconnect his cell phone. Two minutes later Kellen’s phone rang. He picked it up and answered it. "Hey Jace."

"Hey Man. How the plane handling now?" JC inquired

"Oh god, it's shaking somethin’ awful." Kellen said letting his drawl come out. JC just laughed causing Kellen interest to peak. "What's so funny?" "Nothing. It's just I can hear your southern accent."

"Hey, don't make fun of me. Their ain't nothin wrong with my accent." Kellen said playfully. Suddenly a jolt hit the plane and threw everyone out of their seats. Everyone screamed and Kellen dropped his phone. He quickly grabbed it and put it to his ear.

"What's going on Kellen? Is everything all right? Kellen?"

Suddenly a voice came over the speakers, "Attention passengers. This is the captain speaking. We need everyone to calm down and quickly put their seat belts on. We need to land the plane immediately. All flights attendants will direct you in the proper emergencies procedures.” The captain’s voice faded, and almost immediately, the air masks popped out of the above compartments.

Everyone was frantic. Children were crying out to their parents, Nicole and Jordan were both crying. And Kellen suddenly remembered that he had JC on the phone. He quickly collected himself, "JC?"

"Oh thank God. Kellen I heard what happened. Everything is going to be alright. Just do what the attendants tell you to do. "

"JC, I can't die. I haven't even said goodbye to my parents yet. OH GOD!" Kellen screamed as another jolt hit the plane.

"WHAT? What's happening?" JC screamed in to the phone

“OH MY GOD, THE PLANE WON’T STOP THRASHING AROUND!” Kellen screamed as the plane violently jolted again. He lost his grasp on the phone and it shattered against the ground. He and his sisters began to huddle. Kellen heard a child crying and when he looked up, he saw a little boy all by himself. Kellen told the child to come over to him. The boy did as Kellen instructed and was shielded by Kellen. The overhead compartments began to open and things spilled out on top of people. The plane immediately started to descend so rapidly everyone could feel the plane’s inertia, and it wasn’t pleasant. Kellen and his sisters were huddled together hugging and praying for their lives. Kellen looked above his head and noticed a briefcase above the boy’s back. He immediately shifted his body to cover the boy as it fell out of the compartment.

TO BE CONTIINUED...