Looking Forward/Moving Back *Chapter 2* -- Fictional Getdown

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Date Posted: 22:55:54 02/20/03 Thu
Author: Z
Subject: Looking Forward/Moving Back *Chapter 2*

Chapter 2

January 14, 2003

"Good morning, everyone," Hannah said cheerily as the group of five trudged into the studio. They didn't look anything like the people she had met yesterday. All five were barely awake and Hannah saw dark circles under their eyes. "Wow, you guys look�awful." Hannah had tried to be tactful, but no better word came to mind.

"Thanks for noticing," Justin said with a grumble.

Hannah was taken aback by the group's bad mood. She tried to figure out what had happened. Either something bad or a late night was the only scenarios Hannah could come up with.

"Don't jump on her, J," JC said with a glare. "Excuse us, we were up late last night." JC looked apologetically at Hannah and she almost burst out laughing.

"Oh you poor things. You guys must be hung over and tired," Hannah said, her voice dripping with concern. The guys responded with grunts and Hannah smiled broadly. "So you'd really hate it if I did this, huh?" Hannah walked over to the sound system and turned on of the songs NSYNC was working on. Each guy grabbed his head and grimaced as the loud sound entered their ears. Not wanting to cause them too much pain, Hannah turned the music off after about 30 seconds. "Okay listen up: As much as you guys want to slack off today, I have a job to do, so wake yourselves up while I go get you some coffee."

With that, Hannah left the grumbling group and headed into the employee break room. Her hectic schedule barely allowed her time to relax in here, but she had brought a package of her favorite coffee a while back.

Quickly turning the coffee maker on, Hannah set off to gather cups, cream and sugar. She was determined to get her job done even if she had to play maid to NSYNC. Normally, she would have been lenient in starting a little later, but a wardrobe crew was supposed to be stopping by at 1 today. That would take a lot of time and the guys needed every minute of their two week rehearsal if they wanted to learn the 4 dances for their performance. Marc had left Hannah with a great responsibility and she didn't want to make him regret his decision.

The smell of French Vanilla reached Hannah's nose as she quickly poured the coffee into 6 cups. Setting them on the tray along with stirrers, Hannah walked back into the dance studio.

"Okay, drink up," Hannah called out from the entrance. The guys looked a little more active, but still sluggish for the most part.

"Mmm, that smells good," Chris said from his place on the floor. Hannah went around and offered a cup to each guy and they accepted graciously.

"Oh, thank you, my child," JC said happily as he let the hot liquid coat his throat.

Fifteen minutes later, everyone was on his feet ready to dance. The guys still felt tired, but the coffee had given their bodies enough of a jump to stand up.

"Okay, good this is more like it. To show you that I'm not all mean, we'll begin learning the choreography to your ballad. Basically for that you need to know where to be on stage so you don't run into each other. Starting positions are Justin in front, Lance and JC next to him, but step back and Joey and Chris in the back. Remember this is a flowy song so the movements are flowy as well." Hannah moved around to each guy to help him get in the proper positions, relative to one another. "Just look at the other 4 guys to see where you're supposed to be since we're not on the stage you'll be performing at, but I'm sure you realized that already." Hannah added the last part quickly. "Sorry, I'm used to teaching people who don't know how to dance at all."

"Speaking of not knowing how to dance," Joey began with a mischievous smile. "What about the other song? Don't you have a bet going with Chris?"

"Yup and I came up with some ideas on what I'm going to have him do." Hannah looked up from JC's feet and smiled broadly at Chris.

"You know, I�m pretty sure I'd have something smart to say to that if it wasn't for the damn pounding. It's like the freakin Enegizer Bunny is here somewhere."

"Yeah, I'm him. I keep going and going and going. But now that you mention it, I don't really know you guys, but I think I like this subdued version better."

"Oh you have your fun today, missy. But when I get my hands on you tomorrow, you'll be sorry." Chris threatened as he waited for Hannah to walk over and correct his position.

"Kinda like you guys had your fun last night and are feelin realllll sorry today?" Hannah was having too much fun at this job. Something about the group made her feel at ease enough to butt heads with them. She approached Chris and moved him a foot to his left and a half a step up, making sure his feet were a shoulder width apart. "Okay, we're all set. Obviously you know the song, since you sing it, duh, but it starts with Justin's verse. Justin, all you'll do is this before you start singing." Hannah stood next to Justin and noticed how much he towered over her now. "Take two steps out and begin with the song, then you slide to the right, turn to the right, left hand out and slide back."

Justin paid close attention to Hannah as she stood next to him and guided his movements. When her hand touched his bare forearm, he felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. Instantly, his tiredness washed away and his body was on high alert.

Hannah noticed Justin tense up under her touch and she wondered if he had suddenly remembered their short friendship. She quietly went on teaching him the movements, praying he wouldn't remember. As soon as she thought that, a smile sprang to her lips at the absurdity of the thoughts. This wasn't little Justin Randall Timberlake anymore; he was now THE Justin Timberlake. He probably had trouble remembering the name of his past girlfriends, let alone some plain Jane girl from junior high school.

"Um, what's so funny?" Justin asked, interrupting Hannah's thoughts. Justin had seen her get that faraway look in her eyes right before she broke out into a room lighting grin.

"Oh, uh, nothing. I was just remembering something. Okay, lets do this thing with music now!" Hannah jogged over to the stereo and turned on the song. Justin's voice filled the room as the guys began moving. Hannah sighed contently; she was happy for Justin and proud of his accomplishments, despite what had happened.

At 12:30, the group took a break for lunch. Hannah had asked Sally, the studio's receptionist to order them some pizza and salads and the food arrived right on time. The group immediately declared Sally to be their new best friend when she carried the food into the studio.

"Oh sure, she's your friend cuz she brought food and I help you guys look good on stage and get nothing. No respect I tell you, no respect." Hannah shook her head as she spread the food onto a blanket. For convenience's sake, they all had decided to eat in the studio.

"Okay, Rodney Dangerfield," Joey said, rolling his eyes. He anxiously sat down and reached for a plate and a piece of pizza at the same time. The other guys followed suit and were munching away while Hannah was still setting everything out.

"Hey hey, don't hog all the pizza!" Hannah quickly reached in for a large slice and took a huge bite out of the piece. She quickly finished that slice and went in for another. Midway through that slice, she noticed that the others had stopped eating and were looking at her. "What?" she asked with a mouthful of pizza.

"Do you stop to breathe?" Lance asked with wide eyes.

"Excuuuuse me for being hungry!" Hannah said, flipping her hair over her shoulder.

"Aren't you girls supposed to stick to salad or something? I mean, you did order some." JC said, pointing to the plates of salad.

"I thought one of you might be concerned about watching your figures so I had them throw that in. I on the other hand, enjoy my food. Besides, what is this? Pick on Hannah day? Did I miss some kind of memo?"

"Aww, you know it's out of love, girl," Justin said before he lunged over to tackle Hannah. The others followed Justin's lead and before she knew it, Hannah was at the bottom of an NSYNC pile.

Hannah found herself so close to Justin that she could feel his Adam's apple against her shoulder. She inhaled sharply and the smell of his cologne filled Hannah's senses. It didn�t' help that 4 other bodies where pushing him closer to her. The whole situation was almost too much for Hannah, the smell of his cologne, the pressure on her chest and the memories in her head were becoming overwhelming. She needed to get away.

"Can't breathe," Hannah gasped out. The guys immediately backed off to let Hannah out. Sometimes they didn't realize how rough they got with other people, since they were so used to just dealing with the other guys. As soon as Hannah had enough space to move, she scurried out from underneath the guys and headed for the door. "Um, I'll be back," she called out quickly without even turning around.

"Uh, we didn't hurt her, did we?" Lance asked, trying to figure out Hannah's sudden departure.

"We might have squished her a little, but I don't think we piled on that hard." Chris shrugged his shoulders, not knowing what to think either.

"Maybe she doesn't like being touched or something?" Joey offered his input on the situation. "She is kinda�reserved, I guess you could say."

"I dunno, it's not like we've known her that long, but how can a dancer not like being touched," JC asked, making the group think again.

"Shouldn't we go find out if she's okay?" All four guys turned to Justin as if he had said the wisest thing.

"Okay, but we have to hurry, it's 5 minutes to one and Lisa and Debbie won't be able to find us." Lance pointed out and the group nodded their heads in acknowledgment. The five headed out with Justin bringing up the rear. He was off in a world of his thoughts. Thinking back to what just happened, Justin realized that there was something nagging him. He mentally reviewed the sequence of events and it dawned on him that he had felt Hannah tense up even before the other guys had piled on top of him. It was something about him that made her run off. Justin thought hard about whether or not he had done something to offend her or hate him already, but the group and Hannah had had minimal contact as it was, since rehearsals had only just begun. Deciding to shrug it off for the moment, Justin made a mental note to ask one of the guys about it.

The guys walked from room to room, sticking their heads in to see if they could locate Hannah. They finally found her emerging from the ladies' restroom. She stopped suddenly when he saw the group staring at her and she felt her face flush.

"Um, hi," Hannah said, trying to sound casual.

"Hey," JC responded hesitantly. "You okay?" He felt very awkward at this moment and he knew the other guys probably felt the same way.

"Oh, yeah�I just�had to fix my contacts." Hannah explained. "Sorry, didn't mean to worry you guys."

"Oh, it's okay. We thought we might have hurt you," Lance said.

"Nah, I'm tougher than that. Hey we better go meet your wardrobe people otherwise they'll think I've kidnapped you or something."

The guys turned around and started heading back to their studio. Justin hung back a little and waited for Hannah to pass him by. As she walked passed him, Justin couldn't help but notice how nicely her dance outfit hugged her body. Apparently, dancing on a regular basis had left her with some nice curves. Before Justin got too lost in his daydream, he quickened his pace and walked alongside Hannah.

"Hey, Hannah?" Justin asked hesitantly.

Hannah turned her face a little and was startled to see Justin so close to her. "Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say, I'm sorry if you didn't like us all jumping on you like that. We get, overly excited sometimes."

"No, no, it's fine. You guys are cool. I told you I had to fix my contact, it must have gotten knocked around."

Justin gave Hannah a skeptical look for a second, but didn't press the issue further. "Okay, that's good."

"Yeah. Oh, hey, the wardrobe people are here," Hannah said, pointing up ahead. The other guys were already greeting the two ladies and Justin jogged up to join them. As soon a he left her side, Hannah let out a sigh of relief. It was kind of Justin to make sure she was okay, but she didn't want kindness from him, she just wanted to make the next two weeks go by as fast as possible so she could go back to her normal life.

"Lissa, Debbie, this is Hannah our dance instructor, Hannah, these are our wardrobe ladies," JC said, introducing the women to each other. Lissa and Debbie had brought with them three racks of clothing. Hanger after hanger contained various articles of clothing in all sorts of colors.

"Nice to meet you," Hannah said politely as she eyed the clothes.

"Same here," Lissa said, shaking Hannah's hand. She followed Hannah's line of vision and saw her looking at the clothes. "You see what it takes to make these guys look good?"

"Hey, we look good without clothes on!" Chris said, defending himself. Debbie walked up behind him and ruffled his hair.

"Unfortunately, I've seen that too," Debbie said with a laugh.

"What? When??" Chris asked perplexed as he grabbed Debbie by the waist. Hannah smiled when he saw how friendly the guys were with the people they worked with. She knew it was that demeanor that had put her at ease the first time she had met them.

"Okay, Chris, let go of my co-worker so we can get you guys dressed. Hannah, I'll need the guys, but it doesn't have to be all at once. I'm not sure how you want to work with them."

"You can have four of them at a time, that way I can have some one on one time with them for the routines."

"Hey, Justin, you like one on one, right?" Joey elbowed Justin in the ribs and received a dirty look from him in return.

"Okay, that's more than fair. You can pick who you want first," Lissa said, getting the wardrobe racks ready to be moved into the room next door.

"Hmmm, I'll take Lance, then Chris and then whoever's free." Hannah figured that those two needed the most work, so the individual coaching would be best for them. Besides, she needed to make sure that she'd win the bet with Chris.

"All right, let the humiliation begin," Lance said with a sigh as the other guys helped Lissa and Debbie move into the other room. Soon it was just the two of them in the dance studio.

"Aww, Lance, I'd never humiliate you. Besides, you don't give yourself enough credit, you dance quite well." Hannah said genuinely. She knew how it was being your own worst critic.

"Thanks." Lance stuffed his hands in his pocket and shuffled his feet like a little boy.

"Oh come on, I�m not that horrible," Hannah said stepping forward. She grabbed Lance by the forearm and dragged him to the middle of the studio. "We'll work on the song from yesterday. Do you want it with the music or without?"

Lance sighed loudly. "Without at first, at least."

"Okay, sounds good to me. I'll be behind you and you can watch me in the mirror, okay?"

"Okay. You count it off."

Lance and Hannah spent the next hour working on just one dance routine. Admiring the effortlessness with which Hannah was dancing, Lance stood and watched her. Sometimes she'd have to snap him back to reality and get him dancing again. Hannah made sure to compliment him on what he was doing well and indiscreetly point out his mistakes.

Lance was amazed with how easy Hannah was making the dance routine. It was probably her patience and constant reassuring words, but Lance was making excellent progress; even he could see it.

"See, now I don't want to hear you say you can't dance, got it?" Hannah asked as they completed the routine for the sixth or seventh time that hour.

"Nah, you're just a good teacher. Choreographers usually don't take time like this to go nice and slow," Lance said as the two of them wiped their faces.

"Thanks," Hannah replied modestly. "So now you feel comfortable with the first routine? I mean we still have plenty of time to polish the steps up."

"Yeah, definitely. Thanks for being so patient with me."

Lance held his arms out as if asking for permission to give a thank you hug.

"Oh come here and hug me," Hannah said, grinning broadly. The two locked in a bear hug before Lance headed for the exit.

"You'll be the best choreographer there is. I'll send Chris in now; he's probably a nervous wreck."

"Well, make sure you put in a good word for me so he's not too scared!"

"Nah, it's good to see him like that."

"Lance! I had no idea you were so vindictive!" Hannah wore a shocked expression on her face. Lance turned around at the door and gave her a sly grin.

"And its just day 2, baby." With that, Lance disappeared into the hallway.

A few minutes later, Hannah looked up from the stereo to see Chris hanging out by the door. He seemed really fidgety, which made Hannah sympathize with him.

"Come on, Chris, I'm not that bad. Lance left here with a smile, didn't he?" Hannah had immediately sensed that Chris's reluctance was different than Lance's. Everything seemed to be about humor with Chris. For some reason or the other, Chris seemed to hold the responsibility of maintaining the group's sanity. If Hannah were to guess, she'd say that Chris had inhibitions about dancing because while he was dancing, he couldn't hide behind his jokes, like he did normally.

"Yeah, he had a really big grin, now that you mention it. What did you do to him exactly?" Chris sauntered over to Hannah and nudged her with his elbow.

"Nothing I won't do to you," Hannah replied with a wink. "Besides, I have to ensure I win this bet so don't hold out on me."

"How are we going to decide who won?"

"I was thinking about that and Marc's going to be checking in on Friday and he can play judge."

"Sounds fair, but you said 3 days; Friday will make it 5."

"Good point. Well, how about we work on that routine only tomorrow so you'll have had 3 days to learn and I'll switch routines on Thursday."

"Okay, you're on!"

"Good, now let's start."

Hannah didn't even bother to turn on the music, because she and Lance had been more productive without it. Chris had an excellent sense of rhythm and coordination. The only thing holding him back was himself as opposed to Lance who ad to struggle with the physical aspect.

Hannah made sure to over-emphasize Chris's accomplishments, hoping for him to get over his mental block.

Chris trudged through the routine, determined to learn the steps. His main goal was to remember the steps and worry about form later. It was good for him that he was always in back. That way his mess-ups wouldn't be as noticeable.

"Wow, Chris, you're looking good!" JC said from the doorway. Chris stopped mid-step and turned around quickly. His heart was pounding from the physical excursion and being startled by JC.

"C, man, you scared the shit out of me."

"Sorry, dude, I just came to say you're needed back in the wardrobe, but the routine looks good."

"Thanks, I can't believe we've been doing this for an hour and a half already." Chris said, turning back to Hannah.

"Time flies when you're having fun. So, JC, looks like I'm going to win that bet, huh?" Hannah smiled devilishly at Chris.

"To be honest, yeah it does," JC answered thoughtfully. The one-on-one time seemed to have done wonders for Chris.

"Oh goody! And I still have one more day left!" Hannah jumped up and down excitedly and both guys just shook their heads and laughed.

"Okay, I'm heading back to wardrobe then," Chris said, jogging towards the door.

"Bye, I'll try to be nice!" Hannah called out behind Chris. "So, does this mean it's your turn?"

JC shrugged his shoulders and stepped into the studio. "I guess so, I'm not needed anymore next door. And I want to work on the transition from the chorus into the next verse. For some reason I keep wanting to spin in the wrong direction."

Hannah smiled as she mentally shifted gears. JC was obviously coming from a more solid background in dancing. He also seemed very detail oriented if he was already worrying about specifics in the routine.

"Sounds like someone's been practicing." Hannah said with a smile.

"Yeah, just a little though."

"A little a day does wonders. Do you want to go through the whole routine or the part you're having trouble with first?"

"I think the whole routine would be good."

"All right, do you want the music on?"

"Nah, without is better."

"Okay, count it out then."

Hannah danced along with JC, watching him carefully in the mirror. She was impressed at how much he had learned from the first day. There were still areas where he didn't have his footing right, but for the most part, he had the routine down. As the approached the steps with the second verse, Hannah, paid closer attention. Right away she saw that JC was placing his weight on the wrong foot, which was causing him to mess up after that. She let him finish the routine before speaking up.

"Okay, I see the problem. It's all about where you have your feet. And try to bend your knees more." Hannah stepped behind JC and helped him correct his footing. She placed her hands on his hips to turn them in the right direction and tapped the back of his knees. After fixing his positioning, the two tried the steps again and JC was amazed at how his problem was fixed.

"That feels better too! Thanks! I'm amazed," JC said with awe. Hannah had identified his problem really quickly and she had an excellent way of teaching the steps. He understood how Chris had gotten so good in such a good time.

"Well, thanks. It's what I do best," Hannah said modestly.

"I have a feeling we'll be hearing your name with the big leagues soon. Don't forget we worked with you first," JC said with a smile.

"I think you guys are more likely to forget," Hannah replied with a laugh. "Okay, I think we should try this thing one more time to see if it works with the chorus and also when we hop back, try to land with your left foot behind your right and your weight on the back foot."

"All right." JC got in the starting position and focused on changing what Hannah had just told him. Hannah's energy and talent made the whole atmosphere a pleasant one. Just by going through the routine once, JC felt his steps improving greatly. At this rate, none of them would have any trouble being ready in the two weeks time.

Hannah and JC ended up going through the routine four or five times and also worked on the ballad somewhat before Joey came in to interrupt them.

"My turn, my turn!" Joey said, running into the room. Hannah quickly turned her wrist to see the time. It was already a quarter after 4. She and JC had only spent 45 minutes, but he didn't really need too much time. Rehearsals were supposed to end around 6 so that left an hour and 45 minutes for both Joey and Justin.

"All right, Joey, it's your turn, be good," JC said as he grabbed a towel. "Thanks Hannah, this helped a lot."

"It was my pleasure. Take care and see you tomorrow." Joey and Hannah waved to JC as he headed back to the wardrobe room.

"It's just you and me kid," Joey said in his best Humphrey Bogart impression.

"Of all dance studios in all the world, you had to walk into mine." Hannah said dramatically while batting her eyelashes.

"Yay, a movie junkie!" Joey cheered happily.

"You too?"

"Totally!"

"Favorite all time movie?"

"Godfather," Joey answered without hesitation.

"Which part?"

"The first one, what about you?"

"I liked the second one better, but my all time favorite would have to be Come September, for non-cinematic reasons, though."

"Hmm, that's a good flick. You've got good taste. Seen any new movies?"

"Not lately, but my movie marathon is coming up soon, so I'll catch up."

"I can recommend some titles, just let me know. So now let's dance!"

"Thanks! Okay, yes, let's."

Joey was surprisingly very light on his feet and agile. Hannah could tell that he'd impressed more than a handful of ladies with his dancing abilities. All Hannah had to do with Joey was go over the routine a couple of times to make sure the timing was accurate for the steps.

"Phew, that's an intense routine," Joey said as they stopped to catch their breaths.

"Yeah, but once all five you are out there dancing together, it'll look amazing. Besides, you're doing a fantastic job."

"Thanks. I'm surprised you're not sick of it already though. You must have danced it like a hundred times."

"You have no idea, but it's worth it. If you look good, I look good."

"So it's all for selfish reasons, huh?"

"Well, you know the saying, no deed can be truly altruistic."

"Yeah, I gues--wait, what saying? That's from Friends."

"Darn it, you got me. I was hoping you'd be too busy to watch TV."

"Nah, I usually catch it on reruns." Joey and Hannah burst into laughter suddenly. Hannah felt really good about her day so far. She had worked hard, gotten a lot done and had managed to enjoy herself, which didn't happen often for her lately. It didn't seem like this day could have a bad side to it.

"What's so funny?" a voice called from the entrance. Hannah stopped laughing quickly and turned to see Justin. She had completely forgotten her one on one time with him. Maybe this good day wouldn't be so good anymore.

"Oh hey, J," Joey said as soon ash he stopped laughing. "Did you know Hannah's a film freak like me?"

"I had no idea, so now there'll be two of you" Justin groaned humorously.

"Well, you'll only have to put up with me for two weeks," Hannah said evenly. Neither Joey nor Justin picked up on her mood change.

"Aww, man, that's right!" Joey said with a pout. "We're all having fun with you though."

Hannah stared in Justin's direction as Joey spoke. His last words broke her trance and he whipped her head around.

"You're what?"

"Yeah, babe, Chris and Lance are raving about you next door. Hell, even JC's impressed. Don't look so shocked," Joey said with a laugh wen he saw Hannah's expression. "I can see why they're all in awe, you rock!"

"Aww, shucks, thanks," Hannah said with a smile. It felt nice to be appreciated for her job. Joey stepped forward and engulfed Hannah in his arms. Justin watched curiouly from the side, waiting to see if Hannah would run out again. Surprisingly, she hugged Joey back. With a shrug, Justin decided that she had knocked her lense out of place before.

"I want to have some time with this WonderWoman," Justin said, speaking up again.

"To dance, right?" Joey said with a knowing look.

"To�dance�of course, I'm a nice guy." Justin smiled broadly at Joey and Hannah with his arms wide open. Hannah rolled her eyes and Justin's cheesiness and Joey just shook his head.

"Yeah, we all know how nice of a guy you are." Joey smiled slyly at Justin, right before he started singing a few choice words from and Outkast song. "I'm sorry Ms. Jackson�"

"Shut UP, Joe!" Justin said threateningly as he pushed Joey out of the studio. "Just shut up!" As soon as Joey was out of the room, Justin turned around and straightened himself up. He smiled brightly at Hannah.

"Did I miss something here?" Hannah asked, curious about the exchange between the two friends.

"Nah, nothing of importance." Justin shifted uncomfortably for a second before changing the subject. "So you've been dancing up a storm in here, from what I heard."

"Just doin' my job." Hannah shrugged casually. "So do you want to work on something in particular?"

"How about we dance through the routine and you point out what I'm doing wrong?"

"Okay. Count it off."

Justin sauntered over to the middle of the room and shuddered at the cold shoulder he was getting from Hannah. She had seemed pretty pleasant with Joey and Lance, Chris and JC were all happy about working with her, but Justin couldn't see what was so great about this girl's skill. Yeah she was hot, Justin had to admit that much, but she was distant and closed off.

Right as the two of them were about to start dancing, the other guys interrupted them.

"Hey, J," Chris called out to get Justin's attention.

"Yeah, 'sup?"

"Um, well the rest of us are all done with everything so we're going to head out."

"Ok, but wait, I came with Joey." He had been way to tired to drive this morning.

"That's right. Hmm." The guys stopped to figure out a solution.

"How long are you going to be here?" Lance asked.

"I don't know�Hannah?"

"Oh, um, it's up to you really. I spent at least 45 minutes with all you guys." Hannah shrugged. She was too busy thinking about being alone in the building with Justin. It's not that she thought something would happen, but it was weird to be forced to interact with a guy she didn't really want to see again. Childhood mistakes or not, emotional scars were hard to let go of.

Hannah came out of her daze when she saw Joey, Lance, Chris and JC looking at her. She looked over to Justin who seemed to look uncomfortable standing there.

"What?" Hannah asked when no one said anything.

"Could you, maybe possibly drop off Curly after you guys are done? We'd be eternally grateful to you," Joey said as he batted his eyelashes.

Hannah looked from Justin to the other guys and was at a loss of words. True, she could drop him off, but she didn't really want to. After a couple of minutes, the pleading stares got to be too much and Hannah felt herself cave in, despite her better judgment.

"Yeah�sure, why not," Hannah said with a sigh.

"Yay! Thanks!" Chris said excitedly. Hannah could tell that the others wanted to get home as fast as possible and this way Justin wouldn't get cheated out of rehearsal time. "We owe you one!"

"That'll be two for you on Friday," Hannah said with a smile and a wink.

"We'll see, we'll see. Okay, we're out, buddy, see you for dinner at 8." With that, the guys waved good-bye to Hannah and Justin. Once again, Hannah found herself alone with Justin and she wondered about the twisted ways fate worked.

"Okay, well, back to work."

Justin didn't say anything during the exchange, but he was starting to sense a pattern. When it was just Justin, Hannah got professional, but with the other guys, she was cool. He knew sometimes he freaked out girls, but usually the rest of the guys equally freaked them out as well.

Wordlessly, Justin jumped into the routine and Hannah observed his movements. He danced it out with such ease that Hannah couldn't point much out to him.

"Well, you've got it down practically, but I should expect that by now," Hannah muttered, half to herself. "Just work on sharpening your moves and you're all set for now."

"Great. Could we go over the ballad though? It doesn't seem right when I go through the steps."

"Sure, but you're probably just trying to hard. Those moves come naturally to you. Just think back to the routine you did for Memphis audit--I mean, it's just a natural movement of your body to the music, no big deal," Hannah rushed, trying to cover her slip up. She felt her face flush and she tried to cover her face without being too obvious.

Justin looked at her curiously. He had heard her words, no matter how fast she talked.

"My Memphis audition? How do you know about that?" He thought back to that day and he could barely remember his routine. From his recollection, he could remember a whole bunch of auditions but it was hard to pinpoint one particular one.

"No-nothing, I was thinking about something else�you auditioned in Memphis huh?" Hannah tried to keep her composure while her heart pounded inside her chest.

"Yeah�that's where I'm from," Justin answered with a suspicious tone. He sensed something was off, but he couldn't even begin to put his finger on it.

"Oh, cool."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"Where are you from?"

"Oh, I moved around a lot."

"Oh, okay�well the 3rd 8th count gives me trouble."

"Okay, let's start from the beginning and I'll�guide your steps from behind," Hannah said as she mentally cursed herself. She tried to figure out what she was being punished for as she stepped behind Justin and moved with him to make sure he was hitting his marks.

The excruciating minutes passed slowly and soon it was time for Hannah and Justin to call it a day.

"Hey, I hope you don't mind, but since I'm dropping you off, I'll need to take a quick shower before we go."

"Oh sure, that's fine. I hope I'm not inconveniencing you."

"No, I have all my stuff with me, I just usually run home to take a shower before class."

"Okay, cool."

"Be out in 5 minutes."

Hannah quickly washed the sweat off her body and shampooed her hair. She changed into a pair of comfortable black flares and a red tank top. There was a black hooded sweatshirt in case it got chilly in her hands. True to her word, she emerged 5 minutes later to find Justin starting at the pictures in the main lobby.

"Oh wow, that was fast." Justin turned to see Hannah in casual clothing. He realized that he had only seen her in her dance outfits before that. Now she seemed more human than before and that caught Justin off guard. Her wet hair was pulled into a tight bun instead of her normal messy ponytail, which made Justin take notice of her delicate bone structure.

"Um," Hannah began uncomfortably as Justin continued to stare at her. "Shall we go?"

"Huh, oh yeah yeah, of course."

Hannah led the way towards her car and the two left the studio.

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