Chapter Two

"Hi."

He studied her. Her her hair, her makeup, her outfit. Everything was perfectly in place, and for what? For him. It was all for him. He knew she had probably gotten up early that morning, to make sure she looked perfect for this moment. He almost felt sorry for her. Yeah, she was cute...but still...she had no chance. If anything, he would have probably let her suck his dick and told her to have a nice day.

Justin had never been one to fall at the groupies feet, no, he just dated idiotic female celebrities. He didn't exactly know why...it wasn't like they were smart or bared any realistic ways of thinking. It was just something he did, so the groupies would know he had a girlfriend, even if that girlfriend wasn't really anybody he cared about. He flashed her his smile, that had won the heart of millions of girls just like her. "Hey."

She giggled. "Me and my friend, we came from Cali."

He raised his eyebrows. "Oh yeah? I just bought a house out there. I love LA."

"Oh...me too."

"So, where's your friend?"

"She's...in the bathroom."

He let out an amused chuckle. What a liar she was. Her friend probably didn't know where the hell she was, let alone that she was talking to him. "So, did you like the performance?"

"Oh ya...it was like...totally hot." She smiled, and took a step closer to him. "Poor Trace though, he practically got robbed out there trying to get me and my friend in to see you."

He had to laugh. It was actually the third time since they had arrived in New York that his best friend had been a victim of New York's craftiest. He had told Trace time and time again to not carry cash on him, that it only made him more of a pick pocket magnet, but did he listen? Of course not. Trace was as stubborn as anybody could possibly be.

"Well...let's just be thankful that he caught the person in time."

Her eyes shifted around nervously. "That girl is so dirty. You should have seen her."

"What girl?" He cocked his head to the side in confusion.

"The girl that tried to rob Trace, silly." She laughed.

"Hold up," Justin said in a surprised tone. "Trace got pick pocketed by a girl?"

Her eyes gleamed with excitement. "Yup."

Looks like our boy needs to keep his guard up." Justin nodded. Now he was curious. Curious as to what kind of girl would have had the guts to try and rob his best friend.

"Well...uh..."

"Stephanie."

"Stephanie. It's been a pleasure." Justin smiled, and gave the girl a quick hug.

"We'll be at the party tonight J." The girl winked at him. "I hope you'll be more enthusiastic then."

"You guys are goin to the party?" He asked her, trying to hide the annoyance in his voice.

"Trace is getting us in." She smiled.

"Great." He rolled his eyes and walked away from her. One thing he disliked, was when Trace invited stupid hoes like her to his parties. He didn't party like that. He hated meeting new people at a party. He hated it because when he ended up getting trashed, he usually ended up going to bed with some strange girl he didn't know. A strange girl like Stephanie. There was nothing more awkward than waking up next to some woman you didn't even know. Maybe...he wouldn't even go to the stupid party.

He miserably walked down the hallway, past the TRL crew who were helping themselves to the last of the pizza, past makeup, wardrobe, past the executive's offices. Those rooms were nothing new to him, and actually, he was pretty sure he could have found his way around Mtv Studios blindfolded.

After walking a little further, he came upon a room that surprisingly, he didn't think he had ever been in. He popped his head through the doorway...
That was when he saw her.

***********************

Somebody was staring at her. Dru could feel the all too familiar presence of somebody's eyes drilling holes into her back. Cautiously she peered over her shoulder. A young looking guy was standing in the door way, a queer, inquisitive smile was resting across his face. She studied him for several moments, unsure of what to say. He was very well toned, and she could tell he had probably spent hours in the gym, perfecting his look. She figured he was probably some popular Mtv broadcaster that had happened to come upon her. She let out a small sigh...what was going to happen to her now? Was he going to tell her the police were on their way?

She shuddered at the thought of spending the night in a prison cell.

He spoke first. "So, what brings you here?"

She noticed he had the same soft voice and the same slight southern accent as the guy she had pickpocketed. It was strange. "I...I sort of, lost my way."

"Lost your way?" He chuckled, and slowly began to approach her. "Now, how in the world did you lose your way and wind up in here?" He slid out the chair that was beside her and sat down.

His eyes were a beautiful intense blue. She quickly looked away from him. "I don't know."
He shot his hand out to her. "I'm Justin."

She shifted away from him. In this world, she had learned, nobody could be trusted.
After a moment, he spoke again. "I didn't catch your name."

"It doesn't matter what my name is." Dru replied and turned her back to him.

"Ooooh." He laughed. "You...you're that pickpocket aren't you?"

She shrugged. "I guess I am."

"Did you like your pizza?"

Hearing his sacrastic comment, she turned her head towards him. "I hate being asked stupid, pointless questions."

"Well, I'm not too keen on the fact that you tried to rob my best friend either."

"He's your best friend?"

He nodded. "Of twenty years."

"Sorry...I didn't know." She muttered.

"Why'd ya do it?"

She glanced at the floor. "I...was hungry."

"Hungry?"

"Yes." She continued to stare at him, waiting for the inevitable. Any moment now, she knew he was going to give her a look that told her how badly he felt. She hated when people felt sorry for her. She never asked to be put in the situation she was in. It had just turned out this way. "I never meant to hurt anybody. I just...was really hungry and I was desperate. I'm sorry for causing you and your friend any trouble."

He smiled. "You...have no idea who I am do you?"

She cocked her head to the side. "Should I?"

He sighed. "Part of me doesn't want to tell you."

She studied him, but she was sure she had no idea who he was. Even if he were famous, it didn't matter. She had neither the means nor the time to worry about idolizing any sort of celebrity. "Listen I don't know who the hell you are and frankly, I couldn't care less. Now, how much longer are you people gonna make me sit here? Either get the cops or let me go."

He chuckled, and stroked the partially grown in goatee on his chin. "You're a tough one huh?"

She groaned. "Could you please leave?"

"Why?"

"Because I don't feel like talking anymore." She laid her head down on the table, and closed her eyes.

"I'm Justin Timberlake ya know," he informed her after a moment.

"So?" She muttered. "Like I really care who you are."

"Well..." He started, his ego hurting. "Would you care if I could get you out of here?"
She picked her head up from the table. "How?"

He laughed. "I can do anything I want to do, they..." He pointed out to the hallway. "Do what I say."

She rolled her eyes. "Yeah right."

"It's true!"

"Prove it." She scoffed.

***********************
Dru was cold again. But she was thankful. Justin had been true to his word, no sooner had she challenged his authority than he had gone and gotten Trace. Who, very unwillingly, had let her leave without getting the police involved. She wondered...just who was this Justin Timberlake? She shrugged, it didn't matter really. All that mattered now, was that she was free.

The dumpster smelled terrible. Probably worse than it did most nights she went searching through it for food. She gagged and coughed several times before actually finding something suitable to eat. It had been a good night, the fruit she had just found was only partially moldy and would probably last for a couple of days.

Good.

She climbed out of the dumpster, being careful not to lose her food on the way out. She knew she probably smelled awful right now, but she didn't care. She knew she couldn't have smelled much worse than she usually did...so it was ok. She searched around the outside of the dumpster for some newspaper to wrap the fruit in. After walking around to the opposite side of the dumpster, she spotted a few pieces and quickly bent down to retrieve them. Usually she was in too much of a hurry to notice anything that was in the newspaper...

Today was different.

It was him, Justin...with some girl. She was really pretty, no she wasn't just pretty, she was beautiful, but who was she? Wait, she was ahead of herself, she didn't even know who Justin was yet. She raised and lowered her eyebrows and proceeded to wrap the rotting fruit in the newspaper.

In reality, she knew it didn't really matter whether or not she ever found out who Justin was, because she knew she would never see him again. But, even so, she would always be thankful to him. He had gotten her out of a bind. That was more than anybody had done for her in years.

She let out a tired yawn, and walked out of the alley, beginning to head back to her current sleeping space. A condemned apartment building. It was good for now, but in a week it was going to be knocked down. She had found that out yesterday from one of the random hobos that was currently inhabiting the place. The guy she talked to could read, and had informed her that the sign on the front of the building said the place was going to be knocked down on Monday. It was a good thing he had told to too, otherwise she probably would have been killed in her sleep by some bulldozer.
Dru couldn't read. It, like many other things, was a flaw of hers. She had never learned how to read, or write, or count past twenty...hell, she was surprised she could speak English. If she could read though, it would have made it alot easier to find out who exactly Justin was...and the identity of the girl who was holding hands with him in the picture.

She shoved a cigarette in her mouth, and lit it with a lighter she had stolen out of the room she had been sitting in earlier.

How did she survive this cruel world? She thought as she approached her "home".

She had no idea.