Michael's POV

I'm so happy I found a new dancer. He's some what of a mystery, though. I wonder why he asks questions about the benefits.

It was almost like he couldn't believe he would get that stuff. He'll actually be getting much more than that. I wonder if he knows he's getting paid.

Frank pulls up to the arena. I'm two hours early. I'm always early. Frank says,

"I'll meet you in there. I'm gonna go get breakfast. "

I smile and say, "Bring me a white hot chocolate, please. "

Frank laughs and says, "I know. "

I chuckle. He drives off. I head inside the building. To my surprise the door was unlocked. That's weird...and very dangerous. Anyone could have went in and stolen the equipment. I turn all the lights on and walk on stage. I was nervous a few days ago, but now that I found Adam, I think everything will be okay.

As I begin to stretch in center stage, I hear groaning. I immediately get scared. I knew someone got in. My eyes search frantically for the unfamiliar face.

Soon, I see the man. He has a jacket over his face. I have no choice but to use my martial arts on him. He's trespassing.

I hop off stage quietly and slowly make my way towards him. He seems to be getting up. Fearing for my life, I run towards him while aggressively screaming. He turns towards me, but he still has the jacket on his face.

I jump and kick him. My foot landed right in his chest and he goes flying back. He grunts from the pain. I land perfectly.

I yell, "Leave! "

He quickly removes the jacket and yells, "Don't kill me! "

Adam!

I say guiltily, "I'm so sorry, Adam! I thought you were some crazy man! I'm so sorry. Please don't quit! I'm sorry! "

He scrambles to his feet and says,

"Fuck man! "

He rubs his chest. He says,

"You can't just go around kicking people you become suspicious of! "

I say, "I'm so sorry. I get a lot of crazy people and you're a big guy, so I just wanted to get you on your ass first. "

Oh crap...I just cursed.

He cracks a smile and begins to chuckle. He says,

"You got a hell of a kick. Where you learn to do that? "

I smile and say, "I've been taking lessons in martial arts. "

Adam says, "I think I should join you. "

I laugh and notice his things in a seat. I ask,

"Did you sleep here? "

He says, "Um..no. I just got here early. You never gave me a time to arrive. "

I say, "Aw..dang. I totally forgot. "

He asks, "What are you doing here so early? "

I smile and say, "I always get here early and stretch before everyone. People really love to watch how I stretch. Makes me uncomfortable. "

Adam nod. I say,

"This is a good time to start one of the private sessions. "

Adam nods and says, "Good idea. "

As I walk back to the stage, I ask Adam, who's sitting down putting his shoes on,

"Where are your dance clothes? "

Adam's POV

Crap! I wanted to go out and snatch me up some shorts and a shirt. What do I say?

"Um...I..I forgot. "

Yeah, so believable. He says,

"Well, there's some extra shorts and shirts in the back. They're in a huge black closet back there. You can go change. "

He doesn't seem to notice my strange responses. Or maybe he does. I get up and run up the steps to the stage and go in the back.

I immediately notice the closet. I open it. There's instruments and old boxes. Some props. This arena may be used for plays and orchestras.

I see an old shirt and shorts. I grab them and find somewhere private. I put on the clothes and ball mine up.

I head back out on stage. Michael notices my balled up clothes and laughs. He asks,

"Are you going to fold them? "

I look at them, then back at him and ask,

"Should I? "

He shakes his head while smiling and says,

"Come on. We have a lot of work to do. "

I toss them off stage and say,

"I'm ready. "

He shakes his head and says, "Not yet. We have to stretch. "

I smirk and say, "I've been dancing without stretching for years. I think I can handle another day. "

Michael becomes serious,

"Listen Adam, I already lost a dancer from doing something stupid. And I finally found someone who can handle this much dancing. I'm not about to lose you over something stupid. Not now. Now, please come over here so I can teach you the stretches. "

He sounds genuinely desperate and concerned. I say,

"Okay, Michael. I'm sorry. "

He shakes his head and says,

"I'm just nervous. This is my first solo tour. I want it to be everlasting. "

I say, "Well, it's you, Michael Jackson. People will love it even if you don't perform. "

He laughs and says, "I wish it was that easy. Come on. We're gonna start with normal toe touches. "

One Hour and Thirty Minutes Later

I flop on the ground from exhaustion. Michael is standing up breathing heavy looking at me. He laughs and says,

"What are you doing? Get up. "

I ask, "What the hell was that? "

He laughs again and says, "I told you. That's the warm up. Well...I added in some martial arts move just because. "

Michael helps me up. I say,

"Let me get some water. "

Frank yells from off stage,

"Finally you two stopped playing around! The breakfast has been here for an hour! "

I look at him and ask, "Breakfast? "

He nods. I hurry off stage towards him. He went to McDonald's. He gives me a breakfast sandwich and a hash brown. I devour the food. I haven't ate for hours!

Michael watches me surprised. He looks at his food then at me. He asks,

"Would you like mine? "

I nod eagerly. He hands me his sandwich and hash brown. He picks up his hot chocolate drink and starts sipping at it. He's still watching me. So is Frank.

I look at my food and try to slow down, but when hunger takes over me, I can't stop.

Great, now I made myself look even more crazy. I finish the food and gulp down my water. Frank chuckles and says,

"You act like you haven't eaten in days. "

I mumble, "More like 16 hours. "

Michael asks, "What!? "

I look at him while I wipe my hands with a napkin. I say,

"I said I like food. "

I wipe my mouth and say,

"Now that I have my energy back, I can dance for hours! "

Michael laughs. I hear footsteps on the stage. I look up and I feel time freeze. I see the most beautiful woman. She smiles at us and says,

"Sorry, I'm early. I just wanted to meet the new guy before the others got here. "

Michael says, "Well, here he is. Adam meet Tatiana Thumbtzen. "

I jump up on stage and walk towards her. I shake her hand very gently and say,

"It's nice to meet you. "

She smiles and says, "Nice to meet you too. "

She has on dance clothes and a bag. She begins to walk down the stairs to one of the seats to put her stuff down. I follow.

I smile and say, "So, what's your first impression? "

She smiles and says, "You seem cool. But can you dance? "

I smirk and say, "Better than anyone here. "

A loud voice says, "Oh really! "

I turn and see a guy heading towards us. He has one of those douche bag smiles on his face. He's going to give me problems. I already see it. He shakes my hand and says,

"Hello, stranger. Michael hire an assistant? "

I say, quite offended, "Actually, I'm a main dancer. "

The look on his face makes me feel all warm inside. He seems devastated. He walks over to Michael and starts whispering. I turn back to Tatiana and ask,

"Who's that guy? "

She takes my arm and pulls me back to a further seat. We sit down. She puts her feet up and slouches in the seat. I do the same. I like this girl.

She whispers,

"That's Chase. He thinks he deserves all the main parts, but Michael knows he can't handle it. He's good, he just doesn't have a lot of stamina for the whole two hours. Also, he likes me a lot. But he's very rude. "

As people start to enter, she tells me their name and who they are.

"That's Martha, she's really cool. She likes to joke around a lot. Oh and that's Shaun. He's one of the main dancers as well. He is really stuck up. And there's Jake, the other main dancer. He's actually pretty cool. Oh and look. "

She points at two twins. "Those are the Harley twins. They are both very good. They can really get you pumped up. And that.... That is Pepper. I guess she can dance. No one saw her at the auditions. I heard she did some nasty things with Michael's manager, Frank. I thought he was married but when you're on the road, I guess people have needs. "

Wow. I feel like I'm in a reality TV show. There's a douche, a normal guy, a whore, a funny girl, pump up twins, a over competitive guy, and a very cool girl. I look at her and say,

"You might be the most chill person here. If you don't mind, I'd like to hang with you while on this tour. "

She smiles and says, "Sure. You'll need a sane person, especially since we won't see Michael until the concerts. "

"Really? "

She nods and says, "He usually keeps to himself. But I think he really wants a friend. He can't be friends with any of these people. They'd just suck up to him and agree with everything he says so they can get bigger parts in the concerts. It's sad really. "

Wow...I didn't know people did that. I mean, he's just a normal guy. Tatiana continues,

"Also, they just want a bigger check. "

I look at her confused and ask,

"Check? What check? "

She looks at me confused and says,

"Everyone gets paid. Don't you know? "

I stand up, adrenaline begins to rush through my veins. I ask,

"Everyone is getting paid?! "

She nods. I cheer,

"Whooo hoooo! "

I jump over her legs and race down towards Michael. I didn't even realize everyone staring. Michael looks a bit scared as I race towards him.

When I reach him, I grab his legs and stand up. He's smiling and confused. I say,

"Thank you so freaking much! I didn't know I was getting paid! How cool is that! Thank you! "

I set him down, grab his face and give him a kiss on the cheek. I do the same to Frank. I've never been paid before. I've never had a job before! This is sooo cool! I've never been so happy!

Chase makes a sarcastic remark,

"You didn't know we were getting paid? What an idiot. "

I ignore his remark. Michael smiles and asks, "You really didn't know? "

I shake my head. Tatiana makes it to us and laughs. She says,

"Adam you are something else. "

I say to Michael, "I can't thank you enough for this. "

He giggles and says, "Adam, Adam, you don't have to thank me. It's all business. "

Tatiana nudges me gently and laughs. I smile at her. Michael says,

"Everyone gather 'round. "

All the dancers joined us. Michael says,

"This is our new dancer Adam. Now, I know we all wish Dave could be here, but the show must go on. Please show Adam the hospitality you showed Dave. "

Michael turns towards me and says,

"Adam, everyone has done this, so now it's your turn. Tell everyone about yourself. "

Oh gosh...this is like elementary school all over again. I smile at everyone and say,

"Um...well...my name is Adam. I'm 24. I like to dance...that's it I guess. "

Chase asks, "Adam what? What's your last name? "

"I..uh...well.."

He asks, "Can't even remember it? What's your last name? "

His words echo in my head as visions of my childhood come flooding back. The agonizing headache comes back. This time I hear a ringing noise.

I cover my ears and shut my eyes tight.

(Later I was told Michael was getting on to Chase, then realized I was having an episode.)

I walk backwards until I hit the chair, forcing me to sit down. I feel a hand on my shoulder. I say out loud, by mistake,

"I'm sorry... I'm sorry.... Please..."

3..2..1

The ringing stops and my headache goes away. I slowly open my eyes. The dancers are all surrounding me. Michael is in front of them, squatting down in front of me.

I slowly remove my hands from my ears. Michael has so much concern in his eyes. I've never seen that much concern for me. He asks,

"Adam...are you ok? "

I've never been more embarrassed. I whisper to him,

"Can we just do the rehearsal? "

He nods and whispers back, "Of course. "

He stands and turns around towards the others. He claps his hands and says,

"We're starting with the first song. We are going all the way through as if this is the real concert. Gonna have to slow it down to teach Adam. Let's go people. "

Everyone slowly makes their way on stage. They keep looking back at me. Tatiana sits next to me and says,

"I can show you were to start. I know Dave's part like the back of my hand. "

I smile at her. I was thanking her silently for not asking about what just happened. I nod and say,

"Yeah. Thanks. "