Author's Note: This story is completely fictional and did not happen. All names of characters are fictional and were made up. Please do not copy and plagiarize my work.
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Las Vegas, Nevada
November 17, 2001
Light shined through the darkness, flashing through a crowd of more than twenty-four thousand people. Countless voices in the audience cheered and screamed during the sold-out concert at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. All eyes were focused on Britney Spears as she stood at the center of the stage. This was her tenth show on the Dream Within A Dream tour and the first of back-to-back nights in Las Vegas. Stepping forward, the pop princess took off a red cap that covered her golden hair. She wore a top with long sleeves decorated in an array of colors: yellow, blue, and red. Her abs and stomach were visible, with her signature belly button piercing sparkling on display. Britney fanned herself with the hat while speaking into her earpiece microphone.
"Woo! Oh my goodness!"
Still fanning herself with the hat, Britney gazed around at her audience.
"It's a little hot in here, right?"
Dropping the hat to the floor, she rustled her fingers from both hands through her long, blonde hair.
"I'm gonna ask you a question."
She lowered her hands from her head. The crowd had begun to quiet down their voices for her to continue speaking.
"Have you ever heard a song that just kind of like... took over your body?"
Britney grabbed the folds of her top and began to peel it off, revealing her busty breasts in a green bra top with sparkling emerald pieces. Voices echoed in the distance with loud whistles. A male dancer stepped behind her to offer an aiding hand in removing the colorful skirt. Underneath, her muscular legs were revealed in green boots and a matching miniskirt with a gold belt. This specific outfit was what Britney had chosen for the lead single to her latest album.
"I don't know. You kinda felt like... a slave... to the music?"
Her lips curved into a full grin, flashing her pearly white teeth as the dancer moved behind her. Britney raised her right hand in perfect sync to the moves that were practiced to begin this song. The dancer tied a green sleeve around her arm as the intro beats to the music began to play. She strutted her hips across the B-stage aisle as the array of lights shifted into a hue of green. The crowd remained energetic to begin this performance of I'm A Slave 4 U. Living in the moment, Britney lost herself in dancing and singing. She was shedding her innocent bubblegum pop singer image from her previous two albums, ready to become a new woman. At least that was how she saw herself as she shook her hips and moved across the stage to the joy of thousands of people observing her from their seats. Many outfits had been changed and several effects used on stage before the tracklist emerged to this specific song. The encore would be her next song. A remix of the one song that began her career.
Tickets were selling out for every show on this tour. Britney Spears had become a force to be reckoned with as the hottest thing in pop music at the moment. Would it last? That was the question first asked when she exploded onto the music scene with a major hit. The question lingered three years later as her name remained on the billboard top hits. Britney was fast becoming the biggest pop singer since Madonna. Throughout these first few years of her career, she had already accomplished more than what was expected in the beginning. All she wanted to do was grow as an artist and shed the image that she first had upon entering the spotlight. Her most recent album had brought much change to her music as Britney was a month away from turning twenty-one. She was not a girl, but not yet a woman.
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New York City, New York
May 2002
From a tall window in an apartment, the streets of New York City sparkled with bright lights flickering and moving through the darkness of night. The midnight hours were closing in as Britney stepped away from the windows and sighed to herself. 2001 had proved to be a busy year for her career. From releasing an album; performing at the Super Bowl to filming a Hollywood movie along with music videos. So much had happened before she began her American tour late in the year. The tour wrapped up before Christmas Eve, giving her some time away from the stage. Britney had spent her free time in the company of her family and boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. After New Year's, she wasted no time going back to work, to some extent. Her manager kept a tight schedule with promotional events that included television performances and magazine interviews.
The second leg of the tour was set to begin in April with a special international performance. Another sold-out arena show, this time in Tokyo, Japan. It was the only show she performed outside of the American continent. Britney had visited Tokyo three years prior. She remembered that time, eager to explore the city a second go around. That was only an afterthought now that she was back in her New York penthouse and feeling the lonesome night drag on. Before that concert, she had broken up with her longtime boyfriend, Justin Timberlake. The two agreed to go their separate ways after spending so much time away from each other. To get her mind off the heartbreak, Britney focused on the choreography changes and new effects to her live show. She worked with a new dance instructor, eager to dance that night away for her first ever performance in Japan.
The next date to resume the tour was set within a month of that last performance. This gave Britney plenty of free time in New York before she had to fly to Vegas and begin the second leg of the tour. That date was now within a few days reach, with a flight scheduled for Thursday. At least she had a different venue to look forward to performing at instead of another show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena. On a night like this, she found herself unable to think about the tour. That night in Tokyo had not been her first performance of the year, but it left a better impression than the months prior. Britney considered anything to do with her career to be work. She rarely had time to herself where she could unwind and forget about her status as an up-and-coming pop icon. Nights like this reminded her that she truly missed Justin. Before their careers began to take off, Britney never questioned if he would be there for her on a lonely night.
When Britney purchased her luxury condo, she thought about the friends she might make in New York. She had lived in the city before her rise to stardom, often hoping for the day she would have some distance from her family. She had her wish with the apartment, though her family were still frequent visitors. With her own personal bodyguard, Britney felt she had some space and boundaries set to a level of privacy. The apartment she bought had a storied history. The keys had passed from other famous hands. Cher and Keith Richards were among the celebrity names who had once resided in the place Britney now called home. North of Houston Street, or NoHo as people called it, was notable in Manhattan as a residential part of the city for the rich and famous. Despite this, Britney had yet to brush shoulders with any Hollywood names or notable people she would have recognized.
Within a week of living in the apartment building, Britney met a young woman named Carol. Word had spread quickly throughout the suites that Britney Spears had bought the penthouse at the top. Carol was three years older than Britney. Their heights were a close match, as were their voices. Carol claimed to be from South Carolina, but had a strong, deep southern drawl to her voice that almost matched Britney's accent. The two girls bonded over the fact they had escaped the rural south and found success somewhere. Carol claimed to have found luck in getting accepted to a major university in New York City. She never said what college it was before explaining that she dropped out after a bitter breakup with her boyfriend. How she could afford a suite in such a luxury building puzzled Britney, but she did not press her for details. Carol shared enough stories with her about a horrible upbringing that made Britney feel she could relate to her.
Through the many stories they shared from hanging out together, Britney told Carol how aggravated she was at times that she could not get into a nightclub. Even after turning twenty, she still had a year to wait. For her birthday, Carol gifted Britney with a fake ID card that switched her birthday with Carol's and the name Abby Williams. The other woman joked that it would only work if she was not recognized by the bouncers outside. Carol had to remind Britney often that her face was seen by millions of people on television and on the covers of magazines week in and week out. Britney never sat down to think about her own rising stardom like that. It only made sense after hearing someone else mention it. To her, it was still work. An outsider did not consider all the preparations that came with performances and the work that was put into her carefully crafted pop music. Better still, she preferred that Carol remind her of her fame rather than listening to her family make similar comments.
