Our 16-year-old correspondent has a few things to say to Britney and Justin.  Let's hope they're listening:

So there I was.  Awakened at 6 in the morning by the radio.  As usual, Britney was in the gossip segment... "Are Britney and Justin broken up?  Well, it looks as though Justin broke up with Britney over the phone, according to a British tabloid. All teenyboppers better get out their tissues now."

And I’m thinking, those stupid tabloids are always making this crap up.  Over the phone?  Come on!  Who breaks up with someone like that?  

Yet, as the days went by, it was everywhere.  CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS, MTV, FOX, all terribly concerned that the First Couple of Pop are no longer a couple – or, at the very least, that some dynamic of their relationship has changed.

The split, or whatever it is, still doesn’t seem real to me.  Have you seen pictures of Britney and Justin together?  They are two of the happiest people, period.  And they’ve got a lot to be thankful for, including their love for each other.

On Britney's “MTV Diary,” she and Justin might as well have been fused together.  Even their families are close.

Here’s what Britney and Justin had to say to each other in a recent Teen People Magazine:

Britney:  “[Justin] is such a sweetheart.  He is everything, and what more could you want in a person?  He's funny.  He's cute.  He's great.  He just understands.  I get him and he gets me, and that's cool."  

Justin even tops that.

Justin:  "If you really love somebody, nothing can get in the way. 'Look, I love you, you love me, that's it.'  Problems are going to come and go.... she and I complement each other.  She breathes fresh air into me; she's like a reality check.  She's absolutely wonderful, an absolutely beautiful person, inside and out.  When [negative] things are said about her, I take offense to them even more than she does."

How can Justin say all those things about problems coming and going, and how much he loves her, and then just break up?  It doesn’t make sense.  

Another thing that doesn't make sense:  Neither appears terribly upset about this supposed breakup, which, if you’re planning to marry someone, should be devastating.

Britney was recently seen living it up at the beach, sunbathing topless on a yacht with her girlfriends.

Justin was spotted at a strip club in Vegas; he and his friends spending lots of cash for lap dances.

Nobody’s moping around at home.

Here’s something else.  What Justin and Britney say about each other in the liner notes of their recent albums sounds very much like what they say in interviews:

Britney: "J - You're the one I love - the one I live for - the one I can't live without!"

Justin:  " Pinky [Britney's nickname] - I love you more and more each day and if all this stopped tomorrow, I would be OK knowing that you would be by my side no matter what.  I can't breathe without you.  Don't ever forget that"

Breathing again.

If she can't live without him and he can't breathe without her, if they’ve actually broken up, wouldn’t they both be dead by now?

I'm only 16, so I don't know much about love.  Maybe they can say all the things they said and take them back.

I don’t think so.  It seems to me their love is meant to last.  

By the way, neither of them, directly or through spokespersons, actually said, "We have broken up."  Britney made some ambiguous statements, such as, "I'm not in an intense relationship with anyone right now."

She also said, “I’m single right now.”

I’m not sure what it means, but it doesn’t quite sound definite.

Britney promoted her movie “Crossroads” in Europe, without breaking down over her "breakup,” or breaking it down for the rest of us.  She’s not talking.

Wanna know what I think?  I think, as Britney’s mom has suggested, that she and Justin hit a rough spot.  That’s all.  If this is a trial breakup, it’s going to fail.  Britney and Justin will definitely be back together.  I’m sure of it.

I’ll bet that in a few months the headlines will read, "Britney and Justin Together Again" – if not, then all the things they said about each other were just, well, something I can’t say in print.

There’s another reason I want Britney and Justin to stay together, and I think most of their fans would agree with me.

By Dana Bennett, Brachman.