“Performing on a ship,” I heard Brian say as we were boarding. “This is going to be interesting.”

If you didn’t know already, my name is Nick Carter. I’m in a group called the Backstreet Boys. I guess we’re pretty popular. I mean I can’t even go out anymore without being noticed. Just between you and me, it’s really been getting to me lately. I mean I rarely get to see my family and friends. I can’t keep a girlfriend. I have no private life. I’m recognized wherever I go. And I barely have any time to myself. I was beginning to think this job is just too much.

Well anyway, for five days we were on this cruise. We had to perform every night. I guess it was a way for us to get more intimate with our fans. Okay so now that you know a little more about me and why we were on this ship, let’s get back to my story.

“So, where are our rooms?” A.J. asked anxious to relax for a few minutes. A steward led us to them. They were, luckily, secluded from all the other passengers.

Suddenly, we heard screams coming from down the hall. We turned around to see a bunch of screaming girls running toward us.

“Run!” I heard Andre, A.J.’s body guard yell as Austin pushed me forward. All of us dashed down the hall to where we would be safe.

“Shew,” the steward sighed. “Here we are.” He showed us into our separate rooms.

“This is too much,” I said to Howie.

“Yeah, that was really close,” he replied out of breath. We turned away and went into out rooms.

“I’m so sick of all this,” I said to myself as I went to the window to see the stars. “On tour it’s the same thing every night. I thought since we are on a ship it might be different, but it’s not. I want something different, much different. I wish we were back in time or something. Oh, I wish we were on any other ship than this one.”

I didn’t know it then, but I really should be careful what I wish for.

Then I heard a knock on my door. It took me a moment to hear it because I was so lost in my thoughts. Finally, I dragged myself over to answer it.

“It’s cleared up a lot out there,” Kevin told me, “and we’re all going to look around before we turn in. You gonna come?”

“Nah, I’m gonna go ahead and lie down,” I relpied.

“Okay, you do look about dead.”

“I feel it.” I closed the door as Kevin walked away. I changed clothes, lied down, and slowly drifted off to sleep.

I awoke to the sound of knocking on my door. It took me a minute for my eyes to adjust. When they finally did, I was very confused at what I saw.

“What the…It didn’t look like this last night...did it? Was I wasted or something?” I heard a knock again and this time went to answer it. “Yes?”

“Good morning, Mr. Carter. 7:30 just as you asked,” said the steward with a British accent.

“Uh…Thank you.” The steward walked away, before I had the chance to ask any questions. “That was weird,” I thought. Then I decided to go see if Brian new what was going on.

I went to Brian’s room, but met him and the rest of the guys in the hall on my way.

“Does anyone have a clue what’s going on?” Brian asked. “My room is completely different then when I fell asleep.”

“Mine too,” I replied.

“So it’s not just me. I thought I was drunk,” A.J. said.

Then a steward walked past and turned his nose up at our clothing. Kevin stopped him to ask about everything.

“Um… I know this is a weird question, but did our rooms get switched during the night while we were asleep or something?”

“No sir,” the steward replied looking at us strangely, “but if you’d like I can see what I can do about switching them.”

“No, that’s okay,” Kevin said slower than usual.

“Why don’t you gentlemen get dressed and go to breakfast,” the steward suggested.

“We’ll do that. Thank you," Kevin replied. “Well?” He looked at us. We all went back to our rooms to change.

I walked over to find my suitcase, but it was nowhere to be found. “Where are my clothes?” I asked myself. I opened the closet. “What the…?” All my clothes had disappeared, but the closet was filled with a bunch of fancy suits and clothing. “Where did all my clothes go?” I walked outside where again all the other guys were. “Are all your clothes gone too?” I asked as I came up to them.

“Yeah, there all a bunch of suits,” Howie relpied.

“What the freak is going on?” I exclaimed.

“Calm down. Why don’t we go change. The clothes in my closet look like they would fit,” Kevin suggested.

“Alright,” Brian sighed. We went back into our rooms and changed.

“This is freaky. They all fit us perfectly,” A.J. stated.

“Yeah, it is,” Brian said. “Let’s go look around.”

We walked down the hall and found an elevator. It was one of the really old ones with a guy working the lift. The doors were black metal and looked kind of like a fancy fence. They had to be opened and closed by hand.

“What in the…” I started. “This looks like…really…old.”

“Yeah, maybe we should take the stairs,” Howie suggested.

“Come on,” Kevin said and pushed us into the elevator.

“Where to?” the man asked after we all were on.

“Um…Wherever breakfast is,” Brian answered rubbing his stomach.

“Of course,” the man relpied.

The doors opened again. We got off and headed down the corridor. We didn’t know where we were going so we asked a man wearing older looking clothes where they were serving breakfast. As we began to walk, we noticed that everyone was wearing things that had came from the early 1900’s.

“What’s going on?” A.J. asked. “Are we in some sort of time warp?”

Finally, we made it to the café the man had told us to go to. It too looked very old-fashioned. We sat down and waited to order.

As we were eating we overheard some people talking. “Look over there!” We assumed they were talking about us and we looked over. However, they were pointing to another table. We heard the lady speak again. “It’s Captain Smith.”

“That’s not the name of the Captain on this ship,” Howie said. We all gave really confused looks.

Then two men passed us talking. “Yes the Titanic is the most beautiful ship I have ever seen,” one said. “We are truly priviledged to be on it’s maiden voyage,” said the other.

“Did you just hear that?” I asked the other guys.

“Yeah, that’s really weird,” Brian replied.

Just then the waiter came to our table. “Excuse me,” Kevin asked.

“Yes, sir,” the waiter replied.

“What is the name of this ship?”

“Why the Titanic, sir,” the waiter answered confused.

“And what year is this?”

“Why 1912.” The waiter now was just as confused as we were and quickly walked away.

“Did we go back in time or something?” Brian asked laughing. “What kind of joke is this?”

“I dunno but it’s really starting to scare me,” A.J. said.

“Wait,” I said. “Um…Do you think when you make a wish on a star it can really come true?”

“Well, I mean, I don’t see why not. Nick, what does that have to do with anything?” Kevin answered.

“Well…um…last night...”

“Yeah.”

“I wished that we were like back in time or something or on another ship.”

“You what?”

“I didn’t think it would actually come true!”

“Oh, great Nick so now we’re stuck back in time on the Titanic!” Kevin yelled sarcastically.

"I'm being serious!"

“Quick what day is it?” Brian asked.

“Why does it matter?” I said as someone told him it was Thursday the 11th.

“It matters because on the 14th this ship is going to sink, and I don’t want to go down with it,” Brian told us.

“So we have three days?” I asked.

“Good job, Nick.”

“Hey!"

At this point, I was happy to be gone from the other ship, and from my life as Nick Carter the Backstreet Boy. Here no one knew me. The only problem was if we didn’t get off soon we were gonna go down with the ship, or we were gonna take the places of five other people who were gonna survive. Us just being here could alter history majorly. Then I had an idea.

“Hey, I have an idea,” I told the guys.

"Oh no,” Kevin sighed.

“Oh, come on give me a chance.”

”Okay.”

“What if we try to stop the ship from sinking.”

“Nick, what are we going to say? We’re from the future and this ship is going to sink if you continue to go at this speed in this direction?” Brian said sarcasticly.

“Yes.”

“I’m so sure, Nick.”

“Well it’s worth a try. Thousands of people are going to die on here.”

“Well, we’ll see.”

Well, I thought I had a good idea. Anyway, we decided to leave breakfast and look around. As I got up I accidently bumped into this girl.

“Sor..”I said as I turned around. She was so beautiful even in the old-fashioned clothes. Her hair was long and brown and she had big sparkling blue eyes.

“It’s quite alright,” she said with a British accent that made me melt. I smiled and she smiled back. She walked away, but I was still standing there.

“Nick,” Brian said. “Nick…Earth to Nick.”

“Huh? What?” I finally asked. Brian just laughed and we caught up with the rest of the guys.

As we walked down the deck, all I could think about was that girl. What was her name? Will I ever see her again? All I knew was that I had to.

"Hey, we're getting near land." Brian interupted my daydreams.

"Let's go and try to get off," Kevin said. "Follow me." We all followed him to where passengers were going to be boarding. The only problem was no one was leaving.

"Excuse me," Howie asked the man standing at the door. "Is there anyway we can get off the ship here. We have an emergency and we need to get off now." I thought he was pretty convincng.

"I'm sorry sir, but no one is permitted to leave this way."

As passengers started arriving so did merchants. Kevin got an idea.

"Hey, I've talked to one that guy over there and if we each buy so much of his lace we can go back to Ireland with them." It sounded good to us. We didn't know how to get back to 1997, but at least we weren't going to go down with the ship.

The day went by and finally Kevin told us that the dude was ready to go. We followed him to a little boat and started to get in, but then I saw her. I couldn't help myself. I don't know what came over me, but I didn't hear the guys scream my name. I rushed over to where she was.

"He we're stopping near land," Brian interupted my daydreams.

“We’ve go to find a way off the ship,” Kevin said. “Follow me.” We followed him over to where passengers would be boarding.

“Excuse me,” Howie said to the guy standing at the gate. “Is there a way we can get off the ship here? We um have an emergency and need to get back on land quickly.”

“I’m sorry sir,” the man said. “No one is permitted to leave the ship here.” Well, I though Howie was pretty convincing.

“We have to find a way off,” Kevin held up a finger to say old on, and hw went over to talk to some people selling stuff.

About fifteen minutes later, he came back. “That guy said that if we each buy some of his lace, he’ll take us back to Ireland.”

“Well that sounds reasonable,” I thought. “At least we’ll get off the ship.”

“Hey, they’re ready. Let’s get on the boat,” Kevin said and started walking toward a gate.

We were all getting in when I saw her. I don’t know what came over me. I knew we had to get off as soon as possible, but I just took off. I didn’t even hear the guys screaming. Before I knew it I had bumped into her again. I said the first thing that popped into my head,” Hi.”

“Hello.” Her voice was almost too much for me to stand.

“We just keep bumping into each other don’t we?”

She smiled. “No. You keep bumping into me.” I laughed.

“I don’t think I ever caught your name,” I said. By this time the guys had came up behind us.

“Come on. We’ve got to go,” Brian said tugging on my shoulder.

“It’s Abigail, and you are?”

“Nick, I, Brian, hold on a sec!” I said getting angry.

“You’d better go. Your friends seem to need you.”

“That’s right,” Brian cut in. “Come on!”

“I’ll see you later,” I said as Brian dragged me off.

We walked to where the boat was supposed to be, but it had already sailed back to shore.

“Nick!” Kevin yelled. “What were you thinking?! We had to chase after you and they left!”

“I’m sorry! I don’t know what came over me,” I pleaded. “Besides, you ALLdidn’t have to come after me.”

“Well, it doesn’t matter. The boat’s gone and that’s that,” Howie tried to make peace.

“You all do know that was our last chance off the ship?” Brian asked.

Well, I didn’t know and apparently neither did the rest of the guys ‘cause I got yelled at even more. I felt really bad for what I did. I was also starting to get scared…for our lives.

We all changed clothes for dinner. Everything is so formal in 1912. We walked through the door to the main dinning hall and were greeted by a man opening the door. We walked along until we got to the Grand Stair Case. The room was really beautiful. There was a big clock over looking the stair, the ceiling was made of glass, and there were statues sitting on either end of the stairway. Below were men walking around in their best suits and women in elegant, fancy evening dresses. They were greeting one another in the most formal way. I didn’t understand how anyone could stay so proper all the time. I knew I was going to screw up once we had to talk to people. As we walked down the stairs, we nodded hello to the people that passed as they nodded hello to us. We didn’t know where to go so we stood around like other people were doing.

“Does anyone know where we’re supposed to sit?” A.J. asked. We looked at each other.

“Nope,” Brian said. “Hey, Nick isn’t that that girl?” he said tapping me on the shoulder and pointing.

“Don’t point!” I said eyes wide.

“She’s coming over here,” Brian said in one of those voices.

I don’t know why I was so nervous. I’ve talked to hundreds of girls. Okay, so most of them were fans, but still what is so different about her.

“Good evening, gentlemen,” she said with a smile.

“Good evening,” they all said in their own way, but I didn’t. She came up to me this time!

“Aren’t you going to introduce me?” she asked looking at me.

“O, um..sorry. This is Brian, Howie, Kevin, and A.J.,” I said as each one extended a hand when I said their name.

“Well, would one of you handsome gentlemen like to escort me to dinner?” They all looked at me. I looked around at what I was supposed to do. Then I extended my arm. As we walked, the guys behind us, she said hello to many people. I knew most of them were probably very well-known, but I didn’t recognize any of them.

We came up to a man that looked like he was in his forties or thirties, and a woman who looked about our age.

“Hello, Abby,” he said to her.

“J.J., Madeline, I’d like you to meet Mr. Nick, err…”

“Carter,” I finished for her.

“Nick, John Jacob and Madeline Astor.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said shaking hands.

They talked for awhile then we walked on.

“Hi, there , Abby,” said a rather large woman with a Texas accent.

“Hello, Molly,” she said stopping once more.

“And who do we have here?”

“This is Nick Carter. Nick, Molly Brown.” Of course the “Unsinkable” Molly Brown. I shook her hand.

“Nice to meet you,” I said.

“And who are all these fellas?” she asked as the guys gathered around us.

“This is...” Abby started but I could tell she wanted me to say it.

“Brian, Kevin, Howie, and A.J.,” I said.

“Would one of you care to escort a lady to dinner?”

She hooked arms with Brian. We walked into the main dinning area and took seats at Abby’s table. We were introduced to Abby’s mother and father, the McCoy’s, and her brother, Robert. I could tell Abby was much like her mother. Also we were introduced to the Countess of Ross, Bruce Ismay, the guy who’s idea Titanic was, and Thomas Andrews, who I found out was the ship’s architect. Also sitting with us were the Astor’s and Molly Brown.

They served a complete meal starting with appetizers and so forth. They even had caviar, which I didn’t try. There were so many different utensils. None of us knew what to use for what so we watched everyone else and copied them. I felt so out of place.

When everyone was done eating, we just sat and talked. It was actually pretty interesting to hear what they had to say about what was going on at the time. The band was playing and people began to dance.

“Ask her to dance,” Brian whispered to me.

“I thought about it, then I turned to Abby.

“Would you like to dance?”

She looked at me and smiled. “I suppose so.”

We went to the dance floor, but I realized I didn’t know what I was doing in 1912.

“Um…I don’t know how,” I said to her embarrassed.

“You asked me.”

“I know. I wasn’t thinking.”

“Well, follow me,” she said and put one of my hands on her waiste and took the other in her hand.

“You’re new at this aren’t you?” she asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You seem like what people call “New Money”. I noticed you didn’t know which silver ware to use.” She was smiling.

“Well, something like that. I am very new at this. All five of us are.”

“Really? Well how did you come into your fortune, Mr. Carter?”

“Um…Well we sing.”

“Sing?”

“Yeah, we perform. That’s how we make money.”

“Oh, so you’re a good singer?”

“Yeah, I guess so,” I said laughing.

“Well, you’ll have to sing for me sometime.”

“Uh..sure.”

“So, where are you from?”

“Florida, and you?”

“Massachusettes.” We danced until the song ended then took our seats one more. All the other men had left even the guys.

“Nick, Kevin asked me to tell you that they went back to their rooms and to meet them at eleven in the hall,” Mrs. McCoy told me.

“O, thank you,” I said. “I guess I better be heading back.”

“Me too. I’m getting tired,” Abby told her mother.

“Would you like me to walk you to your room?” I asked.

“That would be very kind of you.”

We walked away from the table.

“So, Nick. How old are you?”

“Seventeen,” I answered.

“So am I. Why are you on the Titanic?”

“Asking a lot of questions tonight, aren’t we?” I said.

“I’m sorry. Just trying to get to know you better."

“Oh.”

“Well, this is my room.”

“I had a lot of fun this evening.”

“So did I. Things like this are usually boring. Eating with same type of people every night. It gets so boring. You’re not like that, Nick.”

"I guess that's a good thing."She laughed.

“I better go inside. Thank you for walking with me.”

“No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“At breakfast.”

“Bye.”

“Good night.”

“Night,” I said as I watched her go inside. My mind was filled with so many different things, but mostly Abby. We had had a complete conversation. More than one. We danced together, and we were at least friends, but I was wanting something more.

”Something more!” I thought.” “This is 1912. I’m from 1997. She’s really like 84 years older than me! What am I doing? We need to get off the ship that’s the main thing, but I really like her.” I sighed.

I was so confused. I went into my room changed clothes again, then went out into the hall to meet the guys.

“Hey, what happened?” A.J. asked when I came over.

“Nothing. I just walked her to her room.”

“That’s it?”

“Yeah, Bone. Sorry, I don’t move as fast as you.”

“Well we better figure out how we’re going to get off this ship,” Kevin interrupted all our conversations.

“We could steal a life boat,” A.J. suggested kind of laughing.

“They’re already short enough as it is,” Kevin answered.

“Why don’t you try to talk to the Captain?” I asked.

“I guess we could try.” Kevin said. He began to walk down the hall and we followed.

“Brian,” I said putting my hand on his shoulder. “Can I talk to you?”

“Sure.” We stopped walking. “What is it?”

“Abby.”

“I figured.”

“Well, I… I dunno. It’s weird. I really like her. It’s different than how I’ve ever felt.”

“This is 1912, Nick…and I mean you are only seventeen.”

“I know. That’s why I’m so confused. I mean if we were back in 1997, she would be like 101. But we’re not and I know we are supposed to be concentrating on how to get off the ship, but I can’t.”

“You got it bad, Frack.”

“Yeah, I know, and it’s always for the wrong girl.” Brian put his hand on my shoulder and we caught up with the other guys.

By the time we found the guys, they had already talked to the Captain. All he did was assure them that everything was alright. Kevin tried to tell him, but he wouldn’t listen. There wasn’t much else we could do that night so we went to bed.

I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was Abby. I wished I had never made that wish, and I tried to wish it all away on a star, but when I opened my eyes we were still there. Finally, I fell asleep.

We went to breakfast, this time familiar with how things went. I didn’t see Abby like we’d planned. After breakfast we just walked around. I looked for her, but I still couldn’t find her. By lunch I was getting irritated. Where could she be?

At lunch we met with Mr. Andrews, and he gave us a tour of the ship. We followed him around as he explained what certain things were for and the guys seemed quite interested, but I wasn’t listening. I was looking for Abby. He took us into one of the rooms where you write letters. They had this neat RMS Titanic stationary. Then I saw her.

I casually walked over to her.

“Where have you been?” I asked tapping her on the shoulder.

“I’m sorry. I’ve been helping my brother,” she replied dully.

“Oh, well can I meet you for dinner?”

“I..I can’t. I have to go with my father. I don’t know where we will be sitting.

“Oh…”

“Come on Nick,” Kevin said as they headed toward the next room.

“Alright”, I said gloomily. “I guess I’ll see you later.” I tried to smile

“Okay,” and she went back to her letters.

What was wrong with her? She acted like she didn’t want to be around me. Did I do something wrong? I caught back up to the guys.

“Okay,” Brian said looking me in the eye seeing my despair. “What’s up Frack?”

“Something’s wrong with Abby.”

“What?”

“I don’t know. She acts like she doesn’t want to be around me. She sounded uncomfortable talking to me. She was fine last night.”

“Maybe something happened. Why don’t you try to talk to her?”

“I guess I will…Brian?”

“Yeah?”

“What’s going to happen to us?”

“To who?”

“Us. The five of us.”

“I don’t know Nick..Are you scared?”

“When I think about it.”

“Me too. Even if we do get off the ship, where are we gonna go?”

“Yeah, I mean, it’s going to be like we were never born. We won’t have homes or anything.”

“Yeah, and I miss everyone back home too...you know?”

“Yeah, I guess.”

“You don’t miss home?”

“No. I mean, Brian, you have a girlfriend. You…I dunno.”

“What’s going on Nick?”

“I’m just so sick of things back home. Everywhere we go there are screaming fans. I have no time for a life out of the spotlight. I like it here. I want to be with Abby. Here where no one knows me. I’ll survive. The only thing I’m scared of is not making it off the ship.”

“Nick, we need to go home. Things aren’t that bad there. I…,” I cut him off.

“Let’s not talk about this now. It’s time to get ready for dinner.”

“Nick…” I walked away.

Knock-knock.

I was almost dressed and there was a knock at my door. I answered it.

“Are you ready?” Brian asked. He looked concerned, but didn’t say anything.

“Just about.” I fixed my hair really fast with my hands, slipped on my jacket and motioned to Brian that I was ready.

We walked out the door and through the hall.

“Where are the other guys?” I asked.

“They went ahead.”

“Oh.” I knew Brian wanted to talk, but he wasn’t getting anything out of me.

We finally made it to the dining room after a long walk in silence. I was unconsciously looking for Abby. We found the other guys and made our way to our seats. Abby wasn’t there. Her mother was, however, and I asked where she was.

“She’s sitting with her father,” Mrs. McCoy answered uneasily.

“Oh..Do you know where that is?”

“I’m sorry. I haven’t the slightest.” She then started talking to Mrs. Brown just as normally as anything, but I could tell something was wrong in her eyes.

I ate dinner in silence and then asked to be excused. I wanted to spend some time on the deck alone.

I walked outside in the cold night air. There were millions of beautiful stars. The only sound were the waves below. Suddenly, I was startled by a hand on my shoulder.

“Hello,” Abby said softly as I turned around.

“Hi,” I smiled, but I was surprised to see her. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, I..I thought I should talk to you.”

“Well you’ve been hiding from me all day.”

“I…I’m sorry. It’s just…”

“It’s just what? Can you talk about it.”

“I…Do you know of anyone who’s been...divorced.”

“Yeah, of course I do. My dad was once. Then he met my mom.” I said wondering why she was talking about divorce.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, I don’t know anyone. It’s unheard of and embarrassing.”

Embarrassing...? What does this have to do with anything?”

“My parents. They are getting a divorce.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. That’s a terrible thing to have to go through.”

“My mother she…she. Look at me we barely know each other. I…”I put my hands on her face. “I..” Finally, I kissed her. I felt her gloves on the back of my neck. Then she quickly pulled away. “I can’t.”

“What’s wrong? I’m sorry. I guess I shouldn’t have done that. I just…I like you a lot.”

“I..I like you too, Nick. But..”

“What? You can tell me anything? I promise its between you and me.”

“My mother is leaving my father for someone else,” she started to cry. I didn’t know what to say. I pulled her closer and let her cry on my shoulder. “That’s even more unheard of then just plain divorce! I can’t believe my mother would do such a thing!”

“Why does anyone do the things they do?”

“True. I’m sorry, Nick. I should go. Thank you for letting me cry.”

“Of course, but do you have to go?”

“I..I don’t want to hurt you,” was all she said and she left. I couldn’t catch up with her, and she ignored me calling her name.

I was lying on my bed looking at the ceiling. Trying to block out thoughts, but I saw screaming fans and in the midst of it all...was Abby.

Knock…knock.

Again a knock at the door. I hesitated to answer, but forced myself to the door. Maybe it was Abby. I figured...It was Brian.

“Where did you go?” he asked coming inside.

“I went out on the deck.”

“Did Abby find you?”

“Yeah.”

“And?”

“And what?” He could tell I was not in a good mood.

“What happened?”

“I kissed her.”

“You did?” he said raising his eyebrows.

“Yeah, then she told me what’s going on. She started crying. Then she said she didn’t want to hurt me and ran away. I tried to go after her, but I couldn’t.

“Why would she hurt you?”

“I don’t know!” I said lifting my arms into the air.

“I wish there was some way I could help.”

“Yeah…Well, I’m getting tired.”

“I guess you’re trying to get rid of me,” he said laughing.

“Yes,” I said seriously then smiled.

“Night.” He left.

I really needed a good night’s sleep, but I knew I wasn’t going to get one. I lay there tossing and turning, but sleep would not come.

I didn’t go to breakfast. I went to look for Abby. It took hours, but I finally found her.

“What are you doing?” I scared her.

“Goodness, you startled me,” she said after she turned around.

“What are you doing?” I asked again.

“Thinking.”

“About?”

“Things.”

“Um…”

“Why are you following me?”

“I’m not. I wanted to talk to you.”

“About?”

“Things,” I said and smiled. She smiled too.

“Well, talk.”

“Abby, why would you hurt me? I don't understand. How can you know you’re going to hurt me?”

“I..I..I don’t exactly know, not for a fact, but…but I don’t want to take a chance.”

“I don’t believe you would hurt me. Why should you?”

“Well, my…my…my mother,” she said stuttering. I could tell it hurt her badly to talk about it. “She hurts the people she cares about. Not just now, though this has been the worst, but in the past. I’m too much like her..I.” She started to cry.

“Abby, just because your mother did that doesn’t mean you’re going to.”

“How would you know? Have you talked to your brother about this?”

“Yes. He thinks I’m crazy too. She just looked at me for a minute.”

“You’re not crazy. Have faith in yourself.”

“I should go. Forget about me, Nick. I don’t want to hurt you.” She got up and walked away. I didn’t say anything. I didn’t know what to do but I knew I had to do something. It was time for lunch. I was hungry, so I decided to catch up with the guys.

“Hey,” I said as I found them at lunch, which I knew they would be.

“Hey, where have you been?” A.J. said putting his arm on my shoulder.

“Looking for Abby,” Brian said.

“Did you find her?” Howie asked.

“Yeah, she still thinks she’s going to hurt me.”

“Why?” Kevin asked.

“Because of her mother.”

“Her mother?” Brian looked confused.

“Abby thinks she’s cursed to hurt the people she cares about.”

“Oh…Well she cares about you then,” A.J. smiled.

“Yeah," I smiled too,"but…I wish there was some way I could make her realize that she’s not her mother.

“Send her flowers,” Howie said nodding his head like it would solve everything.

“I dunno.”

We went in and ate lunch. I thought about what should do. After lunch I actually decided to send Abby flowers.

I had them delivered during dinner, so she would have them when she got back. I also sent a card that said: Abby, I know you’re afraid, but you aren’t your mother. Please meet me where you found me last night on the dock As soon as you get this. Love, Nick

That night at dinner, I was much happier than the night before, but still couldn’t wait for it to end. Once everyone was done eating, again we sat and talked for awhile. Then, I saw Abby leave. I waited a little while longer, impatiently. Then, I excused myself and walked to the dock.

It was a beautiful night once again. I watched the water. I stayed there for a really long time. I didn't think she was going to come. Then she appeared.

“Your flowers were very beautiful,” she said approaching me.

“Not as much as you.” She blushed.

“You’re right. I’m not my mother.”

“No. You don’t have to hurt anyone. When have you?”

“I dunno.”

“See?”

“Yes, but I warned you.”

“What?” Then she kissed me. I totally did not expect her to do that. It seemed to last forever, then, unfortunatly, she pulled away. She held my hand and walked toward the railing. I stood behind her with my hands on her waist. The wind blew through our hair. I’d never seen her look more beautiful than she did at that moment. We were finally, together, and it was as if no one else in the world existed.

I leaned down and kissed her neck. Then she leaned up and kissed me on the lips. Our lips were still together when we heard someone behind us. We turned and of course you know who was there? The guys. They always show up at the perfect moment.

“Oops,” A.J. said as they saw us.

“Hi, Abby,” Brian smiled.

“Hello.” She looked embarrassed.

“What do you want?” I asked them.

“We were just taking a walk,” Howie answered.

“Uh, huh,” I said not believing that they weren’t checking up on me. “Do you wanna take a walk,” I asked Abby.

“Okay.” She took my hand and we began to walk away. “Goodbye, boys,” Abby called.

“Bye!” they yelled.

“Isn’t this a beautiful ship?” Abby asked. We were still walking.

“Yeah, it is. It’s a shame that…” I trailed off realizing I shouldn’t say anything.

“A shame that what?” she asked alarmed.

“Nothing.”

“No, what?”

“Nothing, I just have a bad feeling," I said quickly.

“What do you mean by that? You think something bad is going to happen to the ship?” We had now stopped walking and she let go of my hand.

“I dunno. I just have a bad feeling. Everything will be fine.”

“Well, this ship is very safe. It is unsinkable.”

“I don’t think it’s unsinkable.”

“What? Why?”

“Well, I mean, anything is possible. The ship is man-made. If God wanted it to sink it would.”

“Well, I don’t have any doubts.”

“I know.” She looked me in the eye thoughtfully. Then she took my hand again and we continued walking.

We had stopped walking and were sitting on a bench.

Abby yawned. “Getting tired?” I asked.

“Yes, I am getting sleepy,” she said leaning her head on my shoulder.

“Do you want me to walk you to your room?”

“No, I have to share with my mother, and I don’t want to leave you yet,” she said smiling.

“Oh, well, come back to my room,” I said grinning. She gave me this look. I put my arm around her. “Come on. We don’t have to do anything. Just sleep.”

“I don’t know. We haven’t known each other very long. It’s not very appropriate.”

”Gosh, at home most of the girls aren’t like this,”I thought.

“Okay, well let’s just sit here for a while.”

“No.”

“What?”

“We’ll go to your room.” She took my hand and stood up. I smiled and stood up too.

“This is it,” I said as we came to my door. ”Thank goodness,” “The guys aren’t here.”

We walked inside. I flipped on the lights as she clung to me in the dark. We hung our coats and then stood in silence.

“So…” I said. We were both uncomfortable. Then she went and sat down on the bed.

“Let’s go to sleep,” she said.

“Okay….Is your mom going to be worried about you?”

“No. She is asleep. She’ll never miss me.” I sat down on the bed beside her. “Aren’t you going to change into your night clothes?”

“Well you don’t have any.”

“Go change. I don’t want you to be uncomfortable.” She pushed me so I would stand up. I got my clothes and went into the bathroom to change. These pajamas felt funny. They were silky and a maroonish color.

When I came back out she was folding back the covers on the bed. She had taken her dress off and it was lying nice and neat on a chair. Don’t worry she had on her slip still and I couldn’t see a thing! She slipped underneath the covers.

“Come along,” she said waving her hand. I too slipped underneath the covers. I put my arm around her and pulled her toward me. She put her arm across my chest and her head on my shoulder.

“Have you had many girlfriends, Mr. Carter?” I don’t know why she kept calling me that.

“Not many. A few.”

“Hm..” she said suspiciously.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

“What about you?”

“What about me?”

“Have you had a lot of boyfriends?”

“No, not many. Two. Of course I’ve had many suitors.” She laughed. I laughed too, even though I had no idea what a suitor was.

She shut her eyes, and her breathing became softer.

“I’m going to turn out the light,” I said starting to get up. She rolled over and put her hands under her head. It was a cold night so I rushed to the lights. I couldn’t see anything, but I could hear her moving in the dark. I found my way back to the bed and got back underneath the covers. She pulled my arm over her waist. She soon drifted off to sleep, but I lay there holding her and thinking.

”What are we going to do? Gosh!I don’t want to go home! Maybe if I don’t close my eyes this night will never end. No, that could never happen. I got one wish. I can’t have another.”

I don’t think I slept a wink that night. Holding Abby and listening to her breathe was enough. Finally it was morning and Abby began to wake up. She turned over toward me.

“Good morning,” I said kissing her.

“Morning,” she said pulling me so I was on top of her. She kissed me softly. I looked into her eyes. I’d never seen such beautiful eyes. They were so blue and they sparkled liked diamonds. They reminded me of the ocean at sunset. We kissed again this time more passionately. Then she pulled away and pushed me over. Too soon.

“We should get ready for church.” She got up and walked over to her dress. “I’m going to go to my room and dress,” she said as she tied her dress.

“Will your parents be upset?”

“My mother probably isn’t up yet, and my father won’t come to our room. Everything will be fine.”

“Well, if your sure.”

“I am…I’ll go change. You change too and meet me at the clock after you’re done.”

“All right,” I said while finally getting out of bed.

She walked towards the door, but I grabbed her hand and pulled her towards me. I kissed her.

“I really should be going,” she said pushing me away.

“Okay, sorry. I’ll see you in a little bit.”

“Bye.” She walked out the door. As it closed behind her, I fell back on the bed and sighed.

I hadn’t been to church in a long time, and I had never heard of it on a boat. I was dressed so I went to go meet Abby.

“Nick!” Brian yelled as I walked past his room.

“Hey.”

“Where are you going?”

“To meet Abby for church.”

“Oh. I’m going down to church too..Did I see her leave your room this morning?”

“Um…yeah,” I tried not to smile.

“Was she there all night?”

“Why?”

“Because.”

“Yeah, but nothing happened,” I said quickly.

“Nothing?” I pushed him playfully, and we started walking down the hall.

“She’s not here,” I said as Brian and I reached the clock.

“Just like a girl always late.” Just then someone put there hand on my shoulder and whispered in my ear, “Boo.”

I turned around quickly. Of course it was Abby. I gave her a quick kiss then she took my arm like we had done that night at dinner and went to where church was being held.

Church was very interesting. There were people there from a bunch of different religions, so I guess they couldn’t make it one certain way. The captain did most of the service.

After church we had brunch. Then Abby and I “took the air” on the boat deck so we could be alone.

We walked and talked for hours. We talked about everything, about the weather, where we were from, where we grew up, our families, and still more. Before we knew it dusk had fallen and brunch turned into dinner. I walked her to her room to change and made plans to meet once again at the clock.

As I parted from Abby, her mother came to talk to her. I sensed the tension.

Dinner was really fun that night. I mean it was pretty normal, but there was a different air about it. Abby and I danced for a long time. I never wanted it to end for I knew what came next. I was really starting to feel like I fitted in. I talked at the table, and we were all actually having interesting conversation. I couldn’t think about the fact that this was our last night on the ship.

When dinner was over, people started drifting back to their rooms and other places on the ship. Abby stayed with me.

“What shall we do now?” she asked me.

“Why don’t we explore the ship?”

“Alright, but let’s try not to get lost.”

“We won’t.”

I took her hand and we walked down the grand stair case. I noted the time, 9:30. There’s not much time left. I didn’t want to think about it because it made my stomach flop. What was going to happen to us—to Abby?

We took the elevator as far down as we could go. As we walked, we started seeing 3rd class passengers. You really couldn’t tell the difference between 2nd and 1st by first glance. Third class was a different story. We walked by their rooms. I felt bad. They had bunk beds and like six people in one room--where I had two rooms all to my self.

As we kept walking we heard music. It wasn’t as classical like 1st class. It was more ragtime and it had more energy. We looked in and a lot of the 3rd class passengers were dancing and drinking and they looked so happy. It was amazing the contrast in 1st and 3rd. In first class they had so much money and nice expensive things, but down in 3rd class they were happy and grateful just to be on the ship.

“Hey come join the fun,” a man who had obviously had a few, motioned for us to come in. We thought “what the heck?” and went inside. At once someone handed us drinks. I didn’t drink much though because I knew I needed my head and concentration for tonight. Abby drank pretty fast though. I was really surprised.

“Let’s dance,” Abby asked me with a look like “pleease” on her face. I said okay and she dragged me onto the dance floor. It was fun dancing in 1st class, but it was so formal. Here we moved all over the place and were hopping around. This was so different than the world I was used to. At home, guys barely moved. The girls just kind of danced on them. You know what I mean.

We danced for a long time until finally I asked someone the time. It was already eleven!

“It’s getting late. We should head back upstairs,” I told her.

“Okay,” she said disappointed. “Whatever you say, Mr. Carter.” She was a bit tipsy, but she could still walk straight.

“That was a lot of fun,” she said smiling. “It’s so much different from what I’m used to, and the people are so much nicer.”

“Yeah, they are. I really had fun too.”

“We should go back tomorrow night.”

“Yeah,” I said trying to sound like I meant it.

We made it back to first class and walked out onto the deck. It was cold out. I couldn’t imagine the feeling of the icy waters below.

We must have walked slowly because by the time we got there it was 11:30.

She put her arms around my waste and laid her head on my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her, and we just stood there like that and looked out at the ocean and the stars—so calm, so content.

Then I felt it…and heard it…then we saw it. We jumped far back as the ice burg floated past us, ice breaking off everywhere.

“What’s going on?” Abby looked at me frantically.

“I think we struck an ice burg. I’ll go find out. Stay right here.” Abby leaned against the wall slow to let go of my hand.

I went over to some people and pretended to talk. I didn’t really ask for I already knew more than they would probably be able to tell me. I returned to Abby.

“Yeah, we did.”

“Is everything okay. I mean this ship can’t sink.”

“Yes it can, Abby. Yes it can.”

Just then Brian came up to us. He greeted Abby then pulled me aside.

“I don’t think she thinks we’re in any danger.” “You need to get her onto a boat, Nick. They’re loading women and children.”

“I’ll try to get her on one now.”

“Okay, good. Meet us all at the stair case at 1:00.”

“Alright, I’ll be there.”

”Kay.” Then he walked away. I went back over to Abby.

“You need to get onto a life boat. They’re loading women and children now.”

“I don’t want to go without you. I don’t want to go down there either,” she said pointing to the cold below.

“Abby, this ship is going to sink,” I said with my hands on her shoulders looking at her very seriously.

“It can’t…”

“But it is…in about two hours.”

“How do you know all this?”

“Don’t ask questions, Abby, just trust me,” I said pleading.

“I won’t go without you. Let’s just stand here awhile longer and see if they’ll let us both go,” she said in an almost whisper.

“Okay,” I whispered back. We stood how we did before.

We watched people load into the boats. Now one seemed to care. They were angry about being awoken and put out into the cold.

About a half an hour passed.

“Nick?” Abby said my name.

“Yeah?”

“Can we walk around or something? It’s cold.” I could feel her shaking.

“Sure, but you know you really should get in one of those boats.”

“It will be even colder down there.”

“Yeah, but safer.”

“How do you know?”

“I knew something was gonna happen to the ship didn’t I?”

What are you a psychic or something?”

“Forget it.”

“Umm humm...Let’s go down to the third class again.”

“Okay.”

We walked to the gates. There were people standing at them and you couldn’t get through. Everyone wanted out, but the crew wouldn’t let them. It may be women and children first but what they really mean is rich women and children first.

“I don’t think we can get through here,” I told her.

“Me either. Why won’t they let them go?”

“I don’t know. I’m glad where I’m from there’s not this big of class distinction. I mean there is, but....not like this.”

“Really? In Florida??”

“Where I live.” I smiled.

We walked for a while longer finally we came to a window we had looked out and saw the stars before...but now...

“Oh my gosh,” I heard Abby whisper.

“Wow. This part didn’t used to be under water.”

“No it didn’t.”

“We need to get you onto a ship.”

“Not without you!”

“Come on.”

We walked back up on deck. There weren’t many lifeboats left, and I knew that it was now or never.

“Abby, you have to go now.”

“No.”

“Abby get onto the boat.”

“Not without you!”

“Please go.”

“No!” Tears were forming in her eyes. “I don’t want to leave you!”

“I’ll be fine. Please.” I tried to stay calm.

“No!”

Finally, I knew the only way was to tell her the truth.

“Abby, listen to me.”

“What?” I grabbed her shoulders and she looked into my eyes.

“I can’t go with you. Not just because they won’t let me, but because it wouldn’t be right.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is hard to explain and you probably won’t believe me, but I’m from the future.”

“What?” She gave me this look of disgust and disbelief.

“I’m from the year 1997, so are he rest of the guys. I made a wish that I didn’t think would come true to be in a different place at a different time. See most of the things I said was true. I do sing with a group. We’re called the Backstreet Boys. We have a bunch of fans. We go around the world perfoming in front of people. We were giving a concert on a ship and that’s when I wished to be here.”

“That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard!”

“It’s true, Abby!”

“I can’t believe I trusted you! All you had to say was that didn’t want to see me again. You didn’t have to try to tell me some ludicris lie to spare my feelings!”

“I didn’t Abby. I swear!”

“Leave me alone, Nick.” She turned away crying helplessly. Then thank goodness came her mother. She put her arm around her I could hear her say she had been looking for her everywhere, and I could hear her ask what was wrong and get an answer looking at me with disgust. I guess Abby was finally going to forgive her mother. It was one of the hardest things I ever had to do, but I knew I had to do it.

“Shoot,” I thought. “I’m late meeting the guys.”

I ran to meet them. When I got there they were all waiting.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?”

“How did you finally get Abby onto a boat? When I left she was clinging tight,” Brian said laughing.

“I had to tell her the truth. She thought I was lying of course and her mother found her and they got into a boat together.”

“Are you okay?” A.J. asked.

“Yeah, I know I had to do it.”

“Well, come on. We’ve got to fight this on our own now,” Kevin said.

“We should go to the very back of the ship because that’s what goes down last. We need to stay aboard as long as possible,” Brian said using his knowledge he got goodness knows where.

“Alright lets go,” Howie said moving foreward and trying to take charge.

“That’s the wrong way,” Brian said smiling.

“Oh.” We all cracked up.

Finally we made it to the spot where we were supposed to be. We waited for the moment when it would happen. It was terrible being in such suspense. The guys talked and tried to forget about it until the time came, but I just stood there thinking about Abby. As we stood the ground kept getting steeper and steeper. Finally we had to hold onto the railing to keep our balance. Then it happened.

The ship started going straight up. We climbed over the rails to be on top of them instead of hanging off. I wish I could describe this in more detail but it all happened so fast. My heart was pounding so fast. I could barely breathe. I didn’t even notice but Brian and I were holding onto each other. We got closer and closer to the water below. I saw people falling, sliding down the deck into the icey water. Then the ship split, and we came back down straight.

Then it began all over again, except this time this part of the boat was going too. We watched as we bobbed up into the air then quickly into the water. We were starting to hold our breaths. We were inches from the icey water below. Then boom. The next thing I knew I was waking up in my room on the ship in 1997.

“Whoah,” I thought.

I ran into the hallway. All the other guys were there too, just like in 1912.

“What just happened?” I asked.

“I just had the weirdest dream,” A.J. said.

“Was it a dream?” Brian asked.

“Did you dream it too?” Howie asked. I felt like we were in Everybody.

“I don’t think it was a dream you guys.” I said.

“Surly there is some explaination,” Kevin said.

“Like what?” I asked, but then someone came over and told us to get ready for a photo shoot. Yep same old 1997.

So anyway, it’s been months now since that happened. Guess what a movie called Titanic is out now! I can’t wait to go see it. I’ll never forget Abby. I really hope I can find someone else like her. I’m sure there’s someone meant for me somewhere. I guess that adventure was to learn a lesson. I did. I’m not gonna take my life for granted anymore. I’m happy just doing what I do. I still think about her though. I wonder all the time if she made it okay. If she’s alive now. I guess I’ll never know. C-ya.

“Hey Nick,” Austin yells from Nick’s hotel room door.

“Yeah?”

“There’s someone here to see you.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know. It’s an old lady. She’s really insistent in coming in her name is um well she just said Abby.”

“Abby?....Abby?!”

Nick ran to the door. His eyes grew wide at what he saw.

“Abby?”

“You weren’t lying.” She said shaking putting her hand to Nick’s face. She was much older now and wrinkled, but she still had those same eyes.

“No.”

“Well, I just wanted to see you now, where you belong. How are you?”

“I’m good. I can’t stopping thinking about you, I mean...”

She laughed. “Well, I’ve thought a lot about that too, but look at us now. You’re still seventeen and I’m an old, old lady.” Nick smiled.

“Nick, you’ve got five minutes,” Austin yelled at him.

“Okay...I.”

“I know. I just wanted to see you again after all these years. I’ll go now.” She turned to leave. “Oh, wait..I have something for you.”

“What?”

“This.” She handed him a picture they had had taken of them on the grand stair case.

“Thank you,” he said smiling.

“Your welcome. Goodbye Nick.”

“Goodbye, Abby.”

“Who was that?” Brian said as she got on the elevator.

“Abby,” Nick said simply.

“Abby?”

Nick showed him the picture she gave him. That was a night that none of them would EVER forget.