The Art of Deception
The Art of Deception
co-written by ktrinity
Part One
It had been a long day at work. Maria stomped into her parent’s penthouse. Her footsteps echoed throughout all of the rooms. No one was home except herself. Her parents had gone on a vacation to Cancun and would be away for at least two months.
Maria threw her jacket onto the bed and kicked off her boots. Her clothes still had the smell of frying food in them. She was a waitress at a seafood restaurant. She had a bag of different things to eat. Sifting through it, she picked out a little container of beer-battered shrimp. While snacking on them, Maria clicked on the stereo.
The next thing she went to was her computer. It was already on. Maria nudged the mouse which paused the screen saver, then went to a working mode. Maria went straight to connect to the internet and check her messages. Ever since her father had upgraded the computer, it was so much faster.
“Ok, time to check my mail…” She said to herself melodiously. She went to her inbox, scrolling down the list of names followed by the subject of the email.
“Tara… Johnny… PJ… Jaime… YES! Nick!” Maria clicked on the message sent by Nick. She had met him a few weeks before. So far she knew he was a tall blonde, well built, blue eyes, and had a nice job. Maria knew that there was a possibility that he could be lying about all of that, but she wasn’t interested in his looks. She was falling in love with his personality. The email was long. Maria loved it when he wrote her long emails. She felt so loved when he did it.
“Dear Maria,
I miss you a lot. I wish you didn’t have to work so much during the summer. Well, I do too. But you know my job is a little different than yours. That is why I’m emailing you.
We haven’t known each other for very long. But already I feel as though I have known you forever. I love little chats with you late at night. I love the way we always sit and make jokes. So, I suppose that I am trying to say that I love you.
So, about my job. We haven’t really done a lot of speaking on that subject. It’s about time you knew who I was. I’m just happy that you have learned to like me for who I am.
Maria, one of the first things we spoke about was music. You told me how much you hated boybands. I guess that’s a good thing, in a way. I’m on one of them. You know, the Backstreet Boys. You probably have your mouth opened wide now. Yes baby, I’m Nick Carter.
I hope it doesn’t change our relationship. I still really love you. Please say that you feel the same.
Love,
Nick
Maria closed her eyes and tilted her head up. She couldn’t believe what she had just found out. She watched TRL all of the time. She knew exactly who Nick was, even though she hated BSB.
She had already fallen in love with his character, it was a nice thought to know that he was also attractive.
Maria went through her other messages. She still had Nick’s letter on her mind. She couldn’t focus on anything else. Maria continued to consume the food she had packed away from the restaurant and look through her emails. As she did this, Nick sent her an instant message.
It startled her. He always did that and it caught her off guard every single time.
Nick C: Hey baby-cakes!
MariaB: Hi! How are you?
NickC: I’m good. I suppose you got my email.
MariaB: Yes, I received it.
NickC: Well?
MariaB: Nick, you know how I feel about you. And you being a celebrity won’t change that. Ever!
NickC: You will never know how much that means to me.
MariaB:I love you…
NickC: I love you too, I really do.
The conversation went on for hours. They two talked and laughed until they were tired of typing. They were saying their good-bye’s soon after that.
When they had both logged off of the internet, Maria wen straight to the phone. She called her best friend Tara to tell her all that had happened. It was almost 1 in the morning, Nick and Maria had talked just that long.
“Hello?” Tara’s voice was weak and dry. Maria knew that she had awaken her.
“I am so sorry Tara, but I had to tell you something.” Maria’s was panting.
“What is so important that you had to call me this late when you know I have to get up earlier than you?” Tara questioned. Maria could hear her switch the light on where she was.
“You know how I have been chatting a lot with this guy, right?”
“Yeah, so?”
“Well, tonight he confessed who he really was!” Maria paused, Tara said nothing. “He’s Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys, Tara!” Maria wanted at least some excitement from her friend, but got none.
“Yeah, ok. And I thought you hated pop music. What, did you make a complete 180 overnight?” Tara was still agitated at the fact that she was taken from her dreams for this.
“No, I still don’t like all that pop music stuff. But come on, have you seen Nick Carter???”
“Yeah---- your point being?” Maria was beginning to get agitated with Tara’s nonchalant attitude.
“My point being that he is very nice-looking! He’s has a really sexy body. And come on, that can’t hurt, right?” Maria balled the bag up that once was filled with food. She tossed it across the room and it landed directly into the waste basket.
“Well, I agree. He is nice looking. But how do you know it’s really Nick Carter? He could easily be some obsessed fan who knows everything about Nick Carter, lying to poor hopeless romantics like yourself. Ever think of that?” Tara threw a bit of reality to Maria’s fantasy.
“I suppose I have thought about it. You’re right, he could be just putting me on. But, it’s worth a try.” Maria got quiet. She didn’t know what else to say.
“You know, Ronnie could probably check it out for you. He has a few friends in the music business down in Florida where all those silly boybands ‘grow from trees’. I’m sure someone down there knows Nick. Wanna try that out?” Tara tried to bring some joy to the moment. Maria was so happy when the conversation started. Now she was silent and withdrawn.
“I guess that’d be fine.” Sighing, Maria began to twist her fingers around in her hair which was a sign that she was tired.
“I’m really sorry, but I have to get some sleep. I can hardly keep my eyes open.” Tara whined.
“Yeah. You should get some sleep. I should too.” Maria still had her fingers steadily twisting in her hair.
“Aight, good night Rie.”
“Night.” Maria hung up the phone slowly. She turned the stereo off and turned on the television. The Jefferson’s were just coming on. Maria decided to watch it a little while even though she was tired.
Maria changed her clothes. Wearing a large t-shirt, Maria hopped into bed pulling the dark comforter up to her shoulders. She kept glancing at her computer that sat in the corner of the room. She couldn’t help but miss Nick.
“I don’t care if he is or isn’t Nick Carter. I will love him regardless.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maria was at Tara’s house in the kitchen when Ronnie came in. Ronnie was Tara’s older brother. He had been out all night, it was usual. He was a party animal, always going out clubbing and rubbing elbows with the celebrities.
Ronnie took a direct route to the refrigerator. He grabbed a beer, popped the cap, and began to drink. Maria and Tara just sat and watched him. They were impatiently waiting for him to give them the information.
“Come on you asshole! I asked you about this 2 weeks ago! What do you know? Spill it!” Tara shouted causing Ronnie to choke a little on his beer.
“You mean that Nick shit you have been bugging me about???” Ronnie’s face had anger written all over it.
“Yes! What did you find out?” Maria spoke up. Ronnie wasn’t thrilled at the fact that Maria was falling for some guy on the internet. He had harbored feelings for Maria for so long. She never could detect it. Now he was helping her to hook up with a famous teen idol. It pissed him off, but he wanted her to be happy.
“I know a guy who works backstage at their concerts. Setting the shit up, you know? I talked to him about it. I gave him the email address and screen names and shit like that. He said he would try his best to get them to Nick. But I ain’t guaranteeing nothin’ so don’t blame me if he doesn’t contact you.” Maria jumped off her the kitchen stool and hugged Ronnie tightly. Tara just rolled her eyes.
Ronnie couldn’t help but enjoy the feeling of Maria’s body pressed against his. He wanted to kiss her right then. But he couldn’t, she would hate him if he did.
“Wait, you gave the guy Maria’s email and number and stuff, right?” Tara asked, making sure Ronnie had done everything he was asked to do.
“Yes, I gave him Rie’s digits, email, screen names, address… everything.” Ronnie snapped at Tara, then his attention turned back to Maria who was still attached to his waist. Being flirtatious, Ronnie wrapped his arms around her tickling her a bit on her sides.
Tara knew that Ronnie had a thing for Maria. She gave her brother a look from the side of her eye. He knew what she was referring to. His legged stretched around Maria’s to kick Tara’s chair. Then he secretly prayed that Tara wouldn’t rat him out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick was riding on the bus fooling around with his gameboy. He was in the process of switching the game when Kevin came and sat down next to him.
“How’s it going?” Kevin asked, making small talk. Nick looked up from his game.
“Cool, just hanging around. You?” Nick replied lazily. It was still early yet and Nick was just waking up. He hated being on the bus. The constant vibration of being in motion annoyed him.
“Oh yeah, I was told to give this to you.” Kevin reached into his pocket pulling out a white piece of paper with writing all over it.
“What is it?” Nick put the gameboy down the seat and took the paper.
“You know Shane? Works in set up. He said a guy gave it to him. Something about a poser on the net. Some dude claims he’s you. Evidentially, his friend has a female friend who met a Nick Carter on the internet and wants to know if she’d being lied to.” Kevin paused, snickering at Nick’s confused expression.
“I haven’t been chatting online for months! This ought to be fun. What’s this, his email?” Kevin shrugged, then nodded.
“Hot damn, a poser. I could play a few mind games myself.” Nick looked at all of the stuff on the paper. Then he noticed the name ‘Maria’ and looked up at Kevin. Kevin stared down at the name, then return Nick’s glance.
“What about the girl?” Kevin asked. She was the victim in the whole mess.
“I’ll talk to her later when I finish with this bastard.” Nick saved his game and turned the small machine off. He snatched the paper up from the seat and shoved it into his back pocket, making his way back to his bunk through the narrow walk way. “Thanks Kev.” Kev nodded, then opened a book and began to read.
Once Nick was settled in his hotel room, he pulled out his laptop. Brian wasn’t in the room, he was out having dinner with Lee. Nick didn’t bother to turn the television on. All he wanted was to have fun with the poser.
When Nick logged on, he disguised himself as a girl. He made up some feminine screen name and an alias email account to go along with it.
“Sherri, that’s a good enough name.” He joked with himself. Then the fun began. Nick pulled out the paper and added all of the poser’s screen names. It wasn’t long before one showed up as being online. Nick clicked the name twice which opened a chat window. A huge smile formed on his face.
He began to type out a message to the stranger who was now added to his buddy list.
Sherri: Hi, a/s/l?
NickC: 20/m/fl… you?
Sherri: 18/f/ca
NickC: Nice, what do you look like?
Nick started to think about what his dream girl would look like, then he resumed his typing.
Sherri: I’m 5’5”, 100 lbs, long brown hair, hazel eyes, nice tan. How about you?
NickC: I’m 6’1” and 170 lbs. I have dirty blonde hair and blue eyes. Very built. And you sound hot by the way!
Sherri: Thanks, you do too.
Nick rolled his eyes at how lame the poser was. He could tell where this would be going.
NickC: So, do you have a boyfriend?
Sherri: Unfortunately, no.
NickC: It’s cool, I’m single too.
Sherri: Tell me more about yourself.
NickC: What do you wanna know, I’m open to all questions.
Nick thought about his last comment. If the poser knew anything about the real Nick Carter, he’d know that Nick doesn’t like to be questioned.
Sherri: Ummm… what do you do for a living?
NickC: I’m in entertainment
Sherri: Really? What kind of entertainment?
NickC: Singing, I’m in a group.
Sherri: You don’t mean to tell me… Nick Carter?
NickC: lol, I think you just hit the nail on the head.
Sherri: OH MY GOD!!!!
NickC: You must be a fan
Sherri: HELL YES I’M A FAN!
Nick doubled over in laughter. He almost began to cry at how fun it was to mess with this guy’s mind.
NickC: I’m glad you enjoy our music.
Sherri: I’m glad I got to meet you. I’m even happier to know that you’re single.
NickC: Yeah, I have been for some time now. I’m still looking for someone to share my time with.
Sherri: I know what you mean.
Nick was now turning red from laughing so hard.
NickC: I have to go now. But I would like to talk to you again.
Sherri: I look forward to it.
Nick fed the poser his fake email address then logged off. As he was closing his laptop, Brian walked in. Brian could see that Nick had been in a laughing fit.
“What’s so funny?” Brian noticed the TV wasn’t on and neither was the radio.
“I was just on the net…” Nick took a break to laugh more. “And I was talking to someone claiming to be me!” Nick began to laugh again, this time burying his head in his lap. “He was trying so hard to be convincing! And he’s been lying to little girls and shit. It’s too funny!”
Brian sat on the bed, putting a few papers down beside him. He had a strange look in his face.
“Are you going to set him straight or what?” Brian asked lifting his leg up to take off his tennis shoes.
“I guess so. I guess I was having a little too much fun to think about how I will go about doing it.” Nick got up with the note still in his hand. He went to lay down on the bed. He noticed the girl’s name again.
“Maria. That’s pretty. I bet she’s pretty too. And he’s leading her on. He’s such an asshole.” Nick turned to Brian who was still listening. “I should email her or contact her somehow. This could very well break her heart.” Brian’s expression changed. Nick was already sweet on a girl he had never even seen or met in his life.
Nick waited until Brian was in the shower. He pulled his laptop back out. He started to write her an email, but he didn’t know what to say. All he had typed was a greeting.
Nick gave up and closed the laptop, turning over to go to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Maria sat on her bed thinking about whether Nick was real or not. If Ronnie had gotten the letter to Nick like he said he would, Nick would have mentioned it. He would have been a little angry that she was checking up on him. But he never mentioned receiving a letter about her.
“Maybe he isn’t really who he says he is. Not that is matters, but he’s lying to me. He’s lying to impress me!” Maria wanted to cry. She had gotten herself mixed up in an online relationship.
The phone rang. It was Ronnie. He had done that often. He would call in the middle of the night just to talk. It was something neither had ever told Tara.
“Hey Maria.” He could hear her sniffing and sighing.
“Hey Ronnie, what’s on your mind?”
“Better yet, what’s on your mind. You sound upset, what’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing Ronnie, really.” She assured him. Ronnie wasn’t very satisfied with her answer.
“I’m coming over there. You don’t sound too good.”
“No, I’m fine. Really.” Maria sniffed again, trying to conceal her true feelings. “You don’t have to worry about me.”
“Give me ten minutes. I will be right over.” Maria wanted to protest but she knew Ronnie would only ignore it. He had a mind of his own.
Ronnie was right, he was over in ten minutes. When Maria opened the door, he went straight to hug her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick woke up to the sound of someone yelling out in the hallway at a child. He glanced over at Brian and noticed that he had already gotten up and left for breakfast with Lee. As Nick laid in bed debating on whether to get up or not, his eyes fell onto the laptop computer sitting on the table. A smile spread across his face as he flipped the covers off him and got out of bed.
Logging onto the internet, Nick disregarded going to his own email accounts and went directly to the one he set up to foil the poser. He was happy to see that there was a letter waiting for him in the inbox. Nick clicked on the message to read the email.
Hi Sherri!
You sounded really sweet yesterday when you caught me online. You must be pretty smart, I usually don't get caught like that!
I'm glad to know that you're a fan and I really loved chatting with you. I've been pretty busy, we are in Raleigh for a show tomorrow and Brian has been keeping me on my toes. I get so gosh darn tired from practice that I can barely play my N64 when I rest. Chatting with you really took the edge off it.
Looking forward to meeting you online again.
Love always,
Nick
Nick read the email twice. The first out of curiosity and the second out of sheer anger. He could see that this individual was keeping track of where the shows were so he was able to fool some poor girl like Maria. He turned on the instant messenger to see if the poser was online.
Immediately, one of the poser's screen names flashed up online. Nick waited to see if this person would try and IM "Sherri" again.
Nick was beginning to give up when the IM box flashed on the screen.
Scubadiver69: Hey Sherri!
Sherri: Hi! Who is this?
Scubadiver69: It's me, Nick!
Sherri: omg....I thought you would just forget about me! omg!!
Scubadiver69: lol....how could I forget someone as sweet as you?
Sherri: lol, you make me blush! How are you?
Nick was having fun messing with this poser making him think he had some hormonal teen on the other end, believing every word of it. He became confused when the conversation too a twist.
Scubadiver69: So...where are you from again?
Sherri: I told you Cali, but I'm visiting relatives out east right now.
Scubadiver69: Really? Where at?
Sherri: I'm where you are right now, in Raleigh, can you believe it?
Scubadiver69: omg, you're kidding me, right?
Sherri: No, it's true!
Scubadiver69: Are you going to the show tonight?
Sherri: No, I couldn't get tickets for either show and I really wanted to go.
Scubadiver69: I'm so sorry. Hey, how about I get you some tickets for tomorrow night's show and toss in a couple of backstage passes so I can meet you?
Nick's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe what he had just read. This person was making promises that couldn't be kept or should have been made. There was no way in the world that Nick himself could score tickets to his own show, let alone come up with backstage passes.
Sherri: OMG!! COULD YOU? I'M SHAKING!!
Scubadiver69: Yeah, no prob
Sherri: OMG, how do I get them?
Scubadiver69: You would have to meet my bodyguard, he will give you the passes and the tickets. How about the park on Magnolia street?
"That's amazing," Nick thought outloud. "Not only can Nick Carter score tickets and passes to the show, he knows the street names and parks of the city he's in too."
Sherri: Sounds good to me. Tomorrow at 10?
Scubadiver69: Yeah
Sherri: How will I know him?
The poser typed in a description of the body guard and said his name was Paul. Nick shook his head. He was going to be anxious for tomorrow morning, he was planning on showing up at that park and meeting this person face to face.
Nick closed out the Sherri screen name from messenger. He turned around and logged back on with his own personal screen name and put the poser's names in and the girl that the poser was messing around with.
Within a few minutes time while he was sorting through his own emails, Nick heard the characteristic sound of a door opening and the name MariaB online. He knew that this poser was talking to that poor girl. Nick decided to take a gamble and IM Maria.
onlinenow: Hi! a/s/l
MariaB: 19/f/md....you?
onlinenow: 20/m/fl
MariaB: cool! where in Florida?
onlinenow: Tampa. Hey, I was wondering something, maybe you can help me out?
MariaB: Sure, I'll try
onlinenow: Great. I heard that you are online friends with a backstreet boy, is that true?
MariaB: Maybe, why are you asking me?
Nick tried to think of a good explanation to tell this girl. He decided to just spill it.
onlinenow: Cause I'm a BSB
Maria rolled her eyes when she read the reply. Her first instinct was to block this pathetic loser, but she decided to stretch the conversation out.
MariaB: Yeah, sure you are
onlinenow: I know it sounds impossible to believe, but you have to believe me.
MariaB: Why should I care?
onlinenow: Because you know that guy you are chatting with right now, scubadiver69?
Maria was suprised that this person knew who she was in a conversation with.
MariaB: Yeah, what about him?
onlinenow: He's not Nick Carter
MariaB: Oh really? Why would you say that?
onlinenow: Because I'm Nick Carter
MariaB: and you expect me to believe that?
onlinenow: I'm hoping you'll believe. Listen, I spent about 30 minutes talking to this "Nick" and he promised me backstage passes and tickets. I'm suppose to meet his bodyguard tomorrow morning to get them. He said his bodyguard's name is Paul, everyone knows it's Jaye
Maria was growing confused. She wasn't sure of what to believe anymore. She thought about asking the Nick that she knew if all of this were true, but decided against it because she didn't want to upset Nick and start a fight.
MariaB: I'm blocking you now, please don't bother me ever again
Before Nick could reply, Maria's name vanished from his buddies online list. Before Nick could switch screen names again, Brian entered the hotel room.
"Hey Nick, what's up?"
Nick ran a hand through his hair. He sat, staring at the laptop screen trying to think of what to do next.
"This poor girl is so involved with this poser, it scares me Brian," Nick sighed.
"Nick, you know there are tons of posers out there, eventually she or he will slip up and that girl will realize that she had been led on," Brian theorized.
Nick nodded. "Yeah, but that will be after her heart is broken or something happens," Nick added.
"You better log off and get dressed, we have sound check in 30," Brian stated.
Nick nodded and reluctantly closed his laptop. He decided that when he got back he would write an email to this Maria and explain the situation to her further.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Nick went through the motions of the show that night, the thoughts of the poser in the back of his mind. He looked out at the crowd wondering if that person was there.
When morning came and the alarm went off, Nick jumped out of bed and quickly took his shower and got dressed. Thankfully, Brian had left earlier, so Nick didn't have to explain what he was doing to anyone. As he slipped his wallet into his back pocket, his eyes fell onto the laptop sitting on the table. Nick decided to email Maria a quick letter telling her of his intentions on this poser.
Dear Maria,
Before you delete this email, please read through it. I know this is hard for you to believe, shit, I know if it were me, I would think the same thoughts as you.
I got your email addy and your screen name from Kevin who got it from Shane in set up. I don't know for sure where Shane got it from, but I was supposed to check this out as a favor to him. How else do you think I got your screen names and the posers?
I talked to the poser yesterday and he promised me backstage passes and concert tickets to tonight's show, which I found hard to believe. I can't even get something like that and I'm onstage doing this stuff.
Anyway, I am meeting the so called body guard at the park this morning to get the goods. I will email you again when I return. I wish you could understand what I'm doing here, I don't want to hurt you, but I don't want to see you get hurt. Please understand my intentions, they are for the best.
Sincerely,
Nick Carter
Nick clicked send and then closed the computer and headed out the door.
Part Two
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