"C'mon, Lara. It's seven o'clock already!" Nikki exclaimed
"Oh, right, like she can really hear you!" Pat replied.
"Did I ask for your input?"
"Does that ever stop me?"
They stuck their tongues out at each other and laughed. Suddenly the evening DJ, Lara, came on the air.
"Okay, everyone. I'm sure you've been waiting by the radio for at least 10 minutes now, waiting for your chance to win New Year's Day with the Backstreet Boys."
"Longer than that," Trisha muttered under her breath.
"So grab a phone and get ready, cause I'll take caller 95...right...NOW!"
The girls grabbed their cell phones, Trisha picked up the phone for her apartment and they started dialing. Trisha got through once on her apartment phone and was caller 54. Then she got through on her cell phone and was caller 68. Then Nikki got through. But all it did was ring and ring and ring for a long time, so she was about to hang up.
Just as she placed her finger on the 'off' button, someone picked up the phone and said "Hello, Z95.7"
"Um, hi, what caller am I?"
"Brace yourself, girl," Lara said, "cause you are caller 95! You just won!"
"Oh my God! OH MY GOD!!!!!!!" Trisha and Nikki yelled together.
"You and a friend are gonna go meet the Backstreet Boys in person and spend an ENTIRE DAY with them! Isn't that great?"
"Thank you SO much, Lara! You are my new best friend!" Nicole shrieked
"Does that mean you'll take me with you?" Lara laughed.
Nicole turned to her best friend, who was sprawled on the couch hyperventilating. "Sorry Lara, I already know who I'm taking. And if I don't take her she'll kill me before I get to go!"
The second she was off the phone, they started screaming again. They were were so happy they were crying.
~~~~The Day~~~~
"Do you think they'll like us?" Trish asked for the seventeenth time, nervously straightening the silver barrette in her short curly blond hair. She was wearing white denim capris and a blue twinset with matching blue platform sandals.
"How should I know?" Nikki replied, also for the seventeenth time, playing with the zipper on her short black suede jacket. Like always, she had dressed in black, with black leather pants, a black sleeveless shirt with silver swirls and sparkles and low-heeled black suede boots. Her long wavy blond hair was streaked red and left loose. Both girls wore turquoise colored contacts. "Hey, how does this look?" she asked, turning from the window to face her friend.
Trisha saw her and screamed. "OH MY GOD!"
Nikki collapsed into a nearby chair, laughing her head off. Using the window as a mirror, she had wiped off her lip gloss and applied heavy, matte black lipstick, making herself look totally gothic.
"I think it looks great!" a sarcastic male voice said from the entrance.
Trish whirled around and Nicole leaped to her feet. There, in the doorway, stood the Backstreet Boys.
AJ sauntered over to her, a smirk on his face. "I just love it when girls do goth. It's so attractive."
The guys were all cracking up and Trish was trying not to without much success. Nikki was looking around for some idea of what to do, all the while wishing she could disappear into the floor. But at the moment, the only thing to do seemed to be to get him back.
"Yeah, it is attractive, isn't it?" she said, smiling sweetly. Suddenly her smile turned evil. "About as attractive as guys-who will remain nameless for the time being-who go around with their hair done like a porcupine on a bad fur day!"
That made them all crack up worse.
"Ooh, feisty!" AJ replied, grinning.
"Yep, that's me!" Nikki said brightly. "By the way, my friend, the giggly blond, is Patricia Long. And that comment about your hair was pretty rude. I'm sorry." she continued, extending her hand. Inwardly she winced. She hated apologizing with a passion.
He ignored her outstretched hand and hugged her instead. "No prob. I was rude too. But you do have to admit, it was funny."
She laughed. "Yeah, it was."
"Hi," Trisha breathed, staring into Brian's eyes in a state of shock.
"Hi," he replied, giving her a quick hug.
She immediately started flirting with him. But for some reason, he wasn't interested. Oh, sure, he smiled and replied occasionally, but he was looking around and pretty much ignoring her.
Abruptly he turned away. "Hey guys, what are we gonna do today?"
Trish stared at the back of his head, shocked and hurt, tears welling up in her eyes. Everybody who's met him says he's really nice to his fans! What happened? What did I do? She thought despairingly.
She looked around the room. The guys were all talking happily, and Nikki and AJ seemed to be hitting it off great, despite their initial spat. So why can't Brian and I get along like that? Trisha tried not to think about it, but she did anyway.
"Hey, I need to talk to you," Pat hissed in Nicole's ear, pulling her away from where the guys were discussing plans for the day.
"What?" Nikki whined, reluctantly leaving AJ's side and stepping away from the group.
"I'm having some problems with Brian," she replied, and quickly described the situation. But as she finished, it was clear that Nicole wasn't even remotely aware of anything but AJ. "So, what do I do?" she repeated.
"What?" Nicole murmured dreamily. "Oh, well, he's AJ's friend so he can't be that bad…" her voice trailed off as she stared at AJ.
Trish felt like screaming. "C'mon, Nikki, out of AJ-land, back to Earth," she said in a quiet voice.
"Why?" Nicole asked.
"Because I'm trying to get some help here, that's why!" Patricia exclaimed, exasperated.
Nicole jumped. "Alright already! Jesus, woman, you don't have to shout! I'm right here, remember?"
"Not a second ago, you weren't," Trish muttered, then re-explained her problem.
Nicole looked thoughtful as Trisha concluded with "So, what do I do?"
"Well, like I said before, he's AJ's friend, so he can't be all that bad." She paused for a moment, and, seeing the look on Trish's face, quickly continued. "But maybe if you stop trying to be his instant girlfriend, he'll stop ignoring you. Ever heard of a little thing called 'just being friends'? Try it."
Pat stared at her friend for a moment, in total disbelief, then said, "Fuck you, you goddamn bitch!"
Abruptly, she turned on her heel and stalked back to the group. Nikki sighed and followed, looking for AJ.