Katie, Danielle, and Brittny sat side-by-side in make-up chairs the next morning. Regis and Kathy Lee were introducing the show, and they were on in five minutes.
They hadn't seen the guys all morning.
"Excuse me, Ms. Fountaine." a stage-hand in a headset said.
"Yes?"
"Mr. McLean asked me to give this to you." the stagehand handed her an envelope.
"Thank you." she took the envelope and opened it.
D-
I know this doesn't have anything to do with anything, but you were talking about this poem last night, so, here it is. Like you said, the hidden meaning is that I want you to be one of my best friends. Maybe even more.
Good Luck today.
Love
Alex
PS: I never really liked this poem that much, but now that i've read it after what you said, the ending really has significance.
PPS: Maybe I should start calling you Pooh.
"What does it say?" Katie asked.
"It's just a poem that we were talking about last night."
"Excuse me, ladies. You're on in two minutes." a woman in sweats said.
"Thanx." Brittny energetically jumped out of her chair.
The girls stood over in the wings.
"Here's Unique!"
"You're on."
They ran out on stage, and performed "Near."
The audience applauded wildly when they were done, as they walked over to sit with Regis and Kathy Lee like they had been instructed to.
"Hello girls!" Regis said.
"Hi!" said Kathy Lee.
"Hi," They answered, sitting down.
"So, you're Unique. Why don't you intorduce yourselves."
Katie looked out at the audience and waved. They screamed. "Hi, I'm Katie, and I'm almost twenty-years-old."
"I'm Brittny," there was more screaming. "And I'm nineteen."
Danielle rested her hands on her knees and smiled like they taught her in media training, which now came naturally to her. "And I'm Danielle, and also nineteen." more screaming.
"Wow!" Regis cried. "They love you out there."
"We love them." Brittny said.
"Tell me, what does Unique mean?" Kathy Lee asked.
"Well, really, what it is, is we come out here trying to be ourselves. We don't want to be like anyone else, and we aren't trying to copy anyone. We are just projecting out individuality. Who we are." Danielle answered.
"And that makes us Unique." Katie interjected.
"That's important. To be yourselves." Kathy Lee said.
They all nodded.
"I was listening to you're album last night, and I felt it appropriate to ask what kinda of music do you sing?" Regis asked.
Brittny laughed. "I don't think you can classify our music as any one type. We have a little pop, a little soul, a little r&b, a little rap. . . "
"You know, my little Cody loves you girls." Kathy Lee gushed.
"That's sweet." Katie said.
"Yeah, it's really precious." Kathy Lee grinned.
Regis rolled his eyes. "You know, the Backstreet Boys are here today."
"Yeah, we heard." Brittny said.
Kathy Lee smiled knowingly. "I heard you girls had some chemistry with the boys."
"Really? Where did you hear that?" Danielle asked.
Regis pulled the Sun Times off a table next to him. He turned the page to a headline that read: BACKSTREET BOYS AND UNIQUE GIRLS GET FRIENDLY. A picture of Nick and Katie dancing, Brittny and Brian holding hands and ice skating, and Danielle and AJ with their arms wrapped around eachother covered the page. He held it up to the camera.
"As much as we'd love to talk aout these budding romances," Kathy Lee said. "We have to go to a commercial break. When we come back the Backstreet Boys perform their new hit single "Larger Than Life". Why don't you girls stick around, and we can chat with all of you?"
"Alright." Brittny answered.
"We'll be back."
The lights over-head dimmed, and two people rushed on stage to pamper Regis and Kathy Lee.
"Oh my god!" Danielle hissed. "How are we supposed to explain that?"
"I don't know." Katie whispered.
"Look guys, I know we decided to keep everything on the DL, but maybe we should just tell the truth." Brittny said softly.
Danielle sighed.
"Can I get you anything?" A stage hand asked.
"Yes, how long before the break ends?" Danielle asked.
"Two minutes."
"Would be alright if I ran back stage for a moment?"
"Go right ahead."
"Thank you." she turned to Brittny and Katie. "I'll be right back.
Danielle ran backstage. The guys were waiting in the wings, each looking pretty worried.
"Were ya'll watching that?" she asked the, not bothering to say hello.
"Yes," AJ answered.
"How are we gonna play it off?" Nick asked.
"We could just tell the truth." Brian suggested.
"That's what Britt said."
"50 seconds!" someone shouted.
"What are we gonna do?!"
"Don't worry, I'll handle it."
"Ok." she turned and ran back on-stage, and sat on her stool. Five more had been set out.
"What happened?" Katie asked.
"AJ's gonna handle it. Just play along."
"Alright."
The lights flashed back on.
"And in 3. . . 2. . . !"
"Hi, we're back. And now singing "Larger Than Life", the Backstreet Boys!" Kathy Lee announced.
Loud bass music played, and the guys ran out on stage. They performed their song, then joined the girls for their interview.
"That was great!" Regis cried.
"Thank you." Howie said, taking his seat.
"What's this I hear about you dating these lovely young ladies?" Kathy Lee asked.
"Well, Kathy Lee, I have to admit we all had an attraction to eachother at first. So, we all went out last night." AJ said.
"Really? And. . . "
"We all decided that with everything that's happening in our careers right now we were better off being friends."
"All of you?"
"Yeah," Brian quipped.
"Really?" Regis asked. "What about Kevin and Howie? This article in the Sun Times says you two went out with two of Uniques band members."
"Yes, we did." Kevin said.
"We are all just better off as friends." said Howie.
The rest of the interview went on without another word about them dating.