Alicia had been standing in the same spot for almost 4 hours, listening to Nick talk to…well, someone else named Nick was all she knew for sure. She had been intrigued from the get-go, but she wasn’t sure why she felt the need to eavesdrop. The whole conversation was extremely hushed, but what she did hear didn’t make any sense; talk about some girl named Leigh, and how Al herself was this Nick-person’s girlfriend. The part she really had trouble understanding was how Nick would keep asking this other person questions about himself that Al knew he knew the answers to. Hell, any 14-year-old with a subscription to BB probably knew them. Alicia was confused, but Nick had never lied to her, so she was going to ask him straight out what was going on. She took a deep breath, and pushed the door open. Nick was sitting on the bed, reading off of the hotel pad.
“Hey Nickstar, who were you talking to for so long?” she asked, trying to be blunt and then again, not too assertive.
Justin was startled; he hadn’t heard Al come in, and he certainly didn’t realize that she knew he had been on the phone. He quickly shoved the pad under the covers. “Uh, nobody…just, um, a friend.”
Alicia looked at him doubtfully. “Nick, I know all of your friends, and I heard most of your conversation from outside the door. So, cut the crap and tell me what’s up…you haven’t been yourself all day.”
Justin couldn’t take it anymore. He knew what an honest relationship Nick and Alicia shared, and he didn’t want to lie to her, either. He put his head in his hands and began to sob, lightly at first, but gradually they grew in intensity.
Al instantly felt horrible. She hadn’t meant to make her best friend cry; she was just so curious as to what was going on. She gently wrapped her arms around Nick’s trembling form, and rubbed her hands up and down his back lightly. “What’s the matter sweetie? You know you can tell me, I will always be here for you Nick.”
Justin listened to her kind words, and he was immediately comforted by her touch. Slowly, he picked his head out of his hands, and looked deep into Alicia’s chartreuse eyes. “I’m not Nick.”
Al was startled. “What do you mean, you’re not Nick?” She was confused, but her gaze never wavered from his. There was something…different in his eyes, something she never saw before.
“I’m not Nickolas Gene Carter. I’m not your best friend, I’m not a Backstreet Boy, none of it.”
“How can you say…” He cut her off.
“My name is Justin. Justin Randall Timberlake. I’m 18 years old and I’m from Memphis, Tennesee," he exclaimed, using his radio-show retoric. Somehow, Nick and I wished ourselves into each other’s bodies. And I just want to go back to normal. Please help me Alicia.” He replaced his head in his palms and resumed his sobs.
She had no clue what to say to him. At first, she thought Nick was pulling one of his famous pranks; over the years she had come to anticipate them. But, there was something in the way he said what he said, urgency, which made Alicia believe every word. Ever so slowly, Al reached out with her hands and raised his face to hers again. She wiped his tears away with her thumbs, caressing the face that was imprinted on her mind and heart. But this wasn’t Nick. “It’s gonna be OK. Everything will be all right…Justin.”
“You…you believe me?”
Al nodded. “Yeah Justin, I do. But, well…could you tell me exactly what happened here?”
Justin felt as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. Even after a few hours, the knowledge he held had become unbearable. And, as great as hearing Al say his name before had been, having her address him with it was that feeling, quadrupled. “I’ll try,” he said, and then began to piece together parts of the story, from the delivery of the letter and medallion to the strange dream and finally, when he woke up to find her jumping on his bed. He told her all about how fed up he had been with certain things in his life and how he thought that Nick had it all together. Throughout his little speech, Alicia remained silent, urging him on with her eyes whenever he glanced up at her.
“Man, I must have scared the living crap out of you,” she said finally. “I mean, to wake up with some strange girl standing on top of you and bouncing up and down. Or wait, you are probably used to that, huh?”
Justin laughed, which he knew was the effect that Al desired. In the short amount of time that he had spent with her, and from everything Nick told him about her, Justin knew that she was an extremely kindhearted person who hated to see anyone suffering. “Thanks Alicia, I needed that.”
“I know. Listen, you can’t tell the guys about this, it would be too hard for them to get.”
“I wasn’t planning on it.”
“Good,” she smiled. “This’ll be our little secret, OK?”
Justin liked that idea. “Our secret.”
“Uh, hey Leigh. What’s up?” Nick’s voice was quivering.
“You tell me Justin. You were just on the phone with Nick Carter for 4 hours, and apparently you have something to say to me, so shoot.” Leigh sat down on the bed and looked up at her boyfriend. She had been waiting for him for what seemed like a week, but he just kept talking and talking on the phone. She didn’t know that Justin and Nick were such close friends, and from the looks of neither did the other guys in his group. This was supposed to be their time together, but Leigh figured that it had to be something important, so she let it slide, and she decided to take a walk around the town by herself. She considered just leaving, but knew that Justin would worry (if he ever had the phone surgically removed), so instead she went to tell him that she was going to get some air. As soon as she entered the room, however, she heard her name, and Leigh was determined to find out what her boyfriend and the other Prince of Pop were talking about her for.
“Well…this…well, it’s kinda hard to believe, but…”
“Spit it out, geez! What is up with you today Justin?” Leigh was certain he was hiding something from her, she just couldn’t put her finger on what.
Nick sighed. He could not think of anything to say that would prepare Leigh for what he was going to say. “Leigh, I’m not Justin.”
Leigh’s eyes widened. “What do you mean, you’re not Justin. If you aren’t Justin, who the hell are you?”
Nick swallowed, hard. Then he stuck out his hand, “My name is Nick Carter.”
“You have got to be kidding me.” She paused and began to laugh. “Not one of your funnier jokes, Justin, I really thought that…” She was cut off by the look in Justin’s eye. He wasn’t playing. “Wait, what…how…when…?”
Nick told her the story, everything that he and Justin knew for sure. There were still so many missing pieces to the puzzle, but now Leigh knew as much as anybody.
“So…when we had…you were you?” Leigh asked, hoping he knew what she was getting at. It was extremely difficult for her to bring up the subject of sex with a guy who wasn’t Justin. And even though he looked like Justin, it made Leigh’s skin crawl to think that she had slept with Nick.
Nick looked at her sheepishly and nodded. “I didn’t know what to do, Leigh, I was so confused. I’m still confused. I’m so sorry, please…” He tried to hold her hand in his, but she angrily pulled it out of Nick’s grasp.
“Don’t. Don’t touch me, not right now.” Leigh looked into Justin’s eyes, but now she knew that there was a different man inside the face she had known all her life. And that man had used her. “We will talk later, Nick.” She spat out his name. “Right now, just stay away from me. I can’t stand the sight of you.”
Nick looked at the floor as tears streamed from his eyes. He expected Leigh to be his ally in this, but instead she was becoming an adversary. She was all he had, though. He felt the weight of the bed shift as she got up and ran to the door that connected his room to JC and Lance’s. “I’m sorry, please believe me,” he whispered. “Don’t tell the others about this, please Leigh.” Nick lifted his head and met her eyes.
His eyes were pleading with her, begging her to keep his secret. He looked so lost and alone that Leigh had the urge to wrap him in her arms and tell him everything would be all right. But, she couldn’t forgive and forget. Not yet. Instead, she just nodded. “OK Nick. I will keep it quiet.” With that she opened the door and left, and he collapsed onto the bed in tears.
