"Steph!! Wake up!" Howie yelled over my answering machine. That boy was
always doing that. My best friend for the longest time, he made sure he gave
me a wake up call whenever he could, so that I would be up to do something
>with him and the boys.
I grabbed the phone and just about yelled, "HELLOOOOO!!! I'M UP!" My voice
echoed through my Sweet D Condominium. Howie had let me design the whole
thing (I even had a pool shaped like a foot!), so I had the ideal house all
to myself. Well, ok, so I had a chihuahua that the boys had bought me on a
trip, to keep me company. Muchacho was a crazy little black dog, but I loved
him to death. Mine and Brian's dogs (he also had a chihuahua) were best
friends.
I reached over and turned off the answering machine and sat up, yawning.
"Must you do this EVERY morning?" I whined.
"For my little dancer? Of course!" Howie joked. "One of these days, I'll have
all of us yell in the phone, just to bug you."
"Oh shut up! I got the point, so I'm gunna hang up and get dressed. If you
want to, come over in about twenty minutes and make me breakfast," I told D.
"Deal. See ya in a few!" We hung up and I sleepily crawled over to my shower.
I am a professional hip-hop dancer and one of the longtime best friends of
Howard Dorough, a Backstreet Boy. For the past few years, I had been looking
for a local job as a dancer. Howie suggested to the boys that I try out as
>one of their fly girls for concerts. He always wanted me to tour with them
because he knew I absolutely loved their music and had supported them from
day one. Though I was only 18 and I had just moved down to Tampa, he begged
>me to try out. After quickly convincing Kevin Richardson, Brian Littrell,
Nick Carter, and AJ McLean to give me a private audition, I was inducted into
the Backstreet stage show.
Right from the start, I became closer to the boys. I had known them before,
but not long after, we became tight, like siblings. I was their little
sister. I substituted for Nick's siblings, which meant that he hammered me
>with sibling evilness constantly. Yet, at the same time, there was always a
sense of sibling love that lingered everywhere we were together. J (well,
everyone else calls him AJ) got himself a girlfriend not long ago, and I just
found out that Brian and Nick had located the loves of their lives, so I
enjoyed teasing them about having imaginary girls, until I actually met the
girls.
While I was doing my hair, after quickly dressing myself in my favorite green
leotard, GAP pj bottoms, and a tank-top (my favorite dance outfit), I heard
Muchacho's loud yipping. It was soon followed by a "Hey Chachi!" I knew The D
had just walked in. I finished scrunching my hair and walked out to the
kitchen.
"Mucho never learns, does he?" I joked. Howie was standing in the kitchen,
holding my dog and petting him.
"Hey! These dogs are probably the best guard dogs ever! They can be pretty
vicious!" D told me. Then he added, "especially this little guy." I laughed
as I grabbed the bag of dog food and poured some of it into Mucho's food
bowl. Then I refilled his water. Then D set the Muche down and washed his
hands, before getting started on our fruity breakfast.
"Sooo...what's on the menu today?" I wondered.
"Hmmm...what do you have in here?" Howie started, sticking his head in my
fridge, which was completely covered by pictures that his nieces and nephews
and Nick's siblings drew me, and pictures of me and the boys. "How 'bout
strawberries, apples, banaenaes, freshly made orange juice, and bagels with
cream cheese?"
"Mmm yum yum!" I cried, imitating AJ. I reached over to my huge sound system
and flicked on Paula Abdul, one of my favorites, as well as J's. Then, I
started dancing around, singing. Howie laughed when he caught a glimpse of
>me. I opened the back door's curtain to look out at the beautiful sunshine
and my palm-treed backyard with a big pool. A mini paradise for me that often
held parties with the boys. The most recent one was Brian's birthday, and I
kept reminding the guys that Saint Patrick's Day (my b-day) was coming up.
Within minutes, my breakfast was ready. I put my favorite plates (white
ones with fish on the border) on the glass table and helped Howie put the
food on the table. We chowed down. As always, breakfast was delicious. When
we were done, I had to go blow dry my hair. Then, we left.
Howie drove me over to the gym, where we did our daily hour work-out. Then,
we quickly headed over to Nick's house, where the boys and I were going to go
over some combinations we had recently learned from Fatima (that I had helped
choreograph! My first taste at being a choreographer!). Yet, when we got to
Nicky's place, there was a only a Durango and a Jeep. I was puzzled. We got
up to the door and knocked.
"Hey Gilli! Hey D!" Nick greeted. (Because I loved fisherman hats, they gave
me the nickname of Gilligan. This meant that either D, J, or I would always
end up quoting one of them from their Backstreet Boy All Access tape--which
those dumb boys had given me for Christmas...what a present!) He let us in
and led us to the living room, where B-Rok and the girls they were dating
sat. Bri got up and said hi. I gave him a quick hug and said hi to the girls.
"Guys, you remember Amy, my girlfriend. And Amanda. Girls, you remember
Stephanie. She's one of our really good friends and one of the dancers we
hired. And you know Howie," Nick introduced everyone. I went over and shook
the girls' hands. They were sweet. I was taller than them, so I felt kind of
weird, but I had already really liked them from the start.
"So I guess this means no Mario Kart today, Nicky?" I joked.
"Man! YOU are going to improve on that thing! You are so bad!" Nick suddenly
outbursted.
"Where's Kev and J?" I asked.
"Kevin's working today and AJ is probably shopping with Emily. We told them
they didn't need to come over today. We just wanted you to get to know the
girls and hang out for a while," Brian explained to me.
"Oh I feel so nice! Meeting again with my boys' girlfriends in my sweaty
dance clothes. Nicky, can I borrow a shirt and some sweats?" I asked. Nick
excused himself and went into his room to get me an old Nike shirt and his
Nike rip-off pants, then I changed in the spare bedroom while they all sat
around in the living room.
When I got out of the bathroom, the boys and Amy and Amanda were all sitting
in the living room and Brian and Amanda were telling everyone how they met,
hand in hand. I thought it was the sweetest thing to see the two of them. She
was such a cutie and looked like he could fit her in his pocket. I sat on the
arm of the big fat chair Howie was sitting in and listened to their story. It
was so precious. I wished I could find a guy like she had. It was so hard
though, because I was constantly around five of them and other guys always
thought I was dating one of them. I never went to a club without Howie or
Kevin or AJ accompanying me. It was kinda tough, but I just couldn't bear
going without them. Those three danced all night long with me. Howie and I
went everywhere together, and I usually went to the grocery store with Kevy
and clothes shopping with J. I intently listened to Amanda and Brian recount
their romantic get together. When they finished I awwwed at them. WHY
COULDN'T I HAVE A BOY LIKE SHE DID???? Not once had I ever thought of one of
my boys that way.
Suddenly, my ears became very aware of those certain piano notes that played
over the radio. I jumped up to Nick's stereo system and turned it up, then
began singing at the top of my lungs.
"Although loneliness has always been a friend of mine, I'm leaving my life in
your hands..." I sang with my horrible voice. Brian, Howie, and Nick all
began laughing. They knew "As Long As You Love Me" was my favorite song ever
and I always reacted that way when I heard that song. Amanda and Amy laughed
as well, not knowing how to act. They all watched me sing into Nick's remote
control like an insane freak until the last "As long as you love meeeee...."
played. Then, I turned it down and set the remote back on the table I had
picked it up from.
"Sorry! That's just my most favorite song and they know I go crazy when I
hear it on the radio," I explained. "I try to contain myself but it never
works! So, tell me, how did you meet, Nick and Amy?"
"Well, weird enough, I'm 'Manda's best friend. Right after she came home the
morning after the storm, I had to go to work at the hospital, where I met
Nick. I had seen him there frequently, but never talked to him. We bumped
into each other and got into conversation. Then he decided he wanted to take
me out. So, after work, we went out. Then, the boys decided they wanted me
and 'Manda to meet each other, because they were both so happy and wanted to
double date. So--" Amy began.
"We met at a restaurant and the two saw each other and went crazy. None of us
had known about any of this. It ended up being very convenient, because now
the four of us go out together all the time," Nick finished.
"Oh guys! That's so cool!" I cried. "So you were dating when I met those two
at the concert?"
"Yup," Amanda spoke up.
"Why didn't you tell me guys?" I wanted to know. "I thought you guys were
just friends!"
"Cuz we needed to get dressed and didn't have time to explain anything,
Stephy," Brian told me. I understood. I was too happy for them to get into an
argument.
"Whaddya say we all go out to a Mexican restaurant for lunch?" Howie
suggested, realizing that it was near lunchtime.
"Sure. We can all pile into the Durango and I'll drive!" Nicky declared. We
didn't have anything to complain about, so the six of us all climbed into the
big green car and were on our way.
Within a few minutes, Nick pulled into the parking lot, where we spotted AJ's
Expedition.
"Looks like we have psychic connections," Brian joked. We all walked in and
instantly spotted AJ and Emily in a booth in the corner.
"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeyy J!" I cried. His head shot around and locked eyes with
me. Then, he busted up. "Hey Em!" Emily waved to me, then saw everyone else
and said hi to them as well. We all sat at a table next to them and proceeded
to ask how the shopping went.
"Well, knowing this boy, we got some pretty wild things. He found the perfect
hat for you, too," Emily informed us.
"J, you and I are going hat shopping one of these days," I told him.
"So, how long have you been here?" Howie wanted to know.
"Not very long. The waitress is about to come back and order our food, so why
don't you guys...um...join us?" AJ replied.
"Don't mind if we do?" Brian asked in one of his weird voices. He and Amanda
sat down on one side of the table together.
I couldn't believe how quickly they had gotten close. Brian had had some
tight relationships before, like that Leighanne chic, but never this close.
They were perfect for each other, and I could already tell I loved Amanda.
Amy, on the other hand, was the answer to all of Nick's problems. And believe
me, he had a lot. It was only recently that he had split with his long term
girl, someone named Mandy. I had met her a few times, but she hated me
because I was so close with the boys that I guess it made her jealous. And AJ
had so many flings that it was hard to tell which girl he was actually happy
with. But I could tell Emily fit his every need.
Now all we had to do was find Kevin, Howie, and me someone. For a while
there, I had thought I was a little too attached to my boys, because I had
fallen hard for a guy who looked a lot like Nick. But we never really got
anywhere, because we were so different. I always met tons of guys at the
clubs we went to, but never anyone that had the potential to be my boyfriend.
The boys kept reassuring me that my personality would attract guys like
flies, but I guessed they were just being sweet. Then Howie came up with the
idea that guys were just intimidated by my alertness and strong attitude that
they didn't bother. I would've believed that, because I was not the most
vulnerable person.
We all ordered our food and talked a bit, while we ate it. Emily and I teased
the boys and showed Amy and Amanda what to look forward to when they do stuff
with all of us. Yet, lunch went by quickly and we were soon ready to go. I
declared that I needed to go home because I had a dance class that day that I
couldn't miss, so the six of us piled back into Nick's green Durango and went back to his house. There, I picked up my clothes and Howie and I drove back
to my house.
Back at my house, we were greeted by the lovable Chachi. I picked up my
little doggy who was vigourously wagging his little tail and walked in. D
shut the door and I put Chachi down and went into my bedroom to change while
D turned on the TV. When I came out, Howie had found some corny talk show on
TV. All I heard was yelling and barking. I went over to the TV and saw Mucho
jumping up at the screen, yipping like crazy at the Jerry Springer show,
while Howie looked on, laughing his head off.
"Deeeeeeee!!!!" I cried. He turned off the TV and I put Mucho outside because
I leave him inside while I'm gone. "You wanna babysit my dog after you take
me to my class?"
"Sure. I love that dog to death. I'm sure we'd have a good time," Howie
complied. I let Mucho back in and Howie and I left for my Musical theatrical
class.
I was planning to have J come in to be a special guest in my class, because
he was a professional at musical theater, but he was always busy. One of
these days, I kept telling myself. One of these days. And then he'll show up
when I'm in the middle and surprise me, like he always does. I rolled my eyes
at that thought.
Well, class had just ended so I was packing up when in walked...Amanda.
"Hey Amanda! How are you?" I greeted her, standing up while I swung my
backpack over my right shoulder.
"Good! I heard you worked here so I thought I'd stop by and see how you were.
Ya know, maybe we could do something together today. Brian and the rest of
the guys are working on dances and Amy is at the hospital, so I thought I'd
stop by instead of making you ride the bus," Amanda told me.
"Wow! That's really nice of you! I'd love to go somewhere with you!" I
exclaimed, leading her out of the studio as I turned the lights off. "Where
shall we go?"
"Wanna go to the mall? I was kinda thinking we could do a little shopping
there," Amanda informed me. I wasn't much of a shopper, but I knew we would
have a good time. We got outside the building and I stopped in my tracks.
Brian's Jeep was in the parking lot.
"Brian's letting you drive his precious JEEP??" I cried, shocked. "You guys
are extremely close, I see."
"Yeah, we hit it off from the very first minute together. He handed me the
keys and said 'go and have fun with Steph.' So, here I am!" Amanda explained.
I laughed. We walked over to the Jeep and climbed in. I loved that car. It
>was so messy inside, but the leather seats were so comfy. I kicked aside some
papers and got situated.
"Well, I hope you can get him into cleaning the inside of this thing! This
boy doesn't know the meaning of the word 'spotless'!" I replied, making
Amanda laugh. She pulled out of the parking lot and we hit the road. "But
really, you mean A LOT to ol' Seaver. He won't even let NICKY drive his Jeep.
And they've been best friends since before they hit it big." I watched as
Amanda's smile broadened. Then, I reached over to turn up the radio. The New
Radicals song, "Get What You Give," blared out of the speakers. Amanda and I
began to sing at the top of our lungs, as the wind blew through our hair.
Within minutes, we were at the mall. We hopped out and headed for Old Navy. I
was getting desperate to find some cargo pants. I was thinking of picking out
some olive green ones, to go with my camouflage fisherman hat. Amanda was in
dire need of some new jeans and a few shirts, so we quickly went to work,
looking for clothes. It wasn't long before I found the perfect pair of
cargos. So, I went to Amanda's aid and helped her pick out a few cute shirts
and some jeans.
Then, we headed to the Tommy outlet. There, we found matching, big, gray
mens' shirts with the Tommy logo on them.
"We'll match Kevy!" I cried, as we came out of our dressing rooms to stand
together in front of the big mirror.
"Maybe we should buy some for Amy, Danielle, and Emily!" Amanda suggested.
"Ha! That would be soo funny! Then we could all show up to some get together,
>matching!" I replied. Then, I stopped myself. "Wait. Who's Danielle? Are Kev
or Howie not telling me something?"
"Danielle is my secretary who's going out with Kevin," Amanda told me. "She
was at Bri's party...?"
"Ohhhh I remember! How cute! My Kevy got himself a girl!" I cried. I was so
happy for my boys! My big brothers had girlfriends! "Now, all we have to do
is get Howard a girl!"
"Wait. I thought you were Howie's girlfriend," Amanda said, puzzled. I
blushed. Did I really imply that?
"Oh no. I'm too young for D. I'm just really close to all the boys. They're
like my big brothers. And they like to take me places with them. Like, if
they all do the dating thing together and one of them doesn't have a girl to
go with, they'll ask me. I'm like the substitute girlfriend, I guess you
could say. But not one of them thinks of me that way. They all treat me like
their little sister!" I explained to her.
"I see. So. Whaddya say we get three more shirts for the others?" Amanda got
back to the question.
"Definitely. That would be hilarious. I'll be takin' my camera THAT day. We
should all go to one of their recording studios one day, wearing the shirts.
Then, I'll snap a picture of their reactions! Good idea 'Manda!" I exclaimed.
We went back into our dressing rooms and got back into our other shirts
before going back out to find three more shirts, then buy them all.
Next, I told my new friend that I had to take her to my favorite store in the
world: "LIDS." It was mine and J's store. We went there all the time and were
secretly planning to purchase it one day. The merchandise buyer began to
notice us and started ordering more of a variety of hats for us to choose
from. Instead of just Newsies hats and baseball caps, there were now floppy
hats, top hats, fisherman hats, beanies, and any other hat you could think
of. And J and I had almost one of each hat in the store. Together, we had
nearly 900 hats. Seriously! I had one room in my house that was reserved for
hats. On every wall there were hooks with hats hanging on them. The ceiling
was completely covered with hats. Every inch. Sometimes, J would let himself
into my house before a concert and steal a few hats to wear. (All the boys
and I had keys to each other's houses, just in case we needed to get in, in
an emergency.)
Amanda and I tried on a few hats and ended up buying some. I bought a rainbow
colored fisherman hat and Amanda bought herself a blue beanie that had fish
all along the brim of it. After buying the hats, we stuck them on and went to
McDonald's. Micky D's...ahh...another one of mine and J's hang outs. When he
was girlfriendless, he would take me out to McDonald's all the time.
By the time we got to Micky D's, it was around 6:30pm. We had spent three
hours together! After getting our food, the two of us sat down at a corner
booth and began to devour our burgers, talking in between bites.
"So, you've been friends with these guys for the longest time, but you've
never gone out with any of them??" Amanda asked.
"Yeah. They're great. I'm a year younger than Nick as it is. So I'm younger
than all of them. It would be so awkward dating any one of them. They've all
done so much for me!" I explained.
"Awww...they are sweet aren't they? Brian bought me a dress and got me a hair
appointment on our first date!" Amanda cried. I laughed, shocked at little
Brock.
"He's a real charmer, I'll tell you that. But he was always talking about you
before hand, so I always wanted to know who this girl was. I'm glad he
finally snagged you at the right time! He's not one to tolerate mistreatment
of a lady."
"Oh I know! And he reads eyes so well!" Amanda told me.
"I know! I'll be sitting there and he'll look at my eyes and say 'Gilli, tell
me what's up.' I'll look at him and pour it out. Kev's the same. I guess it
runs in the family," I chuckled.
"Soooo...your birthday's comin' up, I hear?" Amanda changed the subject.
"Yup," I said, before taking a large bite of my burger. "March 17th! I'm a
St. Patty's Day baby, so they always make me dress up in green. J even had a
green top hat with a four-leaf clover springing out of the top specially made
for me and makes sure that I wear it every year." Amanda quickly swallowed
her food, then laughed hysterically. "He also makes sure we both dye our hair
green for the occasion. Then, they push me in the pool and the green dye runs
into the water, dying it green. So, not only do I end up with dyed hair, I
get dyed water in my pool. It's become routine. But this year, they're
promising something different and they won't tell me what."
"Yeah, they're always talking about it over the phone. Especially since it's
in, like, two weeks, right?" Amanda replied.
"Yup. But don't tell me what you've heard! I want it to be a major surprise!"
I cried.
"I promise I won't say a word," Amanda agreed. We began on the fries when
suddenly, I noticed a teenage girl walking towards us.
"Here we go again," I mumbled. Amanda looked confused. "Hi!" I greeted the
girl.
"Um, can you give this to Nick for me, and tell him it's from Cassandra," the
girl, who looked like she was about 13, instructed as she handed me a wrapped
box.
"Sure thing! I'll give it to him as soon as I get home," I told the girl. She
said thank you and walked away with a huge smile on her face. I set the box
beside me.
"What was that all about? How do they know you know the boys?" Amanda wanted
to know.
"Well, I'm on stage with them in every show, and sometimes I have to do
interviews. A lot of people come up to me on a daily basis and give me stuff
to give the boys. I get used to it, but sometimes I wonder how the boys don't
get sick of it," I explained.
"I know! I'm afraid girls are going to start giving me dirty looks and
threaten to kill me!" Amanda confided in me.
"Haha! You don't have to worry about that. Most of the girls will just tell
you how lucky you are and how they wish they were you. Occasionally, they'll
give you dirty looks, but none of them ever get physical on you," I let her
know. Then, I glanced down at my handy dandy watch. "Oh wow. We'd better
finish our food and get going. The boys will be worried about us!"
"Ok. Yeah. I'm sure Brian wants his Jeep back!" Amanda replied. We laughed
and grabbed our food. We decided we would just eat it in the Jeep. Brian
wouldn't notice any crumbs, he was too oblivious to it all! I made sure I had
all my bags and the box and we headed out to the Jeep. It sat in the parking
lot, covered with balloons, presents, posters, cards, a big banner, and a
huge teddy bear. Amanda gasped and I cracked up.
"They get THAT a lot too! Girls who live around here memorize their license
plates and search for their cars so they can adorn them with gifts," I said.
"Wow. And I didn't even recognize Bri when I first met him!" Amanda
exclaimed. I giggled. We cleared the seats so we could sit down, and drove
home.
When we got to Brian's house, there was a note for Amanda that said he was at
Kevin's, hanging with him for awhile. It was gunna be a guys night. So, I
gave her directions and we eventually made it to Kev's house.
From the front of Train's house, we honked the horn nonstop. Finally, Kev
peeked out his window through the curtains and busted up. Within seconds,
Brian was running outside in some sweats. He ran to the driver's side and
gave Amanda a kiss as he opened the door and let her out. Kevin watched from
the front door of the house.
"Looks like you got yourself some presents Bri!" he called. I got out of the
car with an armload of stuff. Kevin came out and helped clear some of the
stuff out of Brian's Jeep, then offered me a ride home. After we cleaned out
Brian's Jeep, Kevin took me home.
"Can't believe that boy. Everywhere we go, he's adorned with presents!" Kev
told me.
"Don't worry Kevy. Girls love you too. Just not so much that they have to
stalk you," I said, patting his shoulder. "Hey! And what about that Danielle
girl? I heard you two hit it off well."
"Yeah. We're gettin' closer..." Kevin explained, blushing.
"I see. But hey! If you ever need a girl cuz it doesn't work out, you know I
have a sister who would absolutely LOVE to meet you!" I reminded him. "But
I'm sure you'll last with Danielle. Amanda's a real sweetie. She and I spent
four hours at the mall today."
"I assume that's where you got the hat? Man, Bone is going to flip. It's very
phat though," Kevin complimented.
"Phat to death, man?" I asked, jokingly.
"Phat to death....MAN," Kevin repeated with a soft, yet deep voice. I
laughed. Then, Kev pulled into my driveway and we got out of the 4-Runner and
walked into my house, Kevin carrying my bags.
Once we got inside and I let Muchacho out, Kev followed me into my room with
my bags. He set them on the bed and sat down in my big fat chair.
"So, what do you think about Amanda?" Kevin asked me.
"Oh she's such a sweet girl! I totally adore her!" I exclaimed.
"Don't think Bri's moving to fast?"
"Oh no. If he is that much in love with her, then I believe that they were
meant to be. They're perfect for each other. Really. You should hang out with
her sometime. Amanda didn't even recognize Brian when she first met him! She
doesn't love him for his fame or his money. She loves him for Brian Thomas
Littrell. That's one thing the boy needs. Not many girls come across Brock
that way. Every girl he's hooked up with in the past how many years has only
liked him because of his talent, his fame, his money, or the fact that she
was infatuated with him. Amanda's the first girl who really loves and
appreciates Bri. Don't worry Kev. I know you always look out for Brian, but
you have to trust him this time. He's definitely made the right decision. And
this isn't going to turn out the way it did with Leighanne. And Amy's not
like Mandy," I continued.
"Mandy..." Kevin sighed, recalling Nick's ex-girlfriend. "I just hope Emily
and Bone don't hurt each other like all the other girls AJ's gone with."
"Oh AJ's stupid," I mumbled. By now, I was lying on my stomach on the bed.
"I could agree with that..."
"And if he gets one more tattoo, I swear I'm gunna smack that boy upside the
head and make him remove every single one!" I cried. Kev laughed. Then, he
got up, walked over to me, mussed up my hair and patted my head.
"Well, Gilli, I gotta go. Get a good rest and be up early tomorrow so we can
do the rehearsing we didn't do today! See ya later!" Kevin told me. I quickly
got up and he placed his arm on my shoulder as I wrapped mine around his back
and gave him a hug. Kev kissed my head and walked out the front door.
"Bye Big Brother!" I yelled out the door. Kevin turned back and waved to me
as he walked towards his 4-Runner.