I woke up the next morning at around 10:30. We had been out till nearly one in the morning, dancing forever. When we left, it was a good 1:45am. Howie was still asleep, softly snoring. I went into the bathroom and took a long shower. While my hair was drying, I snuck out of the room with my key-card and looked for the nearest open door. It belonged to Tae and Kristin and the two of them were lying on their beds, fully clothed and watching the television.
"Hey guys!" I greeted them. The two of them sleepily waved at me, then Kristin patted a spot beside her on the bed. I entered the room and sat next to my fellow dancer.
"Bunni and Nef are still sleeping," Tae told me. "We're watching Tootsie right now."
"Only good thing on. What are you up to? Have you eaten yet?" Kristin wanted to know.
"Nothing yet. Just woke up and took a shower. Howie's still asleep so I just came out looking for an open door," I explained.
"Well we got plenty of fruit and stuff if you want anything. It's all sitting on the table over there. Help yourself!" Tae invited me. I smiled, thanked them, and grabbed an apple from the small pile of food. Before long, Amy walked in and was watching the movie with us. Emily was supposedly still asleep so she was bored and had nothing to do. As the day neared noon, there was more stirring in the hall. As lunchtime came around, Amy got up and said she was gunna figure out what Nick was doing.
"Gotta find my boy and wake him up!" she cried, before disappearing down the hall. Nicky had given her the other key-card to his room in case she needed to get in and he wasn't there or awake. She walked in and found Nick on the phone in his boxers and a t-shirt. She smiled warmly at him and waited for the boy to get off.
"Uh Lisa, I gotta go. Amy is here. Uh huh. I miss you too! Bye girl," Nick said, before hanging up the phone. The second Amy heard the name Lisa, her eyes widened and she pivoted around, then headed out the door. Nick shot up and raced after her. "Amy where ya going? I just thought I should call her before I...wait Amy! Stop!" Nick stood in the hall, watching his girlfriend walk away from him. He felt beyond ridiculous, standing in the middle of the hallway in his t-shirt and boxers, calling towards his angry girlfriend who obviously wasn't paying any attention to him. Nick jetted back into his room, grabbed a terricloth robe and flung it over his pjs, and ran after Amy. He got to her room, in front of AJ's, and called into it, knocking softly.
"Amy...please....come out!" he begged. Brian walked out of his room, a toothbrush in his mouth, and looked at the commotion before going back in and minding his own business. Amy angrily threw the door open and stood in the doorway.
"Well it's about time you decided between me and your little basketball buddy. If she's so important that you have to call her the second you wake up, then why isn't she on the tour with you? Me...I don't play basketball with you, I don't do all those sports things with you. Lisa does all those things, why don't you go out with her? She's all you talk about anyways. Nick go away," Amy cried, shutting the door in his face. He stood for a few seconds, the door only centimeters from his nose, and stared at the solid thing in front of him. Then, Nick turned around and sulkily went back into his room. He had FINALLY done it. Made the biggest mistake of his life. The only thing he could've done that would be any stupider would be calling her Lisa.
"Hey bro, anything wrong?" AJ asked when he saw Nick slowly making his way back to his room.
"Nothin Bone," Nick answered, disappearing behind the door. AJ shrugged to himself and went back into his own room, shutting the door after him.
Inside Emily and Amy's room, Emily woke up to the sound of sobbing. She sat up and looked over at the bed beside her.
"Amy what's wrong?" she wondered, alarmed.
"I think I made the biggest mistake, coming here," she cried into her hands. Emily got up and walked over to her friend, giving her a hug. "Please though. Let me be alone for a few minutes, Em."
"Yeah sure sweetie. I'm gunna take a shower, then I'll go see what AJ's up to. Give you all the time you need," Emily replied. Then she got up and headed for the bathroom. Amy covered her face with her hands and sat at the edge of her bed, sobbing.
As soon as Emily finished her shower, she left the room and wandered down the hall instead of to AJ's room. Emily made her way to the lounge where a coffee machine sat for making coffee and fresh bagels and fruit were placed out every morning. Amanda, Dani, and Brian were sitting in chairs, conversing, when Emily walked in.
"Amanda can you come here for a second?" Emily asked quietly. Brian and Dani looked up, worried for they could sense the tone of Emily's voice. Amanda herself looked concerned as she set down her cup and went over to Em. They walked right outside the lounge and Emily pulled Amanda aside. "Amy's really upset. I think you should go talk to her. You're best friends, after all." Amanda nodded her head in agreement and made her way towards Emily and Amy's room.
Meanwhile, in Tae and Kristin's room, Tootsie was ending. Howie poked his head in and found me sitting there with the two other dancers.
"THERE you are. I was wondering where you had gone. Thanks for letting me sleep in, Gill," Howie replied.
"Anytime, hun," I smiled. "Well rested?"
"Yeah I think so. I'll probably be fine by tonight. It's about 12:30 now. I got enough sleep for the day. Wanna go out for lunch or something?" D wanted to know.
"Hmm why don't we wait until we get down to the arena in two hours. There will be tons of food there and I don't want you to spend all your money on taking me out to lunch. I'm not anyone special. You don't have to take me out every time we go to a different state. I could care less if all I got from you for lunch was a grilled cheese sandwich," I explained. D smiled and walked away. I checked the time on my watch. "Ah well I should go anyways. See you guys in two hours, when we catch that shuttle down to the arena, okay?" Teresa and Kristin said goodbye and I left the room. I walked into the lounge and found Howie, Brian, and Dani talking to each other.
"Hey where's Manda?" I asked the second I saw Brian by himself. I knew Kevin was still asleep, so I didn't bother asking about him.
"She just left. Emily called her out of the room and she never came back," Dani told me. At that moment, Brian's cell phone rang. He set down his coffee and answered it.
"Long John Silver's and how may I help you?"
"Brian be serious! I'm gunna have to skip breakfast. I'm with Amy right now," Amanda said into the phone.
"What? What's wrong with Amy?" he begged to know, getting a little worried. The three of us snapped to attention and watched Brian's expressions as he listened to what his girlfriend was telling him.
"Nevermind that. I'll tell you later. Sorry hun. Bye," Amanda apologized. Brock said goodbye and disconnected the call.
"What's wrong with Amy?" I asked, repeating what Brian had just said. "She was fine earlier this morning when we were watching Tootsie."
"Manda wouldn't say." We all continued to stare at Brian. "WHAT?!" he cried. The three of us turned our eyes away and the silence sunk in. At that moment, AJ and Emily bounded in, hand in hand. They said hi and sat at a table beside us.
"Uh did you guys notice the crowd outside the glass doors?" AJ asked when he sat down, after pulling the chair out for Emily. He nodded his head towards the double doors, where a small group of about ten or fifteen girls stood, watching us.
"Ya know, I wonder if those tabloids hire little girls to take pictures of you guys. Cuz I have never seen some of those paparazzi around us, yet some of our most private pictures turn up in magazines. How is that?" I wanted to know.
"I wouldn't be surprised if they do. They're that desperate," Howie sighed, smiling and waving at the girls. A few cameras went off and the girls all screamed excitedly. The three guys all turned around and waved a little at the girls, then got back to their original positions. Just then, a maitre d' stepped outside and shooed the girls away. A few began to cry as they left. I recognized one of the girls as the one who had glared at me in the hotel the day before...mainly because she was glaring at me now.
"Hey D, I think that one girl from yesterday has already written my obituary and planned my funeral," I jokingly told my boyfriend.
"Who? The one who didn't say anything?" he asked.
"Yeah. She was quiet but she was awfully not thrilled to see me there..." I noted.
"Did you find some girls in your room yesterday?" AJ wanted to know, a little confused.
"Two. One wouldn't shut up and the other one just kept giving Steph death glares. I took a picture with them and signed some pictures, then we made them leave," D explained.
"Man where's Nicky?" Brian suddenly changed the subject. We looked around. He was usually up by now.
"I dunno, Bri. I saw him earlier, but he didn't look too happy," AJ exclaimed. Emily remained silent, indicating she did not want to talk about Amy or anything else that had gone on that she had witnessed. "Well we only have about an hour left. Wanna go shopping hun?" Emily nodded her head and the two got up. They said goodbye to us and walked out.
"Well, I better go check up on Nick. See if everything's okay. Here's to pay for breakfast. When it comes, you guys can help yourselves." Brian got up and took out his wallet, fished a ten-dollar bill out of it and set it on the table, said bye, and disappeared into the elevator.
"I should go too. I need to wake up Kevin. He's been asleep too long and he needs to be ready to go in an hour. Sorry I can't stay guys. But you stay and have a nice breakfast. The two of you need some time alone," Dani replied, standing up and smiling at us. I grinned and said goodbye to her as Danielle followed closely in Brian's footsteps. D and I simultaneously sighed.
"Well I guess we can't let good food go to waste," Howie spoke up.
"Looks like it's just you and me babe," I added, smiling at the 26-year-old beside me. Howie hit my nose lightly with his finger, something my dad loved to do. "I can't wait to get to California. I miss my parents."
"I know. I miss mine. Why don't you call them today?" D suggested.
"Because we'll be busy today. I'll call them on the bus tomorrow," I decided.
"They'll be happy to hear from you." Just then, three breakfast plates were placed in front of us. "Dig in!" D cried. We looked at the dishes and picked what we wanted. The waitress stood there for a few seconds, speechless. The two of us looked up. "Oh I'm sorry. We joined the three here earlier and they invited us to stay and have what they ordered. If that's alright..."
"Oh that's fine. I just didn't know why you were here," the waitress politely answered, then left. We took to eating the food that wasn't ours, and when we were finished, the two of us gathered our things and left.
"Anyone up for football?"Kevin called, holding his pigskin high in the air as he walked into the empty arena. AJ, Emily, Brian, Amanda, Dani, Howie, and I were all standing around, talking about nothing. We stopped and looked at the smiling Kev and walked over.
"YEAH!" Brian exclaimed, excitedly. The guys hadn't touched a football in months and they were becoming a little weak with their sports. "How about if the guys go against the girls. Huh?"
"I was thinking couple against couple, but I think this girls against boys thing would be more fun actually. Okay. Go huddle and we'll start the game in two minutes," Kevin instructed.
"We'll go easy on you," Brian teased, winking at Amanda.
"HA! I spent my high school years watching this game every Friday! Don't think I've learned a thing or two while waiting for a touchdown?!" Manda shot back. "I'll have my eye on you..."
"Manda's OUR coach!" I immediately declared. We backed far away from the guys and went into a group huddle. Amanda asked which of us was better at what and we picked positions. Then, the four of us figured out a game plan and got in our spots, awaiting Kevin's kick-off. He kicked the ball, which Howie held for him, then watched as everyone ran towards the middle. Emily caught the ball and took off running for the endzone, but AJ quickly grabbed her and threw her on the ground. Then, the rest of us walked towards where the ball was and got in our positions.
Amanda and Brian crouched down in front of each other, glaring and growling at each other. Emily hiked the ball to me and I looked for my open spot, Dani, and threw the ball to her. Dani caught it and instantly plowed her way to the goal, knocking over whoever was in her way. When she made the touchdown, Danielle did a little victory dance for the first touchdown of the game. Emily jokingly stuck her tongue out at AJ, who sneered at her. We went for the extra point and, to prevent them from blocking it, Dani went straight for Kevin and knocked him off his feet, landing on top of him. We got the extra point, but everybody was too busy laughing at Dani and Kevin to even really acknowledge that we had won it. Brian went to get the ball and we split to either side for the kick-off.
"EVERYBODY UP FOR THE KICK-OFF!!!" We all stopped what we were doing and turned around to find Swoop and Emo watching us from the seats. Both were standing, with their fingers up. Everyone laughed when we saw them, then Kevin called us back to order. Brian kicked the ball this time, and it landed right in Emily's arms. She held it close with her right arm and projected her left arm out, as seen in cartoons. The guys were all too busy laughing to block her, so they just stood and watched her. AJ keeled over and was rolling. Emily ran to the undesignated endzone and screamed outloud. She raised the roof a few times.
"Uh Emily....the endzone is over THAT way," Brian broke her excitement. Emily stopped what she was doing and stared at him in disbelief.
"Brian shut up! We didn't even mark the endzones! It could be anywhere!" Amanda yelled back. She angrily walked up to Brock, her pigtails flopping. Manda stood in front of Brian, her hands on her hips and her lips pursed.
"Yeah we did. We decided it would be from that aisle to aisle!" B-Rok cried.
"And when were you going to tell us this?!" she asked.
"Hey Brian, just give it to them..." Howie called, trying to cut the argument short.
"Hey Bri, we didn't tell them what we decided. From now on we will. But they didn't know, just give it to them," Kevin agreed.
"Fine. But this is the LAST time you're getting off easy, missy!" Brian sighed, giving in. Emily continued with her little victory dance while Amanda grabbed her boyfriend's hat and stuck it on her head backwards. She sneered at Brian and walked away, giving me a high five. I too had a backwards hat on, and long braids hung over my shoulders. Brian glared at Kevin for letting the girls win. Dani kicked for the extra point and we got it. Then, another time out was called and we went to our huddles.
The guys had the ball and did another kick-off, but this time, I fumbled and Howie dove straight for it. He retrieved it, gaining control for the guys. I went after him and brought my boy to the ground.
"All that wrestling did good, huh?!" I told him, excitedly. D laughed. I got off of him and helped Howie up, then Brian called another huddle. We girls stood watching them curiously.
"Shouldn't there be a limit to how many huddles you can call? Cuz if there were, I think you'd be just about through with calling them, BRIAN," Amanda yelled from our side of the 'football field'. "Aren't I right Kevin???"
"She does have a point, Brian--" Kevin said.
"OH shut up Kevin!" Brock snapped. Kev gave him a crazed look. They got back into their huddle as we watched. They decided whatever it was they were discussing and came back to us. D squatted down to hike the ball and I got down right in front of him and glared at him. He hiked the ball to Brian and the two of us instantly slammed into each other. I watched as Brian threw the ball towards Kevin, with Amanda and Dani both going straight for him. Kevin saw Manda and let the ball fall to the ground while he suddenly snatched her up by the waist and ran towards the endzone with her under his arm.
"HEEEEEEEEEYYYYYY!!!!!!!!" Amanda screamed as he ran.
Kev set her down and yelled "TOUCHDOWN!!! SIX POINTS FOR THE BOYS!!!!"
"That was not a touchdown! That was a.....it wasn't a touchdown! I am NOT a ball!!!" Amanda cried angrily. "What are you idiots trying to do? HUH?!"
"Just having a little fun, sweetie..." Brian answered, innocently. Manda scrunched up her nose at Brock as she walked past him.
"Anybody else here bored of playing?" AJ interjected. Emily, Howie, and I all rose our hands. "You guys can have a little two on two, but we're leaving. This is getting really unfun." With that, the four of us started walking towards the backstage area.
"MAAAANNN! There went our game!" Dani exclaimed. She picked up the football and tossed it to Kevin. As we made our way towards the authorized area, The eight of us spotted Nick.
"Hey Frack there's a basketball court outside. Ya wanna shoot some?" Brian asked.
"NO!" Nick quickly shouted. "The last thing I need right now is to be playing basketball!" The five of us who hadn't been clued in on what had happened that morning were puzzled. We knew this routine well, and had learned to keep out of it. Which was what we did, despite the fact that all of us were extremely worried about Nicky.
"Are the buses back here?" I wanted to know. Today, we had taken a shuttle to the arena, so that the bus drivers could have their rest.
"Yeah they pulled up a few minutes ago," Nick told me. I thanked him and split from the rest of the group because I had to go get my things to stick in the dressing room.
As I was making my way to the buses, I nearly ran right into Amy, who was holding Brian's chihuahua. I stopped and quickly began to apologize but then noticed hat her nose was pink and her cheeks were puffy.
"Amy are you okay?" I checked with her.
"Yeah I'm fine. You just go. You have a show to get ready for," she quickly brushed me off.
"Okay. But if you ever need to talk to someone, you know I'll be around to listen. Bye!" I said as I began to rush towards the bus again. Amy waved as I left to get my things, then continued walking around aimlessly, with Tyke in her arms. I dodged into the bus and grabbed my dance sneakers and make-up traveling case, then cleared out as quickly as I had entered. Muchacho was nowhere to be found so I safely assumed that he had been taken by one of the dancers or the band members. Sometimes Mindi liked to take off with him. That is, if the cats weren't around. As I was walking around backstage, trying to find the door marked Dancers, I found Bunni pacing in the hallway.
"What's wrong?" I wanted to know.
"I just got a call from work. I need to go back in three weeks or else I lose my job," she informed me. I gasped.
"Oh no...listen. You have three weeks. We'll figure out what to do and find someone to replace you before you leave. Now, could you please tell me where the dressing room is? And don't worry. Just concentrate on the performance tonight," I replied, smiling at her.
"The dressing room is that door at the end of the hall," she pointed out. I thanked Shivani and jogged towards the door. Inside, I found Tae and Nef getting their things situated and Kristin sitting in a corner, reading a book and eating an apple.
"Hey girls what's up?" I asked.
"Well it's about time you got here! We've been waiting for you forever!" Tae cried. I gave her a confused look.
"What do you need me for? I was out playing football with the guys," I explained. Tae gave me a scowl, then busted up, slapping her hands together. She and Nef keeled over in laughter. With a "Hmph!" I put my things up in front of a few small mirrors. "What did they stick us in a storage room again? We all got are a bunch of folding tables and cheap mirrors."
"I know. I hate this! The guys get big mirrors with a couch and good lighting and we get stuck HERE. Geez we do more work than THEY do!" Tae added, angrily. Then she threw her brush on the table. "Dammit! I say we revolt! Take it up with the management!!" We all applauded her.
"Really, Tae, you come up with the best ideas," Kristin said, looking up from her book. Then she rolled her eyes and stuck her nose back in the book she was reading. I sighed.
"On a serious note, guys, Bunni's gunna be leaving in three weeks because she has to go back to work. Do you know anybody who is a quick learner, good dancer, and is available until December?" I asked all of them. There was silence as the three thought of anyone they might know of who could take Shivani's place in the Backstreet stage show.
"No. They're all working or going somewhere. Sorry Gilli, but all our friends have lives," Nef informed me.
"Well the only person I can think of is Emily, but I don't think she likes performing in front of such big crowds....I guess I better rack my brain some more...oh well. I'll do that later," I finally gave up on the stress and began to place my things where I liked them and they were easy to get to when we rushed backstage for our quick outfit changes. My dance outfits were on a separate rack, apart from the other girls' so that we wouldn't mix them up on frantic changes. This was basically a typical routine. As soon as I was done organizing my stuff, I left the room and went searching for the boys and their girlfriends. The first place I knew to look was the band's dressing room. So I walked over to a door labeled BAND and knocked on it before going in.
"Come in, we don't bite!" Louie hollered. I opened the door and found the band, AJ, and some girl I had never seen before. I smiled at her, then gave Dennis a questioning look.
"Steph this is Geri. We met her on the chatroom at our site," Tommy introduced her for me. I politely said hi.
"Uh guys where's everyone else?" I asked. AJ sighed as if he had just been asked to do a huge chore.
"Howie's in the lounge playing pool, Gilli," he told me. I smiled and thanked AJ and calling out a 'nice to meet you' to Geri before quickly ducking back out the door and making my way towards the lounge.
"Hey Gilli!" Howie greeted me when I appeared in the lounge. I went over and kissed his cheek, then grabbed the cue ball and walked away. "HEY!" he cried. I laughed and quickly sat down on a couch. D followed and stood over me, his hand out in front of my face. I gave him the most innocent look I could conjure up. "Come on. Don't make me resort to tickling you."
"OKAY OKAY!" I suddenly gave up, not wanting to be tortured. I handed Howie the ball reluctantly, then Nick went ahead and pushed him down on me from behind. D fell right on top of me and his head hit the cushion as he landed with an "oof!" I sat with his body covering me, laughing my head off. Howie got up, asked if I was okay, then turned to Nicky.
"Alright. You asked for it. Now you're gunna get it...." D threatened. Nick dropped his cue stick and jetted out of the room. Danielle and Kevin were watching the whole thing and busting up themselves.
"Really Steph, did you ever think you two would end up like this when you were little?" Dani wanted to know.
"No. HE wouldn't play house or getting married with me so I had to go find some boring kid down the street to," I explained, jokingly. Danielle laughed. "By the way, where's Amanda, Brian, Amy, and Emily?"
"Amanda and Brian went out to the basketball court for a little one-on-one and Amy and Emily took both the dogs and headed for their bus," Kevin informed me.
"Do you guys know what's up with Amy?" I asked.
"No. Not a clue. But I think something's going on between her and Nick that probably has to do with Lisa," Dani assumed. I told her she was probably right. Then I decided to change the subject.
"Do you happen to know of anyone who would be able to take Shivani's place in three weeks?" I brought up the next problem. Danielle blushed.
"Uhhh...well I can do it. I mean, I am a fast learner and I have been to nearly every practice so I know the basis of the dances," Dani suggested.
"Do you mind performing in front of thousands of people?" Kevin made sure.
"Well I love performing in general. I'm sure it'll be a little scary at first but it shouldn't be that hard to get used to know," Dani replied.
"Weeeeeellll...." Kevin, Howie, and I all said.
"Well if we start next week, you can start learning the dances and the entrances and the outfit changes and stuff in the next three weeks, don'tcha think? Then you'd be performing with AJ for the remainder of the tour, which is until December," I explained.
"Sounds fine to me!" Dani cried excitedly.
"GREAT! Dani, YOU are a life saver!" I exclaimed.
"Ooo what flavor?" she teased. Everyone reduced to laughter.