The only boy who could ever reach me
Was the son of a preacher man
The only boy who could ever teach me
Was the son of a preacher man
-Preacher Man
Chapter 4
Brian Littrell was a pure miracle in every sense of the word. Yet
standing amongst
the chattering crowd he looked like a timorous porcelain doll. He laughed
and joked and
faked a smile, but it was evident to me that he was not at ease...terrified
even.
My gut was still burning from my few moments with Nick as I
approached the
crowd. Nikki and Angie were standing in line, drastically revealing their
maturity, far
beyond that of the screeching teenagers around them. They seemed almost as
uncomfortable as the small fragile man they were awaiting. A little girl
screamed as Brian
turned to her. He flinched and furrowed his brow. As he took her picture to
sign, I could
have sworn his hands were shaking.
“This is the last one,” said his bodyguard, Tom, sternly. Tom was
known to be the
strictest security person.
I watched my best friend’s face drop as she backed away obediently.
Nikki
watched every gesture Brian made as he handed back the autographed picture,
smirked,
and went under Tom’s wing. A porcelain doll. He looked like he was going to
cry.
Nikki’s face remained somber. Brian disappeared onto the confines of the bus
and she let
out a small gasp and lowered her eyes.
The three of us formed a group on the crowded sidewalk.
“He escaped quickly,” I mused to break the icy silence. We were all
bothered by
the actions of both the fans and of Brian. Nikki shot me a glance, she
didn’t find it
amusing. It was the first of many times that Nikki would become protective
when it came
to Brian. I shrugged it off.
The whole situation was really no win, and it was simply
uncomfortable. The
Backstreet Boys loved their fans. That was definite. But it was a chore
most of the time
to deal with us. We were constantly surrounding them, constantly admiring
them,
constantly wanting them. It made them feel inhuman when people chased and
screamed
and grabbed at them...like circus animals. And we, then fans, who wanted to
talk to them,
to thank them, to know them were pushed off as if we ourselves were beasts.
It was a sad
lonely type of love, on both sides.
The buses had all pulled away. “Where the hell is HOWIE?” Angie
moaned.
I laughed.
“Shut up you!” Angie responded. “All lovey dovey with the tall
blondie”.
“What are you talking about?” I blushed because I knew it ws true.
Every time I
met him he caught me off guard and acted beyond expectation. And when I
thought of it,
it made me dizzy.
I looked back at Nikki. She had somewhat come back to us, but she
seemed
different. In fact, Nikki would never be the same again, but I just couldn’t
quite put my
finger on it at the time.
“That was a rush, huh?” I said to her.
“Two down, in less than a half hour.” she responded with a slight
grin. “I gotta
find me some AJ!” Now she sounded excited.
We stood outside for a few minutes, getting chilly very quickly. We
went into the
lobby and sat down. There was no one around that was part of the crew. It
was almost
six when we decided that the guys were all gone and headed upstairs to
quickly change for
the game.
Chapter 5
Song For Kelly
NinasFiction
NinasFeet
