"Looking hot as usual, honey!" I said as I greeted Nick the next morning. He was wearing dark blue jeans and a green football jersey. On his feet were his new Nike sneakers. His hair was gelled to spike up a little; he had kept it his natural color with just a few blond lites put in.

"You're looking pretty," he said, returning the compliment.

My cheeks turned pink as I mumbled a thankyou. I was only wearing denim shorts and a white tank top and my hair was getting messy in the breezy, so I didn't consider myself too pretty that morning!

We walked in the direction of college, which was fifteen minutes away. It was a beautiful sunny, breezy morning and we both seemed to be in good moods. Nick looked happier than he had been the night before.

"I'm playing basketball with Brian after art, thought I'd let you know," Nick told me as we crossed the street.

"Cool, well I might stay and do some more of my clay work, or I might go for a soda with Roz and the girls,".

As I mentioned my best friend's name I saw her further up the street. She had noticed us too and was waiting for us to catch her up.

"Hi Luce, hi Nick," she said with a sunny smile as we neared her.

"Hi," I said back. "What a beautiful morning," I said, looking up at the fluffy white clouds that graced the dazzling blue skies.

"It's lovely, I know," Roz replied. "I'm gonna make the most of the weather and go out this afternoon after classes. Wanna come over and swim in my pool?".

The thought of taking a dip in her pool to cool down from the afternoon heat was very appealing. "I'd love to," I said. "Thanks!".

Nick was walking silently, with a thoughtful expression on his angelic face. "Is something the matter?" I asked.

He looked up and half-smiled. "Uh, kinda. Talk to you about it in art," he said quietly.

Roz didn't say anything. She must have known that Nick and I had something private that she didn't know of but she had never asked me what. I didn't like keeping a secret from my best friend but even if I did tell her, I doubt she'd believe it. Besides, she had never asked so it didn't matter.

We arrived at college and walked through the crowds of students to our classes. Roz said goodbye to us we passed her English room and Nick and I carried on until we reached the art department.

We were carrying on with our Sky and Space projects so Nick and I grabbed our regular spot at the back and set up. Nick got his drawing pencils out to start a drawing and I found my clay and unwrapped it, to carry on with my sculpture.

Our teacher Mr Garr went around the room collecting in our reports. Nick had a guilty look on his face as he handed in his; he was trying to hide it but I knew he was feeling bad about cheating. The report was a very important piece which would be sent off to the examining board.

"Don't worry, he won't know," I whispered to Nick.

"I hope not," he replied nervously.

"So what did you want to talk about?" I asked him with a quizzical look.

Nick picked up a pencil and began to shade. "Well I was thinking about the group and about contacting them," he said softly. "I could wanted to find out if they even knew who I was; if they had any memories of me,". He had a sadness in his eyes as he spoke.

I reached out and touched his hand. "I'm sure there's a way, we're figure something out. There's the concert, maybe we can try and meet them, like go to their hotel or something," I said, struggling to say something helpful. I was sorry I could not help him more than that.

"Yeah," he said slowly. "I really hope we can meet them, I mean it's been a year. I'm just so curious. And I miss them,".

"Hey, what if you make another wish?" I suggested. "It worked before so who knows,".

Nick looked at me for a few seconds, then smiled. "I like that idea. Yeah that could be the answer,".

"Do you wish you were still with them, being famous like before?" I asked.

He paused for a few seconds before answering. "Sometimes, but I do prefer my life now. Especially because I have you. I was unhappy before. But there are parts of my old life I wish I still had, like my friendship with the guys and being on stage,".

"If you want your old life back I bet we could undo the wish," I suggested. I prayed he wouldn't want to though. I couldn't imagine him leaving me, I would be devastated.

Nick shook his head. "No, I wouldn't do that,".

I smiled in relief. "But if you change your mind I'll help you to," I said.

"Trust me, I won't. I wouldn't give up my life with you for the world,".

I was touched by the comment. "Thankyou Nick..." I whispered.

We were interrupted by our teacher Mr Garr. And he didn't look pleased.

I glanced at Nick, he had a look of fear in his eyes. "Uh-oh!" I said under my breath.

"Luciana, Nickolas..." he addressed us, taking a deep breath.

He must have been mad, calling us by our first names. "What's up sir?" Nick asked, acting innocent.

"I was just reading over your papers...".

"You were?" I said, shaking with nerves. I knew we were about to get in deep trouble.

"They are exactly the same. How do you explain that?".

I glanced at Nick quickly. "Ummm..." he said panicking.

"We worked together on it," I added quickly. "We both wrote it together. Is that not allowed?".

Nick gave me a grateful look for my quick thinking.

Mr Garr gave us a grim smile. "No, I'm afraid not. Look, I have to send all the papers to the examiners tonight so you'll both have to write it again before then. Separately this time,".

"Sure sir!" Nick said eagerly, hoping to avoid a punishment I guessed. "We'll stay in at lunchtime and write it on our own. I'm real sorry,".

"Just make sure it doesn't happen again," he said before leaving us.

A let out a sigh of relief as he walked away. "Gosh, that was close!" I exclaimed. "I thought he'd like, send us to the principle for cheating!".

"Yeah!" Nick said, laughing with relief. "But this means I can't play B Ball with Bri this lunch you know, damn!".

"I'm sorry," I whispered patting his shoulder. "It's all my fault,".

He looked at my face and smiled. "Don't worry about it," he said softly. "I should have done the paper myself anyways,".

"But I suggested you copy!" I said feeling guilty about getting him in trouble.

"I didn't have to copy it, it was my own decision to. Anyways, as long as we write it again on our own we'll be OK,".

I nodded, but still felt bad about it.

After the art lesson finished we went to the college library and got a computer each, next to each other.

"I'd rather be playing basketball right now," Nick muttered as he logged into his account.

"And I'd rather be at Roz's house swimming in the pool, you know," I said disappointedly.

We typed up our reports in silence, taking about an hour. "Finished!" I said triumphantly after typing the last work. "How's yours coming along baby?".

"Almost done," he said, concentrating hard.

I sent the document to print and sat watching Nick. He typed slowly and carefully, staring at the screen in concentration. "Looks OK," I told him, reading what he had written. He was not the best writer in the world, but he managed it eventually.

"I'm almost two hours late!" Nick exclaimed as we left the library to hand in our reports to Mr Garr. "Brian will wonder where I was,".

"Go there now," I said. "I'll hand your report in,". It was the least I could do after the trouble I had caused persuading him to copy.

"Thanks honey," he said with a smile. He handed me his papers and gave me a kiss. "I'll call you when I get home so we can do something tonight,".

"Cool, see ya later. Have fun!". We split and I went over to the art department.

I handed our reports to Mr Garr. He gave me a smile. "Thankyou Luciana, these look great,".

"You're not mad at us sir are you?" I asked with a little laugh. I hoped he wasn't as Mr Garr was my favorite teacher.

"Of course not Luciana, my star pupil!". He looked over the papers. "This looks top quality as usual. Nick's could do with improvement I guess, but then again he's more of an artist than a writer,".

I smiled thinking of Nick, wishing he was by my side. I missed him already! "You're right, but wait until you see his latest drawing, it's fantastic,".

"He's a very talented artist, I know. Do you know what he did before joining the college last year? Did he study art do you know?".

I paused, trying to think what to say. I could hardly say that he was a Backstreet Boy, Mr Garr would laugh at me! "He was some kind of artist I think..." I said casually, that was true as he was a music artist.

"Well thankyou for bringing these to me Luciana," he said, picking up bottles of paint which lay over the tables.

"No problem!" I said as I left the room.

Twenty minutes later I was at Roz's house swimming in her pool. She didn't mind about me being late.

"It's pretty hot today," she said, sitting herself on the edge of the pool dangling her feet in the nice cool water.

"Yeah, I'm so glad to be in the water to stay cool,".

"What you doing tonight?" Roz inquired.

"Nick said he'd call. I guess we'll either go somewhere or stay at one of our houses,".

"I know where I'll be- watching MTV!" Roz said, smiling dreamily. "The BSB have some interview on after Total Request which I gotta see,".

My ears pricked up. "Oh, I didn't know that! I'll definitely watch it. Nick will want to too,".

"Nick likes them?" Roz said, raising an eyebrow. She giggled. "I didn't think guys liked boybands,".

I hated that term boyband. I thought the guys had progressed from that stage some time ago. "He likes them," I said, looking away so she didn't see the look on my face.

"He does? How come, I though he was more into alternative music,".

I could hardly tell Roz that my boyfriend Nick was once a member of our favorite band. She'd think I was nuts. "Oh, he thinks they're cool," I said, shrugging. "The concert tickets go on sale next week, want me to get yours?".

Roz looked sad. "I can't go, we have our vacation booked for when they're here," she informed me.

I was disappointed that my friend couldn't go. "Oh well, better luck next time," I told her. "Well I'll be OK cuz I'm going with Nick,".

"What is it with Nick and the BSB?" Roz laughed.

I laughed too, but not for the same reason as Roz. "You don't wanna know,".

Luce and I sat in her bedroom that evening, waiting for the MTV interview to come on. We had been playing Playstation since I arrived an hour ago and the interview was now about to start.

"Hurry up and finish with N Stink!" she yelled at the screen, seeing our least favorite group on the TV, bragging about how 'good' they were.

"Calm down Luce!" I said with a laugh, putting an arm around her shoulder and stroking her soft dark-blond hair.

She turned and smiled at me. "I'm just so impatient!" she said with a smirk.

While waiting for the interview, Luciana walked to the windows and opened them wide, to let in the cool evening breeze. It was pretty hot and stuffy that night. "Gosh it's so hot!" she said. "Sometimes I think I'd be better of living in Antarctica to get away from the heat!".

"You'd freeze to death, and I wouldn't go with you to keep you warm!" I laughed, fanning my hands around to push the cool air towards me.

"Thanks guys," said the interviewer on TV suddenly. "Coming up after the commercials is an exclusive interview with the best quartet around, you know who they are! So stay tuned!".

Quartet. That still sounded weird. I looked down at the floor where one of Luce's magazines lay. The guys graced the cover, smiling happily together. I felt so left out.

Luce noticed that I was feeling down. "You miss them," she whispered, pulling me into her arms.

I hugged her tightly. "Yeah..." I said quietly.

We sat waiting for the interview to start. Soon they came on the screen, sitting on a couch together, all smiling.

I put my head in my hands and cried.

"Oh Nick..." Luce exclaimed, resting her hands on my shoulders.

"Sorry, I can't help it," I sobbed. I looked back at the TV, blinking away my tears. Seeing the guys that I'd shared so much with, for so long, upset me as I wasn't with them.

"So what have you guys been up to recently?" the interviewer asked.

"Touring," Kevin answered in his slow, deep voice.

"It's tiring, but fun," Howie added with his sweet smile.

"You guys get much time off?" the interviewer inquired.

The guys shook their heads. "No, hardly any," Brian said sadly, his mouth curving into a frown.

I nodded in agreement. "We never did get many breaks," I said to Luciana. "It was work work work every day,".

"...We have concerts almost every night," Brian continued. "And when we do get time off, we're so tired we just sleep!".

"Bet they wish they were normal like you sometimes," Luciana said to me to cheer me up.

I nodded. I was just starting to remember how hard it was being in the group. I couldn't imagine going back to that difficult schedule again, travelling all the time and having virtually no breaks. I managed a smile. "You're right," I said, hugging my girlfriend. "And you know what? One thing I don't miss is the screaming. It hurt my ears!".

Luce just laughed.

The guys carried on the interview, taking some questions from fans. It was the usual 'what's your favorite color?' type questions, nothing very interesting.

"Time for one last question," the interviewing guy said eventually.

A tiny blond girl sitting in a corner put up her hand then spoke into a microphone. "What's the weirdest dream you guys have like, ever had?" she asked in her mousy voice.

The guys exchanged glances. "It's strange you ask that," AJ said with a thoughtful look on his face. "You guys all know what I'm thinking. Brian, you tell the story,".

I sat up. This sounded interesting!

"About a year ago I had this strange dream," Brian said, rubbing the side of his neck.

I looked at Luce, she was wide-eyed too. A year ago! When I 'left'...

"In this dream we had another member in the group...".

I gasped. "Oh my Lord!" I said, shocked.

Luciana took my hand. "Wow..." she breathed.

"...He was this blond guy called Nick. We were a group of five and he fitted in like, really naturally. It seemed like he really was one of us,".

My heart started beating really fast. "He remembers me!" I said excitedly.

Luce grinned. "Yep!". She looked really happy for me.

"...What made it really weird is that the other guys all had similar dreams with the same guy in," Brian continued. "But we didn't realize this until sometime afterwards when one of us brought it up. It was kinda freaky!".

The audience laughed, not knowing the truth behind the dreams. "Now that is strange,"the interview said. "OK, that's all we have time for...".

I turned to Luciana excitedly. "Oh my God that's so cool!" I said to her, grinning. "They all have some kind of knowledge of me!".

"Maybe when we go to the concert they'll notice you and recognise you," she said with a hopeful look.

"Oh I hope so," I said, scratching my head. "You know, I feel better now I know about that,".

"Good, I hate seeing you so sad. It breaks my heart,".

I gave Luce a kiss. She was such a supportive, kind-hearted girl. "I'm so lucky to have her," I said to myself as Luce went across the room to pour us both a drink.

Luciana handed me a cup full of coke. "Drink up," she said. She took a gulp of her own. She then looked at her watch. "It's not that late, and I feel like going out. How about going to the movies?".

I thought it over. "Cool!" I said. "What should we see?".

She shrugged. "Whatever, you chose, baby,".

"Let's see what's on when we get there,".

"Shall we call up some others to come with us?".

I shook my head. "Nah. I want it to be like, just you and me tonight,".

Luce went to the bathroom to touch up on her make-up. I sat on her bed, still thinking about the interview. I was so happy the guys remembered me in some way!

"Ready!" Luce called, stepping back in the room. "You drive us there,".

We got into my car and I blasted out some music on the stereo.

Things are looking better! I thought happily to myself as we drove to the movies.

"You know..." I said to Luciana as we drove. "...I certainly don't miss the touring, the hectic schedule. But there is sometime I really miss,".

"What's that?" she asked curiously.

"Singing," I said. "I can sing to myself whenever I like, or sing to you...".

"I love it when you sing to me," Luce said happily.

"Yeah... but you know.... I miss performing on stage,".

"You still can," Luce said. "Start a band with your friends. I'll be in it, I can play drums and write songs. That way you can still sing, it would be on a smaller scale of course but...".

"That's not a bad idea," I said, a smile spreading across my lips. "That's not a bad idea at all...".

>>>>>

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