Tour--Chapter Nine and Ten
Tour--Chapter Nine
I was in shock for a second and I swallowed the piece
of donut I had in my mouth, but I still had sugar on
my face. Nick was looking at me with really
mischievous eyes and Kevin just sat there looking
really amused. I put down the donut and got up "NICK
CARTER GIVE ME THAT CAMERA" I said kind of loud
trying to threaten him but also laughing. I hadn't
realized how loud I said it and that I had woken
everybody else up. I got up and try to jump at him
but he moved quickly and took another picture. By
now Kevin was laughing hysterically and B-Rok, Bone
and Sweet-D were awake and knew what was going on.
Nick and I were both laughing but for different
reasons. If I ever catch you, you are going to be so
sorry. Brian Aaron, and AJ got into it too and we
ended up on the floor laughing and while Brian held
Nick I was giving him a horrible noogie that he'd
remember for a while, while Aaron jumped on his back
and was tickling him half to death. After about 45
seconds of noogies Brian and I let him go and we were
all rolling on the floor laughing. Nick's hair looked
like a battle zone so I grabbed the camera, AJ
smeared some sugar on his face and I took a picture
of him. Kevin and Howie were just laughing so hard
they could barely breath. We ended up taking a whole
roll of film of the 7 of us making really goofy
faces. It took us forever to stop laughing. "Aaahhh
man you guys are going to be the death of me by
laughter..." i sighed as I sat down to try and finish
my donut and orange juice. We were all sitting at
the table with our makeshift breakfast. "I guess we
are all awake now huh..?" Howie asked. "Man I don't
think I've ever had that much fun before I was even
awake.." Kevin sighed. We were all eating very
carefully making sure we didn't have anything on our
faces. "I wish I could see the face of who ever
develops those pictures, they'll think we're
phsycopaths..." Brian said smiling "too bad we don't
have our costumes from Everybody, then they would
really think we were crazy.." Nick retorted laughing
with mischief. "on a different topic, the guy at
Dunkin Donuts thought I was joking when I ordered 4
dozen donuts at 6 o'clock in the morning, he though I
was kidding. I was hoping no one would recognize me
but someone at a table did and asked me for my
autograph. Some people actually wanted me to wake
you guys up" Kevin said in bewilderment." " Speaking
of which..." I interjected " some of the fans can get
really mean..I don't think I've ever been pinched as
many times as I have in the last few days... One girl
actually tried to knock me over last night it was
incredible, I don't know how you guys do it" I said
with bewilderment and aww. "You should have told us.
We shouldn't have let you sit in the crowd. Man I
really don't think sometimes. I should have just let
Rob escort you to the bus.." Nick said apologizing to
me and a bit angry at himself "Its all our faults, we
forget that you aren't used to this kind of stuff.."
the rest of them added in an apologetic tone " hey
guys don't worry about it..its all part of the
experience, I wouldn't trade it for anything in the
world." I responded trying to cheer up the mood "I
love things just the way they are and I don't want to
make you all worry so forget I said anything." The
mood in the bus returned to its gaiety but they all
looked as if they were in deep thought.
"changing the subject again.. ET what were you
writing yesterday while we were warming up on stage?"
AJ asked me seeming truly interested. "Yeah I saw you
sitting there too, you looked so concentrated that I
didn't want to interrupt.." Brian added interested
"Actually I wasn't writing at all, I was drawing you
guys in Conte. I tried to draw Nick and AJ but you
guys were running around like chickens with their
heads cut off saw I drew you and Kevin instead.." I
answered Brian. I then got up and reached in the over
head compartament for my journal. I roamed my hand
around but couldn't find it so I stood on the edge of
the couch and stuck my head in it. To my dismay my
dear journal that had the last 4 months of my art
work in it was not there. I got off the couch and
worriedly asked the guys " Did any of you see my art
journal? its that big black book that won't close,
and I always have it with me. I took it with me
yesterday into the stadium. I was sitting in the
front row drawing....I went to wash my hands and I
put it somewhere so I wouldn't lose it..." By now I
was really worried. While I talked to the guys I was
looking through my duffel bag very meticulously. I
started to get jittery. "if I lost that book I lost 3
months worth of work...did any of you guys see it?
Denise did I hand it to you by any chance?..oh I have
to find it" by now I was really alterated and the
guys had started looking for it too. I was standing
in front of my clothes closet and all of a sudden a
hand behind me held my precious journal in front of
my face. I happily grabbed my journal and turned
around to see who my savior was. I turned around and
found Nick standing there smiling "you must have put
it in my bag so you wouldn't lose it.." he said
extremely pleased wit himself. I hugged him with
such happiness and such strength that all he could do
not to fall was lean against the wall " oh thank you
thank you thank you... you have no idea how much
yu've
saved my butt. I thought I would have had to start
all over again..thank you." I said really fast, the
happiness in my voice evident. I let him go and said
thank you again "no prob, glad to be of service
my lady" I sat back down at the table with a long
sigh. "can I see it?" Aaron asked me " I won't lose
it.." he smiled "knock yourself out, man..I don't
know what I would have done..." " you can put it in
my bag when ever you want, thats one of the few
things
I NEVER forget" Nick said smiling as he sat back down
next to me. "I had forgoten you never finished
showing us your work" Kevin eagerly said. "you guys
can pass it around if you won't. just be careful not
to touch the pages cause the media might come off on
your fingers" I told them. I just sat there as they
looked at my journal. At first I was a bit worried
about sh owing them but then I realized that their
critiques wouldn't really affect me all that much.
Every once in a while I answered some questions they
had. When they got to the drawings of them their eyes
popped out, they just stared "You guys OK, you look
strange ..." I asked them amused "WOW you are
talented, that almost looks like a picture of Nick
sprawled on the floor and AJ passed out on the
couch." Howie said complimenting me. "Do I really
look like that when I sleep you guys?" Nick asked
them. "Nahh she was being nice cause you can't see
the drool.." Aaron told Nick laughing. "Oh yeah.."
Nick grabbed Aaron and gave him a noogie.We all broke
out into laughter. "so are you going to pursue art as
a career?" AJ inquired of me. "Nope, I want to keep
it my hobbie and a sparadic way of making some
spending cash. I want to pursue marine biology as my
career. I dream of being on a cutter in the open
ocean studying the life patterns of whales and
dolphins." The guys kept looking at the drawings and
5 minutes later turned the page to the drawing of
Brian and Kevin at the piano. "That one's not
finished yet" I interjected. "It doesn't matter it
looks awesome" Aaron said staring at the page.
"Thanks you guys". "Hey mom come look at this..Its
Erika's drawing of B-rok and Train. What do you
think?" AJ called his mom over. Denise took the
Journal out of Howie's hands and looked at it. "these
are really good Erika..do you mind if I show them to
some people?" she inquired of me " Thanks, no I don't
mind at all, can I get it back by tonight though?"
"yeah no problem". "We have another hour before we
get to the hotel and we have to be at the stadium at
6 so we can practice some of the choreography" Howie
announced as he got up. "That means that when we get
there we get five whole hours to waste ,you guys up
for some sight seeing?" Brian asked the group. "Yeah,
anybody else up for wandering the streets of
Atlanta?" Howie asked "I'm in""I'm in" "me too" 'me
three" we all answered. "let's have lunch in the city
I'm so sick of hotel food" Kevin commented. "Cool,
sounds good to me" I answered we all got up and went
to did our own thing. I sat in one of the couches on
the left side of the bus so the sun wouldn't hit me
in the face. I sat with my feet on the couch and read
a book I'd been wanting to read for a while. Kevin
and Denise worked on some paper work. Howie sat down
and was working lyrics for a new song. AJ and Nick
sat
in front of the TV playing Superstation, while Brian
read a book and Aaron worked on some math homework.
When we got into the city I noticed that Aaron was
having some problems with his homework so I put my
book down and went to help him. I sat down next to
him 'SO what are you working on?" "I'm having
problems with these algebraic sentences" he told me a
bit frustrated 'Ahh Algebra, how I hated it till I
understood it." I helped him for the next twenty
minutes. "Thanks Erika, you explain it so much easier
than Nick or mom." "no prob bud, I know whats its
like when you don't understand math and you get
frustrated with it. Sometimes you just feel like
screaming, am I right? "yup, instead I just sing
really loud and annoy these guys" we both laughed.
We sat around for another ten minutes talking about
cartoons until we reached the hotel. "ohh man I
really need to go running or swimming, my legs feel
all cramped. "Howie said as we climbed off the bus.
We had to park in the front of the hotel and there
were tons of people there. The guys all wore caps and
glasses so as not to be recognized. The bell boy
offered to take care of our bags but we all wanted to
do it ourselves. We got our bags out of the external
luggage compartment. The guys were recognized twice
and had to stop to give autographs and pictures. We
finally got to
our rooms, they were all on the same side of the hall
and had connecting doors. I got to my room and
unpacked. We would be there only one night and two
days so I only took out the clothes I would use that
day for when we went out and for the concert. I
collapsed on my bed and slept for ten minutes. I got
up and put on my bathing suit. Since it was 11 AM I
decided to go swimming before we went out. I put on a
sun dress over my bathing suit, put on sandals, and
grabbed a towel from the bathroom. I left my room and
before going downstairs knocked on Brian's door. He
opened it and they were all in there. "oh Ok, good
I'll only have to say it once. I'm going swimming at
the pool, I'll be back in time to change before we
leave so don't worry about me, I'm not missing...' I
told them smiling. "OK cool, maybe we'll join you" AJ
said "Allright see you guys in a while. Bye" I said
and headed for the elevator. In the lobby I found
three girls wearing BSB shirts looking around. I went
up to them and they gave me snobby looks. "Are you
guys looking for BSB?-they said yes- their in the
hotel two blocks down I saw their bus pull up to it.
I got a picture with them before at that hotel" I
realized that I was being mean but I also knew that
the guys probably didn't wan't to spend their
afternoon signing autographs and taking pictures. The
girls thanked me and ran out the front door. I headed
for the pool.
To get in the pool you had to open the gate that
required your room key to be opened, at least noone
off the streets could come in. There were some little
kids with their family at the pool, and a couple of
teenage girls and guys, one of the guys was kind of
cute. I was just floating in the pool with my eyes
closed when all of a sudden someone jumped in and
completely splashed me. After I came back up I opened
my eyes and saw Howie and AJ with a devilish smiled
spread across their face. Within 30 seconds the rest
of them jumped in too and we got into a water fight.
As I floated there getting splashed and splashing
them back I couldn't help but gawk at how gorgeous
they all are. We were laughing so hard that we all
swallowed a couple of gallons of chlorinated water.
We finally stopped splashing around cause we were
freaking out some of the other guests. We apologized
"I guess we have to act civilized now huh?" Brian
said laughing "I guess so". We acted civilized for
all
of twenty minutes but couldn't deal with it anymore
and got into a chicken fight. I was on Kevin's
shoulders, Nick on Brian's, and Aaron on AJ's, Howie
was the referee. At one point Nick grabbed my
shoulders and Aaron started tickling me. Nobody won
because we all lost our balance and ended up
underwater. We looked at our watches and decided to
go shower and change so we could have lunch, it was
already 12:15. I was climbing out of the deep end of
the pool up the latter, Brian and Howie were still
in. Suddenly Nick picked me up and threw me into the
pool again. I finally came back up "oh Yeah Frack you
are so gonna get it.." I yelled at him laughing and
started splashing him from in the pool. He and Kevin
ran into the hotel laughing. The three of us got out
of the pool and toweled off. The two girls finally
recognized Brian and Howie and asked them for their
autographs. They wouldn't let the guys leave. Finally
I decided to go up "You guys I'm going to my room to
change, don't take too long." I said to Howie and he
agreed. I headed towards the elevator and just as the
door was about to close they ran in. We didn't say
much on the way up. We separated at our rooms and
agreed that they would come get me when they would be
ready to leave. I showered and changed. It was really
hot outside so I put on a short baby-blue sun dress
and white sandals. I put on sunscreen lipstick and a
blue mascara. I didn't fell like blow drying my hair
so I brushed it and put it up in a transparent-white
claw. I barely had time to sit in a chair that
somebody knocked at my door "ET its us are you
ready?" AJ's voice came through the door. "I'm
coming" I yelled back. I grabbed my purse and
sunglasses, turned the light off and walked out the
room and locked it. The six guys were waiting for me
outside my door. Kevin was wearing Overall shorts and
a navy blue muscle shirt without sleeves, Howie wore
a tight white spandex shirt and black pants, Brian
wore a yellow basketball jersey and baggy jean
shorts, AJ wore a Panthers Hockey jersey and deep
blue pants, Nick was wearing baggy khaki shorts and a
white muscle shirt with a light green short sleeved
shirt over it, Aaron wore baggy jean shorts and a
plain red t-shirt. All the guys except Aaron wore
baseball caps and sunglass so as to not be
recognized. I laughed "Boy i'm glad I don't have to
worry about being recognized". "Allright shall we
go?" Kevin asked "Lets shall" WE all answered. We
walked out the front door of the hotel and were
almost blinded by the sunlight. I put on my
sunglasses to ward off the sun's rays. Outside the
front door were 5 girls obviously looking for the
boys, thankfully they didn't recognize them and we
walked the opposite way. When we were far away as to
not be heard the boys laughed, I figured it was
because they got away without being recognized. The
day was gorgeous and we were all in a good mood. It
took us 15 minutes to reach downtown but we enjoyed
the walk, even though we purposely avoided thick
throngs of people. When we finally got downtown we we
argued for 20 minutes on where to eat. Kevin wanted
Chinese, AJ wanted Mcdonalds, Howie wanted Italian,
and Nick wanted pizza. Aaron and I were just so
hungry that we really didn't care as long as it was
food. Finally I said "You guys me and Aaron really
don't care as long as we get food, and if you don't
feed us soon we'll go eat by ourselves.." In a
slightly irritated tone. "Allright since are two most
important people here don't care I guess I don't care
either and we can eat wherever you guys want" Nick
conceded, "Allright lets go for Chinese" Howie
concluded, and so we wandered around for the nearest
Chinese restaurant, they guys insisted that they knew
were it was. At one point I got tired of walking and
went into a news stand to ask the cashier about the
nearest Chinese restaurant in town. I came back out
and the six of them were just standing there. "Man am
I glad that none of you drive the bus, otherwise we'd
never get there. The cashier said there is one just
around the corner". I said laughing and taunting
them. Within five minutes we were at the chinese
restaurant.
Tour--Chapter Ten
When we got to the Chinese restaurant I turned
around, I had been pulling Howie and Brian by the
hand leading the posse to the restaurant, and said
poking fun at the guys, good thing you have me along
or you would never have gotten here ..." We all
snickered and Howie held the door open for me "ladies
first.." "why thank you Howie you are such a
gentleman". We walked in and were greeted by the
hostess. It took them a few minutes to get a table
together to seat 7 people but we were quickly and
cordially seated. We sat at our table, which the guys
asked be away from the windows and the waitress
brought us our menus. Because we were in a restaurant
the guys couldn't keep on their hats and glasses.
They seemed worried that someone would notice them.
They acted very low key and tried not to stand out
too much. I leaned over the table and said smiling
"don't worry about it, no one will probably recognize
you, there's only adults in here". All of them smiled
and AJ said "you'd be surprised". I suddenly realized
that I didn't know how I should act about the bill, I
was ready to pay for it but I didn't know how it
would happen and how I should bring up the subject.
Kevin saved me. "Since I got to choose the
restaurant, today is my treat you guys." Kevin said
smiling. We all ordered our lunch and sat there
waiting. " I have a great idea for a new song you
guys. Howie and I have been working on it for a week
and we think its ready for all of us to work on it"
AJ said very enthusiastically. "Kevin would have lead
vocals with Nick" Howie chimed in. The guys discussed
the song for a few minutes until the waitress brought
our drinks. By the time she brought us our food we
were all starving and a little impatient. I hadn't
used chopsticks in a while so the first piece of
chicken and broccoli that I picked up fell back in my
plate. "Uh.. Erika you have to hold the food till it
gets to your mouth..." Brian said snickering.
"Really..thanks Bri I though I just had to hold it in
mid-air and it would magically float to my mouth.." I
said rebattling his sarcasm. We all laughed and kept
eating. After a couple of practices I got the hang
of chopsticks again, but not before AJ could say
"really Erika we can get you a fork, if you can't use
the chopsticks" trying not to laugh but failing
miserably, "you guys are so smug, I would love to see
you not be able to do something.." I said evily
smiling back. "Allright guys truce, scores are all
tied, lets eat" Kevin's voice drowned out the rest of
ours as he tried to restore order to the situation.
We ate silently for the next few minutes, everyone
was too hungry to speak, but that didn't stop Brian.
He kept making faces and doing weird things with his
food, finally we all broke down and laughed. "So
Erika how do you like it so far?" Aaron's voice asked
in the middle of one of those famished silences.
"Well I can honestly say that I've never done
anything like this in my entire life. These last few
days have been some of the best of my life. Everyday
I'm amazed at the emotional and psychological
strength that you guys have to have to have gone
through this for the last six years. I admire your
strength.", suddenly all the guys had pensive looks
on their faces. "Thanks Erika. Few people ever really
know how much work and sacrifice goes into what we
do. We feed on each others strengths to make us
stronger. I think thats why we work so well together
and are such good friends" Howie eloquently stated.
"Ahh how sweet.." AJ taunted Howie "but he is right,
we are strong separately but as a unit we are an
unmoving wall". "However we still haven't gotten to
the fun stuff that we do on tour... I say we take her
clubbing you guys.." Nick interjected happily. "Not
tonight guys, remember we have a double header
tomorrow" was Kevin's comment on Nick's suggestion.
"Kevin is right Nick, Remember we have a whole tour
ahead and today is only the third day.." Brian
interjected. "Allright.. but I'm determined to take
you clubbing" He said to me a bit dejected but
smiling. "Allright enough about me.. I want to know
about you guys.. and not the stuff you talk about in
interviews..." I said smiling trying to bring the
mood back up. "OH noo she's gonna find out that we
are crazy.." AJ said being really weird and laughing,
we all laughed and kept eating. We all ate hungrily
and a bit wearily. At one point this girl that looked
to be about 14 came up to the guys and shily asked
for their autographs. It was incredible, within
seconds they became energetic and full of life. They
each gave her their autographs and a hug, she looked
like she would explode with happiness. We finished
our meal and the waitress brought us fortune cookies
and gave Kevin the bill. We all breached the table
and grabbed a cookie. " I go first,-great
opportunities await you in the most obvious place-"
Aaron read his fortune and looked a bit confused
"Well that was vague" "My turn - your hard work will
be honored by your peers- oooh I like the sound of
that" AJ laughed "Allright what is mine -you will
achieve greatness in your life- what is yours Howie?"
Brian asked "inspiration will come to you in a moment
of peace- hey maybe we can finish the lyrics to the
song.."he smiled hopefully. "Me next- a new
mysterious person will enrich your life- ladies next"
Nick said, "oh allrighty - fun and adventure are in
store for you- Kevin your up.." "fun and enjoyment
may pay off better than hard work and monotony- I
guess I have been uptight lately" He said smiling. He
crumpled up his fortune and threw it at Nick. We
ended up having a paper ball fight but we cleaned it
up. We left the restaurant really hyper. Outside the
guys put their disguises back on. We walked down the
street fooling around and skipping trying to burn
some energy..."Allright we have 4 hours to burn, lets
go do something" Howie suggested. "I'm up for horse
back riding how about you guys?" AJ suggested "Cool
but where would we find a place in the city?" Aaron
asked "How about the yellow pages worked last time.."
Brian suggested laughing. We stopped at a phone booth
and Kevin looked for the listing and found a place 10
minutes away. We hailed a cab and it was a mighty
tight squeeze. We decided to go to the hotel and pick
up the van and to change. "I'll drive it around
front, you guys wait for me in the lobby" Howie said
as he went to the parking lot. I ran to my room and
put on jeans and a halter top. I got back down and we
waited in the lobby "Brian stop harrassing the
people, thats my job.." Nick said laughing. We heard
the horn honking and ran outside. We were barely able
to get into the van as six girls started running
toward us having recognized the guys. "hey think
they'll follow us.." Aaron asked AJ, "nahhh they look
too young to drive and our man D here is gonna lose
them in the traffic anyway right?...". Howie turned
the radio on and AJ's voice singing "If I could
right... the wrongs that made you cry.." came through
the speakers. "Wow I wonder who those guys are? They
have really good voices not like you guys.." I said
sounding impressed "Oh yeah.." was all I heard before
AJ, Nick and Brian were on top of me tickling me and
giving me an atomic noogie. "Ahh... man... stop..., I
am sooo...gonna get you guys.." I said in between
laughs. When they decided I had been torchured enough
they let me back up. "Howie did u call the place and
tell them we were coming" I asked "No why?" "OK I'll
call". Kevin handed me the paper with the phone and
address of the stable. I got on the phone..."Shush
you
guys I can't hear the lady on the other end." I
shushed the guys who were fooling around again and
went to the back of the van... "Thats right there's 7
of us and we are all pretty tall, so we'll need
strong horses, can u please leave one unsadled, yes I
know how, ok thank you, we'll be there in 10 minutes,
what Howie? oh ok." I asked the lady for directions
to the stable and hung up, I told Howie the
directions. Ten minutes later we were there. The
temperature had cooled a bit but it was still
horribly hot. We went to the office and I told the
lady my name for the reservation "Hi I'm Mary" we
introduced ourselves. "Boy am I glad you told me you
were tall or I would have given out all the
stallions... I'll walk you to the stables and show
you your horses..." Before we went to the stable AJ
handed her a credit card, I guessed it was a card for
the boy's expenses. I made a mental note to ask
Denise about expenses before the concert. We followed
her to the barn. The whole way there Brian and AJ
talked in a southern accent and Kevin and Aaron
talked like James Dean and John Wayne. She showed us
our horses, mine was named Falcor, he was pure black
with a white star in the middle of his forehead. At
this place you have to saddle your own horse and AJ
and I were the only ones who knew how, so the two of
us and the lady had to show the rest of them how. I
helped Aaron with his since I didn't have to saddle
mine since I was going to ride bareback. About half
an hour later we were finally done. We lead our
horses out the stable and Mary showed us the trail.
Nick and I helped Aaron onto his horse since he
couldn't reach the foot strap. "remember you have to
mount and dismount from the horse's left..I don't
feel like driving you guys to the hospital.." AJ said
to everyone in general slightly amused. "Erika why
don't you have a saddle?" Howie asked me. "I like
riding bareback better, its less stressfull and more
fun" "Yeah us novices have to use saddles... I see
how it is..." Kevin teased, "so your saying that we
are novices..is that what your saying..?" Nick
laughed, "thats exactly what she's saying Frack cause
you are.." AJ made fun of Nick, Aaron burst out
laughing. "Lets mount you guys..." Mary lead their
horses one by one to the wall step so they could
mount, Nick, Kevin didn't need to because of their
height and AJ knew how. After they mounted so did I,
except that instead of using the step I grabbed
Falcor's mane and pulled myself up. "Your a regular
old cowgirl aren't ya? now keep these guys inline"
Mary smiled showing us off. We had been in a fenced
pasture under the blazing sun and we were wearing
long jeans. The trail lead into a wooded area with
lots of shade. It took the guys a while to get into
the rythm of riding and be and AJ just watched in
amusement. I was glad of having chosen to ride
bareback for both mine and the horse's sake. We rode
in a horizontal line except when the trail narrowed
and we followed the leader. "HI HO
SILVER....AWAY...." the guys belted out and broke
into a gallop, I was afraid they'd fall off since
they didn't have much riding experience. I broke into
a gallop after them and caught up. "So whose the
cowboy now...?" Brian said out of breath and
laughing, "no argument here..". Our horses were a bit
tired from the gallop and the heat, so we slowed to a
walk. "Guys maybe we should do a video riding horses,
like a Zorro kind of thing." Howie suggested, "Cool
I'll be the lone ranger.." Aaron suggested and we all
laughed and started talking like cowboys from the old
west. For the next 20 minutes we just rode our horses
in a slow walk and enjoyed the scenery. At one point
the trail coasted a little stream so we stopped to
cool off. "You splashed me.." Nick said trying to
soud annoyed after I and Brian accidentally splashed
him "Oh I'm sorry Nick I was just trying to do
this.." at which point I splashed him with my hand
and got him soaked, the rest of them joined me in
splashing him and we all ended up wet. "Thank
goodness we'll be dry in a few minutes thanks to this
lovely Georgia sun.." Brian said sounding like an
infomertial guy. We sat in this clearing were the sun
shone through the trees, we all felt the exhaustion
of the previous days gain on our bodies. When we were
dry we decided to finish the trail and head back. "Oh
great now we'll have to go around.." Kevin complained
as we spotted a big old tree that had fallen
completely blocking the trail. "No we don't... come
on Falcor" I said and took off cantering on my horse,
he and I jumped the tree and landed on the other side
of the trail. I turned Falcor around to see the guys.
"Thats fine and dandy for you but what do we do..?"
Aaron asked me amused. AJ took off into a canter and
jumped the tree also. Kevin and Brian followed, "You
learn a thing or too living on a Kentucky farm.."
Brian said in a country boy voice. Nick and Aaron
where the only two left on the other side of the
tree. "All you have to do is put him in a canter and
stay close to his body.." I yelled to them trying not
to make them feel bad since they were the only ones
who hadn't jumped it. Nick and Aaron discussed it for
a minute and then they put both their horses into a
canter and headed for the tree. Although a bit
awkwardly they both successfully jumped the tree
without killing themselves " Well done now y'all are
true blue certified cowboys, yesseree.." I said
trying to sound like a hillbilly but breaking into
laughter. We cantered the rest of the trail and were
back at the stables within half an hour. "so did they
behave..?" Mary asked me laughing, "they were perfect
cowboys..". We rode into the stable and dismounted
"You guys remember to stretch and take a hot bath or
you'll be so sore you won't be able to move from the
pain, you were out riding so long even then you might
be a little sore" she told us in a slightly amused
but motherly tone of voice, "thanks Mary, we had a
great time" Kevin said shaking her hand. I helped
Aaron unsadle and brush his horse. I looked at my
watch- 4:15- we would have to wash the horses
quickly. We thanked Mary again "get on the way guys,
I know you have to get ready for tonight, good luck"
"wait you know who you are?" Kevin asked her a little
amazed "Yes, my niece loves you guys, I only
recognized you after you used your nicknames. Every
time she visits me I have a hard time getting her to
shut your CD off. Would you mind signing this for
her.?" she smiled having seen the surprise on the
guys faces. She handed them a date planner and the
boys eagerly signed it. "Is she going to the concert
tonight?" Brian asked Mary "yes I'm taking her to
tomorrows' concert, its her birthday present" "Well
don't be surprised if something happens.." Howie told
her smiling. "Thank You, you are certainly great
young men, she will be thrilled that you signed this
for her, you'll make me her favorite aunt.., now get
going I don't want you to be late for anything and
hundreds of angry teenagers coming after me" we
laughed as we got into the van and thanked her again.
On the way to the hotel we were all beat. "You guys
ok with going to the theater early the guys said they
could use the help" Howie asked from the drivers
seat. No one had a problem with it, even if we did we
didn't feel like arguing. We talked about the
afternoon and all the things we had seen on the trail
ride. "I really think we should do a cowboy/ zorro
kind of video, itd be really cool" Brian started. On
the ride back they bounced around ideas for a song
and a cowboy video to go along with it. I just
listened to how quickly their minds worked and spit
out ideas. We got to the hotel at five o'clock. Nick
was carrying Aaron piggy back style as we walked to
the front of the hotel on the sidewalk from the
parking lot. The same girls as earlier recognized the
guys again and came running and screaming towards us.
This time the guys stayed and signed autographs and
took pictures. The girls still didn't want to leave
and the boys' bodyguards came out and helped us get
into the hotel. For some reason the girls wouldn't
let me leave either and kept asking me questions that
they wanted to ask the guys. When we got to our floor
we found Denise heading for the elevator "man you
kids stink like a barn, what have you been doing all
afternoon?" we laughed and she gave us a strange look
so AJ explained to her what we had been doing.
"Sounds like you had fun, well don't forget to be at
the theater at 6:30 for rehearsal. I'm going there
now, I'll take a cab and John will drive you guys
there. You have to take your own bags today, they are
in your rooms. If you can air out the van... so it
won't smell as bad as you do.. and PLEASE take a
shower" she said and left. We each went to our own
rooms to shower and get dressed. We met in the lobby
at 5:30. The guys were carrying their bags, I noticed
that their bags were of each of their own favorite
colors. I was wearing a beige skort and a GUESS
t-shirt tucked in, I didn't put any aake up on
because
my skin was still moist from moisturizer. They were
wearing what seemed like regular street clothes but
in close observation I could tell it was really
expensive looking street clothes. Howie was wearing
overhalls with a purple t-shirt and a pair of silver
bug-eye glasses holding his hair like a head band.
Nick was in a panthers hockey jersey and khakis,
Aaron in baggy blue shorts and matching tee, Kevin in
a blue shirt and sweats, Brian and AJ were both in
clean long blue jeans, AJ had a short sleeved baggy
blue shirt with orange stripes and Brian in a green
baggy shirt.
I walked out the front first checking for maniac
fans, and when the coast was clear we ran for the van
that Jon had parked out front waiting for us. I the
van I decided that I would call my parents when we
got to the theater. It took 10 minutes to get there
so we just chilled in the van listening to the radio.
We got there without any fan encounters. Inside I
helped the stage craft people move speakers and
amplifiers around. When everything was sort of set up
I sat in a corner out of everyone's way and dialed my
home number on my cell phone. I talked to my dad
first for about 10 minutes. He asked me typical dad
questions like "Are you getting into trouble?, Are
you remembering to use your manners? don't get into
trouble.." that sort of stuff. Finally he broke down
and told me he missed my constant chatter. Then I
spoke to my mom and asked me the same things. She
asked me if I liked my matching out fits and she told
me she taped my interview on TV and I did great. We
talked for 10 more minutes. Out of the corner of my
eye I saw Howie drinking his erbal tea "hold on a sec
mom.." I motioned for Howie to come over and I handed
him the phone "Good evening Mrs.Terrosa, yes Erika is
behaving better than the rest of us, we've had to
bail her out only twice so far.." I heard my mom
laughing. Me and her finished our conversation and I
told her I'd call her as soon as I could and I hung
up. Me and Brian helped the crew set up the
instruments while Nick practiced on his drums. The
time flew by and before I realized it people started
filing into the seats so I went into the dressing
room to freshen up and put on some make up,since I
knew I would be taking pictures. Ten minutes later
some radio DJ brought two girls who had won backstage
passes backstage, one was 12 and the other 15. Denise
and I introduced ourselves to them and I went to call
the guys. When the six of them came over I thought
the two girls were going to pass out from excitement.
The boys signed autographs and took tons of pictures
with them, the girls even wanted me in the pictures.
In some of them Nick and AJ decide to be psychos and
made really funny faces. Then the boys had to go
change and the girls and I stood by the food tray
talking. They were so nervous even after the guys
left that they talked 20 miles an hour. The three of
us talked about all kinds of stuff. They asked me
what it was like to live with them in their bus. I
told them about some of the stuff we did. Denise
asked me to be on teddy bear detail, so as soon as
the bears and flowers started flying me and two other
people were out there picking them up and putting
them in a bag backstage that would go to the
children's hospital the next morning. I left the two
girls with the really annoying radio DJ and Denise. I
had never seen so many teddy bears in my entire life.
I went back and found the guys in their outfits
taking some more pictures and chatting with the
girls. Then it was time to start the concert and one
of the body guards took the girls to their front row
seats, all the other fans eyed them green with envy.
The concert went by without a hitch, and even though
I was tired I was all hyper just like the guys. Aaron
opened for them with 4 songs from his new CD. The
entire time I stood just off stage dancing to the
boys and lip singing along, making sure no one could
see me. I decided to keep the water cooler by me for
when the guys got thirsty. A couple of times during
the show one of the guys would look at me for a water
bottle and I would toss one to them. It must have
been strange for the fans to see a water bottle come
flying from out of nowhere and the guys catching it.
In one part Brian and AJ completely drenched Howie
just for the hell of it, at least it was right before
a costume change. After the concert was over the two
girls cam back on stage, thankfully none of the
equipment had to be moved since the next show was in
the same place. The guys talked with the two girls
for about half an hour, and then the girls were
escorted to their car by the DJ and a security guard.
The eight of us walked silently to the backstage
entrance knowing we would have to make a run for the
van. At the door four body guards were waiting for
us. When we ran out two of them were in front of us
and the other two pulling up the rear making sure
none of us got grabbed by fans. When we opened the
door it was like walking through a wall of noise. The
fans were screaming like there was no tomorrow. We
ran as fast as we could and literally fell into the
van. I sat by a window and watched girls pushing
their faces against it from the outside trying to
sneak a peek of the boys. I couldn't even imagine the
kind of rumors that must have been floating around
the internet about me and the guys.
Howie sat down next to me. The physical exhaustion
of the past 5 dives completely overtook me and I fell
asleep within minutes of having gotten on the van. It
was a very peaceful sleep, the kind that you ahve
when you've pulled four all-nighters studying for
that history final. I was slightly conscious of the
van getting parked in the parking lot of the hotel. I
was also conscious of feeling one of the guys pick me
up and carry me all the way around the front. There
must have been fans in front of the hotel because I
sensed a sudden increase in noise volume but I was
too tired and was enjoying the sleep too much to
care. I figure that which ever of the guys carried me
had a bodyguard help him muscle his way through fans.
He carried me all the way to my room and Denise must
have opened the door cause she was the only one with
access to my room. The next thing I remember was
waking up in my hotel room dressed in the clothes of
the night before, in my bed under the covers. I
noticed that the sun was shining brightly through my
window through the partly closed blinds.
Read on!
