Tour--Chapter Thirteen and Fourteen
Tour--Chapter Thirteen
The next few days were a blurred routine. We got to
the hotel at around 4 in the morning.The bodyguards
battled us through anywhere from 5 to 5,000 fans who
crowded the entrances to the hotels to see the
guys.For a second I wondered how they all knew the
hotel we stayed at and then quickly remembered my
online BSB sistas. I laughed at knowing what went on
online that the guys didn't know about. We would
check
into our rooms and sleep till around noon.The whole
time I planned my revenge on Nick. Although we all
wanted to take off on our own we couldn't because the
guys had to rehearse some new moves with Fatima. I
got to know the whole crew really well. While the
guys rehearsed I spent my time either helping out or
drawing in my journal. Obie, the saxophonist is
extremely cool, he let me draw his funky hair while
he practiced with the guys. I drew so much that while
we were in North Carolina I actually had to buy a new
journal, I bought two just in case. Denise and I
talked with the security chief-Randy. They told me
that they finally decided that for my own safety I
had to have a security guard. My security guard's
name was Jeff. At first it felt really weird to
always have him near me but I figured it was better
than getting jumped by angry fans.In the last few
days I had noticed that although Nick and i still
goofed around he seemed to be acting a little
different,I couldn't pinpoint what was different but
I could sense it.
Before rehearsal we weren't supposed to go
anywhere but Brian and I snuck out before practice
with our body guards and hit the mall for a quick
shopping spree. It was really short though. "Donna
and the guys are going to be so upset...they are
going to kill us..hehe." I said to Brian while we
were rummaging through basketball jerseys in
Footlocker. "I know but theyll get over it,Aj and I
have done it before no biggie..." he responded
laughing. I was surprised that the bodyguards didn't
object but then again their job was keep us safe.
Brian bought a jersey and I bought rollerblades, my
old ones were broken. The cashier must have been
about 17 and she recognized Brian so he happily gave
her an autograph. That was the first time that I
didn't have to feel stressed about spending money
shopping since along with my cell I got a limit less
credit card in my name for shopping. We were goofing
around in the stores acting all crazy and getting
really loud in the mall. We weren't paying attention
to the fact that the mall was packed with teenagers
and although Brian was in full disguise a whole bunch
of girls recognized him. They were still pretty far
away from us and we saw that they recognized us so we
made a run for the parking lot. Even running away he
kept making voices like mighty mouse. "here he comes
to save the day...." we laughed all the way to the
car and so did the guards. We got in the van fast
enough to see a whole bunch of girls running to the
front entrance screaming and looking for Brian. Its
enough to say that when we got back to the theater
everyone was waiting for us and they weren't exactly
happy to see us. The only thing they commended us on
was for taking the bodyguards. Howie finally got
everyone to see that we hadn't done anything wrong
since we were only gone for 1 hour and we didn't fall
behind schedule, we just had them looking for us like
crazy. Donna and randy were upset but relieved to see
us. On the other hand the guys were upset that we
hadn't taken them along. "I'm sorry but it would have
been too obvious if ALL of us had suddenly
dissapeared.." Brian explained trying to get us off
the hook as we smiled at each other for having almost
gotten away with it. Kevin wasn't happy ,he said he
was dissapointed in our behavior, I guessed that that
was the responsible side of him coming out. While at
the mall I knew they weren't gonna be too happy that
we went without them so I bought them each a little
something. "Allright I'm sorry, next time we'll all
skip together.." I said with an-I'm sorry-smile on my
face and puppy dog eyes. "Just so there's no hard
feelings I got u all something...AJ,the funkiest
sunglasses I could find(I reached into the shopping
bag and pulled out the sunglasses, ran over to him
and put them on his face)" "really you didn't have to
do that...these are awesome thanks.." he said with a
big smile on his face and giving me a big bear hug
"humh your welcome...,D.. I got you this retro black
and white shirt like the one that got ripped last
week at the press conference...hope it fits...-I gave
him his shirt and got a big hug in return- humh your
welcome...Kevin, do you have any idea how hard it is
to shop for you..-I said laughing and everyone else
joining in- but none the less I think you'll like
this...-and I pulled out a royal blue 'phat farm'
cap-..."your right I love it thanks" ".. humh your
welcome..I thought to myself that these guys are just
huggers by nature...next... Nick, I got you dum da
daa.. the latest Beanie Baby...Feather the Seagull".
I handed it to him and he thanked me profously and
gave me a huge hug, "I dont think you'll have any
more room Nick, they are already all over the
place..." Brian teased Nick " oh well I guess we can
dump someone over the side of the bus....hehe" we all
laughed. "and last but certainly not least,for my new
little bro Aaron, I got you.....the new
teletubbie...." I never expected him to like it so
much he almost knocked me on the floor with his hug.
"Hey your welcome". "Hey whats up with this I took
you shopping..." Brian said to me sounding upset and
dejected. He was giving me these irrisistable puppy
dog eyes "aaww Brian...don't do that...how was I
supposed to get you something when you were with
me...don't give me those puppy eyes,I can't take
it..." I ran over to him. He was truly enjoying
making me suffer. I hugged him and gave him a big fat
kiss on the cheek. I left big lips on his cheeck with
my lipstick. "There you go I gave you a tatoo in loco
coco on your cheeck..." I smiled and everyone laughed
some more. Donna told Brian it made him look sexy.
The rest of the day passed as smoothly as could be
imagined. Although I did get a sort of lecture on
security from everyone and their cousin. It was
around four o'clock in the afternoon."Guys get in
here for a sec.." Kevin called from one of the tables
backstage. It took about five minutes for everyone to
get there and chill out. "Ok Donna go ahead" he said
and we all turned and looked at Donna. "Ok well we
just got a new schedule of appearances that you guys
have to do this tour, that includes you Erika. All
the talk shows want to have the six of you on and
talk to you about touring with us. When she said that
a cold chill of worry went down my back. Local news
is one thing but being on a national talk show is
completely different. Howie put his hand on my
shoulder and mouthed 'don't worry you'll be ok'. Ok
heres the schedule, We have Oprah, Vibe, MTV summer
share, MTV Video Music Awards,we're still checking on
the Rock and Jock game, and you've been invited to
the Grand Opening of the new Planet Hollywood.I just
got this list an hour ago while certain people were
out caravanting through the town. Hopefully I'll have
a complete schedule by tomorrow and in two days at
the latest. Next thing on the agenda, you guys know
how John Norris was supposed to do a backstage
special on us?....well he broke his leg so the record
company and MTV said that we could do it....I would
have the guys do it but they are still trying to get
the new routines down, soo Erika....I know your not
used to the cameras yet but would you mind doing
this? we rather have you do it than John
anyway....The camera men are meeting us at the hotel
tomorrow and you just have to like show them around
and stuff.." Everyone was silent for a second. In my
head I could picture myself screwing up on camera.
Then I thought of Howie's encouraging words and two
more seconds later I realized that this was another
chance of a life time and even if I did screw it up I
would be able to tell my grandkids that I hosted a
national show once. I saw a lot of bragging rights in
the opportunity."Allright Donna I guess, just as long
as you guys help me out,unlike you I've never done
any of this before and I'm not used to it like you
guys are"."hey allright cool" Obie patted my back in
approval.Aaron jumped on my back piggy back style and
we ran around like mad people screaming. Me, Donna,
Denise, the guys, all the security guards,Randy and a
couple of other people I wasn't familiar with sat
around a big table and discussed what would happen
the next day. Although it wouldn't be live we only
had two shot to carry this out. We all had to get up
really early. I had given up on going through a day
without their sweat on me, they got the biggest kick
out of hugging me when they were sweaty, not that I
minded at all. While at the mall I thought of the
greatest trick to play on them. The show was an early
afternoon show and we decided that we were gonna go
clubbing that night even though we had to the the MTV
thing the next day. The show started with the guys
exploding on stage with their personal version of "If
your Happy and You Know It" The third song was going
to be 'Lets Have a Party". When the first part of
'Party' started Aaron, the guys of 95 South, Denise,
Donna, Johnny, Nina, Gary and I positioned ourselves
on the sides of the stage and shot the guys with
multicolored silly string. We each had two cans to
use, Denise snuckout and bought it during rehearsal.
At first the guys and the fans both had no idea what
was going on but it was ok because everyone on the
crew knew and security about it except the guys.
Although they were shocked they kept singing while
they were beginning to be covered by a blanket of
silly string. Kevin and Nick looked at each other and
smiled Kevin ran towards me and Nick ran
towards Aaron who was on the other side. Aaron and I
both tried to struggle and run but I ended up over
Kevin's shoulder and Aaron over Nick's. By the time
they got us in the middle of the stage they finished
the song. The crowd had gotten over the silly string
gag but were now in shock. They put us down in the
middle of the stage. I was glad that Donna had made
me dress like the guys at every show, otherwise Id be
standing in front of 21,000 people in cutoffs and a
tank top. I resigned to the idea of being on stage
and stood with my arms linked in Howie and Kevin's.
Brian stepped to the edge of the stage "Well you know
who we are and I think the party already started" he
said laughing into the microphone to the crowd."You
probably already know these pranksters...." he said
turning around to look at us. Aaron and I stepped
forward and took a bow of pride. "HOW ARE YOU ALL
DOING TONIGHT......?" Aaron screamed "You all know me
I'm Aaron Carter" at that point Nick picked up Aaron
and put him on his shoulder "and hes my little
bro..." "And this beautiful young lady is Erika who
you all probably know who... she won our Tour
contest" Howie said stepping forward and all the guys
stood side by side with me in the middle with all our
arms around each other's shoulders. I was extremely
nervous and exhilirated all at the same time and the
racing outfit didn't help with the sweating. I
figured
I had to say something but all the mikes were still
backstage so I looked to the side of the stage and
Denise tossed me a cordless microphone. "HOW ARE YOU
ALL DOING TONIGHT.....?" I screamed into the mike and
the crowd screamed back.I looked into the crowd and
met hundreds of evil eyes glaring at me but then I
recognized some of my online friends
Jenn,Nicki,Theresa, and Janice. I waved to them and
they waved back "This is going to be a great show and
there might be a few surprises here and there. THERES
ONLY ONE RULE..YOU CAN'T SIT STILL< YOU HAVE TO SING
ALONG AND HAVE FUN. I'll Leave you to the five guys
you came to see. ENJOY THE SHOW" The crowd screamed
again. We hugged the guys, waved to the crowd and ran
back backstage. When I got back I was hyper from
excitement and nerves. Donna and Denise patted me on
the back,hugged me and told me I did a great job. The
girls that were the opening act were laughing but
really happy for me. We stood around while I tried to
process what had just happened. Andre(the
photographer) said he got some great shots of the
guys and me looking surprised and shocked. We all
laughed about their reactions to the trick and to my
facial expressions when Kevin dragged me out there. I
laughed half embarrased. The rest of the concert went
on sort of as usual. Although the guys only had three
costume changes they looked back every once in a
while as if wondering what would happen next, but we
didn't pull anymore tricks on them, at least not for
this concert. Because they had two shows in North
Carolina we stayed at a hotel in Charlotte. After the
concert we made our way through the mass of fans at
the back door.Not at all to my surprise the girls
were also back there. While we were waiting backstage
for the guys to change, it only took me 10minutes to
change into a silk shirt and shorts, I asked Donna
and Randy for permission and me and Jeff went out and
found them and brought them backstage. They were so
sphyched we talked for a few minutes and caught up on
all the gossip.I introduced them to Donna,
Denise,Jeff,Aaron, and 95 South.I asked them if the
guys said yes if they wanted to go clubbing with us
later but they told me that since they didn't live
there they would be going back home that night. Just
then the guys came backout. AJ was the first one out
since he only threw on sweat pants and a muscle
shirt.I got another sweaty hug and I introduced them
to him, they also got a sweaty hug but from their
looks of exhilaration they didnt seem to mind. Slowly
the guys all made their way out of their dressing
rooms and the girls were introduced to them. We
invited them to come with us but they had to catch a
plane back home. We said goodbye and Jeff escorted
them back outside. The guys were finally ready and we
took off. We stepped out side and made our way to the
limo. It took about 15 minutes to cross about 10
yards of parking lot. The fans had climbed over the
fences and the guards were trying to escort them out.
On our way to the limo the guys AND I were literally
assaulted by the fans. We finally reached the limo
out of breath and fell in it. "Damage check guys..."
Brian snickered but was completely serious "Looks
like I need a new bag.." AJ sighed looking at the
tattered remains of what was the pocket of his
backpack. "I'm gonna need to buy a few buttons to sew
this on..." Howie exclaimed looking at the collar on
his shirt missing all three buttons. "I'm just a
little stretched.."Kevin said trying to find any
damage on himself "same here.." exclaimed Brian "I
think I'm gonna need to either wear tighter hats or
cut my hair.. they took my hat..." Aaron sighed
touching his hair which had been pulled almost out of
the roots and thinking of his Nike cap that had been
ripped off his head. "I think I need to wear turtle
necks.." Nick said feeling his throat. We all looked
at him and saw a stream of blood running down his
neck and staining his shirt and intense pain in his
eyes as he tried to understand what had happened.
Someone had tried to rip his gold chain off so
violently that in the process they burned and cut his
skin with the pointed edge of the anchor charm. His
neck was bleeding. "dang it Nick your neck is
bleeding..." Kevin said evidently worried. It wasn't
like when a little scratch bleeds, it was really
bad... "Hold on I got a tissue.." I said as
everything I learned in a year of First Aid kicked
back into my brain. I pulled out the cloth tissue out
of the back of my pocket. He was sitting directly
across from me. "Ok, don't worry its clean.."I said
seeing an hilarious look of pain and worried disgust
in his eyes. I folded the handkerchief into a square
large enough to cover the cut. I reached over and
placed it on the cut on the right side of his neck. I
put pressure on it "Ok Nick you have to hold on to
this and keep pressure on it and it'll stop the
bleeding. Its not an arteries otherwise you'd be
unconscious from hemorrhaging." I kept my hand on the
handkerchief and he placed his hand over mine to hold
the handkerchief. The guys looked on with worry and
amazement. "Why are you guys staring at me...?" I
said as I turned my head to see them staring. "Well
actually for a couple of reasons..." AJ said slightly
amused "One is HOW DID YOU KNOW WHAT TO DO?" Aaron
asked amazed "I took a full year of First Aid, Sports
Medicine,and CPR last year. I figured it would help
me in any stage of life.." "The second is that Nick
looks like he got jumped by Dracula.."Brian laughed
looking at Nick obviously in pain as he held the
handkerchief in place while I kept my hand over his
to make sure to apply pressure. "Ok well hold off on
the third..." I said lifting the handkerchief to look
at the cut. The bleeding hadnt fully stopped and it
looked kind of deep. Wethere he needed stiches or not
he nded to go to the mergency room to get it checked
out. "We should go to the emergency room I think you
might need stiches Frack, it doesnt look too good"
"we've got it covered doc we'll be there stat..."
Brian smircked and turned around and told the driver
to head for the closest hospital emergency room.
Simultaneously Kevin pulled out his cell and called
Denise and Donna. They had stayed back to get some
things done. He told them the situation and where we
were going. I got Howie who was sitting next to Nick
to move over to my spot and I sat next to Nick so itd
be easier to hold on to the handkerchief and check on
it. We were there in less than 5 minutes. Thankfully
the hospital was 3 blocks away from the hotel and by
the time we had seen what had happened we were very
close to the hospital. "Can I ask you
something...Didn't you feel it?" Howie said trying to
liven up the mood but also being completely serious
and astonished. "Well when we were trying to get to
the car I felt this like long stinging burning
sensation on my neck but I just figured that somebody
scratched me with their nails and then I didnt
really
feel it and I didnt feel the blood cause of al lthe
sweat ...." Nick said slowly, his usual gayety gone
as his eyes were filled with pain. "Dont worry by the
time they get through with you the worst it'll look
will be as if you had cut yourself shaving..." I said
trying to make him feel better and liven everyone
up. Thankfully Aaron and kevin helped "yeah now baby
Nick will have battle scars like a militia man.."
Kevin joked "Yeah Nick, you'll look like warrior.."
Aaron added. We all laughed including Nick, he had a
bit of color back into his cheecks. Thankfully there
was little traffic since it was all trying to get out
of the parking lot of the theater we had just left.
We reached the emergency room. Stepping out of the
car I felt a slight breeze down my back but figured
that my shirt had come out and payed no attention to
it. The five of them stepped out and then I stepped
out followed by a very pale Nick trying to hold onto
my bloody teal handkerchief at his throat. We were
all afraid that the emergency room would be full but
were glad to find it almost empty of patients. Kevin
and Howie went to the front desk and explained the
situation as best as they could. They gave them 4
sheets of paperwork to fill out. Brian decided to do
it while Nick was being examined by the male nurse.
AJ was hanging out with Aaron trying to distract him
from the whole ordeal while Kevin was on the phone
with Donna explaining to her how to get to the
hospital. >Howie and I followed Nick into the
examination room since I was still holding onto the
handkerchief. With a lot of will power Nick would
have been able to hold it himself but between the
physical exhaustion,stress, and pain it was easier
for me to hold on to it. The nurse removed the bloody
handkerchief.He started asking im a whole bunch of
question "are you allergic to any medications? I know
this is rediculous but are there any possibilities
that you could be pregnant?" The three of us looked
at each other and laughed. "Do you seriously want me
to answer that?" Nick asked him with a bit of
laughter "No I was just trying to make you forget the
pain.." The four of us burst out laughing. He
examined the cut. "exactly how did this happen?" the
nurse asked Howie and I explained it to him. "Ok well
putting pressure on it to stop the bleeding was the
best thing you could have done.I'm glad to see you
knew what to do and didn't panic.The reason you
didn't
feel any real pain at first is because although its
not life threatening it is pretty deep." "OK this
might hurt a lot.." he cleaned and disinfected the
cut. Nick made no gestures of pain but it was evident
in his eyes. Howie had his hand on Nick's shoulder
and I had him squeezing my hand when he felt pain.
"Ok I don't know if you can see this but the cut is
really close to the arterie and the vocal cords.
Another inch and you'd be in serious trouble. He had
to open the wound and clean the inside. It must have
been extremely painful because he became pale as a
ghost but he never made any suggestion that he was in
pain. Howie left and Brian took his place. "Hey bro
hope your not pregnant..." everyone smiled "don't
Donna is on the phone with your mom getting all your
medical history. I think they even ask the name of
your dog's parents.." we all smiled again but it
didn't
make Nick's pain go away. "Ok well I'm done here but
you are gonna need stiches so the doctor is gonna
come in and do that".The nurse left and the three of
us sat there in silence waiting."well at least you
wont be missing the clubs. We've just been told that
the filming schedule was moved out an hour so none of
us can go out anyway." Although he looked
dissapointed NIck was preoccupied. He hadn't said
much we figured it hurt too much to talk. They moved
us to an actual room with cement walls and not
curtains for walls. Here all the guys were allowed in
along with Donna and Denise. Nick had to lie down on
a high bed near the wall. A doctor came in within 5
minutes and introduced himself with a nurse trailing
behind with a tray in her hands. He inspected the cut
again and looked at a chart. "Well young man you
certainly were lucky. Because the cut was made by
metal we'll have to give you a tetanus shot,
unfortunately it has to be in your leg". Luckily Nick
was wearing very baggy sweatpants and he was able to
roll them up to his thigh. Having a dread of needles
I stood so as that I was looking into Nick's face
instead of the needle. "I'm like that too.." He said
to me with a half smile and looked at me instead of
the needle. "Ok now let me look at this again.." I
moved to the other side of Nick so the doctor had a
better view. "Ok well you are going to need stitches
but unfortunately I can only give you a very minimal
anesthetic because I cannot insert a syringe into
your neck.That means that its probably going to hurt
a lot. On the other hand if you take care of it and
it heals properly you wont have a scar.". The guys
made some smart comments about Nick always having a
baby face. The doctor proceeded in giving him a
epidurmus anesthetic. Nick closed his eyes and
prepared himself for the pain. I held his hand
tightly and he squeezed back. It took the doctor
about 15 minutes to carefully put in the stitches. It
was obviously extremely painful because by the end my
hand was numb by how hard Nick had squeezed it,
although I'm sure it was considerably less painfull
for me. "I'm all done I just have to write your
prescription. You'll have to get the stiches checked
on in 10 days and if all is well removed 6 days after
that.It'd be best if at least for tonight you speak
as
little as possible,just to get everything a little
rested. You will be able to sing but you'll have to
do a bit less of it and some extra warm up. You have
to keep a dressing on it until they are removed and
change the dressing every day. I'll give your
prescription to your manager and you can go. Oh here
are same pain killers to get you through till you get
the prescription filled".
We all thanked the doctor and walked out of the room.
Even in the hospital we had to get through several
fans,and although the guys were happy to oblige Nick
stood against the wall trying to be invisible like a
fly on a wall.We walked out of the hospital mine and
Brian's arms around Nick's shoulders for moral
support. Kevin walking directly behind Nick with his
hands on his shoulders and AJ and Howie walking one
on eachside protectively. By then all the bodyguards
were there like a wall around us. I doubt any passer
by saw anything except the bodyguards. It was
already dark outside. We all sat down in the limo
with
heavyness. The driver handed Nick a glass of water
and he swallowed the pain killers. We had a police
escort to the hotel so we were there in less than 5
minutes. We had spent about 2 1/2 hours in the
hospital but there were still a couple hundred fans
outside the hotel. I figured that randy called police
headquarters because the entrance to the hotel was
cleared with barricades and 1 police officer keeping
fans at bay at every barracade. It looked like the
parting of the red sea. We swiftly walked in, the
guys not stopping for pics or autographs. We took the
elevator to our floor and all went into Nick's
room.He hadn't said anything since the anesthetic.
Nick layed down in the bed and the rest of us sat in
either the chairs strewn throughout the room or the
couch.A physically and mentally exhausted silence
blanketed the room. Kevin opened the window curtains
to reveal a view of the pool and a clear summer sky
filled with stars.
Tour--Chapter Fourteen
When Kevin opened the curtains moonlight flooded the
> room. Noone felt like turning the lights on, after
> the brightness of the hospital a little darkness was
> welcome. Aaron was stretched out on the bed next to
> Nick trying to comfort him as Nick always comforted
> him. Denise, Donna, and Randy walked in and turned
> the lights on. We shielded our eyes from the
> brightness as if we were vampires. "Hey guys.....man
> u all look like ghosts." Randy said trying to lift
> everyone's mood. We weren't worried so much as were
> were exhausted from the stress of worrying and having
> to be in the hospital. No one moved. I stayed in the
> teal green comforter seat closest to the window and
> across from the bed. AJ, Howie, and Kev who had
> returned to the couch sat on my left directly across
> from the bed while Bri sat in the comforter seat near
> the right side of the bed.
> "Nick how are you feeling?" Randy asked him. Nick sat
> up and leaned against the backboard "I'm pretty much
> fine Randy, but the anesthetic is starting to wear
> off. The doctor said Ill be fine. He said I'll only
> be sore till about tomorrow afternoon because of the
> stitches.
> I'll be fine with the pain killers..."Nick said
> forcing a smile through the pain. "Oh lovely.. all
> the talking and noise..and running around..." Randy
> said laughing and everyone joined in,it seemed to
> bring up Nick's spirits. "Ok well we have a few
> things. After this incident we are supin' up security
> till the end of the tour, oh and next time be more
> careful and don't stop, would you please, you are
> making my job a lot harder, that goes for all of you
> and you Ms." He was being serious but smiled "Erika
> you'll have to wear some extra badges but we designed
> them to be stylin'" "hey you never do that for us,
> ours are always really dorky lookin'", Nick managed
> to say with conviction in his voice "didn't u know,
> thats cause I don't like u guys.." Randy responded
> smiling. "Ok my turn now.."Donna said moving closer
> to the center of the room. "I just got off the phone
> with Lou and we are postponing the behind the scenes
> filming till later on, I don't know when but at least
> until your stitches come off. That means that you
only
> have the 5 song cover set for the radio show and you
> have the rest of the day off. Knowing you guys I
> already got the names and adresses of all the golf
> courses,malls, outlets, and clubs in town I'll leave
> it on the table. Second thing is they finished fixing
> the bus early so instead of next week we'll have to
> do all the moving tomorrow. Third thing is.. you guys
> got a whole bunch of packages today.The main desk
> will be sending them up in a while. Fourth thing,
> we've already made a statement about the incident so
> when you are asked, cause we all know you will, just
> tell them the truth. And last but not least, Nick
> your mom wants you to call her,we already told her
> what happened.OH if u want to read some mail its in
> the bus...OK I guess thats it. We'd rather you don't
> go out tonight at least you have more free nights
> this tour so just take it easy guys. OK we'll be
> going. Call if u need anything". While Donna talked
> Randy had left obviously to attend to something. Now
> Donna left and Denise was the only one left. "alright
> Nicky how you feeling..." Denise stayed a few more
> minutes checking on Nick like any mother would. When
> she was convinced that he was ok she left to get the
> prescription filled. She must have had the front desk
> people do it cause within 5 minutes she was back with
> it filled,she gave them to Kevin. Nick had fallen
> asleep while Donna talked. "Kev you have the pain
> killers right.." Nick asked from his sitting position
> as he woke up when the Denise left the second
> time."aaawwww poor baby is hurting..." AJ mocked him
> "Bite me bone" Nick said defending himself and
> accurately nailed AJ with a pillow. "Yeah dude right
> here.." Kevin tossed Nick the bottle and got him a
> glass of water from the bathroom. Nick swallowed the
> pills with the water. "So how u feelin' bro?" Aaron
> asked him "Better, the pain killers are kicking in
> and it doesn't throb as much anymore. I'm just upset
> we didn't get to go clubbing. I ruined everyone's
> night." Nick said to everyone apologetically
> "Don't stress Frack" AJ said "we have lots more
> nights to go out, plus we all need the rest and we
> have stuff to do" Howie added non chalantly. While
> they talked I made my way to the refrigerator for a
> drink. "completely changing the subject you guys
> never told me the third reason why u were staring at
> me in the limo" I said as I walked to the
> refrigerator, I had my back to them. I felt another
> cold chill go down my back. As I said that I heard a
> few gasps and chuckles from the guys. "OK what did I
> miss" I said turning around thinking one of them had
> done something funny. When I turned I met their
> amused eyes. Aaron was about ready to burst into
> tears of laughter. "Huhmh Erika...."Nick and Brian
> said quite amused and pleased with themselves "What
> is so funny..?" "Humh Erika, go like this.."AJ said
> to me showing me to put my hand on my back as if I
> were scratching an itch on my back. I did and instead
> of feeling my silk shirt I felt the skin on my back.
> "What the heck..?" as I felt the skin I turned my
> head to try to look at it. Aaron came up behind me
> and pulled the shirt back so I could see. I had three
> long gashes down the back of my shirt as if a wolf
> had clawed my shirt. "It looks like Wolverine got to
> you. Probably the same person that got to me." Nick
> said from his comfortable position. I walked to the
> bathroom mirror and examined the damage. "we were
> gonna tell you but with the whole thing with Nick we
> kind of forgot till we walked out of the hospital"
> Brian said smirking "Thats why I was walking directly
> behind you. I didn't think you'd appreciate strangers
> looking.." Kevin said smiling. From the mirror I
> could see that you could basically see my entire
> back, including my bra strap, through the gashes.
> "You know you guys are so helpfull in telling me
> things.." I said turning around and throwing a mini
> shampoo bottle at Brian and Kevin. " I was walking
> around exposed and you didn't tell me." By now I
> started laughing " I dont even want to know what the
> people at the hospital were thinking...." I burst out
> laughing recalling the strange looks I got from the
> nurses, doctors and patients "I was wondering why the
> people at the hospital were giving me nasty looks".
> By now we were all laughing. Aaron pulled some safety
> pins from a drawer and tried to pin the back of my
> blouse kind of shut, but it was useless. "allright I
> guess I have to go change now anyway, and may I
> suggest you all do the same..." I said smirking. The
> pain killers were obviously working cause Nick also
> burst into laughter. "Since you all find this so
> amusing Im gonna go change...I might go do some
> laundry if I find the machines..." I said this as I
> walked out of the room. I went to my room and put on
> the last clean shirt I had, it was the one Kevin had
> given me. Even though I had worn it before it still
> smelled like him I got all my stuff together and told
> Jeff where I would be.I was surprised at how much
> dirty clothes I had. I picked up my Anne McCaffrey
> book and cell phone and headed for the front desk.
> After finding out where to go I left a message to
> Jeff and Randy of where I would be just as they had
> told me to do. I remembered what the guys had asked
> me before I left and also told them to hold any
> packages for our rooms till the morning. After
> putting my clothes to wash I sat on top of the
> machine and began reading my book. I must have been
> deep into the book becase I didnt notice Howie
> walking in and putting his clothes in the machine
> across the room. " Man it must be a really good book
> if u didn't hear the door creak..." he said to me
> smiling. I snapped out of the book and looked up at
> him"Oh hey, yeah its really good. I just learned a
> long time a go how to block out noise and concentrate
> on the story. Its very usefull when u have a little
> brother" we both laughed. "So what are they up to
> upstairs..?" "Well the hunger pangs started kicking
> in so they ordered food. I think they got pizza and
> pasta..don't ask. And Nick is talking to his mom on
> the phone" "its ok I don't think I want to know." I
> said smiling. "You know with all the stuff going on
> we haven't really had a chance to have a decent
> conversation..." Howie said " You know your right.
> With all the stuff that you guys are constantly doing
> we haven't had a real conversation...so tell me
> something about you that fans don't know?".And so
> Howie and I talked until our laundry was finished. We
> talked about politics, ethics, books, music, art and
> just stupidness. His quiet demeanor, I realized, was
> only a cover over a very profound and opinionated
> individual.
> As we talked the drier went off and it startled me so
> much that I almost fell off the drier "Hey Erika
> careful, I dont feel like going back to the hospital
> tonight...hehehe" we both laughed at my clumsiness.
> 'sorry about the shirt thing, we really did forget
> and when we remembered there wasn't much you could
> have done anyway. We figured it be easier just to
> shield you from public view.." He said to me truly
> apologetically "D its ok seriously, I was just messin
> with you guys. I understand really I do, plus its not
> like I know those people so their opinion of me isn't
> really gonna affect my life much....I just hope I
> didn't expose myself to TOO many people..hehe" I
> responded trying to make him feel better "Ok cool, I
> just didn't want you to be mad at me or any of
> us..""think of it as if it had never happened, I've
> already forgotten, plus it'll give me an excuse to go
> shopping again.." I said smiling and we both laughed.
> Since my laundry finished first I left. When I walked
> by the front desk the clerk asked me if I was sure I
> wanted them to hold all packages till the morning and
> I said yes.I took the conspicuous way to my room so
> the fans wouldn't see me and recognize me and try to
> follow me, I had enough close encounters for one day.
> I went to my room and started organizing my freshly
> clean clothes. I heard the hotel people deliver the
> food. I didn't exactly hear them but I heard the guys
> start cheering and I figured that was why. AJ knocked
> on the joining door between the rooms "food is here,
> you better come out now unless you want to go to
> eat.." "I'm coming, leave me at least a sliver of
> pizza if you haven't inhaled it yet" I yelled back. I
> heard the TV on and them watching the scores from a
> basketball game on the news and then booing when the
> news came back on. Suddenly the joining door flew
> open and AJ poked his head in with his eyes closed
> "its ok AJ i'm decent.." he opened his eyes and said
> "you might wanna come see this, your on the news and
> the food is here..." he said it pretty urgently so I
> jogged to the door and stepped into Nick's room. The
> guys were all watching the TV. I walked into the room
> and sat on the edge of the bed looking at the TV,
> Howie still wasn't there. "In entertainment news
> tonight...Those five singing sensation heart
> throbs... THE BACKSTREET BOYS....sent every teen and
> pre-teen girl in town today to heaven when they
> performed LIVE at the Arena earlier this afternoon.
> The boys gave an incredible performance as they
> always do to a sold out crowd of over 20,000 people
> with cameo appearances by one of the youngest famous
> singers and younger brother of Backstreet hearthrob
> Nick Carter, Aaron Carter. And perhaps the luckiest
> BSB fan in the world Erika Terrosa. Throughout the
> show the boys gave electrifying performances while
> being bombarded by pranks from Aaron and Erika. After
> the show the guys were still in hot demand as fans
> crowded to catch a glimpse of their favorite guy
> leave. Ms.Terrosa was also seen leaving with the guys
> sporting a look which can be perceived as either a
> madonna look or the 'I just got mawled by a lion
> look." AS the reporter said that the entire TV screen
> was an image of my completely exposed back to the
> camera. What I saw in the mirror was nothing
> compared to what the zoom on that camera showed the
> people watching the news. I Might as well not have
> been wearing a shirt at all. In the back of my mind I
> could hear the reporter talking about Nick's injury
> and Donna making a statement about it on camera to
> the news. But in my mind all I could see was a replay
> of the entire county we were in getting more than a
> glimpse at my private apparel. Although I knew that
my
> bathing suit revealed more than the torn blouse it
> didn't make me feel better. "ERika...shhrggg(static)
> earth to Erika (static) come in please ssrhghh
> (static)" I snapped out of my daze and looked up at
> Brian waving his hand in my face "Girl you ok? you
> zoned out there for a sec.." "I'm fine I'm just
> overwhelmed by the fact that the whole east coast of
> this state just saw things about me that they
> shouldn't have..." although I was trying to be aloof
> about it I was mortified."im just glad my mom doesn't
> get this station.." we all laughed. AJ sat down next
> to me and hugged me "don't worry,you really couldn't
> see much, plus you bathingsuit shows more than that
> did..don't stress. At least they didn't bash you for
> bad fashion sense..hehe" We all laughed. Brian
> started doing an impersonation of Joan Rivers bashing
> my outfit, Nick joined in as Melissa Rivers. It was
> hilarious. Howie walked in. It took him a second to
> realize what was going on and then he started
> laughing too. "oh man the last few days have been a
> lot of firsts for me, and now this is my first time
> exposing myself on tv..hehehe..oh well too late". We
> joked around about for a few more minutes. "Ok well I
> don't know about you all but I'm starving so Im gonna
> eat.." and saying that Nick opened up the pizza box
> and scarfed down a slice almost whole. I was sick of
> pizza so I ate some of the pasta with Howie. "yo
> frack whatd your mom say?" Howie asked him between
> mouthfulls "She was really...hmhmh ... worried but I
> emailed her...hmhmh.... a picture of it and she
> calmed down. She wanted..hmhmh... to come up early
> but she has too much work to finish so she'll be
> coming..hmhmh... the time she originally planned"
> Nick said between mouthfulls of pizza. Aaron was
> scarfing down food just like the rest of them.
> We finished eating. "what do you guys want to do
> now..." AJ asked "well im stuffed but I could go for
> some ice cream..." Nick added in "ooh good idea..."
> Brian added in, his mind already thinking of the ice
> cream "man you guys are a bottom less pit.. but I
> think I could go for some too..." I added in smilng "
> Yeah I think you have the right idea... but lets go
> to the Bskin Robbins right under the hotel, I don't
> feel like walking far from the hotel..." Kevin
> suggested "Its settled then.... I wanna change first
> though.." Howie interjected "Allright we'll meet down
> in the lobby, I'll call Jeff and them....Lets hurry
> it up this time Kev...". AJ finished with a smirk.
> We each went to our own rooms. I put on a baby blue
> sundress with little yellow pastel flowers on it. I
> put on sandals and put my hair up in a claw and went
> down stairs. I met AJ and Brian at the elevator "You
> look great, but then again you always do.."AJ and
> Brian complemented me and I blushed.AJ was wearing
> blackpants and a tight black shirt and yellow lensed
> glasses while Brian wore kackis horts and a Kentucky
> U shirt. The three of us laughed. They escorted me
> with my arms through theirs down to the lobby. When
> we got there Kevin and Howie where already there
> "Lord the sky is gonna fall, Kevin isn't the last one
> ready.." Everyone including Kevin laughed.Kevin was
> wearing baggy Jeans and a plain blue t-shirt with
> woeker boots and Howie was in tight baggy jeans and a
> FB shirt and black shoes. "Where's Nick.." Brian
> asked "getting dressed and putting Aaron to sleep in
> Donna's room." Howie responded. Just then Nick walked
> out of the elevator "sorry guys putting a shirt on
> with these stupid things aint easy. Plus Aaron fell
> asleep so I put him in Donna's room, I didn't want
> him to be in the room alone...". Nick was wearing
> long kacki pants and short sleeved green flannel over
> a white muscle shirt.
> We met the security guards in the lobby.We had though
> that by now all the fans would be gone since it was
> almost midnight but we found that at least 50 of them
> had camped out in front of the hotel. So we went out
> the back entrance and walked around to the front far
> from the hotel. The body guards walked around as
> sparingly so as not to attract attention. Thankfully
> the darkness hid many of the guy's famous features.We
> walked a block down to the ice cream shoppe in
> silence enjoying the light summer breaze and clear
> starry sky. When we reached the ice cream shoppe we
> were glad to find only the guy behind the counter in
> the store.We walked into the store. On the walls
> there were pictures of all the celebrities that had
> been in the store. I looked around and saw
> autographed pictures of Sean Connery, Tom Cruise,
> Jamiroquai, and Will Smith. We all ordered double
> waffle cones. The cashier obviously recognized the
> guys and Kevin gave him a 'please don't say anything
> look, the cashier must have understood "don't worry I
> won't tell anyone where you guys are ... but would
> you let me take your picture for the wall...?". The
> guys quickly agreed and so did the bodyguards. The
> guys signed the frame he would put the picture in. We
> finished our ice cream and went back to the hotel the
> same way we left. We stopped at the bus and the guys
> picked up a bag of fan mail and I picked up some of
> my art stuff and my lap top. Donna had left notes on
> our doors to meet in the parking lot at 9 AM to move
> the things into the bus. We all said goodnight,
> hugged and went to our rooms to do work. I called my
> mom and talked to her for a while, never mentioning
> the incident. I talked to everyone in my house
> including my brother, he wanted to know if I had seen
> any hot girls and given them his number. I finally
> hung up.I then called my best friend Nicolle who I
did
> tell about the incident...she couldn't stop laughing.
> "Ok Nic I get the point, you are as bad as the
> guys..hehe". We alked for an hour. I then called up
> my other best friend steph, we spent just as much
> time on the phone. When I finally got off I popped on
> my lap top and went online. I couldnt believe I had
> 345 messages in my mailbox.I deleted all the ones
> that were about fighting or seemed boring. Then there
> were only 45 left. I finally went to sleep since none
> of my sistas were on.
> I woke up at 6 AM, the sun wasn't out yet, and
> headed to the gym bringing along a bag with my
> bathing suit in it. When I was done I headed for the
> pool. I met AJ and Kevin as I was walking out " Hey
> mornin'.. you guys are up early.." "Yeah, I woke up
> when Train made a racket as he was getting dressed so
> I decided to come down too.." "sorry bone but I
> couldn't find my stuff and the suitcase fell..". "Ok
> well I'll be having breakfast by the pool if you guys
> want to join me later..". We said goodbye and went
> our ways. After I changed into my bathing suit I
> stopped at the front desk to leave Jeff and the rest
> of the guys a message of where I would be. "Ms. We
> also have the packages you told us to hold for you..
> would you like us to deliver them to your room while
> you are at the pool?" "Oh thats right,'them' as in
> plural? oh well. yeah sure, just go ahead and leave
> them by the closet". I figured that the guy probably
> screwed up and meant to say 'package'. I wondered
> what could my mom have possibly sent me. I left and
> went to the pool and ordered a fruit platter and
> peach juice at the pool bar. I sat there enjoying the
> peace of the warm morning sun and the clear water. A
> waiter brought my food and I sipped my juice. The
> fruit was really good and cold. The water looked
> really nice and fresh so I moved my food to the side
> of the pool and sat on the pool deck with my feet in
> the water with my eyes closed. Keeping my eyes closed
> I picked up the fork and stabbed a piece of food and
> ate it. Half an hour must have gone by. I was aware
> of people coming and going near me but payed no
> attention to it so I was startled when I heard Nick's
> voice next to me "what are you thinking about..". My
> eyes flashed open and I saw him scrouched next to
> me,"nothing,I'm just sitting and absorbing the energy
> of the sun and the water....", there was a peaceful
> silence "It's been a long time since I've done that,
> I don't think I know how to do it anymore...".I
> turned and looked into his eyes, they seemed very
> tired but very alive "Just put your feet in the
> water, face the sun and close your eyes" he did. "Now
> clear your mind.... don't think of anything". We both
> turned toward the sun and closed our eyes. We sat in
> silence. Within minutes I was no longer aware that he
> was sitting next to me and that we probably looked
> really stupid to anyone walking by. I sat there,
> absorbing the warmth of the sun's rays, concentrating
> on my breathing. Although I don't know how much time
> went by I could feel the sun getting hotter and
> figured we'd spent a significant amount of time
> there. Neither of us moved.
Read on!
