Chapter 1
“I still cannot believe I am standing here talking to
AJ McLean,” the tall, attractive, African American girl said letting a wave of
pure teenage pleasure surge through her.
Then with a blink it was gone, and she was ‘cool.’ AJ smiled.
She was one of the most down to Earth fans he had ever met.
He opened the door to the dressing room and warned
and apologized to the girl about the odors that her nostrils would be receiving
in a few seconds. The Boys had just
wrapped up an Into The Millennium concert 30 minutes earlier. The smells of too much sweat and not enough
deodorant still hung in the air.
“Guys, this is Eboni, the girl that was supposed to
have come on stage for The Perfect Fan, but..”
“Oh..” Howie had jumped up to quickly take Eboni’s
hand and shake it, “We are so sorry. We
had no idea that we had too many people coming on stage tonight. The radio station gave out places and so did
some drawings and other contests, it’s hard to keep up with who’s going where.”
“Hell, it’s not like I mind. You guys can accidentally forget about me
all you want if means I get to come backstage later!” Eboni laughed squeezing
Howie’s hand and peeking further into the dressing room. Brian was striding forward, “Howya
doin’? I was gonna apologize like
Howie, but since ya said you don’t mind...”
“Oh I mind, just not as much,” Eboni smiled at him,
“But I’m glad you guys are nice. I was
bragging to all my friends about how I was being flown out to Chicago to come
on stage with the Backstreet Boys. If
word got out that I got my face cracked, lets just say, I’d have to find a new
place to live. I’d never hear the end
of it!”
They all laughed, “Where’s Nick and Kevin?”
“They’re around.
Don’t worry you’ll meet them before we leave,” AJ assured her.
“Leave? What,
you mean I can’t come?” Eboni looked hurt, then she laughed, “I see how it
is. Fine, just don’t be expecting to
come to my house wanting to spend the night.”
“What?” Brian looked offended, “not even if the only
other place with a vacancy is an Econolodge?”
“Well... I’ll make that one exception,” Eboni made a
face and told about her experience in an Econolodge. They were laughing when Kevin made his appearance, “Did I hear
something about an Econolodge? Ew, the
thought of that makes my skin crawl.
Why are you guys talking about that?
Hello.”
Eboni smiled, “So he notices me finally, Hi, I’m
Eboni. The girl ya’ll forgot about.”
Kevin’s smile widened, “Well I can see there’s no
hard feelings.”
“She was threatening to let us stay in an Econolodge
Kev,” Brian said flatly.
Kevin cringed, “Oh man, we really did hurt your
feelings. I’m so, so, sorry.”
They walked outside, the air was thick and muggy, the
roaring of two tour bus motors could be heard, “You wanna step on the bus with
us for a few minutes? I think Nick’s
aboard already,” Kevin invited her.
“Are you going to abduct me?”
“No. Probably
not.”
“Damn..” Eboni looked up feigning innocence, “Oh, did
I say that aloud?” They laughed again and led her onto their bus.
“The band’s on the bus in front of us,” Howie
explained, “Nicky?! We brought a girl
for ya!”
They entered the living room area of the bus. Nick was sprawled out on the couch, but sat
up when he heard that he had company, other than his ‘brothers.’ Eboni laughed at his rumpled appearance,
“Looks like you’ve already found your comfortable spot...”
Nick frowned, confused.
“You know, that one position in a certain area of the
couch that just relaxes you.. And then
something happens, you have to move, and you can never find a spot like that
one again.”
Nick grinned, “Yeah, something like that. Are you the girl that was suppose to..?”
“Yeah, that’s me.
The one you forgot,” Eboni said taking an unspoken invitation and
sitting beside him on the couch as he straightened up the area around him. “Did you forget about me again Nick? I mean, you did look pretty comfy.”
Nick laughed lightly, “I am so sorry. I actually did, I’m sorry, I am so
drowsy. All I could think about was
sleep.”
“He’s loaded up on benadryl, dimetapp, robutessum,
penicillin...”
Nick rolled his eyes, as Eboni exclaimed, “You’re an
over-the-counter-Junkie!”
The other boys burst out laughing as Nick sat in the
middle of them all looking vaguely insulted, then he laughed too. Eboni glanced at the spilled popcorn on the
table, kleenex, and the small inhaler
lying beside it, “Didn’t know you had asthma, Nick.”
“I don’t,” Nick groaned sounding annoyed but not with
her, “It’s allergies, it’s sinuses, it’s everything. My body hates all the sudden climate and weather changes and it’s
waging war against me.” He flopped back down on the couch grabbing a tissue,
“It’s winning!”
Brian laughed, “And he expects pity and royal
treatment from us.. Pshh!” He placed
himself on the couch snatching the remote from Nick’s palms. “Hey!”
“Boys, we’re pulling out in a few, you better say
good bye to the girl,” a tall, stocky man was trudging up the stairs. He didn’t look too happy about the female
company on the bus. Undoubtably
thinking about how rumors got started on the internet and the National
Enquirer.
“That’s Max’s polite way of saying GET OUT!” Brian
laughed mocking their manager.
“You guys don’t think I can stow away?” Eboni asked
looking wistful.
“Sorry, girly,” AJ apologized, “But hey, write us,
we’ll keep in touch!”
Eboni nodded sadly, “Ok. Well it was great to meet you guys..”
“Wait...” Howie stopped her. He was digging through a nearby drawer. He brightened as he found was he looking
for. He held up a pen and paper, “Write
down your name, number, and addy, and we will definitely get back to you when
we have the time.” Eboni beamed and
scribbled down her information.
“Ahem...” they could hear Max clearing his throat
from the front of the bus impatiently.
“I better go,” Eboni said still smiling, “I guess
I’ll talk to you guys later.” AJ and
Brian walked her off the bus and took their sweet time getting back.
When everyone was safely aboard the heavy doors to
the bus closed with a squeak and then the large vehicle was moving making it’s
nosy diesel engines roar to life. Brian
and AJ joined the others on the couch around the television, “She was cute,”
Brian commented
“Yeah, and legal,” AJ smiled.
“Shut up Bone!” Kevin snapped. Then he took control of the television
remote and began flipping through the channels to see what was on.
“Nobody cares that I was here first?” Nick was
muttering, “That maybe I was watching something?”
“Nope.”
“Oh, just wondering,” Nick shrugged, he reached
beside him on the floor of the couch and picked up his gameboy.
“Where are we going next?” AJ asked stifling a yawn,
he decided that he should go to bed after getting his answer.
“Springfield,” Howie said.
Nick and Brian began to hum the ‘Simspons’ theme
tune. AJ rolled his eyes in their
direction, but chuckled softly. Typical
Frick and Frack, typical day in Backstreet land... Or so he had thought....