Part 8

 

Alex changed quickly and ran to the elevator. When it stopped and the door opened, she found Nick waiting for her. The rushed to the waiting limo and Alex was in a daze for the entire ride.

 

When they got there they went backstage, the guys changed and then they were announced.

 

"You're going to greet everyone with us," Jeff said.

 

"Oh no, I'm not."

 

"Yes you are," Nick said pulling her to sit on his knee as a camera moved in front of them.

 

"Hey, I'm Drew."

 

"I'm Jeff."

 

"Justin."

 

"And I'm Nick. This our friend Alex who's staying with us for a while and welcome to our 2001 Revelation Tour. Let's start this party!"

 

Drew ran out, getting applause and screaming from the audience. Jeff followed. Justin was adjusting his shoelaces when Nick pulled her to him and kissed her lightly on the lips.

 

"See you soon," he said. "Go on!" he pushed her toward her seat as he ran out on stage. Justin followed him.

 

The performance was amazing and when Nick started singing My Everything, he looked at her the entire time. The performance ended and Alex ran to Nick, throwing her arms around him. Nick picked her up and swung her around.

 

"So, did you recognize any of those songs?"

 

"A few," Alex admitted. "Okay, a lot of them."

 

"Nick! Come on!" Justin called from the back entrance.

 

"Where are we going?" Alex asked as they snuck out the back way, making sure they weren't about to be attacked by a mob of screaming teenage girls.

 

"Back to the hotel, then we have to go to the governor's house."

 

"Why?" Alex asked, wondering why the governor would want to see a popular pop group.

 

"Well, his daughter is a fan, and it's great publicity," Justin called as they walked to their limo at the corner.

 

"Oh," Alex said understanding. She just hoped the governor wouldn't recognize her and call her parents. His daughter was three years younger than Alex, and they had been friends growing up. Alex's parents and Marcia's parents were friends, and they had sort of forced the two girls together so much that they eventually became friends.

 

The ride back to the hotel was mostly silent. The guys were trying to be polite and make conversation, but Alex was too worried that Governor Whitman would call her parents. If he did that, Nick would know she'd lied when he'd asked if there was anyone he could call. She thought back to the alley. He had been so sweet, asking if he could call someone or take her somewhere. What Nick didn't know was that Alex had disappeared so that she wouldn't have to marry the man her father had said she would marry. Her father was very old-fashioned and she hated him for it. She was to marry a well-known, rich young man who could giver her anything she wanted. That was all well and good, but he didn't understand that Alex wanted love. She wanted to marry for love.

 

When they arrived at the hotel, they went up to their rooms, and Alex sat on the bed, looking at the palms of her hands as if they were the most fascinating things on earth. Nick glanced at her, grabbing a shirt and throwing it at her.

 

"What?" she asked, smiling at him.

 

"You seem sad. I don't know about you, but not thirty minutes ago, you were all happy and bouncy. Now you're almost dead. What's the deal?"

 

"Nothing."

 

"No, it's not nothing," he said, "it's something."

 

"If I tell you, you'll hate me forever," Alex said seriously.

 

"What could you tell me that would make me hate you?" Nick wondered.

 

"What if I told you I'd heard of 98 Degrees long before I met you?" Alex asked.

 

"So, that's not that big a deal."

 

"What if I told you that when you asked if there was someone you could call for me, there was? What if I told you that my parents live here in town? That they live three blocks from here? What if I told you that my father was the best friend of Governor Whitman? And that I knew his daughter, Marcia?"

 

"I'd say you must have some reason for lying to me. Some very serious reason that troubles you greatly.  Something that you're avoiding that you don't want your parents to know about," Nick said, his answer surprising Alex.

 

"Really?"

 

"You can tell me. I'm not gonna tell."

 

"What if I told you that my father was making me marry Javier Nielson?"

 

"The tennis player?"

 

"The one and only."

 

"Congratulations!" Nick said, trying to appear happy, although he was sad inside.

 

"No, not congrats! I don't want to marry Javier. I mean he's great and everything. I don't love him."

 

"Then why are you marrying him?"

 

"My father is making me. I need a man who's famous. A man who's rich. A man who can give me anything I could ever want. What my father forgot was love. He just doesn't seem to understand that I want to marry for love. True love. Not the love where you say you love a person but lie, but real love that supercedes anything else."

 

Nine