Chapter 58
Tuesday morning while Kevin and Tyler were in the studio working on the music for their wedding, the phone began to ring. Kevin tried to ignore it though.
"Kevin, aren’t you going to get the phone?"
Frustrated, Kevin said, "Why can’t Brian answer it sometimes?"
"I don’t think he or Sonja are here."
Kevin answered the phone trying not to let his frustration come out in his voice. He didn’t talk long before he handed it to Tyler. She talked to Mrs. Abernathy for a few minutes and then hung up.
"What’s up?"
"Since you guys agreed to talk at career day, they’ve decided to change the whole thing around. They want you to talk to the entire school and then the next day they are going to have the other guests that they had lined up."
"Hmmmm.....wonder how much press will be there?"
"I don’t know but I’ll call Billy and let him know so you guys don’t get attacked."
Tyler made the call to Billy first and then called the others to let them know the change in plans. She told everyone what time to be at the school and gave them the directions.
The next day, the guys, Jeff, Christine, Fatima, Tyler, and the guys from Jive Records met at Tiffany’s school. To their surprise, there wasn’t any press.
The principal met them at the door with Tiffany who hugged Tyler.
Mrs. Lee said, "We tried to keep this as quiet as possible."
Jeff said, "We appreciate that."
Tiffany asked, "Will you eat lunch with me?"
"Sure," said Tyler.
Mrs. Lee said, "You’ll be talking to the groups in the cafeteria and we’re ready to begin as soon as you are."
"Let’s go," chorused the guys.
Tiffany led the group into the cafeteria where the fifth graders were waiting quietly. Everyone was impressed and the guys took their spots.
Since Tyler had arranged all of this, she had been chosen to introduce everyone. They had decided that Kevin, Nick, AJ, Brian, and Howie would go last so that they could sign autographs while they talked.
Tyler went to the front of the group, "Good Morning."
The entire cafeteria chorused, "Good Morning."
"How many of you have ever been to a concert or bought a CD?" All of the students raised their hands and Tyler continued. "Well, a lot of work goes into making that CD and putting on that show. For the two hours of the concert or the 50 minutes of music you listen to on the CD, there are months of preparation. Today, the group that’s with me is going to give you a brief look at what it takes to bring it all to you. We’ll start with the making of the CD. We have Tony, Chris, Jack, and Megan from Jive Records. They are the ones who the Backstreet Boys record with. Next, we have Jeff and Christine from The Firm, the Backstreet Boys’ management and legal advisors and they are also responsible for setting up the concerts. Then, Fatima and I will talk to you about how we prepare the guys for the dances you see them doing. Fatima has been with the Backstreet Boys from the beginning choreographing and teaching them the dances you see in the videos and on stage. Finally, Kevin, Brian, AJ, Howie, and Nick will talk to you about how they got into the music business, what it’s like doing the concerts, and answer your questions."
Tyler stepped aside so that the guys from Jive could talk to the kids and she went to stand with Kevin. She was surprised that Kevin set his crutches off to the side and put his arms around her from behind leaning on her for support. In public, Kevin usually didn’t do more than hold hands.
As each group spoke to the students, Tyler could see that the students were getting more and more excited. They were twitching in their seats so when it was her turn with Fatima, she got a few students up front with them. Fatima got on one side of the group of students and Tyler on the other and they proceeded to teach the children one of the dances that the guys did on stage. When Tyler and Fatima were done, it was the guys’ turn.
Brian started by letting the kids ask a question. The first question was for the guys to sing and they did ‘More Than That’ for the kids. Tony had brought the music along for them. After a several questions, each one of the guys told how they got started in music, what they did in school, and what it was like being on the road so much.
Near the end, Kevin went to a little girl in the middle of the crowd to take a question. "How did you meet Tiffany?"
"Well, Tyler met her at a doctor’s appointment and then we all took her to Disneyworld for the day."
"Does she really know Aaron Carter?" asked another girl.
Nick said, "Yeah. Aaron calls her almost every night."
All the girls were impressed and then the guys started signing autographs as the teachers took the classes out of the cafeteria. The guys promised to get around to the classes to sign autographs for anyone that they missed.
When the fifth graders were out of the cafeteria, the principal went to speak to the group. "It’s going to be a couple hours before the sixth graders come in. We need to feed them lunch. You’re welcome to stay and eat with us."
Jeff, Fatima, and the others decided to go out for lunch but Kevin, Nick, AJ, Howie, and Brian would stay with Tyler to sign autographs and eat lunch with Tiffany.
"We’ll see you back here in a couple hours," said Jeff.
Tyler stopped Jeff. "Hey, I meant to thank you for letting us use your place at the beach."
"Any time, Tyler. I hope you two enjoyed it."
Kevin hugged Tyler, "You know we did."
"How’s the knee?"
"Doing better. I can walk on it some."
"How about the wedding? Are you going to be able to do the wedding without crutches?"
"Come hell or high water. I’m going to walk my baby up the aisle."
"Just don’t overdo it so you can’t perform."
"Tyler’s not going to let that happen."
Jeff left and the guys looked at each other. "Now what?" asked Nick.
"We probably should see if Mrs. Lee minds us walking around to the classes," said Kevin.
"We could get Tiffany to show us around," suggested Howie.
The guys followed Tyler to the principal’s office where the secretaries stopped what they were doing. Tyler spoke to Mrs. Lee about the guys going around and she agreed. Tiffany was called to the office to go with them.
When Tiffany came to the office, Nick picked her up to give her a hug. "How’s my future sister-in-law?"
Tiffany laughed, "I’m fine."
"Ready to show us around?" asked Kevin.
"Sure."
The guys followed Tiffany to each of the fifth grade classes and while the guys signed autographs, Tiffany talked to Tyler.
"Are you coming with Aaron to the wedding?"
"My mom won’t let me go but if you were to talk to her, I’m sure she’d let me go with you."
"Tiffany, Kevin and I are leaving this afternoon for Kentucky. We won’t be able to take you." Tiffany looked disappointed and Tyler couldn’t stand it so she said, "Let me talk to Kevin and see what we can work out."
Tiffany grinned, "Thanks, Tyler."
When the guys had been to all the fifth grades, Tiffany took them to the cafeteria to get some lunch. Nick and AJ went with Tiffany and her class through the line while Howie, Kevin, Brian, and Tyler hung back. That’s when Tyler told Kevin about Tiffany.
"Baby, you’re getting involved by doing this."
"I know, but Kev, she wants to come and I want her there."
Kevin looked at her and saw how much she wanted this. He couldn’t say ‘no’ to her. "Okay, but it’ll mean she’ll have to come with us and how is she going to get back?"
Howie said, "Kryss and I will make sure she gets back home."
"Or Jane and Bob can bring her back," said Tyler.
"You’d better check with Jane first."
"Got your cell phone with you?"
"It’s in the truck."
"I’ll be back in a minute then."
Tyler went out to the truck and called Jane who was more than glad to help
Tyler. Then she called Tiffany’s mother. It didn’t take any convincing on
Tyler’s part to get Janice to let Tiffany come along with her to Kentucky. She
said she’d bring a bag for Tiffany to school along with permission for Tyler
to take Tiffany from school
Tyler went back in to tell Tiffany and Kevin the news. Tiffany was excited and hugged Tyler.
"Thank you so much!"
"You’re welcome," said Tyler. "Kev, do you want me to get you some lunch?"
"Howie and Bri went through the line to get you and me something to eat."
They sat down with Tiffany and her friends and enjoyed lunch. Afterwards, Tyler told Tiffany as soon as they were done, she’d get her to go home.
The afternoon was spent with the sixth graders. They went to each of the classrooms too to sign more autographs.
When it was time to leave, Tyler stopped at the office to get Tiffany. Her things were there and the secretary handed Tyler a letter from Tiffany’s mother. On the envelope was written ‘Not To Be Opened Until Saturday’, so Tyler assumed it was a wedding card or something. She stuck it in her back pocket to open it later with Kevin.
