Chapter Six
Several people raised their hands. Xavi looked around slowly, before deciding on two people. "Hokey kokey, how about this beautiful lady here, with the red hair, and you sir, the gentleman with blond hair."
The two people stood and went onto the stage to stand on either side of Xavi. Xavi turned to the girl. He picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. "Tell the audience your name, querida."
"Hi, my name's Kara," she said to the crowd. "I'm from Vermont, in the USA."
Xavi turned to the guy. "Bien. Now you."
"Hey, I'm Nick, and I'm from the US, too, from Florida," he grinned at the crowd.
Kara's eyes widened in surprise when Nick said he was from Florida. She remembered thinking when he and his friends entered the lounge that he looked kinda familiar, although she didn't know from where. Her emerald gaze flew to his face and she looked at him carefully. She let out a slight gasp as she finally figured out where it was she'd seen him before..
Nick heard, and glanced at her, realizing that she'd recognized him. He sent her a warning look, and mouthed "I'll explain later."
Kara nodded her head slightly in agreement, still kind of surprised by who he was, and turned her attention back to Xavi, who was speaking to the audience.
"Now we're gonna play a game. It's a battle of the sexes," Xavi said, then turned to Kara and Nick. "You two need to choose four people each, Kara four girls, and Nick four guys."
Nick and Kara walked out into the audience to select people. Kara walked over to her friends. "Do any of you want to come up and play?"
"I will," Claire replied right away.
"Kara do you know who that guy is?" Becky asked excitedly, apparently she had recognized Nick at the same time Kara had.
"Yes, I do Becky. And you can come up on stage with us and play the game, but you can't make a big scene. I think we're the only ones who recognized him." Kara warned Becky.
"I know, I know," Becky agreed. "I won't make a scene."
"So are you guys coming too?" Kara asked Laura and Margie.
"Sure, it'll be fun," Margie said, while Laura just nodded her head yes.
"Well, come on then," Kara said.
"I knew I'd seen them somewhere before," Laura mumbled absently as the girls got up an headed to the stage.
Nick rushed over to where Kevin, Howie, Brian and AJ were sitting. "She recognized me!" he exclaimed.
"Shh," Kevin and Brian said in unison.
"You don't need to let the whole hotel know we're here," AJ added.
"I guess that means you guys don't want to come up with me," Nick said pitifully, glancing at Kara as she and four other girls made their way onto the stage.
Howie watched them as well. "Hey! Aren't those the girls from this morning?" he asked, surprised.
AJ looked at them, and recognized the girl with bright red hair whom he'd been admiring earlier. "Damn, you're right, D."
Nick grinned in satisfaction. "So now will you guys come up with me?"
"I don't know, Nick," Kevin said slowly. "Didn't you say that she recognized you?"
"Yeah, but she won't say anything," Nick replied confidently.
"But what about her friends?"
Nick groaned in exasperation. "They won't say anything, either. Now come on."
The guys stood up, and Kevin followed them, reluctant, yet also curious to get a good look at that girl, Kara.
Half an hour later, the game was over, with the girls coming out the winners. Xavi went into the deejay's booth and put on some upbeat music. The girls began to dance, while the guys went to the bar to get something to drink.
"I haven't had that much fun in a while," Howie said, taking a seat at the bar.
"Yeah, it was great," Brian said, taking the seat next to Howie.
"Hey Frick, I think that girl, Claire, likes you," Nick teased, sitting next to Brian.
"Yeah, maybe I'll talk to her later." Brian replied. "So what about you, Kev? You got a thing for that girl, Kara?"
Kevin, who sat on Howie's other side, shrugged. "I dunno, she seems nice enough." The truth was, he was extremely interested in her, but he didn't want the other guys to know, cause he knew they'd rib him mercilessly about it.
"It's probably just as well," Nick said. "She seems to be pretty interested in that Xavi guy."
Kevin cringed inwardly at Nick's words. He'd noticed that, too. It was half the reason he hadn't said anything about liking her.
AJ patted Kevin on the back. "Cheer up man, that doesn't mean you don't have a chance with her. You just have to get to her before that guy does. Now, if you all will excuse me, I think I'll go ask Margie to dance."
The guys watched as AJ stood up and sauntered over to the dance floor, and asked a very surprised and pleased Margie to dance.
A few minutes later, Kara and Becky walked over to the bar. Kara tapped Nick on the shoulder. He jumped, and turned to see who it was. "Oh, hey Kara. What's up?"
"Hi Nick. This is my friend Becky," Kara said, indicating Becky.
"Nice to meet you," Nick said to Becky, his gaze running quickly over her.
Kara took the seat next to Nick. "So spill."
"Spill what?" Nick looked at her questioningly.
"Well, first introduce us to your friends, then tell me what you guys are doing here," Kara replied.
Becky looked at Kara in astonishment. When did Kara get so straightforward, especially with strangers? Normally, Kara was quiet and reserved around strangers. Becky shook it off. These were the Backstreet Boys they were talking to. Maybe that's why Kara felt so comfortable talking to Nick.
"Absolutely," Nick said. He turned to the guys. "Yo Frick, D, Kev. I want you to meet Kara and Becky. Ladies, meet Brian, Howie, and Kevin."
"Nice to meet you," Brian said, standing up. "Say, who's your friend? The blond one, I mean."
Becky glanced over at the dance floor, to see who he was talking about. "Oh, that's Claire."
Brian nodded. "I think I'll go ask her to dance." He headed over to the dance floor, and Becky sat down in Brian's vacant seat.
"So what are you guys doing here in good 'ol Espaņa?" Kara asked.
"We're here on vacation," Nick replied. "We'll be here for two weeks."
"Coolio, us too," Becky spoke up.
"Well," Howie said. "I'm gonna go dance." He stood up and headed to the dance floor.
Nick looked at Becky. "Do you wanna dance?"
"Sure," Becky smiled happily at Nick, and the two walked over to the dance floor, leaving Kevin and Kara alone at the bar.
Kevin moved to sit next to Kara. "So, how long are you going to be here?"
"Umm.. two weeks," Kara replied, a sudden nervousness coming over her, brought on by sitting in such close proximity to her favorite Backstreet Boy. Oh, they all had their good points, and she would have happily gone out with any of them, but Kevin held a special place in her heart.
"That's cool. So are we," There was an awkward silence, then Kevin asked, "So is this your first time in Spain?"
"No, I was here last summer, with a group of people from school. We stayed at this hotel for two nights, that's how I know Xavi."
"Xavi?" Kevin asked, a puzzled look on his face.
"The entertainment director," Kara replied, indicating the dark haired man in the deejay's booth. "He's really nice."
Kevin nodded thoughtfully as he studied her from beneath lowered lashes. "Are you two really close?"
"Not really. I was only here for two days last time, and there wasn't a lot of time for us to get to know each other. I was kinda surprised that he even remembered me when I saw him today." Kara let out a little laugh. "I think he thought I was too young for him back then."
"How old are you?" Kevin asked.
"I'm eighteen," Kara replied. "I'll be nineteen in December. I've changed a lot in the past year. When I saw Xavi this afternoon, I think he was kinda surprised at the change in me at first."
"Mmhmm," Kevin nodded absently. Boy, she seems really hung up on that guy, he thought to himself. As long as she's thinking about him, I'll never stand a chance.
Kara looked at Kevin. Why is he being so quiet? She wondered. As she studied him from under lowered lashes, she thought to herself, Man, he's really good looking. Maybe I should hook up with him rather than Xavi. At least this way, I might get to see him once in a while after we go home, since we both live in the US. Oh well, we'll just wait and see which one seems to like me more.
Having decided this, Kara asked Kevin, "Do you want to dance?"
"Huh? What?" Kevin looked at her, surprised by her question.
Kara repeated the question, and Kevin said, "Yeah, sure." They got up and went to join the other couples on the dance floor.
