Every Road Leads Back

By Dottie

Copyright 2012

Chapter 01

Fall, 1994

            "You're so lucky, AJ!" Kendall said. All the girls were excited and jealous of their friend AJ's budding music career.  Even at 15, he commanded attention.  Class clown but also the star of every musical the high school did because he was just that good.

            Now that he's leaving to get his newly formed group, the Backstreet Boys, off the ground, his closest friends are all excited for him. And a bit down that he's leaving.

            AJ looks at his best friends since second grade. Yes, all girls. Kendall was the cheerleader.  Miss Rah-Rah-Sis-Boom-Bah! He was closest to her. Who are they trying to kid. They had gone "farther" than everyone else and even though no one would admit it, she was his girlfriend.  He knows he'll miss her the most.

            Then there's Lorelei, Miss Popularity. She's friendly to everyone, fun and bubbly. It's a good bet that once again she'll be class president and a member of homecoming court. AJ's going to miss seeing that. She always manages to wow him when she dresses up.

            Then we have Meagan. Miss Artsy. Sometimes she's too moody for AJ's taste, but she's always been there for him.  She drew him a caricature of himself and his ‘girls' to take with him so he'd always remember them.  Like he'd forget.

            And finally Giselle. Her mom wanted her to be a model, hence her name. Looking at her, anyone can see that won't happen. She's a beautiful girl with a heart of gold, but she's such a nerd. She doesn't get angry when people say it because she knows it's true. She'd rather read a book than do anything else.

Even though Kendall is his girlfriend, Giselle is his best friend. She spent hours giving him pep talks about his music. She's his biggest supporter of his chosen career and aside from his mom, whom he loves beyond all reason, he wants to make Giselle proud of him.

As he's waiting for the bus to pick him up to take him away to fame and fortune, all the girls are huddled with him. His mom is standing close by, proud of her son for keeping things real with his friends. She loves these girls like they were her own, and she knows just how badly they are going to miss him.

When the bus stops, AJ's ‘new' friends come piling off the bus to meet the girls.  He introduces them all and loves the fact that the guys are so willing to accept his friends into their ‘inner-circle'.  Kevin, the oldest, says, "When we're back in town, we'll have to make sure you all can come and hang out."

            Kendall being Kendall says, "You better. You're stealing our fun."

            AJ laughs and hugs her, saying, "No one is stealing me. You girls are always going to be my bestest buds."

            While everyone is joking and carrying on, Giselle stands quietly to the side. She knows the one named Nick is staring at her and it makes her more than uncomfortable. When she's finally brave enough to look his way, he tries to smile, but he's as awkward as she is. Being the youngest, he's not sure how to act. Her being the shyest, she doesn't know what to say.

            Soon it's time for AJ to go. He hugs Meagan first, making her promise to keep sending him pictures. She tells him she just got a new camera and she's going to take tons of pictures just for him.

            Then he hugs Lorelei, making her promise to keep the fun in their class, even if she is class president. She laughs at him and promises to send him one of her campaign buttons and a copy of her speech.

            You'd think Kendall would have been last, but she understood his relationship with Giselle better than anyone. She and Giselle were polar opposites and next to AJ, she was closest to her. She knew how hard AJ leaving was going to be on her friend.  After a goodbye hug that makes them all jealous, AJ kisses her.  The kind of kiss that makes a girl blush. When his mom broke it up, AJ blushed and so did Kendall. But you could tell from the look on her face she was more than glad her first French kiss came from AJ McLean.

            Finally, he turns to Giselle. She had made herself a promise not to cry. AJ was the brother she never had. Being an only child, until this group had come into her life, she never knew what it was like to have unconditional love. Now, part of that love was going away. Tears threaten to fall as AJ grabs her. He whispers, "Remember, Elle...you can call me anytime, ok?"

She nods against his chest and whispers, "I'll miss you."

Behind him, his mother says, "Come on Alex, time to go."

Giselle steps away from him. He kisses her cheek and says, "Behave yourself."

She smiles as he steps up on the bus and whispers, "Be safe."

After the bus is out of sight, the girls start their walk home. When they get to Lorelei's house, she says, "Come on, guys, he's going to be rich and famous. We have to be excited about that."

Meagan says, "I think we all are, Lore...but he's gone now. God knows when he'll be back. Why couldn't they do all this stuff around here?"

Kendall says, "Because they can't just perform here and be famous."

Meagan says, "Yeah, yeah, I know. But they could have stayed long enough for me to get to know Brian. He's cute."

They all laugh, even Giselle, even though her heart isn't in it. Lorelei says, "I'm glad you didn't say Howie. I might have had to hurt you."

Kendall giggles and says, "You guys know AJ. First chance he has, he'll be back here."

Giselle knows she's going to cry. Not wanting to do it in front of her friends, she says, "Listen, I gotta get home. Mom's got company coming over and I have chores. See you all later."

As she practically runs away, Meagan yells, "Giselle, wait!"

Kendall says, "No, let her go Meg. She needs to be alone."

Lorelei says, "Kendall, did Giselle and AJ ever...you know?"

Kendall shakes her head and says, "No, of course not. Get real. She's just really upset about him leaving. She doesn't have anyone but us, Lore. You know that. Her mother is a real bitch. We've all seen that."

Meagan says, "I feel really bad for her, Ken...now that AJ's gone, who's gonna be here for her when her mom starts drinking again?"

Kendall says, "We will. It's what AJ would want." She looks around and says, "Why don't you guys hang out? I'm going to go check on her and try to get the rest of my homework finished. Mr. Phipps is going to shoot me if I turn in another late assignment."

The girls hug her and Lorelei says, "Ken, AJ loves you. You know he'll be back."

Smiling confidently, she says, "I know he will. See ya."