Chapter 13

            The Backstreet Buds weren’t the only fans who were running madly to the hotel. It was a good thing they were holding on to each other or else they would have gotten trampled. Once they got back up to their room they looked at each other and started laughing.

            “My God Backstreet fans are crazy!” Kelshie exclaimed.

            “Now we have an idea of who else will be at the After Party,” Jess said.

            “Yeah the craziest of the fans!” Heather started to chuckle, “Including us!”

            The girls helped each other into their dresses and did each other’s make up. They were all looking gorgeous and were getting pumped for their performance of Unmistakable.

            After high heels were slipped on and perfume was sprayed, the Backstreet Buds made their way toward the elevator. They were taking their time because the speedy girls took only half of the hour they were given before the party to get dressed. Their timing was perfect for they were the first ones to show up for the party.

            The guard checking VIP passes let them in the concert hall early so they wouldn’t have to wait outside. They were guided back into the standing area that was set up with tables and chairs. It was like a different place than it had been before. The girls couldn’t believe how empty it was now that the seats were unoccupied. Once again the concert hall felt like a popular night club once the party started.

            Everyone was wearing masks like they were instructed to do before the DJ started playing music and Backstreet came from backstage. The first song that was played was Masquerade. As Backstreet sang they danced with lucky fans here and there but the Backstreet Buds were the ones who got the most attention from the Boys. They had come up with their own choreography for the song when they were bored one rainy day and the Boys were impressed by their moves.

            Heather could hear Nick’s voice get louder when he started singing, “I gotta know the girl behind the mask/Let me in to where you been don’t pretend.”

            He was making his way smoothly over to her. He was looking straight into her eyes as he sang and fell into step with her. Heather was awestruck. She didn’t know what else to do beside continue dancing with her best friends. She was amazed at how Nick was dancing with her. It was almost like he knew what her every move was going to be, like they had planned this before yet they had first met each other just a few hours prior.

            “I must be dreaming!” was the only thing Heather could think as she watched Nick dance.

            At the end of the song Nick stood in front of Heather for a few seconds before he asked quietly, “Can I remove your mask?”

            “Sure.”

            He raised his hands slowly to her face and gently lifted her purple mask off her face. He smiled cutely when he recognized her, “I was hoping it was you.”

            Heather blushed slightly then replied, “I told ya you would see me here.”

            “You’re name is Heather right?”

            “He remembers my name!” she screamed in her head but answered calmly, “Yes it is.”

            “I remember you came with the other girl named Heather and the girl from Germany, I believe her name is Melina, and your other friend I think is Jess? Did I get that right?”

            “Yes you did. How’d you remember? You must have met hundreds of fans tonight.”

            “You were all wearing purple and were the calmest ones we met. Plus you touched all of us with what you said.”

            “I’m flattered.”

            “And I needed to find you so I could give you your stuff.”

            “I almost forgot about that. I’ll get it before we leave.”

            “Sounds good to me,” Nick grinned. “Will you be singing in the Backstreet Challenge tonight?”

            “My best friends and I yes. We’re excited about it. We’ve been working very hard on our song.”

            “What are you singing?”

            “You’ll see.”

            “Keeping it a surprise huh?”

            “Yes. I find performances turn out better that way.”

            “Well would you mind if I hang out with you and your friends tonight?”

            Heather smiled, “I wouldn’t mind at all. It’s your party anyway.”

            Nick chuckled, “You have a point there.”

            They looked at each other for a few silent seconds until Nick asked, “Would you like to be my date tonight?”

            She was shocked, “I’d love to.”

            He smiled, “Awesome.”         

            Heather could see her friends, who were watching her intensely, out of the corner of her eye. They had their share of talking with AJ, Howie and Brian but they were doing their best to mix and mingle with all of the fans that were there.

            The three other Boys headed toward Nick and Heather. They exchanged a few words then Nick had to go mix and mingle with the rest of the fans until the Backstreet Challenge started. Heather made her way back to her friends.

            “You are one lucky bitch!” Jess exclaimed.

            “I can’t believe that Nick Carter is flirting with you!” Kelshie nearly screamed.

            “He is not flirting with me.”

            “If he’s not flirting with you than I’m not from Germany,” Melina replied sarcastically.

            “Ok maybe he is flirting a little bit.”

            “A little bit?!” Jess was almost speechless, “He can’t stop looking at you!”

            “Jess, keep your voice down,” Heather half laughed.

            “Yeah we don’t want the other fans getting jealous of Hermie,” Kelshie joked.          

            Heather rolled her eyes and her friends laughed.

            Nick was just about to walk back over to them when DJ Lani’s voice came over the microphone, “Are you ladies ready for the Backstreet Karaoke Challenge?”

            The crowd cheered then got quiet when he asked, “Ok who’s first?”

            No one volunteered and he chuckled. The Backstreet Boys took their seats.

            “Ok then I’ll go first. I have a feeling that all of you would know this song. It’s from a little CD called Never Gone. No it’s not Incomplete but it is another single; it’s I Still. I always dedicate this song to my best friend who I lost contact with unfortunately because of a stupid, stupid mistake I made a few years back. Whenever we have one of these Karaoke Challenges I always sing I Still in hopes that she’s listening. So this is to you Bud. I hope you’re out there tonight.”

            “That is so sweet!” Melina commented.

            Heather nodded her head. Her eyes became glued onto the masked DJ who started singing, “Who are you now? / Are you still the same or did you change somehow? / What do you do at this very moment when I think of you? / And when I’m looking back when we were young and stupid/ Do you remember that?”

            Her breath was taken away. She had heard his voice before, she was convinced of it. But where?

            Kelshie leaned over to her, “He’s really good!”

            Heather agreed then asked, “Does he sound very familiar to you?”

            “He does. Do you think it’s…”

            Heather shook her head cutting her off, “I can’t say. It’s been so long.”

            The DJ’s voice was so pure and strong. He was singing with just the right amount of emotion that it sounded like I Still was written for him to sing—that’s if it was intended to be a solo song. Heather was amazed because usually she hated when someone other than Backstreet sang one of their songs but she loved this guy’s voice and his interpretation of the song. DJ Lani was giving her chills.

            When he finished the song the crowd exploded in applause. Everyone was clapping and screaming for him, except for Heather. She couldn’t move or speak she was so awed.

            The only thing she could think was, “Wow! He’s good! He’s really good!”

            AJ jumped on stage and exclaimed, “DJ Lani my man! That was the best version of that song you have ever sung by far! I’m telling you man, you can be Kevin’s replacement.”

            “Oh please. I would never replace Kevin.” The DJ chuckled, “Kevin’s fans would hate me for taking his place.”

            “Alright girls,” AJ looked into the crowd, “Whose next?”

            Jess asked, “Do we want to go now?”

            Her three best friends replied in unison, “No!”

            The first group to sing performed I Want It That Way and they were ok but not the greatest. The groups after them performed I’ll Never Break Your Heart, Treat Me Right, and Inconsolable. Each group’s talent increased as time went by. The second to last group performed Just Want You To Know and they impressed both the Backstreet Boys and the Backstreet Buds.

            “It looks like we have competition after all,” Heather commented in her head.

            Kelshie looked over at Heather with a worried look on her face, “Ok now I’m scared.”

            “Kelshie be confident!” Heather reassured, “We’re going to blow them away!”

            The Backstreet Buds were the last to go.

            “What is your group name, girls? And what are you going to sing?” AJ asked before the song started.

            “We are…” Heather said the first thing that came to her mind after looking at her best friends, “JMH Squared and we will be singing Unmistakable.”

            “Nice! I think I can speak for all of Backstreet when I say that Unmistakable is one of our favorite songs,” AJ grinned sweetly. “Have fun and break a leg.”

            “Ready?” Heather asked her friends. They all nodded calmly and set themselves up for their routine.

            The music started and the girls were spot on with their choreography when Jess sang the first verse—Brian’s part. The transition between Jess and Melina (Brian’s part into AJ’s) was smooth just as they practiced it and Heather was pleased with how well the song was starting off. The girls hit the crowd with dead accurate harmony when all four sang the first chorus together. Their dance moves were just as accurate as their correct notes they were hitting.

            Next came Heather’s solo. She artfully stepped to the front like they had planned and sang, “People say we’re watching our life through the glass/ Desperately waiting on a chance/ I know you’re out there holding on holding out for me.”

            She noticed that Nick was watching her intently and so was DJ Lani.

            Melina performed another smooth transition into her second part and the group powerfully sang the chorus after she was finished. After a quick bridge that the girls harmonized during, Kelshie got her chance to shine solo.

            Heather could tell that she was nervous but her voice was excellent! It was a good thing that she took a deep breath before her solo because it just made her voice more powerful and confidant sounding afterward.

            The girls finished the song together with perfect pitches and chill inducing emotion. The crowd loved them! They stood up and applauded when the song ended and Nick was whistling.

            “Awesome job girls!” AJ said into his microphone. “Now the other judges and I will vote on our winner.”

            He went back to the table that Backstreet was sitting at and they huddled together to discuss who they were going to choose.       

            Brian was the one to deliver the news, “And tonight’s winner of the Backstreet Karaoke Challenge is…” he paused for dramatic effect, “JMH Squared!”

            The Backstreet Buds contained themselves so that they wouldn’t upset the other groups. They were kind to the other groups even though they were given dirty looks.

            “And for winning the Backstreet Challenge, you now become our dates for the evening,” Howie informed.

            “You can choose which ever Backstreet Boy you want to spend the rest of the night with.”

            Jess turned to Kelshie, “I already called Brian!”

            Kelshie rolled her eyes, “I know! I’ll just hang out with you for the rest of the night.”

            Melina went straight to AJ and Nick made a bee line for Heather.

            “Do you still want to be my date or did you change your mind once you found out you could have any Backstreet Boy you want?” he asked.

            Heather smiled up at him, “I didn’t change my mind. You’re my favorite anyway.”

            “I didn’t know that.” He joked, “I knew I liked you for some reason.”

            From that point on Nick and Heather spent the rest of the night together dancing and talking. The other Backstreet Boys and Buds spent time together as well but not as much as Nick and Heather.

            “I can’t believe how flirty they both are!” Jess exclaimed in an excited whisper.

            “Do you think they’ll spend the night together?” Kelshie asked.

            “Nah, Hermie’s too much of a goody-two-shoes to do that.”

            “I don’t know about that Jess.”

            “It is Nick Carter who is flirting with her,” Melina added in.

            “You have a really, really good point there,” Jess nodded.

            Nick couldn’t keep his eyes of the girl standing in front of him, talking with him.  As the night went on he could feel something between them getting stronger. He only hoped that she could feel it too.

            “She’s amazing,” he thought to himself.

            They were talking about anything and everything and Nick found it incredibly easy to talk to her. He had to spend more time with her somehow.

            “I hate to tell all of you this,” DJ Lani’s voice came on over the music, “But the party is almost over. We have about ten minutes and then the owners of the concert hall are kicking us out.”

            “Do you want to pick up your stuff from my dressing room now?” Nick asked.

            “Sure. Let me just tell me friends that I’ll be right back.”

            “Ok,” Nick smiled at her, “Take your time.”

            She walked over to her friends and he eyed her as she did so, “She’s gorgeous!  I need to control myself.”

            Her friends were smiling at her as she approached, “I’m going to get our stuff from backstage. I’ll be right back and then we can go to the hotel. I don’t know about you three but I’m bushed.”

            “You don’t look so tired flirting with Nick over there,” Kelshie teased.

            “Oh give me a break.”

            “Come on! Admit it! You are loving every single second of it!” Jess blurted out.

            “Oh I never said I wasn’t totally enjoying myself, I just asked that you give me a break.  Do you blame me for flirting with him?” Heather smiled slyly.

            “I don’t blame you at all!” Melina chuckled.

            “I’ll be right back guys.”

            “Behave backstage Miss Hermie,” Kelshie wagged her finger at her best friend.

            Heather laughed, “Me and Nick Carter alone backstage… I’m not going to promise anything!”

            Her friends laughed as she winked at them then turned to walk with Nick.

            Nick led her to his dressing room and as he did he asked, “So what were you and your friends laughing about?”

            She slightly blushed and giggled, “It was nothing. They were just being my crazy friends, that’s all.”

              “Alright then, just keep something juicy from me,” Nick said sarcastically. He looked at her and raised his eyebrow.

            “Trust me it’s something I’m sure you’ve heard millions of times before from other fans.”          

            “Gotcha. Well here’s my dressing room,” he said opening the door. “There’s really nothing much to look at but here it is. Come on in and make yourself at home.”

            “Oh I’m not staying long. I can tell my friends are getting pretty tired even though I’m sure they don’t want to leave.”

            “Then you can chill out in our tour bus for a little while until we have to go to the hotel. You can consider it as another prize for winning the Karaoke Challenge.”

            “That’s really sweet of you to offer but we can’t do that. I need to get some sleep so I can drive home tomorrow. I have three dogs that need taking care of. Right now my sister is watching them for me but I don’t want them thinking I abandoned them.”

            “I understand,” Nick handed her the bag with all the concert merchandise, “Here’s your stuff.”

            “Thank you very much for keeping it back here.”

            “Don’t mention it. I didn’t want your popcorn buckets to get ruined.”

            Heather laughed, “I’m sure you think we’re crazy.”

            “I don’t think you guys are crazy at all,” he smiled, “I think you are original. I like originality.”

            “Then I guess you can say that the four of us are very original.”

            They both laughed and when they stopped, they found themselves looking into each other’s eyes.

            “We’ll I have to go, unfortunately.”

            “Before you go I would like to tell you something.”

            “What is it?”

            He half grinned, “It’s going to sound crazy.”

            “Tell me, I’m dying to know now that you said that.”

            “Don’t take this the wrong way but… You’re the perfect package! You’re intelligent, easy to talk to, down to earth, you have an amazing singing voice and you’re beautiful.”

            “Please stop you’re making me blush.”

            “Are you always this shy?”

            “Only with people I’m really interested in.” She smiled cutely and shyly.

            “I’m happy to hear my feelings are mutual. I would really like to get to know you better. Can I have the honor of going out on a date with you sometime soon?”

            “It would be my pleasure.” She grinned and looked into his eyes.

            He smiled back at her, “I’ll give you my number and if I could ask for yours I’ll call you tomorrow and we can set something up. I’ll be staying in New York for a while. I know I have an interview coming up soon and I’m not sure when that is but after that we could go to dinner and maybe a moonlit walk through the park so we can talk?”

            “That sounds perfect,” she answered calmly although her heart was about to explode.

            “Awesome!” Nick tried his hardest to contain himself as he searched for his cell phone, “I’ll send you a text message if you type in your number.”

            “Ok.” She carefully took his blackberry and typed in her number.

            “Thank you. I’ll send you a text so you can have my number.”

            “Thank you Nick.”

            “Trust me it’s my pleasure.”

            The final call came over the loud speaker and Heather’s heart dropped a little as she said, “I have to go now.”

            “Let me walk you out.”

            As they walked back they passed DJ Lani as he was walking to his dressing room. He took off his mask and glanced at Heather briefly. Heather’s eyes went wide.

            “Are you ok?” Nick asked. “It looks like you’ve just seen a ghost.”

            “I did just see a ghost,” she thought but shook that from her head and replied, “It’s just that DJ Lani looks a lot like my best friend I lost contact with a few years ago.”

            They walked over to the rest of the Backstreet Buds who were saying good night to the Backstreet Boys. Heather said her good nights to Backstreet and finally to Nick.

            “Good night Nick. I had a fantastic time tonight. Thank you so much for putting on an awesome show and for being my date for the night.”

            “No, no thank you for being my date tonight.”

            “It was my pleasure.”

            He leaned closer to her and whispered in her ear, “I’ll text you tomorrow. Keep our date on the down low, it’ll be our little secret.”

            “Sounds good to me. Good night.”

            “Good night,” he gently kissed her cheek and she blushed.

            Luckily her Backstreet Buds didn’t see the kiss so she wasn’t teased about it and they walked out onto the side walk in peace. The girls were all tired and happy about the night they just had.

            As they waited for the light to change so they could cross the street safely, Heather felt someone tap her on the shoulder.

            She turned around and was instantly thrown into shock.

            The man standing behind her said, “Hey Bud.”

She could feel a lump in her throat form and tears develop in her eyes, “Rich? Is that really you?”