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I stayed up half the night talking to Aje in a chat room. Man, was I glad to have HIM to help me out. Last night I was some crazed fan from Iowa that was in love with Brian…good cover, huh? *laughs* Anyways, after 45 minutes of pointless chatter, I told him about this ‘hypothetical problem’ that my friend had. Okay, maybe we get a little too cautious sometimes but what do you expect?
Anyways, Aje suggested that maybe I wait it out for a while. If she squeals on me and my location gets public (again), then I will move. He thought that it would be good to have someone to confide in and that I should give her a chance. After all, not every chick is out to use us…some of our fans honestly care about us AND our well being. So…I guess that was it then…since I have been put in the WPP, I usually end up taking his advice. I am afraid that my own judgment may be clouded.

~~***~~

“Morning, girls,” I greeted quietly as I walked into the store.
“Hey, JR!” Dani smiled weakly.
“I bit hung over?” I questioned with a chuckle.
“Oh, boy is she!” Steph answered. I headed back to punch in. “I’m glad to see that you weren’t too hung over to make it in today, JR.”
“I didn’t drink much of anything,” I shrugged as I turned to face Steph.
“I’m just sayin…” she chuckled as she turned to head back out front. I took a hold of her arm and spun her back around to me.
“Thanks, Steph.” I said quietly.
“Oh, no problem. I don’t mind being the designated driver,” she winked at me. I smiled as we headed up to the registers. The day went by quickly. I ended up having the same lunch break as Steph today; most of the time I end up taking it alone.
“So, I know you girls are big Backstreet Boys fans. If Dani has a HUGE crush on Nick then who do you fancy?” I asked Steph as I took a bite of my egg salad sandwich.
“Yeah, we are both fans of the group and Dani DOES want to marry Nick,” she laughed heartily. “I have always been torn between Nick and AJ.”
“Nick and AJ? That’s a bit of a drastic difference,” I cocked an eyebrow. She chuckled and shrugged her shoulders.
“So who is YOUR favorite?”
“Aje and Rok,” I told her looking up. “Although D. and Kev aren’t far behind.”
“AJ? Really? Wow. He is so hott,” she laughed.
“Riiiiiight, well, that’s not exactly what I think of him,” I snickered and scrunched my nose.
“Of course, because you aren’t gay,” she smirked. “I think our break is about over, JR.”
“We got five, yet, actually,” I said looking at my watch.
“Alright,” she plopped back down in her chair. “So? Are you up to going to the club again, anytime soon?”
“Sure,” I shrugged, “It was pretty fun, well, besides…you know.”
“Right, well,” she shrugged before standing to throw out her trash. We both headed back up to the front of the store. Steph went back to her register by Dani’s and I headed off to stock more shelves…yay. At least the rest of the day went by as quickly as the first half did. Before I knew it, I was punching out and pulling on my jacket.
As soon as I got home, I checked my email to find nothing there. I had been hoping to here from Aje but I know they are busy. What to do now? I settled in on the couch for some good old American recreational TV watching.
“MTV is always a good choice,” I shrugged as I slouched further into the couch.
“Stay tuned for MTV News coming up after the break at ten to the hour,” the dark haired man spoke. I hopped up to grab a soda and the popcorn that had just finished in the microwave. Returning to the living room, I looked up to the TV and saw the news guy back on the screen. Listening to the man’s words caused my soda and the bowl of popcorn to drop from my hands and crash to the floor. My eyes widened and began to tear up.
“It has been confirmed that Nick Carter, of the Backstreet Boys, was indeed put into the Witness Protection Program over two years ago. This was the cause for his mysterious disappearance and was the result of him witnessing a brutal gang murder. Carter took the stand and was put into the Witness Protection Program due to threats upon his life.
“All of this has been confirmed and brought to our attention because AJ Mclean and Brian Littrell, also members of the Backstreet Boys group, along with Brian’s son Baylee, have been taken hostage by other members of the gang. The FBI is now involved and cooperating with police to work negotiations with the involved gang members. There is no word, as of yet, to what the gang member’s demands are. We will bring you more news on this situation as soon as it becomes available to us. All of us here at MTV are sending our thoughts to the hostages, their families, and Nick Carter…wherever he may be. That’s the news for now. For more news and updates, join us at ten to the hour, every hour right here on MTV.” The man finished and the screen flashed to commercial.
I was frozen. Tears streaked down my cheeks as the realization hit me that my friends were now in danger because of me. I was shaken from my thoughts by a harsh, urgent knocking at the door. After slight hesitation, I slowly made my way to the door. The demanding knocks came again. I swiped the tears from my eyes and swung the door open.
“O my god!” Steph immediately came in and engulfed me in a hug using her foot to close the door behind us. “I heard it on the radio as I was driving home.” She pulled away and her eyes met mine.
“I…I uh…” I choked on my words as I began to cry again. Yes, I cry. Can you blame me, in this kind of situation?
“Shhh, it’s okay,” she pulled me into another hug and rubbed my back. “Let it out. I just knew you would need a friend, right now. Come on,” she took a hold of my hand pulling me toward the couch. I sank down into the cushions letting my head fall into my hands. She put her arm around my shoulders. Hugging me close she let me just cry. It took me fifteen minutes for me to calm down enough to talk.
“I can’t believe this. What am I supposed to do now?” I looked up at her with bloodshot eyes.
“Have you spoken to the WPP people? Shouldn’t they have some advice?”
“I haven’t heard from them,” I shook my head. Steph had gotten up and was talking to me but cleaning up my mess at the same time. Her voice was comforting.
“Well, maybe that would be a good place to start. I mean, if you relocated right now, the people at the new location would put two and two together right away. Do you know what I mean? Everyone is going to expect you to move and they will be looking for new people to move into their town. Personally, I think it would be safer to stay here but I am not the expert in this area,” she chattered as she came back from throwing the popcorn away.
“I see your point,” I said half heartedly. I drew in a deep breath. Steph came to sit beside me again as she held out a few aspirin and a glass of water for me.
“You have GOT to have a headache. Am I right? Stress and crying ALWAYS gives me a headache.”
“Majorly,” I nodded as I took the medication and water. Steph sat with me for the next 45 minutes as we waited to see if MTV News would have any updates. Ten to the hour came and went without any further development. I was praying for the WPP office to call or the news to tell me that this was some kind of prank but my prayers were going un-answered tonight. Aje and Brian could probably handle themselves, fairly well, but I was willing to bet that poor Baylee was scared out of his little mind! My heart ached for them and I was wishing, so badly, that I could make everything go back to the way it used to be. Steph and I fell asleep on the couch, somewhere around midnight, after waiting up for further information.