Chapter 11
“Alright girls,” the guide smiled, “the moment you have all been waiting for is here. Right through those doors are the Backstreet Boys waiting eagerly to meet you all. Get your cameras and things you want to get signed ready. Groups go in one by one and each of you will meet each Boy, get something signed, and then have your picture taken. After your picture please take a seat for the Q and A and sound check. Have fun ladies.”
“I am getting way too excited!” Melina squealed.
“We have all waited a long time for this!” Jess said.
“Yeah like 17 years!” Kelshie commented.
Heather shook her head slowly, “I can’t believe that we have been BSB fans for most of our lives. It’s been a long time.”
“It has been a long time,” Kelshie agreed. “But you have to admit the wait of all those years will be worth it tonight.”
The other three grinned widely and nodded their heads vigorously.
The doors opened and the first group was lead inside.
“Only a few minutes until it’s our turn,” Heather thought to herself. “Just stay calm. They are normal people just like you. Except they are super hot, have amazing singing voices, and you have been in love with them for seventeen years! Just try to stay calm.”
“Melina,” Heather spoke out loud. “Do you want to go in first?”
She shook her head frantically, “I’d rather go in after you. I’m too nervous to go in first.”
“Ok then who wants to go first?” Heather looked around at her friends and nobody volunteered. “Ok I’ll go first.”
“Yeah it’s no big deal that you’re going first Heather,” she thought to herself again, “Just relax.”
Someone opened the door to the stage area wide enough for Heather to catch a peak at the Boys talking with the first group of fans.
“I’ll go in first then Kelshie, Jess and Melina.”
“Why are you putting the shortest one of us behind you the tallest one? I doubt that I’ll be able to catch you if you faint when you get inches away from Nick.”
Heather smirked, “Because it will be payback for when you lunged at that smoker when I crush you! And besides, I want to meet Nick before you.”
“Hey!” Jess exclaimed, “That means I’ll be the one catching both of you.”
“But I’ll be catching all three of you!” Melina argued.
“We’ll look like a row of dominos!” Heather laughed out. “Also I lined you up this way because I got a glance at how the Boys are lined up. This way we’ll stand by the Boy we dibbed for the pictures.”
“Gotcha,” Kelshie nodded.
The guide stepped up to the Backstreet Buds, “Ok ladies, it’s your turn.”
They squealed then Heather quickly turned around and said breathlessly, “Just try to stay calm guys.”
“Oh yeah look who’s talking!” Kelshie sarcastically remarked.
Heather stepped through the door and her heart almost stopped when she saw the Backstreet Boys smile at her. They were just a few feet from her. She couldn’t believe this was real! As she got closer and closer her heart started beating faster and faster. She thought it was going to explode! Then it slowed down when she remembered her own advice.
She first shook AJ’s hand, then Brian’s, Howie’s and finally Nick’s.
“Hi, I’m Heather,” she smiled sweetly at her favorite singer and celebrity crush.
“It’s nice to meet you Heather,” he looked into her eyes and smiled back. That made Heather’s heart go into over drive yet she stayed calm. Each of the Boys were very friendly and looked each of their fans in the eye but Heather was liking the way Nick was looking at her now.
After the girls introduced themselves Brian said, “Is it confusing with two Heathers?”
The girls giggled and they couldn’t stop smiling. They were only able to say their names when Backstreet asked them. Heather was the calmest one so she answered, “Well we got used to it after a while.”
“I’m guessing you have known each other for a while then huh?” Howie questioned.
Again Heather was the only one who could form actual words, “Jess, Heather and I grew up together ever since Kindergarten. And Melina and I met on the Backstreet website a few years ago but it feels like we have known each other since we were young. Right Melina?”
Melina nodded her head and felt her nerves drain enough to add, “Yeah it does feel like we have known each other for a lot longer than a few years.”
“Where are you from Melina?” AJ asked noticing her accent.
“I’m from Germany.”
“You came all the way from Germany to meet us?”
“Yes I did.”
“Wow,” AJ seemed stunned. “That’s awesome. You didn’t make that long journey just to meet us did you? We do tour in Germany ya know.” He smiled at her and she blushed.
“I want to say that the trip was just for BSB but I would be lying. I came to America to spend time with my Backstreet Buds here and I wanted to share the experience of meeting you guys with them. They’re my best friends.”
“That’s sweet,” AJ smiled.
“I have to say that you’re music gave us another reason to be best friends,” Heather commented. “It created a stronger bond between us.”
“You’re the first group to tell us that,” Brian spoke, “That means a lot to us.”
“You guys mean a lot to us,” Jess spoke up for the first time.
“Yeah Jess is right,” Kelshie blurted out.
“What would you girls like to have us sign?” Nick asked.
“I know it’s weird,” Heather started, “but could you sign these popcorn buckets for us? We found them yesterday and we recognized them from the popcorn poster you guys are in. And they tie in with the whole night at the movies theme.”
“Of course we’ll sign your popcorn buckets,” Brian smiled.
Howie added, “We have never signed popcorn buckets before. That’s pretty original. I like it.”
Melina handed her bucket to AJ first and he exclaimed, “My God! They are the same popcorn buckets!”
“You girls must be diehard fans huh?” Nick smirked.
“I guess you can say that,” Heather replied calmly. The rest of the girls kept looking at each other as they handed their own bucket to each Boy. They were on the verge of losing their calm and jumping up and down with excitement but they followed Heather’s example.
“Picture time,” the man holding a camera said once each bucket was signed. “I’ll take your cameras as well girls.”
They handed over their cameras then smiled widely as they each stood by their favorite Boy.
The lights flashed then the cameras were handed back to their owners.
“Now you can go take a seat, ladies,” the camera man said.
“Before I sit down I just wanted to thank all of you for singing the song Never Gone. My mother passed away in 2006 and that song brought me the only comfort I could find. She and I were very close and that song helped me come to terms with her death because it made me believe that she will be never gone as long as she’s in my heart. Thank you very much for that song. And I really wanted to say thank you to Kevin but I got VIP tickets a little too late.”
“Don’t worry,” Brian assured, “I’ll personally relay the message to him. It’s going to mean a lot to him to find out that song means a lot to you.”
“Thank you Brian.”
“You’re welcome.”
“And I’m speaking for everyone, including Kevin, when I say thank you for being a fan.”
“You’re welcome Brian.”
The Boys hugged each of the Backstreet Buds before they sat down following Brian’s example.
“I can’t believe that you were the calmest one!” Jess said in an excited half whisper to Heather.
“I can’t believe it myself!” Heather looked down at her hands, “And now I’m shaking!”
The girls laughed then talked excitedly about what they had just experienced. As the girls talked the time pasted by quickly. Heather was a little dazed by what just happened and to add to that she noticed that Nick kept sneaking quick glances at her in between meeting other fans. At one point their eyes meet and Heather sent a cute, flirty smile at him. He winked back. A warm, tingling sensation shot up Heather’s back and she got this feeling that something big was going to happen that night.
About ten minutes later the Boys went on stage for the Q and A session.
Heather was the last person to ask a question before the sound check, “My question is for Nick. In The Hollow, was that actually you riding that horse or was that a stunt double? Do you know how to horseback ride?”
“I do know how to ride actually. One of my exes owned horses and she taught me. And yes that is actually me; I did my own stunts for that movie.”
“Oh cool. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”
“DJ Lani,” Howie called out, “Can you please come on out here and warm us up?”
Another guy walked out on stage and AJ introduced him as DJ Lani, he was in charge of all the backup music for the show because BSB didn’t have a band backing them up for the This Is Us tour. He was a good looking guy. He was a little bit shorter than Nick and he was pretty muscular. His hair was cut short and his eyes looked gray. Not blue or green but a color that was somewhere in between.
DJ Lani looked into the rows of VIPs and caught Heather’s eye. She looked at him for an extended moment and thought to herself, “He looks so familiar.”
“Hermie you ok?” Jess leaned over and whispered to her.
“Yeah I’m fine,” Heather answered, “It’s just that the DJ looks very familiar. I’ve seen him before I just don’t know where.”
Jess took another look at him who was now sitting behind his DJ stand, “You’re right. He does look familiar.”
After BSB warmed up and performed a few songs, it was time for the fans to find their seats. Every group of fans got up and found their seats in the stands. The Backstreet Buds were the only ones who stayed in the standing area.
“So ladies,” Nick came over to where they were standing. He kneeled down and asked, “Will I be seeing you at the After Party tonight?”
“Yes you will,” Heather answered.
“Sweet, I’ll make sure to hang out with you guys. I’d like to talk with you ladies some more.”
“I’d like that,” Heather answered smoothly.
“If you would like I could take you’re posters and popcorn buckets backstage with me now so they don’t get crushed, unless you’re taking your time going to your seats.”
“No we have tickets for the standing area. And are you sure you can do that?”
“Yeah, it’s no problem. I know how much you guys pay for all that stuff and I also know how crazy fans in the standing area can be. I’ll take them backstage and lock them in the dressing room. They’ll be safe and you can get them during the After Party.”
“Ok,” Heather handed over her merchandise and popcorn bucket then her friends did the same, “Thank you Nick. This is very sweet of you.”
“No problem.” He looked into Heather’s eyes and winked again.
She felt her lips curve into a flirty little smile.
“Enjoy the show ladies,” Nick said before walking back stage toward the dressing room.
“Thank you,” Heather called back, “Break a leg.”
“Thanks.”
Once Nick slipped behind the thick black curtain Jess looked wide eyed at Heather.
Heather snapped out of the little trance she was in and asked, “What?”
“You little flirt! I can’t believe it! Since when have you been that flirty?!”
“What do you mean?”
“You’re voice became sweeter than usual and you couldn’t get that playful little smile off our face! And Nick was flirting right back!”
“He was not. He was just being nice.”
“He was being nice because he was flirting!” Jess nearly screamed. “Open your eyes Hermie! You might be going to Nick’s hotel room tonight if you two keep flirting like that!”
“You lucky bitch!” Kelshie called out.
Heather just laughed it off, “I highly doubt that Nick Carter is going to bring me back to his hotel room tonight. Like I said he was just being nice. And he seems down to earth so I doubt he would be that rockstar-ish.”
“You never know,” Kelshie commented. “But you have to admit Hermie, is this not your dream come true or what?! You got to meet BSB, Nick is being flirty with you and later on he’s going to hang out with you.”
“He said he was going to hang out with us.”
“Bull shit!” Jess called out. “He’s clearly going to hang out with you alone and the three of us will be spying on you.”
“Yeah and place bets on how long it takes before he kisses you then whisks you away to seduce you!” Kelshie teased.
Heather could feel her cheeks start to blush, “Shut up!”
Meanwhile backstage as Backstreet were getting ready for the show, Nick was getting teased by his band mates.
“So which one of those girls in purple were you flirting with?” Brian asked. “Let me guess the tallest brunette with the brown eyes and hourglass figure?”
Nick shrugged his shoulders, “I think she’s pretty hot and she could actually speak to us without flipping out or fainting.”
“Just pretty hot? Dude, you’re kidding right? She probably made you stiff,” Howie said.
“Maybe she did, maybe she didn’t,” Nick answered without any emotion.
“And what’s the deal with bringing their posters and popcorn buckets backstage?” AJ asked.
“I’m preventing them from getting crushed. You know how crazy it gets in that standing area. They’re going to the After Party so they’ll pick the stuff up then.”
“I know what you’re doing,” AJ chuckled.
“What am I doing?” Nick asked as he rolled his eyes.
“You’re setting up bait for that tall brunette to go back to the dressing room with you just so you could get her all to yourself! You sly dog!”
“That is not what I am doing. Trust me. I was just being nice.”
“Sure,” AJ sang out, “Sure you were.”
