Chapter 55

 If someone were to ask Stephanie Martinelli her own definition of hell, she’d have to tell them that her current state was it. At the moment, she was crammed into the backseat of a cab with her new Australian roommate; Amy stuck in a traffic jam that showed no signs of breaking up anytime soon. The two of them were coming from the Brisbane airport and on their way to their hotel… for a Backstreet Boys concert.

            When Stephanie had first arrived in Sydney and met Amy, she’d seemed like a nice enough girl and they’d gotten along fairly well. Then Amy had dropped the bombshell. Apparently underneath the exterior of an average university student laid a rabid teenybopper whose sole obsession was none other than the Backstreet Boys. Of course this was awkward for Stephanie with her indirect connection to them through her sister. The last place she wanted to be right now was on a trip to see one of their concerts, but Amy had received the tickets to the concert in Brisbane as a birthday gift from her parents a few weeks earlier and the friend that was supposed to accompany her had to back out last minute. Desperate for someone to go with her, she’d begged Stephanie, even going as far as paying her airfare for her. Finally she’d caved in and here she was already regretting her decision. She wasn’t sure how long she’d be able to keep the fact that she at least knew Nick pretty well from Amy. Somehow she got the feeling that Amy wouldn’t exactly take the news calmly.

            “I’m so excited!” Amy’s voice squealed, piercing through Stephanie’s thoughts. “They are so amazing in concert! Have you ever seen them perform?”

            “Yea, actually I have,” she answered honestly. “I think it was a few years ago. Like their last tour or something.”

            “You mean the Black and Blue tour? You’re so lucky. They didn’t come anywhere near here for that. We Aussies always get gypped out when it comes to these kinds of things. That’s why I’m determined to meet them this time around. It’s been my dream for over ten years now.”

            Stephanie just shrugged. “They’re not that spectacular in person,” she muttered under her breath, not meaning for Amy to overhear her comment.

            “What?! You’ve met them? Where? When? How? I thought you said that you weren’t even a fan!”

            Shit, Stephanie silently cursed. Why had she even opened her mouth? Not being able to think of a good enough way to get herself out of the awkward moment she told the closest thing to the truth that she could without sending her roommate into a full scale panic attack. “Uhmm yea… After the Black and Blue show. One of my friends was a dancer for them,” she vaguely explained. She supposed she could consider her older sister a ‘friend.’

            “That’s so cool! What an awesome job that must be! Your friend is so lucky. So, how where they in person? Is Nick as hot as he is in pictures?”

            “They’re just normal guys,” she tried to explain. “Nothing completely extraordinary.”

            “And Nick?” Amy pressed.

            Stephanie bit her lip for a moment, unsure of how to answer. Finally she decided that the opportunity to make Amy jealous was too good to pass up. “Let’s just say that pictures don’t do him justice.”

            She found herself trying her hardest not to laugh as Amy groaned. “Ooh, you don’t know how much I hate you right now.”

She’d hate me even more if she found out that I’ve actually sucked him off before, she thought with a smirk. No, it would not be a good idea at all to let that little piece of information surface. There was no way that Amy was going to find out about that. 

            Amy’s voice interrupted her thoughts once again. “Hey, so if your friend danced on the Black and Blue tour they must’ve danced with Nick’s ex girlfriend Alyssa, right? Did they ever mention anything about her? I’m just curious. I remember hearing all these rumors that a lot of the other dancers didn’t like her because they felt that the only reason she got the job was because of Nick. Was that true?”

            Stephanie froze for a moment, not sure how to react. Somehow she didn’t think that it would be the wisest decision to tell Amy that her “friend” was actually Alyssa, and Alyssa was more than her friend, but her older sister at that. “Wow… You’re really into this huh? You know every girl that Nick dated?” she stalled for a moment.

            Amy’s face turned red. “I’m not like an obsessed stalker or anything, I swear. I just tend to remember his serious relationships and the two of them were pretty serious. They were even engaged, you know. And according to all the gossip on the message boards they might be back together or something like that. Some fans caught her leaving his hotel room very early in the morning might I add, after they performed at Jingle Ball in New York.”

            Stephanie just rolled her eyes, amazed at how overly interested her roommate seemed to be in Nick’s love life. This clearly isn’t healthy; she noted all of a sudden getting nervous. If Amy could recall so much detail did she know Alyssa’s last name? And if she did would she be smart enough to connect it with her own and figure out their relation? Then again the girl is twenty years old and still thinks she’s destined to marry a Backstreet Boy, so how bright can she be? The best move for her would be too change the subject, pronto. “I’m sorry. I don’t recall hearing anything about her,” she lied.

            “Bummer. I was hoping for some good dirt. Oh well…” Amy sighed dramatically. “Nick just hasn’t met me yet. When he does it’ll be like Alyssa who?”

            Please tell me that was a joke, because otherwise I may just have to call the men with the straightjackets and have her committed to a room with padded walls, Stephanie thought all of a sudden uneasy. She wished she realized sooner exactly what she was getting herself into. As bitchy as it was, she realized that she had to do whatever it took to keep Amy from meeting Nick in her presence.

            “And it might just happen because according to my sources the guys are staying at the very same hotel that we are. Isn’t that awesome?” she continued.

            “Yea… Awesome,” Stephanie echoed back unenthusiastically. How exactly was she supposed to keep a rabid teenybopper from tracking down her idol when they were staying in the same hotel? She inwardly groaned and pressed her forehead against the glass window of the cab, tuning out the rest of Amy’s excited chatter.

            Unbeknownst to Stephanie she was not the only one of the Martinelli sisters to arrive in Brisbane that day. At about the same time as Stephanie was sitting in traffic; Alyssa was just arriving at the guy’s hotel set on surprising Nick for his birthday. She’d explained her plan to Teri who of course loved it and was willing to do whatever she could to help. She couldn’t wait to see the look on Nick’s face when he realized that she’d flown all the way to Australia just for him. Even more so she couldn’t wait to see his expression when he laid eyes on her period.

            She dragged her suitcase over to the elevator and punched in the number of the floor that Teri and Howie were staying on. They’d agreed to let her hide out in their room until after the show that night. As the elevator rose, Alyssa couldn’t help, but feel an air of excitement around her. She’d definitely missed Nick these last few weeks and she couldn’t wait for his reaction to her surprise. This had to be the craziest thing she’d ever done for a guy, flying halfway around the world just to surprise him on his birthday and she couldn’t wait to see his reaction.

            When she reached the right floor, she quickly found the room number that Teri had given her and knocked sharply on the door. A few moments later the door sprung open and Teri threw her arms around her. “You made it!” she greeted.

            “Yea, I sure did. It’s so great to see you again,” Alyssa told her as she stepped further into the room and set her suitcase now. She looked up and noticed that not only was Howie there, but Tricia and AJ had stopped by as well. “Hey guys! How are all of you?”

            After a few exchanges of hugs and kisses, Alyssa pulled away. “How was your flight?” Howie asked her.

            “Long,” she replied. “I tried to sleep as much as I can to make up for the time difference and all.”

            “And to compensate for the fact that you’re not going to be doing much of that tonight,” Teri snickered.

            Alyssa laughed and brushed the comment aside. “Did you get me a copy of Nick’s room key like I asked you to?”

            The other woman nodded and triumphantly pulled the plastic key card out of her pocket. “Here you go. I stole it right out of his back pocket and he didn’t even notice a thing. He really should be more careful, you know. I could be a psycho fan who could break into his room and hide in his shower or something.”

            “I’ll make sure I tell him that,” she promised with a laugh as she stuck it in her bag. “When I asked you for a key to his room I didn’t mean that you had to steal his though.”

            Teri shrugged. “It’s more fun this way because then we all get to listen to Kevin give him the “you have to be more responsible” speech for the four zillionth time. It’s actually quite entertaining to see. Makes it worth the fact that I had to feel him up a little.”

            Alyssa just shook her head and tried to hold back her laughter. Tricia finally spoke up in an attempt to change the subject. “So Alyssa, what did you get Nick for his birthday?”

            “Just me, myself, and I,” she answered. “No offense, but it’s not exactly cheap to fly from New York to Australia. That should be a gift in itself.”

            “Come on tell the truth Alyssa. You’re just cheap,” AJ teased.

            Alyssa put her hands on her hips. “Listen, if his ex girlfriend can give him a birthday cake with her face on it for his birthday just so that he can ‘eat’ her, I think that me surprising him in his hotel room in sexy lingerie can most definitely be considered as a gift.”

            “You kind of actually have a point there,” Teri cut in. “Speaking of presents…” She grabbed a small gift bag that was sitting on the dresser and handed it to Alyssa. “This is Nick’s birthday present.”

            “Uhmm, okay… I’ll be sure to give it to him.” Alyssa looked confused as to why Teri was giving it to her and not to Nick directly as she set it down by her suitcase.

            “No. Open it up,” she instructed. “It’s kind of something for the both of you that might come in handy tonight.”

            “Oh God,” Alyssa groaned, noticing the smirk on Teri’s face. “Please don’t tell me you bought us a pair of handcuffs?”

            Teri just laughed. “Really Alyssa, give me some credit here. Would I go that far? Baby steps here.”

            “With you, anything is possible,” she muttered as she stuck her hand inside the bag and pulled out what appeared to be a jar of some kind of body powder. “You bought us sparkly body dust?”

            “Lickable shimmer powder,” her friend corrected. “Try it.”

            Alyssa looked over at Teri trying her hardest to keep a straight face as she unscrewed the lid and dabbed a little bit onto the top of her hand. “Only you,” she sighed. Very carefully she brought her hand up to her mouth and swept up a tiny section with the tip of her tongue. When she looked up, she realized that she had four pairs of eyes staring at her, awaiting a reaction. “Not bad. Tastes sort of chocolaty.”

            “It’s cocoa flavored,” Teri proudly explained.

            “Well, thank you for the gift. And for everything you’ve done to help me make this trip out here to Australia happen,” she thanked her before replacing the serious expression on her face with an amused smirk. “And I just want you to know if I ever have a moment of insanity and decide that I actually do want to have a threesome with Nick… Well, you’d be the first woman I’d call.”

            Teri immediately burst into laughter and pretended to brush away a fake tear. “Aww… Thank you Lyss! That means a lot to me.”

            Both women looked up and noticed that the others were staring at them a little strangely. “Uhmm ok… Someone explain please?” AJ requested, looking quite lost. Just the expression on his face was enough to send both of them into a full on fit of laughter, which of course made everyone stare at them even more oddly.

            Finally stopping to catch her breath and red faced, Alyssa began to retell the story. “When I first decided to come out here and surprise Nick I called up Teri and the first thing I said to her was that I wanted to do something really special for Nick’s birthday and I asked if she would help me out with it.”

            “So, of course you know me and my dirty mind,” Teri cut in continuing the story. “I of course jumped to the conclusion that the something ‘special’ was a threesome, so I was all like, ‘Count me in!’ Poor Alyssa… The poor thing sounded so horrified!”

            “Well, this is me here,” Alyssa defended herself. “Besides, that would never work out. I’m too selfish. I have to always be the center of attention. Three’s too much of a crowd for me.”

            “Okay… TMI here,” Howie interrupted.

            “Oh shut up and stop whining,” Teri teased, leaning over to place a peck on her boyfriend’s cheek. “You know you’d like it and want to watch.”

            Before Howie could respond to that, they were interrupted by a knock at the door. AJ, who was closest to the door, took a glance through the peep hole in the door. “Oh shit, it’s Nick!” he hissed.

            All eyes narrowed in on Alyssa. “Quick, you have to hide somewhere!” Tricia immediately grabbed her arm.

            “Hide? Where?” Alyssa asked in a panic. She hadn’t anticipated Nick stopping by Howie’s room while she was there. This definitely wasn’t how she wanted to surprise him at all.

            “The bathroom,” Teri suggested pulling Alyssa towards the bathroom door. “Just shut the door and stay quiet. We’ll try to get rid of him.”

            The knocking continued. “Guys? What’s going on? I can hear voices in there. Why aren’t you opening the door?” Nick’s voice could be heard from the other side of the door.

            “I’ll be right there,” Howie called out before turning to Alyssa. “You better go in there quickly.”

            Alyssa nodded feeling pretty stupid having to hide in the bathroom, but she found that she didn’t really have much choice in the matter. She’d barely ducked inside the room and shut the door when she heard the sound of the hotel room door click open and Nick’s voice getting closer. “What took you guys so long?”

            The four others just looked helplessly at one another and shrugged, not being able to think of a quick enough excuse. This brought a pleased smile to form across Nick’s lips. “You were working on some kind of surprise for my birthday, weren’t you?” he predicted.

            “Ehh… Something like that,” AJ mumbled.

            “So, how’s your birthday going so far?” Teri expertly changed the subject. “Anything interesting happen?”

            Nick shrugged. “Not really, it’s been a pretty quiet day, so far. I haven’t heard from Alyssa yet.”

            Tricia bit her lip, trying her best to keep a straight face. “I’m sure she’ll give you a call sometime tonight or something.”

            “Yea, I guess…” Was it Alyssa’s imagination or did he sound a little dejected? “It’s just that with the time difference and all maybe she forgot.”

            Alyssa immediately felt guilty. Maybe I should give him a quick call later? But she quickly changed her mind. She wanted to catch him completely off guard and she was afraid that if she did speak to him she’d hint that she was actually in the same hotel as he was. As it was, just hearing his voice and knowing that there was just a door separating them, was tempting her to just abandon her original plan, open up the door, and leap into his arms. But no… She wanted it to happen just the way that she had pictured it.

            “I’m sure she didn’t,” Howie reassured him. “So, what’s up?”

            If Nick noticed his friend’s odd behavior he seemed to ignore it. “Actually I stopped by because I was wondering if any of you had seen my room key? I could’ve sworn it was right here in my back pocket, but now it’s gone. Maybe I dropped it and one of you picked it up by accident or something?”

            Alyssa covered her mouth to stifle the laughter that threatened to spew out of her mouth. She could just picture the look on Teri’s face at that moment.

            “I’m sorry I don’t think we’ve seen it,” Teri innocently replied. “But you probably shouldn’t leave your room key in your back pocket like that. Anyone could just reach in and grab it.”

            Nick’s eyes narrowed. “Don’t you think I’d feel it if someone slipped their hand in my back pocket?”

            Teri just shrugged. “You’d be surprised. Some people are pros at picking pockets and going undetected.”

            “If we see it we’ll let you know,” Howie promised. “In the meantime you should probably go downstairs to the main desk and ask for an extra one.”

            “All right,” Nick agreed in defeat. “Just do me a favor and don’t let Kevin know. I’ll never hear the end of it from him.”

            Howie nodded and started for the door to open it up for Nick, but Nick remained rooted to his spot, his eyes focused on Alyssa’s small suitcase propped up against the wall. “Damn, Teri… Did you really do that much shopping in Asia?” he teased. “A whole new suitcase of clothes?”

            “They’re not all clothes. It’s those bootleg DVDs too. You know I can’t resist,” she lied, wincing after the words left her mouth. Couldn’t she think of a better excuse?

            “Bootleg DVDs?” Nick asked sounding interested as he stepped closer to the suitcase. “Which ones did you get?

            Teri was one step ahead of him and jumped in front of the bag. “Actually they’re kind of a surprise for Howie,” she lied in a hushed voice. It was the first thing that came to mind to her.

            Nick smirked, an understanding look flooding his face. “Ohhh… I get it… They’re films of the adult nature, huh? Well, if that’s the case since it’s my birthday and my girlfriend is all the way in New York, maybe you could spare-“

            “Is that how you really want to spend your birthday?” she cut him off, already pulling him towards the door. “Holed up in your hotel room with a few porno movies? Because that is just truly sad and pathetic. Besides, something tells me that you’ll find something else to amuse yourself with, birthday boy.”

            His features changed into a look of complete confusion. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean? he sputtered.

            Seeing that his girlfriend was cracking underneath the pressure, Howie came into the rescue, grabbing his friends arm. “You know we have to leave for sound check in about half an hour, so you better see if you can take care of that key situation right now. I mean after the show it might be crazy and it’ll probably just be easier to get it sorted out sooner rather than later.”

            “I guess you’re right,” he admitted. “You know if I didn’t know any better I

I’d swear that you were just trying to get rid of me.”

            AJ sighed and flung open the door for him. “Nick, stop the conspiracy theories and just leave already or I will make it my personal business to ensure that you don’t live to see twenty-seven.”

            “All right, I’m going,” he promised, stepping out into the hallway. “Way to treat a guy on his birthday.”

            “Goodbye Nick!” Alyssa heard the sound of the door slamming and then she heard Tricia’s voice call out, “Okay the coast is clear! You can come out now.”

            Alyssa barreled out of the bathroom, trying to hold back her laughter. “Oh my God, that was so funny. Nice bullshitting by the way. Think he bought it?”

            “I hope so,” Teri told her. “All I know is that was one hell of a close call.”

            About an hour later the guys had left the hotel for the arena to prepare for their sound check. Teri and Tricia had stayed behind with Alyssa at the hotel to keep her company and would be heading over to the venue right before the concert. Alyssa would stay behind at the hotel to prepare for that night. At the moment, the three of them were still hanging out in Teri and Howie’s hotel room talking.

            “So, what exactly are you wearing tonight anyway?” Tricia curiously asked.

            “Yea, I’m dying to see what you finally wound up with,” Teri chimed in.

            Alyssa blushed. “You girls really want to see?”

            Both women vigorously nodded their heads in response. Sliding off of the bed where she was sitting, Alyssa opened up her suitcase and pulled out a skimpy looking red nightie with black lace trim along the neckline, and held it out in front of her for them to see. “Courtesy of Victoria’s Secret of course.”

            “Ooh la la,” Teri teased with a grin. “Nick is going to die when he walks into his room later tonight and finds you laying there in that.”

            “I hope so. That’s kind of the plan, right?” She was interrupted by the sound of her stomach loudly growling. “Guess I’m kind of hungry. Last time I ate was on the flight.”

            “It would probably a good idea if we grabbed something to eat before the show too,” Tricia agreed. “We could order some room service or something.”

            “Actually if you don’t mind I’d rather go downstairs and get something myself,” Alyssa told her. “Bad enough I’ll be hidden away in a hotel room for most of the night. Now that Nick is at the venue I’m free to walk around a little bit.”

            “All right. That makes sense.” Teri stood up and grabbed her bag. “Let’s grab something at the food court downstairs.”

            A few moments later the three of them were standing in front of the elevator waiting for it to reach their floor. Once the doors flew open Alyssa gasped in shock at the figure inside the elevator. Too stunned to say anything at first, the figure stepped off the elevator looking equally as shocked.

            “Steph? What are you doing here?” she asked, finally finding her voice.

            “I could say the same thing about you,” her younger sister replied. “When were you planning on telling me that you were taking a trip to Australia?” She didn’t mean to take such an angry tone with Alyssa, but she was tired and annoyed by Amy’s whining that since they’d arrived at the hotel so late they’d missed the guy’s departure for the arena and any chance of getting into their sound check. She had to admit though that it was hurtful to see that her sister had traveled to Australia and not bothered to even let her know. Clearly she was there only to see Nick.

            “I was actually going to stop by and surprise you,” Alyssa told her, feeling guilty. “I flew in to see Nick for his birthday and I figured that I could travel with him to Sydney and stop by to visit you for a bit. But, apparently you’re here…”

            “I’m sure you were,” Stephanie muttered under her breath.

            Oblivious to the tension between the two sisters, Amy took the moment to introduce herself. “I’m Amy. I’m Stephanie’s roommate. I invited her to travel to Brisbane with me to see the concert tonight. I really wanted to go to this show since its Nick’s birthday and all.”

            “Oh, I’m Alyssa,” she replied, a little thrown by the randomness of Amy’s introduction.

            “I know,” the younger girl replied. “I’m a big fan! Well not of you, obviously, even though I’m sure that you’re a very nice person, but I’m a big fan of Nick’s. So, yea… I know who you are. So you’re going to surprise Nick for his birthday? That’s so cool! If there’s anything I can do to help I’d be soooo happy to. How do you know Steph anyway?”

            Alyssa’s eyes glanced over to Stephanie who looked as if she wanted to fall through the floor. Interesting, that she obviously hasn’t told her new friend that I’m her sister… Guess I’m just going to have to blow up her spot. “I’m Stephanie’s older sister.”

            Amy’s mouth gaped open. “No fucking way!” Instantly her hands flew to her mouth. “Sorry! It’s just wow… The two of you don’t even look alike!”

            “She looks like my mother and I look like my father,” Alyssa dryly explained, secretly enjoying the pained look on her sister’s face. “What’s wrong Steph? Are you ashamed of who your sister is?”

            Stephanie didn’t answer and there was an awkward pause until a look of recognition lit up on Amy’s face. “Oh my God… You’re the younger sister that Nick took in! The really messed up one who got into all that trouble. Didn’t you get arrested or something? Wow, I always thought that was such a nice thing Nick did. So, what was it like living with him? I can’t believe that you’ve been holding out on me like this!”

            The look that Stephanie shot Alyssa was literally enough to kill. Sensing an explosion, Teri spoke up for the first time. “Maybe we should continue this somewhere private? Like my room?”

            Alyssa nodded, not wanting to get into an argument with her sister right out in hallway anyway. For the first time since Amy had introduced herself to Alyssa, she looked up and took notice of the other two women. “I know you two! You’re Howie and AJ’s girlfriends, right?”

            “Guilty as charged,” Tricia admitted.

            “This is so awesome! So, you all like really get along and hang out together? I think that’s so cute,” she commented without even giving them a chance to answer. “So, is your room by any chance Howie’s room too?”

            “Being that Howie is my boyfriend, I’d say that’s a pretty accurate observation,” Teri sarcastically replied, between clenched teeth. She’d only met the girl a minute ago and she was already grating on her nerves, unfortunately she couldn’t think of a polite way to tell her that she couldn’t come inside.

            When they reached the doorway of the hotel room, Teri swiped her key in the door and the five women piled inside. Immediately Stephanie began to go off on Alyssa. “What the fuck? Did you ever stop to think that maybe there was a reason I didn’t tell the world that my older sister is dating a Backstreet Boy?”

            “If you didn’t want your roommate to know then why the hell do you come with her to Backstreet Boys concert?” Alyssa challenged lowering her voice, so that Amy couldn’t hear her. “To me that’s kind of asking for trouble. What were you going to do if you had bumped into Nick or something? Ignore him?” Her eyes glanced over Stephanie’s shoulder to make sure that Amy wasn’t listening to their conversation. Thankfully enough she seemed to be too engrossed in exploring the area of the suite, squealing about how she couldn’t believe that she was actually in a Backstreet Boy’s hotel room.

            “For your information, Amy begged me to come with her. I didn’t want to for this very reason, but she was desperate. I wasn’t planning on staying at the same hotel as them or having to worry about bumping into Nick. I really didn’t realize how obsessed Amy was until I got here,” she tried to explain. “And there again, you weren’t supposed to be here.”

            “Oh, I’m sorry… I didn’t realize that I wasn’t allowed to visit my boyfriend on his birthday. Pardon me for inconveniencing you,” Alyssa shot back.

            “Nick’s the only reason you even stepped foot in Australia! Admit it; you didn’t even consider coming to visit me in Sydney until after you realized that it fit perfectly into Nick’s itinerary.”

            “You wanted me to come visit you in Australia! You didn’t specify when!” Alyssa pointed out her voice rising. “I figured that I could kill two birds with one stone since both my boyfriend and my sister happened to be in the same part of the world at the same time. I didn’t think there was anything wrong with that?”

            “And exactly how much time would you have spent with me, huh? Maybe if I was lucky I’d get a lunch or maybe you’d use me for amusement while Nick was out doing promotion or at a sound check, but let’s face it. You’d have spent all your time with him and I’d get whatever you had left over.”

            Alyssa sighed. “I don’t know what you want from me Steph. I’m here! Why are we wasting our time fighting about this? Are you jealous of Nick or something?”

            “I’m not jealous of him!” Stephanie scoffed. “It’s just ever since he came back into your life it’s been Nick, Nick, Nick! We never hang out anymore, you never tell me shit about the two of you… Yet, Meg knows all the details! It’s like you don’t trust me. Hell, I just found out from Mom and Dad that you’re moving out to LA! When were you going to tell me about that one?”

            Alyssa began to feel slightly guilty. It was true that she’d often overlooked her younger sister as a confidante throughout the whole Nick saga and they definitely weren’t as close as they could be, but what did Steph want her to do? Forget all about Nick’s birthday and hang out with her instead? She scrambled to think of something to say to defend herself, but found herself distracted by Amy coming out of the bathroom holding a hairbrush in her hand. “Oh my God, is this really Howie’s hairbrush?”

            “Yea it is and you better put it back. I’m sure as a fan you know just how particular Howie is with his styling tools,” Teri patiently explained. Her eyes met with Alyssa’s and seemed to plead with her to wrap things up with Steph quickly.

            Alyssa gave her a little nod and quickly tried to tie up her thoughts. “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner Steph. It’s just been a really crazy month and things between Nick and I are happening so fast, but it’s a good thing. I’m sorry that you feel like I’m neglecting you for Nick, but someday you’re going to meet someone-“

            “Don’t give me that ‘someday you’ll meet someone who makes you feel the same and you’ll understand’ line! You know what? Don’t even bother trying to fit me in your life anymore. In fact, have fun with Nick tonight and don’t even bother calling me when you get to Sydney. Go move off to California and have a nice life there with Nick!” She turned away and grabbed Amy’s arm. “Come on, Amy let’s go.”

            “But I don’t want to,” Amy insisted. “I’m still looking around. I-“

            “But you don’t want to miss the concert,” Teri insisted. “I could try to get the guys to come over and say hello to you later after the concert.”

            Amy’s jaw dropped. “That would be so awesome! Did you hear that Steph?”

            “Yea, I heard,” Steph answered sullenly.

            “Steph… Come on. Don’t be like this,” Alyssa begged.

            Stephanie ignored her sister’s pleading and grabbed Amy’s hand heading for the door. Not being able to resist getting the last word in she spun around with her hand on her hip. “You’re going to be sorry that you picked your boyfriend over your sister,” she warned. “Blood is thicker than water and what are you going to do when he fucks you over like he always does?” She didn’t wait for a reply. Pivoting back around she walked out the door without looking back.

            “Oh my God… What a bitch!” Teri remarked as soon as Stephanie had left. “Is she always that way?”

            Alyssa shrugged. “She’s got a very strong personality. She’s got this thing in her head that Meg and I want nothing to do with her. She’s had a really fucked up teenage life.”

            “Boo fucking hoo,” she replied.

            Tricia slid down on the bed next to Alyssa and put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “Are you okay?”

            “I’ll be fine,” she told her. “I try not to take anything she says too personally. Especially all that shit about Nick. He’s different now. He’s not going to hurt me this time around.”

            “That’s the spirit!” Teri encouraged her. “So, I’m guessing you’re probably not too hungry right now.”

             “Let’s just order room service after all,” Alyssa decided, flopping back on the bed. She hadn’t been entirely truthful with Teri and Tricia. There was still after everything that Nick had said to her to ease her fears, that little part of her that asked, What if Steph was right? What if he really does fuck me over this time?