Chapter 3

            After the tearful conversation they had on the bench, Andrea and Annie walked back to their room to freshen up.  Ten minutes later they were out the door and on the elevator going down to the lobby.  During check-in they had told Samantha all about their expedition, including the Backstreet Boys concerts they would be attending.  As they walked past the desk Samantha looked up and smiled at the two girls.  “The shuttle bus is outside waiting for you.  Have fun tonight!”

            “Thanks, I’m sure we will,” replied Annie, as she and her cousin looked at each other and smiled.  The two of them walked out the front door of the hotel and onto the shuttle bus that was waiting to take them to the venue.  “It sure is nice that we don’t have to drive there.  Parking would be a nightmare!” exclaimed Annie as they were sitting down in the bus.

            “And expensive,” joked Andrea, remembering back to the conversation they had in the car earlier that day.  Eleven short minutes later the bus pulled up in the front of the Riverbend Music Center where the concert was taking place.  The girls hopped off the bus quickly and made their way inside the venue.  It was just about three-thirty and they knew the doors for sound check would be opening soon.  Even though neither one of the girls had been to this place before and really had no idea where they needed to go, all they had to do was follow the shrill screams and shrieks of all the other fans. 

            As they rounded the corner they saw two huge men holding the doors open that lead to the floor section of the arena.  Andrea and Annie quickened their pace and as they approached the two large men, got out their tickets and sound check passes.  The men waved them inside and they ran up to the front row and nabbed the last two seats still open. 

            “I feel like such a little kid,” said Andrea as she took her seat.  “I don’t know why I feel so nervous, but I just have this excitement built up in my body; I feel like something unexpected is going to happen.  This is going to be a great time, I can tell!”

            Annie looked at her cousin and just laughed.  “Yeah, who knows,” she said with a hint of sarcasm in her voice, “maybe Nick will ask you to come backstage and maybe AJ and I will go onto his bus and do the nasty a few times before the show starts!”

            “You are so not funny,” Andrea replied flatly.  She paused for a minute and turned to her cousin so that her back was to the stage and without thinking about it yelled out, “Because if anyone is going to do the nasty on a tour bus with one of the Backstreet Boys, it’s going to be me!”  Andrea was just trying to joke around with her cousin, but she didn’t realized how loudly she actually said that.  She also didn’t notice that the room had gotten completely silent during her outburst.  Andrea looked around to see why everyone had stopped talking and just as she was turning around to face the stage again, she felt someone tapping her on the shoulder.  She jerked around quickly and came face to face, well actually face to chest because she was only 5’ tall, with Nick Carter.  She looked up at him, her face as red as a tomato, and tried to think of something to say.  She was not sure if he had heard what she had just shouted out to her cousin. 

            As she was about to speak, Nick spoke instead, “Well, that sounds like a lot of fun, I will make sure find you after the show!”  He flashed the most attractive smile she had ever seen and hopped back up onto the stage where the other guys were standing and laughing. 

            Andrea was in shock, but she was not sure if it was because she had just been six inches away from someone she has loved and adored since she was fourteen, or if it was because that someone she has loved and adored since she was fourteen just talked about doing the nasty with her on the tour bus after the show.  Annie elbowed her cousin in the ribs and Andrea gasped. 

            “Ow, that hurt,” she said her cousin, much quieter than her previous comment had been. 

            “I cannot believe that just happened,” Annie whispered to Andrea as the boys were getting ready to start sound check.  Annie did not notice AJ staring at her from the stage. 

            “Do you think they are sisters?” AJ whispered to Nick as they were setting up their stools for their first song.  “I mean, they look a lot alike in the face, but that girl is so short and the other one is so tall.”

            “Dude, I have no idea.  But we can find out if you want,” Nick responded as the music started for their first song.             

            The boys sang five songs during sound check and everyone watching was having a great time.  Brian was acting goofy like he always does, Howie was winking like a crazy man with a twitch, and Kevin was acting like the strong silent type that he is, but Andrea and Annie didn’t pay too much attention to them.  They were too preoccupied watching Nick and AJ. 

            When the Backstreet Boys were done singing, they came down from the stage and signed some autographs for their fans and took a few pictures.  Andrea and Annie were standing together talking about what they were going to do until the concert was going to start, and they noticed that those big men that were letting people in to sound check were walking towards them.  They stopped right in front of the girls.

            “You two, come with us.”