CHAPTER 29
HALEY NARRATING
“What are you doing up?” I asked Nick. “You never get up early. What’s wrong.”
“What’s wrong? The album comes out today. Did you know that?”
“I heard a rumor.”
“Should I be nervous? Why are you up? Are you nervous? Shit. I should be nervous.”
“I think the ship has sailed on whether or not you should be nervous. And I’m up because I have to do an interview with the rest of the girls in twenty minutes. Probably should’ve woke up sooner. But I figured 5:45 was early enough. It’s still dark outside. That’s just not right. Who gets up this early. There’s not even birds up yet.”
“I gotta go.”
“Where?”
“I don’t know. Do you realize if we don’t have a hit single this whole thing isn’t going anywhere?”
“Yeah.”
“So you don’t think we’re gonna have a hit single?”
“I didn’t say that. And technically the single’s already a hit.”
“It wasn’t on TRL.”
“So?”
“SO? We’re going there today.”
“I know we are too. You need to calm down.”
“I do not need to calm down. I need to keep freaking out. And stop yelling at me.”
“I’m not yelling. I’m not even raising my voice.”
“Yes you are. You aren’t listening to anything I say.”
“Okay. I have to get ready.”
“See, and now you’re ignoring me.”
“Whatever.”
“Just so you know I’m not talking to you Haley.”
“Okay. And you’re acting like a twelve year old.” He just left. What a dumbass. If we don’t have a hit single…The single’s been out for over two months. And it’s doing well. So to me that’s a hit. But whatever. I’m gonna be late.
NICK NARRATING
I didn’t even know where I was going. I walked around and at some point wandered into some conference room. In that room were the other four guys.
“Hey.” I said. “What are you guys doing here?”
“Same thing you’re doing.” Howie answered.
“Freaking out?”
“Yep.”
“And getting away from the room.” Kevin said. “I just had a fight with Kris over the phone.”
“I just fought with Leigh.”
“I just fought with Haley.” I said.
“Over what?” AJ asked.
“Nothing.” All three of us answered.
“Looks like we’re all pretty fucked up doesn’t it?” AJ said.
“You could say that again.” Howie said.
HALEY NARRATING
I am so fucking tired I don’t even know. I’m too tired to finish that sentence.
“Haley hurry up!” Melissa screamed. “We have four interviews in the next hour.”
“Fuck. We’re not even the real guys. Why do people care?”
BRIAN NARRATING
“Nick hurry up!” I screamed. “We have four interviews in the next hour.”
“Fuck.”
AT THE VIEW AJ NARRATING
Nick was being pissy all day because he fought with Haley. He was hiding it well in interviews though so at least it was just a little treat for us as soon as the cameras stopped rolling.
It was definitely good to be back. We had been gone for so long, and I had totally forgotten how good it felt to be back doing what we all loved to do. The Today Show was a great way to start the promo too. Two blocks of people. That’s a lot of people that stood in the pouring rain to see us. And they knew every word to I Still. I don’t know how they do it. That song barely exists. I guess that means the Backstreet CIA is back at work. Hell, I don’t think they ever stopped.
NO NARRATION
The girls had already done about seven or eight interviews, all of which had the same questions. They were finally on their way to TRL. It was still like eleven a.m., but apparently they were just going to wait for a while.
DANIELLE NARRATING
We drove up to TRL and there were already a bunch of people outside waiting. TRL didn’t even start for another three hours.
“Guys, look at everyone out there.” I said.
“There’s like eight people there.” Haley said.
“Well, it doesn’t start for like three hours, so maybe that’s a good thing.”
“The barricades aren’t even up yet.” Melissa said.
“Shit.” We all muttered together.
“At least the album won’t totally flop.” I said.
“I guess not. There are a lot of teenage girls in the city today aren’t there? Jen mentioned.
“There sure are.” I said.
“Thank God.” Haley muttered to herself. Of course we could hear her considering we were all together in a car, but she didn’t need to know that. It was better if she didn’t. Most of the time that’s how we would find out what was going on with her. She’d mutter it when she thought we couldn’t hear. Then we’d totally give her shit for it later. Maybe she’d say something dirty.
“I’m not thinking anything dirty Danielle. I know you can hear me.” she said.
“Damn.”
BACKSTAGE TRL ABOUT 1:45 P.M. HALEY NARRATING
“Dammit Nick stop being an asshole!”
“You’re the one who won’t shut up.”
“You’re ignoring me! And you started talking to me.”
“I know. I just want to be alone.”
DANIELLE NARRATING
“Looks like Nick and Haley are fighting.” I said to AJ who was standing right next to me.
“He fought with her this morning too. Brian and Kevin fought with their wives too. Everyone’s being an ass today.”
“That seems to happen most days.”
“Thanks.”
“You’re welcome. And I meant in Nick’s case.”
“He’s always an ass. You learn to love it. And just so you know, he’s way better now that he’s with Haley. She makes him so much happier than he was before he met her. Like when we were recording the album he’d go out like every night and hook up with someone random.”
“Kinda figured.”
“Probably shouldn’t tell Haley that though. That would probably make her mad. And then Nick would get mad, and well he can kick my ass so…”
“I won’t tell her.” I said laughing. “Besides, I think she kinda knows.” Before we could say anything else the guys were called off to work. Real hard work. Talking. And I can honestly say that it isn’t hard because I’ve been doing it all morning. I think we’ve done more work than they have.
I saw Nick stalk off from Haley mid sentence. That could not be good. She was pissed too. Great. Wouldn’t that be a treat.
“Hey guys.” She said as she came over.
“Why aren’t you mad?” I asked her.
“Because he’s just being an ass. And I’ll get back at him later. And we’re practically done for today. Just TRL and then we can go home.”
“Very true.”
INTERVIEW WITH THE GUYS BRIAN NARRATING
“I’m here with the Backstreet Boys after five years…” same story. But it was great to be back. Nick had been in a weird mood all day. He had pretty much been hiding it until now. He was completely letting everyone know he was upset. Probably not smart. Hopefully no one would ask about it. I’m guessing it had a lot to do with Haley. I saw them fighting backstage. I’m sure it was Nick’s fault. He was being an ass. “So, what have you been doing all this time?”
Was Nick honestly checking the VJ out? Come on man. Your girlfriend is backstage. She’s less than twenty feet away. Haley was so gonna kick his ass. “Having fun, just trying to stay out of trouble.” Good answer Nick. Don’t mention the girlfriend at all.
“Well, we’re going to go to a commercial break because I don’t know if you can see this on camera, but I’m shaking. I’m the host and I’m shaking.”
With that Nick looked over and grabbed her hand. “No you’re not. You’re lying.” Nice move. Very nice. Now he was hitting on her too. Awesome. Great way to makeup with your girlfriend. At the commercial we walked over to the window to wave to the fans. I walked over to Nick.
“Do you wanna maybe stop hitting on other girls while Haley is here?”
“I’m not. Fine. I am. Who cares.”
“Stop being such an ass. Why are you in such a bad mood?”
“I just am.”
“Well, stop.” The interview pretty much went normally. It was so great to be back. The fans were freaking out too. I guess they missed us a little bit.
Then we were asked to sing something new. It wasn’t like everyone hadn’t already heard these clips before online, but oh well. We sang Safest Place, and Kevin was snapping like a moron. He wasn’t even keeping the beat. The other three noticed it too. We had a pretty good time picking on him about the snapping. Then after the interview Nick went a step further.
“Can you see ME. Here I AM. Standing HERE where I’ve always BEEN. Dumbass. How long have you been doing this and you still can’t keep a beat.” Well, at least something could help put him in a good mood.
HALEY NARRATING GIRLS INTERVIEW ON TRL AFTER THE GUYS LEFT
“So,” Damien was interviewing us, and Danielle could not stand still. She kept looking at the window or playing with the microphone. “do you want to introduce yourselves for us.”
“I’m Danielle. The best one. Everyone else here is boring.” That was sweet.
“I’m Jen.”
“I’m Melissa.”
“And I’m Haley.”
“And you’re dating Nick am I correct?” Damien asked.
I didn’t really know what to say, so I figured what the hell. “Yes.” The crowd was really screaming.
“He’s a lucky man.” Damien said.
“I don’t know how lucky he’ll be tonight after he was hitting on Vanessa like that. But we’ll see what he has to say for himself.”
“Oh, he wasn’t hitting on her.”
“Don’t deny it. Everyone out here knows he was hitting on her am I right?” The crowd was laughing and having a good time. This was all fun. I liked the interviews.
“So, what’s the biggest piece of dirt you have on the guys.”
“Ask Haley about her first date with Nick.” Danielle said.
“No. I don’t wanna tell that story.” I said.
“Come on. Don’t feel bad.”
“Oh, I don’t at all. It’s just that people know that story. I say we go with the story about the first time he got drunk.”
“Oh great. A much better story.”
“Well,” I started, “AJ jumped at the chance to tell me this story. He told it at dinner with all the other guys and stuff. First of all, Nick was sixteen. Howie and Kevin went to a club. AJ was in timeout and Brian was sick so they were at the hotel with Nick.”
“What’s timeout?” Damien asked.
“Oh, it’s literally a timeout. Like getting grounded. I think AJ got it for bringing a girl back to the hotel or something. I know Nick got a timeout the night of our first date because he was late to the show. But anyway, after that Brian and AJ got him drunk by giving him like two drinks, and he decided he needed more towels. So he went down to get more towels, AJ came with him, and then Nick noticed this thirty year old man and started flirting with him. Then after he was threatened with a restraining order AJ brought him back up to the room.” The whole place thought this story was hysterical. It was a good story.
“Come on Haley, tell the real story. Tell AJ’s point of view. You know the part where AJ takes him in the elevator.”
“Oh right. So after he got drunk he took a bath, rolled around on the bathroom floor, and then went down to get the towels, but he was naked the whole time. He was riding the elevator with AJ, and a bunch of people waiting to get on had to wait because they didn’t want to ride with naked Nick.” Just then I heard someone yell in the crowd.
“Why not?”
“Well,” I said, “remember what he looked like when he was sixteen?” Apparently they did because they completely agreed that they probably wouldn’t have wanted to ride with him either. “Anyway, then the elevator stopped, and Nick was terrified. He had his eyes closed but was too drunk to realize it so he was crying in the elevator. Then, when the elevator worked again AJ got him back up to the room, into some clothes, and then Nick finally got his towels.”
The whole place was in hysterics. “Sounds like quite a night.” Damien said.
“Nick’s gonna kill me.” I said.
“Nah, Just tell him you’re really mad he was hitting on Vanessa. He hates when you’re mad at him.” Danielle said. The whole crowd did that awww thing. “Don’t awww. He usually deserves it.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
HEY-I know it's been taking a long time to put up these chapters, but 30 is about half done already, so it probably won't be that long before it's up. I'm hoping it's up by next weekend. Any Other Way really got me in the writing mood!
