It was 9am, I rolled out of bed, showered and changed. I called Denise's room. "Hello?" "Hi Denise, it's Janice. What's up with the doctor?" "We found one near the arena and you have an appointment with him at 11am. John will take you down there and Tim will go with you of course, for security reasons." "Ok, thanks a lot." "Bye." "Bye."
I hung up the phone. Brian started to wake up. He rubbed his eyes and looked at me. "Someone is up early," he said laughing. "Love you too!" I laughed. He pulled back the covers and sat on the edge of the bed. He was in his boxers and a Tates Creek Football t-shirt and his hair was a mess. He got up, gathered some of his things and got in the shower. I was packing my clothes when I heard the blowdryer running, signalling that he was out and getting ready.
I knocked on the door. "Yes?" he asked. "Are you decent? I need to grab my things so I can pack them." I asked. "Wanna find out?" he said winking. "Brian Thomas Littrell," I said laughing. "Yes ma'am," he laughed opening the door so I could retrieve my things. I started throwing my things into my bag, while he went back to getting ready. He finished blowdrying his hair and put some mousse in. Then some gel to curl the front. He brushed the back, splashed some aftershave on and kissed me as he walked out the door to finish getting ready. I crutched back out and threw my bag on the bed. "I have a doctor's appointment at 11. They are going to see if they can give me a walking cast to make it easier for me to get around." "So you aren't coming on the bus with us to go to the arena?" he asked as he pulled a shirt over his head. "No, John, Tim and I are going to the doctor's office and we'll be to the arena as soon as I'm done. Denise said that the office is near the arena. So I shouldn't be far behind y'all," I said.
There was a knock at the door. Brian went to answer it. "Your escort is here," he said coming back into the room followed by Tim. "I thought you would need some help with your stuff," Tim said coming in the room. "Thanks," I said as he picked up some of my bags. I got up and Brian came over towards me. "I'll see you later," he said giving me a kiss. "See ya." I crutched out the door following Tim. We got on the elevator and got off. We walked through the lobby and out the doors to the van that was waiting for us. Tim put my bags in and helped me into the van, shutting the door and climbing in the front seat next to John. We pulled away.
The ride to the doctor's office was long and quiet. I think it was the quietest trip I had taken since I started. We finally arrived and Tim helped me out. I crutched to the door. I went up to the receptionist and told her my name and she told me to have a seat. I sat down and Tim stood around looking around the office. Finally settling in a seat next to the fishtank. I picked up a magazine and just started thumbing through it when the nurse came out to get me. Tim decided to wait in the waiting room during the appointment.
They took me back to a small room with an examination table. I stepped up on the small stool on the floor and sat on the table. The doctor came in and asked me the basic questions, allergies, previous broken bones and such. They had received the x-rays and documents from the Atlanta hospital that I had been to. They told me that the type of break I had I would be able to use a walking cast that I could remove. First they removed the plaster one that was already on my foot. They reset my foot slightly and put a high-tec looking boot on. It had straps on the front so I could remove it and a rounded bottom so I could walk on it. I tested it out around the room. After a few trips around the room I got a hang of it. They let me keep the crutches just in case something should happen and I needed them again.
I thanked the doctor and walked out to the waiting room. I signed some papers and we left. We arrived at the arena, there was a large metal staircase to the stage door and it took me some time to climb up the steps but I did it. I hobbled in the door and found Erika sitting at a table playing solitaire on my laptop. I walked over to her and sat down. "How did the appointment go?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the screen. "Alright," I said. "They gave me this," I pointed to the boot, "it's easier to walk in. And I don't need the crutches. Which is a good thing. Where are the guys?" "Umm, I don't know. I think they had some dance rehearsal but I'm not sure. I know Fatima was talking to AJ when we got here. And they had to learn some new moves to a song they are adding tonight but I really don't know. Oh, and Aaron just got here. He's doing a run through on the stage as we speak." "Well I'm going to go find Denise and tell her I'm here. I'll see ya later," I said getting out of the chair. "See ya."
I walked out from backstage onto the stage to see if Denise was out there. "Janke!" I heard a voice call my name. I turned around just as Aaron came flying at me wrapping his arms around my waist. "Hey buddy! What's up?" I said hugging him back. "Nothin'. Just warming up for tonight. How's your foot?" he asked pointing at the boot. "Sore, but they gave me this boot so I don't need my crutches anymore. I can walk around in this," I said demonstrating for him. "Cool. Well I gotta go practice some more, I'll see you at dinner. Bye!" he said running across the stage. "Bye." I continued my search for Denise and found her, she was talking withe the head or security at the arena. "Well hree comes Miss Trouble now," she laughed, "Janice this is Bill, he is head of security here. I was just telling him about your little mishap in Atlanta." "Here it is," I said pointing at the boot, "Well I have to go. I just wanted to tell you that I'm back and everything went well. I have some work I have to get done. It was nice meeting you."
I left and slowly made my way down the stairs to the arena floor. The guys were on stage doing some sun throughs. I got to the floor and walked down the main aisle and up the steps to the stage. The guys took a break and came over to me. Brian came towards me first. "How was the appointment?" he asked giving me a kiss. "OK, I got this and it's easier to get around in." Fatima walked over towards me and gave me a hug. "You alright? Denise was telling me what happened," she said. "I'm fine. Can't say much for my foot," I said, everyone laughed. We all walked backstage and ate some dinner that was provided by the arena staff. We ate and talked about nothing. Aaron left the table to get ready while the guys stuck around a little longer. A few minutes later the guys left to get ready.
Erika and I were sitting around talking about friends that we hadn't spoken to in awhile. Yahna who was a very close friend of ours who lived in New York. Alex who had just recently moved to Orlando in the past few months. While we were waiting I checked my email. "Geez, I haven't checked my email in about a week," I said staring at my inbox. "How many messages?" Erika asked looking over my shoulder. "234! And half of them are from Devon," I said laughing. Devon along with Erika was one of my closest friends in the entire world. I shared things with the two of them that I had never told anyone else. I valued their friendship more than the world.
I was digging through my mail when Brian came over and put his arms around my nexk and put his head on mine to see what I was doing. "Dang, someone has been lazy with checking her email," he said laughing. "Shush you! At least I reply to all of my mail." "Oh," he said backing away, "So that's how it's going to be." "Get back here dork," I said laughing. He came back towards me. Standing in between my legs looking down at me. We held hands. "I love you," I told him. He kissed me. "I love you, too." He hugged me and then Greg ran by.
"Greg, come here." Greg came back towards us. "You gotta relax man, too much stress can kill you." "Ok, B. Five minutes be ready," said Greg running off. "He'll never slow down," said Howie laughing, who was polishing off his third cup of herbal tea. "Howie, what herb is that? It reeks!" said Nick holding his nose. "I don't know my mom found it in a health store while she was in North Carolina visiting my brother-in-law and my niece and nephew. It smells bad, but it makes my throat clear," said Howie. "Well it's killing us D, put it away!" said AJ through pinched nose.
Howie left to drink the rest of his tea peacefully and away from everyone with a sense of smell. As he finished his tea, Aaron came back. He had just come off the stage and sat down next to me. The poor kid looked wiped. "How's the audience, AC?" asked AJ. "Pumped and I'm pooped," he said sighing. "I need a nap now." "Aren't you going to watch your big bro perform?" asked Nick acting hurt. "I'll see it next time. Right now a bed on the bus is calling me and it's telling me to go to sleep. I'll see yall later," he said walking towards the stage door that lead to the bus out back. "Y'all better get out there before Greg has a heart attack cause you're not ready and you go on in two minutes," said Erika.
The guys left and we went to watch from the side of the stage again. They made thier entrances and started performing. The concert finished as fast as it had started. The guys came back to get changed and shower off. They came out of the dressing room. Brian came over towards me and gave me a kiss. The seven of us went out the door, heading towards the bus. Since I was free of my crutches I walked hand in hand with Brian. We got to the bus and plopped on the couches. The guys were tired and we could tell. Brian just leaned against me. I had my arms around him. The guys were chatting about nothing in particular. One by one well went back into the beds to got to sleep. I got in the bunk across from Brian. He blew me a kiss goodnight and I blew one back. He smiled and shut his curtain. I shut my curtain and turned over and went to sleep.
I woke up and pulled the curtains open. I could see Brian was still sleeping in his bed. I climbed out and went to the front of the bus. Kevin and Erika were already up and talking. I joined them at the table where they were eating some donuts and drinking OJ. "Morning," said Kevin as I sat down. "Morning," I said. "How's the invalid this morning?" asked Erika smiling. "Fine, thank you," I answered. Kevin started laughing. "What time is it?" I asked yawning. "8," said Erika looking at her watch. I looked out the window. "I know where we are," I said in an excited whisper. I got up and and went up to Greg. "Where are we going?" I asked. "No, can do. Mrs. McLean said not to say," said Greg with a smile. I stomped back to the table. "What's wrong?" asked Kevin. "We are like 10 minutes from my parent's house. But Greg won't say where we are going." Just then the bus pulled off on at the Broomall exit. "Greg, are we going where I think we are going?" I yelled up to him. He just smiled. As we talked we pulled down my street. But since my street was too small, we had to park the bus in the parking lot of the funreal hom at the top of my street.
We woke up the rest of the gang and the eight of us walked down the street. As we got closer to my house I could see an aqua cavalier parked in front of my house. "Devon's here," I said to Erika. "REALLY?!?!" asked Kevin. "That's her car," I said pointing to her car. "Janice!" I heard a little voice call me from across the street. "Anthony!" I walked across the street and the others followed. "Anthony, these are my friends this is Brian, Kevin, Howie, AJ, Nick, Aaron and Erika." "Wow," Anthony said in amazement as he looked up at Kevin and Nick who towered over his 4 foot frame. We laughed. "Where's Sam?" I asked, knowing that Sam was a huge Spice Girls fan but had a ting crush on Brian. "Sammy is with Mommy," he said. "Alright, if she gets back tell her to come to Dani's house, ok?" "Ok."
All the guys shook his hand and we headed back towards my house. We walked up to the door and I rang the doorbell. My sister opened the door. And almost fainted when she saw who was at the door. She just stood there gaweking at the guys, jaw hitting the floor. "Dani, want to let us in?" I asked laughing. "Oh yeah, come on in," she said opening the door. We all came in the door and Dani lead us to the living room where we found everyone. Devon was sitting in a chair, Angela, Steve and Andy, who were friends of mine were sitting on the couch. And my sister joined Chris her boyfriend on the floor. "Hey Dev," said Kevin shyly stuffing his hands into his pockets. AJ smacked his forehead when he realized who Devon was and moaned. "Hi Kev," said back smiling.
"Where's mom and dad?" I asked Dani. "Beats me. They left ten minutes ago but didn't say anything." "Figures. So what do y'all want to do? We don't have to be to New York till tomorrow," I asked. "How about the mall, Janke?" suggested Andy. "Sounds good to me," said AJ with a laugh. We all rolled our eyes. "Crap, time for some introductions," I said. "Guys this is Angela, Steve, Andy, Devon, Danianne and Chris. And this is AJ, Howie, Brian, Nick, Kevin, Aaron and Erika." "Hi," they all said at once.
The doorbell rang and my sister ran to answer it. She came back with a dumbfounded look on her face. "They said they are close friends of yours, but I have never seen them before in my life," she said as our seven bodyguards and Denise came into the living room. The eight of us laughed. "These are our bodyguards and Denise. This is my best friend Tim," I said putting my hand on Tim's shoulder. "This is my best friend, Jeff," said Brian pointing at Jeff. "This is my best friend, Lonnie," said Howie. "My best friend Lennie and my mom Denise," AJ said running to kiss his mom on the cheek. "My best friend Andre," said Kevin punching him playfully. "Tony's my best buddy other than Frick," said Nick. "And George is my worst enemy," giggles Aaron. "I'll remember that when the girls attack you," George said laughing.
"Woah, Janke has her own bodyguard. What would you do if I went to hit you?" asked Andy getting up from the couch. "Break every bone in your body," said Tim looking down at Andy. We all laughed except for Andy who sheepishly sat back down on the couch. "So who wants to go shopping?" asked AJ with a big smile on his face. We all loaded into the van and headed to the mall. When we pulled in, all the guys, Erika and I pulled out our disguises. My sister looked at me funny. "Why are you wearing a hat to your nose and sunglasses?" she asked trying not to laugh. "Cause if she don't she'll get killed," laughed Howie. "Thanks Howie!" I said back. "No problemo, senorita," he said back. I rolled my eyes. "Since I've been on TV so much recently too many people know me. And when they see me they see them," I said gesturing towards the guys as they all nodded in agreeance. "Really?" asked Angela. "Really. Look at my foot, that tells the whole story."
We piled out of the van and headed towards the mall. Devon and Kevin walked hand in hand, Erika and Nick walked hand in hand, my sister and Chris were holding each other, Bri had his arm around me and Angela and Steve were holding hands. "Ahhhh! We're surrounded," said AJ looking around. "Oh, no!" said Howie. We all looked at them. "What's up with you two?" asked Kevin. "Everyone has someone but the four of us," said Aaron motioning to himself, AJ, Howie and Andy. "Nah, I got Howie," said AJ putting his arm around him. "Get off of me you perv!" laughed Howie. We all laughed. As we got closer to the entrance the guys got quiet and just walked along. We tried to stay quiet as not to draw attention to ourselves. When we walked in I saw Tim and the rest of our guards just walking around, they were there just in case we got into trouble but they would stay clear of us.
We headed to the music store first. I went to the singles and Brian followed me. I was looking through them. "Who's that guy with your sister?" he asked. "That's Chris, they are dating." "Seems a little older than her." "Brian! Why are you so protective of my sister?" "I dunno." "He's a great guy. You'll like him. My parents do, at least they act like they do. He works for a living, works for his own company. My mom wasn't too keen on the whole dating thing. But they love each other and she couldn't do anything about it. And neither can you," I said standing up and looking at him. "Ok?" "Ok," he said and kissed me.
We walked over to where Devon and Kevin were. They were flipping through CDs. "Find anything good?" I asked as Brian put his arms around my waist and put his head on my shoulder. "Nope," replied Devon. Everyone eventually made their way towards us and we went back in the mall. "Old Navy! See ya!" Was all we heard out of AJ before he ducked into the store. Lennie shrugged his shoulders and followed him. "He'll never learn," chuckled Kevin. "He's going to get mobbed and I'm going to laugh," said Nick as we entered the store. We found AJ looking through some racks. "Find anything good, Bone?" I asked. "Check this out," he held a pair of neon green jeans. "Dang!" muttered Brian. "Put those on, we'll never lose you," laughed Lennie as he walked by. We all started laughing. "Should I get them?" he asked. We all just kind of looked at him. "They're only $5." "That's $5 more than I would pay!" said Chris. We laughed again. "Let's go AJ," said Howie dragging him out of the store. "I want them," he yelled. "Come on AJ," we all said as Howie continued to drag him out of the store. We finally dragged AJ out of the store, it was near lunch time so we headed to the food court to get something to eat.
We all headed off to get food and had some tables in the middle of the food court. I got some Arthur Treacher's and headed back to the tables. Brian and Nick had cheesesteaks. Howie got a salad, AJ had some Burger King and everyone else had pizza. "Fish?" asked Brian looking at my plate with a funny face. "Yeah, what about it?" I asked jokingly. "Hushpuppies, too," I added. "I lived on those thing in high school." "Why is that?" asked Steve. "Bri worked at Long John Silver's," I said. "Yup, busted my butt to pay for my car." "The Bleeding Banana," laughed Kevin. "Shush you!" laughed Brian throwing a fry at Kevin. "Hey Dev, what's up with you?" I asked. "Nothin', why do you ask?" "You just have been real quiet that's all." Kevin put his arm around Devon. Devon and Kevin along with Brian and I had actually met before all of this. We met them while they were at a club with Erika while she was touring with them. So we had known each other for sometime.
We finished eating and decided to head back in the mall. But this time we split up. Nick and Erika went to the arcade, Howie, AJ, Aaron and Andy went to scope out some more of the mall for girls, Devon and Kevin went to so some shopping, Brian and I headed to the the athletic store, Chris and Dani went to find some desert and Angela and Steve decided just to chill on a bench. We agreed to meet back at the bench in two hours. Our bodyguards went with each of us, as the mall had gotten busier since we had arrived. I bought some college sweatshirts and some t-shirts. Brian bouths a new pair of sneakers and a sweatshirt.
Before we knew it the two hours were up and we headed back to the meeting place. By the time we got there, everyone was already there. "Well, look who's the late one now," laughed Kevin. We all laughed. We headed to the door and back to the van. We climbed back in and head back to my house. We were sitting in the living room when my parents came home. "Mom and dad, I would like you to meet everyone. This is Brian." "Hi, nice to meet you," he said shaking their hands. "Howie." "It's a pleasure, Mr. and Mrs. Memory," he said with a smile. "AJ." "Hey nice to meet you," he answered shaking their hands. "Nick." "Hi." "Kevin." "It's so nice to meet you." "Aaron. "Hi!" "And you know Erika," I said. "It's so nice to meet everyone," said my mom.
"Alright what do y'all do around here for fun?" asked AJ rubbing his hands together. "Well there's bowling, The Squire, Qzar.." "Qzar?" Nick asked interrupting me. "Laser tag," said Andy. The guys eyes lite up. "What are we waiting for? Let's go," said AJ. We all headed back out to the van and went to Qzar. All the guys were pumped. They had never played before and were ready to play. We got to the Qzar place and paid for the game. The guys treated. While we waited for the next game to start we played in the arcade. "Winner and still champion!" I cheered as I beat Brian in air hockey. "You jsut got lucky," he said coming over towards me. He put his arms around me and kissed me. "Nah, you just hate the fact you lost to an invalid," I laughed. We went over and joined Erika and Nick. Nick was playing Mortal Kombat and Erika was just looking on. "Having fun?" I asked Erika. "Tons," she said rolling her eyes. Just then Nick banged his fists on the game signaling his loss. "Come on let's go try something else," she said pulling him away from the video game.
Brian and I joined Steve and Angela on the bench. Steve and Brian started talking. "So, how's life been?" asked Angela. "Busy. But it's been fun." "I bet. So y'all are coming back later this month?" "Yeah, but not for as long. Just the night and then we catch a flight to Indianapolis the next morning. Then I won't be around till about Christmas." "You better keep in touch," she said laughing.
The guys turned back to us and out game number was called. We all went to the door and went inside the rule room. They gave us the rules and chose up sides. We decided to go guys vs. girls but since there was more guys we took Aaron. "Prepare to meet your doom," said Howie as we slid the vests over our heads. Once we were snapped in and had our guns we entered the dark game room. We all took cover behind the walls and obstacles placed around the room. The spotlights shut off and the blacklights came on and a voice came over the sound system giving us a refresh on the rules and we began. I was staked out in a corner when I heard the faint whistling of the theme from Mission: Impossible. I turned around and found AJ walking backwards right into me. He bumped into me. "Uh oh," he said slowly. "Toast!" I laughed. I pulled the trigger and his vest lite up and vibrated signaling he was hit. I turned around and took cover when I saw Howie come from around the corner. AJ turned around looking to see who had gotten him but I was hidden in the corner. "What are you looking for?" asked Howie. "Someone was just here," he said looking around. I positioned my laser gun on the box in front of me. Aimed and fired at the target on AJ's back. "ARGH! I've been hit again." I aimed at the target on Howie's chest and fired. "Me, too!" I laughed and hobbles around the corner to find my next victim. "Howdy partner!" I heard a voice come from behind me. I slowly turned around and saw Brian with his gun pointed at me with a sneaky grin on his face. "You wouldn't," I laughed. "Wanna find out?" he asked with a grin. I looked behind him and saw my sister coming in behind him. I saw him pull the trigger but nothing happened. "What the heck?!?!?!" he asked in confusion. "Gotcha!" my sister laughed cheerfully.
The game continued until the time limit when they brought the spotlights up. We exited the room and removed out vests. We went into the lobby and checked the scoreboard. The girls and Aaron were red and the guys were green. "Green 219, Red 340!" yelled Erika with excitement when we checked the board. They had printouts of our individual scores. They also printed out who we had shot and who shot us. I turned to the girls as we were walking across the parking lot to the van. "Who the heck was 12?" They all looked at me. "I was 12," piped up a small voice. It was Aaron. "Buddy, you shot me four times," I said. The guys started laughing. On the way home we stopped at Dairy Queen and got some ice cream. We went back to my house and dropped everyone off.
And we took the van back to the bus. The eight of us climbed aboard and sat on the couches. We pulled out, heading towards Philadelphia where we would be staying. We got to our hotel and unloaded our luggage and headed inside. We got our keys, got on the elevators and went to our rooms. "I think this is the earliest we've gotten to our rooms and not have anything else to do," I said putting my suitcase on the bed. "Don't get use to it," laughed Brian. "I'm going to do some wash," I said pulling out my laundry bag and some detergent. I walked out the door and down the hall. I knocked on Tim's door. He answered the door. "I'm just doing some wash, I'll be back." He nodded his head and I left and got on the elevator.
I went to the main desk and got some change and asked where the laundry room was. I found the laundry room, where Erika was sitting on a washing machine reading a book. I loaded my laundry into one of the washers. "Good book?" I asked while loading the machine. She didn't answer and turned the page in her book. "Earth to Erika, come in Erika," I said waving my hand in front of her face. "Oh hi, when did you get here?" she asked saving her place in the book and putting it next to her on the washer. "About five minutes ago. Good book? You didn't even notice me come in." "Yeah, it's alright. Sorry it's something I learned." I sat down in a chair next to the machine that Erika was sitting on. "I'm exhausted," I sighed leaning against the machine. "Wonder why, you're up and moving more than I was when I hurt my knee and was on crutches for 2 weeks. I'm surprised not to see you whining about it." "Are you kidding? I'm taking those painkillers like they are candy. I've been so sore, it's not even funny." "Why haven't you said something?" "Cause I don't want to be a pain, and besides I can live."
Just then my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and turned it on. "Hello?" "Oh my God! Is that Janke not sitting in front of a computer?!?!" came the voice on the other end. "Hi Alex," I said rolling my eyes at Erika who laughed. "What's up?" "Nothin', me and Erika are just doing some laundry." "Sounds like fun." "Oh, tons." Howie came in the laundry room with his laundry bag slung over his shoulder. Erika nudged me, pointing at Howie. I got up and walked over towards Howie. I tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to look at me. "Hey Alex, someone wants to talk to you." I handed the phone to Howie. He gave me a look and mouthed, who is it? "Find out for yourself." "Hello?" he asked caustiously looking at me. "Oh hey Alex, how are you?" A smile came across his face as he realized who was on the other end. "I miss you too. You coming to the concert in Baltimore next week? We'll make sure you get backstage passes," he said looking at me. "Alright, I have laundry to do. Love you. Bye." He handed the phone back to me. "What was that look for Howard?" I asked. He just laughed and continued to load his laundry into the washer. I went to sit back down in my chair next to Erika.