The guys discussed the song for a few minutes until the waitress brought our drinks. By the time she brought us our food we were all starving and a little impatient. I hadn't used chopsticks in a while so the first piece of chicken and broccoli that I picked up fell back in my plate. "Uh.. Erika you have to hold the food till it gets to your mouth..." Brian said snickering. "Really..thanks Bri I though I just had to hold it in mid-air and it would magically float to my mouth.." I said rebattling his sarcasm. We all laughed and kept eating. After a couple of practices I got the hang of chopsticks again, but not before AJ could say "Really Erika we can get you a fork, if you can't use the chopsticks." Trying not to laugh but failing miserably, "You guys are so smug, I would love to see you not be able to do something.." I said evily smiling back. "Allright guys truce, scores are all tied, lets eat." Kevin's voice drowned out the rest of ours as he tried to restore order to the situation. We ate silently for the next few minutes, everyone was too hungry to speak, but that didn't stop Brian. He kept making faces and doing weird things with his food, finally we all broke down and laughed. "So Erika how do you like it so far?" Aaron's voice asked in the middle of one of those famished silences. "Well I can honestly say that I've never done anything like this in my entire life. These last few days have been some of the best of my life. Everyday I'm amazed at the emotional and psychological strength that you guys have to have to have gone through this for the last six years. I admire your strength.", Suddenly all the guys had pensive look on their faces. "Thanks Erika. Few people ever really know how much work and sacrifice goes into what we do. We feed on each others strengths to make us stronger. I think that's why we work so well together and are such good friends" Howie eloquently stated. "Ahh how sweet.." AJ taunted Howie "But he is right, we are strong seperately but as a unit we are an unmoving wall".
"However we still haven't gotten to the fun stuff that we do on tour... I say we take her clubbing you guys.." Nick interjected happily. "Not tonight guys, remember we have a double header tomorrow." was Kevin's comment on Nick's suggestion. "Kevin is right Nick, Remember we have a whole tour ahead and today is only the third day.." Brian interjected. "Allright.. but I'm determined to take you clubbing" He said to me a bit dejected but smiling. "Allright enough about me.. I want to know about you guys.. and not the stuff you talk about in interviews..." I said smiling trying to bring the mood back up. "OH noo she's gonna find out that we are crazy.." AJ said being really weird and laughing, we all laughed and kept eating. We all ate hungrily and a bit wearily. At one point this girl that looked to be about 14 came up to the guys and shily asked for their autographs. It was incredible, within seconds they became energetic and full of life. They each gave her their autographs and a hug, she looked like she would explode with happiness. We finished our meal and the waitress brought us fortune cookies and gave Kevin the bill. We all breached the table and grabbed a cookie. " I go first,-great opportunities await you in the most obvious place-" Aaron read his fortune and looked a bit confused "Well that was vague." "My turn - your hard work will be honored by your peers. Ooh I like the sound of that" AJ laughed "Allright what is mine -you will achieve greatness in your life- what is yours Howie?" Brian asked "Inspiration will come to you in a moment of peace- hey maybe we can finish the lyrics to the song.." He smiled hopefully. "Me next- a new mysterious person will enrich your life- ladies next." Nick said, "Oh allrighty - fun and adventure are in store for you- Kevin your up.." "Fun and enjoyment may pay off better than hard work and monotony- I guess I have been uptight lately." He said smiling. He crumpled up his fortune and threw it at Nick. We ended up having a paper ball fight but we cleaned it up.
We left the restaurant really hyper. Outside the guys put their disguises back on. We walked down the street fooling around and skipping trying to burn some energy..."Allright we have 4 hours to burn, let's go do something" Howie suggested. "I'm up for horse back riding how about you guys?" AJ suggested "Cool but where would we find a place in the city?" Aaron asked "How about the yellow pages worked last time.." Brian suggested laughing. We stopped at a phone booth and Kevin looked for the listing and found a place 10 minutes away. We hailed a cab and it was a mighty tight squeeze. We decided to go to the hotel and pick up the van and to change. "I'll drive it around front, you guys wait for me in the lobby." Howie said as he went to the parking lot. I ran to my room and put on jeans and a halter top. I got back down and we waited in the lobby "Brian stop harrassing the people, thats my job.." Nick said laughing. We heard the horn honking and ran outside. We were barely able to get into the van as six girls started running toward us having recognized the guys. "Hey think they'll follow us.." Aaron asked AJ, "Nahhh they look too young to drive and our man D here is gonna lose them in the traffic anyway right?...". Howie turned the radio on and AJ's voice singing "If I could right... the wrongs that made you cry.." came through the speakers. "Wow I wonder who those guys are? They have really good voices not like you guys.." I said sounding impressed "Oh yeah.." was all I heard before AJ, Nick and Brian were on top of me tickling me and giving me an atomic noogie. "Ahh... man... stop..., I am sooo...gonna get you guys.." I said in between laughs. When they decided I had been torchured enough they let me back up. "Howie did u call the place and tell them we were coming?" I asked "No why?" "OK I'll call". Kevin handed me the paper with the phone and adress of the stable. I got on the phone..."Shush you guys I can't hear the lady on the other end." I shushed the guys who were fooling around again and went to the back of the van... "Thats right there's 7 of us and we are all pretty tall, so we'll need strong horses, can u please leave one unsadled, yes I know how, ok thank you, we'll be there in 10 minutes, what Howie? Oh ok." I asked the lady for directions to the stable and hung up, I told Howie the directions.
Ten minutes later we were there. The temperature had cooled a bit but it was still horribly hot. We went to the office and I told the lady my name for the reservation "Hi I'm Mary" we introduced ourselves. "Boy am I glad you told me you were tall or I would have given out all the stallions... I'll walk you to the stables and show you your horses..." Before we went to the satble AJ handed her a credit card, I guessed it was a card for the boy's expenses. I made a mental note to ask Denise about expenses before the concert. We followed her to the barn. The whole way there Brian and AJ talked in a southern accent and Kevin and Aaron talked like James Dean and John Wayne. She showed us our horses, mine was named Falcor, he was pure black with a white star in the middle of his forehead. At this place you have to saddle your own horse and AJ and I were the only ones who knew how, so the two of us and the lady had to show the rest of them how. I helped Aaron with his since I didn't have to saddle mine since I was going to ride bareback. About half an hour later we were finally done. We lead our horses out the stable and Mary showed us the trail. Nick and I helped Aaron onto his horse since he couldn't reach the foot strap. "Remember you have to mount and dismount from the horse's left..I don't feel like driving you guys to the hospital.." AJ said to everyone in general slightly amused. "Erika why don't you have a saddle?" Howie asked me. "I like riding bareback better, its less stressfull and more fun." "Yeah us novices have to use saddles... I see how it is..." Kevin teased, "So your saying that we are novices..is that what your saying..?" Nick laughed, "That's exactly what she's saying Frack cause you are.." AJ made fun of Nick, Aaron burst out laughing.
"Let's mount you guys..." Mary lead their horses one by one to the wall step so they could mount, Nick, Kevin didn't need to because of their height and AJ knew how. After they mounted so did I, except that instead of using the step I grabbed Falcor's mane and pulled myself up. "Your a regular old cowgirl aren't ya? Now keep these guys inline" Mary smiled showing us off. We had been in a fenced pasture under the blazing sun and we were wearing long jeans. The trail lead into a wooded area with lots of shade. It took the guys a while to get into the rythm of riding and be and AJ just watched in amusement. I was glad of having chosen to ride bareback for both mine and the horse's sake. We rode in a horizontal line except when the trail narrowed and we followed the leader. "HI HO SILVER....AWAY...." the guys belted out and broke into a gallop, I was afraid they'd fall off since they didn't have much riding experience. I broke into a gallop after them and caught up. "So whose the cowboy now...?" Brian said out of breath and laughing, "No argument here..". Our horses were a bit tired from the gallop and the heat, so we slowed to a walk. "Guys maybe we should do a video riding horses, like a Zorro kind of thing." Howie suggested, "Cool I'll be the lone ranger.." Aaron suggested and we all laughed and started talking like cowboys from the old west.
For the next 20 minutes we just rode our horses in a slow walk and enjoyed the scenery. At one point the trail coasted a little stream so we stopped to cool off. "You splashed me.." Nick said trying to sound annoyed after I and Brian accidentaly splashed him "Oh I'm sorry Nick I was just trying to do this.." At which point I splashed him with my hand and got him soaked, the rest of them joined me in splashing him and we all ended up wet. "Thank goodness we'll be dry in a few minutes thanks to this lovely Georgia sun.." Brian said sounding like an infomertial guy. We sat in this clearing were the sun shone through the trees, we all felt the exhaustion of the previous days gain on our bodies. When we were dry we decided to finish the trail and head back. "Oh great now we'll have to go around.." Kevin complained as we spotted a big old tree that had fallen completely blocking the trail. "No we don't... come on Falcor" I said and took off cantering on my horse, he and I jumped the tree and landed on the other side of the trail. I turned Falcor around to see the guys. "Thats fine and dandy for you but what do we do..?" Aaron asked me amused. AJ took off into a canter and jumped the tree also. Kevin and Brian followed, "You learn a thing or too living on a Kentucky farm.." Brian said in a country boy voice. Nick and Aaron where the only two left on the other side of the tree. "All you have to do is put him in a canter and stay close to his body.." I yelled to them trying not to make them feel bad since they were the only ones who hadn't jumped it. Nick and Aaron discussed it for a minute and then they put both their horses into a canter and headed for the tree. Although a bit akwardly they both succesfully jumped the tree without killing themselves. "Well done now y'all are true blue certified cowboys, yesseree.." I said trying to sound like a hillbilly but breaking into laughter.
We cantered the rest of the trail and were back at the stables within half an hour. "So did they behave..?" Mary asked me laughing, "They were perfect cowboys..". We rode into the stable and dismounted. "You guys remember to strech and take a hot bath or you'll be so sore you won't be able to move from the pain, you were out riding so long even then you might be a little sore." she told us in a slightly amused but motherly tone of voice, "Thanks Mary, we had a great time" Kevin said shaking her hand. I helped Aaron unsadle and brush his horse.
I looked at my watch- 4:15- we would have to wash the horses quickly. We thanked Mary again "Get on the way guys, I know you have to get ready for tonight, good luck." "Wait you know who you are?" Kevin asked her a little amazed "Yes, my niece loves you guys, I only recognized you after you used your nicknames. Every time she visits me I have a hard time getting her to shut your CD off. Would you mind signing this for her.?" she smiled having seen the surprise on the guys faces. She handed them a date planner and the boys eagerly signed it. "Is she going to the concert tonight?" Brian asked Mary "Yes I'm taking her to tomorrow's concert, it's her birthday present." "Well don't be surprised if something happens.." Howie told her smiling. "Thank You, you are certainly great young men, she will be thrilled that you signed this for her, you'll make me her favorite aunt.., now get going I don't want you to be late for anything and hundreds of angry teenagers coming after me." We laughed as we got into the van and thanked her again. On the way to the hotel we were all beat. "You guys ok with going to the theatre early the guys said they could use the help" Howie asked from the drivers seat. No one had a problem with it, even if we did we didn't feel like arguing. We taked about the afternoon and all the things we had seen on the trail ride. "I really think we should do a cowboy/ zorro kind of video, it'd be really cool" Brian started. On the ride back they bounced around ideas for a song and a cowboy video to go along with it. I just listened to how quickly their minds worked and spit out ideas. We got to the hotel at five o'clock. Nick was carrying Aaron piggy back style ss we walked to the front of the hotel on the sidewalk from the parking lot. The same girls as earlier recognized the guys again and came running and screaming towards us. This time the guys stayed and signed autographs and took pictures. The girls still didn't want to leave and the boys' bodyguards came out and helped us get into the hotel. For some reason the girls wouldn't let me leave either and kept asking me questions that they wanted to ask the guys. When we got to our floor we found Denise heading for the elevator. "Man you kids stink like a barn, what have you been doing all afternoon?" We laughed and she gave us a strange look so AJ explained to her what we had been doing. "Sounds like you had fun, well don't forget to be at the theatre at 6:30 for rehearsal. I'm going there now, I'll take a cab and John will drive you guys there. You have to take your own bags today, they are in your rooms. If you can air out the van... so it won't smell as bad as you do.. and PLEASE take a shower!" She said and left.
We each went to our own rooms to shower and get dressed. We met in the lobby at 5:30. The guys were carrying their bags, I noticed that their bags were of each of their own favorite colors. I was wearing a beige skirt and a GUESS t-shirt tucked in, I didn't put any make up on because my skin was still moist from moisturizer. They were wearing what seemed like regular street clothes but in close observation I could tell it was really expensive looking street clothes. Howie was wearing overalls with a purple t-shirt and a pair of silver bug-eye glasses holding his hair like a head band. Nick was in a panthers hockey jersey and khakis, Aaron in baggy blue shorts and matching tee, Kevin in a blue shirt and sweats, Brian and AJ were both in clean long blue jeans, AJ had a short sleeved bagy blue shirt with orange stripes and Brian in a green baggy shirt.
I walked out the front first checking for maniac fans, and when the coast was clear we ran for the van that Jon had parked out front waiting for us. I the van I decided that I would call my parents when we got to the theatre. It took 10 minutes to get there so we just chilled in the van listening to the radio. We got there without any fan encounters. Inside I helped the stagecraft people move speakers and amplifiers around. When everything was sort of set up I sat in a corner out of everyone's way and dialed my home number on my cell phone. I talked to my dad first for about 10 minutes. He asked me typical dad questions like "Are you getting into trouble?, Are you remembering to use your manners? Don't get into trouble.." That sort of stuff. Finally he broke down and told me he missed my constant chatter. Then I spoke to my mom and asked me the same things. She asked me if I liked my matching out fits and she told me she taped my interview on TV and I did great. We talked for 10 more minutes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Howie drinking his herbal tea "Hold on a sec mom.." I motioned for Howie to come over and I handed him the phone "Good evening Mrs.Terrosa, yes Erika is behaving better than the rest of us, we've had to bail her out only twice so far.." I heard my mom laughing. Me and her finished our conversation and I told her I'd call her as soon as I could and I hung up.
Me and Brian helped the crew set up the instruments while Nick practiced on his drums. The time flew by and before I realized it people started filing into the seats so I went into the dressing room to freshen up and put on some make up, since I knew I would be taking pictures. Ten minutes later some radio DJ brought two girls who had won backstage passes backstage, one was 12 and the other 15. Denise and I introduced ourselves to them and I went to call the guys. When the six of them came over I thought the two girls were going to pass out from excitement. The boys signed autographs and took tons of pictures with them, the girls even wanted me in the pictures. In some of them Nick and AJ decide to be psychos and made really funny faces. Then the boys had to go change and the girls and I stood by the food tray talking. They were so nervous even after the guys left that they talked 20 miles an hour. The three of us talked about all kinds of stuff. They asked me what it was like to live with them in their bus. I told them about some of the stuff we did. Denise asked me to be on teddy bear detail, so as soon as the bears and flowers started flying me and two other people were out there picking them up and putting them in a bag backstage that would go to the children's hospital the next morning. I left the two girls with the really annoying radio DJ and Denise. I had never seen so many teddy bears in my entire life. I went back and found the guys in their outfits taking some more pictures and chatting with the girls. Then it was time to start the concert and one of the body guards took the girls to their front row seats, all the other fans eyed them green with envy.
The concert went by without a hitch, and even though I was tired I was all hyper just like the guys. Aaron opened for them with 4 songs from his new CD. The entire time I stood just off stage dancing to the boys and lip singing along, making sure no one could see me. I decided to keep the water cooler by me for when the guys got thirsty. A couple of times during the show one of the guys would look at me for a water bottle and I would toss one to them. It must have been strange for the fans to see a water bottle come flying from out of nowhere and the guys catching it. In one part Brian and AJ completely drenched Howie just for the hell of it, at least it was right before a costume change. After the concert was over the two girls cam back on stage, thankfully none of the equipment had to be moved since the next show was in the same place. The guys talked with the two girls for about half an hour, and then the girls were escorted to their car by the DJ and a security guard.
The eight of us walked silently to the backstage entrance knowing we would have to make a run for the van. At the door four body guards were waiting for us. When we ran out two of them were in front of us and the other two pulling up the rear making sure none of us got grabbed by fans. When we opened the door it was like walking through a wall of noise. The fans were screaming like there was no tomorrow. We ran as fast as we could and literally fell into the van. I sat by a window and watched girls pushing their faces against it from the outside trying to sneak a peek of the boys. I couldn't even imagine the kind of rumors that must have been floating around the internet about me and the guys. Howie sat down next to me. The physical exhaustion of the past 5 dives completely overtook me and I fell asleep within minutes of having gotten on the van. It was a very peaceful sleep, the kind that you have when you've pulled four all-nighters studying for that history final. I was slightly conscious of the van getting parked in the parking lot of the hotel. I was also conscious of feeling one of the guys pick me up and carry me all the way around the front. There must have been fans in front of the hotel because I sensed a sudden increase in noise volume but I was too tired and was enjoying the sleep too much to care. I figure that which ever of the guys carried me had a bodyguard help him muscle his way through fans. He carried me all the way to my room and Denise must have opened the door cause she was the only one with access to my room. The next thing I remember was waking up in my hotel room dressed in the clothes of the night before, in my bed under the covers. I noticed that the sun was shining brightly through my window through the partly closed blinds.