Tour Part 5

written by:ET

"..beep...beep...beep"

"urhgghhhh that clock..." It's 6:30 AM. I set my clock to half an hour before everyone else is supposed to get up so I can take a swim at the hotel pool. I get put on my bathing suit, grab a towel and make my way to the pool, down the stairs. The sun has started to come out already and sunrise is almost over, the pool is a bit chilly but it feels good against the Florida heat. I check my watch and its 6:45. I get out, dry off and tie the towel around me. I head back to my room. When I get out of the elevator I find Kevin standing in front of me, heading for his own room. "Good morning, went for a swim huh, how's the water?" he asked me, he was all sweaty, he obviously had just come from the gym. "Not bad but now I'm cold cause I'm still wet". "So we'll see you for breakfast in the lobby?" "I'll be there in 20 minutes" I answered. We both went to our own rooms. I showered and got dressed but had no time to dry my hair so I just put on a toothed head band and let it hang loose. I put on some lipstick and mascara and headed for the lobby. I got down to the breakfast room and they were all sitting there except Nick. I said good morning and the boys all stood up from their seats when I walked in the room and waited for me to sit down before they sat again. They are such gentlemen.

I ordered a toasted bagel with cream cheese, some OJ, and a bowl of fresh diced fruit. AJ was eating eggs, pancakes, and sausage. I grimaced at the smell. He laughed and said "You have a weak stomach" "Everyone has a weak stomach compared to you, you big lug. I can't see how your so skinny and you eat all that junk man" retorted Howie in jest. "Gotta keep up my energy, shows take so much out of me" he replied. "On to lighter subjects how did you sleep last night Erika?" interrupted Brian. "Pretty well, obviously not as well as you Brian. It took me a while to fall asleep." "Yes, last night took a lot out of me, I practically passed out on the bus" " Yup frack, me and Kev had to carry you to the front door of the hotel before you woke up, sort of at least" Nick Jested as he walked in to the room from behind me. We all greeted him with a good morning. "Yah..but at least I woke up on time Frack.." Brian snickered. Nick grabbed a donut and a glass of OJ from the counter behind our table. He was wearing a white baggy tee and shorts. We ate and talked meaningless chatter for the next ten minutes. It seemed as though Kev and I were the only one really awake.

"I guess you went to the pool this morning Erika?" Howie asked me in a really sweet voice. "Yah, if I don't take a swim in the morning it takes me forever to wake up. Could you guys just call me ET please? Thats what all my friends call me". "ET like the extra terrestrial? Or like energetic terrestrial?" Nick asked me. "More like my initials." "Sounds good to me ET" Brian said. He started making goofball faces and we all laughed.

"All right guys its 7:45, we have to head for home in 20 minutes. We still have a 2 1/2 hour drive" Mrs.Mclean said a few minutes later. We all finished breakfast and headed to our rooms. In my room I grabbed the bag I had brought with me from the bus with last nights clothes and my bathing suit. I was so glad that my room had a washer and dryer. I met the guys 10 minutes later outside my room. They asked me if I had forgotten anything I said no. We headed down the hallway and into the elevator. We looked like a posse from a sixties' movie. I was walking in the midlle of them. As we walked out the door towards the bus a couple of girls recognized them and started screaming and running towards them. They signed a couple of autographs for them and I just stood by Howie patiently waiting for them to finish. I knew exactly how these girls felt. Unfortunately when they screamed some other girls from the hotel heard and came running. The guys spent 15 minutes patiently signing autographs and posing for pictures. AJ pulled me into a couple of them. He must have noticed I was getting bored. The crowd of girls kept getting bigger. The boys were like "Were sorry but we really have to go we are already late.". A couple of those girls pushed away from Nick's side when they said that, he didn't want me to get separated. The girls must have though I was his girlfriend or something because they gave me some really evil looks and weren't letting me get to the bus. Kevin and Nick realized this so they plowed trough the girls to where I was. They put their arms around me protectively and said "Are you ready we can't stop till we get to the bus". We pushed through the mass together. If it hadn't been for the body guards and the boys I wouldn't have made it to the bus. The three of us and 2 body guards finally got into the bus and sat down.

The scene was almost as bad as the previous night. I sat down at the table in the back next to Brian and sighed with relief. "Scary isn't it? We were completely shocked the first time that happened. We shouldn't have stopped to sign autographs." "It's OK, you know its just one more experience to add to my list of new experiences that I've had just in the last 24 hours. It's a bit scary though". Kevin added " It got so bad in France once that the fans completely blocked off an entire major road. They had to call the police to move them. That was when AJ got his necklace ripped off and we all had our shirts ripped". The bus had pulled out of the parking lot and there were still girls screaming trying to run after the bus. "So what are the plans for today Mrs.Mclean?" asked Nick. "Well by the time we get to Orlando it will be 11:AM. You guys can go home if you want or do whatever. We have to meet at the studio tomorrow morning at ten. We will pick up Aaron at the Studio tomorrow. He'll tour with us till California. When we separate you guys can contact me at my cell as usual.."

"ET we are going home today and hanging out in Orlando. Do you want to join us?" Kevin asked me " Sure I just don't want to be a burden since you'll be with your families.." "Don't worry about it. We are having a picnic on my beach for lunch and dinner so we don't have to wear disguises. We really want you to meet everybody...come on..come on say yes.." Was Nick's retort to my statement. He sat next to me and started tugging at my shirt like a little kid. "All right..ha ha ha.. all right I give in. It's a picnic day today" I laughed in response. "Good cause we weren't going to let you leave anyway.." said Howie smiling. We spent the next few minutes making plans. "Do you want to go shopping? I really need to and these guys won't go with me because they want to wait till 'Mall of America'?" "I'd love to AJ, there some stuff I need to buy" I was going to go visit the Orlando mall with AJ and his mom for a couple of hours. At 1PM we would meet the guys and Nick and Howie's families at the picnic, and then see from there. "Now what was it that you said last night about your artwork?" Brian asked me. "I was telling you guys about my gallery opening 2 weeks ago" We talked for an hour about my work. They were truly interested and asked me tons of questions. Mrs Mclean asked me if I'd ever designed clothing. I said yes , since I had. She said she wanted me to meet with the boys costume designer. They asked me to see some work. "Let me see...have you guys seen my silver duffel bag, I have pictures in there that I can show you and my journal.." I stood on my knees on the couch and looked in the over head compartment. Nick and AJ looked for it too. "BINGO..I got it" Nick hollered from the other end of the bus. "Catch" he tossed it to me and I sat back down in my seat. I went through it making sure not to make a mess. I could feel everyone on the bus watching me and waiting. "Here we go" I pulled out a photo book of 100 pictures and handed them to Howie who was now, along with everybody else, hovering over me. He took the book and sat down in the couch to my right. Everyone sat around the two of us. It took him ten minutes just to get through the first five pictures. They made compliments and I said thank you. As I was going through an explanation of the second piece the driver said that we were at the studio. Howie handed be the photo book back and I promised we would finish looking at them later. We unloaded ourselves from the bus. Mrs.Mclean advised me to leave my luggage on the bus but take my duffel bag and my purse and take my photo book.

At the studio the boys introduced me to EVERYONE. The security guys that I hadn't met yet were really nice. The band was really funny. On the side I asked AJ why the guys and the band traveled in different buses and he said so they wouldn't get on each other's nerves. The boys were used to each other's eccentrecies but the band wasn't. And he said the boys liked to have some time with just them. The studio was amazing. The waiting room had 27 platinum albums for the boys album 'Backstreet Boys', and even more for all their other albums. They also had six gold albums and a picture of the boys holding each two grammys. They showed me the recording studio and Lou's office. We all talked for half an hour and then we all took off. The boys each left in their own cars that were parked in the back parking lot of the studio. AJ promised the guys we'd meet him at his house at 1. I got into AJ's car with his mom and I sat in the back. We drove for about 20 minutes before we got to the mall. AJ turned the radio on and we jammed all the way over there. The windows were tinted so we coul dsee outside but people couldn't see into the car well enough to recognize him. At one point a remix of 'Everybody' came on the radio and AJ sang his parts a-capella in the car along with the radio. When we go to the mall's parking lot AJ put on dark sunglasses and a different baseball cap that covered almost half of his face. "You know..I gotta be incognito if we want to do any shopping" I chuckled but ralized how true that was remembering the morning's incident. We wondered through the mall, he on my right his mom on my left. First we went to Wet Seal and I bought a t-shirt, tank-top, new scrunchy, and a bottle of blue glitter body gel. He bought a flannel and a hat. The cashier seemed to have recognized AJ but wasn't sure so she didn't say anything. We wondered around the mall for another hour. We both bought another couple of things and his mom bough a new pair of shoes.

At 12:30 we took off for the pick nick. At the gate of the island AJ had to show the guard a pass signed by Nick so we could get in. We got to Nick's house. We all got out and walked to the backyard. At the back of the house was a huge pool. The back of the house overlooked an incredibly beautiful lake. Nick ran up to greet us. He introduced me to everyone that I had not met yet. His parents were sooo nice. His older sisters weren't there though. He introduced me to Aaron, Angel, and B.J. Angel looked so much like Aaron. His mom Jane was really pretty. Howie's parent's were really nice too. The guys were all huddled around Nick's dad and the grill. He was cooking burgers and hot dogs. Everyone was in their bathing suits. The boat was docked and there was a tube on the back.

TOUR Part 6