“What are you here for, miss?” the receptionist asked.
“Just a checkup,” Kara responded.
“Fill this out and then have a seat over there. Dr. Masters will be with you as soon as he gets done with another patient.”
Kara filled out the form she had been given, and then took a seat on a couch provided. She hadn’t been to the gynecologist in 4 years, and at the urging of her mother, she was back again.
10 minutes later, Kara’s name was called.
“Dr. Masters will see you now,” the receptionist said. Kara walked down the long hall until she reached room 10, and went in. The female doctor was waiting for her, reading the form she had filled out.
“So you haven’t had a checkup in a few years, I see,” she commented. Kara nodded.
“OK, let’s just start with the basics,” she said.
20 minutes later …
“Um, Ms. Kimball, everything looks fine, except… I felt what appears to be a cyst on an ovary, which I can feel during the pelvic examination. Now, cysts are not necessarily rare for younger women who still get their periods, but I will still need to check up on it. The cyst is small, so as long as it goes away eventually you have nothing to worry about. I’ll need you to come back in a month, and then the month after that. Now, what age did you first get your period at?”
Kara was still trying to process all the information she had just been given. “Uh… 12.”
The doctor started writing on the form on her clipboard. “Now, has anyone in your family ever had ovarian cancer?”
Kara’s heart jumped at the word ‘cancer.’ “Um… I don’t know. I don’t think so, though.”
“All right, Kara. Come back in a month and I’ll check your ovaries again. If the cyst is not gone in two months, you will most probably have to go to the hospital to get it checked out more closely.”
Kara left the doctor’s office feeling uneasy. What if she got ovarian cancer? The next month of waiting was going to be torturous.
“Our first destination, London!” AJ said excitedly. No one was happier about the start of the tour than him.
“That’s great, AJ,” Kevin said monotonously. No one was more depressed than Kevin was. “We all know already.”
The group was on the airplane, along with their dancers. The band was coming separately, and they’d have a rented bus when they got to London. Because this was a worldwide tour, they’d mostly be flying places instead of driving.
“What’s wrong with you?” AJ asked.
“Nothing,” Kevin said hotly.
Brian made a mental note to talk to him later.
He got the chance after the others had fallen asleep.
“What’s wrong, Kevin?” Brain asked, gently.
Kevin paused. “OK, I’ll tell you…” he said. “You know the 22-year-old girl I mentioned?”
Brian nodded.
“Her name is Lynnsey, and she is… amazing. She’s so strong and free-spirited, and optimistic, and… I like her… a lot.”
“So what’s wrong? Does she hate you or something?” Brian asked.
“Worse. She has a serious boyfriend, who she’s been with for like 4 and a half years.”
“She likes the long-term relationships, just like you,” Brain commented.
“So that’s what’s wrong with me,” Kevin said. “I like someone I can’t have, and who I won’t see for 4 months.”
“Well, Kev… there are plenty of fish in the sea, you know? And being who you are… your fishing pole is pretty good at catching those fish. You’ll find someone over this tour, I promise.”
“Maybe I don’t want anyone else,” Kevin said.
“Sure you may feel like that now. When Leighanne broke up with me, I felt like I’d never have feelings for anyone else, but the very next day, I had one conversation with Michelle and I was smitten. You know? Things happen that you can’t explain and don’t expect.”
Gretchen had just gotten back to Los Angeles. She only had one more month left in the studio, and that was exciting! Plus, the Grammy nominations were being announced in a week, and so she knew that her manager, John, would be on her about that. She figured if she was nominated for anything, it would be ‘Best New Artist’, which was kind of insulting because she wasn’t new at all, but it was still good. They had nominated Kid Rock the year before, and he had been making records since 10 years earlier. When they nominated Backstreet Boys for that category in 1998, they had had albums out since 1995.
Gretchen unlocked the door to her condo and went inside. She put her luggage down on the foyer floor, and headed over to the answering machine.
“You have 5 new messages,” the mechanical voice said when she pressed the button. The first was from her manager, and he was just wishing her ‘Merry Christmas’ and telling her to remember to watch the Grammy nomination announcements. The second was from her friend and dancer Krista, who she hadn’t seen since the charity concert in London. While she was recording, her dancers went off and did temporary jobs for other acts and such until Gretchen’s tour started up again. The third…
“Hey Gretchy, guess who?” Gretchen ears perked up at the male voice. It sounded like…
“It’s David, David Gordon from high school. I got your number from Kerri Fowler who got it from… I don’t know. Anyway, since we haven’t talked in like, 2 years, I thought we could catch up. I just moved to Los Angeles. My number is 777-9081. I’ve really been missing you, Gretchen. Please call me. Later.”
Gretchen didn’t even bother to listen to the last two. David Gordon had been one of her really good friends in high school. The girl Kerri he had mentioned had also been a good friend of hers. She, Brandon, David and Kerri had gone out on a lot of double dates, though that stopped when Kerri and David broke up. Gretchen couldn’t believe he had contacted her! That was so cool.
She dialed his number, and he picked up on the third ring.
“David, this is Gretchen.”
“Hey!” he said, sounding thrilled. “How have you been? Well, I know how you’ve been, I read about you all the time, but why don’t you tell me how you’ve been?”
Gretchen laughed. Same old David. “I’ve been great,” she said. “Everything’s so busy, and… it’s great to hear from you.”
“Well, do you want to meet for lunch tomorrow?” David asked. “We have a lot to talk about.”
“Sure. Where do you want to meet?” she asked.
“How about the Olive Garden restaurant on Highway 80 out there?” David asked. “Noon?”
“Yes, that’ll be great. See you tomorrow, David,” Gretchen said.
“See you tomorrow,” he echoed.
Gretchen remembered David as a big jock; he always had the girls chasing after him. He was good-looking and outgoing, but by some miracle he wasn’t conceited and was a really nice guy. She was looking forward to their meeting.
The Backstreet Boys arrived in London and headed to the Vallahan Arena, where their first concert of the tour would kick off.
The band was setting up, and Fatima took the guys and dancers into a back room to rehearse the dances one last time before the sound check and show.
There were 5 female dancers and 5 male dancers, and AJ had all 5 females standing around him, listening while he told jokes and flirted with them.
“Why does everyone else have no problem getting over their ex-girlfriends?” Howie asked.
“Are you referring to Nick, Brian, and AJ?” Kevin asked.
“Yes.”
“Well, with Nick and AJ, it’s not surprising, and with Brian… I don’t think he’s fully over Leighanne yet,” Kevin said.
“Really? You don’t think so?” Howie asked.
“Not at all,” Kevin replied.
“OK guys, let’s all get in place!” Fatima called.
After an hour of dance rehearsal, the boys had to go back to their hotel to shower and get ready. They had an hour to do that, because they had to get back for the sound check.
“Hi Kevin,” Claudia said as the guys passed by. Kevin stopped.
“Hey Claud. You like the job so far?” he asked.
“Oh, yeah, it’s great, an absolute dream,” she said.
Kevin smiled. “Well, that’s good. See you around.”
“See you around,” Claudia replied.
After he had left, she hit herself. “Absolute dream? I am so DUMB! Who talks like that?” she exclaimed to herself.
Gretchen was a bundle of nerves, and she didn’t even know why. She guessed it was because she hadn’t seen David in 2 years, and she didn’t know what to expect.
As she drove to the Olive Garden, she thought about all the times she had had with David. Seeing him would, of course, bring back bad memories of Brandon, but she could handle that.
She pulled into the Olive Garden parking lot, and went inside. The hostess approached her.
“Ms. Jones! Mr. Gordon is waiting for you right over here.” The hostess led her to a table right by the side window. Gretchen smiled when she saw David. He stood up and gave her a big hug.
“It’s been so long!” he said, hugging her. “You look great!”
“So do you,” Gretchen said. And he did. He had the same good looks that had gotten him so much popularity in high school.
The two sat down, and David immediately started asking questions. “What does all this fame feel like?” he asked. “I can hardly believe that you’re handling it so well; you were so shy in high school.”
“I know, I can hardly believe it myself!”
“So, last I read, you were dating one of those Backstreet Boys,” David said.
“Yeah, Nick Carter.”
“Which one is he?” David asked.
‘He’s the blonde one, the youngest of the guys. He’s 20,” Gretchen said.
“You like him a lot?”
“Yeah, I do… He’s really great, I really enjoy his company.”
David bit his lip. “Have you heard from Brandon lately?”
“No, not since we broke up,” Gretchen said. “What is he doing now?”
“He goes to Georgia U along with Kerri. I did go there, but I just transferred to UCLA. Anyway, he’s… doing OK, last I heard.”
“Are you two still friends?” Gretchen asked.
“No. After what he did to you… I cut all ties with him.”
Gretchen gave him a small smile. “You didn’t have to do that.”
David took her hand in his. “I wanted to. I’m not going to be friends with someone who acts that way, or someone who hurt you. You mean a lot to me, you know? And I hope you don’t think that I called you up just because you’re famous now,” David said earnestly.
“I don’t, David. I know you better than that,” Gretchen said.
After the London concert, the Backstreet Boys and most of their crew rented out a local restaurant and ate a late dinner.
Kevin sat in between Claudia and Kayla Norman, but didn’t seem uncomfortable at all.
“So, Kevin… I just love your green eyes,” Kayla said. “Does anyone else in your family have green eyes?”
“Well, my dad did,” Kevin said.
“They’re gorgeous,” Kayla said, touching his arm.
Claudia glared at her.
AJ gave most of his attention to one of the girl dancers, Jen, who had just recently joined the group. This did not settle well with her boyfriend, Curtis, who was one of the male dancers. Because she was sitting in between them, there was not much he could do to stop AJ from talking to her without looking jealous.
“Do you want to go outside and get some fresh air?” Curtis asked Jen.
She looked at him. “Not really. AJ’s telling me about his childhood. You should listen, it’s really interesting!”
“I’m sure it is,” Curtis grumbled. He’d have to have a talk with AJ later.
“I’m going to call Kara,” Howie told the guys. He went outside with his cell phone, and dialed her number.
To his surprise, she was crying when she answered.
“What’s wrong, Kara?!” he asked.
“Oh, Howie, I went to the doctor yesterday, and… *sniffle* there might be something wrong with me. The doctor said that there’s a good chance that it’s nothing, but…”
“What happened?”
“I have a cyst on my ovary, and it could be cancerous. They don’t know, though,” Kara said. “If it doesn’t go away, there’s a good chance that it is.”
“I’m sure you’ll be fine,” Howie tried to reassure her.
“I have to go now. I’ll talk to you later, Howie.”
“Bye.”
Howie felt sick. He had only started dating her a month ago, and already something was threatening to take her away!
3 weeks later…
Irene Mitchell walked down the grocery aisle, picking up a few things for supper that night. She was disheartened about her plans to break up Nick and Gretchen. Why? Because she had none. No idea of what to do.
She found a cashier that was open, and waited as the cashier rang up her things. Her eyes surveyed the tabloids, and a small phrase at the bottom of The Star caught her eye.
Irene squealed, and the cashier gave her a weird look. “Is that all?” she asked.
“No, I’ll take this as well,” Irene said, handing the cashier The Star .
Inside was a picture of a Gretchen and some guy at a restaurant. The guy held Gretchen’s hand in his, and the two had very intimate looks on their faces. It was accompanied by a short little article talking about how Gretchen is supposed to be dating Nick Carter, but was seen at a restaurant in Los Angeles with another guy. Irene could not believe her luck. ‘It’s fate!’ she thought.
She hurriedly dialed Mandy’s number when she got home. “Jackpot! What’s Nick’s address? We have some mailing to do!!”