Disney,
Burgers, and Rock ‘n’ Roll
*THE NEXT
MORNING*
"Wake up! We're gonna be
late!" Brianna yelled while throwing articles of clothing at Bianca. They
had less than an hour to get ready and be at the Jive studios.
"Just a few more minutes and
I'll get up," Bianca said rolling over and covering herself with the
blankets.
"Bianca, get your lazy ass
up now! We don't have a few more minutes. If you don't get up now, we are going
to be really late. You don't want to give the people at Jive, especially not
the Backstreet Boys, a bad impression. so get the hell up!" Brianna threw
more clothes at Bianca.
"What time is it?"
Bianca asked sleepily.
"11:45. Now get up!"
*ONE HOUR LATER*
"I can't believe we aren't
gonna be late," Brianna said parking her black Honda Accord in the parking
lot across the street from the Jive Studios.
"I can," Bianca said
checking her make-up one last time. She couldn't wait to see again.
Brianna, on the other hand,
couldn't wait to see Kevin again. She had been awake most of the night thinking
about him. She remembered his intensely beautiful green eyes that he had looked
her over with the day before.
*AT THE SAME TIME*
"I'm really glad they signed
Bianca. She's really cool," A.J. said looking out the window as the
approached the Jive Records Studio in their van.
'Yeah, me too,' Nick thought at
the smiling at the thought of seeing Bianca again.
"What's the matter,
man?" See someone you like out there?" Brian asked nudging Nick in
the arm when he noticed the grin on his face.
"Nothin', um, just
thinkin'," he said blushing slightly.
"Well, Bianca's nice and
all, but I'm more interested in getting to know Brianna a little better. I like
it that she's Bianca's best friend because that means she'll more-than-likely
come along for the tour," kevin said watching as the driver pulled up to
the curb to let them out.
"Look, here come the lovely
ladies now," A.J. said waving at Brianna and Bianca.
*AT THE SAME TIME*
"Hey, there's the
guys," Bianca said, returning A.J.'s greeting.
Brianna watched with anticipation
as the five guys got off the van one by one. Howie was the first off, followed
by Brian. Nick wasn't far behind and, surprisingly, he wasn't carrying a comic
book. She heard Bianca's breath catch as A.J. stepped onto the groud. He had
changed his looks since yesterday, much to Bianca's delight. His hair was now
blonde and he wore a pair of baggy jeans and a simple white t-shirt. Finally
Kevin emerged and it was Brianna's turn to gasp. H was wearing a pair of khaki
cargo pants and a tight black button-up shirt. His hair stood up as if he had
just run his fingers through it. His stubble was only an addition to his sexiness.
"Hi, ladies," A.J.
greeted them. "How are the two prettiest girls in Orlando doing on this
beautiful June day? (AN: I don't know if the Jive Studio is in Orlando or
not, but for the sake of this story it is.)
"Hey. We're great,"
Brianna replied smiling at Kevin. "What about y'all?"
"We're good. Well, we should
get going or everywhere good to eat will be full," Kevin said taking
Brianna by the hand and leading her down the street. He signaled for the others
to follow.
Brianna's heart was racing, but
it all felt so right. She liked the fact that Kevin made the first move. It
made things a little more comfortable for her. While walking, she didn't say a
word, but only squeezed his hand which let him know that she was happy with his
actions.
"I'm really starting not to
care where we eat. I'm too hungry to care," Howie said rubbing his tummy.
"My stomach isn't growling anymore. Now it's roaring," he said
laughing.
"All right, where does
everyone want to eat? Howie, we know you don't care," Brian said turning
around to face everyone with his hands in the air.
Responses of 'I don't care' and
'me, either' came from the group.
"Well,...no, never
mind," Brianna stopped.
"No, where do you want to
go, Brianna? There must be someplace you have a craving for." Kevin looked
at her sweetly.
"Yeah, speak now or forever
hold your peace," Brian said with that cute, doofy-looking grin.
"Well, let's try the Hard
Rock Cafe," she said looking to everyone for their reaction.
"Hey, sounds good to me,"
A.J. said as he slipped his arm around Bianca's shoulders.
*20 MINUTES LATER*
As the seven new friends waited
for their food, they began to chat amilessly about themselves.
"So, how old are both of
you?" A.J. asked smiling coyly.
"Well, I'm 20," Brianna
said turning to Kevin with a smile. "But Bianca is 17, about to turn 18.
In facy, she'll be 18 in about a month.
Isn't that right, Bean?" she
said kicking Bianca under the table. "Stop drooling into your coke or it
will go flat."
"Yeah, my birthday's coming
up soon. And I wasn't drooling," Bianca said rubbing her leg. "So,
how old are all of you?"
A.J. answered, "I'm 21,
B-Rok is 24, D. is 25, Kevin is 27, and Nick is 19." He looked at each of
the guys as he told their ages.
Their was a lull in the
conversation and everyone looked around the table nervously.
"If my damn food doesn't
hurry up..." Howie said hungrily.
Brian thought of how he shouldn't
have stayed up to finish watching the basketball game last night as he yawned.
'She's really pretty,' Nick
thought, 'but she seems to only want to talk to A.J.' He gazed at Bianca across
the table.
'I wonder if I should ask her out
for Friday night,' Kevin though staring longingly at Brianna.
'Damn! He is so sexy,' Brianna
thought about Kevin excitedly.
A.J.'s eyes locked with Bianca's
and for no apparent reason, they both burst out lauging.
'She has a sexy laugh,' A.J.
realized. 'I like a girl who can laugh.'
'I could get lost in those eyes,'
Bianca imagined.
Everyones thoughts were
interrupted as food was placed on the table. Howie grabbed his hamburger and
the table was quiet again as everyone enjoyed their long-awaited meal.
"I'm really glad you recommended this place, Brianna" he said between
shovels. "The food is really good."
"Yeah, I like the rock
stuff, too," she replied. Do y'all know they actually have one of
Nirvana's gold records here?"
"Yeah, I love Nirvana,"
Nick said looking at Brianna.
"They were a really good
band until Kurt Cobain offed himself," she said with a laugh.
"Yeah," Nick agreed,
fumbling with his fork and everting his eyes from everyone. "Guys, I don't
really feel all that good."
"What's wrong, Nicky? Your
mad cow disease acting up again?" A.J. asked jokingly as he took another
chomp off his burger.
"You know what, A.J.? You're
really not funny. I don't appreciate your humor."
"Okay, guys." Looking
at Brianna and Bianca nervously Howie said, "sorry about them. They just
don't know when to stop. So, let's turn the attention back to you."
"Is that good or bad?"
Brianna asked flashing a friendly smile. Howie had never talked directly to her
before because he was so shy. Brianna hoped that would change because she could
already tell that Howie would make an awesome friend. After all, he did love to
go out clubbing.
"Do you guys have someone
special waiting for you back home?" A.J. was always up for asking
questions like that. Where there was a woman, A.J. always had a friend.
"I don't have anyone
'special' waiting for me at home," Bianca said staring directly at A.J. He
couldn't hide his grin.
"Me either," Brianna
said as she threw a sexy grin at Kevin. When he looked at her she couldn't help
thinking about how she could get lost in those piercing green eyes of his.
"Actually, I was hoping to meet that special someone on this tour. We'll
just have to see how my luck goes." She hoped Kevin understood what she
was not-so-subtly implying.
Bianca sat staring at Brianna and
Kevin. 'If she gets anymore obvious, she's gonna come off lookin' like a ho,'
she thought about her best friend. She didn't dare say this out loud. She
didn't thing Brianna was trying to be a slut or anything, it was just that she
was just way more outspoken with guys that Bianca was and she didn't understand
how Brianna could come off sounding do sure of herself. 'She can do whatever
she wants,' Bianca thought again. 'I just don't want her to get hurt, because
it won't be them that'll see her cry then. It'll be me.'
"So, Bianca," A.J.
ventured again, "are you as hopeful as your friend here that you'll find
Prince Charming on the road?"
"I don't know. I'm kinda the
opposite of Brianna. I just figure I'll find Prince Charming when I'm supposed
to."
"That's a really great way
to look at things. You have to remember to have a positive attitude," Nick
said speaking his first words of conversation to Bianca. He was even able to
manage a smile, but the minute the words escaped his mouth he regretted
speaking them. 'I came off sounding like a total faggot,' he thought to
himself. 'And on top of that, I had to sound so damn chipper when I said it!'
After Howie finished stuffing the
last few french fires in his mouth, he glanced around the table. "Is
everybody ready to go?"
"I'm ready whenever y'all
are," Brian answered.
"Well, before we go, there
was something I wanted to ask you, Brianna, and you too, Bianca. I was
wondering if you would be interested in spending some time at Disney World.
Since I used to work there I can get us in for free. A friend of mine runs the
gate. I mean, if you want to go."
Brianna beamed at the thought of
spending all day walking around Disney World with Kevin Richardson. Just
picturing the two of them riding the rides and actink like little kids made her
happy. "I'd love to, Kevin. I think we'd all have fun," she answered
reaching down to give his hand a playful squeeze. "How about you, Bean?
You up for it?"
"Sure," Bianca replied.
"But just to warn you, I ride all the scary rides."
A.J. decided that the time for
playful flirting was over. "That's cool, baby, but only if you ride all of
them with me." Bianca was shocked by his straight-forward remark and all
she could do was stare at him and nod her head in approval.
"All right then, everybody.
Let's go!" Kevin exclaimed, beaming that ever-sexy smile that he seemed to
wear so well.
*10 MINUTES LATER*
"Okay, people, how are we
gonna ride?" Brianna asked with a laugh. Between Bianca and herself, she
was the ring-leader; always trying to find a logical solution to everything.
"Did you want us to all ride in the van, or do Bean and I need to take my
car?"
"Actually," Kevin said,
"why don't A.J. and I ride with you and the other guys can ride in the
van. You didn't really want to leave your car here, did you?"
This was exactly the response
that Brianna and Bianca had hoped for. With one quick glance at each other,
they both replied
"SURE!"
"Great," A.J. said.
"I got shotgun!" One quick glance from Kevin changed that. "Just
kidding," he said after noticing Kevin glring at him. "How about I
sit in the back with Bianca."
"That's better," Kevin
laughed as he crawled into the passenger seat. "You can just follow the
van. the driver knows where he's going."
*AT THE SAME TIME*
"I love the way that bone
and Cousin Kevy just ditched us for two girls," Brian grumbled as he
boarded the van. "I can see whay my day's gonna be like already. A.J. and
Kevin have two gorgeous ladies to introduce to Mickey, and I'm gonna be stuck
riding the teacups with you," he joked as he playfully slapped Nick on the
back of the head.
"Stop, man. I'm not in the
best mood right now," Nick told his best friend.
"What's the matter,
man?" Brian was concerned for his best friend. He hadn't been acting like
himself today.
"Nothing, it's just..."
"Tell me!"
"Well, I hoped this would
never happen, but that girl A.J.'s hitting on...Bianca...I kinda like
her..."
"That could be a major
problem. You know A.J. has a way with women. He always knows the right words to
say. Always compliments them on their outfit, their hair, something. I mean,
pretty much all he has to do is look at them with those eyes that girls seem to
think are so sexy and-"
Brian was cut short by an
exasperated sigh from Nick. "You know, now I understand why you're my best
friend. It's cause you always seem to cheer me up so much when I need
you," he said sarcastically. "What do you think, Howie?" When
Nick didn't get a response he turned around. Howie was casually staring out the
window with his walkman over his ears. Nick picked them up and let them go so
that they slapped him against the head.
"You're the Latin Lover of
the group. What do you think?" asked Nick.
"I think I'm gonna stay the
hell out of your girl problems," he replied placing his head phones back
over his ears and waving at Brianna's car behind them. Nick sighed and leaned
back in the van's plush seat. This was gonna be a long day.