I yawned as I slowly made my way back towards the kitchen of the bus. I saw Nick pouring some cereal out of a box. “Morning hun! Want some Corn Pops?!” He called out to me. I nodded and headed towards the table. Nick put his arm around me and gave me a quick kiss. I looked over at AJ, who was sitting beside us, grumpily chewing on his bacon and eggs. I saw Clarice towards us, but AJ got up and moved over to the couch and turned the T.V on. Clarice looked over at me and gave me a weak look. I mouthed the words ‘I’ll talk to him.’ and she nodded.
I bought my cup of orange juice and sat down beside AJ. “So whats up with you?” I asked.“Uh, nothing...why do you ask?” He answered.
“Things dont seem right between you and Clarice....” my words trailed off while I looked at AJ, trying to figure him out.“I dunno...its just--just--I cant seem to get through to Clarice. I mean, I try to show her that I love her a lot, and she turns around and flirts with Justin? Don’t tell me that’s right!” AJ argued. I turned around and the rest of them were busying trying to finish up their breakfast to get ready to warm up in the venue they were going to play tonight.
I sighed deeply. “I think Clarice has gotten to be a bit overboard with Justin. I know she likes him--BUT, not nearly as much as she likes you. I know her so well. She’s my BEST friend! She is the type of girl that, wants some freedom in a relationship. She will never cheat on you, but she wants to have that little bit of room so she can meet other guys. And knowing Clarice, she isn’t good at fixing her problems. She usually makes them worse.” I laughed when I said the last sentence. I looked back up at AJ and he seemed to be thinking.“I dunno...I dont like the thought of my girl running around like that.” He replied.
“But you do want to stay with her right? I mean, you gotta make some sacrifices if you really do love and want to stay with that person. Right?”“I guess.....” AJ replied. Suddenly, Brian calls out to us, “Hey! Time to get going! We got to do all that boring stuff at the venue!”
“We have to continue this talk later ok?” I said to AJ, and he nodded. All of us rushed and got ready for a hectic day.The first thing on our list of duties for the day, was to get to the venue to do sound checks and supervise the people that were putting together the stage. The boys were doing a brand new tour and had new props for this tour. The boys needed to do a little practice before doing a whole show on a new set.
When we got there, things were already started. People ran amock with cords, lights, everything! They were also testing the lights, so once in a while, lights shone into our eyes. I got to stand up on the stage, and looked out at the empty stadium. Pretty soon, this arena will be filled with thousands of fans! I was amazed. Behind me, the boys were fooling around and were acting like totally idiots! I laughed as I saw how much fun the boys were having and joined in!
After getting out of Brian’s headlock, I looked up to see AJ sitting on the of the crates. He looked like he was in deep thought. I walked over and asked him what was wrong.“Hey you, whats up?”
AJ looked up, startled by my presence. “Oh, I didnt even know you were there! You scared me. Oh, its nothing, just doing some thinking you know?”Kevin called out to the guys and told them that it was time to get practicing. AJ hopped off the box, said, “Hey, I’ll talk to you more later ok?” and ran off toward the boys. I saw Clarice wave to me from the seats below, so I quickly hopped off the stage and joined her.
We pretended to be screaming fans, jumping up and down, and screaming. We had such a blast! It was just like the old days, when we didnt even know BSB on such a personal basis!!! Obbie thought we were crazy screaming like that in such an empty stadium! The boys finished the long rehearsal went backstage to get ready for that night’s show!At around 6:00, we had heard screams and the noisy chatter from upstairs. We were in the green room underneath the stage of the venue. My adrenaline started getting high! This was my FIRST BSB concert with the guys themselves!! Wow! I was excitied!! The boys did their regular vocal exercises, warm ups and traditional pastimes before the show. Howie was sipping his tea, Brian and Nick were in the other room, playing some basketball. AJ was grooving to the new TLC cd in his diskman. Kevin was chatting with Fatima about some of the new moves they were working on for the new songs they will be preforming for later tours. Since everyone was busy, I took this chance to talk to Clarice.
“Hey, Clarice...I gotta talk to you.” I said quietly sitting down beside her on the couch. “Ok, well, I have been trying to talk to AJ, and I am trying to get him to understand your point of the story. I think he believes you and wants to work things out, but he just doesnt like the feeling of you running around with different guys. You know?” I said to her.“Yeah, I have been thinking...I know guys dont like it when I go out and flirt with other guys. I mean, I have wrecked a lot of relationships before cause of this, and I really do not want to lose AJ, so, I am going to stop this ‘fling’ with Justin. I am going to concentrate on AJ AJ AJ!!!” Clarice said happily. I was relieved! “I am so happy!! YES!! Happniess again! Well, I hope things go smoothly for you and AJ from now on!” I beamed. “THANKS!” Clarice gushed as she gave me a hug.
“Look, you have been working so hard in helping us out, you better get over to you lover boy there!! You cant leave your relationship!!” Clarice laughed. “Oh, dont you worry! I am not going to let that boy out of my heart! NEVER!” I said and quickly jumped off the couch. I ran towards Nick. He noticed me coming, and he opened his arms. He scooped me up in his arms and brought me closer to him. ‘Awe, wow, he smells sooooo good’ I thought. I grinned and gave him a great big kiss.“What was that for?” He asked. I giggled. “For being you.” I whispered and kissed him lightly again. A smile crept across Nick’s face and he whispered “I love you.” My heart melted. My heart started to pound deep in my chest and I replied “I love you so much too.” Nick grinned and he hugged me. Suddenly, the technical person interrupted us and told Nick it was almost time to hit the stage. Nick kissed me quickly, said goodbye and ran off. I watched his blonde hair bounce as he rushed off. I was so happy. Without realizing it, I wrapped my arms around myself, remembering how Nick had just held me. I heard a giggle. “What are you doing?!” It was Clarice. Hehe, she had seen me standing there in the empty room hugging myself, with a great big smile on my face. I blushed bright red and mumbled, “I’ll tell you all about it later! But now, we gotta catch our goregeous boys in concert!!!” I grabbed Clarice’s arm and headed towards area right behind the boys stage.
The closer we got to the stage, the screams got louder and louder. Chills went up my spine and I shivered. This was too good to be true, I thought. The people from backstage told us that there seats for us in the right wing of the stage, behind the big curtains. We quickly sat down, trying not to distract the boys in any way. The guys were in the middle of ‘That’s The Way I Like It’ and the crowd was going wild. It was crazy!! I sat in awe, as I finally got a chance to see them live in concert. Clarice and I was singing along to every song! Once in a while, the boys would turn to us and smile. It was just perfect! The boys finished their uptempo set and got ready for their a cappellas. They were wonderful. They preformed several new songs from their new album just as a treat to the fans. I recognized the first note of ‘Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely’ and a chill went up my spine. I had heard them recording it a couple of weeks before and they were still working out the bugs in it. But durning the concert, they sang it wonderfully.Now it was time for the boys’ to do their solos. Howie was first. He sang ‘My Heart Stays With You’ which was also supposed to be released on the new cd. He threw roses out to the audience and sang so great. He was so wonderful. AJ was next. I could sense that Clarice was all excited for AJ’s preformance. She loved the song ‘Lay Down Beside Me’ and AJ was such a great preformer also. When AJ appeared onstage, Clarice jumped up and got ready to sing along to the song. But instead of hearing the opening chords of ‘Lay Down’ AJ said “Hey guys! What’s up?! *Screams* I hope each and everyone of you are enjoying yourselves tonight. Tonight is our first show on our new tour and I would like to thank you for attending. We couldnt have made it if it wasnt for you guys! But before I go on and do my song, I would like to give a big thank you to my girl, Clarice. She has showed me so much and opened my eyes to so much more. I owe everything to her. Lately, we have been getting in some fights, and I would want to say, Clarice, baby, I love you. And nothing will ever change that. The song I am about to sing shows how much I care about you. I love you Clarice.”
I looked over at Clarice. She was already crying. But through her tears, she was grinning. Without saying a word, she gave me a hug and said thank you. “Thank you for helping me so much with AJ. I dont know what I would do without you!! You are my BEST FRIEND EVER!” The drums started playing and our attention was again brought back to center stage.AJ sang a song called, No One Comes Close, by Joe. It was wonderful. I had never heard of that song before, but it was truly great. AJ poured his heart into that song and you could tell by how intense the atmosphere was durning his set. Right before the song ended, Clarice ran out on stage and embraced AJ. The girls in the audience quickly realized that she was the girl AJ was talking about before he started singing and the boos quickly got louder. The lights went down and Brian started immediately to end the negative atmosphere.
Clarice and AJ had dissapeared somewhere....so I sat there and watched as Brian sang, ‘That’s What She Said’. He was so cute. I thought back to the very beginning of our whole adventure. Wow. It seemed just like yesterday too! I hadnt realized that it was time for Nick’s set. As soon as I heard all the screams, I knew it was going to be him. My attention turned to Nick as I saw him dressed in white standing up there on the platform.“Before I start my song, I would really like to say a couple of things. One, I would like to thank you guys for showing up. Thanks for all your support. And thanks for Keeping the Backstreet Pride Alive!! *Screams* Two, I would like to clear up the rumors about me having a girlfriend.”
My heart sank. Nick and I had this talk earlier. We agreed on keeping this a secret to the press and fans, until there was a good time. I didn’t want to hurt the boys’ image or anything, even though I wanted to have a normal life. Without having to worry about fans everytime we went out. I wanted to go see a movie with Nick with other people without body guards beside us. It was so much of a hassle and I didnt really like it. We had also been advised to try our best in keeping a low profile and stuff. I had no clue what he was about to say.“Well, the rumors are true. *Gasps and boos* No you guys, stop. I know you are entitled to your own opinons, but I am really happy with who I am with right now. I am not married, which means you guys still might have a chance.” *Screams*
“And thirdly, I would like to say I love you, Lucy. I know you are there and you will always be beside me. You are so caring and loving and I love you for that. I hope our love is forever and I would like to dedicate this song to you.” Nick proceeded to sing ‘Heaven In Your Eyes’. Wow. I was in tears. Nick had never told me about this. My heart thumped as I replayed what Nick had just said. ‘He was brave enough to ANNOUNCE that to everyone? He really wanted everyone to know he was happy with me.’ I thought. Tears streamed down my cheeks and I thanked God for giving me the chance of meeting the BSB in the first place. I thanked Him for Nick and everything He has shown me. Suddenly, Nick appears infront of me, grinning. He grabs my hand and pulls me out on stage. He brings me out in the spotlight and I could hear some boos from the audience. But there were a lot of ‘Congratulations!” being shouted and I was glad. Nick wrapped his arms around my waist and sang to me. Nick had never done this, and now that I think about it, I dont know why. But this is a first time that I will never forget. His blue eyes stared deeply into mine and his voice sounded beautiful. After the song, he kissed me lightly and grinned. “I love you baby” He said. I kissed him back. “I love you so much honey.” I said back. The song slowly faded and as the lights went down, screams filled the stadium and I was seeing heaven, in Nick’s eyes.