I yawned as I slowly rose from my bed. I had just woke up from last nights craziness. AJ and Justin got in a fight and caused a lot of crap to happen to the boys. As soon as we left the studio after the interview, the rumors were already out. Only this time, they were true. The media was going crazy and a lot of the stories were filled with bullshit. Some criticized the BSB, while some thought that the fight was started over at a comment Justin had made about the Backstreet Boys. I shook my head in disgust. I was starting to feel what it was like to be a star. “And I thought it was so fun.” I muttered to myself.
Today the boys were supposed to do more promotional stuff, but they canceled because of what happened yesterday. I wanted some time alone, so I took the bus to the local library to log on to the net. I haven’t been on for so long, I had to check my mail and let my friends know where I was. I slipped out of the hotel and took the bus to the public library.
Not surprisingly, the computers were all being used, so I sat down with a magazine. Flipping through the magazine, a couple of girls near me were whispering. “So did you hear about AJ? He punched Justin out at a club and totally beat him up! I hear it was over some girl named Clarissa?” the blonde one whispered. “I heard something else, but I cant believe the BSB would do such a thing...my opinion about them has changed now..” The other replied. I was about to say something, but I thought it would be safer if I didn’t. I got up to grab the newspaper and moved to a quieter place. In the Entertainment section, news of the BSB was featured. I quickly skimmed the article, and I hated it! It was so wrong! Just like those girls over there. Their information was false and it was so frustrating. I really wanted to just yell out and tell them what really happened yesterday, but of course, I couldn’t. I noticed that one of the computers were finally free, so I quickly jumped at my chance.
I logged into my e-mail and found it to be overflowing with the various newsletters and things I had subscribed to. A couple of my penpals left messages asking where I was!! I read a couple and responded to as many as I could. A lot of them knew what was going on and that I was dating Nick Carter, so I told them a bit about what it was like. After cleaning out my mailbox, I decided to check backstreet.net and see what news the webmaster had posted up. Not to my surprise, news of the Backstreet Boys battle with N Sync was all over the site. Even pictures of me and Nick were posted in her site. I was in awe. Sure, I knew I was going to be semi famous because of my relationship with Nick, but I never knew it was going to escalate to this. I read some of the things posted and they weren’t your everyday sweet messages about me and Clarice. I sighed and shook my head. I logged off, grabbed my bag and left.
On the way back, I really understood the Backstreet Boys and how much they kept to themselves before I met them. I really hated how they lied about their girlfriends when I knew that they had one. But I totally understood. The fans get mad and really start to change after hearing such things. I noticed that the BSB’s fans were different now that they knew AJ and Nick had g/f’s. The feeling of guilt and confusion lingered in my mind and I had to get it out.
The very first person I saw was Kevin when I got back to the hotel. He told me that the rest of the guys were out. I nodded. “Can I talk to you?” I asked. “Sure, what is it?” Kevin replied. “Oh, well, I went to the library today and I saw a lot of things. These girls were talking about what had happened last night with AJ and Justin and it was really wrong! All their information was out of hand and they didn’t even know what really happened! And they made it seem like it was AJ’s fault or something! And that N Sync was totally innocent! When they really arent!” I said shrilly. I couldn’t understand it. “Look Lucy,” Kevin said soothingly, “What AJ did last night was --- right, but not appropriate. He should have thought about what it would do to our image and how the media and fans would have reacted. But he didn’t. I know he loves Clarice a lot, but he really shouldn’t have done it. I dont want to blame AJ --- or anyone for that matter, but we really have to straighten things out now, we just gotta figure how to do it.” Kevin was right. Justin was hurting Clarice and AJ just wanted him out of the picture, but that didn’t mean he could actually hurt Justin....
“I’m tired, I just want to lie down ok?” I said to Kevin. He nodded and said, “Sure, dont think too much about this ok?” “I won’t.” I said softly and started towards my room.
“Hey, who ordered pizza?!” Brian said. We all looked up. Four of the Boys, plus Clarice and I were just relaxing in one of the rooms and a pizza had just arrived. “Uh...not me!” Nick replied. “Im way too full to eat!” Nick said rubbing his tummy. Everyone else said no, and Brian went to hand the pizza back, but the man who delivered it had already left. He shrugged and put the pizza down on the table. “Maybe AJ will want to eat it later when he gets back?” Brian said. Just then, AJ walks in the room and put his stuff down. “Do I smell pizza?!” He asked, following his nose. He quickly spotted the box of gooey pepperoni pizza and quickly grabbed a slice. Before we knew it, all of the pizza was gone, with only crusts left. I yawned and looked at my watch. It was already 11 PM. I excused myself and gave Nick a kiss goodnight. Tomorrow was going to be a big day. The Backstreet Boys, plus Clarice and I were going to do a major press conference to try to clear up the rumors, and to announce what is on their agendas next. I said goodnight and closed the door behind me as I left the noisy bunch. I got ready for bed and tried to forget about tomorrow. I was scared about how the fans would react, would they like me? Would they hate me? I hoped for the best, and fell asleep.
“Rise and shine honey!” Nick said, bursting into my room. Time to get ready for that big press conference! Time to show off my wonderful girlfriend!” I blushed as I rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. “Oh, what time is it?! It seems so early!” I exclaimed. I looked over at the clock and the green letters read 8:36 AM. I flopped back down and stretched. Nick tugged the covers off of me and pulled me up. “Let’s go sleepyhead!” He dragged me out of bed and pushed me into the bathroom. I laughed when he closed the door on me and locked me inside. “Ok, I am giving you 45 minutes to get ready, and if you are not done by then, well, um...you will get my tickle of death move!” He said and ended off with a sinister laugh. I grinned and took my shower.
I looked at myself in the mirror. Clarice and I had talked this over. We didn’t want to look really bad, by wearing short skirts and stuff, so we decided to look sophisticated and pretty, not hot and cute. We picked out each others outfits and I loved what Clarice gave me to wear. I wore a light pink, knee length skirt with a darker pink tube top *it covered my tummy*, under a white Ralph Lauren shirt. I rolled up the sleeves to give my outfit a more casual look. Clarice decided to look more sophisticated and I picked out a pair of black clam diggers, with a white tank top, covered up with a crisp white 3-quarter sleeved shirt. Her tanned skin looked great with her outfit and she looked fabulous! She did up her hair with an array of butterfly clips, while I styled mine differently. I slipped on my sandals and put the finishing touches on my make up.
The rest of the group was all set downstairs in the lobby. I grabbed my purse and hopped onto the elevator. When I reached the main floor, I saw a limo parked outside, and Clarice waiting for me out in the lobby. “Where are the rest of them?” I asked. “They had to leave out the back cause of the fans. There are too many of them.” She was right. I took one look out the big windows and saw girls lining the street. Some were close enough to see Clarice and I. I could hear girls scream “Its Lucy and Clarice!” Some waved, but some gave us dirty looks. The security told us not to really make contact with them yet, so I waved and walked to the back section of the lobby. Soon after, Clarice and I were whisked away into a limo and we were on our way to the conference.
Fans linned outside as we approached the doors. “How are we going to get in?!” I said. I peered out into the crowds, there was no way we would be safe going in this way... We drove around the back and got in that way. I saw Brian when I got inside. Wearing a suit, he looked totally great, really professional. But he was acting every bit unprofessional! Fooling around like always! I looked over at AJ and Clarice. Clarice seemed to be helping AJ. He didn’t look to great. His skin was pale and he didn’t seem too stable on his feet. I approached them and asked what was wrong. “Are you ok AJ?” He looked up at my woozily and nodded. “I will be ok. I want to get this conference done and over with.” He murmured. I looked at him once more. He seemed fine, but I was worried about him. The BSB’s managers told us it was time to get out there. Nick grabbed my hand and led me out to the conference room. When we got out there, it was pretty noisy with the chatter, but as soon as the people saw all of us, they calmed a bit down.
We were all assigned microphones. Kevin sat at the end, then Brian, then Nick, I sat next to him, with Howie beside me. Clarice sat next and then AJ was on the other end. Each of us tested out our microphones. My stomach was going nuts. There was so many people, so many cameras. Everything was very intimidating. The huge cameras and the harsh light was all too weird for me. Nick must have noticed my uncomfort and took my hand underneath the table. “Its going to be ok.” He whispered to me before the conference got underway.
A man whom I recognized, but didn’t know his name, introduced us. Nick started out by saying: “First of all, this is a conference to clear up any rumors, and to tell you the truth about the BSB and the past couple of months. We do not want any rude comments, and we will refuse to answer any questions we feel is inappropriate. Thank you for your time, and lets get this started.” He said boldly.
“Hi, this is Tina from Much Music in Canada. I see two of you have your girlfriends with you. Tell me about them please.” She said. “Well, this is a conference as I said earlier, to clear up any rumors. Yes, these are our girlfriends with us.” Nick said acknowledging Clarice and I. “This is Lucy, my girlfriend at the moment. She is from Canada and I love her deeply. I will let AJ tell you about Clarice.” Nick said. AJ took over and said, “Yes, this is Clarice, my wonderful baby. I love her with all my heart. She is from the U.S. Um, Nick has been going out with Lucy for oh, about 2 months now and it has been the same with Clarice and I. We started going out about the same time they did.”
“What about the rest of you guys? No girlfriends?” Was the next question. “Uh, no. At this moment, Kevin, Brian and I are all single.” Howie answered. Some people shuffled as we waited for the next question.
More questions about the girlfriends were asked. Things like, “How do you think this will affect your career?” and “How do you think the fans will react?” Were among the many questions asked. I loved Nick’s answer to the question on how you think the fans will react. “I am not sure, I just want the fans to be happy for us. I mean, we are just regular guys, who needs someone to be with. And I dont think it is too nice for fans to hate Lucy or Clarice just because they the girlfriends. We try really hard to make relationships last, but with the fans being so rude, its hard for them to like staying with us. Plus all the pressures of having a relationship in this business makes everything worse too. I just want the fans and everyone else to know that we are happy, and I hope that they can accept that we are happy, so that we --- in turn, can continue to make music to make the fans happy.” Nick answered.
“So AJ, we heard you got in a fight with Justin Timberlake of N Sync. What really happened?” One man asked. “Well, this is a complicated one. And its a long story. To make things short, he was trying to hurt Clarice. And most of all, he was trying to break up our relationship. My temper flared and I punched him. I know, I know, it was a wrong thing to do, and I really should have thought before I did it. I want to apologize to Justin and all of N Sync for doing such a thing.” AJ answered.
The same man who introduced us, told the crowd it was time to end the conference. He said that the people could take some pictures so we all stood up and posed for some pictures. We all sorta huddled in a group, and the lightbulbs flashed away. I swear, I was going to be blind after all of it.
After the flashes, I heard the crowd gasp after hearing a thud. I turned around to see AJ collapsed on the floor. He was pale as heck and was sweating. The guys quickly surrounded him and photographers tried to get in for some more pictures. Kevin yelled out, “Move back! Give him some air!” And slowly, the crowd moved away. I saw Clarice hunched over him. Shaking him to see if he was ok. Tears streamed down her cheeks and I ran over to her. “Oh my gosh, what’s wrong?” I thought as I looked at AJ. Clarice was going hysterical. Paramedics arrived at an alarming rate of time, and soon, Clarice was pulled off AJ and he was put on a stretcher. Everyone was shocked. I comforted Clarice as the ambulance pulled away. Sirens rang through the air as the flashing lights disappeared in traffic.