Taking It To The Extreme
Written By: Kara

Aly peered at the box lying on the ground. Someone forgot it, she thought. Sighing, she walked over to it. There was a cover over it. Aly grinned and picked up the box. She almost fell over! What's in here? Bricks? Aly lugged the box over to the bench near the luggage return. She was at the Sydney Australia Airport, waiting for her 2 best friends to return from their vacations. Aly sat down beside it and sighed in exhaustion. Curiousity suddenly got the best of her. After looking around the airport lobby for spies, she carefully removed the cover. After briefly closing her eyes, she looked into the box. Her eyebrows narrowed as she saw what was inside. There were 2 photo albums lying at the bottom of the box. On top were about half a dozen videotapes. And on top of those were about 4 scrapbooks. Aly's hand dropped to her lap. What are these from? Again, her curiousity pounded in her ears. Pushing aside the scrapbooks, she picked up one of the videotapes. There was a label on it. Aly had to strain to read the scratchy writing. In sloppy black ink, it read:

Aly's eyes widened. The scratchy writing suddenly became familiar to her. It was that of Nick Carter from her favourite group, the Backstreet Boys. A smile crept across her face as she returned the videotape to its original place in the box. Aly returned the cover to the box and stood up. She picked up the box and groaned under its weight. She walked through the airport and out the sliding doors. She opened the trunk of her car and placed the box at the back. I gotta see all this! Aly slammed the trunk and walked back into the airport, to wait for her friends to arrive.

Almost in a daze, Aly walked to the gate at which her friends Mel and Vanessa would be arriving. They had travelled to England to perform in their church choir competition. It was all free and the two didn't have to pay a thing. Aly. of course, wasn't part of the choir and, therefore would not have been able to afford the expense on her own. Finally, Mel appeared at the gate door. With a loud squeal, she ran to Aly. Vanessa wasn't too far behind. All three of them embraced and then Mel and Vanessa grabbed their luggage. They talked excitedly about their trip to Aly on their way to the parking lot. Aly wasn't listening. "Hey Al! What's wrong?" Vanessa asked as they walked into the sunshine. Aly smiled slightly. She looked up at her friends and cocked an eyebrow. "I've got something to show you guys when we get to my house" she said. Mel and Vanessaboth moaned in unison. "You always do this!" Mel yelled. Aly giggled as they reached the car. "But this time it's good...or at least I think it is" she replied, taking her friends bags from them. She placed them into the trunk, beside the secret box. Aly climbed in the driver's seat, fastening her seat belt. Mel sat in the passenger seat while Vanessa had to sit in the back. The engine started and Aly guided the car out of the airport parking lot. Mel turned the volume dial and, the speakers just about blew out by the sudden blast of sound. It was Larger Than Life, a song off of the Backstreet Boys' Millenium album. Vanessa began singing along with the song at the top of her lungs. "All you people can't you see, can't you see. How your love's affecting our reality. Every time we're down, you can make it right. And that makes you larger than life." Mel and Aly started singing along with the next verse. Goosebumps appeared on Aly's arm as she thought about the box in her trunk. It was at least 2 more hours until they reached her house. The anticipation was killing her! Finally, 2 hours later, Aly led her car in to the driveway. The girls got out and Aly opened the trunk. Before she had a chance to grab the box, Mel pointed to it. "What's that?" she asked. Aly smiled and grabbed the box from the trunk. Vanessa took her bag and began walking up the driveway. Mel slammed the trunk closed. "It's the surprise!" Aly exclaimed, running up her driveway. Mel and Vanessa looked at each other and followed Aly inside the house...

Aly led her friends into her living room. She placed the box on the coffee table, and knelt in front of it. Mel and Vanessa eyed Aly suspiciously before sitting across the table from her. Aly smiled and took the cover off of the box. Mel and Vanessa leaned forward for a better look. Aly reached into the box and took out the videotape. This was the first time that she'd looked at this and she was just as curious as her friends. She motioned for them to join her. Obediently, Mel and Vanessa came over to where Aly was sitting. "Can you please tell us what this box is all about?" Mel demanded, impatiently. Aly smiled again. "I was waiting for you guys to come and I found this box. I opened it and found these things inside" she explained. Aly showed the videotape to her friends and their eyes opened wide. "BSB?? As in the Backstreet Boys??" Vanessa asked, taking the tape from Aly. She studied it before handing it over to Mel. Aly shrugged. "I'm not totally sure. But it looks like Nick's writing, right?" she suggested. Mel and Vanessa nodded. "Let's watch it then!" Vanessa exclaimed. Aly laughed and stood up. She turned on the TV and VCR and slipped the tape in the VCR. She sat down on the couch and picked up the remote control. After looking at Mel and Vanessa, she pressed the PLAY button. Within seconds, a very familiar face came on the screen. It was Brian Littrell's. Aly put her hands to her face at the sight of him. He looked about 18, but looked remotely the same as he did at the time. He was standing in front of a basketball court. "Ummm... I'm Brian Littrell. I'm 18 and from the current nobody group named the Backstreet Boys. The date is..." Brian looked at his watch, then back at the camera, laughing. "The date is May 8, 1993, and I'm about to do the biggest performance of my life! We're going on stage at Sea World and I'm so nervous! This is the first performance in front of a big crowd...EVER! As a group, we've decided to make a tape of our adventures. Who knows? Maybe one day we'll actually be known all around the world! And these tapes could be worth something someday!" He smiled and suddenly, another person joined him. Mel let out a happy squeal as Nick put his arm around Brian's shoulders. He looked very young, and much shorter too. He squinted at the sun in front of him and smiled happily at the camera. "I'm Nick Carter! I'm 13, and also, from the Backstreet Boys. I'm the youngest too!" He turned to Brian."We gotta go! Lou's having a fit on the bus!"he exclaimed. Brian laughed as Nick ran off. He shrugged."Well...that's it for now! We'll be back after the concert! Wish us luck!" he exclaimed. He waved nervously, and the camera went off...

Static filled the screen and Aly looked over at her friends. Mel stared at the TV, her mouth wide open in shock. Vanessa's expression was much the same. Suddenly, the static ended, and Brian's face appeared again. He was sweaty andlooked exhausted. "Well...we're done our performance! Whew! It was such an an adrenaline rush!People were actually cheering us on! But I think I'm ready to faint" he says, holding his head. With a sigh and a roll of the eyes, Brian falls to the ground, pretending to faint. Nick comes running on the screen, sounding like an ambulance siren. "Back away people! Let him breathe!" he screams. Brian still lays on the ground, with his tongue hanging out of his mouth. The girls burst out laughing. Nick drops to his knees and pretends to perform CPR on the fallen Brian. He goes towards Brian's face to do mouth-to-mouth, but Brian jumps up. "Okay! Let's draw the line there!" he exclaims. More laughter at the TV. The Camera turns around and a new face comes on the screen. It's Kevin, and he looks much younger. "I feel left out. I'm Kevin Richardson, and I'm 21. I've been the camera-man today and I think I need more recognition since I am also a Backstreet Boy" he says. Brian and Nick are talking in the background about unrecognizable stuff. Kevin leaves the camera and it's back on Brian and Nick. "Awww man! I'm sick of being taped! Go find AJ or Howie, Kevin!" Brian exclaims. He storms off and Nick motions for Kevin and his camera to follow. So, Nick leads him on a tour. "Here's our 'fancy' hotel" he says, pointing to a building that looks more like a shack than a hotel. "Management can't afford to get us in a nice hotel, just yet. So we have to sleep on smelly beds" he explains, opening the main door. Suddenly, Nick falls to the ground and laughter emerges both on TV and off. AJ and Howie appear, laughing their heads off. "Man, that was funny!" AJ yells. He goes closer to the camera and Nick is getting up, red-faced. "Nick you're too clumsy! I'm AJ Mclean and I'm 15. And this..." he starts. AJ pulls Howie on camera and points to him. "This is Howie Dorough. He's 19. Sometimes Howie gets camera shy, but you'll get used to him after a while" he says. Howie laughs. "Not really, but I'm just tired right now. I'm going to sleep. See ya."he says. Howie waves to the camera and turns around. AJ waves too and follows Howie in the building. A still red-faced Nick waves and goes inside. A few seconds later, Brian comes on camera. "Awww...c'mon guys! It's only 11:15! I'm not tired yet! How 'bout a game of 3 on 2?!" he calls after Nick, AJ, and Howie. Kevin turns the camera around and his face appears. "I think Brian's had too much coffee!" Brian yells in the background, "No I haven't!" Kevin laughs and waves good-bye. The camera turns off and the static returns...