April 21, 1992
“Flight 747 to Orlando Florida is now ready to board.” Came a voice over the loud speaker. Tracy Stevens slowly stood up and picked up her backpack that she had planned to take with her on the plane. She sighed to herself wishing that at least someone had waited with her while she waited two hours for the plane to board. But that was her family for you. Her parents were workaholics and never spent time with her. During the summer they would send her off on vacations so that they didn’t have to deal with her. She didn’t mind. She was used to it. This time she was going to Orlando to stay with her Aunt Lisa and Uncle Mark who she hasn’t seen in about two years. Now if she could choose parents, she would choose them over her own. At least they showed some affection. Like Tracy, her aunt and uncle were loaded and owned a mansion.
She began walking but she must not have been paying attention since she ran directly into some other guy.
“Oh sorry.” He said and made his way to the line to board the plane. She walked up behind him but didn’t say a word. He looked to be her age, which would only be 14. Yes she was only 14 and her parents had so nicely left her all alone in the Mitchell International Airport in Milwaukee Wisconsin. He had short brown hair and was just as tall as she was. Finally it was her turn to give her ticket to the lady sitting by the gate. She smiled at Tracy and told her to have a nice flight while giving her the ticket. Tracy smiled in return and made her way to the plane. The flight attendant pointed her in the direction she was supposed to go and she followed behind a crowd of people that were also trying to find their seats. Finally she found her seat and to her luck, it was right next to the guy she had run into. He got up to let her squeeze in and sit by the window seat. He sat back down and flashed her a quick smile before returning to his magazine. She wasn’t exactly sure what kind of magazine it was, but he seemed to be really interested in it. He closed the magazine after a few minutes, folded it and stuck it in between him and the seat.
“Hi.” He said.
“Oh, hi.” Tracy replied, looking from the window to him.
“I’m AJ.”
“I’m Tracy.”
Before they could say anything the flight attendant went over the safety procedures that seemed to last a lifetime.
~If they keep talking they’re going to go blue in the face.~ Tracy thought to herself.
Finally they stopped talking and the plane was soon in the air.
“So what are you going to Orlando for?” AJ asked trying to make conversation.
“I’m going to visit my aunt and uncle. What about you?”
“I live in Orlando. I was visiting some cousins that live in Racine.”
“Oh that’s cool.” Said Tracy, not really knowing what else to say.
They continued talking and after awhile they started talking more and more easily with each other. She was really beginning to like AJ.
“I’m going to become famous some day.” He said. “Either with dancing or with singing.”
“I don’t think I would like being in the spotlight so much.” Said Tracy. “But what makes you think you’re going to be famous?”
“Oh I can feel it. I just know I’m going to make it huge.”
“Ok when you do. Give me a call.”
They continued talking until they reached Orlando. They walked off the plane and Tracy spotted her aunt and uncle.
“Well I guess I have to go.” Tracy said.
“So does your offer still stand about calling you when I become famous?” AJ asked. Tracy pulled a pen and a piece of paper out of her backpack and wrote her phone number on it and gave it to him. He smiled at her and she shot one right back. She then turned around and started walking toward her aunt and uncle who were very happy to see her. She turned around to say something else to him before she left, but he was already gone.
Chapter 2
May 31, 1999
“Tracy are you coming or what?” Jade yelled from the bottom of the staircase.
“Yeah just give me a few more minutes.” Tracy yelled back.
“I swear that girl takes more time getting ready than both of us put together.” Jade said to Angie, who had made herself at home in the living room watching TV.
Jade Harris and Angie Millar where Tracy’s two best friends. She hardly went anywhere without the two of them.
Jade was an off the wall funny person. She could just about anything to make someone laugh no matter what their mood was. That was what is so special about her. She says the funniest things that would make you die laughing, which sometimes her jokes were pretty stupid but it still made everyone else laugh because she thought her own jokes were hilarious. She was a person you would always want to be around.
Angie was a fun loving people person. She got along with everyone and was the best person you could talk to and go to for advice. Out of the two of them, Tracy stuck by Angie more because she trusted her most.
“You should know by now that she takes a long time. Next time why don’t we tell her it’s a half hour earlier than it really is and maybe she’ll be ready on time.” Said Angie while she flipped through the channels. Jade made her way to the couch and sat down.
“Yeah that’s not a bad idea.”
Tracy then came flying down the stairs and into the living room.
“Sorry guys.” She apologized. “I didn’t mean to take so long.”
The three girls grabbed their coats and headed toward the door when the phone rang. Jade mumbled something while Tracy ran to get the phone.
“It’ll only take a minute.” She assured. “Hello?”
~*Meanwhile*~
“AJ you know you picked a wonderful day to move.” Nick complained while carrying some boxes out to the u-hall that was parked in the driveway. It just so happened to be the hottest day of the year.
“Oh quit complaining we’re almost done.” AJ said.
“Yeah and then we get to go and move it back into you’re new house.”
“And that’s why you’re one of my best friends, because you help me when you don’t have to.”
Nick set the box down in the truck and took the boxes that AJ had in his hands and set them down as well.
“Oh I don’t have to help? Well then I’m going.” He joked.
“No no get you’re butt back here. There’s two more boxes inside and I’ll get them.”
He walked back to the house and passed Kevin and Brian who also had some odds and ends that were left inside. He made his way up to his room and found the two boxes that he was talking about. They were in the very back of his closet, on a shelf and one was only a shoebox. He was pretty sure it was something that he had from a long time ago. Not knowing what exactly it was, he thought he would take a look. Inside there was some old plane ticket and a piece of paper that was folded up. He opened it and read it out loud.
“Tracy Stevens, 555-8963.”
He remembered exactly who it was and smiled. He walked out of the closet and looked out the window that overlooked the driveway and saw that the guys had taken a break. They didn’t look like they were really going anywhere so AJ thought he would take advantage of the moment. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the number, and then hung up right away.
~Wait a minute.~ he thought. ~She probably doesn’t even live there anymore.~ he started putting his phone away and then stopped. ~But what if her parents are still there? Then maybe they can give me her number.~ He dialed the number and let it ring, hoping that someone would pick up. After four rings a man picked up the phone. AJ was right, she didn’t live there anymore, but her parents did, he got the number to her house and thanked the man on the phone, which was her father, and hung up the phone. AJ hesitated before making the next phone call. Now what was he going to say? Hi I’m famous look at me now? That sounded ridiculous. What he really wanted to do was just talk to the girl. After all they were friends for about a year. What had happened was that AJ ended up calling Tracy only about two weeks after they had seen each other. They called each other a lot and also emailed and everything but then AJ got really busy because his career started to take off and they never really spoke again. He took another look outside the window and saw that the guys were lying in the grass almost falling asleep. He dialed Tracy’s number, hoping she would pick up, and also hoping she wouldn’t. He still wasn’t sure what he was going to say. Before he could think of anything else. Someone picked up the phone.
“Hello?” came a soft voice. AJ didn’t say anything. “Hello?”
“Tracy?” was all AJ had managed to say.
“Yes. Who is this?”
“This is AJ McLean. I don’t know if you remember me…”
“Oh yes how could I forget you? I was wondering if you were ever going to call or not.”
“Yeah well I’ve been a little busy.” AJ said feeling a little more at ease. She hadn’t changed a bit.
“A little? I’d say a lot.”
They talked for a few more minutes until Jade got impatient and started telling her to get off the phone. Tracy glared at her but understood Jade’s impatience. Angie didn’t care, she was trying to figure out who the heck she was talking to.
“Sorry to cut this short, but I was just about to leave. Can I talk to you again?” Tracy said giving into Jade’s glares, she was really going to have to have a talk with that girl.
“Yeah. Listen, I’m going on tour next week and our second stop is in Milwaukee. Do you think you’d want to maybe come and see me? I can get you some backstage passes. I’ll try and get you some good seats too.”
“Yeah, could you possibly get two more for my friends?”
“No problem.” AJ said. He gave Tracy his cell phone number and told her to call anytime she wanted. She finally got off the phone.
“Ok who was that and where are we going now?” Angie asked.
Tracy smiled. “Oh you’ll see my friends, you’ll see.”
Chapter 3
June 9, 1999
“Tracy where are we going?” Angie asked as they sped down the highway in Tracy’s yellow mustang convertible.
“We’re almost there.” She assured. “And you’re going to love me for this. Trust me.”
“Tracy last time you said trust me I ended up jumping out of a plane and screaming all the way to the ground.” Said Jade.
“Jade you know you had fun.” Tracy laughed.
“Yeah but that’s beside the point.”
“You guys are crazy I can’t believe you went sky diving. I would have passed out halfway through.” Said Angie.
“You wouldn’t have even gotten in that plane Angie.” Jade said.
“Ok we’re here now all we have to do is find a lovely parking spot.”
She pulled into the parking garage and finally found a spot on the very top.
“The Bradley center.” Angie said more to herself than the other two. “What are we doing here?”
It all finally dawned on Jade. “The Backstreet Boys are here tonight! You got us tickets!”
“Jeez it took you guys long enough.” Tracy laughed.
“You are the best Tracy.” Angie said giving Tracy a hug.
“Don’t thank me now.” Said Tracy. And then a little quieter she said, “Because you have no idea what you’re in for.”
They made there way, slowly, into the arena, which was crowded with teenage girls.
“Tracy where exactly are our seats?” Angie asked as they walked around. Tracy stopped and looked at the ticket again.
“It says Section A, row 2, lower level.” She answered.
“You mean to tell me we’re in the second row?” Jade asked.
“Yeah I guess so.”
They kept walking close together due to the crowds of people and made their way to their seats, which were in the dead center of the second row.
“How long until the show starts?” Tracy asked. “I don’t have a watch on.”
“Um, it should start in about 20 minutes.” Jade answered looking at her watch.
Tracy looked around the arena to see all the people filing inside. They wouldn’t be able to see all of the guys at the same time due to the fact that the stage was in the round, but they would see them enough.
“We are going to see the sweat drop off their faces. This is so cool.” Angie said happily. “How did you get the tickets anyway?”
“Let’s just say from a friend.” Was all Tracy said.
After a few more minutes of waiting the house lights went out and the crowd screamed so loud it was deafening. A local sound check band by the name of 5th Gear went on stage and performed for the crowd. They weren’t bad but they weren’t good either. None of the girls thought they would really make it. They did put on a good show and after they left, the house lights went on again. The three girls talked amongst themselves for a few more minutes but then again, the house lights went off and the crowd grew ten times louder than they were before. A spotlight appeared behind the girls and they turned around to see the guys being lifted up and taken to the stage by cables.
~Nice touch~ Tracy thought to herself.
AJ sat on the stage directly in front of them while some of the technicians helped unhook him from the cables.
~My my~ she thought. ~He looks a lot better in person.~
The concert was awesome and Angie and Jade looked like they had a great time. When the show was over, the girls started to leave when Tracy stopped them.
“Hey were are you going?” she asked.
“To the car.” Jade answered.
“Well I don’t think you’re going to want to go there right this minute.”
“Why?” asked Angie.
“Because I have another surprise for you.”
Tracy then pulled out three backstage passes from her purse and handed one to each of them. They just about died and thanked her until they went blue in the face.
“Thank me later.” She said again. They made their way backstage and they weren’t exactly sure where to go so they stopped.
“Tracy are we going?” Jade asked.
“You know, I have no idea.” Tracy answered honestly. “He told me to meet him by his dressing room.”
Jade and Angie’s mouths dropped open.
“Wait a minute Tracy, what do you mean he?” Angie asked slowly.
“You’ll see.” Tracy answered.
Chapter 4
“I knew you wouldn’t find it.” Came a deep voice. Tracy turned around to see AJ making his way up to her. “So I decided to come looking for you.” He stopped in front of her. “I’d give you a hug but uh, I’m a little sweaty.”
“Oh that’s ok. How did you know it was me?
“Well I heard you’re name a few times and I knew you were with two other people so, I figured it would be you.” He looked over Tracy’s shoulder and looked at Jade and Angie, who were staring at him.
“Hello.” He said.
“Hi.” They said in unison.
“Come with me.” He said and led the way, waiting for Tracy first so that he could talk with her. Jade and Angie snapped out of their daze and followed behind the two of them. They walked down a few halls and through a couple of doors and finally made it to the guys’ dressing rooms.
“Hey guys I want you to meet some friends of mine.” AJ said as they walked through the door. “This my long lost friend Tracy, and these are her friends…you know you never did introduce me to your friends.” He turned back to Tracy.
“Oh yeah this is Angie and Jade.” She said pointing to her motionless friends.
“Well it’s nice to meet you.” Said Brian giving each of them a hug. The other three guys did the same thing.
“Tracy why don’t you come with me for a second?” AJ suggested.
“Ok,” she said and then turned back to Angie and Jade who were talking to Kevin. “Are you two going to be alright for awhile?”
“Yeah.” Angie answered. “Go have fun. But we have a lot of talking to do later.” She warned.
Tracy smiled and then turned around to go with AJ. He led her to his dressing room where he searched for some clean clothes. She watched him closely, and she realized he had more tattoos than she had thought. She wasn’t the biggest Backstreet Boys fan, but she did watch them every once in awhile just to see AJ. Her friends didn’t believe her when she told them that she used to be friends with AJ, now they probably did of course. On the other hand Angie and Jade were in love with the guys. They thought they were too old to be in love with a boy band but they didn’t much care.
“Wait right here I’ll be back in a few minutes.” He said snapping her out of her thoughts. He disappeared behind another door and she heard water running and figured he was taking a shower. Within ten minutes he was out again and sat down on a chair across from her.
“What do you say we blow this joint and go somewhere?” he said taking her hand while getting up again. She smiled and followed behind him.
“I take it you guys aren’t leaving right away.” She said.
“No we have a show to do tomorrow in Madison so we get to sleep in a real bed tonight.” He answered. They made their way out of his dressing room and back out to where the others were.
“We’ll be back in a bit.” Tracy said to Angie and Jade who nodded their heads and continued talking with Howie and Kevin, who were the only other guys in the room. AJ pulled her out the back door and stopped.
“Where do you want to go?” he asked. “I have no idea what’s around here.”
“I don’t know do you just want to walk around?”
AJ started walking around the building to see if there were still people filing out of the building. There were only a few more people, so the streets were pretty empty.
“Yeah that’s fine.” He answered. He pulled out a baseball cap from his back pocket and out it on his head. “Just to hide myself a little better.” He already had his sunglasses on.
“How can you see out here with those on?” she said pointing at the sunglasses. It was about 10:00 and he still had those things on.
“I’m used to it.” He answered. “But I might need you to keep close to me so I don’t run into a wall.” He smiled.
“Don’t press your luck Romeo.” She said.
They continued walking down the street and talked easily just like old times.
“So what would your boyfriend do if he found out you were here with another guy?” he asked.
“I don’t have a boyfriend.” She said. “You can breath easier now.”
They turned around to start heading back to the arena so that Tracy could get Angie and Jade and go home. AJ and Tracy made plans to spend the day together the next day before he had to go do the show.
“Are you guys ready to go?” Tracy asked as she and AJ walked inside.
“Yeah I suppose.” Jade said getting up. Angie did the same.
“It was nice meeting all of you.” Tracy said.
“Yeah it was nice meeting you too.” Said Kevin.
“I’ll see you tomorrow.” AJ said to Tracy and gave her a hug.
The three girls left the room and began walking toward the parking garage.
“Now how did you meet AJ?” Angie asked. “How did you get all of this and why didn’t you tell us?”
“Wait a minute I told you guys about AJ a long time ago and you didn’t believe me. When he called me, he asked me to meet him here and I said only if I could bring you so he said it was ok. It’s as simple as that.” Answered Tracy.
“You two aren’t a couple or anything are you?” Jade asked.
“No.” Tracy answered. “We’re just friends.”
“Sure.” Angie said. “That’s why you two went off by yourselves.”
“Think what you want.”
They finally made it to the car and got inside.
“Too bad I’ve already got a boyfriend.” Said Jade. “Because I would definitely go out with Howie.”
“Kevin’s six years older than I am, for one thing, and he already has a girlfriend so I think he’s out of the picture for me.” Said Angie. “But AJ…”
“Don’t touch him.” Tracy interrupted.
“What did I tell you?” Angie said to Jade. “They’ve got a thing for each other already.”
Tracy rolled her eyes and sped away down the parking garage and onto the street. It was midnight by the time she made it home after dropping the other two off. She dropped her purse on the table and went to the answering machine to see if there were any messages and their weren’t so she continued on, walking up the stares and to her bedroom and plopped on her bed and fell asleep as soon as she hit her pillows. She was so tired she didn’t even have the energy to change.
Chapters 5-8
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