I’m glad you’re on a first name basis with them, Summer thought sarcastically. Natalie was one of those girls who was convinced she was going to marry one of the Backstreet Boys or *NSYNCers, and thought that they, along with Britney, were saints.
“I don’t know, how more lucky can we get?” Stacey said. “I can’t wait. Maybe Christina can teach me the dance for ‘What A Girl Wants’.”
“And I can learn the dance from ‘Give It To You’,” Katherine said.
“Baby you know I can give it to you,” a male voice crooned from behind her. Katherine turned to be faced with Ray Fontaine, her ex-boyfriend and best guy friend. “Ray! What are you doing?”
“I came to say goodbye,” he said. “I’m going to miss you this summer.”
“Oh Ray,” Katherine said. “You are pathetic.”
“I really am going to miss you, though. And you guys too, Summer and Stacey.”
“Thanks,” Stacey said dryly. “It’s nice to know I’ll be missed.”
“Hey, Summer!” A tall redheaded girl ran over to the table. “Could you do me a favor?”
Summer sighed heavily. “What is it, Veronica?” she asked. God, she gets on my nerves.
“I know you’re going on the ‘Summer Daze’ tour and all, and I was wondering if you could sorta get this autographed for me.” Veronica thrust a poster at Summer, who opened it and saw Justin Timberlake’s brilliant smile.
Summer grinned broadly. “I’m sorry, Veronica, too many people have asked me to take stuff that I simply can’t fit anything else in my bags,” she said, still with a fake smile across her face.
“Oh well. Thanks anyway.” Veronica took her poster and walked off.
“Could you give Britney Spears my e-mail address?” Ray asked. “Please, please, please?”
“Okay, you break up with me and now you want me to give Slutney your e-mail?” Katherine asked.
“Slutney?” Ray said.
“Yeah,” Stacey replied. “She’s a s-l-u-t. Slut.”
“But she’s fine as hell.”
“Ray, just shut up,” Summer said. “You’re a guy, you wouldn’t understand. She gives girls a bad name.”
“No she doesn’t! Every girl should want to be like her!”
“Oh hell no!” Summer said.
Katherine nodded in agreement. “Who would want to wear clothes like that? And that fake tan and hair extensions, ugh.”
“Christina is better,” Stacey said. “Better voice, better clothes, better album... and she won a Grammy. How can Ms. Slutney top that?”
“But she’s still hot,” Ray said.
Get out!” Summer said, shooing him away from the table.
*********
“I’m finally done packing!” Summer said as she slammed her suitcase shut. “Thank God!”
“I can’t believe you’re just now finishing packing,” Melanie Stanton, one of the girl's friends said. “You leave tomorrow morning.”
“I packed last week,” Katherine said.
Summer laughed lightly. “That’s Kat for ya,” she said. “Always ahead of things.”
“Everybody... yeah...” Stacey sang.
“Rock your body!” Melanie sang back in response.
“Yeah...” Stacey added.
“Everybody rock your body right...” Katherine sang. “’Cause we know that...”
“Backstreet’s back, alright!” all four of them sang together. They then burst into a fit of giggles.
“I would have never thought we’d get to meet them,” Stacey admitted. “It’s almost like a dream come true.”
“I know!” Summer exclaimed. “It’ll be cool to see all of the US. The farthest I’ve been is New York.”
“New York is tyte,” Stacey said.
“I can’t wait to go there,” Katherine said. “And just the thought of hanging out around them all summer...”
“Dreaminess,” Summer said in a dazed voice.
“I'm so jealous of y'all!” Melanie said. “I mean, you get the whole summer with some of the finest men to walk God's green Earth. I wish I could go.”
Summer looked at the pitiful expression that was across Melanie's face. “Aww, girl, we won't forget you. We'll tell you everything that goes down, aight?”
Stacey nodded. “Yeah. We’ll finally find out the answers to our questions: if Justin really does rap a prayer before going to bed, if Kevin really sleeps in the nude...”
“I wanna see that!” Summer exclaimed. “Whoo baby! If he was younger and wasn’t married I’d be wanting to get some lovin’ from him!”
“Are you serious?” Katherine asked, crawling onto the bed.
“Is AJ Johnny No-Name? Hell yeah!” Summer said.
Stacey laughed. “Me, personally, I'd wanna get it on with Joey. Super freak me, baby!” she announced loudly.
Melanie shook her head. “Me, personally... I wanna do the nasty with Nick. Oooh! The man is fine!”
“What about you, Katherine?” Summer asked. “Which of the guys do you wanna get it on with?”
Katherine bit her lip nervously. “Uhh... I dunno now... they all seem like nice blok-- guys, but I don't think I'd want to have sex with them.”
Melanie gave her friend a strange look. “What are you, Kat, a prude or a closet lesbian?” she inquired. When a hurt look crossed Katherine's face, she softened. “I'm sorry, I just didn't mean it like that. I was kidding. C'mon... we can't do it with them. It's illegal.”
“I mean...” Katherine stammered, “I know that and everything, but... as stupid as this sounds, talking about wanting to do it makes me sorta... uncomfortable. I'm saving it, you know? I can talk about it sometimes but it kinda makes me tense.”
“Same here,” Melanie added. Stacey nodded.
Summer sighed. “I have no probs talking about sex, but doin' it... nuh uh. That waits, kiddies.”
“So you’re...” Stacey began.
Summer gave her a suspicious stare. “You thought I wasn’t?”
“No offense, Summer, but yeah.”
Melanie gave her glazed-over look. “Guilty as charged,” she said.
“Oh great.” Summer sighed. “So you guys thought I was a ho.”
“No, but I mean, you sort of...” Stacey studdered.
“Stace, I have to admit, I’ve gotten close. And do I ever mean close. But I just decided that I’m gonna wait. I want to be in a secure relationship where I know he’ll care about me before I go ahead and give it up,” Summer admitted.
“That’s cool. I feel the same way,” Stacey said.
“Nice to know that not every chick at this school's a slut!” Melanie laughed.
“Amen, sista.” Stacey pulled out unopened root beer bottles from under her bed. “Anyone want one?”
“Are they cold?” Summer asked.
“No... but that's why we have ice, hon.”
The other girls laughed, and as Stacey went to retrive the ice they cracked open the root beers. Tonight they'd party--and in the morning they were leaving on the trip of their lives across the Atlantic. Little did they know all of the adventures that lay before them, and the things that would happen to them on the trip.