12 YEARS LATER…
“Nick, you fruit, come on! We’re gonna be late!” BJ called to her brother as she ran up the stairs. She found her brother looking in his mirror. BJ sighed. “Nick, you look fine! You’re not even gonna do anything! You’re just dropping me off!” she yelled.
“Okay, okay BJ. Calm down. It’s just a party, you’re not gonna die if you don’t get there at 7 on the dot. Anyway, aren’t you supposed to be fashionably late?” he asked as he grabbed a hat and sunglasses.
“NO! I want to get there NOW!” BJ replied as she grabbed her brother by the arm and dragged him down the stairs.
“Jeez,” Nick replied as he grabbed his keys. “MOM, WE’RE LEAVING,” he called to his mother before he slammed the door behind him. Out of habit, he looked over to the house on the right of his. He saw Anna dragging Megan out of the house.
When she saw him, she laughed. “Big party, huh?” she yelled to him over his gate.
He nodded and grinned devilishly. “RACE YA!” he yelled as he hopped into his car and revved the engine.
“You’re on!” Megan yelled back as she threw her purse in the car. She backed out of the driveway and sped down the street, her sister yelling at her to slow down.
Meanwhile, Nick was still waiting for his automatic Iron Gate to open. “MAN!” he said. “She beat me!”
“Nick, you dork, we should have left earlier! Now Anna’s gonna get there before me!” BJ whined as Nick pulled onto the street.
“So you’ll get there two seconds later. What’s the big deal?” Nick grumbled as he drove down the street.
“But that means that she’ll get to see Peter James before I do, and that means he might like her and not me!” BJ said, slumping down in her seat.
“Oh, come on now, don’t worry about a little thing like that,” Nick said as he parked the car outside a white and brick house. BJ hopped out of the car, eager to get inside.
“Beej, have fun, don’t party too hearty, and Mom will pick you up at 12 sharp,” Nick called to her.
“K, thanks Nick, bye,” she replied, slamming the car door. Nick shook his head as he pulled away from the curb.
* * *
Megan parked her car in her driveway and raced over to the gate between his and Nick’s house. She took a ladder from behind a bush and climbed the fence. She hopped down and ran to the house. She let herself in the back door, which was open, and walked into the Carter’s living room. She always felt at home here, even when Nick was on tour with his group, the Backstreet Boys. As a matter of fact, Nick had just gotten back from a tour. She walked up to Nick’s room and lay down on his bed. Just then Nick ran into his room.
Megan sat up. “Haha, loser. I beat you.”
Nick smiled as Megan jumped up and hugged him. They hadn’t seen each other for 2 months, and they hadn’t had time to talk on the phone much. “I missed you, big eyes,” Nick said as he pulled away. Nick always called her Big Eyes. He said that she had the biggest, roundest bluest eyes in the world. Megan also had shoulder length brown hair. She was thin and tall, standing at 5’10”.
“I missed you too,” Megan said as she jumped back onto his bed.
“So word up in da ‘hood, G?” Nick said as he pulled his suitcase onto the bed and began unpacking it.
“Nuffin much, just me and my peeps hangin’ out,” Megan replied with a grin.
Nick laughed. “When did school end?”
“Last week.”
“All ready for the big C?” Nick asked, reffering to college.
“Oh yeah. But right now, I’d like to enjoy my last summer of my childhood.”
“And how’s my other family?” Nick asked. He and Megan always thought of each other’s families as their own.
“Oh, they’re just peachy keen, jelly bean. Now enough about me. How was your tour?”
“Fine, but tiring as usual. For a while there, we had a show every night for three weeks straight.”
Megan grimaced. “Ew, that sucks. But it’s over now. So when do you go back?”
“Oh, that reminds me. You are officially invited on tour with me in one week,” he said as he dropped his empty suitcase on the floor and pulled his book bag up to unpack it.
“One week? That’s it?” Megan said with disbelief.
Nick turned to her. He shrugged. “I’m sorry. I don’t like it either. But you ARE gonna come with me, aren’t you?”
“Well…I’ll have to see if I can fit you into my schedule. I mean, I AM an awfully busy person, you know. Now, let’s see. Next week, I have a date with Bob, then Billy, and then I’m going to the beach with Joe, oh, and, then, we can’t forget about John…” Megan said teasingly.
Nick hit her with a pillow. “Shut up, big eyes, and go ask your parents.”