“Hey, Rok, where’s Leighanne and Angie?” Nick asked Brian nervously as the boarded their tour bus.
“I told them to meet us at the hotel,” he replied. “Why do you look so weird? Are you okay?”
Nick looked away. “Yeah, I’m fine. I’m just kinda nervous about Angie and Megan meeting, that’s all. I don’t know why, but…oh well.”
Brian smiled knowingly. “Oh yeah, the girlfriend meets the best friend. I see how it is.”
Nick laughed. “Uh, yeah Bri, that’s it.”
Brian looked over at Megan, who had just started a game of cards with Anna and BJ. “Don’t worry, I’m sure they’ll get along just fine.”
***
“Nicky!” Angie shrieked as Nick stepped off the bus. She ran over and jumped into his arms. Megan looked at her, totally shocked.
“Hey, Angie,” Nick replied, seeing Megan’s face. Well, here we go, he thought. He pulled away from Angie and turned to Megan, Anna and BJ. “Um, Angie, this is my sister, BJ, her friend Anna, and my best friend Megan. Guys, this Angie.”
Angie gave them a lavish smile. “Hello, girls. I’m Nick’s girlfriend, Angelina Rosita. But you can call me Angie.” She stuck her hand out and gave each girls hand a tight squeeze.
“Hi,” BJ and Anna said. Megan just nodded and gave Angie a tight smile.
Brian and Leighanne, who had just been reunited, both stifled laughs. They knew what a horrible snob Angie was, and they thought that Megan’s reaction to her was priceless. They all headed inside.
***
“Is your room okay?” Nick asked as he walked into Megan’s room.
Megan smiled. “Yes, thank you.” She went back to her book.
Nick sighed and sat down on the bed. “Where’r Anna and my sister?”
“They went down to the pool,” Megan said, not looking up.
Nick leaned over and took the book from her. “Megan, what’s wrong?” he asked.
Megan sighed. “Why didn’t you tell me you had a girlfriend?”
Nick looked down at his hands. “I…don’t know, I guess. I guess I just sorta forgot about her last week.”
Megan laughed and hit him with a pillow. “You forgot about your girlfriend?”
Nick smiled sheepishly. “Yeah, well, I was just too occupied with you.” Megan looked at him and smiled. “Anyway,” he said, “I came to tell you that I have to leave for a sound check at three. You guys can hang out with Leighanne or Angie or whoever. Someone will pick you up and take you to the concert.”
“Okay.”
Nick leaned over and gave her a hug. “Thanks for coming,” he whispered in her ear.
“Anytime,” Megan whispered back.
Nick let go of her and said, “I’ll see ya at the concert, then.”
Megan smiled. “Bye.”
***
“Ahhhhh! Megan! What’s up girl? It has been too long!” Leighanne shrieked as she enveloped Megan in a hug. Megan had just walked down to Leighanne’s room.
“I know, way too long!” Megan said, laughing.
Leighanne pulled back and held her arms distance away. “You have grown so much in the last year!”
Megan laughed. “You sound like my aunt!” she said.
Leighanne laughed. “Well, come on! Let’s go get some food! Where’s BJ and…Anne? Is that her name?”
“Anna. They went out to get something to eat. They left a little over an hour ago.”
“Alright, come on.”
“Wait, shouldn’t we ask Angie to go?” Megan asked.
“Uh…no. I personally don’t enjoy her company. But SHH for now, I’ll tell you more about her later.”
They walked down the hallway and pushed the button for the elevator. “So where’s Amanda?” Megan asked, referring to AJ’s girlfriend.
“She can’t come for another week. Her boss wouldn’t give her any vacation time.”
“And your boss did?”
“Hey, if you have access to front-row tickets to a Backstreet Boys’ concert, anything’s possible.”
Megan grinned as they stepped off the elevator. They saw tons of girls in Backstreet Boys t-shirts milling around, looking for their idols. A couple of girls recognized Leighanne and walked over to them.
“Hey, aren’t you Leighanne? Brian’s girlfriend?” a girl with long brown hair asked.
Leighanne nodded. “Yeah.”
“And who are you?” the girl with blonde hair asked Megan.
“My name is Megan,” Megan said, not offering the girl any other information.
“Nick’s best friend Megan?” the girl with the brown hair asked.
“Yeah.”
“Really? I read about you in Nick’s mom’s book.”
Megan smiled, remembering when Mrs. C had written an entire chapter about her in Nick’s biography, and how she had totally bawled her eyes out when she read it.
“Alright, well, it was nice meeting you,” Leighanne said as she grabbed Megan’s arm and quickly walked away.
“Do you get that everywhere you go?” Megan whispered to Leighanne as she dragged her through the hotel doors.
Leighanne shrugged. “Kinda.”
“That sucks.”
“Well, it’s worth it. Come on, let’s go find somewhere to eat.”
***
“Hey Nick, glad to be back with your girlfriend?” Brian asked with a grin, half-kidding.
Nick looked at him weird. “Sure…I guess.”
“That’s good.”
“Hey, Rok,” Nick asked, knitting his brows. “Do you think Megan likes Angie?”
“I’m not Megan, so I can’t answer that,” Brian said, dodging the question.
Nick looked down at his hands. “Yeah, I guess that’s true. I hope she does, though. Megan’s good at judging people like that, and if she likes, her, I know that Angie’s a good choice.”
***
“So what’s the scoop on Angie? Why don’t you like her?” Megan asked Leighanne. She took a sip of her iced tea.
Leighanne laughed. “Pick a reason, any reason. She’s such a snob. And I KNOW she doesn’t like Nick. I honestly don’t know what he sees in her. Has he told you anything about her?”
“Nope…he’s never mentioned her before. I don’t really know her, but she doesn’t seem like the type he usually dates,” Megan replied.
“I know,” Leighanne said. “That’s what Brian said too.”
“Really? Do the rest of the guys like her?” Megan asked, an amused look on her face.
“Well, Howie tries, but most everyone else doesn’t like her. And Amanda and AJ hate her. She once tried to break them up. She told AJ that Amanda cheated on him.”
Megan’s mouth dropped. “Are you serious?!?!” Leighanne nodded. “Didn’t anyone tell Nick?”
“He didn’t believe us.”
“UN-believable.”
Leighanne shook her head. “I know. What’s worse, is I think she’s cheating on him. I just can’t prove it.”
“Jeez…How long have they been together?”
“6 months.”
“SIX MONTHS?!?! How come I had no idea that she existed?”
“Nick didn’t want to tell you. I don’t know why, but he wouldn’t tell us.”
Megan sighed. “You know what? Sometimes I think that boy isn’t all there.”