Chapter Six

Two Worlds Apart--Chapter Six "So, you're still in high school?" Nick tried to make some conversation as he drove along.

"Sorta. When I'm home, which isn't very often anymore, I attend private school, and when I'm out on the road or whatever, I just somehow get my assignments and return them to my teachers."

"That's cool. Sports?"

Kelli nodded proudly. "Yup. Volleyball, softball and basketball. But this year I only got to play in the first couple basketball games, because I was shipped off to New York. That's kinda the worst part of all this. The playoffs are coming up soon, and I won't be there. I graduate in June, so this will be my last chance to win a championship, and I'm down here and not up there."

"That sucks. Are you any good? Hey, don't look so insulted. I didn't mean it like that."

"Actually, yes, I am pretty good. I was a starter and I can score a lot of points. Not to brag or anything, though."

"Oh, of course not."

"Hey!"

"Sorry. All right, I'll humble you now. Got any weaknesses? And don't even say that you don't."

"Fine. Foul shooting under pressure. I miss every time."

"Ouch."

"Tell me about it."

"Well, me and Bri are the basketball masters. We'll help you out with that."

"Really? Thanks!"

"No need to thank me. It's for my benefit, too. It'll let us get to know each other better."

Kelli smiled shyly and bit on her bottom lip. "So, why don't you tell me about your charming self? All we've done is talk about my boring life."

"You're anything but boring."

"Can I get a second opinion?"

"Nope."

"How did I know you were gonna say that?"

"I dunno. I'm anything but predictable. By the way, what hotel am I taking you to? I'm kind of driving around aimlessly here."

"Actually, it's right up here on the left. See?"

"Oh, yeah." Nick turned into the parking lot. "Here ya go. Would you like me to come around and open your door like a good chauffer?"

"Nah, I think I can make it by myself. Bye."

"See ya."

"Oh, and Nick?"

"Sup?"

"Thanks. I know this was kinda out of your way."

"No problem." He took her hand and kissed it. "Maybe I expect a favor out of it."

Kelli just smiled and shut her door. Shaking her head at the retreat of Nick's vehicle, she ran into her hotel. It wasn't until she was all the way up to her room that she was whistling."



That night, Kelli was having second thoughts before she went onstage.

"Is this a bad time to mention that I've never sung before a crowd of over 100 people?"

"What? I thought you said you were in chorus," Sarah said, shocked.

"Ok, I've never sung for this many people by myself."

"Not even solos or anything?" Katie wondered.

"Yeah, but they've been there to back me up." Kelli struggled to get her headset on.

"Here, let me help," AJ said as he walked over.

"Thanks. There's no way I'm gonna go a whole tour like this. I'll drive myself crazy."

"Kelli!" Dave shouted. "You're on in 5.....4....3....2....1! GO!"

"WASSUP ORLANDO? HOW'S EVERYBODY DOIN TONIGHT? YOU READY TO HAVE SOME FUN? ALL RIGHT! HERE WE GO....!"



"THANK YOU ORLANDO! NOW, GET READY! AFTER A SHORT BREAK, YOU'LL BE SEEING YOUR FAVORITE AND MINE, THE BACKSTREET BOYS! BYE!"

Kelli ran offstage to where her dancers had just gathered. "Oh, my god. That was so scary."

"What are you talking about? You did great," Adam said.

"Thanks, but I don't know. This is all just so new to me."

"Hey, you did great!" Nick called out, jogging over.

Kelli smiled. "Thanks, but I don't think I'm cut out for this."



"Just give it a chance," Nick urged. "Once you get used to it, you'll love it. Trust me." "All right."

"Oh, hang around after the show. I have to ask you something."

"OK, I'll be around here somewhere."

Nick reached over and gave her a quick hug. "You did great."

"Nick! Come on!" Kevin yelled.

"I'll see y'all later."

As soon as he was gone, Joe nudged Kelli. "Someone's got the hots for you."

"As much as I love ya Joe, you're not really my type," Kelli laughed.

"Damn, and I thought I had swept you off your feet. Seriously, though, I'm not talking about me. I'm talking about the blond Backstreet Boy who just gave you a hug."

Kelli shrugged. "He was just being friendly."

"That was awfully friendly," Katie said. "Who wants to bet that Nick will ask Kelli on a date after the show?"

"Nah, we'd all lose," Mark said. "It's too obvious that he has the hots for her."

"Yeah," Sarah agreed. "If she said jump, he'd be like, how high?"

"This is when I leave," Kelli said as she stood up. "Enjoy your gossip session."

"Oh, we will, don't worry," Adam smiled as she left.



Kelli wandered around until she found Leighanne, who was watching the boys perform. "Hey, Leighanne."

"Oh, hi! That was a great performance."

"Thanks. Everyone keeps saying that, but I wasn't really having fun. I was so scared out there. I just wanted to bolt."

"Do you enjoy going out into the world and singing? Like, do you really love it?"

"I don't know. It's just something I've always done. I never really stopped to think about whether I actually like it."

"Well, is there somewhere you would rather be right now instead of here on this tour?"

"Kinda."

"Where?"

"Oh, basketball practice. And that's pitiful, cuz I hate practice. It totally sucks."



After the concert ended, Brian and Nick came over.

"You did great, babe," Leighanne said.

"Yeah," Kelli echoed.

"How would you know? You were too busy talking to notice. Nick, they've wounded me."

"Bro, I feel your pain. So, how did I do? We all know that you think Brian did great. What about me?"

Kelli placed a sympathetic hand on his shoulder. "Nick, there's no good way of putting this. No offense, hun, but you sucked."

"Huh? Hey, wait a minute!"

"I'm kidding," Kelli laughed. "Oh, what was it that you wanted to ask me?"

Nick opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated when he saw Brian and Leighanne making goo-goo eyes at each other.

"Come on, let's leave them alone."

Kelli and Nick walked to his dressing room. They sat down, and he cleared his throat.

"Kelli?"

"Yeah?"

"Do you want to go out sometime?"

"You mean like on a date?"

"Yeah, that's the general idea. But I'm not talking ANY old get-together. I'm talking the mother of all dates."

"Which would be....."

"I haven't figured that out yet."

"OK, Nick, I would love to go on the mother of all dates with you. When you figure it out, of course."

"You're serious....you mean you don't have a boyfriend or anything?"

"Yeah, right. My love life is pretty pathetic."

"Join the club. Every girl I meet just wants to date a Backstreet Boy. It gets kinda old after awhile. But how could you NOT have a boyfriend? You seem so energetic. And you're really nice and pretty."

"Well, how could you not have a girlfriend?"

"I asked you first."

"Yeah, but my question was hypothetical."

"Well, whatever. Just answer."

"Hmmmmm...well, first of all, I've never had time. Second, I dunno...I've just never seen that perfect person. But I have to get to know someone before I fall madly in love. If a guy can wait, great. If not, that's his loss, unless fate brought us together to get married right then and there. Then being me would totally suck. So, what about you?"

"Dunno. I've just never felt that spark when I kiss a girl. I go on dates, but they never have that special something."

"Yeah, I know what you mean. Do you know what time it is?"

"12:15."

"How did it get so late? I better get back to my hotel. They're bringing the bus to the hotel at 7:00 tomorrow morning."

"Need a lift?"

"No, that's all right."

"Are you sure? It's no problem."

"Nick, you have to get home. I'll be OK."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

"Alright."

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow, then." They stood up and Nick gave Kelli a kiss on the cheek before they both headed their separate ways.



"I am so tired." Kelli leaned up against her bus. Dressed in jeans and a Nike shirt, she looked tired, too. She absently pulled her hair into a ponytail.

"Hey, Kel!" Sarah bounced out of the hotel. "What's wrong?"

"I'm tired, I'm hungry, I miss my dog, and I just realized that I left my Abercrombie sweatshirt in New York. But other than that, I'm peachy keen!" Kelli gave her a fake smile.

"Whoa, sorry. Want to talk about it?"

"No, not really. I'm just not looking forward to spending the next couple of months living like the Partridge family."

As if on cue, two more busses pulled up. Brian, Nick, and AJ hopped out of the first one.

"Food?" AJ asked the girls, holding up McDonald's bags.

"Oh, thank god. Breakfast." Kelli took a bad and pulled out an egg Macmuffin. "Thanks for saving me from starvation," she said as she took a bite. "This is good."

"So, are you all ready for bus life?" Nick wondered.

"No, not really. I can't stand not sleeping in my own bed."

"You don't like this whole touring thing very much, do you?" AJ smirked.

"I don't mean to sound like some ignorant little brat. But I'll go into this subject later. There's no time now."

"Hey, does anyone know what time we're leaving?" Joe asked as he came out of a parked bus.

"I have absolutely no idea. But we're supposed to be in Atlanta tomorrow, so I'm hoping that we'll leave sometime soon," Brian answered.

Adam, Mike, and Katie walked out of the hotel, carrying backpacks, pillows, and various paraphernalia.

"Hey, how do these busing arrangements go?" Katie asked.

"You, me and Sarah are in the first bus, and Larry, Mo and Curly are in the one behind it."



A half hour later, everyone was still hanging around, waiting. Finally, Kelli got tired of standing around. She went inside the bus and reappeared a moment later.

"Monopoly, anyone?" she asked, holding up the board game. Everyone quickly agreed.

"We'll have to play in teams, because we have too many people," Howie pointed out.

"All right. Nick, you wanna be my partner?" Kelli offered.

"Sure, we're the car!"



After an hour had gone by, they were still playing, or at least most of them were. Howie and AJ had gone bankrupt and were playing cards.

"All right. We'll give you Indiana Avenue and our three railroads if you give us Park Place," Kelli argued.

"No," Brian disagreed. "If we give you Park Place, you'll start building right away and clean us all out."

"But we don't have enough money to start building. We only have 300 dollars. That will only get us one house." What Brian and Kevin didn't know was that Nick was hiding more of their money in the cuff of his rolled-up sleeve.

Kevin began talking, but Sarah cut him off.

"Just make the stupid trade! You've been arguing over it for ten whole minutes! Me and Katie would like to take our turn sometime today!"

Kelli and Nick looked over at Brian and Kevin. "Deal?" they asked.

"Oh, fine," Brian agreed.

"Brian, if we lose, I blame you," Kevin said as they traded cards."

"Nick, Kelli, take your turn," Adam complained.

"All right!" Kelli cheered. "Nick, secret stash?" He plunked down a stack of $500 in her hand. "Thanks!"

She counted out some bills and handed them to Mark. "Banker, two hotels, please."

"Oooh," Kevin moaned. Brian hit himself on the forehead.

"Way to go boys, we're done for now," Katie said dryly.

"All right, guys, time to go!" Dave walked out of the hotel and stopped dead in his tracks. "Do you realize that you're playing Monopoly in a parking lot? You're supposed to be ready to go!" He ran his fingers through his hair, obviously frustrated.

"We've BEEN ready. For the past TWO HOURS. But YOU have been holding us all up. So, don't go blowing up at us, because this is all your fault. And for your information, not ALL of us are playing Monopoly. Howie got us bankrupt." Kelli silently noted never to tick off AJ.

As Howie picked up the cards and AJ fought with Dave, the Monopoly players decided what to do about their game.

"I say we quit," Brian said."

"Noooooo," Kelli and Nick whined.

"You two think exactly alike," Sarah noticed. "It's uncanny."

"That's just cuz they're winning," Joe said as he stood up and stretched his legs.

"Whatever," Kelli said. "Kev, can you hand me the box?"

When he gave it to her, she pulled out some plastic baggies and a marker. She wrote Kelli and Nick on one bag, then handed the rest off.

"What are these for?" Adam asked.

"To put your stuff in, dumbass, so we can finish the game," Katie said. "But, Kel, why are these in the box in the first place?"

"In case something like this happens. Is that everything? All right, good. I'll be on the bus, sleeping. It's serious downtime now. Someone wake me when we're out of Florida. Oh, and tell Dave to get his act together."



Chapter Seven
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