Christine stepped off the bus and stretched, happy to be back in her hometown. However, Fatima rushed over to her frantically. “Chris, we have a little mix-up. You and Nick were supposed to have your own rooms this time, but somehow, we’re one room short. I hate to ask this, but would you mind rooming with him? It’s only for one night.”
Christine sighed unhappily, knowing she had to do it. “Yeah, I guess I will, Fatima, but if we get into a fight or anything, I’m going to sleep on the floor of Sandra’s room.”
“Thanks, Chris. I don’t think that will happen, though. You’re mature enough. He may not be, but that’s okay,” she joked. “Here’s your key.”
“What if Nick has an objection?”
“Then he can sleep on Brian’s floor or something.” She handed Christine the key and ran off to find Nick.
The bellboy put Christine’s suitcases on the luggage cart and brought her up to her room. She tipped him and collapsed on the bed. This is going to be a lot of fun, she thought sarcastically. Once they returned to the hotel, she knew all she would be able to think about would be how she ruined their relationship.
“AH! I get to see everybody tonight!” Christine exclaimed excitedly. She was warming up with the other dancers backstage, even though she was having a hard time concentrating. Katelyn had never called her, but she had decided that if Katelyn was going to give up a friendship that had lasted this long over some guy, she wasn’t worth having as a friend.
“Chris, settle down. I wouldn’t be this happy to see my brother,” Sandra joked.
“Yeah, but you’ve seen him several times since rehearsal began. I haven’t seen my family since June!” Christine replied.
She took a deep breath, completely prepared for the show. She would get to see Jason, Sam, Amber, Carlie, Michelle, and her parents tonight. Of course, there would be that one empty seat where Katelyn was supposed to be…
Christine shook the thought from her mind and ran out onstage for her first dance. She wasn’t facing her family’s seats, but she would be for the third song she danced in. Momentarily, she forgot her troubles with Nick outside of business, and she fell back into his arms for the end of the routine.
“Good job, Chris,” he whispered as she ran offstage. She looked at him and nodded appreciatively. Even though she was “over” him, though Andrea constantly said she was not, she still enjoyed his compliments.
The second dance flew by as quickly as the first, and then it was time for Christine to see her family. There they were, in the front row, smiling up at her. Christine almost stopped dancing when she saw who else was there, but remembered that she was performing.
“Is that Kate?” Nick whispered into her ear as soon as the song ended.
“Yeah, it is!” Christine replied.
“What is she doing here? I thought you two weren’t talking!”
“I thought so, too, Nick.” With that, she ran backstage and sat down on the floor, puzzled.
“What’s up, Chris?” Andrea asked.
“Kate’s here.”
“What? You’re kidding! You two haven’t talked in forever! How did she get a ticket?”
“I sent her a letter apologizing and her ticket and backstage pass. She never called me, so I figured she wasn’t coming.”
After the show, Christine was immediately greeted backstage by her family. Katelyn was not there. Christine pretended not to notice. “I missed you guys so much!” she exclaimed. “Come on, come meet everyone!”
Sam was the only one who knew everything that went on before that night. Well, everything excluding things associated with the passionate night Christine and Nick shared and Brian’s crush on Christine. No one else knew about Christine and Nick being together, or their breakup, for that matter, or the fight between Christine and Katelyn.
Brian was the first out of his dressing room. Christine motioned him over to say hi. “Brian, this is my family. Meet Sam, Amber, Jason, Carlie, Michelle, my mom, and my dad.”
“Hi, it’s nice to meet you all. Chrissie is one of the coolest girls I know!” Brian exclaimed enthusiastically.
“Are the other guys gonna be out here soon?” Christine asked him impatiently.
“I don’t know. They have different dressing rooms than I do,” Brian replied.
Just then, Kevin, AJ, and Howie wandered over. Christine smiled. “Guys, you gotta meet my family!” She quickly introduced them to everyone. “Where’s Nick?” For a very quick moment, Sam caught her eye and they shared a meaningful look. Needless to say, after everything he had heard, he did not particularly want to meet Nick.
“I’m over here! Why, what’s up?” Nick asked. He jogged over, and Christine went through the introductions once again. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“Well, I gotta go to the bathroom, so wait right here for me! I’ll be right back!” Christine cried. Nick couldn’t help but think of how cute she sounded. She reminded him of a little girl, excited to see her parents after a day of school. He looked at Sam, who gave him a dirty look. He must know everything I did to her, Nick thought. Wait, everything that I did to her? Everything that she did to me!
As Christine walked to the bathroom, she felt a hand touch her shoulder. She turned to see Sam. “Hey, bro! What do you need?”
“You saw her, didn’t you?” Sam asked.
“Of course I did. How could I not?”
“She didn’t know if you’d want to talk to her or not, but I convinced her to come.”
“Thanks, Sam. Where is she?”
“I don’t know. She ran off after the show ended. She might have gone home or something,” Sam said apologetically.
Christine tried to hide her disappointment. “Oh. I’ll just give her a call from the hotel.” She turned to leave, but Sam stopped her.
“One more thing. Why did you introduce us to Nick?” he inquired.
“Because he’s one of the Backstreet Boys, and Mom and Dad and everyone would be suspicious if I didn’t. Besides, he’s not a bad guy to have as a friend. I just don’t know if I’d want to date him again.”
“You know you would if the opportunity came up,” Sam said.
“I’m over him, Sam,” Christine replied, annoyed.
“I don’t think so. Your eyes are saying something else.”
“Listen. I don’t love him anymore. Now can I go to the bathroom?” Christine snapped.
“Yeah, sure, but don’t bother lying to me, Chris. I know the truth,” Sam called after her.
As Christine opened the door to go into the ladies’ room, someone else was coming out. “Excuse me,” she mumbled softly.
“Teeny?” the other person said.
Christine stopped and turned to see Katelyn. “Kat?”
There was a moment of silence, and then Katelyn screeched excitedly. “I missed you!” She began jumping up and down.
“I missed you, too!” Christine replied. Katelyn gave her a hug. “Does this mean I’m forgiven?”
“Of course it does! How could I stay mad at you?”
“I don’t know, but Nick seems to be doing a good job of it,” Christine replied.
“I’m sorry.”
“I was the one who messed around with his best friend,” Christine muttered. “I was the idiot.”
“He was the one who started it, though. If he hadn’t said all those things to you, you wouldn’t have messed around with Brian.”
“True, but-”
“But nothing. Let’s go see everyone!”
Christine forgot about her urge to pee and followed Katelyn out of the bathroom, but when she saw who was talking to AJ and Howie, she stopped dead in her tracks. “Kate, look who’s over there,” she whispered.
Katelyn followed her gaze and let her eyes rest on a guy. He was six foot one, with short, brown hair and dark brown eyes. “Oh, my God! Did you invite him here?”
“No! He just showed up!” Christine replied. “Should we go talk to him?”
“Well, yeah. I’m assuming that’s why he’s here is to see you,” Katelyn said.
A smile broke onto Christine’s face as she approached the guys. “Hey, stranger! I haven’t seen you in a while!”
“There’s the girl I’m looking for! Chrissie!” the boy replied. He scooped her into his arms and picked her up. “I missed you, girl! I was just asking these two if they knew where you were.”
“Can we get an introduction, here, Chris?” AJ asked. Suddenly, he saw Katelyn. “Oh, my God! What are you doing here?”
“I came to see my best friend,” Katelyn replied.
“Andrew, this is AJ, and this is Howie. Guys, this is Andrew. He’s a friend and an ex-boyfriend that I haven’t talked to since last year. How did you get tickets, Andrew?”
“I called in and won them on a radio. I had heard you were one of the dancers, and I couldn’t miss that!” he said in his deep, sexy voice. It didn’t phase Christine anymore. She was used to it.
Brian and Nick wandered over and ducked into the conversation. Brian looked first at Christine talking to Andrew, then he saw Katelyn. “Hi!” he exclaimed.
“Hey, Brian,” Katelyn said softly. She looked down at the floor, not sure what to say.
“Kate, can I talk to you alone for a few minutes?” he asked.
“Yeah, sure.” He took her hand and led her away as Christine introduced Nick to Andrew.
“Nick, this is my ex-boyfriend and one of the nicest guys I know, Andrew. Andrew, meet Nick, another of my ex-boyfriends,” Christine said. She stressed the ex when she talked about Nick and wrapped her arms around Andrew’s neck. If this didn’t make Nick jealous, nothing would.
Sure enough, a hint of envy flashed into Nick’s eyes, but it left as quickly as it came. “It’s nice to meet you.” They shook hands.
Christine smiled. “You know what? I left my family hanging. I should probably go talk to them. You can stay here and talk with the guys if you want, or you can come with me.” Andrew followed her over to where Kevin and her family were talking.
“Look who’s here!” Mrs. Sullivan exclaimed. Andrew was always one of her favorites of Christine’s male friends.
“Hi, everyone!” Andrew said.
The group chatted for a while before Katelyn stepped up behind Christine. “Guess what?” she whispered. “Brian and I are back together!”
“AH! Yay!” Christine squealed.
They continued to chatter for a few minutes, and then Christine felt gentle hands on her waist. She turned to see Andrew, and she blushed slightly. She had no urge to pull away, especially when she saw the look on Nick’s face. Instead, she leaned back onto Andrew’s chest and made herself comfortable.