Ch. 7
Desiree opened her apartment door. She was surprised to find Kerri standing there with Nick and Kevin.
"What happened?" She asked helping Kerri into the apartment. She quickly explained what happened as Desiree listened in amazement. "I knew he was a jerk, but…"
"Are you going to be ok here tonight?" Nick asked, not wanting to go unless he knew she would be alright.
Kerri nodded and Desiree said, "I'll take care of her, don't worry. I think you and Kevin should go get some sleep." With that Nick and Kevin waved goodbye.
"So the police arrested Mark?" Desiree asked sitting down on the couch.
"Yeah, it was all scary. If Nick and Kevin hadn't been there Mark might have REALLY hurt me. You should have seen the look on his face. He looked like he wanted to kill me." Kerri shuddered again.
"Your leaving to go on tour tomorrow and he left to go to jail. He can't do anything to you." Desiree conforted her.
"Well, I'm going to make sure. I'm going to call the police station and see what happened with him." Kerri made her way to the phone and dialed the station. "Hello, you came to my apartment earlier…" she started, saying her name and Mark's. She listened to the officer quietly, her face blank. "Ok, thank you." She said hanging up the phone.
"Kerri?" Desiree said walking to her friend. "What did they say?"
"He got one week in jail and a thousand dollar fine." She told her, walking back to the couch.
"He got off easy, but that's still ok. You will be gone when he gets out. It's not like he can do anything if you aren't here. I'll even get your locks changed for you, so he can't get into your apartment." She reasoned.
Kerri shrugged, not totally convinced that everything would be alright. " I think I need to get some sleep." Desiree got her a pillow and blanket before retiring to her room.
Why is this all happening to me, Kerri thought, did I do something wrong? She sighed and pulled the blanket over her. Tomorrow I will be out of here, and I'm glad.
7:00am Kerri woke up when she heard Desiree walking around the kitchen. She sat up and noticed Desiree had made eggs and toast.
"Good, you're up. You need to eat and get ready to go. Nick is coming to pick you up in half an hour."
Kerri pulled herself off the couch, yawning. She sat down at the table and ate quickly and then rushed to get ready. As bad as she felt she forced herself to try and look nice for Nick. Just as she finished there was a knock on the door. Desiree yalled that the door was unlocked and Nick walked in. Kerri hugged Desiree goodbye. "Thanks for everything, I'm going to miss you so much!"
"You better call me, every day. Don't make me come looking for you." Desiree laughed, even though she was sad that Kerri was leaving.
"I'll try my best." She said back as she walked out the door with Nick.
Desiree closed and locked the door behind them. At least I know she will be safe with Nick.
Nick drove down the road, and kept glaning at Kerri. He couldn't help but think there was something wrong. Kerri had been trying to build up the courage to tell him about Mark.
She took a deep breath and decided to get it over with. "I found out what Mark's punishment was." Nick looked at her, waiting to hear what it was. "He only got a week in jail and a thousand dollar fine."
Nick shook his head. "I can't believe he got off that easy. If he ever hurts you again, I will hurt HIM." His blue eyes flared with anger. I'm not going to let anyone hurt her ever again, he thought.
Kerri couldn't believe what she heard him say. He really does care about me, she thought. I only met him Thursday and now it's Sunday and I'm alone in a car next to him, saying he won't let Mark hurt me again. Maybe things are starting to look up for me.
Meanwhile, an officer led Mark into a room that was empty, except for a single phone. "You have one call, that's it." The officer said, then left the room.
Mark dialed a number. A voice on the other end of the line asked who was calling.
"Hey Jason, this is Mark, and I need a favor. Get the Backstreet Boys tour schedual for me. I'll be over to pick it up in a week."
Ch.8
Nick pulled into the airport. "Oh, man!" he said seeing a large crowd of fans, reporters and photographers. "You'll probably have to get used to this." A few body gaurds made it to his car. Nick and Kerri got out of the car and the gaurds sheilded them from the crowd. One reporter managed to grab Kerri's arm and pull her back. "Are you in a relationship with Nick Carter?" "Are you Nick Carter's girlfriend?" Reporters shouted at her.
"I am only a dancer for the tour. Actually, I'm not even a Backstreet Boys dancer, I'm a dancer for the opening act. I needed a ride to the airport, and Nick was nice enough to drive me. That's it, no big thing." Kerri said, thinking quickly. She didn't want any rumors about her or nick to get started. Kerri pulled away from the crowd and stepped into the airport. Setting down her bag, she joined the other dancers. Jess explained to her how the flights worked. The Backstreet Boys and the opening act sit in first class. All sixteen dancers, ten for the boys and 6 for the opening act, are spread out in coach. If they are seperated they don't attract much attention. Once the plane lands they wait until everyone else has left, then they exit the plane to the runway instead of the airport. Buses and limo's are set up and waiting to take them to the arena. Kerri listened in amazement to the precaustions they take.
"Except, today there is one small change in the routine." Nicks voice interupted. "You get to sit up in first class with me." He smiled at Kerri and she smiled back.
Jess stuck out her bottom lip and tried to pout. She couldn't do it, she started laughing and turned to Kerri. "If you didn't know, I'm his sister's friend. I've know him a few years…" She turned to Nick smiling as she said, "unfortunatly."
"I know you? What's your name again?" He said, pretending to be confused. Kerri laughed, they are funny, she thought.
"Ok guys, let's go!" A man in a nice black suit yelled. Everyone picked up their bags and followed him. Nick grabbed Kerri's bag along with his own. She insisted she could handle it, but he just kept on walking. Kerri looked back at the crowd outside the airport. Who is that guy staring at me, she wondered. Isn't that Mark's friend, Jason, and why is he staring at me like that? Does he know what happened with Mark?
"Kerri!" Jess yelled, as she noticed her drop behind. Kerri tore her eyes from Jason and ran to catch up. Once they reached the plane all the dancers, except for Kerri, split up. First class was seated first, followed by coach. Kerri sat down next to Nick and looked back in the plane. Two young girls, about 15, boarded the plane. One looked into first class and grabbed her friend's hand. She pointed out Nick, her eyes wide. Kerri noticed the two girls, she put a finger to her lips to tell them not to make a scene. The girls nodded and continued to stare at her and Nick as they went to their seats. The curtain between first class and coach was pulled shut. A few minutes later the plane took off.
"Nick, a couple of girls noticed you when they got on the plane. I think they were fans because they seemed really happy to see you." Kerri informed Nick quietly. "Don't worry thought, they didn't make a big thing out of it and went to their seats. Maybe you and they guys could send back autographs for them? I mean, since they didn't blow your cover." She smiled at Nick. He nodded and grabbed two napkins and signed them.
"Hey guys…" Nick told them about the girls and had them sign the napkins also. When the flight attendant came by Kerri handed her the napkins, and after decribing the girls, asked her to take the autographs to them. Kerri peeked around the curtain as the flight attendant found the girls. They hugged the napkins joyfully and looked over to Kerri. They waved and mouthed 'thank you' to her. She smiled and waved back before pulling back the curtain. She turned to see Nick staring, grinning at her with that famous smile. He slid his arm around her and pulled her close. She closed her eyes and rested her head on his shoulders. I feel as if I could stay here forever, she thought. Forever was too short, within a few hours the plane landed in New York.
Everyone exited the plane and meet outside on the runway. The Boys left seperatly in a limo, Kerri waved goodbye to Nick as the limo pulled away. She grabbed her bag and joined the opening act and their other dancers on the bus. Jess sat next to her and introduced her to the others.
"First, you will need to know the other dancers. This is Christina." She pointed out an average height girl with light auburn hair and brown eyes. "Then from left to right, Mike, John, and Tim." Mike was tall with brown hair and green eyes. He looked more like an athlete than a dancer. John was taller than Mike with brown hair and eyes and was very thin. Tim was short with blond hair and blue eyes. He was a bit chubby, and Kerri never would have guessed he was a dancer.
"Then there are...the singers." Jess said making a face and gagging. A cute boy with blond hair and green eyes tossed a pillow at her.
"I'm scared how Jess will intruce us. So, I will do it myself. I'm David, this is Nate, and this is Steve. Nate and Steve are brothers." They were both average heights with brown eyes. Steve had brown hair while Nate had spiky blond hair. "And you must be our new back up dancer."
"Yeah," Kerri replyed, "and my name Kerri." She said with a small wave.
"Nice to meet you Kerri." David said as he sat down on the edge of the couch next to her. "Time to get to know you. First question, are you taken'?" He asked grinning from one ear to another.
"No, I just broke up with my abusive boyfriend yesterday, as the police arrested him in my appartment." She said, trying to hint for him to back off. He didn't get the hint.
"Ok, so you are free." David said sliding down next to her.
"Yeah, she's free David, but you'll have a little competetion." Jess said, coming to her defense.
"Who might that be?" He asked, like it was no big deal.
"Nick Carter." Jess said, she couldn't help but smile as she said it. David flinched slightly, but he tried to play it off.
"Nick? He's got nothing over me." He said as he held his chin up high. This caused a burst of laughter from every other person on the bus, except for Kerri and David. She just shrugged her shoulders at him. He stood up and stalked to the back of the bus. The rest of the ride to the arena evryone chatted, asking Kerri questions and telling her what to expect for the rest of the tour.
A little while later they pulled up to the stadium. Fans ran along side the bus yelling. Everyone leaned out the windows and waved as fans snapped their pictures. They weren't the backstreet Boys, but the fans didn't seem to care.
"Does this always happen?" Kerri asked Tim laughing.
"Yeah, dude, their fans are crazy. Lots of them even know OUR names. In a week they will probably know you too." He said still leaning out the window. The bus pulled to a stop and one fan yelled to Tim, "Do you remember me?" He smiled at the fan and nodded yes.
"That girl has been to at least four concerts already, I think she travels as much as we do." He told Kerri.
"Hey Mary!" He yelled back to her, pulling out a pair of sunglasses and tossing them to her. "Like I promised, and Aj said hi." She put the sunglasses in her backpack and yelled thank you to him.
A few hours later Kerri was given her outfit to wear on stage. It was a pair of long baggy black pants, a blue haltar top, and a shimmer silver vest to go over the haltar top. Kerri dressed quickly and set out to find Nick. She spotted him coming out of his dressing room, in a metallic futuristic looking blue ensemble. He looked up and noticed her.
"Stunning," He said, checking her out, "and we match."
"Well, almost." She said straightning her vest. "I just wanted to come see you before the show started. As much as I'd love to stand here and talk to you, I can't."
Nick leaned down and kissed her on the cheek. "Good luck, try not to think that it's your first time one stage."
Kerri gave him a nervous smile, before heading to the stage entrance with the others. Kerri took a deep breath as she made her way through the audience to the stage. She turned her head to the crowd and a person caught her antention. Oh no, she thought, how did he get here. Jason glared at Kerri from the audience. He must have caught another flight out here. Kerri shook her head as she took her postion behind John on stage, I can't think about this now.