Chapter 1



    "Carrie, wake up girl!"  A voice called to the sleeping figure in the bed.  She moaned and rolled over.  The voice came again.  "So help me god, don't make me get a bucket of water!"
    Carrie sat up.  "Howie, what do you want?"
    "Come on, we have to get a move on!  We have to be packed and ready to leave in two hours.  You are lucky I let you sleep this long!"  Howie motioned for her to get out of bed.  "Do you want to miss the flight?"
    "Okay, you win."  Carrie crawled out of bed and went into the bathroom.   She heard the sounds of activity downstairs and excitement began to fill her.  Today was the first on many fun times over the next few days.
     "Don't take forever!"  Howie called from within his room.
    Jessica wrapped her arms around his chest.  "Don't you ever get tired of nagging your friends?"
     "Never!" Howie declared as he kissed her on the mouth. "How about our stuff is it packed?"
     "It has been for hours!"  Jessica pointed to the luggage by the door. 
     "Great!"  Howie looked at his girlfriend. "This Christmas is going to rock!"

                        

****


     Carrie stuffed the rest of her clothes into a bag.  So what if she wasn't neat?  She was extra careful with a picture though.  It was of Howie and her.  They were three years old and sitting in the sandbox together.  "It's hard to believe I been friends with you for twenty years!"
     Howie and her had grown up together. They were neighbors turned best friends.  They were so close they considered each other siblings. In fact Howie's favorite nickname for her was Sis.   They knew a lot about each other, when the other was hurt, when the other was happy.  When Howie had joined the Backstreet Boys he introduced Carrie to all of them.  She was completely won over by them and agreed to tour with them, helping out when she could.  He long curly brown hair, forest green eyes, and Latin looks, were a welcome site around the concerts and most people would envy the position she was in.  But Carrie didn't care, for all she knew; she was hanging out with her friends who just happened to be the Backstreet Boys.
      "Carrie!"  Howie yelled.
      "Hold you pants, D!"  She yelled back.

                         ******


      Jessica laughed, "You've been told!"
      "Okay, that just means more time with you!"  Howie said slyly. "I can't wait to get you under the mistletoe.
     "Why wait?"  Jessica hugged Howie tightly.  The two had met at a concert.  They became close fast and soon Jessica joined the group touring.  She was easy to get along with only being angry when someone insulted Howie.  Which almost never happened, because, Howie the peacemaker, always made peace fast.
     "Howie, so why won't you guys tell us were we are being dragged over the holidays?"  Jessica asked. She was referring to the trip the guys and the girls were taking.  Each member went home for a few days then on the 21st of December they were going to fly to an unknown place.  Least it was unknown to the girls.  Jessica and Carrie had stayed with Howie's family because both of their families were on exotic vacations.
    "Surprise!"  Howie laughed when she pouted.  "Jessica, you only have to wait another couple of hours."
    "I hate surprises.  Well, I do love, them just when I don't know them!"  She sighed but then she heard Carrie yell.
    "Hey, D and Jessica, AJ and Kate are here!"

                                                  ******


    If there ever were such thing as a perfect couple it would be Kate and AJ.  She was the female equivalent to the funky Backstreet Boy.  Both had a deep passion for poetry, shopping and playing pool.  And as an added bonus, she didn't mind that AJ's hair changed color a lot while hers stayed a beautiful brown.   As the three of them walked down the stairs, luggage in hand, they observed the happy couple in a passionate kiss.
   "Oh look, guys, a real live show of SUCK FACE!"  Carrie said.
The two broke apart, embarrassed.
   "Cute comment."  Kate said, as the color red slowly drained from her face.
    "I do try!"  Carrie gushed.
    "Is everyone ready?"  AJ asked.  They all nodded and piled in the van they used for transportation.
    Melissa was already in the back.  She was a close group friend who was helping them write some songs.   She flicked her black hair off her shoulder and her brown eyes were shining with excitement.
    Howie was at the wheel.  "Now we pick up Nick and Jen!"

                         ******


   "Remember Nick, the guys are gonna be here soon, so maybe we should go outside and wait for them!"  Jen suggested.
   "Great idea, darlin'."  Nick and Jen went out into the back yard where Nick started to chase her.  Jen was laughing as Nick ran after her, singing Darlin' at the top of his lungs.
   The van pulled up in front of the house; the whole group piled out and went around back. Jen had tackled Nick and was tickling him.
   "Oh, Lord!"  Carrie sighed and became to laugh and cheer.  "GIVE IT TO HIM!"
   "So, you're on her side, are you?"  Nick asked Carrie as he was gasping for air. 
    "Damn straight!  Girl Power!"  She shouted.
    Aaron stuck his head out the window.  "Ha ha, big brother.  A girl got the best of you!"
    "Not just any girl, ME!"  Jen screamed.  "Say uncle!"
    "Uncle, UNCLE!"  He cried.
    "Kevin is on the phone, someone come in and answer it!"  Aaron yelled. 
    "I'll go!"  Carrie got off the grass and went into the Carter home.
    "Here you go!"  Aaron handed her the phone.
    "Thanks, Squirt!"  She said.  She knew he hated to be called that.
    "Anything you want, String Bean!"  Aaron laughed.
   True she was tall, but she was also curvy and long legged.  Before saying hi to Kevin she stuck her tongue out at Aaron.
    "Hello, you have reached a proud member of the N'Sync fan club.  This is fanatic number one speaking!"  Carrie in mock proper voice.
   "Oh brother!"  Kevin sighed.  "Carrie, this has got to be Carrie.  Only she pulls jokes over the phone."
   "Ding, ding, ding, ding, Johnny give the man a prize." She laughed.
   "Hi, Kevin!  Where are you guys now?"
   "About twenty minutes away!"  Kevin told her.  "I thought since we are so close we could leave my car in the Carter's yard.  I know Nick's mom won't mind!  Then we can all travel to the airport together."
    "Great, then you can pick up Kendra."  She suggested.
    "Can and will do!"  Kevin said.  "We got Stephanie and Brian in the back…"
   Carrie heard them scream, "HI CARRIE!"
   "…And Angie, and me in the front!"  Kevin finished.  "She wants to talk to you."
   "Hi, Carrie!"  Angie said. 
   "Hi, Angie.  Is Kevin behaving himself?"  She asked.
   "You know our friend is a perfect little angel."  She replied.
    "Yeah, but his halo needs to be straightened every once and awhile!" Carrie laughed and so did Angie.
   Angie was a friend Kevin had through his family.  Kevin and her were kind of like Howie and Carrie, only they hadn't been friends as long.  She was a fit girl, who had brown hair, and the same emerald eyes as Kevin.
   "Listen, we just arrived at Kendra's house, so I gotta go!"  She said goodbye and the two girls hung up.
   Kendra was Jen's good friend who became close to the group after hanging out with them. So all in all, on this trip there were four couples, one guy, and four group friends.  The boys had set up the whole thing.

                                                  *******


   "Hi, Kendra!'  Brian said as she crawled in next to Stephanie.
   "Hi, Brian!"  She laughed as he made a goofy face. 
   Stephanie looked at her boyfriend. They were going out ever since she had won a contest to meet the boys.  Brian was so sweet and it was easy to see why so many girls had a crush on him.
   Kevin pulled out of the driveway and began to hum Hark the Herald Angels Sing.
   Brian started to sing it, and all the girls listened to the beautiful sound.

                         ******


     Jessica and Carrie were sitting on the doorstep talking.
    "What did you get Howie for Christmas?"  Jessica asked Carrie.
   "A box full of memories."  She replied.
   "Huh?" Jessica was confused.
   "You know, stuff that means something to our friendship, like a ticket stub to park we went to when we were kid."  She said.
   "Oh, I get it now!"  Jessica said.  "I need help.  This is our first Christmas together and I don't know what to get him."
  "Well, I hope that they have a mall there, because I didn't get anything for Kevin!"  Carrie said.  "I have no idea!"
   "What am I going to get Howie?"  Jessica sighed.  "I want it to be memorable."
  "I know any gift from you will mean the world to Howie.  He loves you so much!"  Carrie then sighed.  "Damn, I need a boyfriend!"
   Both girls laughed.  Then Kevin pulled up.  It reminded the girls of a clown car; people just kept piling out.
  "Jen's out back, probably still tickling Nick."  Jessica said after she hugged Kendra.
   "Maybe I can join in on the fun!"  Kendra laughed.
   "Nick's in trouble?"  Brian asked as he helped his girlfriend, Stephanie out.  Carrie nodded.  "I must help him!"  Brian rushed off yelling SUPERMAN at the top of his lungs.
   Carrie hugged Kevin.  "Hi, silly!"  He said.
  Kevin was someone else Carrie was very close to. They were always talking, and joking around.  They pulled pranks on each other all the time.
  "Hey, Mr. Body Beautiful!"  She looked over at Angie who was loading all the stuff from the car into the van.  "Angie, we'll help you!"
  "We will?"  Kevin asked.
  "Of course!"  Carrie said.

                         ******


   The whole backyard was deemed a fighting ground.  There were people getting tickled, people getting chased and people chasing people. Right now, Nick was exacting revenge on Jen.  He had her pinned to the ground and was tickling her to see called mercy.  But she wouldn't.
   Kendra had tried to help her but now Brian was tickling her.  She was laughing so hard the tears were streaming down her face.
  "Give up, now!" He ordered.
  "Okay, okay. Mercy!"  Kendra yelled and sat up soon as Brian stopped.
   Stephanie was sneaking up behind Brian and soon she tackled him. 
  "Hi, baby, I know it's you."  Brian said.
   She kissed him.  "Early Merry Christmas!"
  "Early Merry Christmas to you too!"  He pulled her close.
   Melissa had her camera and snapped a picture of the couple.  "How sweet, that one's gonna be good!"
   Jessica and Howie were cuddling under a tree.  "Do you think Carrie likes Kevin?"
   Howie looked at her. "Huh?"
  "Well, it's no secret they're close.  And the look in her eyes, it's like…it's like…the way I look at you!"  She smiled.

                                                  ******


   "Is everyone comfortable?"  Kevin asked.
     "As comfortable as we are going to get with eleven of us jammed back here!" Jessica called back.
   Carrie snickered from the front seat.  They had drawn straws to see who would get the cozy front seat.  Jen had won but gave it to Carrie because she wanted to cuddle with Nick.
    "Let's sing!"  Brian said.
   "Christmas songs."  Stephanie added.
     "Which one?" Melissa asked.
   "Jingle Bells!"  Nick cried.
  "Here we go!"  Kevin started the song and soon all of them had joined in.

          "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, Jingle all the way            Oh, what fun it is to ride…"

                         ******


    "Oh boy, I love plane rides!"  Carrie said sarcastically. 
    "Do you want me to knock you out so you'll sleep the whole flight?"  Nick asked.
    "Hell no!"  She said.  Carrie pulled out her CD player.  "This way I can concentrate on the music not the fact that we are high off solid ground."
     "What did you bring?"  Kevin asked.
    "Celine Dion's Christmas CD, Marc Anthony, All Saints and my favorite band, the Backstreet Boys!"  She laughed.
      The plane took off.
    "So, now can you tell me where we are going?"  Jessica begged Howie.
     "It has snow!"  Howie said.  "That's all I'm saying!"

End of Chapter 1

Chapter 2
Email Mandy