"What the hell do you mean?" Brian yelled, grabbing his curls of brown hair in his hands. This wasn't happening; not to him. Not to them. Not to the Backstreet Boys. No. No, this didn't happen to regular life people. It happened to bums. To freaks. To...to druggies.
"I mean what I said!" Howie said loudly. "Look Brian, if you want the pills, I'll give them to you. I have quite a few other baggies, but I haven't looked to see what kind of drugs they are. AJ was high earlier. He's been high for four months. And you know who noticed? None of us. None of us! We were always too caught up in ourselves. In us. Not AJ. He felt left out. The pieces all fit together now, why he's been getting mood swings, why he's zoned. Why he's running away from us. That's why, Brian. Drugs. Four months. No one saw."
Brian rubbed his temples. "I can't understand. What did we do wrong? Why didn't we see? Why? Why, why, why."
"Four months!" Howie sobbed.
"Brianna.....call Brianna. Where's Brianna?" Brian shakily reached for the phone and rummaged through AJ's papers. He found Brianna's number and punched int he digits. Someone picked up.
"Hello?"
"Where's Brianna?"
"Who is this?"
"Please! It's important...it's so important. Please, where's Brianna?"
"Hang on.."
"Hello?"
"It's AJ. No, it isn't AJ. It's Brian. On the phone. I'm Brian. AJ. AJ...oh god, AJ." Brian moaned, breathing in short gasps.
"Brian, what's wrong? Brian?"
"It's AJ. AJ. Oh god. No. No."
"AJ? Brian? Who is this? Brian?"
"Drugs. Oh god. AJ. Four months."
"Okay, this is bull. I'll be over as soon as I can get there, okay?"
"Hur...hurry."
Fifteen minutes later, Brian was still holding the phone to his ear, listening to the beeps. The door burst open. "Brianna," he whispered, dropping the phone. He ran over to her, hugged her.
"Brian, what's wrong?" Brianna asked.
"AJ. It's AJ."
"What's wrong with AJ, Brian?" Brianna asked, looking around the room. "Oh god," she whispered as her eyes rested on Howie, who was leaning against the wall, sobbing.
"Drugs. He's on drugs. Four months. For four months. Drugs."
Brianna's breathing stopped. "AJ's been doing drugs for four months?" she whispered. Brian nodded. Buried his head in her chest. Sobbed. "Oh god," Brianna whispered. "Where is he, where's AJ?"
"I don't know," Brian whispered.
"Where's Nick? Where's Kevin?"
"Kevin. Gone. Don't know. Nick. Cafe. Downstairs."
"Oh shit, oh shit," Brianna muttered. She pulled Brian into a tighter hug. "I'll be back, I'll be back in a second," she stuttered, running out of the room. She ran to the elevator and hit the G button. The elevator finally stopped. "Nick!" she yelled as she ran through the halls. "Nick! Nick! Nick! Nick!" Someone finally grabbed her. She screamed. A hand clamped on her mouth and Nick looked at her.
"It's me," he said. "What? What's wrong?"
"AJ. It's AJ. Oh no, AJ."
Nick looked questioningly at her. "AJ?"
"Yeah...he's...he's on drugs. High. Dope. Weed. Drugs. Shrooms. Oh god, acid. Drugs."
Nick grabbed Brianna's hand and they ran to the elevator. They ran through the hall when they got to Level C. Nick burst into AJ's room. Howie and Brian were there. Howie was sobbing, Brian was saying things to himself as he paced. Nick raced to the phone and dialed Kevin's cell phone number.
"Yeah?" Kevin asked.
"Kevin, it's Nick."
"What's up, Nick?"
"AJ. He's been on drugs for four months."
"What? Where is he? Is he okay?"
"I don't know where he is. No one does."
"Well find him goddammit!"
"Okay. Okay. I'll find AJ...okay. Okay. Okay Kev. I'm going to find AJ. Okay. Uh, bye. Oh geez. AJ! He just...he walked in. Okay Kev, bye. Hurry back." Nick hung up and ran over to AJ. Brianna, Brian, and Howie did the same. Brianna hugged him, kissed him, and cried on him.
"Wha-what's wrong with everybody?" AJ asked quietly.
"AJ....you need help," Nick said.
"For...for what?"
"Your...your drug business."
"Oh god, how did you find out?"
"Brianna told me."
"You told me," Howie sobbed. "You were high when I came back."
"Shit," AJ said, rubbing his temples. He did need help, and now there was no way of escaping it. They were going to steal his euphoria.
Chapter 17
