Nick promptly responded by shouting--nothing in particular--at the top of his lungs. We were slowly approaching my dorm building and the guards were beginning to lag behind. We slowed down a bit and Nick asked if there were any foot paths on campus.
Out of breath I barely managed to muster "follow me. " This time it was my turn to drag him--around my dorm and up a sharply inclining hill that ran behind the old building. It didn't take long for my legs to feel like they were going to give as the hill was so steep.
"I...h-have...to rest," I said between breaths. We then dove into a small ditch off the side of the path. From behind the bank we could hear the heavy footsteps of the two guards, both in hot pursuit. The footsteps stopped only a few feet from us; they were so close that I could see the Nike logos on their sneakers. I started to tremble-not because I was scared but because I was fighting the irresistible urge to burst out laughing. A noise erupted from my nose and I could tell that Nick noticed. He promptly clamped his hand over my mouth, but I could feel his own body shaking slightly against my back. The sight was just too hilarious. The two clueless men stood there scratching their heads in complete bewilderment.
"Where the Hell…?" said one.
"Mike, let's just get back and let them have their fun," the two men laughed, thinking that they were sharing some kind of private joke. As I heard the sounds of the receding steps I could feel Nick relax. But for some reason he didn't let go of me. I pulled away "you want to tell me what is going on here?"
My urge to laugh had passed and now I was overwhelmed with confusion. I playfully tossed a handful of dry leaves in his direction. Here was this 18-year-old stranger sitting with me in the woods. Suddenly I felt scared. What if Nick Carter had some terribly uncommon disorder that compelled him to drag girls half his size into the woods…
"Wait, wait, wait, wait WAIT," he said when I tried to scramble to my feet. Nick cocked his head, "you don't understand. I like never get to do anything spontaneous. I was so weird. I though of doing something and did it without even planning! It felt great!" Ok this guy was weirding out on me. He caught my strange expression and knew what I was thinking, which completely amazes me because all the guys I had ever known (OK so it wasn't a significantly large number) weren't so sensitive to what girls were thinking.
"I just wanted to be able to control a situation ya know? By all means I'm sorry if I startled you…"
"Startled is a bit of an understatement. Two perfect strangers start an innocent conversation when all of a sudden in the midst of it all one is grabbed by the wrist and dragged against her will…" I sounded ridiculous and I knew it, but for some reason I didn't want Nick to win this argument. It was weird…like we had known each other for a long time and were engaged in a commonplace banter fest.
"Man you make it sound like…sexual harassment or somethin," he said.
I sighed. "I'm sorry. I'll consider this little field trip as one in the past. Now, let's go back and expl..." I didn't have time to finish.
"Please, please, please don't make me go back," he placed his hand on his forehead and pretended to faint, flopping into the leafy ground.
I couldn't help but laugh at his playful behavior, "ok I have an idea. We'll go back and then I promise I'll show you something really neat right here on campus…after you do some meetings and greetings. As much as I would like to spend the night with you…"
"Man you're getting ahead of me there," he joked.
My face must have looked like an apple I was so red. OK. Blush number two. I bit my lip and continued, "as much as I would like to spend the night talking to a member of my favorite band--" I improvised.
"We're your favorite band? And you haven't like bombarded us? I commend you."
"Will you kindly stop interrupting me?" I said hotly.
"Well, I mean what exactly are you getting at," he said as he stood up and brushed off a few scattered leaves.
"What I'm getting at is that you are a little…um…" I began, not having a clue what I was going to say, yet relishing the look of embarrassment coming across his features.
"Don't even go there, let's go back to activity center," he said huffily.
I guess it worked for all it was worth.
The scene that was waiting for us back at the Activities Center was everything that I had expected and more. I had never been amongst a mob of screaming fans before, where I wasn't actually on the other side of the line. In other words, I was usually one of the hysteric fans. I couldn't believe it. Whenever I mentioned the Backstreet Boys to friends and family, they laughed at me. Now that the group was here, all kinds of fans seemed to have come out of the closet.
Nick, Brian, AJ, Howie and Kevin all sat on folding chairs on either side of a table. There was a line of about fifty or so screaming girls, whom all had backstage passes. My college just wasn't prepared to do the open meets and greets, so the guys weren't going to leave the building until everyone had left. Our job as members of the Student Activities Board was to make sure the girls didn't get too out of hand waiting in line for their moments of glory. Let me tell you, these girls were no exception. Even though the crowd was relatively small, we were in a very small room that got hot and crowded very quickly. I took my place behind Nick and observed the several envious stares that come upon me. Many of the girls were only a few years younger than me-if not my age. Many of the looks I received weren't that of envy, but rather pure malice. What disturbed me, however was that by the time the end of the line came, Nick was a bit restless. Not I wasn't either, but I think I did a better job at masking my attitude than Nick. Evidently the effect of five hours sleep in a 24 hour period can easily be mistaken for snobbery. I could pick up hints of it in all of them, but it was magnified in Nick. I figured that even though that Nick was my eighteen like me, he lacked the experience of a twenty-year-old young man. I mean, being practically isolated from the female gender (metaphorically speaking). Nick still was unsure of how to act around them. He would much rather be playing with his Playstation, even at the "advanced" age of eighteen.
"I can't believe I'm actually meeting you guys!" said a chubby girl of about twelve years (who also happened to be the last girl in line). Nick didn't say a word to her, and after hastily scribbling an autograph, he practically threw his picture back at her, jumped up, realized that he had to further fulfill his duty and went back to the girl long enough to pat her on the head. The girl, thank God seemed to be oblivious to the rudeness and accepted the gesture with a girlie giggle. I noticed that Brian seemed to notice too, and when the girl approached him, he gave her a big hug. After all the fans had left, Jane marched over to Nick, who was over in the corner of the room playing with some handheld game. The kinds of toys I absolutely despised. The kind of toy I didn't want any child of mine to ever use.
"Nick…I have to tell you, this little attitude of yours is getting pretty old." When she received no response she threw up her hands in defeat. "OK Nickolas, you can stay there and play Nintendo…
"Sega," he interrupted."
"…until your brain turns to Jell-O. But until I see a significant difference in this attitude of yours, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to pull you from the show temporarily
