Brian smiled at me. "It's alright Shorty, I'm sure you'll do fine. Performing is in our blood!"
"Miss Litrell!" One of the producers came into the green room. "Miss Littrell, you can go out now."
I took a deep breath and followed him out, through the audience, and up to where Carson Daily was.
"Hi!" Carson smiled. "I'm Carson Daily, but I guess you already knew that."
I nodded as I took a seat. "Hi, I'm Cara."
"So I've heard. Brian tells me you're a fan of Total Request Live."
"Yup, I never miss it!"
"That's cool."
"And we're on in 5...4...3...2..."
"Hey what's up, I'm Carson Daily and you're watching Backstreet Live!" All the girls started screaming, some even crying. "And our very special guest today is Brian Litrell's kid sister, Cara." The girls were screaming again. "So Cara, you wanna give any shout outs before we start?"
I smiled. "Okay. I want to say hi to my best friend Charisma, Kristen, Michele, Shannon, Jocelyn, and all my buds back home! Sorry I didn't tell you sooner!"
"Tell them what?"
"Actually, none of my friends, up until this moment, didn't know I'm related to Brian."
"Ooh, high drama today on Backstreet Live. But it wouldn't be Backstreet Live without the Backstreet Boys!"
That was the cue for the guys to come out. The girls in the room went crazy, screaming, yelling, and trying to push their way closer to the front.
"Hey guys!" Carson greeted them as they came out. Brian and AJ sat down on the couch next to me, and Nick, Howie, and Kevin sat on chairs around us.
"Hey Carson!" Howie said. "What's up my man?"
I groaned. "Howie, you're so corny." The girls cheered.
"Welcome back guys," Carson said. "How've you been since we saw you last on TRL(Total Request Live)?"
"We've been good," Kevin answered. "Cara is going to be spending her spring break with us, so we're all really happy about that."
"You're still in school Cara? How old are you?"
"I'm in 10th grade and I'll be 16 in a few weeks."
"16?" Carson asked, shocked. "Damn, you look so much older. So guys, tell us about your new album that'll be in stores April 20?"(Author's Note: I know that the CD didn't come out on that day, but for this story, it did, okay?)
"Well, our new album is called Millennium, and it's basically a growth since our last album," Howie replied, eager as ever to answer Carson's questions.
"We'll talk more about it on Tuesday during Backstreet TV, so right now let's take some questions from the audience."
One of the girls next to Charisma was handed a microphone and she stood up. "Hi, my name is Karen."
"Hey Karen," the guys said in unison.
"Hi!" she giggled. "Anyway, this question is for Cara. You said before that you never told any of your friends that Brian was a Backstreet Boy. Why?"
"It's because when we first moved to New Jersey I wanted to make real friends, not fake ones. I figured that if I told them about Brian so many people would want to be my friend, but not for the right reasons."
"Good answer," Carson said with a smile. "Let's take another question."
The producer handed a girl way in the back the microphone. "Um, hi. This question is also for Cara. When Brian and Kevin really mean to you when you were little?"
I laughed. "Actually, yeah."
Kevin pretended to looked shocked. "Cara, whatever do you mean?"
"You know what I'm talking about Kev, don't try to be Mr. Innocent! When I was younger and whenever we'd go to Kevin's house, he and Brian used to write these dumb songs so they could sing for my parents and aunts and uncles. They would sing to them for free, but they'd make me pay all this money, and if I didn't have any I couldn't watch." The audience awwed.
"What are you talking about?" Brian asked. "Those songs were good!"
I scoffed. "Yeah right Bri."
Carson grinned. "Sibling rivalry when we get back on Backstreet Live, stick around you don't wanna miss what's coming up next."
"And we're clear!"
"What is coming up next?" Nick asked.
"We get to watch all of your videos from the earliest to latest," Carson answered.
"Goody!" AJ said sarcastically.
"What's the matter AJ?" I asked. "Don't like watching yourself on TV?"
"No, I don't like watching me when I look all nasty."
"But you look all nasty all of the time," I teased.
"And we're back on Backstreet Live!" Carson said. "Now we're gonna see all of your videos starting from the very beginning." We turned our heads so we could see the monitor. "This first video is 'We've Got It Goin' On'. Tell us something about this video."
"It's the cheesiest thing I've ever seen!" I volunteered. "Actually, the first time I saw it I started laughing."
"That's real nice Cara," Howie said, smiling. "It was only our first video."
"And you can really tell!" I said. The audience was laughing.
"Okay, your next video was 'Quit Playin' Games With My Heart'. Cara, your opinion on this one?"
"Just look at the rain scene! Beefcakes on parade!"
"Yeah, we will never live down the beefcakeness," Kevin admitted.
"Alright, moving on. Your third video was 'As Long As You Love Me'. Cara?"
"This one is okay. I love those corny costumes though. Did anyone ever tell you guys that all those clothes came right out of Brian's closet?" The audience laughed again.
Brian rolled his eyes. "Funny Cara."
I grinned. "I thought so."
"Okay, the next video is 'Backstreet's Back'."
"I actually have no comment on this video. I was on the set while they were making it and I love it!" I said.
"Guys, you have any comments?" Carson asked.
"Yes, I do," Nick said as the girls screamed. "This is my favorite video."
"That was deep Nick, thank you. Alright, your next video is 'All I Have To Give'. Miss Cara, your commentary?"
"This is a cool video. But the concept of one guys singing his part while the others stand around is kinda getting old."
The guys nodded in agreement and Carson introduced the last video. "You girls should be very familiar with this one." Carson was referring to the 'I Want It That Way' video. "Cara?"
"I love this video too, it's so cool."
"Okay, that's all of your videos. We gotta go to a commercial break but stick around cuz there's more Backstreet Live coming your way."
A Few Minutes Later...
"Hey I'm Carson Daily and if you're just tuning in your watching Backstreet Live! Now we're going to play a little game of Backstreet verses Backstreet fans. Cara, you wanna host it?"
I jumped up. "Yeah!"
Carson laughed at my eagerness. "Alright. Guys, I'm passing around a container filled with the names of everyone in the audience right now. Pick a card and then after we'll read them." Each guy picked a card. "Alright Kevin, who's your lucky fan?"
"Christa Anderson." The girl jumped up and ran down to the stage and sat on one of the stools across from the guys.
"Howie?"
"Alyssa Meyers." The girl was right in front and she sprinted up to the stage.
"Nick?"
Nick smiled. "Charisma Taylor."
As Charisma got up to the stage, I looked at Nick's card. "Nick, Charisma's name isn't on here," I whispered.
"Who cares? I think she's cute."
"Brian?"
"Amelia Jones."
Amelia jumped up. "OhmiGod! I won! I won! I won!" Everyone laughed as she ran up to the stage.
"Last but not least, AJ?"
"My lucky fan is Catherine Rispia."
Catherine was near the front so she got onstage quickly.
"Alright and those are our five contestants!" Carson announced. "Cara, explain the rules to our players."
I smiled. "Sure Carson. Each one of you has a buzzer in front of you and after I read the question about the Backstreet Boys and you think you know the answer, hit it. I'll call on you and you give me the answer. The only catch is if the question is about you guys, you can't ring in. We're playing to five points. We ready to get started?"
"Yeah!" Brian screamed. "You guys are goin down!"
"Okay, first question. Which one of the Backstreet Boys has the secret nickname Boo?" Charisma pushed her buzzer. "Charisma?"
"Kevin!"
"Correct! 1 point for the fans. Next question. When was Nick born?"
Howie rang in. "That's easy. 1981. Or was it 1980?"
"Sorry, wrong answer." Catherine pressed her buzzer. "Yes?"
"January 28, 1980!" she screamed. "Who's goin down now Brian?!"
I laughed. "Yeah Catherine. You guys better catch up, the fans are kicking your asses. Third question: what is AJ's favorite food?"
Amelia pounded her buzzer. "McDonald's number 6, quarter pounder with cheese, large fries, large coke no ice, iced tea no lemon!" she said breathlessly.
"Very good, but I would've taken just McDonald's. Okay, next question. What is Brian's biggest fear?"
Christa hit her buzzer. "Heights!"
"No, actually, his biggest fear is me," I said jokingly. "Nice job Christa, you girls are killing them! This question is for the game. What are the guys full names?"
Charisma pushed her buzzer. "Nickolas Gene Carter, Brian Thomas Litrell, Kevin Scott Richardson, Howard Dwaine Dorough, and Alexander James McLean!"
"And the girls win!" The girls screamed and hugged each other.
AJ pouted. "That last question was no fair, there was no way any of us could answer."
"Exactly. Sorry honey, but you guys wouldn't have won anyway."
"Congratulations girls!" Carson said. "You all win an advanced copy of Millennium! And we're out of time, but I want to thank the Backstreet Boys and Cara Litrell for coming here today! See you guys later!"
Carson shook each of the guys' hands and gave me a hug. "See you all again Tuesday."
"Bye!" we said in unison.
Charisma came running up to us. "Cara, you were so funny! Everyone at home is gonna be so jealous!"
Brian gave me a big hug. "See Shorty, that wasn't so bad now was it?"
