Ch. 5
"So, that's Rupp Arena," I said taking a bow. I had given Sally a tour of the stadium while Howie arranged their dinner plans.
"It's nice. This is the first time I've been here," she said taking a seat next to Mandy 'Willa' who had flown out to join Nick as the opening act.
"I'm so sick of this!" the blonde shouted.
"Calm down, Mandy," Nick breathed.
"I won't! This is....is...is..."
"Outlandish?" Sally offered finishing her sentence.
"Yeah! What she said."
I laughed. Did blondie even know what that meant?
Sally leaned forward glancing over Nick's shoulder to view his laptop. "What seems to be the problem?"
"Those damn tennyboppers are making even MORE hate pages about me. Why won't it stop? They keep on saying I got my career through Nick! And that I'm ugly, I can't sing and..."
Sally rose in her hand in the air cutting Mandy off. "First of all, you've been performing a long time, even before you met Nick. Maybe he did help you, but he cares about you, naturally he wanted to. Secondly, you are anything but ugly trust me I speak from experience. Thirdly, you can sing and you know it."
I glanced up to see Howie standing onstage, he had witnessed the entire event.
Mandy smiled embracing the redhead in her arms. "You are so sweet, thank you. You don't know how much this means to me."
I was shocked. No one had ever been so kind to Nick's girlfriend. Myself and the other members included.
Sally stared into the screen. "Maybe I do."
I must admit, her comment confused me. That is until I got a good look at the screen myself. At the bottom of Willa's hate page lay a link to another site......'FAT=SALLY O'DONNELL!"
I nonchantly motioned Howie towards us. That website was entirely uncalled for, and Sally would probably need a shoulder to cry on. Preferably Howie's. Nick took note of her actions. "Don't worry about it, Sally. You're an internationally acclaimed novelist. Who cares what some bored thirteen-year-old thinks."
Who cared? Sally-that's who.
Mandy took over the keyboard typing vigirously. "Don't you worry, hun. I'll leave a 'nice' little message in their guestbook!"
Sally attempted to show a smile on her sad face. Howie wrapped his arms around her allowing her to rest against him. "Just ignore it. I think you're gorgeous."
"I second that motion!" I chimed in.
"See, even Bone is in agreement," Howie chuckled lightly tickling her stomach.
Sally gently pulled away. "Of course, he does. I'm a female, you guys do call him 'Bone' for a reason, don't you?"
Nick whistled. "Stop the press! AJ McLean dissed by redhead!"
I had to laugh. At least it got her mind off of the stupid webpage. Or at least I thought it did. As Howie hugged her once again I saw her raise her hand to her face wiping away a single tear.
Elementary school rhymes hold untrue. 'Sticks and stones will break your bones and words WILL always hurt you.'