Everyone looked up when the two girls burst through the door. "Somebody! Help!" Lexie gasped. Melissa jumped up and grabbed two of the bags that her friend was in danger of dropping. Jacquie stumbled in and promptly tossed her bags on the floor.
"What on earth did you two buy?" Faye asked as she started rummaging through the bags. She started pulling out various food items, but paused when she got to the bag from the drug store.
Lexie and Jacquie began laughing as Faye's jaw dropped. "We wanted to have some fun," Jacquie said as Faye began passing the boxes of hair dye around.
"Blue, purple, red, blonde?" Nikki could only shake her head as the two shoppers emptied all the bags from their shopping expedition.
"Let the Slumber Party begin!" Lexie cheered as she tossed a bag of pretzels at Melissa.
All five girls were spending the weekend in a luxurious hotel suite at a very expensive hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. Since Nikki's birthday was the week after Lexie's, they weren't able to get out of work and school again so soon to help her celebrate. Now, three weeks later, they were able to meet up for a good old-fashioned slumber party.
"Do you know how long it's been since I've been to a real slumber party?" Nikki posed the question as they changed into their pajamas and got ready for the Slumber Party Game of All Time: Truth or Dare.
Faye scratched her head. "I dunno. How long?" She ducked as a pillow flew by her head.
"That was a rhetorical question, Brat," Nikki laughed. "So who's going to start this game?"
Melissa quickly began filing her nails, Lexie ran a brush through her hair, Jacquie munched on some fruit, and Faye just stared out the window. Nikki sighed. "Come on you guys, someone has to start!" She looked around the room at her friends. "Okay, since it's my birthday, I'm making Faye start."
The youngest girl grumbled as she turned to Lexie. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Hmmm… Are you really going to color your hair blue and purple?"
Lexie nodded. "You betcha! It's going to be so cool. Okay, Mel, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
Lexie's eyes twinkled. "Can we color your hair tonight?"
"Absolutely not!" Melissa put her hands protectively over her head as if they were going to come at her with hair dye right then. "Um, JQ, truth or dare?"
"Dare!"
"You have to be different, don't you?" Jacquie nodded. "I dare you to go out on that balcony and quote Romeo and Juliet for the crowd down there."
Jacquie shrugged and jumped up from the floor. She pulled open the sliding glass doors and in the worst English accent she could possibly muster, began calling out for her Romeo. "Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo. Deny thy father and refuse thy name, and… and… and to thine own self be true."
"That's from Hamlet!" Melissa protested as they convulsed in giggles. Jacquie laughed with them as she came back into the room.
"The crowd certainly liked it," she mentioned as she grabbed a handful of pretzels from the table.
"Why are there so many people out there?" Nikki asked.
Faye snickered. "I'm sure it wasn't to hear JQ's Shakespeare."
"Shaddup, Faye. Nikki? You know the drill."
"Truth."
"Y'all are no fun!" Jacquie protested, but a thought crept into her head and she went with it. "Tricks, tell us the whole story behind why you and Howie are 'just friends' and what REALLY happened in Toronto."
The other three girls turned to look at Nikki in astonishment. "When did you go to Toronto?" Lexie asked.
Nikki sighed. "I have to tell the WHOLE story?" Jacquie nodded. "Okay. I went to Toronto for my birthday."
"With whom?" Jacquie prompted.
"Who's telling the story, Jaqs?" Jacquie grinned and they all got comfortable as Nikki shared her story.
"Remember how we couldn't get together for my birthday because it was so close to Lexie's?" Everyone nodded. "Well, I was feeling down, and that night I got a phone call from Howie."
****** FLASHBACK *****
RING! RING! RI- "Hello?"
"Hey, Nikki!"
She smiled into the phone. "Hi, Howie. How are you?"
"I'm good. This tour is going really well. Actually, that's kind of why I called. You're birthday is this week, right?" Nikki said yes. "And you're probably getting together with the girls, aren't you?"
"No, they can't make it this time."
Howie listened and a plan formed in his head as Nikki told him about scheduling conflicts and such. When she was finished, Howie shared his idea with her.
"Nikki, since you aren't doing anything to celebrate, would you like to meet me in Toronto and go to a show?" He grinned as he heard her gasp. "Yes, I'm serious. We have that day off, so if you could fly up for the day, I'd love to spend your birthday with you."
"I'd love to, Howie. Thank you."
And with those words, a few days later, Nikki found herself getting off the plane in the Toronto International Airport and was met by one of the Boys' bodyguards who took her to the hotel where Howie and the guys were waiting.
"Nikki!" She laughed and opened her hotel room door to find Howie and Nick waiting on the other side. "Did ya bring your friends with you?" Nick pushed past Howie and gave Nikki a quick hug before wandering into the room.
"No, Nick. They couldn't make it this time."
"Happy Birthday, Nikki," Howie said as he pulled her in for a hug. "How was your flight?"
"Good. NICK! What are you doing?!" Nick looked up from where he was sprawled on her couch flipping through the channels.
"Duh! I'm watching TV!" Nick just rolled his eyes as Nikki and Howie started laughing. Howie pulled Nikki out into the hallway.
"I know that tonight was supposed to be just you and me, but when the others found out that you were coming and that we were going to the theatre, they all decided to come along. Is that okay? I mean, I can tell them they can't go or…"
Nikki placed her hand on Howie's arm. "It's okay, Howie. I don't mind." They smiled at each other. "So what show are we going to see?"
"West Side Story. Is that alright with you?"
Nikki nodded enthusiastically. "I love that show. Jacquie and I have watched that show and the video so many times that I think I can we can recite it word-for-word."
Howie laughed. "Well, I was thinking we could go to dinner before the show. So I'll come and get you around 6pm?" Nikki nodded and Howie pulled Nick out of her room so she could get ready. Before she could close the door behind them, Howie reached out and stopped the door from closing. "Nikki?" He smiled. "I'm glad that you could come."
"Me too, Howie." Nikki smiled back. "Me too."
After a particularly amusing dinner at the hotel, where Nikki and Howie sat at their own table talking and trying to ignore the other four boys who were at another table goofing off, everyone piled into the limo and they arrived at the theatre.
The show was amazing and Howie would glance over to see Nikki engrossed in the show, and Nikki would smile when she'd hear Howie singing along with the actors under his breath. At the intermission, the guys signed a few autographs and they all stood around talking.
When the second act started, Howie looked over when he heard Nikki gasp. The scene unfolding on the stage was of the lead girl discovering that her lover had killed her brother. Nikki started chewing on her lip as the girl onstage worked through her shock. She's really into this show, Howie thought. He casually reached over and took Nikki's hand in his. She pulled her gaze from the show and smiled at him. And they sat there hand-in-hand for the remainder of the musical.
"What?" It was the last scene of the musical, and Howie turned to see Nikki slip out of her chair and head for the lobby. He jumped up and followed her out of the theatre. "Nikki?"
She turned when she heard his voice, and he frowned slightly when he saw the glistening of tears in her eyes. "Nikki, sweetie, what's wrong?"
Nikki smiled as Howie wiped the tears off her face. "I'm really sorry. I was sitting in there and I caught myself reciting the lines along with the show just like Jacquie and I do all the time, and I realized just how much I miss them. I really wish that they could have been here too with me and helping me celebrate my birthday."
"Just like you did for Faye's, and Melissa's, and Lexie's birthdays?"
"Yeah," she nodded. "I don't mean that I wish I wasn't here, but I just wish that they could have been here too."
Howie brushed her hair out of her face. "I know what you mean, Nikki, and I understand. But even though they aren't here, I'm glad you're here." He smiled. "Very glad."
Nikki looked up into his eyes and smiled back. "Me too, Howie."
"Happy Birthday, Nicole." He leaned down and her eyes fluttered closed as they moved closer.
"WOW! That was so cool! Hey D! Nikki!" Nick's voice froze them and they stepped back as the tall blonde ran up to them. "Why did you two leave so suddenly?"
Nikki wiped the remaining tears out of her eyes. "I had a slight problem with my contact, and Howie came out to make sure I was okay."
"Oh, ok! Hey guys!" Nick waved the other Boys over. "I found them. Can we go get some food? I'm starved."
As Brian and AJ started teasing Nick about his appetite, Kevin noticed that Nikki and Howie seemed closer, and he really hoped that Nick didn't interrupt anything between them.
***** END FLASHBACK *****
"And so we went back to the hotel and ordered pizza. I hung out with the guys and then they had to leave early the next morning to continue their tour, and I had to leave to come back home." Nikki concluded.
"That's it?!" Melissa was hanging on her every word.
Nikki nodded. "That's it. Howie and I decided that we are better off just being friends, and we still talk on the phone every once in awhile."
"Wow." Faye sank back into the pillows on the couch. "What a story!"
"You're telling me!" Lexie said. "Did that answer your question, JQ?"
Jacquie grinned. "Yes. Now it's your turn to ask someone, Tricks."
"Mel, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"You gotta take a dare sometime tonight, Mel. So, can you please tell us whether you prefer boxers or briefs?"
"On a guy?" Nikki nodded. "Boxers." Melissa looked at Jacquie who was busy painting her nails. "JQ, truth or dare?"
"Me again? Dare, of course."
"Head out on the balcony and give your best B-Rok werewolf impersonation."
"You really like sending me out on that balcony to make a fool of myself, don't ya Mel?" Melissa nodded as they watched Jacquie head back to the balcony.
They applauded when she returned. "That was so impressive, Jaqs," Nikki said as tears of laughter ran down her face. "Rok would be so proud."
"Ha ha ha. Faye, truth or dare?"
"Um, dare, I think."
Jacquie cheered. "It's about time some of you jellyfish got some guts!" She reached out and pulled something out of her duffel bag. "I dare you to take this and put it over your head for ten seconds every time someone swears."
Faye took the brown paper bag and stared at her friend. "Are you serious?"
"Absolutely!"
Lexie snickered. "Jaqs, that's the funniest damn thing I've heard all night!" She glanced slyly over at Faye who sighed and pulled the bag over her head and counted loudly to ten before removing it.
"And I have to do this all night?" Jacquie nodded. "Fine. Lexie, truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Would you get a tattoo with AJ's name if he asked you to?"
"Sure, but it depends on where it would be and if he would be there when I got it."
"LEXIE!" Everyone laughed at Melissa's shocked expression.
"Okay, Jacquie, truth or dare?"
"You have to ask?"
Lexie and Nikki looked at each other and grinned. Nikki pulled out her camera and handed it to Lexie who began speaking. "Jacquie, you have to dress up like Britney Spears and go down to the lobby and get your picture taken with a really hot guy."
"You two have been planning this one, haven't you?" Jacquie muttered as she reluctantly got up and the other started helping her get an outfit together. Lexie and Nikki refused to comment and soon Jacquie was looking as Britney as she possibly could with high pigtails, a very short skirt and a tight shirt. Melissa was volunteered to go along and take the picture.
The two girls exited the elevator when they got to the lobby and started checking out the crowd. "What about those two over there?" Melissa asked. Jacquie looked at the two tall guys standing near the gift shop and nodded.
"Excuse me, but I was wondering if y'all would pose for a picture with me," Jacquie asked them in her best Southern accent.
"Sure, we'd love to." The shorter guy with a raspy voice turned around and promptly burst out laughing. "JACQUIE?!"
"AJ!" She blushed and the other guy turned to look at her. "Well, hello, Nick!" The guys gave her a hug and she gestured for Melissa to join them. "What are you guys doing here?"
Nick started laughing as he took in Jacquie's outfit. "Um, Britney, we're in town filming our next music video. What are you two doing here?"
"No wonder there are so many people outside. We're celebrating Nikki's birthday by having a slumber party here for the weekend," Melissa chimed in.
"You're all here?" AJ asked and the girls nodded. "D is gonna love this! Can we stop by?"
"Sure, but wait until we call you, ok?" Jacquie looked at Melissa who explained what she was thinking. "We better get upstairs before they come down looking for us."
"Didn't you want a picture, JQ?" AJ asked slyly.
She scowled. "Yeah, Nikki dared me to do this. Do you guys mind?"
"What? Posing for a picture? Us mind?" AJ slapped Nick's shoulder before they stood on either side of Jacquie while Melissa took the picture.
The girls returned to the room and couldn't stop laughing. "Girls, I think that was singularly the most embarrassing thing that I have ever done. Thanks, Lexie!"
"No problem, JQ. Were they cute?" Melissa and Jacquie nodded enthusiastically.
Jacquie grinned. "Okay, Nikki?" She chose truth. "Would you kiss Howie if you had the chance to?"
"Honestly, I have no idea if I would, Jaqs." Nikki responded. "Mel? You have to take a dare sometime, you know."
"Okay, dare." "I dare you to call up those guys you met and sing 'I'm A Little Teapot' to them."
Jacquie couldn't stop laughing as she dialed the number and handed the phone to Melissa. She bravely made it through the entire song and when she handed the phone back, Jacquie could hear the male laughter coming across the line.
Faye was up next and she chose truth. "No, I wouldn't kiss Brian on the first date, Mel." She looked around the room and saw Jacquie who was in the middle of applying the blonde dye to her hair. "Jacquie! Truth or dare?"
"Since I'm busy, I'll take truth."
"Crap! I had a great dare for you!"
"Hey!" Lexie exclaimed. "You swore!"
Faye grumbled as she pulled the bag over her head. "…eight, nine, ten." She removed the bag. "Okay, JQ, why are you going blonde?"
"Because I want to be just like you, Faye," she called out from the bathroom. "Nikki!"
"Dare."
"Good! Call those guys and tell them that "Britney" wants them to come down and join the party."
Nikki hesitantly dialed the number and relayed the message to the guy who answered the phone. When he said that they'd be right there, she slammed the phone down and looked at Jacquie. "Who on earth are those guys and did you really tell them where we are staying?!"
"Of course we told them what room we're in. How else do you expect them to know where to find us?" Jacquie was drying her now-blonde hair as she came out of the bathroom. "Don't worry, they're cute."
"Oh, great! JQ's hormones are gonna get us in deep trouble!" Faye wailed. Her eyes widened when she heard the knocking at the door. "They're here!"
Melissa opened the door and all the girls gave gasps of shock when they saw all the Backstreet Boys come into their room. "Oh, it's just you!" Lexie sighed in relief and sank back on the couch.
"What's the matter? Not happy with us?" AJ sat down next to her and tried to look pitiful, but she could only laugh.
"Jacquie! They said you were looking positively Spear-ish. What happened?" Brian teased her as everyone gathered around the food.
"Britney died. What's the matter? Not happy with me?" Jacquie used AJ's earlier words.
Kevin, who was checking out her newly-dyed hair, grinned. "Trust me, you're MUCH better than Britney."
Nick was checking out the view from the balcony. "Damn! Look at all the people out there!" He turned when the girls started laughing and saw a bright red Faye pull what looked like a brown paper bag over her head and count to ten before removing it. She refused to comment on it, and to divert the attention, Lexie pulled AJ off the couch and into the bathroom to show him the dye colors that they had.
Everyone smirked when AJ slammed the door shut and almost an hour later, Lexie and AJ emerged laughing with matching blue and purple streaked hair. They joined the group and AJ innocently asked how the game of truth or dare ended.
"Um, actually, we never finished it," Faye muttered.
Nick's eyes lit up. "Can we play?" The girls said okay, and Nikki turned to Lexie.
"Lexie, truth or dare?" Lexie nervously glanced at AJ before saying truth. "What happened in that bathroom just now with you and AJ?"
"Um… ah…. " She turned to look at AJ for help, but he wouldn't say a word. "We, ah, just colored our hair." Lexie tossed a pillow at Jacquie who was snickering, but asked AJ. "Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Bone's taking a truth?!" Brian pretended to be in shock and fell off the couch. AJ glared at him before waiting for Lexie's question.
"How many tattoos do you have now?" "That's easy. Ten. I think." He turned to look at Brian who was getting comfortable on the floor next to Faye. "Rok? Your turn, man."
Brian smirked. "I'll be a man. Dare." He paled when he saw the evil glint in his friend's eye. "Um, can I change my mind?"
"Nope! You chose dare, so you need to prove how manly you are. I dare you to go down to the front desk and ask for more towels."
"That's nothing," Brian scoffed, but AJ wasn't finished.
"Wearing nothing but a bathrobe."
Turning a bright red, he went into the bathroom and changed into a bathrobe. He took a key and went downstairs. Within minutes, he returned with a stack of towels and disappeared into the bathroom to change back into his clothes. "HEY! Where are my shorts?!"
"Are you sure you left them in there, cuz?" Kevin asked as everyone tried not to laugh.
Brian emerged wearing his jeans and his shirt. "Yes, I'm sure, Kev. Where are they?!"
Nick burst out laughing. "Looks like you're going commando today, Frick." He pointed to the balcony where they had tied his boxers to the railing with a brightly-lettered sign indicating that they belonged to Brian. He dashed outside to retrieve his shorts, and was greeted with numerous catcalls and screams from the girls downstairs.
Returning to his spot on the floor, he looked for the next victim. "Faye?"
"Truth."
"Explain the bag." She blushed and told them all about her earlier dare. Which in turn sparked the Boys to test it out. After about ten solid minutes of her wearing the bag, she asked Howie.
"Truth."
"Did you have fun in Toronto?"
He grinned and looked over at Nikki who was sitting in the armchair next to his. "I sure did." She smiled back and Howie asked Nick.
"Okay, Nick. Truth or dare, buddy?"
"Dare."
Howie was stumped for an idea, but Brian whispered something to him and he grinned. "I dare you to go out on that balcony and sing the chorus from "Everybody" to all the girls out there."
Everyone watched as the tall blonde walked outside and was greeted by louder screams than Brian got. Nick motioned for the crowd to be quiet and began singing. When he got to his infamous "Am I sexual?" line, a near-riot broke out and he quickly waved and dashed back inside.
"Who hasn't been asked yet?"
Jacquie spoke up. "Kevin hasn't." As Nick turned to grin at his older friend, Kevin slapped his hand over Jacquie's mouth.
"Thanks, Britney."
She mumbled something and he laughed.
"Okay, truth or dare, Kev?"
"Dare."
"Hmm… It's gotta be something totally out of character for you." Nick was lost in thought for a minute before AJ muttered something. "Perfect!" They started laughing. "I dare you to dye your hair blonde for the photo shoot tomorrow."
"What?!? Are you kidding me?!" Kevin reached up to touch his coal-black hair. "No way!"
"Come on, Kev! It's only for one day, and you can recolor it after the shoot," Howie threw in.
Kevin still refused.
"Well, there is something else that you can do." Nick mentioned.
"What?"
"You can moon the crowd out there."
"NO F*CKING WAY!!!" They all started laughing as Faye pulled the bag over her head.
"It's your choice, Kevin," Nick said.
"I vote for the mooning," Jacquie muttered then slapped her own hand over her mouth when Kevin turned to look at her.
Sighing, he chose his fate. (And it was good!)
