I floated somewhere, in a warm, dark, place. I didn't know where I
was, but it was silent and peaceful. Suddenly, I heard noises-music, a voice
calling my name.
"Becky..."
What was going on? I felt like I began to fall, like I would hit the
ground at any second-
"Becky!"
My eyes snapped open. The voice was my mother, and the music was my
alarm clock. Damn it! I must have been dreaming.
"I said, you're running late for school!"
"Sorry, Mom." Groaning, I rolled out of bed. I was moving as soon
as my feet hit the floor. Another Monday morning, another rude awakening.
What else was new?
I ran around like a maniac trying to get ready for school fast enough
to make it there on time. After brushing my teeth and washing my face, I
threw on a knee length skirt and tank top and haphazardly piled my hair up on
top of my head in a twist. Breakfast would have to wait, and I could do my
makeup while I drove to school.
During this wild period of my so-called life, I lived in Tampa,
Florida and went to a very prestigious private school. At this point I was a
senior, barely: on this particular day I was approximately two months into
the school year. I didn't like to mention it often, but I was by far the
smartest person in my graduating class, and it caused me trouble at times. I
was a member of a very tight circle of friends who did everything together.
I guess I wasn't the most popular person in the world, but I felt popularity
was over-rated and therefore didn't think much of it. The same went with my
looks-they weren't on the top of my list of priorities. However, I was
blessed with a natural sort of beauty that I didn't have to constantly obsess
over or cover up with makeup. As for guys, even if there were any that I was
interested in (which there weren't), there was no way I would have ever had
time for a boyfriend with my kind of schedule.
At five foot six, I wasn't tall but still carried myself with
elegance. My brown hair wasn't quite brown; it was a mix of ash, brown, and
auburn and fell, straight, to just below my shoulders. I was fair-skinned
(and, as I believed, destined to never have a tan), and my eyes were pools of
chocolate. Thanks to the miracles of repeated orthodontic work, I had to say
that one of my best features was my giant smile.
As soon as I got to school that morning, I jumped out of the car and
glanced at my watch. Exactly fifty-seven seconds until the bell would ring
and I would be late for class. At least I had history with Mr. Sanders-he
probably wouldn't notice if I didn't show up at all. But on the off chance
that he might call roll today, I hurried getting my books anyway.
During all of my classes that morning, I couldn't concentrate, and
instead I found my mind wandering constantly. At least I wasn't nodding off
like I had so many times before. Not only that, but some really catchy tune
was running through my head. "As Long as You Love Me." Backstreet Boys, or
something like that.
At lunch Gillian and Eilene ran up to me, talking simultaneously as
usual. These two were attached at the hip. You couldn't find one without the
other. The three of us were best friends, but I was slightly more
independent of the other two.
Gillian was always the normal one. Intelligent but lacking in common
sense sometimes, she didn't have too many specialized interests except
swimming and her three cats. She was very pretty in an unconventional way.
She was around five feet, two inches tall, and her brownish-blonde, curly
hair fell to her shoulders.
Eilene personified the saying that big things come in small packages.
In this case the big things were her energy and personality. She was the
crazy, random, off the wall one that could always make us laugh. She and I
played basketball together, even though she was only four feet, eleven inches
tall. She was thin and had very thick, straight brown hair and green eyes. I
believed that there wasn't a male on campus who hadn't, at one time, made a
pass at her. I also believed it was because her skirts were so short it
should be illegal.
I jangled my car keys impatiently. "Where do you want to go for
lunch?"
"Let's go to the mall," said Eilene.
"Anywhere but the mall," said Gillian, at exactly the same time.
They looked at each other and stuck out their tongues.
I laughed. "Just get in the damn car."
Eilene won. We ended up eating lunch in the food court at the mall.
After we finished we decided to take a spin through the mall since we had 15
extra minutes. Passing a music store, I decided on the spur of the moment to
duck inside and see what was on sale. I breezed through the aisles and, when
I found the sales bin, shuffled through the CD cases to see what was there.
Gillie and Eilene walked up behind me.
"Whatcha looking at?" Gillie peered over my shoulder.
"Just checking to see if I can pick up some cheap tunes," I mumbled.
Near the bottom of the bin I found something interesting.
"Hmm, the Backstreet Boys. Don't they sing that song I've been
singing all morning?" I asked.
"Yeah," laughed Eilene. "I don't really like them though. All the
little teenage girls are obsessed with them. It's really annoying."
"Well, I don't care who else likes them," I argued. "I like their
music, and I'm going to get their CD. It's on sale. Besides," I said,
looking at the album cover, "this one is really cute." I pointed to the one
who was second from the right, leaning against the wall, wearing a cross
necklace.
After making my purchase, we left the mall. In the car I put my new
CD in and flipped through the songs. Back at school, the three of us went
our separate ways to class.
When the bell rang to signal the end of school, I was in English
class. Even though my teacher, Mr. Rothstein, was in the middle of a
sentence, I jumped out of my desk and made a mad dash to the door.
"Becky, where are you-" was all I heard before the door slammed shut
behind me and I was free. I half-walked, half-skipped to my locker to get my
books for homework. I wasn't sure why I was so happy; I guess it was just
one of those end-of-school euphoric moments. Anyway, I made my rounds saying
goodbye to everyone and made my way to my car-an ice blue BMW Z3 convertible.
I hopped in, put the top down and cranked up my new CD.
"Everybody, groove to the music, everybody jam!" I sang along,
horribly off-key, to my new CD. This was pretty good!
While I was sitting
at a red light, I pulled out the booklet from the CD case and flipped through
it. Hmm....that guy I thought was hot was A.J. Nice name. The other guys
were pretty cute too-I promised myself that I'd learn all of their names too.
I pulled into my driveway and parked the car behind the house. My
parents owned twenty-five acres of land just north of Tampa, so we had no
neighbors in sight. Our house was totally surrounded by cypress swamps and
lakes. I loved living there: it was peaceful and quiet, and I could see the
stars at night. The same thing could not be said for most places in a city
that size.
I let the dogs outside and threw all of my things down on the ground
in the hall outside my bedroom door. I walked into my room and flipped the
switch on my computer. While it booted itself up, I changed into khaki
shorts and a short-sleeve shirt. I made a quick run to the kitchen to get
myself an apple, and then opened America Online on my computer. Immediately
after I signed on, I got an instant message.
"Ryan!" I exclaimed out loud.
Ryan was one of my best friends. She and I had gone to school
together since pre-kindergarten until she switched to a public school in
tenth grade. Before that happened, we stuck to each other like glue. Now I
barely had time to see her, so I talked to her whatever chance I got.
We chatted for a few minutes, and she told me she was talking to
other people in a chat room.
"Oh really?" I typed. "What chat room?"
"A Backstreet Boys chat room on a web page I found."
I suddenly got very interested. "You like the Backstreet Boys?"
"Yeah, I love 'em!" she typed. "Nick is so hot!"
I looked at my CD jacket. Nick was the blond one, I discovered.
Hot? He looked too young to be labeled hot, but I would definitely call him
cute.
"I just got their CD today," I told her. "Personally, I think A.J.
is hot."
"Oh, cool, do you like it?" she asked.
"Yeah, A.J. is hot, but not as
hot as Nick."
I smiled. How typical of Ryan. She's so cute, I thought to myself.
I got the address of the chat room where she was chatting and signed off.
Yawning, I stumbled to my desk and pulled out my science book. Homework was
in order.
When I finally finished my homework at 8:00, I decided to check out
that chat room Ryan was hanging out in. When I got there, I picked the chat
name AJsGirl-it was a Backstreet Boys chat room, after all, and I wanted to
fit in. As soon as I got in the room I was totally confused. People were
chatting left and right and I couldn't follow the conversation at all.
I discovered that Ryan was in the room with me. Maybe she could explain to
me what the hell was going on! I decided it would be much easier just to
place everyone else in the room on "ignore" so that I could see only what
Ryan and I were saying.
"Hola," I typed. "So what's everybody talking about in here?"
"Not much," she said. "Just the BSB of course. You would never
believe who I'm talking to!" I waited for her to continue. "Nick Carter's
girlfriend! Doesn't that rock?"
"Really?" I asked. "How did you meet her?"
Ryan said, "I met her in here. She's soooo nice."
I raised my eyebrow and asked, "If you met her in here, how do you
know it's her?"
"Trust me, it's her," she assured me. "She knows stuff only a
girlfriend could know."
Nick Carter's girlfriend? Yeah, right. If I was the girlfriend of a
Backstreet Boy, there was no way I'd be sitting around in front of my
computer talking to strangers. I'd be out having a life and hanging with the
guys! Whoever was pretending to be Nick's girlfriend was probably some ten
year old girl trying to have some fun. I remained skeptical. Supposedly her
name was Rachel, and she lived in New York.
After getting Rachel's e-mail address, I signed off the computer and
went into the bathroom. I turned on the bathtub and let the water heat up.
When it was hot enough, I put the plug in the drain and poured in some bubble
bath-"peach tree and coconut"-scented. My favorite.
I got in and relaxed. As I lay there my mind started to turn over
the events of the day. I replayed the fun things Gillian, Eilene and I did
over in my mind. I wondered how well I did on the history paper I turned in
first period. I thought about that CD I bought. The Backstreet Boys are
really hot, I thought to myself. A.J. was so sexy...I thought about the
picture in the CD case. Then I thought about Ryan and Rachel. I hadn't seen
in Ryan for such a long time-we should get together. I was free Thursday
night, maybe that could work. And Rachel...well, I didn't think Rachel was
for real. It could be anyone pretending to be the girlfriend of a Backstreet
Boy. I was going to have to warn Ryan not to believe her too quickly.
I lay like that in the bath for twenty minutes. When my toes started
to wrinkle and the water got cold, I stepped out and dried myself off. I
changed into my pajamas and got into bed. As I hovered in the space between
asleep and awake, I started to hum to myself: I'll never break your heart,
I'll never make you cry...
Go..
