***~Black & Blue~***

If you came up to me a few months ago and told me I’d be swept off my feet by five incredibly good looking pop stars I would have laughed in you face, but today it’s a different story. I’m living my dream life....traveling from major city to major city....eating gourmet food....staying in luxury hotels....and I’m a part of the biggest tour of the decade. Who could ever guess that I, Andraya Talon, would drop out of school and go with a gut feeling that could easily have been mistaken for just another case of me, getting my hopes up? I always do that, think something wonderful and fantastic is going to happen and when it doesn’t my heart sinks and everything becomes worse. Once, in seventh grade, at my school fair there was a huge barrel of jellybeans and whoever guessed the correct amount of jellybeans in the barrel won a brand new bike. Well, the boy I had been drooling over since kindergarten wanted the bike so bad so I put a my guess in and I knew that when I won, not if, when I won, I’d hand my man his bike and he’d want me to be his girlfriend and he’d even kiss me on the forehead. It was going to be the most romantic gift everyone would watch as batted my eyelashes and wheeled him the bike- and the kiss...they’d be talking about it for weeks. Well, they counted the jellybeans and my guess wasn’t even close. It broke my fragile heart to this day I can’t look at jellybeans the same. It’s just one of the many times I got my hopes up. I guess I just have this huge imagination, but anyway, getting back to the one dream that actually became a reality...

It all started in July I was forced to bring my little sister, Casey to a teeny bop concert featuring some of the saddest music groups I could think of....Ateens, who did covers of old Abba songs and some little boy named Aaron Carter, who was hardly through puberty but had girls up to five years older than him week in the knees. Casey was so excited so I tried to get into it, I wore one of her Aaron Carter tshirts and my hair in French braided pigtails, for a nineteen year old this wasn’t exactly the best look. When we got to the show to our surprise our seats were better than we expected. They were kind of to the side of the stage but we had a great view of the backstage area and there was hardly anyone around us! I have to admit I was a little giddy at times. Aaron Carter was cuter than I expected I even thought if he was a few years older I’d be in love, and his dance moves weren’t so bad either. Everyone was standing, but I sat for a minute, I was afraid I was getting to into the concert.

While I was sitting there I got that creepy feeling someone was staring at me, I looked up and there he was. I couldn’t see his whole face because we was peeking out behind a curtain. All I could see were his blue eyes and half of a smile that gave me chills. I smiled back and looked down at my shirt....the mystery guy laughed, he knew I was too old for Aaron. I looked away to check on Casey, but when I looked back...he was gone. I got over it once I got back up and started dancing again. I don’t know why but I still had that feeling someone was watching me.

Aaron sang some more and danced some more and soon he brought on a special guest I was thinking, “Oh great another teeny bop pop act!”, but when a guy stepped out on stage and I saw those eyes, and that smile...I was in disbelief. The audience screamed and Nick Carter of the pop group, the Backstreet Boys walked over to his little brother Aaron! I was so blonde, I couldn’t believe I didn’t realize who the mystery guys was... of course it was Nick....Nick and Aaron.....Aaron and Nick....

I even heard on MTV that Nick Carter was making some guest appearances at Aaron’s concerts while the group took a break. Then my imagination went wild and I started going crazy thinking about...love at first sight....being invited backstage...and even a sexy one night stand...but then I got control and looked at myself. Sexy one night stand? Like hell Nick Carter would have a one night stand with a nineteen year old in pigtails at and Aaron Carter concert! Nick couldn’t see me onstage, I doubted he was even looking, but there was still that hope that Nick appreciated that moment we stared at each other. Well, he didn’t. He left the stage without saying anything about a beautiful young girl he spotted in the audience, I was crushed.

I wanted to get out of there as soon as possible but Casey wanted to sit in our seats and see if Aaron would come out and talk to her. The poor girl was getting her hopes up, but I didn’t argue. In a way I could have sat in those seats for hours waiting for Nick, my mystery guy. It was pathetic. This big, bald man approached up after a few minutes and I started to get up figuring he wanted us to leave, but he told me to sit. I listened and my heart started to race... “You’ve been invited backstage if you’d like,” he said politely. “With Aaron???” Casey butted in her eyes grew wide. “Yes,” said the man. “Ok, if we really are invited,” I answered and we followed him backstage. We walked down a hallway and took a few turns and there they were Aaron, Nick, and a bunch of other people. I was nervous and confused but once Nick saw me he smile and took a brisk walk over, “Hey, I’m glad you decided to join us.” It was right then and there that my life changed forever.