"What do you want to do tonight?" Lauren asked Katie as they sat on Katie's couch and watched television, her parents weren't home yet. They had been sing along to the songs that were playing on MTV and giggled when they hit the wrong notes, which was almost throughout the whole song. They had both gotten their licenses a little while ago and they were both able to drive where ever they wanted to, in Lauren's car.
"Um...how about the mall?" Katie asked with a small smile.
"YES!" they both said at the same time and ran to get dressed. They were at
Katie's house since her parents were at work, it had become a ritual that
Lauren would come over every Friday. The mall was there favorite place to go,
even if they didn't have any money.
They lived in a small town in southern Connecticut, they had both lived there
for most of their lives, they both hated it and wanted to eventually move.
They only had two more weeks to complete at the high school until they were truly free. They didn't know what they wanted to do just yet, they thought traveling would be their first priority. They wanted to visit California, Florida, everywhere, as long as it was away from the sleepy city in Connecticut.
They quickly changed. Lauren put on a light blue tight shirt and black pants with her chunky black heeled shoes. Katie wore the same outfit, but the shirt was purple instead of blue. They quickly jumped into Lauren's light blue Honda. Katie never had a car, she couldn't afford it, but Lauren was more than happy to drive her around town. They drove for 20 minutes toward the mall, not knowing what they would get themselves into.
They had been best friends for almost as long as they could remember, they were more like sisters to each other than friends, especially since neither one of them had a sister. They told each other everything and went everywhere together, Katie thought that Lauren was the only person that she could trust.
"Why are their so many people here?" Lauren asked curiously. At the age of 17 they had both seen their share of celebrities at the mall, but this was ridiculous. They heard a loud male scream and from the group that had gathered in the center, five young men came running out. "Come here!" Katie screamed, realizing that they they were The Backstreet Boys, her favorite group, but trying to save them from harm instead of asking for autographs. She couldn't believe that they were at the local mall, nearly getting killed. The blonde one, Nick, looked pensively at the two girls for a brief moment, "Trust me, I know this mall like the back of my hand!" Katie screamed, "RUN!" Katie screamed and she brought them toward a small janitorial closet that she knew was there, the fans didn't even see where they went. It was big and the eight of them fit pretty well in it. There was a light that Lauren switched on and she stared at Nick's face, in total awe of the hero she had always longed to meet since their first record.
"Do you have a cell phone?" Lauren asked them and A.J. handed her one. "Thank you," she replied and began to dial the number for the police, trying to get them to save them from the hounds of fans that were, luckily, passing the closet. "We are at the mall, we need someone to come here RIGHT NOW!," she screamed into the phone, "We are stuck in a closet....yes I am serious....no I am not an idiot.....NOW YOU IDIOTS! WE NEED YOU HERE NOW AND IF YOU DON'T COME WE WILL SUE YOU!!!!!!!!, " she screamed scaring the group in the closet with her fierceness.
Katie turned around to see who was standing very closely behind her, "Hello Mr. Littrell," she said politely and shook his hand, "My name is Katie, and that," she pointed to Lauren, "is Lauren." "Lauren...." Nick replied and smiled, making Katie blush for Lauren since she hadn't heard him. They waited another 20 minutes, Katie was scared that they would not have enough oxygen in the closet and Lauren was confused, she loved these five men and she couldn't even say a word to them.
"So, where are you two from," Brian asked politely. "We are from around here, about 20 minutes east of here." Katie said without looking at him directly in the eye. Brian stared at her, trying to figure out what was wrong, but he wasn't sure he should ask. "What do you do?" Nick asked as he looked at Lauren, and she looked back. "We are still in High School, we are seniors." Lauren said with a smile. They continued to talk. Kevin, Howie and A.J. stood by and waited for the police to come, they had girlfriends back at the hotel and they were bored with the other four. They chatted about their album and their tour and finally the police came and they were let out.
The bodyguards came back and Katie approached them, knowing that she shouldn't. "You did a VERY good job today," Katie said with a thumbs up sign and a smile. The other 7 burst out laughing and Katie continued to walk towards the parking lot, but she turned around when she felt a hand on her shoulder, expecting it to be Lauren, but she turned around meeting face to face with Brian.
"I am very grateful for what you did today," he said slowly, trying to meet his eyes with hers, but she wouldn't let him. "No problem at all, I do it every day," she said with a smile, but with a sad expression still on her face. "What is the matter?" he asked carefully. "Nothing, nothing at all, I just need to get a breath of fresh air," she said with a small smile, totally aware of the pain that had begun to hit her right side, she began to lean to one side like she was drunk and nearly threw-up on his shoes.
"Oh, my god are you okay?" he asked as he caught her in his arms, right before she fainted. Brian picked her up and brought her to the car, yelling at the other guys to hurry up, he didn't know what was wrong with her.