Get your own Free Home Page
***RECAP: Kevin snickered skeptically. "I know your intentions are good," he said, "but I don’t want you to be too disappointed with the outcome.....it takes a while to get used to, but I think the Backstreet Boys are gone for good."***
Lauren grabbed the last thing she needed from the closet, just as she heard the door to the dance studio open. There stood Howie, right on time.
"Hey Howie," she said, as she approached him for a hug, "How’s it going?"
He shrugged and smiled. "Well, I could be better," he answered, "but I’m managing."
Lauren smiled sympathetically. "Well, you’re the first one here...." she trailed off, as the door opened and Brian walked in. At the sound of the door opening, Howie automatically turned, but turned back around when he saw Brian. Lauren flinched. ‘This may not be as easy as I thought,’ she thought.
She looked around at the set up she had arranged. There were five chairs, and she had wheeled in a rented television/VCR. She just hoped this was going to work.
Pretty soon, Howie, Brian, Nick, Kevin and AJ were gathered in the room. Lauren had noted the thick silence that engulfed the room.....no one had said a word to each other.
"Okay, well let’s get this started," she said to the silence that surrounded her. Not a word. "First of all," she started, "I just want to say ‘I’m sorry.’"
She looked up at the five boys, then continued. "I’ve been thinking about what to say to you all, now that I’ve finally got you all in the room together, and the best thing I could think of is ‘I’m sorry.’ Howie, I’m sorry that this had to happen.....I always knew you to be the caring, ‘middle man’ kinda guy, but you don’t deserve to be put in the middle like this...I’m sorry. Brian, I’m sorry that ever since I got here, things have just gone downhill....you were there for me, and I tried to be there for you, but I failed.....I’m sorry. Kevin, I always looked up to you, and wanted one day to be as successful and understanding as you are.....you’re an all around great person, and I’m sorry I let you down.....I’m sorry. Nick.....Oh God, I don’t even know where to begin...Nick, although I’ve only known you for a little while, it’s felt like forever. From the moment I met you, I thought you were wonderful, but I was too held back to let you know that....God, when you were in the hospital, I prayed every night that everything would be okay, and it was...you didn’t let me down. But, I’m just so sorry for all that I’ve put you through...I didn’t mean to make you miserable, and I hated to see you upset....I love you so much, and I’m sorry."
She drew in a deep breath, as she saw the tears welling up in Nick’s eyes, as he looked at the ground. She continued: "AJ....although I’ve let you all down, I truly believe in my heart that I’ve let you down the most....God, I didn’t mean for anything like this to happen.....I honestly didn’t...if I could have seen into the future and foreseen this whole thing, I would have stayed in Toronto....you don’t deserve to be as upset and hurt as you are now...you’re a great person, and I saw your true colors before I bombarded you with information that you would have rather not known....and I knew you had feelings for me, and I knew you cared about me, but I couldn’t bring myself to tell you..." her voice choked, but quickly regained herself, "all I wanted was a brother, and a friend. And I left with neither. I’m sorry that I hurt you, I’m sorry that I ruined your life, and I’m sorry I separated you from the four people in your life that meant anything to you."
She drew in another breath, as she waited for a reaction. There was still silence. Howie was looking at his hands, Brian was fidgeting with his shirt, Kevin was looking straight at Lauren, Nick was looking down to hide his tears, and AJ was staring out one of the windows.
"Now that I’ve gotten that out of the way, is there anything that anyone wants to say?" she asked the group, hoping for some sort of reassurance, but still, no one spoke. "I just poured my heart and soul to you guys....does ANYONE have ANYTHING to say?" she asked, somewhat exasperated. Silence.
‘Fine,’ she thought, ‘round two.’
She went into the closet and pulled out a videotape she had gotten from Denise McLean. After she had made arrangements with the boys the night before, she had called her in desperate need and asked for help. After going over to her house and spending a couple of hours there, Denise gave her the perfect thing to use: a homemade video of their first year as a group.
She had gone back to the hotel and watched it that night, and she had had herself a good laugh...she just hoped it worked.
She noticed the quizzical looks of the five boys as she popped the video into the VCR. She adjusted the volume, just as the video started.
"Hi everyone, I’m Nick Carter.....or as everyone likes to call me, Chaos." Nick’s young face appeared on the screen, accompanied by background noise. He couldn’t have been more than 13 years old. "I don’t know why they call me Chaos though....they all pick on me ‘cuz I’m so young!" he announced in his prepubescent voice. Just then, Brian bounced into the screen, shoving Nick aside and taking full force. "Get outta here Nicky!" he cried, still trying to get Nick completely out of the picture, "quit hogging the camera! By the way, I’m Brian!" He stood up straight and grinned widely for the camera.
Lauren took her eyes of the video for a moment, to get the general reactions of the boys. All five of them had their mouths dropped open in complete shock. She smiled to herself, and continued to watch.
The video went through introductions of all the boys, and basically followed them around as they began their career. It showed them with Lou and their vocal coaches.....the whole thing being narrated by AJ’s mom.
The film cut away to another day, when the five boys sat in a white room with black couches and chairs. Nick was still around 13, and Kevin couldn’t have been older than 20 or 21. "So, what do you guys think?" Denise asked them, as she panned from face to face, "would you guys ever wanna see this video when it’s done?"
"I think we should wait til we’re big stars," AJ answered, "then we can watch it and look at us when we were nothing!"
"Yeah," agreed Howie, laughing, "we’re gonna be huge!"
Denise giggled in the background, then said, "What do you think the future will bring? Do you think you guys will ever stop being friends?"
"Never," answered Kevin. "Yeah," chimed in Nick, "we’ll always be the Backstreet Boys....we’ll always be together." And the four others nodded in agreement.
IF YOU KNEW WHAT I KNEW MAIN PAGE
Get your own Free Home Page