|
|
Chapter 8
"OK, Linds. AJ wants to talk to you. Hold on." Brian said passing the phone to Brian. I sighed and waited.
"Hey, hey, hey. What's shakin', Linds?"
"Hey AJ. Nothing, just busy with the tour."
"Yo, it's so lonely on the tour now. I still can't believe you're gone." AJ said in a quieter tone.
"AJ, you're with four other guys. How can you be lonely."
"You're more fun to chill with. Oh, I saw a picture of you in one of
those teeny bopper mags. Cool hair." I could tell AJ was smiling.
"Thanks." I said smiling myself.
"How's everything going? You taking care of yourself?" AJ asked seriously.
"I'm tryin'." I said knowing he could see right through me.
"You know, Nick misses you..." He said softly.
"Really?"
"That's a stupid question. You wanna talk to him?" He asked kind of eagerly. I could tell Nick must be standing nearby.
"I would, but I hafta go now. There about to lock this place up. I'll call you again real soon. Love ya. Bye." I said and hung up the phone quickly.
~Backstreet Bus~
"What the hell?" AJ asked no one in particular.
"What's wrong, Bone?" Nick asked.
"I was just talking to Lind...uh...Linda, this girl I met, and she just hung up on me." AJ said stumbling through his words, He didn't want Nick to know who he was talking to.
"Oh." Nick said knowing AJ wasn't being completely honest. AJ walked to the back of the bus where he found Brian looking through the latest edition of People Magazine.
"What's up, Rok?" AJ asked sitting next to Brian. "Brian? Anyone home?" AJ asked seeing Brian wasn't paying attention to him.
"Yeah? Sorry, I was just reading this article talking about upcoming tours and they wrote some stuff about Lindsay. Look at this picture of her. Damn, she's changed." Brian said. AJ just nodded as if saying 'more than we know'.
~Hotel in PA~
"OK, Dad. I'll stop by tomorrow around one, then I gotta practice after that. So I can only stay for an hour or hour and a half." I said into the phone.
"No problem. As long as I get to see you. I got another call. See ya tomorrow. Love ya." My dad and I hung up the phone and I layed down on my bed. I placed my hands on my stomach and closed my eyes. I stayed in that position for about five minutes until I decided to take a shower.
~Backstreet Bus (Nick's POV)~
"Take a step, get off my back." I sang one of Lindsay's songs walking past the bunks.
"Damn, that boy has got it bad." AJ said hearing Nick singing the song.
I sat down in the entertainment area and found the People Magazine Brian had been reading earlier. I flipped threw the pages and saw there was an article about tours. I began reading it and smiled when he read about Lindsay's tour. I turned the page and there she was, although I couldn't recognize her. Her hair was partly blue and she had lost weight. AJ walked into the room as I was staring at the picture. "Whatcha lookin' at Nick?" AJ asked leaning over my shoulder. "Oh." He said not even waiting for me to answer his first question.
"I miss her." I said looking up at him. I looked back down at her picture. "Why'd she change?" I asked looking at the picture again.
"Nick, you know how she is...She went through hell the past few weeks with her brother. Then, she gets dragged into another tour. She barely had time off. I think she dyed her hair for something different, that's all." I looked back up at him. He knew that's not all I was talking about. "Nick, she shouldn't be on tour at all. She isn't taking care of herself. You should talk to her. Find out what's going on. OK?"
~Hotel(My POV)~
"It's all about the he said, she said..." I sang "Break Stuff" walking out of the bathroom in my towel. I heard my cell phone ring and strolled over to my backpack. I pulled out the small phone and answered it. "Hello?" No answer. "Hello?"
"Lindsay?"
"Nick?" I asked sitting down on my bed. "Wow, what's going on?" I asked happily. Although he only said one word so far, I was happy to hear his voice.
"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you. It's been so long."
"Yeah, it has. I'm glad you called. I really miss you." I said sincerely.
"I miss you too. I really wish you were on the tour with us. It would be so much better." Nick and I talked about everything. We were on the phone for two and a half hours when my mind started wandering and I got curious.
"Nick, where are we right now?" I asked quietly.
"I don't know. This long distance thing sucks, we never get to see each other, and we don't always have enough time to talk to each other." Nick pointed some things out.
"Yeah, you're right. So, are we just friends?" I asked disappointed.
"I don't know. We really don't have a relationship right now." Nick began and right away I didn't like what he was saying.
"Nick, I know this is really hard being so far away. It really sucks, but we can't do anything about it. I think we'll be meeting up in a few weeks. Honestly, I think this time away will be kinda good for us. I mean, I've been through a lot of crap and I really don't think you'd like me the way I am." I took a deep breath before finishing my statement. "You are right about having a non existent relationship right now, but I hope when we see each other in California, we can pick up where we left off. I love you a lot and I don't think I'd be able to be happy if I knew we wouldn't be together." After I said that, I began to feel light-headed. Nick somehow knew I wasn't feeling well and said I should get off the phone. We said our goodbyes and I went to sleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~