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Chapter Four
Brian got Lonnie’s Jeep and Howie and A.J. were riding with him. Kevin and Nick piled into Colleen’s fully loaded Platinum Grand Jeep Cherokee.
She started the car and pulled alongside Brian. Brian rolled down his window.
“So where are we going?” he asked, Colleen gave him directions to the Grille. They were pretty easy directions and they started off.
With Brian behind her, Colleen pulled out on the highway. She looked over at Kevin and smiled.
“What?” he asked.
“Nothing.” She looked back to the road. “Hey, can you push that CD in?”
Kevin nodded and pushed the CD in. Hard pounding bass came through the speakers as Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit came on. Colleen put down all the windows and cranked the volume. She was getting into the song, singing along when she noticed the looks of amusement on Kevin and Nick’s faces.
“What?”
“It’s just so funny. You’re dancing in you seat,” said Nick with grin.
“And you have the music so loud that the car is vibrating,” said Kevin.
“Oh,” Colleen said sheepishly. She turned down the volume. “Don’t you guys like Nirvana?”
Kevin and Nick nodded. “Oh yeah, they’re awesome,” said Nick.
They had been sitting at a red light with Brian beside them in the next lane, when Colleen noticed he was yelling something at them.
She turned off the CD.
“What?” she asked.
“Colleen, what are you 90? Could you drive a little slower?” Brian asked with a grin. Just then the light turned green and he sped off.
“Oh no, he didn’t,” Colleen said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.
“Colleen, what are you going to do?” asked Kevin nervously. He did want to live to perform in Chicago, if at all possible.
Colleen’s answer was to slam her foot down on the accelerator and speed after Brian. She soon caught up with him and they were neck and neck, trying to beat each other to the Grille. The car in front of Colleen slowed and she put on her blinker to pass in front of Brian who was lagging behind. He saw this and sped up to cut her off.
“Jiminy Cricket!” Colleen exclaimed.
Kevin and Nick looked at each other and cracked up.
“What? What’s so funny?” Colleen asked as she tried to catch up to Brian.
“You,” Nick said.
“Jiminy Cricket? Jeepers? What are you from the fifties?” asked Kevin.
“No, I just don’t like to swear. It is so unattractive.”
The guys just shook their head. Colleen had caught up to Brian and passed him. She went through a yellow light and Brian got caught as it turned red.
“Ha, ha, ha, ha,” Colleen laughed evily. “Boris, I have beaten him,” she said in a Russian accent, sounding like Natasha from the Rocky and Bullwinkle show.
Nick and Kevin cracked up at her imitation and she pulled into the parking lot of the Ole Hickory Grille and got out. She walked to the back of her car and leaned against the back of her Jeep as she waited for Brian to arrive so she could gloat in proper style. As the other Jeep pulled into the lot, Colleen started chanting, “I won, I won, I won.” Brian stepped out of the car and Colleen started to dance around him, gloating with the best of them when he grabbed her.
“Tickle attack!” he yelled and attacked her sides. Colleen immediately started laughing as Howie and A.J. joined in on the attack, as they had been in the loser car.
“Okay, okay, stop, please, oh I can’t take much more,” Colleen gasped out.
The guys stopped and Brian smiled. “No more gloating?
Colleen nodded her head okay.
She started to walk away and she yelled behind, “Who’s the 90 year old granny now?” Brian mumbled something under his breath.
“What? Could you repeat that?” Colleen asked innocently, knowing he wouldn’t really tell her what he said. Brian, at the moment was looking for an excuse to cover up what he said when he saw what Colleen’s license plate said.
“Um, I asked you why does your license plate say Pirate1?” he said with a smile. The other guys walked to stand by him and saw that her license plate did say Pirate1.
Colleen grinned. “Yeah, I’m sure that’s exactly what you said and Pirate is my nickname.”
“What?” A.J. said while trying to figure out any connection to Colleen and Pirate.
“Nickname, as in a silly name affectionately called by your friends. Isn’t yours Bone and Kevin’s, Train, and Nick, Kaos, and Brian, Frick, and Howie, Sweet D?”
A.J. gave her a look. “You know that is not what I meant. Why Pirate?”
“Well, you see my first name is Pamela but so is my mom’s so I’m called by my middle name, Colleen.” She stopped talking.
“Okay, that still doesn’t explain Pirate,” said Howie.
“Well, you see, sometimes to make my papers go to the right place, I write P. Colleen Davis, so if they don’t find a Colleen Davis, they know I’m Pamela Davis. So my friend Holly saw that once and said P? What does that stand for? Pirate? And I replied, ‘Aye matey, that’s Pirate Colleen to you.’ And it’s been Pirate ever since.”
“Pirate,” Kevin said slowly. “I like it.” The rest of the guys nodded.
“Oh thank you, most high Train. Does this mean I can keep my nickname of over nine years?” Colleen asked cheekily. Then she turned and walked into the restaurant. Her cousin was sitting down at one of the tables doing the books.
“We’re closed,” she said without looking up.
“What, you mean I can’t get something from the bar? I’ll pay you a dollar if you can reach the cups on the top shelf,” said Colleen with a laugh. The guys had come in behind her and were once again wearing their confused looks. Then they saw the girl sitting at the table jump up and run over to give Colleen a hug.
“That must be her cousin,” said Nick jokingly. They understood Colleen’s remark about reaching the top shelf as they saw the contrast between Colleen’s 5’10 inches and her cousin’s 5’2 inch frame.
“How’s it going Rye Bread?” asked Colleen as she and Ryan finished hugging and sat down on the waiting bench. Ryan hadn’t noticed the guys yet as her back was to them.
“It’s great. I am so glad you’re here. I’m so ready for a vacation. So ready to go clubbing?” Ryan paused and checked out
Colleen’s outfit. “Because you look great. And I just got this awesome new dress. I'm looking forward to a night of fun, dancing, and picking up hot guys,” said Ryan while she did a cute little dance move. The guys behind her grinned.
“Well, I got the guy part fulfilled,” said Colleen. “I don’t know about the hot part but they are guys.” She started laughing.
“Hey come on Colleen.”
“Yeah, give us a break.”
Ryan turned around and saw five guys with disgruntled looks on their faces.
“Out of all the girls we choose to hang with,” said the shorter one with brown hair and a square jaw, “We have to choose one who isn’t an obsessed fan. Man, where’s the screaming and marriage proposals when you need them?” Ryan looked at the guy talking and was thinking how gorgeous he was when she realized that it was Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys. She was about to remark about how she loved their music when she caught the part about him wanting screaming girls and marriage proposals. Well, how would he react to a girl who had no idea who they were? she thought. So though she was jumping up and down with excitement on the inside, she put a look of confusion on her face. She turned back to Colleen.
“Colleen, who are these guys?” And why are they talking about screaming girls?”
Colleen realized what Ryan was doing immediately and played along. “You mean, you don’t know?”
Ryan shook her head no.
Brian was shocked. “You don’t recognize us?”
Ryan shook her head again. The guys couldn’t believe it. This girl didn’t know who they were. Brian was in a state of disbelief. He looked at the 5’2 girl with sparkling brown eyes, chin length auburn hair, and cute smile of uncertainty and thought how for once he wanted to impress a girl by what he did and she didn’t know who he was.
“Who are you?” Ryan asked. She was hard pressed not to laugh at the looks of disbelief on their faces.
“Ryan,” Colleen said pointing at the guys. “These are the Backstreet Boys.”
“Oh, you guys are brothers?” The looks on their faces were hilarious. Ryan was really struggling not to laugh. “Because you don’t look much alike.”
Colleen was about to lose it as the guys faces became more shocked. First she didn’t recognize them personally, but not to recognize the name Backstreet Boys? Weird didn’t even began to explain it.
“No, we’re not brothers,” said A.J. slowly.
“Rye Bread,” said Colleen using Ryan’s nickname. “They are a famous singing group.”
Ryan nodded.
Colleen continued. “Um, like Hanson.”
“WHAT!” The guys yelled.
“We are not like Hanson” “How could you say that?” “What are you thinking?” Their jumbled responses stopped as they saw both of the girls burst out laughing.
The guys realized that the girls had just been messing with them. Brian turned to Ryan. “So you do know who we are?”
Ryan didn’t answer at first as she and Colleen were still laughing their butts off. When they finally lay silent, gasping for air, Ryan said “Of course. Where do you think I live? Under a rock?”
Kevin turned to Colleen. “Like Hanson? That was low.”
“Oh.” Colleen stood up and pulled Ryan up off the couch. “Did you guys rather us react like this?”
They looked at each other and back at the guys, suddenly letting out ear piercing screams.
“OH MY GOD!! THE BACKSTREET BOYS!” Colleen jumped and down, shaking her hands back and forth.
Ryan was doing the same. She walked over to Brian. “Brian, I love you. You’re so hot! Oh my god!” Ryan said dramatically, pretending she was about to faint.
Colleen walked over to Kevin. “Kevin, I love you. Marry me please?” She held her breath, pretending she was expectation an answer.
“Okay,” Kevin said. Colleen, expecting a no, threw herself on her knees at Kevin’s feet. “Oh but I love you so much. I’m your biggest fan, please marr. . .?” Colleen sat up. “Did you just say yes?”
Kevin nodded. “Yep, we’re engaged! I mean, didn’t you say that I’m gorgeous and maybe you could use your cherry stem tying skills on me and that I’m wanted by all twelve year olds?”
Colleen stood up. “Shut up!”
Ryan had stopped screaming and was listening to their conversation. “Twelve year olds?” she said, confused. Then Ryan shivered with delight as Brian leaned down and whispered in her ear,
“I’ll tell you later.” Ryan nodded.
Colleen turned to Ryan. “Don’t you need to change?”
Ryan nodded. She was in the restaurant’s uniform of khakis and white Grille polo shirt. “Yeah, be right back.” Ryan walked to the bathroom, grabbing her bag on the way out.
Colleen went and sat in the corner. Kevin realized that she was really upset and walked over and sat down next to her. “Colleen, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that.”
Colleen looked at him and smiled at him and the rest of the guys. “It’s just so embarrassing. I always have to be the one who is making a fool of themselves, or doing something stupid or tripping over something or walking into something. I just get so sick of it.”
Kevin looked at her. “Well, you haven’t walked into anything yet.”
“Just wait.”
Brian opened his mouth to say something comforting but his jaw dropped when Ryan walked back into the room. Nick smiled and whooped. A.J. whistled and Colleen gave Ryan a catcall.
Ryan smiled and laughed. “Shut up.”
She was wearing a short black dress with spaghetti straps and an empire waist. She had on black strappy platform shoes. Colleen started to laugh. “Nice shoes, Rye Bread. With those three extra inches, you come up to about my knee.” Ryan playfully punched Colleen in the arm.
“Shut up. I can’t help it if you’re the Jolly Green Giant,” Ryan said laughing.
“I know. I’m just an oversized freak,” Colleen moaned dramatically as she stood up.
Kevin put his arm around her waist. “I happen to like oversized freaks,” he whispered in Colleen’s ear. Colleen blushed.
“All right, enough already. Let’s PARTY!” Ryan yelled and they all walked out of the restaurant, pausing as Ryan locked the door and set the security system.
As they walked to the cars, Colleen turned to Ryan. “Hey Rye Bread, why don’t you drive the guys’ car? We’re going to the Silver Dagger and it will be fun for you to drive since you finally got your license.” Colleen got in her car with Kevin and Nick.
Ryan muttered something underneath her breath and Brian looked at her as he opened the passenger door.
“What did she mean about your license?” he asked.
“Well, I kept putting off getting my license and I didn’t get it until I was 21.”
Brian couldn’t believe it. “The minute I turned 16, I got my license. I wanted to drive, man,” he said.
Ryan smiled. “Yeah well, anyway, it was a good way to get cute guys to drive me home,” she replied as she situated herself in the driver's seat and fastened her seat belt.
Brian just frowned. “Yeah, whatever.”
A.J., who was sitting in the back seat, started laughing when he noticed Brian’s face when Ryan talked about cute guys. Someone likes someone, he thought to himself.
They arrived at the club and the guys nodded approvingly as they took in the silver exterior and loud music coming through the doors. They paid the cover charge and as they walked through the doors, they all started laughing when Everybody started playing.
“Hey this is my kind of club,” said A.J. as he wiggled his eyebrows.
Colleen laughed. “Yeah, I love this song but my favorite is Hey Mr. D.J. When I first got your CD, I played that song over and over again. Great dance music and I would give anything to have some guy think that about me.”
Ryan nodded in agreement.
Kevin smiled. “I’m sure tons have guys have thought that about you.” Colleen just smiled. They all got out on the dance floor, Ryan and Brian, Kevin and Colleen, and A.J., Howie, and Nick with various hot girls.
Later, they all were sitting down at a table, sipping their drinks and cooling down after dancing, when Ryan and Colleen excused themselves to go check their makeup in the bathroom. Howie, Nick, and A.J. started laughing as they commented on how Kevin and Brian watched the girls walk out the rooms. The guys didn’t notice the two big, muscle bound guys get up and follow the girls.
Colleen and Ryan were coming out of the bathrooms, laughing about how cute Brian and Kevin were and how leave it to them, they would choose cousins to hang with, when their way was blocked by two big guys.
“Hey ladies, how are you tonight,” asked the guy with a long black ponytail.
Colleen smiled. “Fine, thanks, but we’ve got to get back to our DATES,” she emphasized.
The other guy with short blonde hair grabbed Ryan’s arm as she tried to pass. “Where are you going, sweet thing? Let’s dance,” as he pulled her into his arms
“Thanks, but no thanks. Now let me go,” Ryan said as she pushed against the guy’s chest. His arms just tightened.
Colleen was starting to get mad. “Let go of my cousin now, ass-hole.” Ryan smiled as she heard Colleen swear. She knew her cousin was getting mad and the jerks would soon be hurting.
But the guys didn't back off. The black hair guy just grabbed Colleen. “Ooh, a feisty one. I like that.”
Back at the table, the guys were looking at their watches, wondering where the girls went.
“They’ve been gone twenty minutes,” Brian said.
“Maybe there was a line,” suggested Nick.
“I’m going to check on them,” said Kevin and the guys said they would come along. The five of them walked back to the dimly lit hallway where they saw two big guys manhandling Colleen and Ryan.
Kevin was about to go after them when suddenly he saw the black hair guy holding Colleen go down, clutching his groin. Colleen turned to the blonde and snapped a sidekick to the back of his knee, making him fall and let go of Ryan. Ryan saw that the black hair guy was recovering from Colleen kicking him in the groin and turned and punched the guy in the face. The guy stumbled back into the wall, clutching his eye. Colleen’s focus was still on the blonde guy who was raising his hand to punch her. She threw a side block and with a palmheel thrust with her hand, broke the guy’s nose. Then she backed up and with a reverse sidekick, kicked him in the chest and sent slamming into the wall. Meanwhile, the black hair guy was about to get up, when Ryan grabbed his head and slammed it against the wall, knocking him out. When both guys were lying unconscious on the floor, the girls picked up their purses and straightened their hair. Giving the guy one last kick in the ribs, Ryan turned and both she and Colleen started to go back to the guys, when they were confronted with them face to face.
“Hey guys,” Colleen said nervously. She saw the weird look on Kevin’s face and hoped that he hadn’t seen them kick the guys’ butts.
Brian was staring at Ryan and she laughed nervously.
“You guys just beat the crap out of two, 250 lb. guys,” said A.J. in disbelief.
Colleen’s hopes of them having not seen the fight flew out the window. There had been too many times where guys had dropped her because they knew she could take care of herself and from the look on Kevin’s face, that number was about to go up one.
“Look, I have a 5th degree black belt in Tae Kwon do, I am not some stay at home girl who goes crying to her boyfriend every time she’s threatened and neither is Ryan.” Ryan nodded.
A.J. raised his eyebrows. “You girls don’t know how sexy it is to see a girl kick butt,” he said with a grin. Colleen laughed as she saw the nods of agreement on the other guys’ faces. She felt the tension go out of her.
“Okay, whatever floats your boat,” she replied as they walked back to the table.
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