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Chapter 1
After the flight…
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This is it, my home for the summer. Orlando! As I stepped out of the gate,
I spotted my uncle and his wife.
“Uncle Howard! Aunt Caroline!” I cried as I ran towards them.
“Brooke!” Caroline said. I gave them both a hug and a peck on the
cheek.
“C’mon, let’s get to baggage claim and then we’ll head
home,” Howard said, walking away in the direction of luggage
retrieval.
An hour later…
“Scott! No one told me you were back from college!”
“Yup. Oh, and this is my friend from the old neighborhood. You remember
Nick?”
I’m sure I turned beet red. Of course I remembered Nick! When I was
eleven, my first kiss had been with Nick. It had been during
“Truth-or-Dare,” and one of Scott’s immature friends had dared
me to kiss Nick. He had been a skinny kid, with a mess of bright blonde hair
he could never seem to tame, and these beautiful baby blue eyes. He had also
been in desperate need of braces.
He was wearing a Miami Dolphins baseball cap, and I couldn’t see his
eyes. A bit of blonde hair peaked out from underneath the baseball cap.
I swatted at the hat, trying to get it off his head. “C’mon, Nick,
let’s see those baby blues!” I finally succeeded in getting the
cap off, which hadn’t been easy, considering Nick was about a foot taller
than I was.
I hoped I didn’t look TOO shocked when I looked as his face without
the hat on. I recognized the face! I mean, of course I recognized the face,
but elsewhere besides meeting him!
It was on millions of posters worldwide. Every girl under the age of fifteen
in the world wanted the guy. It was THE Nick Carter. As in BACKSTREET BOYS
Nick Carter!
Wow. It hit me like a ton of bricks. I had kissed Nick Carter. I mean, it
was years ago, but still, millions of girls would literally KILL for that!
It’s funny, though. I never would’ve made the connection between
the skinny Nick I knew, and that famous babe who was one of the most wanted
men in the world. It’s amazing how just a few years can change someone
so much.
“So, what have you been up to these past seven years, Nick?” I
asked. He looked a little relieved. It was apparent he didn’t think
I had recognized him.
“Oh, I just came back from on t—out of town.”
“Oh, really, where’d you go?”
“Um… you Europe.”
“Where in Europe?”
“All over.”
“What do you do that you get to travel to Europe?” I questioned,
rather enjoying the moment. He started squirming. I looked at Scott, and
he bit his lip, trying hard not to laugh. He obviously knew I had recognized
Nick, and was doing nothing to stop me.
Nick mumbled something incoherent. “What’s that, Nick?” I
inquired.
“I’m… in the music industry,” he returned.
“You mean, like managing a group or something like that?”
“Yeah, something like that.” He looked helplessly at Scott. At
that, I couldn’t control myself any longer. I burst out laughing. Nick
looked at me like he thought I was crazy. That just made me laugh even harder.
Scott joined in, and Nick just looked so confused that I tried to stop, wanting
to explain I had recognized him.
“Who…do…you…think…you’re…fooling…Nickolas…Gene…Carter?”
I gasped. I had finally succeeded in no longer laughing.
He looked at me blankly. “You know who I am?”
“Oh course I know who you are! Every single person who watched MTV or
has been awake for the last four years knows who you are. Even my MOTHER
would’ve recognized you!” He turned red. “Although I never
would have made the connection between the skinny kid I knew and the blonde
babe that wanted by every twelve year-old girl on the planet.” At that,
he turned even redder.
“One, question, though…” Nick said. “How do you know
my middle name? You’re not one of those obsessed fans, are you?”
“No, actually far from it. My best friend, Carrie, is obsessed with
you.”
“Oh.”
“Haven’t improved those vocabulary skills yet, have we,
Carter?”
“Shut up!”
“Ooh, witty. Hey, even though you’re a bug famous music star now,
I bet I can still take you on!” I pointed to the basketball on the floor,
by his feet.
“You’re on!”
An hour and a half later…
I leaned down, panting. I looked up, and saw that Nick was doing the
same. Scott was watching from the side of the driveway where the basketball
hoop was, an amused smile on his face.
“I…won…” I huffed.
“By… two… stinkin’ points! I… want… a
rematch!”
“You’re on, Mr. Car-ter!” I grabbed the ball,
“Tomorrow!” I dropped the ball, fell down to the ground, and closed
my eyes.
“Oh, get up, ya big baby!” Nick came over, and put his hand out.
I took it, and stood up.
“Water! Must…have…water!” I gasped.
“C’mon!” He picked me up, and carried me to the kitchen.
“Here, this oughta cool you down.” He ran some tap water into a
glass. He started to hand it to me, and then splashed it in my face.
“I’ll get you for that, Nickolas Gene!” I shouted, chasing
after him with my fist in the air. He ran outside, and I chased after him.
I lunged at him, grabbing him around the waist. He dragged me slowly around
the backyard of my uncle’s house. I let go suddenly, and Nick fell to
the ground. I jumped on top of him, and started pounding on his back. He
lifted his arms in the air.
“All right, all right, I surrender. You got me!”
“Victory!” I rolled off him. (*Author’s note: I know, I know.
It sounds wrong, but it’s meant to be completely innocent, I swear!
*) I stood up, and put my hand out to help him up. He took my hand, and then
pulled me to the ground, and started to tickle me. I know this sounds weird,
but not really. He and I were really good friends before he became a Backstreet
Boy and we lost touch.
“Not!”
“You know I’ll have to kill you for this, right? What’s Backstreet
gonna do without their blonde pretty boy?”
“Ooh, that was harsh!” Nick stopped tickling me, and I stood up.
I turned around to face Scott. “So, what’s going on here? Something
I should know about?” he asked mischievously. My face turned red for
the second time in just hours. So did Nick’s.
“Nothing!” we both said at the same time.
“Sure?”
“Scott!” I exclaimed. “Really! Doesn’t that dirty mind
ever get you into any trouble?”
“Yup,” he replied, grinning. “Actually, I was looking for
you two. I was beginning to wonder where you guys went. I’m kinda hungry,
and I was gonna go to Mickey D’s. You guys wanna come?”
“Sure!” Nick answered. I shrugged.
“Why not?”