Chapter 8
The Staircase in Pittston,
Pennsylvania was packed with people, and all of them were screaming at the top
of their lungs. On stage, Nick grinned,
drew his hand across his sweaty brow, and bowed. He stood there a moment, absorbing the
moment, taking in the atmosphere, listening happily as his audience applauded
him. Bowing once more, he yelled “Thank
you, Pittston!” and left the stage, waving as walked off.
He made his way
backstage, sweaty and exhausted, but thrilled.
It had been an outstanding first performance, and he couldn’t have been
happier.
Leah ran up to
him, her eyes shining with enthusiasm.
“Oh, Nick, that was wonderful!” she cried.
“Thanks,” Nick
said, grinning at her. “Well, I’m gonna
hit the showers. I’ll meet you on the
bus, okay?”
“Okay.” Leah ran off one way, and Nick went in the
opposite direction, desperate for a shower.
Minutes later,
Nick slowly stripped and turned on the water in the shower. He waited a few minutes to let it heat up and
then climbed into the steamy jet. The
hot water felt like heaven on his body.
He stood there for what seemed like an eternity, just letting it flow
over his body, washing away his sweat.
He was startled out of his bliss by a loud knock on the door and his
bodyguard Joe’s deep voice calling, “Nick, are you okay in there?”
“Yeah!” Nick
shouted, rolling his eyes. “I’ll be out
soon!” Sighing heavily, he squirted some
shampoo into his palm and ran it through his blonde hair. Then he took the bar of soap and quickly
washed his body. Taking a few final
minutes to rinse himself off, he finally shut off the water and climbed
out. He threw on a pair of sweats and
left.
Joe was waiting
for him outside. “Nick, you ready to get
out to the bus?” he asked.
“Yeah, let’s go,
I’m beat,” Nick said, following Joe out of the small venue to where Nick’s tour
bus was parked. He climbed onto the bus
and found Leah sitting on the couch.
“So, what are our
plans for tonight?” she asked, as he sank down tiredly beside her.
“Plans? I don’t know about you, but I just wanna go
to bed,” said Nick, tiredly raking a hand through his wet hair. “I’m exhausted.”
“Oh,” said Leah,
sounding disappointed.
“Why? You wanted to do something?”
“Well, I dunno,
I’m just not tired yet. I’m wide awake
from the show.”
Nick smiled. “Sorry,” he said. “Usually I’m still on an adrenaline rush now,
but it seems to have faded early tonight.
But if you wanna stay up and watch a movie or something, go right
ahead.”
“Okay. I guess I’ll stay up awhile then,” said
Leah. “Go on to bed.”
Nick did just
that, staggering to the back of the bus and collapsing in his bunk. He didn’t know why he was so tired; he
usually was not this beat after the very first concert. Figuring it was just a result of the buildup
of nerves he had experienced before the show, he pulled the covers up around
himself and closed his eyes. All he
needed was a few hours of sleep.
***
Nick awoke the
next morning with renewed energy.
Pushing back the curtains surrounding his bunk, he climbed out of
bed. The curtains were drawn around
Leah’s bunk, and he figured she was still asleep. He hadn’t even heard her go to bed the night
before, having fallen asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.
His stomach
rumbling with hunger, Nick walked to the center of the bus, where the kitchen
area was located. He stuck his head in
one of the cupboards, rummaged around, and emerged with a small box of Frosted
Flakes, which he dumped into a bowl and poured some milk over. He sat at the small table, eating and looking
out the window at the passing scenery.
There was snow on the ground. Having grown up in Florida, seeing snow still
amazed Nick. He would have liked it if
it wasn’t so cold. Nick had never been
big on cold, which was why he liked living in a place with mild winters. He couldn’t imagine being cooped up inside
all winter and not being able to go out on his boat.
Nick’s thoughts
were interrupted by Leah’s voice.
“Nick?” Nick jumped in his seat
and turned his head to find Leah standing there, her blonde hair in tangles
from sleep, her eyes bleary.
“Leah! Hey, I didn’t even see you standing
there. Did you sleep well?”
She
shrugged. “Yeah, I guess so, considering
I’m on a bus. How about you?”
“I slept
okay. I’m used to the whole bus thing by
now, I guess.” Nick smiled. “So, you hungry? There’s cereal in the cupboard.” He nodded to the empty Frosted Flakes box.
“Um, not right
now.”
“Okay. Well, get something to eat whenever you feel
like it.”
Leah nodded and
sat down at the table across from him.
They made small talk and looked out the window while the bus drove
on. After awhile, the bus slowed, and
Nick noticed a rest stop ahead.
“Looks like we’re
going to make a pit stop,” he said. “I’m
gonna get out, are you?”
“Yeah, I guess
so. I should go throw some clothes on,”
Leah said, looking down at her wrinkled spaghetti strap top and pajama bottoms.
“Yeah, me too.”
By the time they
were both dressed, the bus had stopped at a gas station. Nick and Leah climbed off and went into the
gas station. After a quick bathroom
break (despite his many years on the road, Nick still hated using tiny bus
bathrooms), the two wandered through the small convenience store, looking
around. They got some snacks for the
road and took them to the counter. While
the young man behind the counter rang up their food, Nick’s eyes traveled to
the magazine rack. Immediately drawn to
one periodical in particular, Nick groaned.
“What?” Leah
quizzed from beside him.
“Look,” Nick said
flatly, pointing at one of the tabloids.
Leah gasped. There, gracing the front
cover, was a picture of her and Nick on Valentine’s Day, in front of the
restaurant. The headline above the
picture read “Backstreet Boy Nick Carter’s New Love Affair.”
“New love
affair?” quoted Leah, her nose wrinkled in disgust. “God, these people need to get a life. I can’t believe they actually care about who
you’re dating… no offense.”
Nick
laughed. “I don’t get it either. I’m sorry – I didn’t expect you to be in the
tabloids this soon.”
Leah
shrugged. “It’s not a big deal. No harm done, right?”
“No… except when
the teenyboppers get a load of this, I’m sure there’ll be a few hate sites
about you springing up online.”
“Hate sites? But… but they don’t even know my name! How could they-“
“Because they’re jealous
and delusional,” Nick interrupted. “They
hate any girl they see me with.”
Leah
laughed. “Well, I don’t care. Screw them, right?”
“Yeah,” Nick said
with a grin. “Screw them all.”
***
Later that
afternoon, Nick’s cell phone rang.
“Nick Carter,” he
answered.
He was greeted
with a cheerful, “Nickolas Gene Carter, what in the hell do you think you’re
doing dating some trampy stripper, of all people?! I thought I raised you better! Just think what this is going to do to your
reputation!”
“Nice to talk to
you too, Mom,” Nick muttered, rolling his eyes.
His mother sounded irate, and he assumed the “trampy stripper” she was
talking about was Leah. Just how she
knew about Leah and Leah’s career choice was beyond him.
“What did you
say?”
“How the hell do
you know she’s a stripper?” Nick demanded, ignoring his mother’s question.
“So it’s true?!”
“What are you
talking about? Where did you find this
out?” Nick asked again.
“Well, it was in
the latest issue of Globe! I saw it
at the supermarket this morning, and lo and behold, your face was on it! That girl you were with – she’s a stripper?!”
“How did they
find out she’s a-“
“Nickolas, I
don’t know, but they found out, and now it’s all over the world that you’ve got
some trashy new girlfriend that takes her clothes off for money. Just lovely.
What were you thinking? Don’t you
care what people think of you?!”
Nick was
outraged. “No, Mom, that’s just it – I
don’t!”
“Well, you
should! You’re supposed to be a role
model – what will your young fans think?!”
“I don’t give a
crap what they think, Mom! I never
claimed to be a good role model, and I’ll damn well date whoever the hell I
want!”
A click on the
other end of the line signaled that his mother had hung up on him. With a growl of rage, Nick turned off his
cell phone and threw it onto the couch, where it bounced a few times and came
to rest. Aaron was right – Jane Carter
was a bitch, an irrational, shallow, heartless bitch. “Damn her,” he muttered angrily under his
breath.
“Nick?” came a
tiny voice from behind him. Nick turned
to find Leah standing there, her eyes wide.
“I’m sorry you
had to hear that,” he said quietly, giving her a grim half smile.
“That was about
me, wasn’t it? Your mom saw the
tabloid?”
“Yeah. And apparently the tabloid knows… uh… where
you work.”
“How??”
“Your guess is as
good as mine. Maybe whoever sent in that
picture of us together recognized you and knew where you worked. I have no idea. But the truth is out now, I guess.”
Leah sighed. “Great.
Now all your fans will think I’m a slut.”
“Leah, they’d
probably go around calling you a slut anyway, so it’s not a big deal. I like you for who you are, not what you do,
and that’s all that matters.”
Leah smiled a
little. “Really?”
Nick returned the
smile, along with a hug. “Really.”
***