Part I: Someday
Out of the Blue
Nick Carter blinked at the
bright lights before him as he caught his breath.
"Nick! Nick! Nick!"
He smiled and reached for the
microphone in front of him. The last notes of the song he just sang echoed
through the speakers.
"I love you, Nick!"
"You're the best!"
"Nick, marry me!"
"I love you!"
He shook out the sweat from
his hair and drew a breath. The drummer was watching him, waiting to be cued
for the next song. Nick waited while he enjoyed listening to the crowd before
him.
"Nick! Nick! Nick!"
"-solution for number
nine, Nick?"
He turned to cue the drummer
who raised his stick.
"Nick?"
Nick Carter blinked at his
sixth grade math teacher.
"Were you listening? I
said, how do I find a solution to number nine?"
He looked down at his desk.
His math book wasn't even opened. The eyes around him watched as he fumbled
with the textbook in front of him.
His dark-eyed teacher sighed,
exasperated. He had grown familiar with that look on her face.
"Page 28," he heard
someone whisper behind him.
"Thirty eight?" he
asked.
"Twenty-eight."
"You haven't even opened
your book? What have you been doing? Daydreaming? I already had a conversation
with your mother this week. Do I have to have another one? It's not enough that
you're failing this class. You make no effort to even begin to try, Nick,"
Mrs. Fox said. "I bet that you didn't even turn in your homework."
He heard a couple of chuckles
around him as he quickly searched for problem number nine.
Perimeter?
Area?
Length times width?
Add all the sides?
He ran his hands through his
bright blond hair. More laughs emerged from the class.
"Number nine,
Rachel?" Mrs. Fox continued, frustrated, down the rows.
Nick sighed.
His mother was going to kill
him if she called home again. There would be no more auditions, she had said.
He could forget about his voice coach and the modeling job he had lined up that
weekend. Everything would go down the toilet.
But he knew he'd find another
way to get there because he was not going to give up anything. He'd worked too
hard and put up with too much crap to forget about everything.
"See me after class,
Nick," Mrs. Fox said.
"Yes ma'am," he said
and sank lower into his seat.
He heard Samantha's chair
creek behind him as she leaned in. "Wanna copy my homework?"
He closed his eyes. He could
always count on her, and he didn't even know why. They had been friends for a
long time, but only because she tried to help him whenever he got into these
binds.
He simply stuck his hand under
her desk and immediately felt the paper. She was a lifesaver.
"Thanks," he told
her as they walked to their lockers after class. She had waited outside while
Mrs. Fox gave Nick the weekly speech. He was wasting precious time and falling
behind his classmates. Didn't he want to go to college? Get a good job? Was he
even going to make it to middle school?
He had made her all the
familiar promises that he never kept and turned in the homework he'd copied
from Sam.
"You're welcome,"
she said softly.
She was quiet girl who didn't
have many other friends. They were strange pair. He was skinny, blond and short
for his age. She was tall and chubby, and almost looked like an elementary
school weight lifter. She had braces and wore thick glasses that hid her
gray-green eyes.
"Look, it's Nick the
stick!" one of the mouthier, more popular kids called as they passed
through the hall.
"And Sam the ham!"
Another one called.
That's all it took. Nick's
temperature rose. He was used to being teased, but he hated it when they teased
Sam. She was really hurt by the words and was always trying to pretend that she
wasn't.
Her pace quickened. His
slowed.
"They're going on a date
together!"
"They're going to have
skinny piglets when they get married!"
"Hurry Nick," Sam
whispered.
He had altogether stopped.
The first kid stared in
surprise as Nick stood there staring back at him.
"You'd better be in a
running mood, runt," he said. "'Cause if you're stopping here, you're
dying."
He sucked in air and dropped
his books to the floor.
"Stop making fun of
her," he said his voice surprisingly clear and steady, even to himself.
The kid laughed heartily.
"Defending your girlfriend? How nice of you!" He started making pig
noises as he approached Nick.
"Let's go," Sam
pleaded. "Let's go."
"Apologize to her,"
Nick said.
The kid laughed so hard, Nick
felt a sprinkle of spit on his face.
"Apologize to her? Are
you telling me what to do, Nick the stick? Okay," he said and turned to
Sam. "I'm sorry, Sam. I'm sorry you're so ugly and fat, Sam the ham. Sam
the ham!"
Nick pushed him hard. And the
kid landed on the floor. Nick debated whether to run or stay. He shuffled his
feet and almost started to run when the kid came right back at him.
"Fight! Fight!
Fight!" those who surrounded them immediately chanted.
"Nick!" he heard Sam
cry.
He saw stars as he banged his
head when the kid pushed him into the lockers. He saw him rear back and make a
fist. He closed his eyes tight and decided just to forget about modeling. His
mother wasn't going to let him go anyway.
-
"I'm not nervous, I'm not
nervous . . ."
"Alex!"
"Aw, hell," AJ
muttered. He turned his head away from the stage and sent an exasperated look
toward the voice calling him.
She didn't hesitate for a
second. "Oh my gosh, Alex, did you see all the people?"
"No, where?" he
answered sarcastically.
"Right over there,
Alex!" She pointed in the direction of the bleachers and AJ rolled his
eyes.
Was she really that stupid?
"Do you see them?"
Maybe she was.
"It's AJ, not Alex,"
was all he said.
"Aren't you
nervous?"
"No."
"Wow . . ." she
breathed.
"Look, Angie, I'm sorry,
but I have to go . . . um, get ready, so-"
"Can I come with
you?" the girl interrupted. She turned her brown eyes on him hopefully.
"Please?"
"I don't know . . ."
No, no, no, he told himself. Don't give in. You know how annoying she is.
"Please?"
"Well . . ."
There was a long pause. No . .
.
"Oh, fine," he
huffed. As much as she annoyed him, at the same time he hated to hurt her
feelings. "But you have to go away when I say so," the fourteen year
old added as an afterthought.
"Ok, sure! Thanks,
Alex!"
"AJ," he growled.
"It's AJ, not Alex, ok?"
"Sure, Alex!" she
responded happily.
He rolled his eyes and started
for the warm-up area, beginning to regret his decision to let her tag along. A
year younger than him, Angie was the younger sister of another boy who always
seemed to be at the same shows as AJ. Disney was pretty big place, AJ reasoned,
but somehow she always wound up on the same side of the park. It was no secret
she had a huge crush on him, and showed it by continually being in the way and
acting as his shadow. He'd complained to his mother once about the situation
but Denise thought it was cute. AJ thought it was sick. Besides, he was kind of
used to being a loner and not having anyone to talk to especially since
Christie's accident. Things would never be the same, and he wasn't exactly
ready to get into another relationship right now anyway.
"Alex? Are you
listening?" Angie smiled and flipped back a blonde pigtail as he looked at
her.
"Huh? I'm sorry,
what?"
"I said, what are you
doing in the show? Another puppet act?"
"Nah, song and
dance."
"Oh, cool!" she
exclaimed.
AJ nodded absently, running a
hand through his thick brown hair.
"Yeah . . . look Angie,
you're gonna have to go now. Only performers can go past here."
He was making it up, but he
needed some time alone to relax for once.
"Oh, I understand Alex.
I'll see you after the show then!"
"Yeah, okay."
Hopefully not, he thought.
"Bye now.
He watched as she skipped away
and shook his head, moving past some other kids in the show to sit down on an
empty folding chair.
"I'm not nervous, I'm not
nervous," he whispered, beginning his mantra again. He heard a girl
singing up on stage and winced. God, she was awful. It almost made him feel
better.
"Alex, Alex!"
He looked up just to see Angie
racing toward him.
"I forgot to say good
luck," she was exclaiming.
A second later, upon reaching
him, she stumbled, causing the soda she held in her left hand to spill over his
shirt.
She gasped.
AJ stared at her open mouthed.
"Hey, AJ, I'm
sorry," she sputtered.
"Why do you have to be so
damn annoying?!" he exploded, not even noticing she had finally called him
AJ.
"Hey, guys, what happened?"
The voice of Howie Dorough interrupted any answer she might have had.
AJ and the nineteen-year-old
had become good friends as they were at many of the same performances and
contests. Right now, AJ ignored him, "You ruin everything, Angie!"
His voice was sharp.
"I . . ." Angie's
face crumpled and she began to cry. "I'm sorry," she sobbed before
dashing away.
AJ was caught off guard.
"Wait, Angie!"
She didn't stop.
"That was kind of harsh,
Aje." Howie's voice had a chiding tone and AJ sighed.
"I know, D. I'll talk to
her later after the show." He paused. "If I can even find her."
"Alright," Howie
said with a smile. He sat next to AJ in another chair and clapped him on the
back lightly. "You nervous, bud?"
"No." AJ gave the
usual defiant answer.
He saw Howie looking at him
funny.
"Well, yeah."
"How come?"
"I heard people
talking," AJ said after a pause. "They said there might be producers
or managers in the audience," he confided.
"Oh, yeah?" Howie
looked surprised. "Never stopped you before, AJ. Just relax and you'll do
fine. Besides," he started with a smile. "Right now it looks like you
need a new shirt, huh?"
"Yeah . ." AJ smiled
sheepishly at his older friend.
"C'mon."
Fifteen minutes later, AJ
stepped on stage. He took a look at the crowd and immediately relaxed, throwing
them a smile. He reached for the microphone.
"This is for Angie,"
he started. His eyes scanned the crowd. "I just wanna say I'm sorry."
Howie watched him silently,
analyzing his slight friend's moves and listening to his voice inflections. He
had gotten better. AJ always got better. His deceptive look, short, thin,
loaded with attitude made people dismiss him easily. Howie had been guilty of
the same thing and had ended up blown away by AJ's huge voice and honest stage
persona. He was simply who he was: a talented guy who wanted to make people
happy.
Howie sighed thinking that
he'd probably win again.
He wasn't sure where this
defeatist attitude had come from. But lately, all he could do was think about
how maybe his dream wasn't going to come true. He'd been at it too long, going
to auditions, taking singing lessons, competing with the likes of AJ who, by
the way, were getting younger and younger. Hadn't he just lost that
Where was it all going anyway?
He wasn't getting any younger, and maybe it was time to focus more on college
and forget about everything else.
The crowd erupted in applause
as AJ took a bow and smiled.
"Thanks," he said
into the microphone. "Thanks a lot."
Howie straightened his shirt
and headed for the stage. He was next.
It took the MC a few minutes
to silence the crowd that still cheered wildly for AJ and introduce Howie. He
was a tough act to follow, Howie thought.
"Good luck, 'D," AJ
said sincerely as he stepped off the stage.
"Thanks," he told
him.
Howie had to smile when he
took his place on the stage and recognized AJ's grinning face right up in
front. Angie was right next to him with an enormous smile on her baby face.
Howie figured she'd forgiven him. He was a good guy, and maybe he wasn't the
only one who realized that.
He sucked in air as his music
began. He looked up at the crowd and felt his stomach tense up slightly, then
relax. This was normal. His mother waved at him, as did his sisters and
brother. The crowd looked up at him expectantly, then he began to sing.
The expectations turned to
smiles as he sang in his best voice. Little by little, the crowd began to clap
along with him and cheer as he hit the highest notes that he could. He made his
way from one side of the stage to the other and focused on some of the girls in
the crowd. They always ended up with that same embarrassed/flattered look on
their faces. Just for fun, he stopped in front of Angie and reached for her
hand. She smiled at AJ and happily took Howie's hand.
AJ shook his head, and Howie
winked at him.
It was then he remembered what
it was all about.
"Let's get some
food," AJ said.
Neither one of them had even
placed in the contest with the judges being more partial to groups and girls.
Both guys had shrugged away their defeat.
"Okay," Angie said
right away and hooked onto AJ's arm.
Howie chuckled. "Yeah,
okay. You guys just wanna stay here? Or we could--."
"Hi guys."
He looked to find the skinny
blond kid who had won the lottery commercial. They had bumped into him at
auditions many times. He was wearing huge sunglasses that covered up half his
face, but it was him. One doesn't easily forget overly talented twelve-year-olds.
"Hey," AJ said.
"What's up? You singing today?"
He shook his head. "Naw.
Can't. But I just came to check out the contest."
Howie searched quickly through
his brain for his name but couldn't quite come up with it. Apparently, neither
could AJ.
"Should have been up
there competing," Howie said. "AJ says there were producers in the
audience."
The short kid shrugged.
"I couldn't exactly show up and sing like this."
He dramatically pulled off the
sunglasses, as he was obviously proud of his glowing black eye.
AJ laughed and stepped closer
to check it out. "How'd you get that? Does it hurt?"
"At school," said
the kid. "I got in a fight. That's why I can't sing today. I was supposed
to be modeling this weekend too, but not like this."
Howie shook his head. Talented
or not, twelve year olds still had a lot to learn.
"Well, we're going to get
something to eat, if you wanna come," AJ told him.
"Uh--," began the
kid.
"Nickolas Gene
Carter!" they heard someone yell.
Howie winced.
The kid bit his lip and put
the sunglasses back on. "I'd better go. I was just supposed to pick up a
check they owed me. Bet my mom's been looking for me for hours. You guys sang
good."
"Thanks," they said
at different times.
He hurried away toward the
screaming woman who had no problem scolding him in front of all of Disney.
Howie chuckled, and AJ shook
his head.
"That's a strange
kid," he said.
"Hey 'D," AJ began
as they walked toward the food court. "When you were getting off stage,
this guy started talking to me."
"You didn't give him your
number, did you?" Howie teased.
AJ looked confused. "No.
But he gave me his card. He's some kind of talent scout or something.
Look."
He pulled out the card and
gave it to his older friend.
"Trans Continental
Productions?" Howie said. "Never heard of them. You'd better check it
out before getting involved in anything."
AJ nodded. "Of course,
but I was hoping that you'd check it out with me."
"AJ, I don't know. I
don't even know how much longer I'm going to be participating in these
contests. I mean, I have my classes at school, and I can't just blow everything
off to spend the weekend at Disney. I mean, maybe I'm just getting too
old."
AJ looked lost.
"What?"
"Nothing, never mind.
What do you want to eat?" Howie asked.
AJ tried to shake off his confusion
but was determined to get to the bottom of Howie's cryptic words. "Okay.
Whatever. Listen, I don't know what you're talking about. You don't know what
you're talking about. You can't give up now. We're just starting out."
'We're?' Howie wondered.
'Who's we?' Instead he said, "You may be just starting out, Aje, but I'm
not. I'm five years older than you, and I've had five years of disappointments.
I'm not saying that I'm going to quit and never audition for anything again,
but I don't know." He shook his head. "I have to finish college. I
promised my parents that I would. And sometimes, this really gets in the
way."
He might as well have kicked
AJ in the stomach.
"Maybe you guys should do
something together," Angie said.
They both turned to her, amazed
that she was still there.
"What?" the asked in
unison.
"Yeah. If you guys do
something together, I bet it would be cool. You both have such neat voices, and
you saw how the judges liked groups. Maybe you should just compete together,
instead of against each other," she said as if it was the most obvious
thing in the world.
Both guys looked at each
other. She made sense. Maybe too much sense.
-
"Look mommy, look mommy!
It's Aladdin!"
"Oh no . . ." Kevin
Richardson stuffed the last bite of his hot dog in his mouth and swallowed
quickly. The little girl was dragging her mother toward him. This was supposed
to be his break for God's sake. But he did love kids. And that's what got him
through the day.
"Hi, sweetie," Kevin
started, watching as a smile lit up the child's face. That's what he loved more
than anything.
"You're my
favorite," she gushed. Suddenly shy, she stuck out an autograph book
slowly. "Can you sign?"
"Surely. What's your
name?"
"Lisa." He took the
book from her and scribbled a short message.
"There you go, Lisa. Have
fun now . . ."
He was about to turn away when
he felt the mother's hand. Her touch lingered on his muscular upper arm.
"When's your shift end,
Mr. Aladdin?" Her voice was sugary sweet.
"It just started,"
Kevin replied, not missing a bit. He was beginning to get used to this
scenario.
"When's it end?"
"Never . . . Hey, maybe
you should watch out for Lisa," he remarked, watching as the little girl
made her way over to some rides. Crowds of people were moving by, making it
hard to keep track of her.
"Right. Maybe we can get
together some other time then. Want my number?"
"Jasmine's my girl,
sorry," he answered, deadpan. The woman rolled her eyes, recognizing a
lost cause when she saw one.
"Your loss," she
muttered, turning away. As she began to search for her child, Kevin turned
toward a vendor behind him.
"Can I have another hot
dog?"
The hot
"Thanks." The vendor
took his money and began to count out the change. "You look happy,"
the older man remarked.
"That obvious? We are at
the happiest place on earth," Kevin said with a smile.
The vendor snorted.
"Yeah, I keep telling myself
that too. Look man, I saw your performance yesterday. It was good."
"Thanks."
"What I'm saying is,
you've got a chance. I heard about these competitions over on the other side of
the park. Word has it some scouts might be out on the premises."
"For real?" Kevin
was surprised.
The man nodded.
"If I were you, I'd check
it out. They're going on all week."
"Thanks, man. I'll
definitely think about it." He took his food and started away. Wow, this
could be his chance.
-
The next day...
"This is great!" AJ
exclaimed, jumping up and down. "Yes!"
Howie grinned and wrapped an
arm around his younger friend.
Needless to say, Angie's
advice had worked out. Today they had sung a duet of an old Temptations song at
a smaller competition and had placed fourth.
"See man, you can't quit
now! We would've had first place if we'd had a little more practice!" AJ
boasted.
He was so sure of himself,
Howie thought with a smile.
"So how shall we
celebrate, man?" Howie asked. He was beginning to change his mind about
giving this up.
AJ grinned. "McDonald's
of course! Where else?" He rolled his eyes, as if appalled at the fact
Howie hadn't thought of it first.
"Sure, Aje."
-
"Hey guys, hey
guys!" Nick ran towards the warm-up area where he saw his two friends
discussing something. He was glad he had met them. For once he had someone to
talk to before shows, instead of trying to ignore the snobbish people that
would poke fun of others to make them lose their composure. There were a lot of
those people too.
Not to mention that he was kind
of shy meeting new people. More so than he liked to admit at times. But he was
comfortable around AJ and Howie.
"Guys?" Nick broke
off as he came closer. They were harmonizing a Temptations song and sounded
good. Really good. He just listened.
"Hey, Nicky . . ."
Howie greeted when they broke off. "What's up?"
"Um . . ." He forgot
what he had come over to tell them. Oops. He shrugged and adjusted his
sunglasses.
"Wanna try and sing with
us?" AJ offered. "We need someone to take the other verse
anyway."
"Okay!" Nick
grinned.
"You know the song?"
"Yup."
Howie counted down and they
began. AJ took the first verse to start off. When they had finished, they
grinned at each other. They heard clapping and spun around.
"Nice job, boys," a
man said. "Are you gonna be in the show?" They nodded and the man
smiled, walking away.
"So how about it, Nicky?
Wanna be in the show with us?"
"Well . . ." Just
say yes, Nick told himself.
His mom had no idea where he
would be. But wouldn't she be proud when she saw him onstage with these guys?
He wouldn't turn down the opportunity for anything.
"Sure!"
"Great," Howie
grinned, ruffling the kid's hair lightly.
-
He could feel her eyes on him.
He didn't even have to turn around to see the expression on her face because he
knew exactly what it looked like. She was worried, proud, surprised, scared and
in awe of him all at the same time. It was the look of a mother who had seen
her son face death and win.
Brian shot the basketball once
more at the hoop that hung over the driveway then looked at her.
"The trash is waiting to
get picked up," she said.
He nodded. "I know. I was
..."
"You were just stalling,
Brian."
He smiled and placed the
basketball on his hip. She wasn't angry, and he knew that well. She just
expected him to do his chores just like anyone else. That had always been his
struggle: simply to be treated like everyone else.
"Okay, I'm coming,"
he said.
She left the front porch and
returned to making dinner. It wasn't long before Brian had gathered all the
trash from the bedrooms and bathroom and was closing up the bag in the kitchen.
"Have we heard at all
from Kevin?" he asked.
She finished stirring the
contents of one of the pans and seemed to think.
"No, actually, we
haven't. He's been gone so long that it's hard to remember that he lived here
at all."
"He still working at
Disney?"
"I think so," she
said. "That's the last your aunt told me. Why don't you call him up to see
how he's doing?"
Brian twisted the top of the
garbage bag and fastened it with one of those plastic ties.
He sighed, "I don't know.
He never calls, and he's been gone for so long that he probably doesn't even
remember me."
She just laughed. "How
could he forget you? You guys did so many silly things together. Remember when
you'd camp out in the front yard, or when you went out stay with him at the
cabin? All the time you spent on those horses?"
Brian chuckled. "When I
fell off, and he freaked out?"
She shook her head at her
careless, free-spirited son. "You scared him to death, Brian. You always scare
everyone to death."
"Yeah," he said with
a shrug. "But all I really wanted him to say was, 'Hey Brian, get back on
the horse.'"
He pulled up the bag and
started toward the front door. He knew it was something that he wouldn't get
from his protective family. They had always treated him like he was made of
glass, but he had proven, time and time again that he was made of steel. His
family wasn't anywhere near affluent. If anything, sometimes, they barely
scraped by. Brian didn't complain once. He wasn't the most popular guy in
school and was often teased for his deep involvement in the church and for his
participation in plays and choirs. And being short for his age, he had fought
his way onto to the high school basketball team. Everything life had dished
out, he had dealt with, defeated and moved past while his mother watched him
with that familiar expression. His physical heart may have been vulnerable, but
his spirit was stronger than any of them realized. He was sure about that.
He hummed to himself as he
placed the bags on the curb. He could hear the distant laughs and cries of
children who still played in the street. Someone had the TV on way too loud. He
could even tell that they were watching Roseanne.
For some strange reason, he
couldn't get his older cousin off his mind. Kevin had been brave. He had gotten
up and followed his dreams to
-
Nick Carter's own mother was
watching him harmonize with two boys who were obviously older than him. She looked
like she was holding back the flash of anger so familiar in her son. But it was
strange to see him with other kids, was all that she could think. He actually
looked happy and at ease, in spite of the black eye.
She had to half-laugh as he
began to sing the verse of an old song she didn't even realize he knew.
He spotted her watching him
and closed his mouth. Was she going to yell at him in front of all Disney
again? Was she going to drag him off and tell him that he wasn't coming back no
matter what?
She pressed a smile at him,
instead.
"What?" AJ asked.
"What'd you stop?"
"Um, there's my mom. I
didn't tell her that I was going to be here."
"You do that a lot, don't
you?" Howie asked and flashed his best smile at the approaching Mrs.
Carter.
"Mom, I can
explain," he began. "They invited me to, and they--."
"It's okay," she
said. "You guys sound really great, Nick. But your sister's getting
tired."
He sighed and looked up at the
guys. "I'm sorry," he began.
"But," Jane
continued. "You can stay, if you want. Just tell me what time your father
can pick you up. You know what a long drive it is back to
His face completely lit up as
he grinned and practically knocked her down with hug.
"Really? Really? I can
stay? See, I think we really have a good chance of winning tonight,
and--."
He was interrupted again this
time by Denise McLean who had been watching them from the shade of a tree.
"Hi," she greeted.
"I'm AJ's mom."
"Oh mom, that's AJ and
that's Howie," Nick finally said.
She smiled at all of them and
introduced herself to Denise. AJ grinned because he knew his mother was going
to turn on the
He turned to Nick and Howie.
"Okay, well, we're going
to have to pick a song for tonight," he said seriously. "It better be
good because I think we can win."
Howie looked at his confident
friend and made himself nod. He had to get his confidence back. There was
something different about this, and he wasn't about to give in to the doubts
again.
The women watched as their
children began to sing songs they hardly remembered. No one could deny they
sounded great. People stopped to watch them as well and sang along with them.
The boys looked immersed in what they were doing and hardly seemed to notice.
"I'm staying,"
Denise told Jane, finally. "Just tell me what time you're picking up Nick.
We'll stay with him until someone does. I'd ask him to say with us, but he has
school tomorrow."
Jane nodded. "Tell him to
be at main entrance by nine. And thanks, thanks a lot. I don't think you know
how much this means to him."
Denise nodded, knowingly.
"I know, trust me."
"No, no, no." AJ
shook his head. "Let's not do that one . . . Let's do . . ." He
trailed off, at a loss.
They had been singing through
their repertoire of songs, and each time came to the conclusion that a certain
song just wasn't 'it'. They were running out of both songs and time.
"Hey guys," Howie
started slowly, gaining their attention.
The two young boys both looked
antsy, and he shook his head.
"How about we take a walk
around the park? It might help us think a little." He watched them look at
each other and grin.
"Yes!" Nick
exclaimed. "Can we go on rides? Huh? Huh?"
He sent a pleading look
towards Howie, who rolled his eyes. All he had been suggesting was a change of
atmosphere.
"We don't really have
that much time, buddy."
"Sure we do," AJ objected,
pushing Howie playfully. "C'mon, c'mon . . ."
"Maybe. Just a few,"
he relented with a grin.
AJ smiled. "Let me just
tell my mom," he said, running off. He was back in less than a second.
"Ok, let's go!"
"So where exactly to you
guys want to go . . .?"
"
"Okay . . ."
Standing on line for one of
the rides, AJ hummed to himself softly. They needed a song, a song, a song.
Come on AJ, think. There wasn't much time. He looked up and found Nick staring
at him.
"What?" He stopped
humming and looked at the small blonde boy quizzically. "What's up?"
"That's it!" Nick
squealed. He sang a bar of the song AJ had been humming and looked at the older
boy hopefully. He was caught off guard as AJ grabbed him up off the ground in a
hug.
"Yes! Let's find
Howie!" AJ set him down and they both climbed over the barriers that
confined the line, racing toward the direction of where they had left Howie.
"Howie, Howie!"
"Hey guys, what
happened?" Howie stepped back as the guys almost collided into him. They
were breathing heavy and paused a second to catch their breath.
"We . . ." Nick
paused dramatically.
"Got a song!" AJ
finished. "Boys II Men," he said proudly. He watched Howie grin.
"That's perfect! Which
song?"
"End of the Road,"
AJ replied. "Good, huh?"
"Perfect," Howie
repeated.
-
"And the first place
prize goes to . . . The O' Reilly sisters!"
AJ stared open-mouthed.
"They beat us? Those whiny, little-"
"Hey, watch it,"
Howie admonished. "Second place is good. Right, Nicky?"
"Yeah . . ." the boy
trailed off. "But I can't believe they beat us," he added, though not
as venomously as AJ.
Howie rolled his eyes. They
were a group of three sisters who sang country and western music, on top of
line dancing.
"But second is
good," Nick added quickly, as if afraid Howie would be upset with them.
"Guys, it's our first
time singing together. Second place! That's really good. If you both would get
first prize out of your thick heads for a second," he added playfully,
simultaneously knocking on both their heads softly.
"Yeah, yeah," AJ
agreed with a roll of his eyes. "Don't get me wrong- I like second,
D."
"Me too," Nick
added. "I love second."
"You guys are too much .
. ."
"Hey, boys!" They turned
at the sound of the man's voice and AJ grinned as he recognized him.
"It's that guy, D! The
guy that gave me his card."
"What guy?" Nick
asked curiously. He tugged on Howie's sleeve. "What guy, what guy?"
"Shh . . . wait."
Nick crossed his arms with a
pout on his face at Howie's words. Fine, he didn't care. He watched warily as
the man approached, unknowingly moving closer to AJ and Howie.
"I saw your performance,
kids. It was good. Could be better, but it was good." He looked at AJ.
"Have you thought about my offer, son?"
"Still thinking," AJ
answered slyly.
The man smirked.
"I like your sound, boys.
But you could use another voice."
"Another voice?"
Howie repeated.
"Yeah. You're harmony's
good, but you need another voice in there." They nodded. "So here's
the deal. The next few days I'll be looking out for this other voice, and I
expect you all to do the same."
AJ nodded. "Sure thing.
Mr. . .?"
"Pearlman. Call me Lou,
though. I'll be in touch." With that, he disappeared in the crowd.
Nick looked up at his older
friends, chewing on his lip nervously.
"Who was that?" he
asked softly.
"He's a manager at Trans
Continental Productions," Howie filled in.
"So we're gonna have a
manager?" Nick guessed, his baby blue eyes glowing.
"If it goes okay,"
Howie said slowly. "Nothing's ever for sure."
"Right." AJ nodded.
"But we're pretty sure."
Howie rolled his eyes.
"Let's see how things go,
bud." Howie looked at AJ and sighed. From even the short time he knew the
kid, he had learned that the more confident he seemed on the outside, the more
nervous he really was on the inside. Nick, on the other hand, was a different
story. All his worries were written across his baby face.
"Guys . . .? Do we really
need to get someone else?" Nick troubled. "I like it just the three
of us."
"Oh, come on, Nicky. It
won't be that bad," AJ started. "We'll find someone really cool and
nice."
"Yeah, but . . ."
Nick trailed off. "I don't know."
"We'll worry about it
when we get there, buddy, ok?" Howie smiled at the boy reassuringly.
"Guys! Alex!"
"She's back," AJ
groaned, but Howie saw a smile on his face. Angie ran toward them, hair flying
and a grin on her face.
"You guys were so good!
You should've won first!" she gushed. She grinned at AJ. "Wow . .
."
He just laughed.
"We might get famous one
day," he joked.
"You will!" she
exclaimed. "I know it!"
He shook his head.
"Hey, have you met
Nick?"
She shook her head, glancing
at the blonde boy with a smile. "Nick," AJ started. "I'd like
you to meet Angie. My first fan."
In all the time she'd known
AJ, Angie had never received half the reaction she received from young, short,
skinny Nick Carter.
"Hi!" he greeted,
his voice rising an octave or two which sent Howie and AJ chuckling.
She was taken aback by the
wide eyes that stared at her. "Hi," she said cautiously.
"Um, you're really AJ's
fan? Since when? Why? How long have you known him? Do you go to school with
him?" he asked a million miles minute.
She shook her head and stepped
closer to AJ. "Alex, it's getting late, and I'm going home. I was
wondering if you'd be here again next weekend?"
He looked up at the darkening
sky and grinned. "Yup. Next weekend, we're taking first place, right
boys?"
"Well, we'll have to
practice between now and then, and Nicky here lives in
Nick was still fixated on
Angie who now stood so close to AJ that she was actually crowding him.
Howie pulled Nick's arm.
"Hey. Is there a way you can come into town during the week? We do need to
practice. And really, finding that other voice wouldn't be the worst thing that
we could do."
He had finally gotten the
boy's attention back. "Um yeah. I come into town a lot. My voice coach is
here. And I have to practice with the girls," he said making a face.
"What girls?" Howie
asked.
"We perform here
sometimes. I sing. They dance." He shrugged. "It's my mom's thing. I
mean, it's fun, but that's not what I want to do. I'd rather sing with you
guys."
"What don't you do?"
Howie asked a bit sarcastically, then caught himself when he saw Nick
immediately look at the floor. Geez, how sensitive could twelve year olds be?
Especially ones that picked fights at school. "Sorry, man. Okay, well are
you performing with these girls this weekend?"
Nick looked at Howie and then
at AJ. In his few years on the planet, he had rarely felt so comfortable so
quickly around anyone. There was something in both of them that made him
confident and trusted. It was new to him because everyone always thought he was
so goofy. Sometimes, he even thought he was goofy.
"I," he began.
"I'm quitting with the girls. I'm going to tell my mom that today. If
we're going to get a manager and another guy, then this is what I'm going to
do."
AJ laughed. "Yeah. This
is what we're gonna do, 'D. Between now and next weekend, we'll be ready to
blow them away."
Howie looked at them. His
feelings had changed so much since the day before. That familiar rush of
anticipation, hope and expectation began to fill him.
'How can I put so much trust
in those two runts?' he asked himself.
"'D?" AJ asked.
"I don't hear a yes."
"Yes. Yes, this is what
we're going to do. First things first. We need to practice," he said.
"We need a name."
Surprisingly, they looked to
Angie.
"What?" she asked
puzzled.
"Well, it was your idea
that we get together. Got any ideas for a name?" AJ asked.
"Um, how about the Three
Musketeers?"
They all grimaced.
"Never mind," AJ
told her. "We'll get to that later." He turned to Nick. "My mom
will talk to your mom. After that, everything will be settled. My house
guys?"
Nick looked doubtful. For all
his talent and experience, he still had to jump through hoops to be allowed to
try new things.
"My mom will talk to
her," AJ said, reading his mind. "She can talk anyone into anything."
Angie smiled and looked at
him. "Really? Anything?"
He snorted. "Some things
are impossible, Angie. Really."
As if on cue, Denise appeared
at their side.
"It's getting late, AJ. I
promised Nick's mom we'd get him to his dad by nine," she said.
"Yeah. And I still have
homework to do," Howie said. "I have an early class tomorrow. Call me
when you've set things with Nick's mom."
AJ nodded. "Right. And
think of a name between now and then. And maybe about someone else to
join."
Howie nodded as he walked away.
"Okay. Take care. Nicky, no more fights, okay?"
Nick smiled and looked up at
the sky. "I'll try, Howie. But I can't promise you anything."
"C'mon guys," Denise
told them. "Angie, where's your brother? Isn't it getting late for you to
be here?"
Nick made his way closer to
Angie, but she scooted next to AJ.
Denise laughed softly. She
always ended up getting the kids where they needed to be. If her son considered
himself a loner, she couldn't understand why she was always stuck taking people
home. Maybe these children just followed AJ around.
***