“So what you’re trying to tell me is that the Backstreet Boys were more Millennium-tastic than NSYNC?” Mary said tossing a bag of chips into their overflowing cart.

“Of course Mare, think about it. The Backstreet Boys were all about the image, they had those great ‘deep’ songs. And just THINK about those outfits they had; they matched, but each had their own color, showing that each boy had a separate personality. Don’t even get me started on those music videos” Kim replied in a joking tone, “ Belting out those notes in the rain in ‘Quit Playing Games”, and anyone can dance with a chair in a warehouse was meant for me. However, I must say that Larger than Life was by far the best music video, whoever thought of the outerspace theme was just a pure genius”. She laughed at her own ridiculous as she loaded a couple 12-packs of soda onto the bottom of their cart.

“Now that you mention that, I totally agree” Mary said with a grin “The Backstreet Boys were the kings of the late 90’s early 2000’s”.


Was Nick hearing right? Were there really a couple of girls making fun of his boys, his family, his whole career in the next aisle over? All he wanted to do was buy some groceries for his empty kitchen. After months of touring he was finally home in Orlando and ready to settle down and just chill for a couple of months. He was about to turn down the next aisle when his curiosity got the better of him, he turned his cart around to keep listening to the conversation. He readjusted his hat and glasses and moved slowly down the aisle to keep up with the girls.

“You do realize we’re going to hell, right?” Kim laughed.

“Kimber, obviously, this has been known for a long time” Mary giggled back. “So you remember that parody boy bad MTV made waaaay back in the day, 2gether?”

“You, plus sign, me, equals sign, US!” Kim interpretively danced in the middle of the junk food aisle. She got a couple of strange stares and laughed it off. She often acted before she could really think out something, embarrassed was her middle name.

Mary rolled her eyes at her best friend “Well obviously you do remember, so, random thought here, you know how each of them were supposed to represent a stereotype within the boyband?”

“The heartthrob, the shy one, the cute one, the older brother and the bad boy?” Kim rattled off quickly.
Mary shot her an ‘are you kidding me look?’
“Sorry, you know me and my vast knowledge of useless information. I read too many Snapple caps and watch too much television. So sue me?”

“Anyways, back on topic, which Backstreet Boy was each one. Obviously Kevin was ‘the older brother’, AJ was the ‘badass’, Howie was ‘the shy one’, Brian was ‘the heartthrob’”

“and Nick was ‘the-super-cute-make-the-14-year-olds-faint-if-they-make-eye-contact-or-wave-in their-general-direction’” Kim finished.

“Please, don’t pretend you weren’t one of them Kim, all I’m saying is Valentine’s Day 2000, Pepsi Arena, I believe the a certain Backstreet Boy waved at you and you freaked out”

“NO! that’s not how it happened and you know it. And don’t pretend you weren’t jumping around either. I think a certain ‘badasses’ hip thrusts had you talking for weeks”

“Well, it’s true, I guess. Whatever, truce, the whole grocery store doesn’t need to know about our pop music obsessions” Mary replied.

“Thank god we are so much cooler now” Kim said with a joking smile.

“Pretty much the coolest ladies in all of Orlando, you know, other than the elderly ladies driving their buicks” Mary joked back.

In the next aisle over, Nick covered his mouth to stop from laughing. It turned into a strange cough/laugh that he hoped was convincing enough so he would not get noticed. He was starting to find this conversation really amusing. The way these two talked to each other was comedic. They followed each other’s prompts and tones; he wouldn’t be surprised to see that they were twins. The fact that they were discussing him was strange, it was interesting to hear what people had to say about him, he decided that they weren’t in fact making fun of him or the backstreet boys. They were just joking around about the past, apparently they known each other for a really long time, he figured they were sisters. Usually Nick tried to keep it quiet when he was out in public, especially without a body guard, but he figured that he was in a fairly empty grocery store and it would be ok to remove his disguise. He was in a really good mood and figured he may be able to put a smile on someone’s face

He pushed his cart around the corner to the aisle the girls were in. He removed his hat and glasses and walked over to their cart.

With a big grin on his face he looked at the girls and said “So would you rather I wave or make eye contact? That hip thrust really isn’t an option, I wouldn’t want one of those grannies in a buick to get frisky”

Kim and Mary turned at the same time.
“Holy” Kim started.
“shit” Mary finished.

Nick smiled at the two girls in front of him. He couldn’t tell if their expressions held more shock or embarrassment.

“buh duhduh buh” Kim sputtered. She wasn’t sure how many shades of red a person could turn, but she was pretty confident she had hit every single one of them.

“I’m Nick” he said extending his hand to the taller curly haired brunette on the left.

“I’m completely mortified, and my name is Mary” said Mary with a sheepish grin.

He turned to the shorter brunette on the right. She had found sudden interest in her shoes. Nick put his hand out and she looked up meekly.

Holy shit, she thought, he must have heard that whole conversation. Oh shit oh shit oh shit OH SHIT!!! Ok, calm yourself down. You are a successful 26 year old business woman, you are not a teeny bopper anymore, you can handle this. Breathe in, breathe out, and pray actual words come out this time.

“I’m Kim and I have a terrible habit of sticking my foot in my mouth. It’s very nice to meet you” She said

Way to cover, be cool.

“Nice to meet you two ladies too. WHOA!” Nick said looking down at their full cart. “Feeding a small African country or having a party?”

“Definitely a party. That’s actually why we were, well, um” Mary stuttered “discussing you. You might think it’s kind of lame but it’s a theme party”

“You’re having a Backstreet Boys themed party?” Nick said confusedly giving them a strange look.

These girls are in their mid 20’s at least. This might be the time I start backing away.

“No no no!” Kim laughed “It’s more a time period party. You know how everyone has like 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, or 80’s themed parties?”

“Yeah”

“Well, we were a particularly fond of the late 90’s to early 2000’s. The time when pop music ruled the radios. Sabrina the Teenage Witch was on TGIF and butterfly clips graced the heads of all teenage girls” Mary said wistfully yet jokingly.

“It was pretty much the prime years of our lives. Oh to be a teenager again.” Kim said giggling.

Nick laughed at the two of them standing in front of them. He could tell that they were a lot of fun and this party was going to be a blast.

“ I must say I would agree with you ladies. Those years were pretty great for me too.” Nick agreed. Those were the prime years of his career. The Backstreet Boys could do no wrong in the eyes of their fans, girls would travel hundreds of miles and pay lots of money to see them. Things were a little different now. He didn’t really worry about being ambushed by swarms of girls anymore, in a very strange way he missed it.

“So, what does this party exactly entail?” Nick said shaking himself from his thoughts.

“Well, mostly it’s an excuse to get completely wasted. It’s been a very long couple of weeks for us.” Mary said with a laugh. “But, we will be playing amazing 90’s-2000’s jams including but not limited too of course the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, 98 Degrees, Britney Spears”

“Pre-going completely insane” Kim interjected.

“Of course” Mary agreed “Jessica Simpson, Christina Auguilera, Mandy Moore, Savage Garden, most likely a little Ricky Martin, there will be Bon Bons being shaken. Ummm”


“Definitely TLC, some sugar ray.” Kim said with a straight face “Basically all of the greatest music of our time, oh!! And I totally forgot, Sisqo’s- The Thong Song.”

Nick started laughing “ Are you two serious? That sounds like so much fun; my friends never do anything silly like that.”

“We didn’t even start with what we are going to wear. People think the style of the 70’s and 80’s was crazy. Bascially the boys will be wearing flannel or a sports jersey. Basically the girls get to wear crunchy curly hair, those AMAZING flared jeans with the designs on the leg, and the best part…. BODY GLITTER” Mary said excitedly.

“Wow, just wow, you girls seem to have this all worked out.”

“This has been years of planning, I think we just perfected the place list yesterday” Kim said.

“Well you ladies have fun. I hope you put some tracks from Millennium on that list, it has some good dance songs. It was nice meeting you” Nick said pushing his cart past the girls.

“Bye Nick, it was great meeting you” called Mary.

“Bye!” called Kim.

Kim and Mary wanted nothing else but to turn to each other and start chatting about what had just happened to them. Unfortunately, they had already been overhead talking about Nick in the grocery store and didn’t want to suffer that embarrassment again. They looked at each other and knew exactly how much each other was freaking out inside.

“WAIT , Nick” Kim called after him.

He turned around and looked at her.

“Yeah?”

“If you’re not busy, well, I mean if you’re not busy, or don’t have anything better to do…”Kim started.

“spit it out woman!” Mary hissed quietly in her ear.

“doyouwanttocometoourparty?” Kim asked in lightening speed.

“Excuse me?” Nick asked.

“Would you like to come to our party tomorrow night? I mean, it’s not going to be classy like you’re probably used to, but there will be, lots of food” Kim said pointing to her cart “ and beer and music. It should be really fun.”

Nick smiled. This could be fun he thought, these girls seem really fun, and if not its only one night!

“I think I’d like” he said walking back towards the girls, pulling out his cell phone. “Let me get your number”

Mary gave him her number while Kim dug through her back for something to write their address on. After they exchanged information they went their separate ways. The girls finished their shopping, loaded everything in Kim’s SUV and hopped in their seats and closed to doors.

As soon as the girls buckled their seat belts, they turned to each other and started squealing like the 16 year old girls they used to be.

“KIMBERLY CALLAHAN WHEN THE HELL DID YOU GROW BALLS?!?!” Mary exclaimed to her best friend.

“I have no fucking idea. None at all. I can’t believe he said yes. Do you really think he’s going to come??” Kim asked excitedly.

“I really really hope so. I guess our mom’s were right about picking up cute guys at the grocery store”

“Lila’s not going to believe us. Never.”

“Then let’s pray he comes on Saturday”

The girls were still in shock when they got home from the store. They unloaded their bags and brought them into the kitchen where Lila was eating cereal and reading the newspaper.

"Hey ladies" she said briefly glancing up from her paper. "How was was shopping?"

"Oh you know, the usual. We got all the stuff we needed for the party, most of it was on sale which was good. and oh yeah, WE MET NICK CARTER!" Kim exclaimed dropping her bags onto the counter.

Lila spoon fell out of her hand onto the floor. "SHUT UP, no you didn't. Is this like the time you 'met' Jordan Knight in college?"

“I SAW Jordan Knight, SAW HIM, but no, we totally met Nick Carter”

“Let me guess, your hands brushed as you reached for the same apple. Your eyes locked and it was love at first sight. Butterflies filled your stomach as you both nervously laughed at the predicament you were in. He said ‘no, you take it’ with a smile that melted your heart. You insisted upon him taking it but he was too much of a gentlemen.”

“You missed the part where they made sweet love on the floor of the produce department” Mary said with a grin.

“Oh yes, we are planning on naming our children Avacado and Carrot. The wedding is in November, I already have your bridesmaid dress picked out. It is this really great color, its somewhere between olive green and brown. It has big sleeves and is made of polyester” Kim said sarcastically.

“Sounds awesome, I hope I can wear a scrunchie in my hair” Lila said.

This is how most of the girls conversations went. Sarcasm and laughter always filled the friends’ house. They had known each other since the first day of middle school when they were in the same homeroom. They became inseparable in high school and lived with each other throughout college. Each of them went to a separate university in Boston and pursued their own dreams but they always came together. After graduation; the three of them moved down to Florida together. The all pursued and completed higher degrees, Kim was a CPA, Mary an elementary school teacher and Lila was a dental hygienist. Boyfriends and even a fiancé had come and gone in their lives but the girls remained a tight knit group.
In some ways, the girls were so similar it was almost scary, but in other ways they were like night and day. Kim was the shortest of the group at 5’2, her style was more classic with a hint of trendy when she felt necessary. She was a brand whore but knew how to wear clothes and make something work. She had dark brown wavy hair that landed in her mid back and haunting hazel eyes. Her Irish heritage had blessed her with freckles that made her look more youthful than she was. Lila and Kim always joked that Mary was an old woman stuck in a young woman’s body. Mary had a way of taking clothes that you would never expect someone her age to wear and make it look completely youthful. She favored florals and flowy shirts and dresses. She had a hippy-esque presence with a mouth that would make a sailor blush. It was a strange combination but it was Mary, her kind blue eyes and curly brown hair made captured people’s attention, whether it was her class of fourth graders or a man who saw her. Lila was absolutely beautiful, she was Persian with dark brown eyes and a black curly hair that she insisted upon straightening all the time. She was trendy and the most fashionable of all the girls. Boys wanted to be with her and girls wanted to be her.

“ANYWAYS” Kim said rolling her eyes “We invited him to our party on Saturday, it was completely embarrassing but, I think he might show up.”

“Ok, Kimber, we’ll see.”
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Nick was actually really excited about this party. It wasn’t very often he could hang out with people outside of the business. Sometimes the club scene was too much for him, he didn’t need more trashy girls throwing themselves on him. He was now officially in his late 20s, sleeping with a new girl every night hadn’t thrilled him in awhile.

The prospect of a house party was a little new to him too. He doubted this was a catered affair and probably didn’t have a five figure budget. He saw what was in the girls cart: chips, salsa, soda. Nothing spectacularly fancy and yet he knew it was bound to be fun. Kim and Mary were characters, their reactions to him were priceless. He chuckled to himself as he remembered their faces. He remembered that it was a themed party and began to think about his outfit. He knew what he had to do. He picked up his phone and dialed.

“Hello?”

“Hey J, it’s Nick”

“What’s up man?” AJ answered.

“Not much, how about you?”

“Nothing much, Brian’s over here, we’re just hanging out if you want to come over”

“Sounds good, I have to run home and put away my groceries, I have an idea to run past you later too” Nick said semi-slyly.

“oh god Nick, what is it this time?” AJ said.

Nick laughed “Just wait til I get over to your house man. You’ll be into it, I promise. See you in like 20 minutes”

Nick ran home, put away his groceries, and jumped back in his car. He wanted the guys to come with him to the party, he knew it would take a little work on his part to get them to agree. Especially because it was a theme party, but he had a plan, and he needed them to make it work.

Nick parked his car behind Brian’s, hopped out, and walked up to the door. He was at AJ’s so often he didn’t even knock anymore.

“Hey guys!” Nick called announcing his presence. He walked into AJ’s large kitchen where he saw two of his friends and band mates hanging out.

“What’s going on man?” Brian asked taking a sip of his drink.

“Forget that man, what is this brilliant idea of yours?” AJ said.

Nick grinned, he had known these two men for the majority of his life, they could read him like a book. He had been planning his moves in the car and was pretty sure he could convince the guys to come along with him.

“First let me start with, what are your plans for this weekend?” Nick said.

“Nothing definite yet, why?” AJ asked.

“I was just planning on catching up on some sleep” Brian said.

“Well,” Nick started “How do you feel about going to a party?”

“Sounds good to me, who’s hosting it and where?” Brian asked.

Nick pulled a slip of paper out of his pocket “Well, there names are Kim and Mary, and its looking like it at 38 Golden Ave.”

“A house party?” AJ said confusedly “Are you serious, and who are these girls?”

“I met them today at the grocery store. They are really chill girls, and they invited me and I figured, it’s a party, the more the merrier right?” Nick explained. “you guys still in?”

“The grocery store Nick? What’s next, match.com?” Brian laughed. “I mean, what’s one night though, I’ll go with you, be your wing man. These chicks better be hot.”

“Awesome. J, you in?”

“Why the fuck not. These ladies better not disappoint me Nickolas.” AJ answered.

“This is going to be fun I promise. I gotta run but I will talk to you guys later” Nick said turning to leave. “Oh its themed by the way. Think millennium boys, we are going to party like its 1999 again.”

“What the fuck?” AJ called after Nick. “What do you mean themed?”

It was too late though Nick had the front door opened already. He was going to tell the boys about their outfits a little later. In a time frame when they had no choice but to wear them…

It was the day of the party and Nick had finally found what he was looking for. He had called a lot of people who had worked for the Backstreet Boys in the past and together they had tracked down what Nick had in mind. He was on his way to pick them up when his phone rang. He looked down at the caller ID and flipped the phone open.

“Hey J, what’s up?” Nick asked.

“Hey man, not much. Listen, remember Alli, Beth, and Jennifer? Well they called and they wanted to go out with us tonight.”

“No” Nick stated. He had worked really hard getting the outfits for the night. Not to mention that he really wanted to see those girls again. He could already tell that there weren’t like Alli, Beth, and Jennifer; Mary and Kim were fun and sexy in a completely unpretentious way.

“DUDE! Really, are you still hung up about that house party? You are going to pass up THREE smoking hot women for jungle juice and some chicks from the grocery store?”

Nick laughed; he saw AJ’s point but wasn’t going to change his plans; those girls would definitely be ready and willing to do anything at any point with them.

“Sorry, we have plans. And by the way, I’ll be over your house tonight at like 8 to bring you what your wearing.”

“You must be fucking kidding me.”

“Oh AJ, if only I was. Have some faith in me man! On a scale from one to ten of embarrassment, this will be like a good 6 or 7.”

“But THREE gorgeous woman---“

“You owe me, are you not remembering the Jessica incident of ‘99”

“No, but—“

“OR! The Katie episode of ‘03”

“Well, that was different, she—“

“Or better yet, Candy and Mandy, the blonde twins fiasco of ’05, I know I’m missing some of them too. But the point of this story is, you owe me one, well really about 4257, but who’s counting.”

AJ sighed into the phone. He knew Nick had gotten him out of trouble many times in their friendship. As much as he wasn’t looking forward to tonight, he would go and try not to make a huge deal about how lame it was bound to be. Plus, after a few drinks, it would be fine anyways.

“I’ll see you later, just so you know I am absolutely not the DD tonight.”

“Fine, we’ll make Brian do it. Bye” Nick said before hanging up the phone. He pulled into the parking lot of storage center. He was meeting Clara, a wardrobe manager, there to pick up some clothes. He spotted her and pulled his car up to her; turned it off and hopped out.

“Hey Clara” Nick said giving her a hug.

“Hey yourself! How have you been?! It’s been too long!” she responded with a big smile.

“I’ve been absolutely awesome. It’s so good to see you, how’s it working for people that aren’t us?”

“RE-motherfucking-LAXING I tell you! I think you give boys aged me a good 20 years!” Clara joked. She was in her late 30’s but could easily pass for a girl in her 20s. She
was a spitfire, always kept the boys on their toes and played her fair share of tricks on them. Let’s just say it involved pink satin track suits.

“Bullshit, you’ve missed me” Nick joked.

“Yes, almost as much as you miss your Chlamydia”

“Funny funny, now unlock this storage container and make me look hot once again.”

“Please Carter, it will take a lot more than 8 year old clothing to make you look good. Do you have a paper bag maybe? I can cut out some holes so you can see and
bedazzle is with some sequins and feathers if you want. That’s about the best I can do for you now” Clara said opening the locker.

“You are just full of jokes today aren’t you?” Nick asked.

Clara walked to the third rack and picked three suits off the rack. She had always kept meticulous records and knew where EVERY single one of the boys outfits were.

“Here you are sir. Three fabulously Millennium suits, now usually I would ask was what these are for, but I have to go help some people whose payroll I am still on.” Clara
said handing Nick the plastic covered clothes. “It was great seeing you!”

“It was great seeing you too! I’ll call you later in the week so I can give these back to you” Nick said giving his friend a hug goodbye. “Thanks for this favor, I’ll tell you how tonight turns out”

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
“KIMBERLY CALLAHAN, GET THAT BEAUTIFUL ASS OF YOURS OUT OF BED AND HELP US!” Lila called up the stairs. It was the morning of the party and Mary and Laila were already setting up for the party.

When these girls had a party they went ALL out no matter what. The parties had started in college and got increasingly more intricate and random. They started with common ones: 80’s, toga, black light, Hawaiian, etc, but moved on to some strange themes. There was a naughty librarian party, desperate housewife/handy man, Nickelodeon shows, Willy Wonka, and a Board Game party ( people had to dress up as their favorite board game character, needless to say there was a big fight over who got to be Princess Lolly and Queen Frostine, no one wanted to be Gramma Nut). Back in Boston a big crowd always showed up, the girls had an amazing sound system and everyone had an amazing time. They had only been in Florida for a couple of years and as they got older it was harder to convince people to come. The girls held onto their youth but at the same time their parties got a little more mature. Keystone Light was replaced by beer that was more than $20 a case, their wine no longer came from a box and cheap vodka was no longer an option.

Not everything was mature though; the girls INSISTED upon keeping the beer pong table, no matter what, that game never got old to them and their table held too many memories for them to get rid of it.

Kim rolled over in her bed, covered her head with a pillow and groaned loudly. As much as she loved planning and putting everything together for the party she LOVED her sleep more. She worked so hard each week at work that when the weekend came she slept most of her day away. Reluctantly she got out of bed and headed downstairs to see what her friends were up to.

“What the hell are you two doing?” Kim asked. Mary and Lila were sitting on the ground with three incredibly large stacks of magazines between them. There were pictures torn out and there were roles of tapes scattered across the floor.

“So this morning while you were sleeping away this beautiful day, WE went to the Salvation Army and found GOLD!” Lila said holding up a magazine. “We got all of these magazines for like $5. They are all TeenBeats, TigerBeats, J14’s and such from 1998-2003. ALL of the posters are still in there so we are thinking of putting them all up in the basement.”

The girls had just finished redoing their basement. They had a full bar, pool table and lounge area down there, it was perfect for entertaining and or just hanging out. There was also a door that led out to their pool deck and large backyard. The girls had spent quite a lot of money on the house and loved every inch of the property.
Kim laughed and grabbed a magazine. She sat on the floor and started flipping through it, inside was a huge foldout picture of Nick Carter. She carefully removed the four page poster and unfolded it.

“OH MY GOD” Kim said in a teenybopper voice “ITS NICK CARTER. LIKE, DO YOU TOTALLY THINK THAT HE’LL LIKE, ACTUALLY SHOW UP TONIGHT?!?! Like for realz, I mean, he totally will, right? He’s sooooooooo dreamy, I just love the way his blue eyes sparkle and his smile lights up room. Let’s just hang up this one right here”
Kim grabbed some tape and hung the picture on the door to the basement. Over the past few days she had come to the realization that there wasn’t a snowballs chance in hell that Nick Carter was going to show up to her house. To her party. TO HER THEMED party none the less. At least she would have a good story to tell her friends tonight, of course she and Mary would reenact it, with some exaggeration, no one would expect anything less.

“Kimber, you know there’s a chance he will show up, he has our information and he seemed kinda into it. You are going to be thoroughly embarrassed when that picture is hanging up when he gets here.” Mary said to her.

Mary’s glass was always half full, she was an eternal optimist and it was one of the reason’s Kim loved her so much. There were many times where Kim was jealous of Mary, she had followed her dream to become a school teacher, Kim followed her dream of a large paycheck. Accounting was never a passion of hers, it was just a sure way of a very nice payoff. Work often ran her down, corporate America was not her calling at all.

“OK Mare,” Kim said giving her friend a smile. “What’s up next for us to do?”

“Well, we voted, and you get to go get the booze.” Lila said.

“Ugh, at least let me shower first please” Kim said getting off the couch and heading back upstairs.

“You get 10 minutes tops miss, and we are TIMING YOU, GOOOOO” Mary exclaimed.

“Give me 30 or I’m buying you Rubinoff.” Kim said.

“DONE!” Both girls exclaimed at the same time.

Kim laughed as she walked into the master suite. She paid the most and got the biggest room, it was the best thing about her job, everything in her room was top of the line
and completely hers. Her bathroom was her favorite part of the house, it was humungous with a giant Jacuzzi tub and a big shower with 2 shower heads. Mary and Lila constantly teased her about the water bill, she had a tendency to take showers that lasted hours. It was the best place for her to do her thinking; and the only place she knew she could get time to herself.

Today was a different story, she showered fairly quickly, threw on jeans and her old college sweatshirt and headed to the liquor store. She was planning on getting completely shitfaced tonight, it had been awhile and although she couldn’t drink like she could in college, she could definitely hold her own. She walked down the aisles of the store and grabbed as many bottles as she could. It took her three trips to her car but she managed to get everything back to her car. She was getting very excited for tonight, her outfit had been perfected the night before when she had finally found some butterfly clips and adidas sneakers.

By the time she got home and got the car unloaded, the basement had been wallpapered with teenage celebrities from their middle school/ high school years. The faces of the Backstreet Boys, NSYNC, Christina Aguilera, Britney Spears, OTown and others smiled down at her as she walked by. She was a little creeped out by it, it was like a time warp, this was Lila’s bedroom circa 1999. She recognized some of the same pictures that once hung above Lila’s desk. She quickly put the liquor away and headed back upstairs. It was almost 5 now and she had to start getting ready for the party. Guests weren’t going to start arriving until 9 but Kim had big plans for her hair and outfit. It was going to be a VERY fun night.