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Chapter Thirteen

I couldn't sleep much that night, thinking about Charley and her scar and what she'd said about Lenny and George. I thought up a barrage of situations to explain it - everything from alien abduction to shark fight to she actually was in a gang/mafia - but I never settled on anything that really did sound possible. By the time I fell asleep, I only had two hours rest before my alarm clock went off, signaling that it was time to get up and get ready to go to the TV appearance.

I showered quickly and pulled on whatever my hands landed on from my suitcase. When the bus pulled up out back of the studio, I was ready to go and Charley radioed ahead of us and led me into the building. Neither of us said much of anything to each other and some tiny part of me started wondering if she'd only been nice to me the day before since I was sort of sick and it was her fault and all.

I didn't thave a ton of time to think because the TV people were ready for us and we were quickly ushered out on stage to sit on these big couches and talk to these morning talk show people. The crowd was packed. Honestly, I was still kinda sleepy.

These crew members set to work making sure we looked good in the lights while the segment was on commercial break, and the show host got a refill on his coffee. "We're gonna interview you, then we've got a few calls on hold for you with questions," the host was saying as they powdered our face and ran lint combs over our chests.

"I hate lint rollers," AJ muttered in disapproval behind me.

"And you're on in 5... 4.. 3... 2... 1..." came the count and just like that we were on air.

Honestly, it probably took a lot more than all that to get us there, but I was exhausted and those are the highlights in our journey from bed to your TV screens.

The host turned to the camera. "And in the studio this morning we have international pop super stars -- the Backstreet Boys," he said in that strange TV-announcer voice that people have on morning shows. He grinned cheesily, then turned to us. "Welcome fellas."

We chorused our usually hi and thank yous.

"So you're here on tour, performing tonight at the Pavillion. How do you like our little city?"

I'm sure he said the actual name of the city, but I don't remember it.

"It's great," AJ answered, "I really like it a lot, I mean I haven't seen a ton but it seems clean and you know... Nice."

"I look forward to spending some time sightseeing," Brian added, "With my wife. Who's flying in." He grinned.

Brian and the host then traded must-see-landmark opinions for a few moments. I used the time to look around and discover that the studio was fairly large, with a big fake plant in the background behind our host. I glanced back at the cameras and noticed Charley was sitting cross-legged in the front row of the studio audience, looking around also. She held a walkie-talkie to her mouth.

I dunno why, but this made me nervous and I started scanning the crowd for Billy.

"Nick?"

I turned, realizing I'd evidently been asked a question and I had no idea what it was. "What?"

"Let's try again," the host laughed. "Any plans for further solo projects in the next couple years?"

"Uh sure, maybe," I replied. I glanced back at Charley, but she was gone. "But I dunno when," I added.

"I'm doing a new solo record," AJ piped up and I was off the hook. I looked around, trying to spot Charley, but she wasn't even in the audience at all anymore. Either that or she'd done some great disguising. I turned back to the host and tried to pay attention for the rest of the segment as he asked us about all kinds of stuff - everything from what our tour buses were like inside to the sorts of charity work we typically do.

After a long series of questions he finally smiled and said, "Okay let's take it to the phones and talk to some fans, shall we?" The host pressed a button on his phone. "Caller number one? You're on the air with the Backstreet Boys."

"Hey guys, I was wondering what you're all currently listening to on your iPods?" we each answered in turn, and the host moved on to the next question, and then the third, and the fourth.

Then, it happened.

"Caller number five, you're on the air."

"Nick?" came the voice. Low and slow but I looked up. I'd heard it in my head for the last week. I gawked around. "Ah, don't you be worryin', I ain't forgotten about you..." Billy chuckled into the phone. "Did you think I forgot?"

Brian, Howie, and AJ were glancing back at me.

"I done tol' you I weren't lettin' ya git away with what you done," Billy continued. "And I ain't."

The host quickly cut him off and hung up the phone. I stared numbly towards the desk, even after Billy's voice had been cut off. My heart raced and I shot my eyes around the crowd again. "Any clue what that was about?" the host laughed in my direction.

"I- uh- I --" I stammered.

Charley was suddenly behind me. "Come on," she hissed and grabbed my forearm, pulling me away from the interview. "So sorry to interrupt," she said to the shocked looking host.

"But we're not done here," he squealed, standing up.

"You've got three other boys to play with," Charley answered, and she pulled me off the set roughly by my elbow as the host began to pitch a fit and the fans booed. But Charley didn't even slow down for their disapproving cries.