[ - ]
Table of Contents [Report This]
Printer Chapter or Story Microsoft Word Chapter or Story
- Text Size +
Chapter Nine

“Nick, I said I was sorry!” Kevin exclaimed as he chased the blonde, stubborn boy out to the bus. Nick continued to ignore Kevin as he hoisted is backpack up onto his shoulder to have better support of it, making his way in to the doors of the open bus. He acted as if he hadn’t heard Kevin, but he had, just as he had earlier that day, the entire day before, as well as the same night as the comment had been made. He was a joke, and because of that he felt as if his life was a joke and he had to walk on eggshells to keep up a serious, mature posture. It had been hard, but in order to get respect, it had to be done.

Kevin sighed as too made his way in to the bus, the doors closing behind him. He took a seat next to AJ, wondering what he’d done that was so horrible. They were always razzing on the blonde, and he’d never seemed to care before, yet this time, he was taking it way to personally. If fact, Kevin was beginning to miss the annoying, hyper, goofy Nick they’d all grown with, but it seemed that Nick was gone.

“What’s with him?” A.J. asked, looking to the blonde who was sitting with his arms crossed, gazing longingly out of the window.

Kevin too looked at Nick, who was obviously trying with all of his will to keep seated still. He was succeeding, surprising the two men, for he usually was bouncing all over the place unable to contain himself.

“I think we need to quit giving him such a hard time,” Kevin finally stated, getting looks from the other two. Nick was still oblivious to what was going on around him, “Uh, just for the time being, at least...” he added.

The bus jerked to a start, rolling slowly out of the hotel parking lot. Normally at this point, Nick would have already been playing his video games, however he’d pulled out a book instead...something that was rarely seen.

“So our next stop is in New Mexico, correct?” Howie asked tiredly as he looked away from Nick, gazing at Kevin, who nodded in response. In ten days, they would be done, ending the world tour in San Francisco. It was going to be a long drive, which meant plenty of time to catch up on sleep for all of them. Their next show wasn’t until the following day. For that, they were all thankful.

The past months had flown by at miraculous speeds. There was a lot that none of them remembered, a few things that were sticking with them. Other events were hazy. None the less, it was all almost behind them.

An hour and a half passed without much conversation. Everybody had found their own thing to get in to, occupying them for the time being. It was apparent that they were all worn down and tired, all five understanding one another in that sense.

“We have a meeting tonight with management soon as we get settled...probably around nine or so.” Kevin informed everybody with a sigh. He got blank stares from the other four followed by a round of groans and complaints, “They want to go over something with us...” his voice trailed off.

“Why can’t they just leave us alone?” Nick whined, already going back to his old self slowly.

“Really...we have ten days left on tour...and we can’t spend it in peace without management riding up our asses because?” A.J. asked


Kevin shrugged, for he too did not know. It was said to be important, but there had been no clues as to what the meeting, which was expected to last only half an hour, was going to be about. Kevin had a slight knot in his stomach, feeling that none of them would really like it for some reason.

The whole gang had sour looks on their faces, all going back to what they were doing. Nick had shifted his body away from Kevin even further, going back to his book. Kevin sighed, knowing he had to fix things with Nick then and there.

“Hey Nick,” he called out. Nick’s eyes rose above the rim of the book, “Want to play me a game of that Formula One Racing thing you have?”

He got the others attention with the question, curiosity filling them. Kevin was usually the one yelling at Nick for playing so many games, threatening to sell his game system if he didn’t take the ‘important’ things more seriously. In fact, everybody had a theory that Kevin had never touched one of the ‘brain washing’ systems in his whole entire life. This suggestion had them all confused, for they knew that the elder man had to have some sort of motive.

Nah, that’s okay,” Nick responded hesitantly, going back to reading.

“Please?” Kevin pushed, “I’d like for you to show me some of your tricks...it actually looks like fun.”

Nick looked up again, not responding, eyeing Kevin as if he knew the man was up to something.. He didn’t look irritated, but rather like he was caught in the middle of two very tough decisions even though it was obvious the path he’d rather take. Nick shrugged nonchalantly as if he didn’t care, but his eyes were glowing, their blue brightening significantly at the opportunity given to him to play his beloved video games.

“Aight,” Nick replied, putting his book down, joining Kevin in the seat next to him, taking control of one of the controlers. He looked at Kevin sideways before grinning, “I’m gonna kick yo ass.” he stated, causing Kevin to laugh. The tension was gone. He had a feeling that Nick had forgiven and forgotten, which he was thankful for.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

“WHAT?” Brian cried out in disbelief, “You cannot be
serious!”

“I go with B-Rok on this one,” Nick replied, “It’s insane...”

“Incredulous.” Howie agreed.

“Do we look like we’re ready to take this on so soon?” Kevin asked, “Seriously...give us a break, literally.”

A.J. just glared at Rick, crossing his arms over his chest. He could think of about a million things he’d like to do to the man, and none of them were nice. Each one was a creative torture method.

Rick sighed, knowing that the Backstreet Boys would not be happy about his encounter, however he thought that they’d at least take it a little bit better than they had. By this point, all five were staring him up and down as if this were all his fault...when in reality, it had been the whole management teams decision. Rick, as always, was just the one selected to deliver the news.

“I know it’s soon and you were expecting three or four months off, but we all feel it is best if you start recording for the new album in six weeks.”

“That only gives us a month off...” A.J. rasped, “ A bloody fucking month...big deal. We don’t even have material planned out for the new album. We haven’t even thought about it yet.”

“Yeah...I mean, we love touring and all that jazz, but I’m with AJ...we’re not prepared in the least for this.” Howie stated.


Rick looked at each one of the unhappy faces before him, knowing that they were not going to be pleased with him for a while. He felt somewhat bad for the Boys, for he knew that they worked hard and needed as well as deserved the break they’d all been expecting and looking forward to.

“I’m sorry,” was all Rick could think of to say, “This is beyond my sole control. The rest of the team talked it over, and we all feel you need to focus and put all your energy and concentration on getting a new album out within year.” he paused, “And to answer your worries, it wouldn’t hurt to start playing with song ideas and writing in your time off.”

Brian rolled his eyes as Kevin threw his hands into the air in frustration and agitation. Rick decided to give them all a few minutes to cool off, for if it were a cartoon, steam would have been coming out of five pair of ears. The situation was surreal, and they felt taken advantage of and over-worked without any space of their own to breathe.

“So not only do we only have a month off, but we have to work during the entire thing?” Kevin exploded.

“Just a suggestion...” Rick corrected, “You don’t have to write your own material.”

“Oh, an album full of covers of other artists songs is what everybody wants to hear.” Brian quipped sarcastically, “Let’s sing to old Beach Boys and Elton John songs.”

Nobody laughed and Rick’s eyes darted nervously around the room, getting a look at each Boys face. They still weren’t happy.

“Brian is right,” Nick agreed, “We need to have mostly our own stuff to keep our music alive and interesting.”

“Then I suggest you get to writing.” Rick told them simply, “Because you don’t have a whole lot of time.” he sighed, “But maybe I can suggest to the others considering giving you an extra month or so.”

‘Gee, thanks for the consideration.” Howie growled, “Don’t bother...”

Rick sighed, figuring that it was no use. He’d spoiled the fives mood, ruining their night off. He knew that they’d all go back to their hotel rooms and complain for the remainder of the night well in to the next day...and for the rest of the six weeks, for that matter. He felt bad, but it couldn’t be reversed now.

“You’re free to leave.” he informed them, standing up to let them know that they were officially dismissed. The five stood up and filed out of the room without another word. Just death glares towards Rick.

“So much for time off to relax.” A.J. chided just loud enough for Rick to hear, “If we all go postal on ourselves and everyone on the management team, know that you drove us to it.” he added, exiting the room behind everyone else with a slammed door.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

He flung himself on to his bed face down as he thought about the events from earlier that day, or evening rather. He could not believe that they were expected to start a new album so soon. It was unreal. Their management had some nerve expecting so much out of them in so little time, and it added a lot of hard-felt feelings to him. He was angry as well as feeling intense pressure on his chest, making him feel as if he could not breathe. A migraine had surfaced making his temples throb.

“As if I didn’t have enough stress in my life.” he muttered, burying his head in his arms in misery.


The thing was, he was planning on ending his life somewhere between the end of the tour and the start of a new one anyways. The thing was, he didn’t expect the start of a new one to happen so soon. And what nobody knew was that before he ended his life, he was going to tell the Boys that he was dropping out of the group. Now, this changed things, for he had less time than he thought to figure things out and plan everything in to perfect place. This added extra tension in the back of his neck and shoulders, like a nauseating pressure pushing him down further and further and extra stress that made him feel he definitely could no longer make it. This was the final straw. The last push that made him realize he simply couldn’t go on any longer. He wasn’t living. He was merely surviving in this fast paced, obligated world. He shouldn’t have to just survive.

“I just cant take this any longer.” he said aloud, “It’s too much....it’s all just too much...” his voice trailed off.

Before, he knew he at least had the potential to make it past the tour. To finish it off and go beyond, doing post tour events for a little while until all the hype had dyed down before following through with his plan to end his constant inner suffering. He’d hid it all so well from everybody, for everyone felt he was fine. Nobody had the slightest clue as to what was happening to him. Now though, he didn’t know if he could hide it anymore. He had to worry about letting everybody down with the new plans in store for them, even though nobody was happy about it. He knew though that when they found out about his death upon himself, they’d be furious, for just because they didn’t want to start work again so soon didn’t mean they didn’t want there to be no group. He just simply could not be a part of it anymore. The life he’d been living was too much for him and he knew he could not handle it. Now he just had to follow through with things this much sooner. Everyone wanted there to still be a Backstreet Boys except for him. The group had plans to produce many more albums as long as they were still popular, wanting to go on for as long as possible except for him. Before the end of the month was over, one member of the group would be gone forever.