“Are you alright?”
“I told you to slow down!”
“Did any of you get hurt?”
“Dammit…I didn’t think they’d come that close!”
Kristine, Alana, and Cassy stood in silence as the five guys talked over and to each other. “Holy shit!” Starr stopped short as she and Jedia came running up. “Is that what you were talking about?”
Jedia nodded, her eyes wide in shock.
“There’s more of you?”
“They must be the smart ones.”
“Are any of you going to say anything?”
“What do you want us to say?” Starr finally snapped out of her trance
“How about if you three are okay or not?”
“We’re fine.” Alana dusted off her jeans “Cassy and I would have gone further if it wasn’t for her screaming.” She pointed at Kristine.
“Why weren’t you two running?”
“Someone had to carry the groceries.” Starr muttered. She elbowed Jedia “You know, you can still speak.”
“Are you guys really the Backstreet Boys?” Jedia finally squeaked.
“Naw, we’re ‘Nsync in disguise.” AJ shook his head. Starr snickered, her eyes brightening.
“Aw shit man, no way.” Nick protested, “That means I’ve got to be Timberlake.”
“If I’ve got to be Chris, can I at least go without the dreads?” Howie asked
“So that makes me Lance?” Kevin asked
AJ faced Brian “Who gets to be JC?”
“You’re Joey.” Brian laughed, “Just go out and get a Superman tattoo and you’re set.”
Kristine shook her head “This is so not happening.” She said “I was hit by that damn van and this is just a really fucked up dream to keep me occupied while I’m in purgatory.”
“Yeah, right.” Starr scoffed “If you can still see Cassy, Alana and I, there’s no way you’re in purgatory. Welcome to hell, honey!”
“Only one way to find out.” Kristine turned back to the boys “Are you guys gay?”
She was met with two blank stares, a grimace, a head shaking, and a “Not last time we checked”. Kristine turned back to Starr with a smug smile on her face “See, not in hell.”
“Then you’re obviously not dead.” Starr shrugged
“There’s logic for you.” Alana patted Starr on the back.
“Did he run over your shirt or something?” Nick looked down at Cassy’s bikini clad chest.
“Pervert.” Cassy shook her head “I traded it for our groceries.”
“So why are you up here anyways?” Jedia asked, looking at Nick and frowning.
“If you were looking to play a show, the city is back that way about 6 hours.” Starr pointed out.
“We’re not touring right now.” Kevin said
“If you read the website at all, we’re supposed to be working on a new album but as you can see, that’s not really working out either.” Brian shrugged
“So instead of sitting in a studio and working out some music and lyrics, you chose to drive around in a really ugly blue van?” Alana asked doubtfully
“Well, when you’re trying to keep a low profile, tour buses and limos call a bit too much attention, especially up in this area.” AJ put in.
“This was actually just supposed to be a stop on our way up to either Vermont or New Hampshire. We figured they’d be slightly quieter and we’d be able to rent a place for a few weeks so we could regroup and breathe.” Brian added, “I didn’t realize how dead this part of New York was.”
“North of the middle of nowhere.” Kristine smiled.
“We’ll probably crash here for a few days and then keep going. The paparazzi is bound to notice if we’re anywhere for more than that and the last thing a place like this is going to need is a bunch of deadline-driven assholes who don’t care about anything other than getting their stories in.” Nick cracked his neck, glancing around at the forest.
“They’d have issues trying to get up here in the first place.” Alana pointed out, “It’s pretty hard to get up here unless you know the roads pretty well. Most of them aren’t labeled and sneak up on you. Plus, I highly doubt any of them would be smart enough to get an SUV or truck. Little cars go through hell on these roads.”
“So do vans.” Howie and AJ said in unison
“So where do we go to get a campsite?” Kevin asked
“Well, you would stop at the main office if it wasn’t a Sunday.” Alana pointed out. “No one is going to be in until about 8 tomorrow morning.”
“Do you even have any tents or anything?” Kristine asked.
“Don’t they have cabins up here?” Brian asked.
“Only privately owned ones.” Cassy said cheerfully, “Looks like you boys are going to be roughing it.”
“Awww, fuck.” Nick groaned.
“We’ve got an extra tent back at our site that we’ve been using to store our extra stuff in. If you guys feel like crashing with us for the night, a few of you could sleep in there and the rest of you could probably find a way to sleep in this thing.” Alana nodded at the van.
“You aren’t going to run off with our clothes to auction off on ebay, are you?” Brian asked.
“Past experience?” Starr asked.
AJ grimaced “The clothes wouldn’t have been so bad if she hadn’t taken pictures of me in and out of them and offered those as a bonus to the highest bidder.”
Cassy whistled, “What did you do to piss her off?”
“Realized that I was spending more to keep her happy then any man every should have to spend and cut her out of my piggy bank.” He said dryly.
“We’re not like that anyways.” Jedia put in “Right girls?”
“Well, I was looking for a new way to pay off the college loans.” Starr looked at the other girls “Kidding!”
“You want to talk to me about loans.” Kristine grumbled “If I don’t manage to get into a decent research organization after graduation, I’m going to be seriously out of luck.”
“All of you are in college?” Howie asked.
“College aged.” Alana corrected “I’m just working right now. School was never really my thing.”
“Kristine and I just go the community college. Cassy is out in Albany and Jedia goes to SU.” Starr said.
“So are you guys coming with us or not?” Cassy asked, tapping her foot “I’m hungry.”
“Oh yeah, food.” Starr shoved one of the bags into Cassy’s arms “Thank you so much for sticking Jedia and I with these.”
“I guess it’s the best idea, at least for tonight.” Kevin said “We’ll get our own campsite tomorrow so we won’t have to impose.”
“You won’t be tonight anyways.” Jedia said “Alana’s parents are gone and there’s plenty of room.”
“Are they going to be okay with us staying there?” Brian asked.
“Only one way to find out.” Alana said cheerfully, taking a bag from Jedia.
“Hop in.” Howie opened the door of the van.
“I’m still driving.” AJ announced, pulling out the keys
“No!” Nine other voices shouted
“I’ll drive.” Kevin held out his hands for the keys. “Will one of you sit up front with me so you can give me directions?”
Alana hopped into the front seat, leaving the other girls to crowd into the back in between the guys. “Jedia, you have the boniest butt in the world.” Cassy shifted underneath her.
“Sorry!” She exclaimed “Are you going to pay for the surgery to get that fixed?”
“Ass implants?” Nick asked with a snicker “That’s one I haven’t hear about yet.”
“It’s the J-lo surgery.” Starr said, staring out the window, “They even engrave her logo on the finished product.” AJ snorted from his place next to her. She turned her head to look at him, a slight smile playing around her mouth. “No blue?”
“Too noticeable.” He shrugged, running his fingers through his dark brown hair. “How long did it take you to get those curls in?”
“Natural.” She said, “Color and curls. I’ve meant to dye it something else for ages now but you know,” She shrugged, “there’s the Mom factor.”
“You’re how old?” He asked, “Why can’t you do it on your own?”
“There’s that whole thing about her letting me live under her roof, eat her food, and those things. She informed me if I was going to try and change what God gave me, I could just forget about all that other stuff.”
“Sucks. I guess my mom really was a strange one. She didn’t care what I did with my appearance as long as I was happy with it.”
“If she has a book out, I’d like to get a copy for my mom.” Starr muttered.
“You’ve got to cut her a little slack.” Kristine put in “Yeah she’s a little strict-"
“Try overbearing, super-bitch.” Cassy put in
“She just doesn’t want to lose you too.” Kristine finished.
“You lost someone in your family?” Kevin’s eyes were sympathetic in the review mirror.
“It’s more like he lost us.” Starr shot Kristine a dirty look. “Dad walked out on us eight years ago and never bothered to look back. I got a birthday card from him for the next three yearsand then they stopped too. You can’t let her use that as an excuse. Your Dad is gone too but your mother didn’t turn into a bitch because of it.”
“She found someone else who made her happy. Your mom hasn’t been able to yet.” Kristine pointed out.
“My dad tried to get back in touch with me finally.” AJ pointed out, “Of course this came after we were getting really big so I’ve always had to wonder if he came back because he wanted me to be a part of his life or if he wanted his share of the cash. At that point it had been Mom and me for so long; there wasn’t a void in my life for him to fill any longer.”
“I don’t want him back.” Starr said venomously, “I appreciate him giving me the other half of my life, but if he thinks he can treat me like a piece of garbage and then come strutting back to open arms, he’s dead wrong.” AJ gave her knee a quick squeeze, his eyes full of understanding.
“This is it.” Alana pointed out their site. “Just pull in behind the RV.”
Maddy struggled against his chain, barking and running around, jumping up and down.
“You’ve got a dog?” Brian asked.
“I guess you could call him that.” She said “His name is Madmartigan.”
“Maddy.” Starr offered “The other is a mouthful.”
“Can he run around loose?” Nick asked.
“As long as there are people around here, he shouldn’t run away.” Alana shrugged.
“Kick ass!” Nick said, hopping out of the van and over to Maddy. The dog jumped up on him, trying to lick his face. He gave out a happy bark and then started to run circles around the people getting out of the van.
“Hey boy.” Starr smiled, kneeling down and hugging him, unhooking his chain. Maddy licked her face and offered his paw. “Good boy. Where’s your ball?” Maddy cocked his head, his ears perking up. “Go get your ball.” She said, pointing to it. After a moment of looking around, Maddy ran over to grab the lime green squeaky football. Starr took it from him and tossed it to Nick. “He’ll keep fetching it as long as you keep throwing it.”
“Brian! Catch!” Nick threw the ball across the campsite to Brian. Maddy ran between the two of them, jumping and trying to snag the ball out of the air, barking excitedly as the two men started laughing.
“I don’t know who’s having more fun,” Kristine remarked, “the dog or those two.”
“You don’t ever want to be pent up in a car or a bus with those two.” AJ cracked his neck, “They go stir crazy after about two hours.”
“Do you want to start getting dinner ready?” Jedia asked Kristine.
“Might as well.” Kristine started searching through the bags, “Looks like we’re either doing hot dogs or spaghetti tonight.”
“Let’s go with the pasta.” Jedia pulled the three jars of tomato sauce from another bag “I don’t want to see another hotdog.”
“Alana’s father is a firm believer that when you’re camping, it’s hot dogs, hamburgers, sausage and potato chips until you puke.” Cassy explained. The green football hit her shoulder and she chucked it back to Brian.
“Nice arm.” He smiled “Come on!”
“Do you need me to help with dinner?” Cassy looked longingly at the game of catch.
“Go ahead, hun.” Jedia smiled sweetly at her. Cassy didn’t need any further permission. She grabbed her Yankees cap from the line and jumped in front of Brian to steal the next throw. Brian tackled her from behind, sending them both into the grass. Maddy ran around them in an excited circle, eventually trying to pull the ball out of Cassy’s grip. When he freed it, he ran it back over to Nick who threw it for him again, as Cassy and Brian tried to untangle themselves.
“So is it just hot dogs that you don’t like or are you a vegetarian?” Howie asked
“I’m not much of a meat eater to begin with. I’ll eat fish and chicken but I just don’t like the taste of beef and pork” Jedia explained with a sheepish smile “Most of the time, I’ll try and choke down one or two because I don’t want to offend Mr. Johns.”
“Do you need any help cooking?” Howie asked.
“If you want to, we aren’t going to object.” Kristine said cheerfully, handing him the bag of vegetables “Do you want to take care of the salad while we try to get the water boiling?”
“Try would be the key word here.” Starr put in, nudging Jedia with a grin “With Jedia around, the water will probably burn before it boils.”
“Like you can really talk,” Jedia retorted “At least I’ve never burnt Cheerios.”
“That was a fire hazard they forgot to tell us about in school.” Starr shrugged “Just remember to keep Kristine away from the bowls.”
“Shut up, Starr.” Kristine handed her the largest pot Alana’s mother had packed. “Can you go get the water for this?”
AJ, Howie, and Kevin stood around speechless. “Are you all seriously that bad at cooking?” Kevin asked finally.
“How in the hell do you burn water and Cheerios?” AJ asked.
“When the pot boils dry and starts smoking because you’re too busy gabbing on the phone, that’s burning water.” Kristine explained.
“The Cheerios thing was just Starr being oblivious.” Jedia said. “She was making her ramen and the box was too close to the burner. Next thing you know, you’ve got Cheerios-flambé.”
“The cat still ate it!” Starr shouted from the water faucet.
“It looked like kitty food by the time we got the fire out.” Jedia laughed.
“Guys, we may have a bit of a problem.” Kristine pulled the three boxes of spaghetti from the bag. “This would be enough for five of us...but I’m not sure about 10.”
Starr came slowly back with the huge pot, water sloshing out onto her clothes. “Well...you guys are celebrities, aren’t you on the starve yourself skinny diets?”
“You’re joking, right?” Kevin shook his head.
“Just ignore her.” Alana shook her head and pulled her class ring out of her pocket. “I’ll go back to the store and trade this for a few more boxes of noodles.”
“Or you can let me go with you and pay for our half of the groceries so you can keep your ring.” AJ put in.
“That’ll work too.” Alana slipped her ring back into her pocket. The store closes in about half an hour so if we’re leaving, we better go now.”
“We’ll get everything else ready.” Kristine waved the two of them off and turned to watch Howie and Kevin cutting into the vegetables with the knives Starr had found for them.
“They’re like two human vego-matics.” Jedia said in awe.
Alana snickered as she started heading down the road with AJ at her side. “You girls seem like you’ve known each other for a long time.” He commented
“Well, they’ve known each other longer than they’ve known me.” She kicked a small rock down the road. “I moved back up here in the seventh grade. The other four have known each other since the first grade.”
“It feels like the five of us have been together forever.” AJ said after a pause. “We’ve been together as a group since 1993 but your friends have been together for even longer than that. I can’t even imagine it.”
“Mmm.” Alana stared straight ahead. “What did you have to do to get a record deal in the first place?”
“Why, do you think you’d want to deal with this shit for a living?” AJ pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and offered her one. Alana took it, placing it between her lips and leaning it into the flame from his lighter. She took a long drag and exhaled.
“I don’t think I’m going to do it, I know I will.”
“You can think you know all you want but a lot of it comes down to dumb luck.” AJ blew the smoke off to the side and looked Alana up and down quickly. “You’ve got the body for show business but there’s more to it than that.”
“Are you saying I have no talent?” Alana threw the cigarette on the road and stomped it out.
“I’m saying what your chorus teacher wrote on your report card might not be enough to cut it in the music business.” AJ looked disdainfully down at the nearly whole cigarette.
“Give me a song.” Alana crossed her arms over her chest “I’m dead serious, just give me a damn song to sing and not any of that stupid pop shit.”
“You know any Broadway stuff?” He asked,
“Enough of it.” She said, tapping her feet. “Just pick something.”
“You’ve got to know My Fair Lady.”
“I can do one song from it off the top of my head.” Alana ran through the scales a few times and then went into I Could Have Danced All Night, the song she had sang for her final high school solo. AJ listened with a frown on his face, searching for something to pick apart. Even in an impromptu performance without much of a warm up, her voice had a clear strength to it that was hard to come by. Her technique was primitive but he couldn’t deny the natural talent. “Well?” She asked, smirking.
“You need to take more formal voice classes.” He sighed “You know you’re good, there’s no reason for me to keep telling you something you already know. You’re not going to get a record deal with what you have right now, but if you were able to refine it, you might have a shot.”
“Thanks.” Alana gloated internally. It was a step down the right path and she’d force herself down there the rest of the way. Their music might suck, but if she could get one of them to talk her up to their company and agents, she could make it out of New York sooner than she had dared to hope.
The two of them fell into a comfortable silence, AJ pulling out a second cigarette when he had smoked the first down to the filter. He eyed her from behind his sunglasses, trying to figure out what about her made him want to chain smoke through the entire pack. He wasn’t even sure how long they were going to be staying there. If she was going to be around, he was going to need a few more packs. “I’m sorry about that.” He finally muttered. “I shouldn’t have insulted you like that.”
Alana looked pleased. “So there is a decent guy inside you somewhere.”
AJ laughed shortly. “Babe, do you have any idea of the number of girls I’ve had to listen to who thought they could sing and I could be the one to land them that record deal? Just take a wild guess.” Alana opened her mouth to speak but he cut her off again “Actually, don’t bother guessing because I couldn’t even remember them all if I tried. You are good, better than I’ve heard in a long time but I wasn’t kidding about the work you’re going to have to put into this if you’re serious.”
“I’ve been serious about this since I was 8.” She shot back “You know how some kids know by the time they enter junior high that they want to be a teacher or a computer geek? I’ve known since I was a kid that I was going to be a star. I can sing, I can act, if I had to, I’ll throw on a clown suit and learn to juggle if I have to but I will see my name right next to yours in some gossip magazine before my prime years are over.”
AJ whistled “With that attitude, I can’t see anyone trying to tell you no.”
“I’d like to see them try.” Alana flipped her hair over her shoulder.
“So you’d be willing to go against your friends and family and leave them all behind just to get what you want?”
“My family knows what I want and they’ll deal with it. If my friends don’t love me enough to want to see me do what makes me happy, then they aren’t really friends, are they?”
“What about if you met someone?” AJ rolled his eyes behind his glasses. Where had that question come from?
“He better be able to keep up with me.” Alana pushed open the door to the store.
“You’re back again?” Mr. Siera shook his head and put down his newspaper.
“Just for some more pasta but we have some money this time.” Alana grabbed the boxes of spaghetti and looked longingly at the liquor. “God I wish I was 21 right now.”
“How old are you then?” AJ asked
“Kristine and I are going to end up turning 20 while we’re up here. Starr and Jedia are 20 already and Cassy is 21.” Alana took the ten dollars he offered her and went to pay for the food.
AJ eyed the alcohol uneasily. He was supposed to be cutting down. It was another reason he agreed to going on a trip into the middle of nowhere, it was supposed to keep him away from his stocked fridge, to help him get some of that need out of his system. He couldn't see what difference a few beers could make in the program, maybe a drink tonight wouldn’t hurt him. “Kevin is going to kill me for this.” He grabbed out a case, not sure if any of the other girls would drink but knowing very well that the other guys would, if only to keep him from going overboard. “Do you sell cigarettes here?” He asked the man at the counter
“You’re not buying that stuff for her, are you?” The man behind the counter asked
“Do I look stupid?” AJ asked
“Right. What brand?”
“Marlboros.” AJ replied “A case if you’ve got it.”
“ID?” The man asked
AJ pulled it out of his wallet and tossed it on the counter for the guy to study. When it was pushed back to him without any comment, he had to smile. Maybe there was something to living in the middle of nowhere. There were no screaming girls asking for hugs, pictures or autographs. He could go into a store without having to watch out for the paparazzi waiting in the bushes outside. The only girls who recognized them seemed to be pretty cool with it. If their entire fan base was like those five, they might be able to use their concerts to concentrate on their music rather than sex appeal. “$17.86.” The man muttered after a moment, taking the twenty and giving him the change.
AJ took the bag with his cigarettes and grabbed the two cases. “You bought beer?” Alana asked, her eyes lighting up.
“Yeah.” He handed her the cigarette bag “Do any of your friends drink?”
“Cassy will. Starr gave it up back in high school and I don’t think Jedia or Kristine would.”
“Party poopers.” He shook his head
Alana’s smile lit up her eyes “Just means there’s more for us.”
“So let’s start over.” AJ took off his sunglasses and took a deep bow. “I’m AJ McLean, boyband stud, sarcastic prick, and full-fledged alcoholic who still enjoys the occasional alcoholic beverage although I’m not supposed to.”
Alana laughed “I’m Alana Johns, disappointing daughter, party animal, destined to be in the entertainment industry, and a former fan of yours.”
“So you did listen to that poppy crap at some point in your life!” AJ pointed a finger at her “I knew it!”
“Don’t get too full of yourself.” Alana shook her head “This street is only big enough for one of our egos and mine was here first.”
“Aww, babe.” AJ draped his free arm loosely around her shoulders, “This is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.”
Author's Chapter Notes:
They're finally in it. I wanted to make sure the girls were developed enough before I dropped in 5 more characters.
