It�s hot; it�s hot as hell. I thought, and I could be wrong, that San Diego always had a breeze and it was kind of cool kind of like San Francisco. I don�t know, I guess I was wrong because I�m about to burn up. And if one more person says to me that I should be used to the heat because I�m from Florida I�m going to scream.
�Hi, welcome back to TRL I�m Kevin Richardson. And the Backstreet Boys have taken over TRL here in San Diego.� I zoned out for just a minute then woke up when I felt Kevin�s hand on my shoulder. I looked over at him and he pointed and smiled at a girl with a microphone in her hand,
�You haven�t had a girlfriend in a long time. Do you just not want one?� The crowd started to cheer, encouraging me to answer and I smiled as I waited for the noise to die down,
�Yeah, it�s been a while and no I don�t want one right now.� I glanced over at Kevin and I couldn�t help it,
�If I had a girlfriend I couldn�t be with all of you girls out there.� I pointed out in the audience to no one in particular,
�Especially her.� They screamed even louder and I could see it in his eyes. He kept the smile on his face as he shook his head at me and I knew he wanted to strangle me. I patted him on the back and winked at him as he leaned over and whispered in my ear,
�You�re such a pain in the ass but damn if I don�t love you.� I laughed; he was finally learning. Someone must have told him I only do seventy five percent of the things I do just to get underneath his skin.
AJ and I climbed on Howie�s bus for the trip to LA. It wasn�t so much that we wanted to get on his bus as that he refused to ride either of our buses. He said he didn�t want to catch anything fatal. My bus wasn�t that bad compared to how it was in the past; I was awful back then. I�m surprised I didn't catch anything that would eat away at my flesh.
�So when are we getting a break?� He met some girl in New York that he wanted to go hang out with. Howie looked over at me and knew I was ignoring AJ and spoke up,
�The VMAs is the last thing we have then we have a break.� Howie had remained quiet about his plans for the break. Kevin was going to Kentucky, Brian was going to hang out with his family and I was going down to the Keys to be with mine before we, my family, all headed down to Mexico. I threw a piece of paper at Howie,
�Hey man, what are you doing over the break?� He sighed and picked up the paper,
�Nicky don�t make my bus look like yours.� I rolled my eyes,
�Yeah ok, so what are you doing?� He placed the paper in the trash and sat back down before answering me,
�I�m going to Toronto for a while.� Toronto. Canada. He loves those Canadians girls. He wasn�t kidding when he said he liked the way they said his name; yeah, in his ear.
�What are you going to Toronto for? Or should I say what�s her name?� He shook his head,
�Their names are Cheryl, Brooke, Jillian and Melanie.� I frowned at him and he rolled his eyes,
�I wrote a song for their debut album and they�re going to record it.� He was very much into that, the whole writing thing. I don�t think Howie could write a song that didn't deal with love. I smiled,
�What�s the song about?� He didn�t notice the humor but AJ did and smiled at me as Howie answered,
�It�s about asking someone to give you another chance after making mistakes in a relationship.� I nodded,
�Fresh.� My phone rang and I answered it as they talked between themselves,
�Hello?�
�Hey you.� Brehan, I haven�t spoken to her in a couple of weeks. All I knew was that she and Steven were in not so good of a place and she was drunk,
�How are you doing? I�ve been worried about you.� I called her a couple of times but she never returned my calls. I hope things had only gotten better because she didn't sound good at all that night. Steven had cheated on her and hit her and she wasn�t going to leave him. I hope he had cheated on her and it may sound awful but I hope he left her because sometimes I think that�s the only way she will be free of him.
�Nothing to be worried about. Everything�s great, as usual.� I wonder how much she remembers telling me.
�So, what are you up to?� I didn�t hear anything on her end,
�Hello? Are you there? Brehan?� As soon as when I said her name I wished I wouldn�t because AJ and Howie�s heads popped up like little dogs,
�Yeah, I�m here. I had to take care of something. I�m fine. I�m on my way to LA for a few days.� I haven�t seen her in like three weeks but so many things happen in my life in three weeks it seems like its been forever,
�When are you going to be there? We�re on our way to LA too. We�ll be there soon.� That made them both smile as I listened to her,
�Really? We�ll have to hook up kid. I have a couple of appearances, a couple of photo shoots and stuff like that. I�ll be there tomorrow.� I couldn�t wait to see her. It could be a chance for us to finally get together without anything dramatic happening.
�We have a couple of concerts. Are you going to come?� AJ leaned forward anxiously waiting for some kind of clue from me as to what her answer was,
�Sure, I�ll try and make it. I don�t know what my schedule is like.� That was cool enough. She didn�t really seem like the kind that would be in the audience dancing in the aisles of a concert but it was worth a try,
�Where are you staying?� I�m sure it�s not the same as mine but maybe we could hook up somewhere that was convenient for us both,
�Beverly Wilshire.� Nope, not staying at the same place. The thought of trying to check out of our hotel and stay in hers crossed my mind. But I know that wasn�t going to be an option in a million years. We may have had a light schedule but it wasn�t that light.
�Are you still with that girl I saw you with in New York?� She was talking about Colleen and I wondered why she even brought her name up. Anytime I mentioned her name before her face would scrunch up,
�No, we�re not together. She�s just a friend.� She made a little noise and I knew she didn't believe me. I don�t know why it was hard for people to believe that I could be a friend to a girl. In the past the only reason a girl was my friend was because I wasn�t attracted to her, I was with her friend or she had turned me down. But I�ve changed since then. This girl once told me that a girl, who didn't want to have sex with, would be my best friend. I haven�t found that girl yet but once she explained to me the concept I had to agree and I can�t wait to find my new best friend.
�Hey, I have to go. I�m about to do an interview over the phone.� Before I could say anything she had already hung up.
AJ was the first to pounce on me after I hung up,
�When is she coming to LA?� I rolled my eyes at his eagerness,
�Tomorrow.� AJ rubbed his hands together,
�I am going to get this girl man. I�m telling you.� Nick frowned,
�Dude, she has a boyfriend. It�s not going to happen; get over it.� They both frowned at me and sang in unison,
�What?� I sighed and shook my head,
�She�s dating her manager. Remember? I know I told you guys this.� Their reaction was so genuine that I was wondering if I did tell them or not.
Chapter 59
Stranger Than Fiction
Stories
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