While walking to school the next morning, I mailed my entry letter and kept walking in the direction of my school. The contest was supposed to go on for another week before they did the drawing and call up the winner. I kept thinking about it. How weird would it be for A.J. to come to your house and follow you around so that he could get a better understanding of what goes on in a fan's life? I didn't think about it too much because I didn't think that I was going to win. So I kept on walking.
About a couple of weeks later, I got a phone call. Thinking it was one of my friends, I picked it up happily and answered it. "Is this Jennifer Millnitz?" a male voice asked. "Yes," I replied. "I'm calling in regards to the 'A Day In the Life Of A Backstreet Fan' contest. I'm happy to announce that you are the winner!" "Oh my goodness!" I exclaimed. "He's coming by plane right now to see you and spend three days with you." "Okay," I said, trying to sink all of this in. "He should be there at your house sometime tonight," he said. "All right, thanks," I said. "Bye," he said. "Bye," I repeated, hanging up the phone. I started panicking and my knees felt weak. "Mom!" I yelled and I ran to her room.
I told her the whole story. She doesn't like A.J. too much, but she respected the fact that he was actually interested in learning about one of his fans. So I helped her clean up the house while we were waiting for A.J.'s arrival. I was so nervous! I started shaking uncontrollably. I sat quietly in my room after cleaning up. I looked around in my room. Unfortunately, I wasn't allowed to put up posters of any of the Backstreet Boys because my mom was afraid that any kind of tape would peel the paint off of the walls. So, my walls were bare. When A.J. comes, he might not think that I'm a Backstreet Boys fanatic. My friend, Maria, does. Her walls are plastered with pictures. I think she and I are about the same fanatic-wise. Suddenly, my phone rang and it made me jump. Calming down, I answered the phone. "Is this Jennifer... um... Jennifer... ah screw it. Is this Jennifer M.?" another male voice asked. I kind of laughed, "Yes, this is she." "Hey, it's A.J.," he said. My heart started beating faster once he said that. "Oh, uh hi," I said nervously. "I'm here at LAX. I was wondering exactly how to get to your house from here. I'm gonna take a taxi," he explained. I tried to calm myself down and I told him how to get to my house. "Thanks," he said. "By the way, it's Millnitz," I mentioned, smiling. "Oh... I've been trying to figure it out on the plane," he said. I giggled, "That's okay, it happens all the time." "All right, see you in a bit, bye," he said. "Bye," I repeated and hung up the phone. I started shrieking in excitement. He's coming! He's really coming! And I actually talked to A.J.! My goodness! My friends would kill me if they knew about this!
I heard a knock at the door. "Oh my God! He's here!" I said out loud. "Jenny! He's here," my mom said, coming in my room. "Did you get the door?" I asked, hoping she did. "No, you get it. He's your guest." I got nervous again and I went to the door with my little dog, Nannette, yapping at the door as she usually does. I tried to keep her quiet as I unlocked the door and opened it. I can't tell you how I felt at that moment. My knees were weaker than before, my heart was pounding so hard against my chest that it felt like it would burst out, and my nerves went completely numb. There he was. A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys! In the flesh! He was even more gorgeous in person. I quickly snapped out of my trance and said, "Hi." "Hi," he repeated, "Are you Jennifer?" "Yes," I replied, somewhat calming down. I stepped aside so that he could be let in. I took notice of what he was wearing finally, because his face was all I saw. He wore fitting blue jeans with a black tank top and a long-sleeved jean jacket. His hair was his natural color (shockingly yes) and the typical curly hair when it grows long was covered a bit by his black studded bandanna. He wore his usual tinted black shades, but he took them off when he came into the house (and also because he saw my mom's look at him). "A.J., this is my mom," I introduced. He extended his hand and my mom took it. He smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, Mrs.... uh..." "Millnitz," I finished for him when he paused. "Yeah, sorry. I'm having a problem pronouncing the last name of yours," he apologized. "That's all right," my mom said politely. He then turned to me, "You know what? I'm a little hungry, you want to go out to get something to eat?" "Sure, we'll go to McDonald's," I said, knowing where he likes to eat. My mom said that I could drive him and we were off to Mickey D's!
After picking up some food at McDonald's, I drove A.J. and I back home. We sat in the kitchen and ate our food. My mom ate in her room as she usually did and also to let us talk. We sat and he said to me, "It's surprising that a lot of fans still remember what I usually get at McDonald's." "Well, you did mention what you specifically get at McDonald's on the self-titled enhanced CD," I told him. "Oh yeah," he remembered, "Why do you remember even the littlest things about us?" "I think that fans either want to, or just want to know so that they could maybe talk about it or even compete with each other. They sometimes use those little facts for humor," I tried to explain. "Why do you guys compete with each other?" he asked, then stuffing some fries in his mouth. "Girls want to be the number one fan of any group they like, which means that they compete to be number one," I said, "They want to know everything about you so that they look like they're the best. Some fans will do anything to get your attention and rant on about how they met you. But then again, things affect fans in different ways. Some act totally wild and others are calmer." "Do you guys make fun of us? You mentioned humor," he said. "Yeah, but it's all good humor. We like to laugh not at you, but with you. But most fans think that we are making fun of you guys in a bad way and then they assume that we're not fans. Which is not true. I know that you guys even make fun of yourselves and it's good humor. You love each other like brothers," I said. "Yeah, we do," he agreed. Then he looked up from his Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, "Let me ask about just you. First of all, how old are you?" "I'm 18," I said. "How long have you been a Backstreet Boys fan?" he asked. "Since I heard 'Quit Playing Games' on the radio. I know that you released 'We've Got It Goin' On' but I don't remember hearing it on the radio. My friend said she did," I said. "How many concerts have you been to?" he asked, still eating. Right there, I felt embarrassed, "I've only been to two," I said, softly, taking a sip from my soda. "Which ones?" "Johnny No-Name and Black and Blue," I said, "I wanted to go to the first tour here in America and the Millennium ones but I couldn't get tickets." "How did you like my friend, Johnny No-Name?" he asked with a smile. "He was awesome! I had so much fun at the concert, mostly because it was my first concert," I said. "It was your first concert?" he asked. "Yeah, and it was really funny because I had no clue just how crazy those concerts are. Then Johnny comes out and I didn't know that he had an English accent, so I freaked out because I love English accents," I said. He kind of laughed, "Yeah. You went to the one at the Wiltern Theater, right?" "Yeah, I was so glad that Howie was there too! I was in heaven when I saw him," I told him, "And it was even better when I saw him in his car after the concert. He had to stop at the traffic light because it was red and I was like 5 feet away from him at the corner. He was so cute because he waved at me and some other girls before he drove off when the light turned green." "I'm guessing Howie's your favorite," he said, then taking a sip from his soda. I felt embarrassed again, "Yeah." "Just out of curiosity, why is he your favorite?" he asked. "Well, when I first started liking the Backstreet Boys, I actually didn't have a favorite. I could never decide who I liked better because you all have unique personalities that make you all so lovable. But then, I realized I started liking Brian and then slowly it became Howie. It came to be Howie because we're so alike. We are both kind, caring, polite, respectful, and everything. I mean, I love all of you and I would never exclude any of you or anything." He nodded, understanding what I was saying. I continued, "I think girls pick favorites of guys who most likely relate to their personality. Either that or they all pick the cutest out of the bunch." "Nick," he plainly said. "Yeah," I said, "But I've noticed that you're getting a lot more fans though. I heard the most screaming at the Staples Center for you and Nick." "Yeah, I kind of heard that," he said with a smile. "I see your head getting bigger," I joked. He laughed, "I'm not big-headed, just egotistical." I laughed, "Tell me something I don't know." "Hey!" he said. "I'm kidding," I said. "When you went to the 'Black and Blue' concert, what'd you think?" he asked, continuing with his questions. "It was great! The special effects were amazing and the dancing was good. Unfortunately, I was directly across the stage in the back so I couldn't see any of you very well. You were all about 3 or 4 inches tall to me. So, I had to watch the screen for the majority of the concert," I said. "That sucks," he said. "I still enjoyed the concert though, I was so mad at myself because I didn't bring any tissues with me," I mentioned. "That's another thing, why do you girls cry all the time? I don't understand that," he said. "Girls cry because they're happy to see you in person. It's like a release for them. They strive to see you in person and when they see you, they get a little emotional. I saw you in person for the first time and I almost started to cry at the concert. It's amazing to see you right there, the people you look up to and idolize. Also another reason would be the songs that you sing. They could relate to that person and they start crying. For me personally, I cried during 'Show Me the Meaning of Being Lonely' because I could relate to the lyrics and how I felt when my brother died," I said. "Your brother died? When?" he asked, concerned. "About six months after Howie's sister died," I replied sadly. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said. "It's all right," I said, then continued, "Anyway, girls probably mostly cry because of the way you sing the songs and express the feelings of the ballads. I saw you perform with Shania Twain on her special to 'From This Moment On' and I started to cry because you all sounded so perfect. It doesn't really give you an impact on a studio album because it's dubbed and everything." "How about this, why do you girls scream so damn much and so damn loud? It's fucking crazy," he mentioned. "It's a way to tell you that we love you and are glad to see you. It's also a way to give off our excitement when we see you in person, I mean it is so exciting to see your idols in person. Another reason why we scream, especially during concerts, is when you do something that we like a lot, we scream louder to tell you so. You know, the pelvic thrusts and when you show your chest and stuff like that." He smiled, "You sound like Howie, 'And stuff like that.'" "Shutup," I said. "I see what you mean though. How come fans like to chase after us? Why can't they just talk to us in a normal fashion?" he asked. "Because they want a piece of you. Let's face it, they'll do anything to have your jacket, shirt, hat, pants, bandannas, and even hair. They want to have something physical to remember you by and to show off. They don't think twice about what they're doing and they can go crazy to touch you and what not," I said. "What about you? Have you tried?" he asked. "No, I'm far from that. I mean, when Howie was in front of me in his car, I just stood there and smiled at him. Basically, I was too shocked to do much anyway. But seriously, I would never do that. Look, I didn't do anything to you now, did I?" He looked at me and started to think about it, "Hmm..." "Oh shutup," I said, playfully hitting his arm. "See? See? You hit me!" he playfully said. I laughed, "You're mean." "I'm mean? I don't think so," he said. I shook my head at that. He stuck his hand in his pocket and got out his Marlboro Lights cigarettes and took one out along with his lighter. "You can go smoke that outside," I mentioned. "But your mom smokes in the house," he protested. "Yeah, but that's because she lives here," I said, "And this is her house. I know you're a guest and everything but I'm not going to have you smoke in the house." He took off his sunglasses to look at me better, "Fine. I won't smoke." He put the cigarette back in the box and put that and his lighter back in his pocket. "Are you against smoking or something?" he asked. "Very much so," I replied. "Why?" he asked, crossing his legs. "Because my mom is a chain smoker and everytime I'm around her, I can't breathe. I'd rather die a normal death than from smoking. I know it calms your nerves and everything but it's not good for you." "Yeah, I know," he said. "Then why don't you quit?" I asked. "It's hard to for one thing. I did quit once for Howie's birthday for about three months, but I went crazy and started up again," he explained. "I don't care if you smoke, just don't do it around me. I'm sorry if I sound rude, but I can't stand the smell of smoke" I apologized. "I know," he said, "Don't worry about it." "Thanks," I said and I got up to throw my wrapper and fry box. A.J. did the same and took a last sip of his soda before throwing it away. "So, what now?" he asked, clasping his hands eagerly. I giggled, "Come on."
We went to my room so he could check out my bare walls. "And you call yourself a fan," he said sarcastically, taking notice. "I am too!" I protested, "My mom doesn't want me to plaster any posters whatsoever because she's afraid that the tape will peel the paint off of the walls. It happened in my other room, I moved in here recently. This was my brother's room." "Your brother's room? Isn't that kind of creepy, you know, with your brother gone and all?" he asked. "And the fact that he died in this room yeah a little. But he was very kind-hearted and so is his spirit," I said. He nodded understandably and went over to my bookcase. "Woah!" he said, seeing all of my Backstreet Boys stuff in my huge book case, "You've got books, videos, CDs, magazines... sheesh, is there anything you don't have?" "The real things," I joked. He shook his head and smiled, "Why do you collect all of this stuff anyway?" "Just to have and show people that I love the Backstreet Boys. I love all of the stuff that I have collected. It has great information, pictures, and other stuff. Who knows? They might become collector's items." "That I can guarentee," he said. "Come here, I want to show you something," I said, motioning him to come to my computer. He came over and sat on my bed. I sat in the chair and turned my computer on. "What do you want to show me?" he asked. "You'll see," I sad. It went to my desktop theme where I had a wallpaper of A.J. and Howie and "I Want It That Way" started playing. "I've seen that," he mentioned. "What about this?" I asked, opening up my music files. I had over 1,000 music files and sounds in one folder of just Backstreet Boys. "Shit!" he said, "I take it back, you are a fan." I laughed, "Of course I am!" He asked me to play some of them and about half of them he remembered and some I reminded him of what it was and then he automatically remembered. "That was so long ago," he recalled. "It's funny to see what kind of stuff is on the internet," I mentioned. "Yeah," he agreed. "My friend has a lot of stuff, not on her computer though. She has mostly pictures galore," I said. "Who is this friend you keep talking about?" he asked. "My friend, Maria. She is also a huge fan," I replied. "Could you call her? I want to see what you guys usually talk about in a normal conversation," he said. "It's about you guys," I said. "I know," he said. "Okay," I said, picking up the phone, "There's a phone in the living room, you can listen there." He went to the living room and picked up the phone, "Okay, dial away and I'll stay quiet." I tried not to laugh at that comment and I dialed Maria's phone number. "Hello?" she answered. "Hey," I said. "Hey," she said. "Wazzup?" I said; I usually do that to scare her. "Uh, nothing much, just doing my English homework," she replied, "Anything new with the Backstreet Boys?" I smiled, just urging to tell her that A.J. was at my house! But I knew that I couldn't, "Nah, nothing much. I'm still having memories of when the CBS special premiered, it was so cool!" "Yeah, what was with A.J. and his 'Good God' thing?" "I don't know, I thought it was funny. Practically everybody says it now when they hear that song." "Hey, 'More Than That' is number one today!" she said excitingly, obviously watching TRL. "Oh cool," I said. She started singing a little bit of it and then she said, "They all look so good in this video." "Yeah, they do. Even Nick. I don't know why Melina likes Howie's hair straight, I like it curly. It's more natural and it goes with the color of his clothes," I mentioned. "Yeah," she agreed. "I'm also glad that A.J. swallowed that piercing or else we would have to keep looking at it," I said, also afraid that A.J. might say something but he kept quiet. "Oh, by the way, Brian just came in from the pool. He squeaks when he walks," she said, laughing. I laughed as well, "Tell the chicken 'hello'," I said. She told him and came back on the phone, "He says hi mommy." I smiled. "My cousin's over here too," she mentioned. "Say hi to Train as well," I said. She told him and she said that he said the same. "Where's Howie?" she asked. "He's out with A.J.," I said. "Getting drunk?" she asked. "Probably," I said. She was silent for a while, "How do you spell 'electroencephalographically'?" "Wait... You know what? I don't know," I said, trying to think of how to spell it. "Go ask Nick," she said. "Nick can't spell," I said. "Neither can A.J.," she said. "Why?" I asked. "Easy, his name is A.J. That means he can't spell. That's why he named his dog, J.D. His alphabet is A, J, D," she said. "Ooohh," I said. "Hey!" he said. There was silence on the phone. "Uhhh, who was that?" she asked. In my mind, I knew I was caught, but I tried to lie. "No one, you're hearing things again," I said. "Uh-huh, sure. Now who was that?" she asked, not believing me. "Nobody," I tried to assure her. "Hey I'm not a nobody," he said. "Damn it! Shutup!" I said to A.J., "All right, I'll tell you who it is although you won't believe me. It's A.J." She started laughing hysterically, "Good one. Now who is it really?" "No, she's right. It's me, A.J.," he told her, "I'm sorry that I interrupted your phone conversation." There was silence on the phone. "Maria? Are you still there?" I asked. "Uh... oh my God! It is A.J.!" she finally said, "What the hell is going on here?" "She kidnapped me," A.J. joked. "Don't listen to him, he's just as bad as Brian." She giggled. I explained to her the whole story and why he was at my house. "And you didn't tell me this, why?" "It never came up, he came over this afternoon," I told her, "AnyHowie, so how are you?" "AnyHowie?" he asked. "It's a word Maria made up," I said. "Why were you talking about Brian at your house?" he asked. "Oh, it's just something we do as a little fun thing. She's married to Brian and I'm married to Howie." "Okay," he said, still sounding a little confused. "It's all made up," I said. "I see that," he said. "Note to self: Kill Jennifer!" "What?" I asked, "He wanted to listen to our conversation. That's the whole part of this contest. To find out what a Backstreet fan usually does everyday. But I better be going anyway." "Why?" she asked. "Because my mom doesn't like it when people are over and I talk on the phone too long," I explained. "But A.J.'s talking with us," Maria said. "I know but my mom is old fashioned," I said. "Okay," she gave in, "Hey A.J. it was nice talking to you." "It was nice meeting you," he said. "You behave Jen, all right?" she said. "I will," I assured her, "Okay bye Brian." "Bye Howie," she said, then hung up. After I hung up, A.J. came into my room. "That was weird," he commented. "What?" I asked. "Just that whole conversation," he said, "You two make up whatever we're doing?" "Yeah, it's something fun that we do. It keeps us from boredom. We even talk about current events with you and give each other opinionated questions to answer," I said. He was still confused, but he just brushed it off. We went to the kitchen and we got something to drink. A.J. saw that we had some Coors Light in there. "Can I have one?" he asked. "Sure," I said, grabbing a Diet Coke for myself. He grabbed a Coors Light and followed me back to my room.
A.J. and I decided to watch some TV and even some of the videos about them. I laughed at A.J.'s reaction with the "Back Street Stories" video. "We were so young," he said. "You were cute when you were young, so innocent and tattoo-less," I remarked. He gave me an evil stare, "So, what else do you want to do?" "Uh, well, I'm getting a bit tired actually," I told him. "I'm not," he said. "You never sleep," I mentioned. "True dat," he said, trying to sound black. "Yo, I be wit dat," I said, going along, "I better stop or else I'll sound like Justin." He laughed, "You mean Justin Timberlake of *NSync?" "That's the one," I replied. "Do you like *NSync?" he asked. "Not at all," I said honestly, "I wish they would take their copy-cating asses and leave the music business." "Well, yeah, they do copy some of our style. But imitation is the best form of flattery," he said. "Not when they do it 24/7," I said. He nodded agreeingly. "But, as long as you are together for a long time, we don't have to worry about them," I hinted. "We're not going to break up, we have too much to do together. We have plans of making many more albums and making everyone happy," he said. "Exactly," I said, "But I think I should be getting to bed." I knew that he was a yakker so I had to say that. "Besides, I have school tomorrow," I mentioned. "School? What school do you go to?" he asked. "James Monroe High School. I'm a senior," I replied. "I'll go to school with you, I want to see what you do there with your friends," he said. "We'll have to get a visitors pass for you tomorrow morning then," I said. "All right," he said. "I have to take a shower now, I'll be out in about 10 minutes," I mentioned, taking my pajamas and going into the bathroom. I went into the bathroom and closed the door. About 20 minutes later (okay I take a long time in the shower), I came out in my pajamas and my hair wrapped in a towel. I heard my radio on to DMX's song, "Party Up." I silently walked to the door to my room. I saw A.J. bobbing his head and singing a little bit to it. I smiled and then A.J. turned around to see me. He went to the stereo and turned it down. "Sorry," he apologized. "That's okay, you can turn it up a little bit. I like this song," I said. He did turn it up and we listened to it. When I was next to him, I smelled the scent of freshly created smoke emanating from his clothes. I knew that he probably went out for a smoke. I didn't care, he can smoke if he wants, just not around me. "I like a lot of stuff, I don't just listen to you guys," I mentioned, ignoring it. "I know, I saw your CD collection over there. You have some good stuff," he complimented. "Thanks," I said and I took off my towel and my wet hair cascaded down. I messed around with it to air-dry it. "I guess I'll take a shower too," he said. I went to the towel closet and I got him some towels. He thanked me and went to the bathroom. After he took a shower, he came out in a black shirt and shorts and his bandanna on. He caught a glimpse of me putting my hair in a braid and putting on my Backstreet Boys bandanna. He came up to me and he pulled it down over my forehead. "Now we match," he said, looking satisfied. I started laughing and I said, "Thanks." "So, where should I sleep?" he asked. "Well, we have a couch bed if you'd like to sleep on that," I suggested. "Nah, can I sleep in your room? You know, on the floor?" he asked. "Um, sure," I said, confused as to why he wanted to sleep on the floor of my room, "I just hope that you don't snore like Howie." He laughed, "No, I don't." I smiled and got into bed, "We'll have to get up at 5:30 so we can leave at 6:30 to get you a visitor's pass." "Fine by me," he said, "I'm used to early mornings." "I'm sure you are," I remarked, turning off the light.
The alarm woke me up from a deep sleep. For some reason, I forgot that A.J. was on the floor. So when I got up to turn off the alarm, I literally tripped over A.J. and I landed inside my closet. I got back up again and I turned off the alarm. A.J. didn't seem to have felt me trip over him, for he just sat up and said, "That's a loud alarm." "Yeah, I know. It's the only thing that'll wake me up," I said. "So, did you dream about me?" he asked with a grin. "I don't have many dreams about any of you," I said honestly, "I don't know why though." "What kind of dreams do you have with us in them?" "I've had bad dreams, weird ones, and some good ones. One with you too," I replied. "What was the one like with me?" he said. "I'd rather not tell you. Let me put it this way, it involved all of you being in an action movie and you were all kicking some ass," I said. "Yeah," he said, liking the idea of them fighting in a movie. He got up and he gestured to let me go first to the bathroom, "Ladies first." "Thanks," I said. I went into the bathroom and I freshened up and put my make up on. I put my hair into a ponytail as I normally do. When I came out, A.J. was already dressed and in a black long sleeved shirt to cover his tattoos. He went into the bathroom. I went to the kitchen to make us a quick breakfast. I made some omelets. He came to the kitchen and I took notice of his sunglasses and bandanna. "I forgot to tell you that you can't wear those to school," I mentioned, handing him a plate of food. "Oh, you mean the sunglasses and bandanna?" he asked. "Yeah," I replied. "Okay," he said, "I'll take them off when we get there." I joined him at the table with my omelet and we started eating. "I'm sorry, but rules are rules and my school is pretty strict. Unfortunately, you will be noticed by some people," I mentioned. "Are there security guards there?" he asked. "Yeah, there are a couple, so I don't think that you have to worry too much," I assured him. "So, how far is your school?" he asked. "It's about a half-hour walk from here?" I replied. "You walk?" he asked. "Yeah, I hope you have your walking shoes on," I said. "I do," he said, showing me his shoes, "I got my Nikes on." I laughed a little and showed mine, "Well, I've got my Cross Trekkers that I got from Payless on." That made him laugh and we continued eating.
I got my stuff ready and I zipped up my backpack. I took my CD player and we headed out. As we were walking, A.J. stayed by my side. I have a bad habit of walking really fast because I'm usually late in the mornings, so A.J. had to try to keep up with me. When I took notice of what I was doing, I slowed down for him. "I'm sorry, I'm a fast walker," I apologized. He noticed my CD player in my hand. "Let me guess, you have 'Black and Blue' in there," he assumed. "Yeah," I said, "You feel like listening to yourself?" "Sure," he said. I gave him the other earphone as I put one in my ear. He did the same and I played it. "The Call" started and I mentioned to him, "I saw the lyrics for this song before I heard it and I guessed that you would be the guy calling his girlfriend." "How come you guessed it was me?" he asked. "I'm not saying that you're a cheating type, but you would play one," I replied. "What did you think of this song when you first heard it?" he asked. "I was amazed at how different it was," I replied, "The music is great and I was excited to hear how good it was. But when I heard the lyrics, I was like, 'Um okay.' Although, I thought that the opening music overpowered the dialogue that was being said." He changed to "Shape Of My Heart" and we listened to it. "How about this song?" he asked. "I heard this song on KIIS FM and I was definitely amazed. I liked how it had a dramatic beginning to it. It sounded like a heart beat. Then it goes into the chorus and I fell in love with it. But when it went to your part, the second verse, I noticed it was very poetic. 'Sadness is beautiful, loneliness is tragical.' At first I was confused because I'm not used to the Backstreet Boys singing something like that. I'm not saying that it's bad, it's very good." "I understand," he said, "What are your favorite songs on this album?" "'The Call,' 'Shape Of My Heart,' 'Get Another Boyfriend,' 'Shining Star,'-" "You're not going to name the whole album are you?" he interrupted me. "No, I just have a lot of favorite songs," I replied. Then I continued, "'Answer To Our Life,' 'Everyone,' 'More Than That,' 'Not For Me,' 'Yes I Will,' 'It's True,' 'What Makes You Different,' and 'How Did I Fall In Love With You.'" "You did too name the whole album," he said. "I did not, I missed 'I Promise You' and 'Time,'" I said. "Same difference," he said with a grin. I gave him a stare. "Sure, yeah right," I impersonated him from the countdown they did on MTV back in 1998 or so. Of course, he didn't get that, but it sure amused me. I didn't want to go into detail with that so I left it.
We arrived at my school and he followed me into the hall. He quickly took off his bandanna and sunglasses and stuffed them in his pocket. He tried to fix his hair a bit and then we went inside. It didn't take as long as I thought it would, so we had about as half an hour before I had to go to class. "Where do you want to go?" he asked. "Hmm... well, let's go to where my first period is and sit down on the curb," I suggested. We went to the hall where my class was and sat down on the curb next to the door. "People are going to recognize me for sure," he said, thinking out loud. "We'll just explain to the ones who do recognize you why you're here, it's no big deal," I told him, "How about I call you Alex to my teachers?" "Okay, but I might not answer to it," he said. "'Cause you're so used to A.J.?" I asked. "Yeah," he replied, "What is your first period anyway?" "Insurance," I answered. "Insurance?" he echoed in surprise. "Yeah. Car, life, home, and health insurance. You learn about how each work so you get a better understanding of it," I explained. "It's weird being at school again," he mentioned. "It is?" I asked. "Yeah, I haven't been to a school since we performed in them back in 1993, 1994," he said. "I've seen the performances on TV," I told him. "Unfortunately," he said. "What? You guys looked so cute!" I said, smiling. He shook his head. "You looked normal," I said. "Oh, I'm not normal now?" he asked. "Umm... well," I teased. He laughed, "Okay, I admit. I looked all right then. But I look better now." "Aren't we narcissistic?" I joked. "Shutup. I am not," he said. "I'm teasing," I said, "I must admit, you do look better now. Even now because you don't have your sunglasses on. I think you look better without them." "Yeah, you and everybody else. I'm too used to them, they're like a part of me now," he said. "Let me see your glasses," I said, gesturing for the glasses. He took them off and handed them to me. I looked through them and it didn't really make my eyes hurt. I took them off and handed them back to him. "They're not that strong," I said. "Yours are stronger?" he asked, holding his glasses in his hands. "Oh yeah, I have bifocals," I said. "Let me see," he gestured for mine. "Your eyes are going to hurt," I warned him. "I won't keep them on too long," he assured me. I took my glasses off and held his while he put mine on. "Holy shit! I can see like ten times better with these," he said, then took them off. "I know, I'm blind," I told him as I took my glasses from him. I gave his pair back and as I was about to put mine back on, he stopped me. "You have nice eyes, you should wear contacts," he suggested. "I do have contacts but they're for far distance only. If I look at anything up close, like reading, I can damage my eyes more," I told him. "Don't they have these bifocal contacts?" he asked. "Yeah, but I heard that they don't work too well," I said. "You still have beautiful eyes that should be shown, not covered up," he said. "Thanks," I said, "You too."
The bell rang overhead. "Are you late?" he asked. "No, that was the ten minute bell," I replied looking at my watch, "We've got ten minutes. Another thing I have to tell you is that my school is crowded! And I mean crowded!" "Yeah, I could imagine," he said. My teacher, Mr. Tyni, came along and opened the door. I got up and went over to him to explain why A.J... uh... Alex was here. Mr. Tyni understood and he let him sit in his chair (although Mr. Tyni had to kick his snotty T.A. out of his chair so that Alex could sit. She walked away in a huff to another seat). I sat in my seat which was right across where he was sitting. He looked at me and he slouched in his seat to watch.
Finally, the bell rang for second period. I got up and put on my backpack. A.J. came up to me and asked, "What were you writing? I noticed you were writing a lot." I looked at my notebook and said, "A novel." "A novel? About what?" he asked, shocked. "It's a romance novel," I said. "Oh," he said, "Damn you write a lot." "I'm always writing. I always carry a notebook and a pen with me at school," I said, "Because I always have ideas for stories."
We arrived at my second period class, Economics. I was a little nervous because I knew my friend, Melina, who is a *NSync fan, would probably say something to him. I opened the door nervously and went into the classroom. Some of the girls looked at him and they started whispering to each other. I went up to my teacher, Ms. Draheim, and explained the situation with Alex. She told him that he could sit in the corner of the room. He agreed to that and sat in the chair. Melina looked at him and asked, "Is that A.J.?" I nodded excitingly. "Okay, what is he doing here?" she asked. I told her the story and she was stunned that I actually won a contest. "So, he has to follow you around? Isn't that stalking?" she asked. "Well, it's part of the contest," I said. She looked at him again and he was looking at the ground with his hands together. She looked back at me and said, "Well, at least he looks better with his tattoos covered and without his sunglasses on." "I couldn't agree with you more," I said. She turned back around and we did a review for a test that we had the next day.
After the bell rang, we all headed to T-Hall where we hang out for the 12 minutes we have for Nutrition. We went to go meet up with Janett, a Freshman and a big Backstreet Boys fan and her favorite is Kevin. "Okay, we're meeting up with our friend Janett, she's a big Kevin fan," I told him. "You don't have to tell him that, she's a fan of Kevin, not A.J.," Melina remarked. "Yeah, but she still loves all of the Backstreet Boys," I said. "So why do you have to tell him that?" "Sorry, I'm just nervous," I said, trying to end our little feud, which we normally have everyday. When we arrived at the room that we usually hang in, we saw Janett. Melina went in first and I came in after her followed by A.J. I couldn't wait to see her face when she sees A.J. We came in and Janett looked over at me and then A.J. "Oh my God!" she said, walking away a little bit, then she looked at us again, "Is that...?" I nodded and smiled. She started to cry and cover her mouth with both hands. A.J. went over to her to try to calm her down. Finally, she calmed down a bit. He tried to talk to her and she smiled at him the whole time with tear-stained eyes.
The time went fast and the bell rang to go to third period. We all left the room and A.J. followed me to my guitar class. "We're gonna have to read for 15 minutes before we play," I told him. "That's fine," he said. He sat next to my seat while I told my teacher about why he was here. "Are you that guy who's in the Backstreet Boys or something?" asked Lorenzo, an immature classmate of mine. A.J. looked at him and said, "You got a problem with them?" "I just wanted to know," he said. "Then yes, I am," A.J. said. "No, you're not," Lorenzo said, "You're one of those wannabes." "Whatever you say," A.J. said, obviously not caring about what he said. "Don't listen to him," I told A.J. while I took a seat next to him. "I'm not," he said, going back to reading a book I had with me. I took out my notebook and I started writing. I noticed that A.J. was trying to read what I was writing and I covered it up with my hands. I looked at him and he whispered to me, "Why can't I read it?" "Because you can't," I whispered back. He went back to reading a little frustrated.
After the 15 minutes, my teacher told the girls to get our guitars first. So I went to get my guitar and when I got one, I happened to notice that A.J. had my notebook! "Hey!" I said, running up to him, "Give it back!" He put it back on my desk and said, "I was just reading your poem in there. It was very good." "Which one?" I asked. "The one dedicated to us," he replied. I automatically knew it was the one entitled, "Was It Really Eight Years Ago?" "Oh... well, I guess that's okay," I said. I got my guitar out of the case and I noticed that A.J. was getting a guitar as well. I sat down on the desk and tuned up my guitar. A.J. sat next to me and did the same. "You're gonna play with us?" I asked. "Why not? It'll give me some practice in," he said. I opened my folder that had our music in it and I shared it with him. It was so amazing because he knew all the chords and he played along on each song. I couldn't help but smile. My teacher was showing A.J. some fancy techniques that he could do for some of the songs while we were practicing by ourselves. Then A.J. and my teacher started talking about different things. "Would you like to play a little something before the class ends?" Mr. Faigin asked. "Yeah," A.J. said. "Hey, could you teach me how to play 'Bad To the Bone'? I'm sure Johnny taught you how," I said to A.J. He smiled a little bit, "Yeah, he did." So he showed me the little riff that's in the beginning of the song. I practiced it and I got better at it. "You know what I do know? The concert version of 'That's What She Said,'" I said. "Show me," he said. I played the beginning of the song, the first verse and the chorus. "That was good," he commented, "I remember Brian having a little trouble learning how to play it on his guitar. But now he's a lot better." As A.J. promised, he went to the front of the class and he started showing off a bit. He played some songs and some solo bits. A.J. was very good! I was surprised, but then again he usually fools around with his guitar. Afterwards, we put our guitars away and we headed off to my fourth period when the bell rang.
We entered in my Journalism class. I told him that my teacher was very talkative and he always speaks his mind. So I introduced A.J. to Mr. Solkovits. He shook A.J.'s hand and then A.J. decided to explain to my teacher for me about why he was here. My teacher nodded understandably and let him sit next to me. One of my classmates, Karla, came into the classroom and she started staring at A.J. I could tell that she was trying to figure out if it was really him or not. She finally came over to where we were sitting at. "You look so much like A.J. McLean of the Backstreet Boys," she commented. He looked at her and said, "That's because I am." Her mouth dropped open a little. "Oh my God," she said, "For real?" He nodded. "Karla! Stop talking to Jennifer's guest and get in your seat," Mr. Solkovits said. She looked at him, "But, it's A.J. of the Backstreet Boys." "I know that, we've been properly introduced already. Now sit," he said. She obeyed and sat in her chair across the room. Just because my teacher told her to sit, didn't mean that she couldn't stare at him the whole time. We started working on our feature stories. A.J. wanted to help me out with mine. He was very good with words and he helped me out a lot, although Mr. Solkovits told him that I should do it on my own. Karla and her friends couldn't help but stare and whisper to each other. "Karla, �por qu� est�s hablando?" Mr. Solkovits asked her. Translation for all of you non-Spanish speakers, he asked her why she was talking. "Sorry, Mr. Solkovits," she apologized, then she tried to stay quiet for the remainder of the class.
The lunch bell rang and we went to lunch. "Great, I'm starved," he said, rubbing his hands together. "I hate to burst your bubble, but we usually don't eat at school," I told him. "Oh, okay," he said. "Unless you want to get some school food," I said, "It's about a buck each for chips and a soda and two bucks each for a pizza and a Subway." "Nah I'm cool," he said. He followed me back to T-Hall to where my friends were waiting for us.
This time, my friend Vanessa came to the room. She's a student at Mission college, a community college. She likes to come and visit us when she doesn't have classes to worry about. But at this time, she's on vacation. I didn't know if Janett told her about A.J. being here or not. I also warned A.J. about Vanessa, telling him that she's a big fan of his. "This should be interesting," he remarked. "Yeah," I agreed, "I can't wait to see this." We walked in and sure enough, Vanessa was in there listening to her "Sugar Ray" CD. She was writing something in her notebook. She looked up when I came in. She was about to say hi to me but the words didn't come out. She saw A.J. and became speechless. Finally, she found her voice, "Oh my God! Is that A.J.?" "Yeah," he replied, "And you must be Vanessa." "Yes," she said with a smile, "Why are you here?" A.J. volunteered to tell her the story as I got my CD player out of my backpack. I started blasting (well, as far as it would go) "The Call." Janett and Melina came in just then. Melina went to sit down on the of the desks and she started doing her math homework. I started talking with Vanessa and Janett while A.J. sat down on the desk with the CD player and he started to occupy himself by listening to it. They felt intimidated by his presence (especially Vanessa). "Oh, I was watching 'All Access' again," Janett told me. "Yeah? See, I told you that you would like it," I said. "Yeah, it's funny," she commented. "I love it when Kevin does his little 'O' face during the dance to 'As Long As You Love Me,'" I mentioned, "And I'm sure you liked it when you saw Kevin's boxers every time he threw the baseball to Brian." "You mean on the set of 'As Long As You Love Me'?" she asked. "Yeah," I said. She blushed. "I knew it," I said. I took Vanessa's TV Guide that had the picture of A.J. on the front cover. I opened it to the goofy picture that I love so much. I started laughing at the picture while Vanessa started singing, "Kung Fu Fighting" because Kevin was doing this punch thing. "Hey, let's play a little game called, 'Find A.J.'s Ass,'" I said, then I turned the picture upside down and I pulled it closer to my eyes to try to look for A.J.'s ass, "Nope, still can't find it." I glanced over at A.J. and he perked up when he heard what I said. "Shutup, he does too have an ass," Vanessa protested. "Listen, Kevin's got an ass, Brian's got an ass, Howie's got an ass, and Nick's definitely got an ass. Now A.J., I just don't see it." I saw A.J. out of the corner of my eye and I saw him smile a little bit and shaking his head at my antics. "Howie's got some fine Puerto Rican ass, sorry had to say it," I said. "Yeah, sure," she teased. "Speaking of Howie," I said, "What in Sam hell does he do during 'Everybody'?" "You mean the 'broken cheerleader'?" Vanessa asked. "Yeah," I said and I showed them with A.J. watching me as well. What I showed them was the part where they put their right leg behind their left and then take the same leg and bring it around to the front before they go into the famous hand thing. Let me put it this way on how Howie does it, just watch "Homecoming: Live In Orlando." He looks like he locks his knee while bringing it forward thus being the 'broken cheerleader' as we like to call it. When I did it, the girls laughed and even A.J. did. Probably not realizing what Howie really did until now. "That is so funny!" Vanessa commented. "Oh, I forgot to tell you. When I was talking to Maria a couple of days ago, she told me that something smelled. I told her to take a shower. Then she told me that it was Brian so I told her to tell him to take a shower. She then told me that she wasn't sure if it was against his religion or not," I said. They started laughing and Janett said, "Against his religion?" "Yeah," I said, "And I was like 'Oooh! That's mean!'" I saw A.J. shaking his head once more. The bell rang for fifth period. "Aw man, lunch is so short," I commented. I packed up my CD player and CDs and we all headed out to fifth period. Janett said her good-byes to A.J. and Vanessa, A.J., and I went to my Drama class.
We came into the room and sat down on the upper chairs. I told him that it was a Drama class and that got him a little excited. "We don't do anything really in here," I mentioned. "Oh," he said, losing some excitement. "We have to read again for 15 minutes," I said. "Again? Didn't we do that in your guitar class?" he asked. "Yeah, but it's a school rule to read for 15 minutes in your third and fifth periods everyday," I explained. He sighed and took one of my books that I offered to him to read. I started writing again and since he was sitting next to me, I could sense his eyes on my notebook as I wrote. Vanessa was on the other side of me and she couldn't stop looking at A.J. I covered up my notebook so he'd stop reading it. "I saw my name in there," he whispered. "That's why I don't want you to read it," I explained. "So, what are you writing about me for?" he asked. "I'll tell you later, okay?" I tried to compromise so that I wouldn't have to tell him right then. He agreed to that and went back to reading. He then looked at me again and said, "By the way, I do too have an ass." He stood up a little bit and patted his ass before he sat down again. I covered my mouth, trying to hold in my laughter. "Jennifer," my teacher, Ms. Morgan, tried to hush me. "Sorry," I apologized. After the fifteen minutes, I put my notebook away quickly even though I was in the middle of a thought. "Okay, what were you writing about me for?" he asked again. "I'll tell you when we get home A.J.," I explained.
After fifth period, we went to my Spanish class. I was fearing one girl in that class because she absolutely loves A.J. and I didn't know what her reaction was going to be. I seriously was thinking that she was going to rip him apart. I felt my heart beating faster and my breath a bit heavy. "What's wrong?" he asked, concerned. "I'm just thinking about my friend who's in my sixth period. She's a huge fan of you and I have this bad feeling that she'll tear your clothes off or something," I replied. "That's what you said about your other friend," he said. "No, she's different." "I'm sure it'll be okay. You're talking to the Bonedaddy here, I can handle it," he assured me with a little smile. I smiled, "All right. Let's go in then." When we entered the room, I scanned the room to see if Jackee was there (the girl who I was worrying about) and she wasn't there yet. Usually I arrived in the room before she did so that was good. A.J. explained the situation to my Spanish teacher, Mrs. Houser. She seemed a little reluctant but she let him stay; thinking that he might be a distraction from my work. I told him that I was a T.A. and I corrected mainly the Spanish homework and assignments, sometimes French. "Spanish? I know some Spanish, but that's always been Howie's job," he said. He sat down next to me by Mrs. Houser's desk. I started correcting some work and A.J. took off his glasses to watch me. I happened to see Jackee come in. She said hi to me then she stopped dead in her tracks. She looked at A.J. and she pointed to him and she started stuttering inaudible words. Mrs. Houser started pushing her to her seat and she was still in shock. "Jackee, sit down," Mrs. Houser said to her. She obeyed and she kept staring at him. I finally made eye contact with her and I mouthed to her. She did to, asking if it was really A.J. I nodded and I mouthed to her to pay attention or else Mrs. Houser would get mad. She tried not to look at him during class. I looked out of the corner of my eye and I saw that A.J. was watching me work. I must say that A.J. looked really cute when he was looking at what I was doing without his glasses. He's got such gorgeous eyes that he always hides.
While I was working, I happened to see A.J. grab my notebook and my pen from beside me. I was curious as to what he was doing, but I didn't say anything. When I was finished, so was he I assumed. "What's that?" I asked, looking at the writing to try to read it. "It's an idea for a song or something, I don't have much right now but it's a start," he replied. "Can I see it?" I asked. "Yeah, sure," he said, letting me look at it. I looked at the paper and I read it. "That's really nice," I complemented. "Thanks," he said, "It's just an idea."
When the period was almost over, Jackee came over to us. "Oh my God!" she said, "I'm such a big fan." "Thank you," he said. "Why are you here?" she asked. A.J. explained for me. "You won a contest? And he spends three days with you?" she asked me. I nodded. "I would die to be in your place!" she said, "Aren't you at all excited?" "Yeah, I am, but I've already gone through the 'Oh my God' stage," I said. "So, what are you going to do today?" she asked. "Probably stay at home," I replied. "You're not going to go out to the movies? Or shopping? Or anything?" she asked. "Jackee, if you can recognize him, everyone else will and I don't want to risk that except at school," I told her. "Oh, I understand," she said, "I got to go though Jenny, I have to catch the bus." "Okay," I said, "See ya tomorrow." "You're coming tomorrow, right A.J.?" "Yeah, I'll see you tomorrow," he replied, "It was nice meeting you Jackee." He took her hand and kissed it. She blushed and she then left, obviously not wanting to since she was backing out the door. When she left, I couldn't help but laugh. I got up and put my backpack on. "What?" he asked. "I've never seen her so lovestruck before," I replied, "And you are a flirt." "I just know how to make a woman feel happy," he plainly said. "I can tell," I told him.
We started the journey to my house and we listened to my CD player again. "How many times do you hear 'Oh my God' a day?" I asked. "Too many to even notice now," he replied. "I have a question," I started, "How come y'all are sick of 'Get Down' and 'We've Got It Goin' On'? Because I'm not." "We are sick of it. We've been singing those songs for years. Same thing with the dancing. We can't do it anymore," he replied. "Well, it is hard, and I've noticed some of you faking the knee jump," I mentioned. "Yeah well," he said. "But I'm still not sick of it," I said. "How come?" he asked. "They're good songs and I love singing them," I answered, "I don't think I ever get tired of your songs. I listen to the new album one day and the next, I listen to the other albums." "Do you know any of the other songs on the singles?" he asked. "Yep, all of them," I replied happily, "I even have the early songs you sang like, 'Loverboy' and 'Get Ready, Here I Come.'" "No shit, you do? he asked, shocked. I laughed, "Yep!"
We arrived at my house and the first thing that came out of his mouth was, "Why were you writing about me?" I looked at him and said, "You're so persistent, aren't you?" He just gave me a look, "I just wanna know." "All right, I'll tell you. You ever heard of 'Fan Fiction'" "Yeah, is that what you're writing?" he asked. I nodded, "And it's not about you particularly, it's about Nick." "Why Nick? Don't you like Howie?" he asked. "Yeah, but I've already written about him. I'm trying to write a story about each one of you and it's Nick's turn," I explained. "Have you written one about me yet?" he wondered. "Not yet," I replied, "But soon I will if I can get some ideas. I've only written about Howie and Nick right now." "What are they about?" he asked. I told him a summary of the plots while he tried to picture it in his mind. "Can I read them?" he asked, following me to my room. "I'd rather you not," I said, thinking about A.J.'s roles in both of them. "Why not?" he asked. "You won't like them, trust me," I replied. "What? You don't like your stories or something?" he asked. "Yeah," I said, which was half of the truth. "I read that poem and it was pretty good. I'm sure that your stories are good too," he said. I shook my head, "Not really." "All right, whatever you say," he gave up, "I'm gotta take a piss, I'll be back." He got up and went to the bathroom. I smiled, holding in my laughter on how he said that. I took this advantage to call up Maria while sitting at my computer. "Hello?" she answered. "Dude, A.J.'s in the bathroom so now I can talk to you, but for a little bit," I told her. "You are so lucky! Are you gonna come over to my house and bring him?" she asked. "We'll see, I'll have to ask my mom if I can borrow the car," I replied. "Let me know, all right?" she asked. "Sure, I will," I said turning on my computer. It started up and I brought up my website program . I started working on it as usual and I said to her, "You know what? A.J. tried to read my Nicky story." "He did? Did he read it?" she asked. "I don't think so, but he did see his name mentioned in the part that I was writing." "Oh man," she said. I clicked myself online and did some more work on my website. "Yeah and I don't want him to read it because the parts with him in it are not that great. I mean, he's cheating in both of them." "Yeah, I know," she said. "How's your Kevin story coming along?" I asked. "Good, I'm a little stumped right now," she replied. "That's fine, take your time." "Are you working on your site right now?" she asked, guessing from my typing. "Yeah, I'm adding another story," I answered, "Hey, sorry about yesterday. He wanted to hear our normal conversation." "Which is them," she said. "Exactly," I said. "That's okay, it's part of the contest, which I entered for as well." "You did?" I asked, shocked, "I seriously didn't think that I was going to win." "I'm glad that one of us did," she said. "Hey, do you think I should take the pictures out?" I asked her, referring to my website. "No," she said, "Leave them in." "I guess, but so many people can't download it fully because of them," I informed her. "What's that?" I heard A.J. ask behind me. Startled, I turned around quickly to see him looking at my website closely. "Uh, nothing," I tried to tell him. "Is that A.J.?" Maria asked. "Yeah, I'll call you back later," I said to her. "All right, bye," she said then hung up. I hung up the phone as well and turned to A.J. who was sitting on my bed next to me. "It's my website," I told him. "Let me see," he said. I showed it to him and then he said, "Ah, so this is where your stories go." "Actually, a lot of it isn't mine. They're stories from different people as well as mine," I explained. "You like the Beatles too?" he asked. "Yeah, they're my second favorite, you can guess my first favorite," I said with a smile. "That's cool," he said. "Yeah, I was just updating my site," I said. "So, your site is just full of stories or does it have anything else?" he asked. "No, I have news, pictures, how to write a fan fiction written by me, links, a thing about me written by Maria, and a dedication to Caroline" I told him. "Can I read the dedication?" he asked. "Sure," I said, bringing it up for him to read. "That's nice," he said, "When did you write that?" "After a good friend of mine died of Lupus," I said, "Well, she was more friends with Maria, but I liked her a lot." "I'm sorry to hear that, it's good though," he complimented, "Can I read some of the stories involving me? I want to see what y'all write about." "You don't want to know, trust me," I tried to tell him. "Now why are you keeping me from them?" he asked. I sighed, "All right, but you're not going to like them." "Why not?" "Well, in the ones I wrote, you kind of... cheat," I said nervously. "Is that what you think I do?" he asked. "No, it's just that, I write whatever comes to mind," I told him. He gave a look as if he didn't believe me. "I know that you're not like that A.J., it's just a story. It's called 'fiction' dude," I defended. "Okay, all right," he said, putting up his hands, "Can I at least read it?" "Fine," I said, "I'll let you read a story that my friend Joleigh wrote. It's a good story, you're a detective and you have to solve this mystery." "What?" he asked, confused. "Just read it," I told him, while I brought up the story on my computer. I got up so that we could switch seats. He sat in my computer chair and I sat on the bed, reading it with him.
When he was done reading, he looked at me, "Actually, that's pretty good," he said, "How come it's not finished?" "Well, she doesn't have time to finish it right now," I told him. "Do you know who did it?" he asked, referring to the story. "Actually, I do, but I'm not telling you," I said with a cheesy smile. He gave me a look, "I'll get it out of you." "No you won't," I said. He suddenly started tickling me on my sides. "Stop!" I shrieked, trying to stop him. He kept at it with a very amused smile. Then, Nannette came into my room barking at him. She's always been the protective one in a way. "Oh, are you gonna bite me?" he asked her teasingly. "She will, if you're not careful," I warned. He reached out his hand to pet her, but she smelled his hand and barked at him some more. "She thinks she's a big dog," I informed him. He finally reached and pet her and then she went off to see my mom. "She's cute," he said to me, "She reminds me of my two puppies at home." "Oh your dogs are cute. I'm sure they're better behaved than mine," I mentioned. "Peeing on the carpet isn't good behavior," he said. I laughed, "Yeah, well, my dog doesn't like anybody. Not even me." He got up and asked, "You want anything to drink?" "Um, yeah. A Diet Coke would be nice, thanks," I said. He left my room to go to the kitchen. I closed out my website program and turned off my computer. When he came back, he sat down next to me on my bed and handed me my soda. "Well, do you want to see my pictures of you guys? My picture collection, I guess you can call it," I offered. "Yeah, why not?" he said, opening his beer. I got up and went over to my bookshelf, getting out my huge book of pictures. A.J. moved back on my bed to where my pillows were. I brought over the book and sat down next to him.
While we were looking at the pictures, he kept shaking his head. "You were cute!" I exclaimed. "Yeah, well," he said. "You just haven't found your identity yet," I said. "No, it's not that, it's just that I like to try out different things," he said. "Well, that's you I guess," I said. Then I looked at him again, "You wanna meet Maria now?" He looked at me as well, "All right." We both got up from my bed. I grabbed my purse and my keys. I told my mom that we were going to Maria's and she told me it was all right. We both got into the car and I started driving. As I was driving to Maria's, A.J. took out a cigarette and lit it up. He rolled the window all the way down to let the smoke out. I kept looking at him because I've never really seen him smoke before. I mean, he was no different than any other smoker, but for some reason I kept glancing at him. On the freeway, the CD player was playing a burned CD of mine. It had the Backstreet Boys, Joy Enriquez, Pollyanna Dorough, and Krystal Harris on it. It happened to be on Krystal when we were on the freeway. Without thinking, I started singing to Krystal's song, "Supergirl." All of a sudden I stopped singing quickly, knowing that A.J. was hearing me. He looked at me and asked, "Why'd you stop singing?" "Because I suck," I said, stating the obvious. "You sound fine," he commented. "No, I don't, " I said, "I don't ever sing in public because of how horrible my voice sounds. Except at karaoke. At least in karaoke, people don't care how you sing." "Now why do you say that? Sing again, let me hear you," he said. "No," I said. I didn't want A.J. of the Backstreet Boys criticizing me, when obviously he was much better than me. I mean he sings like an angel and so do the rest of the Backstreet Boys. I know that I suck and I don't need people telling me so, especially him. "Sing, please," he asked again. I looked out on the road thinking if I should or not. "Fine, but I know what you're going to say. I want a honest opinion though," I told him. I sang a little bit of it like I normally do. Afterwards, my heart was pounding hard against my chest, waiting for my Backstreet Boy professional result of my singing. "You do need some vocal lessons, but you're not that bad," he said. "See what I mean," I said to him. "What?" he asked. "I suck, period," I explained. "You do not suck," he protested, "You asked for an honest opinion and I gave it to you." I gave a frustrated sigh at that. "Look, I don't know what kind of an opinion you were looking for, but that was mine, all right?" he said. "Okay, I'm sorry," I apologized, "I guess you're right. I remember one time when I sang with a guy at a talent show. He thought that my singing was good. I was always afraid of cracking and stuff, but he told me something that I will never forget. He told me that I sang from the heart and the soul. He said that I put feelings into my songs and that was the important thing. And he's right." "He is right, you do sing from the heart and soul," A.J. agreed. "Even though my voice isn't so great, I keep singing because of that comment," I said. "Can you go really high?" he asked. "Yeah, I'm glad that I can at least do that," I said. "Let me hear," he said. "Oh no, no," I said, shaking my head, "I'm not going to do that." "Why not?" he asked. "Because it's going to hurt your ears," I said. "Please do it," he said. "Argh, all right!" I waited for Krystal to do a high note and I did it with her. "Woah," he said, shocked, "That was pretty good." "Yeah, yeah," I said, not believing him. "Are you pessimistic or something?" he asked, smashing his finished cigarette in the ashtray. "Yes," I replied. "Why?" he asked. "I'll tell you another time," I said, slowing down on the street in front of Maria's house, "We're here."
We got out of the car and closed the doors. I sneaked over to Maria's room window and I gave a loud "Moo!" I heard her scream and say angrily, "Jennifer!" I started to laugh and A.J. came over to me. "Why'd you do that?" he asked. "It's called, 'revenge.' She did it to me and scared the shit out of me," I said. Maria opened the front door and she saw A.J. She gasped at the sight of him. "Uh... hi A.J.," she finally said. We went up to her and he took her hand, "It's nice to finally meet you. Jennifer talks a lot about you." "Oh great, what's she saying about me now?" she asked. "Nothing bad, it's all been good things," he said. "Well, come on in," she said, stepping aside. We came into the house and I directed him to her room. He stepped in her room. "Now this is what a real fan's room is supposed to look like," he said, looking at all of her posters plastered on the walls. "Oh shut up," I said. Maria then turned to me and she put her hands around my neck, "This is for scaring me and for not telling me about A.J.!" I took her hands and said, "Hey man, at least he's here." "What about scaring me?" she asked me. "Oh, well that was to get you back!" I laughed. A.J. shook his head and said, "You can kill each other another time." "Yeah, listen to A.J.," I said to Maria. She gave me a look and then turned her attention back to A.J. She was almost in shock at the sight of him being in her own house. "Hey," I said to Maria, "I was wondering, let's all go to the mall or something." "All right, let me ask my mom though," she said. She left to ask her mom and I sat on her bed. "I love that poster of Howie," I said pointing to the poster of Howie from Black and Blue, "I once slept over here and when I woke up, the first thing I did was turn over to look at him and I said, 'Good morning Howie!' Maria never forgot that because she laughed at me when I said that." He kinda laughed, "I would have." "Oh hush," I said, slightly pushing him. Maria came back and she said, "It's okay with my mom!" "All right, let's go," I said.
"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Maria asked, while I was driving. "Let's just say that my mind wandered off when he showed up," I said. "Where were you before you flew here?" Maria asked A.J. "I was in Pennsylvania visiting some friends," he replied. We stopped at a red light and I started flipping around for a radio station. Everytime I stopped at a station, Maria said, "No... no... no..." All of a sudden, I turned to a station that was playing *NSync. "Hell no!" she said. A.J. laughed at that, "Let me guess, you don't like them either?" "No," she said. I laughed, "Yeah, we don't like the no-talent losers." A.J. kept quiet, I knew that he didn't want to say anything to that. I decided to pull out my CD's and I put the soundtrack to "Save the Last Dance." I put it to the song, "You Can Do It" and I started rocking out and singing along with it. Maria started laughing at my antics because I was acting so stupid. A.J. just looked at me and he was singing along too. "What?" I asked, finding nothing wrong with what I was doing. "Right," Maria said, "So anyHowie, where are we going again?" "I thought that we would go to The Plant and play some arcades," I said. "And pull a Nick," she said. "Exactly," I said. "'Pull a Nick'?" A.J. echoed in confusion. "Yeah, we're going to play the arcades, which is something that Nick does," I explained. "Oh, I get it," he said.
I pulled into The Plant parking lot and found a parking space. We got out and we went to the arcades. We entered and Maria ran to the air hockey corner to save it for us. I got out some money and exchanged it for tokens. "Are you good at air hockey?" I asked him. "Oh yeah, I play against Howie all the time. I usually beat him at it," he said. "Well, we'll see how good you are," I said with a smirk. "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?" he asked. "Oh nothing," I said innocently. With a handful of tokens, I went to where Maria was with A.J. trailing right behind me. "All right, it's time for me to beat your butt," I said to her. "I don't think so," she responded. "Watch me," I said. I put in the tokens and we started to play. A.J. stood next to the table and watched us play, sometimes laughing in between at our actions, especially mine since she was beating me. She started laughing evilly when she finally beat me with a score of 7-2. "Damn, she really whooped your ass," A.J. commented. "I'd like to see you try," I said to him. He extended his hand for the paddle and I handed it to him. He got himself ready and he bent over a little bit to shake his ass. I laughed. Maria looked at him, "Ready to get your no-ass whooped?" "Not before I whoop yours," he said. "Bring it on Bone-head!" she said. I started laughing at their childish actions. Then they started playing. They were really at it and A.J. was true to his word; he was good! They were smacking the puck as if this was a tournament. Every time one of them would score, they would give out an evil laugh. I kept laughing at A.J.'s because he had the funniest, most cutest evil laugh! He was doing the same laugh he did when they were doing the Disney concert special and they were bowling. Finally, after a long time, A.J. won. "I want a rematch!" she said, "You cheated!" "I did not," he said. "Dude I want a rematch," she said. "Just give her the rematch so that she can just shut up," I said to A.J. She gave me an evil stare. "All right," he said, "But don't cry when I beat your ass again." "I won't be the one crying," she remarked. They were at it again. This time, Maria was more aggressive in her game-playing. While I was watching, I noticed some people starting to gather around the table and looking at A.J. They were whispering to each other and pointing at him. A.J. was starting to feel a little uncomfortable, I could tell by how he kept looking around him a bit. "Hey, let's go," I suggested to Maria. She saw the people and agreed. A.J., Maria, and I tried to get out the door, while A.J. signed some autographs. We finally got to the car safely. "Hey, I'm hungry," A.J. said. "Okay, McDonald's is just across the street," I pointed out.
I drove there and we went inside to eat. We talked about the game and Maria and A.J. were at it again. A.J. took one of Maria's fries and ate it. "Hey!" she said. "Want it back?" he asked with a smile. "Eww, no. I'll just take one of your fries," she said, taking one. He grabbed the other end of the fry and it broke in half, resulting in them having half of a fry. Then he threw it at her and she threw hers at him. A.J. took her soda and he sipped some of it. "Hey that's mine," she said, taking it back. "Want me to regurgitate it then?" he asked. "Shut up!" she said. "Okay children, that's enough," I said. They did and continued eating. All of a sudden, Maria started with me by taking one of my fries and I took one of hers and threw it at her. "Okay children, that's enough," A.J. repeated to me and Maria. "Oh be quiet," I said. A.J. and Maria laughed and we continued eating. When Maria was down to the last couple of her fries, A.J. stole the fry box and he burped in it, "Now can I have it?" She laughed and reached over to him to smack him in the arm, "You're gross." "Thank you," he said in a deep voice, almost like Jim Carrey. I couldn't help but crack up at everything he did. I loved it when he acted like a kid, he was so amusing!
After we ate, we decided to go to the Northridge Mall. "Welcome to the ghetto," I said in a weird voice. He kind of laughed at that. We drove to the mall and I told him that I live at the mall, especially Sam Goody. I parked upstairs where Sam Goody was. We got out of the car and we went inside to the store. We looked around in Sam Goody. I was looking in the Backstreet Boys section (even though I already had everything). A.J. happened to look at the big section of them and some of the interview and biography stuff. "Do you have all these?" he asked, picking "Maximum Backstreet" up. "Yeah," I replied, still looking at the CD's. "Even this," he asked, picking up the "Black and Blue" Import CD with the 15 songs on it. "No, I don't have that one," I said. "We actually found something that you don't have?" he asked, with a smile. I took it from him and put it back, "Well, first of all, that's a waste of money. I already got the one with 14 songs and I have the 'All I Have To Give' acapella on the Burger King CDs." "Yeah," he said, "But this was mostly meant for the Asian fans." "I kind of figured that," I mentioned. I went over to look at all the other artists. A.J. went over to Rage Against the Machine, System Of A Down, and other artists. "Do you like that song by Ludacris?" I asked. "The one that's out now?" he asked, "Yeah, you?" "Yeah, it's all right. I like Missy Elliot's song, "Get Ur Freak On," I told him. "That's a good song to dance to," he said. "What else do you like?" I asked. "Well, I do like the ballads and romantic stuff that's out but I mostly like rock," he replied. "You and Nick like the same music then," I assumed. "Yeah," he said. I happened to see the cashiers and some people who walked in notice A.J. We didn't think that it'd be a problem since it was a small store. I looked at the shirts and so did Maria. "Oh dude, no," she said. "What?" I asked. I looked at the shirt she was looking at and I knew why she was having a fit. It was an *NSync shirt, but it was an army shirt and she loves army clothes. "I thought you've seen that before," I said. "No," she said, still a bit angry. "Yeah, well, I know. It sucks," I told her. I saw A.J. go up to the cashier to buy a CD and they were talking. After he bought it, he came over to us. "Should we go?" I asked. "Yeah," he said. We all went back to the car. "Hey, why don't you let A.J. drive?" Maria suggested. I looked at her like she was out of her mind. "Well?" she asked. "I don't think I should," I said. "Why not?" she asked. I looked at A.J. and he shrugged. "Doesn't matter to me," he told me. "Well, I guess it would be okay. We're going somewhere that's a short distance," I said, giving him the keys. He looked at them and saw the Backstreet keychains that I had and grinned a bit. We got in the car and I got in the front passenger seat while A.J. got into the driver's seat and Maria in the back. I told him where to go and he followed. He was a good driver, but he still drove like a guy; pretty fast driving and hard stops. We arrived at Plush Pockets Billiards. "I know that you like Pool, and I'm pretty good at it," I told him. "Oh? Are you gonna try to beat me at it?" he asked. "Yep, let's go," I said, opening the door.
A.J. opened the door for us, exposing us to the smoke vapors inside. We found a pool table and some sticks. The balls were already set up and A.J. started sharpening his stick with the blue chalk. "Ladies first," he said. "Fine," I said. I made the first break, hitting it almost perfectly. "Not bad," he commented. We had a good game, he was really good at it! I've seen him play in the "We've Got It Goin' On" video and from different programs on the Boys. "Another game," he said, setting up the balls in the triangle. "You're on, no-butt," I said, with a smile. He gave me a look and he turned around to show his butt and he patted it, "I do have a butt." I laughed, "If you call that a butt, sure." Maria was cracking up at us. "Want to see something really scary?" Maria brought up. "What?" he asked. "Jennifer and I have memorized a lot of what you guys have said and done," Maria said. "Oh yeah," I said. "This I have got to see," he mentioned. We decided to do the Europe Home Video that Howie did. We started from the "Sheepisis" thing all the way to the spaceship thing. Then we did the Disney Concert special where A.J. and Howie were shopping. I did A.J.'s part with the shaking of the butt and he smiled. Maria did the part where Howie was talking about the clothes that A.J. wears and then he finds out that he was in the women's section. After all our acting out of many different things, he shook his head and said, "That is scary." "Hey!" we both said together.
We decided to call it quits and we left the place. I drove Maria home and I took A.J. back to my house. He followed me to my room. "By the way, what CD did you buy?" I asked. "Oh," he said, holding up the bag to take the CD out, "Linkin Park." "Cool!" I said, taking it from him, "Let's listen to it." "You like them?" he asked. "I like practically everybody," I replied, carefully putting the CD in my stereo. I put it on "Crawling" and we listened to it. I sat on my bed and I started rocking out to it while swinging my long hair on purpose to make him laugh. "Look at me! I'm Kurt Cobain!" I said. He laughed. I stopped and said, "I remember doing this while playing the 'Around the World Game.'" "You have that?" he asked. "Yeah, it's really fun," I commented, going to the door, "You hungry?" "Didn't we just eat at McDonald's?' he asked. "Yeah, but that was like 4 hours ago, I'm hungry again. I'm such a bottomless pit," I said, going to the kitchen then I yelled back, "How about dessert then?" "All right," he said, following me. "Besides, we need to fatten you up, especially your ass," I said laughing. "Enough ass-jokes," he said. I cooked myself some dinner. Mahi-Mahi fish to be exact. "You want some fish?" I asked. "I'll have a taste," he said. "It's brain food you know," I mentioned. "What are you getting at?" he asked. I laughed, just realizing what I said, "Nothing." "I'm not Nick," he said. That made me laugh even more.
I had some of the fish after it was done cooking. I poured some tartar sauce on it, a lot of it too. "You think that's enough?" he mentioned, seeing how much I put on it. "Nope," I joked. He shook his head and then stole my fork to take a bite. "Not bad," he commented, taking another bite. "Get your own fork," I said. He handed me the fork back. "Eww! It has A.J. germs on it," I teased, "I could probably sell it to some lunatic fan." He laughed, "Someone would buy that." I took the fork he ate with and cut a piece for me and I ate it. "Now I have a piece of A.J. inside me!" I joked, pretending to faint. He shook his head and smiled at my antics. "Okay, I'll stop," I said, as I continued to eat. "You don't have to stop, I like it," he assured me, "If I'm used to Brian and Nick, I'm used to you." "Oh thanks," I said, sarcastically. "I had fun today, can't wait for tomorrow," he said. "I'm glad you had fun. I was afraid that I would be really boring to you," I said, honestly. "Any kind of break for me is fun, especially when I get to go out on my own," he mentioned. I got up and rinsed my dishes to put in the dishwasher. When I closed the dishwasher door, A.J. wrapped his arms around me, trapping my arms down. "Hey!" I shouted, "Let go!" "Not until you say that you worship me like the God I am," he said. "Never!" I laughed. "Say it," he said. "It," I said smartly. He held me tighter for that one. He was strong for such a thin guy! "Tell me that you worship the 'Bone God,'" he said. "More like 'Boner God,'" I said with a smile. He held me even tighter. "Ow! I'm gonna get bruises because of you," I said. "Tell me you worship the 'Bone God,'" he repeated. Where?" I teased, looking around. He then let me go to tickle me to death while I tried to stop him and I shrieked a little in the process of doing so. "Stop!" I said. "Tell me you worship me," he said. "Fine! I worship you!" I said. Finally, he stopped. "Thank you," I said. He smiled and headed back to my room and I followed him.
It was late and I had to get up early for school the next day. I needed to take a shower, but I let A.J. go first (since I would take longer to shave). I heard the shower wasn't running and I heard my mom talking to someone. I assumed it was A.J. and he was already out. I gathered fresh towels out of the hall closet and I turned the knob of the door. I opened it wide and I saw A.J. and upon seeing me, he wrapped his towel on. "Oh my God!" I shouted while slamming the door shut and I ran to my room. I covered my mouth with both hands. Oh My God! I saw him naked! And the front of him too! And, oh geez I can't believe that I'm saying this but, he has an ass too! I heard the door open and A.J. came to my room with a towel on. "Did I tell you to come in?" he asked loudly. I removed my hands from my mouth quickly. "I'm sorry! I thought you were out. I thought you were talking to my mom," I said on the verge of crying. A.J. was a bit angry at me but he saw that I was upset and he calmed down. "I'm sorry for yelling at you," he apologized, coming up to me to give me a hug. I hugged him back. My hands felt his bare skin of his back and he was still a little wet and warm from his hot shower. I looked at him and he said, "Next time, knock." "I will, I'm sorry," I apologized again. "You can use the shower now," he said, fixing his towel to make it tighter around his waist. I went to the bathroom and I locked the door behind me.
After my shower, I went to my room in comfortable sleeping clothes and I found him dressed as well. I set my alarm and crawled into bed. A.J. got into his little bed on the floor and looked at me. "Since you've seen me naked, I get to see you naked," he said. "What? No," I said. "It's only fair," he said. "You horny bastard, you just want a free look," I said. "True, but then again you brought it onto yourself," he said. "I did not! It was an accident," I told him. He gave me a look and said, "At least let me see your boobs and we'll call it even." "Listen Boner, I don't want your free look to turn you on," I said. "It won't," he assured me. "Will you go to sleep if I show them to you?" I tried to compromise. "Yeah, I promise," he said, propping himself up on his arm. "Okay," I said, pulling up my shirt to show him. "Ooh, nice," he said. I pulled my shirt down quickly, "There. Now go to sleep." "Yes mother," he said, rolling over and bringing the covers over his shoulder. I shook my head and I turned off the light next to me.
I woke up to the loud alarm and, once again, I tripped over to A.J. After turning the alarm off, I looked at him to see him sit up. "You're a hazard, you know that?" I told him. He got up and asked, "And you're not?" "Oh hush," I said, heading to the bathroom to wash up. I'm going to make breakfast this time," A.J. said through the door. "Don't burn the kitchen down," I remarked. "Okay, I will," he said. I shook my head and continued doing my hair.
When I came out of the bathroom, I smelled something really good. "What are you making?" I asked curiously. "Pretty much what you made yesterday, but my recipe," he answered, referring to the omelets that I made the morning before. "Oh cool," I said, sitting down at the table. He took the pan off of the burning flames on the stove and put it in front of my face. He shoved it forward like he was gonna hit my face with it. I jumped while the omelet flipped in the pan. he gave me a smirk. "Don't do that," I said, putting my hand on my chest to feel how fast my heart was beating. He laughed a little bit as he put the pan back on the stove over the flames to cook it a little more. "Could you get some plates?" he asked. "Yeah, sure," I said, getting up to get them. I took out two plates and set them on the table. He took the pan back to the table to serve it up. It smelled really good and I couldn't wait to try it. I sat down and so did A.J. I took a bite, "Wow, this is really good." "My own recipe," he said, very proud of himself. "Can I have it?" I asked. "No," he said, taking a bite. "Aw, come on. Please?" I begged. He shook his head, then drank some orange juice. "You're mean," I mentioned. "Thank you," he said. We continued eating and when we were finished, I decided to bring my camera along so that I could take pictures during the day. I also took my camcorder to hide in my backpack.
We started walking to school and this time were listening to one of A.J.'s CDs by System Of A Down. I listened to it and A.J. was bobbing his head a bit to it. "You don't mind listening to this?" he asked. "No, I listen to practically everything," I said, "Do you like Pantera?" "Yeah," he replied. We listened to it all the way to school. When we got there, I put the CD player in my bag while A.J. took off his sunglasses and stuck them on his collar in the front of his shirt.
Nutrition finally rolled around and we went to the room. Janett still blushed when she saw him. "A.J., I forgot to... umm... ask you yesterday if I could have your autograph," Janett said. "Sure," he said. Janett handed him her "Black and Blue" CD booklet and a pen and he signed it. "Thanks," she said. "Hey Janett," I said, pulling out my camera, "Do you want a picture with A.J.?" "Yes," she said with a huge smile. A.J. put his arm around her shoulders. "Now A.J., I'm not going to take it if you don't smile," I said. He smiled a little bit. I took the picture and said, "That's better." "Hey, where's Melina?" A.J. asked. "She's not here today, I think she went on a fieldtrip," I replied. "Good," Janett said. I laughed, "We're always kind of glad that she doesn't come sometimes. I mean, I love her like a friend, but she gets on my nerves sometimes." We talked some more before going to our next class.
A.J. was being a ham and a showoff in guitar class again. He even played a Backstreet Boys song, one that he wrote called, "If You Knew What I Knew." He sang and played just the chorus. He looked at me while he played it, I just smiled at him, recognizing the song and how beautiful it was played. Besides the fact that A.J.'s a ham, I think he was enjoying going to school again. I think he missed that a little bit.
After class, we went back to the room to find Vanessa and Janett. Vanessa was very happy to see him again. She also asked for an autograph and I took a picture. "How about I take a picture of you and A.J.?" Vanessa offered, reaching for the camera. I let her take it and I went over to A.J. I thought that he was also going to put his arm around my shoulders. But instead, he held me close to him in a hug. I couldn't help but smile. The same "CK One" cologne drifting my way as it always did in my house. Vanessa smiled as well while she took the picture. Afterwards, he let go of me only to pick me up. Surprisingly, he succeeded in doing so (since I'm so heavy). "What are you doing?" I asked, still amazed that he was still holding me. "Take a picture Vanessa," A.J. said to her. She obeyed and took a picture before he let me down. "My God, you're strong!" I commented. "What? You thought I was weak?" he asked. "Maybe," I joked. He started tickling me for that and I screamed and then he stopped. "I wish I wasn't so ticklish," I said, walking to my backpack to get my camcorder. I turned it on and started filming Janett, Vanessa, and A.J. "You sure are a lot of fun A.J.," Vanessa commented. "Thanks," he said, then looked at the camera. He started sticking his tongue out and making funny faces at it. "Oh stop," I said, "You're just as bad as Brian." Then he turned around and patted his butt, "I do have an ass and I know you want it." "I do!" Vanessa joked. I laughed, "You still have no ass Boner, and no I don't want it." Janett and Vanessa laughed. "Hey Bone, could you cover the front side of your body with soap and hump the floor? The floor needs cleaning," I mentioned. Janett and Vanessa started laughing, knowing about my "Mr. McLeaner" joke. A.J. just stared at me with a look as I smiled widely at him. "I know who you would like to hump," he said. "Damn right," I said, then changing the subject, "Can you at least do something cool for the camera? It's still rolling. Do your one-handed handstand thing." "What if I don't feel like it now?" he asked, crossing his arms across his chest. "Aw, come on. Please?" I asked sweetly, batting my eyelashes. He looked at me and then he did it. He did the one-handed handstand from the video, "Homecoming" during the transition from "Get Down" to "We've Got It Goin' On." "Yay! Thank you," I said, turning the camcorder off. While I was putting the camera away, A.J. came up to me and slapped my butt hard! "Ow!" I cried out, holding my hurt butt. "You do have a Nick butt," he said with a grin. "Oh you're dead Boner!" I said, starting to run after him. He ran, leaping over the desks. "No fair, you're more agile than me," I said, still trying to get him. He just laughed his evil laugh as the girls watched and laughed at all this from a safe distance. He then went up to Janett and grabbed her around her waist. She instinctually put her hands on his arms and she was a little confused as to why he grabbed her. "Stay back," he said, "Or I'll kiss her to death." I laughed, "I'm sure she'll love that. Although it might be better if it was Kevin that was doing the kissing." She blushed when I said that. A.J. made eye contact with her, "Then consider this from Kevin." And he gave her a kiss on her cheek before letting her go. "Hey, what about me?" Vanessa asked, obviously jealous. A.J. looked at her and went up to her to also give her a kiss on her cheek. "Thank you A.J.," she said, slightly touching the place where he kissed her. "Okay, enough of that," I said. A.J. walked over to me, slightly pulling up his pants that looked like they would fit perfectly on a 300-pound man. "By the way, remember when you were at the Johnny No-Name concert here in LA and some girls were screaming, 'Strip! Strip!'?" I asked. "Yeah, and I said that my pants were staying on," he recalled. "Yeah, well, that was Maria and her friends," I said with a smile. I walked over to sit on a desk table. I continued, "You could've taken your pants off since they were halfway down your ass already." He cocked an eyebrow at me, "This is LA, it's supposed to be halfway down your ass." "What ever you say," I said. Just then the bell rang for fifth period. "This is your time to say good bye girls, he's leaving tomorrow morning," I mentioned to them. Janett said her goodbyes sadly and gave him a hug then A.J. and Vanessa both followed me to my fifth period.
Since we didn't have much to do, A.J., Vanessa, and I talked for most of the period before A.J. and I headed to sixth period. Lori caught up with us, "Hey guys... Wait a minute! Are you A.J.?" she asked. He nodded. "This is Lori," I introduced. We talked to her for a little bit before we told her that we had to get to class. She said good bye to him. Vanessa said her good-byes and gave him a hug. She also sneaked in a little kiss on his cheek before hesitantly leaving. A.J. and I walked in. I was waiting for Jackee to walk in. I started correcting Spanish work and A.J. wanted to help. Mrs. Houser was pleased that he was helping and she gave me and him a candy bar. Jackee walked in and saw A.J. helping me with correcting. I looked up to see her smiling at him and slowly walking to her seat without ever taking her eyes off of him.
After class, Jackee came up to us again while I was putting some of my stuff away. "Hey A.J.," she said, "Can I talk to you for a second." "Sure," he said. He followed her to the other side of the room. I still put my things away and I got out the CD player. I held it in my hand while I was waiting for them to finish. Finally, they finished talking and A.J. gave Jackee a hug. He came back to me while Jackee left. "So, what were you guys talking about?" I asked curiously. "Can't tell you," he said. "Why not?" I asked. "She made me promise not to tell you," he said. "That's shocking!" I said, "Aren't you the one that never keeps a secret?" He kept quiet. "Uh-huh, all right, let's go." We walked out of the classroom to start our journey home. While we were walking home, I thought of something. "Do you talk to Anastacia? I heard that you two were really good friends," I mentioned. "Yeah, we are. But I don't talk to her that much anymore because of our schedules," he replied. "Oh, well, I really like her. She's a great singer," I said. "I saw you have her CD," he said. "Yeah," I said.
We got to my house and I hung my backpack on the door. "This sucks," I mentioned. "What?" A.J. asked. "You're leaving tomorrow morning and I don't want you to," I said, "We're having so much fun. Well, I don't know if school counts." "Actually school does count, those kids make me laugh," he said, "We can do something special if you want to make my stay more memorable." I smiled at him, "Just you being here is memorable. I couldn't ask for anything better." "I know, what I can do for you before we leave," he said, taking out his cell phone. He had the damn thing turned off the whole time that he was here so that he couldn't be disturbed. He turned it on and scrolled to a number to dial. He put it to his ear. "Hehe, 'listen baby I'm sorry'," I slightly sang. He shook his head and he was going to say something to me but the person picked up. "Hey! What's up? Yeah, I'm good. Yeah, still over here, it's great. Listen, I want you to talk to the girl I've been staying with. Her name's Jennifer. Okay? All right, hold up." He handed me the phone. "Who is it?" I asked. "Find out," he said, his arm still extended to me. I took the phone and put it to my ear, "Hello?" "Hey! How're you doing Jennifer?" the voice asked. I automatically knew who it was. It was Howie! "Hi," I said nervously. "Is A.J. behaving?" he asked. That made me smile and sort of loosen up. I looked at A.J. and he left to go to the kitchen probably to get a beer. "Well, I don't know," I said, pretending to think. He laughed, "Is that a 'no'?" I smiled, "No, he's been good. He's a lot of fun. I guess he called you because you're my favorite Backstreet Boy." "Oh really? A.J. must be jealous then," he joked. I laughed, "Yeah, he's really jealous. So what's up with your hair, D?" He laughed, "What? You don't like it?" "I didn't say that, I'm just asking 'Jesus'," I laughed, "I'm just kidding. Don't ever change Howie, I love you the way you are no matter what you do with your hair." A.J. came back in. "Well, I won't waste A.J.'s time so I'll give it back to A.J.," I said. "It was nice meeting you Jennifer, I hope we talk again," he said. "Me too, bye Howie. Love ya!" I said, giving the phone back to A.J. A.J. put the phone to his ear and said, "Yeah, you and everyone else." "Hey!" I said. "Talk to you later Howie, bye," he said, then turning the phone off. "Thanks," I said. "You're welcome, I'm gonna see if I can hook you up with him," he said. "That was a good one," I said, laughing. "No, actually I'm serious. At least for you to be good friends with him as well as me," he said. "Dude, you don't have to do that," I said. "It's the least I can do for showing me a good time," he said. "Wow, thanks," I said. "Who's Maria's favorite?" he asked. "Brian," I said. "I can introduce him to her," he said. "You're so nice!" I commented. "I thought I was mean," he said smartly. "That was then, this is now," I said. "Uh-huh, whatever," he said sarcastically. "Very funny," I said.
Later on, we played on my Super Nintendo. We played "Mortal Kombat II." (I know, I have old games and old technology). It was funny because we both got into it and we started calling each other cheaters! "Hey! You kept repeating that move!" he accused. "Oh, lighten up Boner. You were doing the same thing," I said. "That's because I only know one move!" he said. I laughed, "Okay, I'll show you how to do all of his moves." I showed him and we continued playing. Then I thought of something and paused the game, "You know what? I want to go clubbing." He looked at me, "How old are you?" "18. We can go to the 18-year-old clubs," I said. "All right," he said, liking the idea. We got up and I turned off the game.
I drove us to a local club for 18-years-olds and up. The music was blasting and we entered into the dance floor. A.J. and I started dancing. I knew that this would be a great way to spend his last day of freedom. It was the first time I went to a club with a guy; I usually just found a stranger to dance with. A.J. was a great dancer and I just went along with him. I'm not good at dancing, but I can move my body! We were dancing close and there was a little grinding but nothing out of the ordinary. He didn't have his sunglasses on or a hat so it was a perfect night. I could look in his eyes and see the real him. He did stare me down occasionally but he's a guy, he can't help it.
Around midnight, I told him that I wanted to leave. I was extremely tired and I wanted to be up when he left. He agreed and A.J. volunteered to drive. I let him since I was so exhausted. We talked all the way back home. I really am going miss him. He is such a great guy. He's like a freaky brother I never had. We got home safely. I took a shower and got dressed as well as A.J. We sat in my room and talked some more. "So, did you learn anything while you were here?" I asked. "The first day I learned a lot. You explained it well to me. Your friends are da bomb and so are you," he replied. "Thanks, I actually learned that you pretty much love to do anything that we do. Sure, fans may make fun of you guys, but it's out of love and sometimes we need a good laugh. That's why I make fun of your ass," I said. He smirked, "That doesn't bother me. Sorry about calling your butt 'Nick's ass.'" "Oh, I don't mind, it is as big as his, I'm afraid," I said. A.J. thought for a moment, "You got a piece of paper or something?" Yeah," I said, getting out some notebook paper from my backpack while he grabbed a pen from my desk. "What do you need it for?" I asked, handing it to him. He ignored my question as he wrote something on it. I glanced over and saw that he was writing down his cell phone number and even Howie's! "Here," he said, handing it to me, "So we can keep in touch and so you can talk to Howie." "Oh my goodness! Thank you," I said, giving him a hug. "You're welcome. Now, promise you won't give it to anybody," he said. "I promise," I said, putting his number in a safe place. "Oh, what's your number?" he asked, turning on his cell phone and accessing his phonebook. I told him and he punched it in with his thumb. "Thanks, I'll probably be calling you in a week since we've got stuff to do when I get back," he mentioned. "That's fine," I assured him. We both said goodnight and we right to sleep.
I was surprised that I could sleep since I knew that A.J. had to leave. We both awoke to the sound of the buzzing alarm. A.J. got up this time to shut it off so that I wouldn't trip over him again. I sat up in bed, looking at my hands. I didn't want him to leave, but I knew that he had to. I let him freshen up and get dressed first so he could get ready to go. Afterwards, I got dressed. A.J. insisted on taking a taxi to the airport since he had a private plane picking him up. So that meant I would have to say goodbye at the house. He picked up his bag and sat it next to the door. My mom and I watched him. He went up to my mom first and gave her a hug. "Thank you so much, Mrs. Millnitz. I had a great time," he said. I was shocked that he finally pronounced our last name right. She said her good-byes and gave him a hug. She was then interrupted by a phone call. She left the room to answer it. A.J. came up to me and gave me a longer hug. I didn't want to let him go, but I did. He was so huggable. "Thanks for everything, Jen. I'll keep in touch," he promised. Then he looked into my eyes and leaned in closer. I didn't know what he was doing until he did it; he kissed me on the lips! It was only a peck, but it was shocking to me. "Something to remember me by," he said afterwards. I snapped out of my little trance and I smiled at him. "Thank you," I blurted out. We said our last good-byes and he picked up his bag and went to the waiting taxi. He turned around to give one last look before crawling in the back and taking off.
I slowly went back to my room. My mom told me that Maria was on the phone. I picked it up, "Hello?" "Did he leave yet?" she asked. "Yeah, just now. I miss him already dude," I admitted. "It's only been a minute!" she said. "Yeah, but I still miss him," I said. "Hey, you know what I was thinking? You should write a story a story about your experience with having A.J. at your house," she recommended. "Should I?" I asked, thinking about it. "Yeah! Then I can read what you guys really did," she teased. "Oh shut up. But that isn't a bad idea. I'll call you back," I said. We said goodbye and hung up. I sat at the computer, opened up a new document and started writing. "I was flipping the channels, hoping to see something about the Backstreet Boys..."
