-make it alright-
-chapter twenty-eight-

Melissa dropped a cardboard moving box onto the floor of her bedroom. Her first few weeks of college life had been chaotic to say the least. Moving to school, adjusting to classes. The previous spring, she�d tried out for Rebel Girls- the UNLV dance team. The older girls on the dance team had convinced Melissa to rush, something she never would have pictured herself doing before. But she had wanted to fit in, and so became a member of the Delta Zeta sorority.

The first few weeks of Greek life hadn�t been all they were cracked up to be. They�d had trouble getting all the girls situated in a room. Until that day, Melissa had been sleeping on a couch. But finally the situation had been sorted out, and Melissa had an actual bed to sleep in. So after her classes and dance team practice, Melissa had moved all of her boxes from the basement to her new room.

Melissa�s roommate was Sadie Anderson, a sophomore native to Vegas. She too had spent the start of the semester sleeping on a couch. Neither knew each other very well yet. Sadie was a cheerleader, and just as busy with her practices and studies as Melissa was with dance team. Sadie seemed nice, and Melissa looked forward to hanging out with her more.

�Next time, we hire movers, okay Melissa?� Sadie announced. She swiped the sweat off her forehead as she kicked the last of her boxes into their room. �Really hot ones, with BIG muscles.�

Melissa laughed. �Sounds like a plan. I�m just glad we�re finally done. I�m SO ready to kick back and relax tonight.�

�Well you know what tonight is, don�t you?� Sadie asked.

Melissa groaned, expecting the worst. �There isn�t some sort of frat party I�ve forgotten about, is there?�

�No, silly. Tonight�s the MTV Video Music Awards. I�m excited. Its like my favorite night on TV all year.�

Melissa sighed with relief. �Lordy, I�ve been so busy lately, I completely forgot. Who�s performing this year?�

�Just my favorite people in the entire world,� Sadie was simply beaming at the thought of the as-of-yet unmentioned performers.

�And just who�s that?� Melissa asked curiously.

Sadie turned around and began to dig through one of her moving boxes. Several moments later, she found what she was looking for. She unrolled a poster and displayed it for Melissa. �Ta da!�

That gut-wrenching feeling Melissa felt in times of distress found its way back to her stomach. She found herself staring at a face she hadn�t seen in quite a long time- at least not voluntarily. Damn it. Another thing to make my life more difficult and stressful. Why couldn�t she have been a Hanson fan or something?

�You�re a Backstreet fan?� Melissa asked weakly. She couldn�t think of anything else to say.

�Hell yes,� Sadie said happily. She began tacking the poster to her wall. From where it would hang, Nick�s face would stare directly at Melissa�s pillow. �I saw them in concert over the summer, at the MGM Grand. They were so amazing.�

�Who�s you favorite?� Melissa asked. She waited in fear for the answer, praying it wouldn�t be�

�Brian.� Sadie answered. A smile spread across Melissa�s face. �It used to be Nick, but then I found out that Brian had heart problems. That brought out the maternal instinct in me. I think he has a girlfriend though.�

�He does. Her name is Leighanne,� Melissa said without thinking.

�You�re a Backstreet fan?� Sadie�s head whipped around.

Melissa turned to her own boxes, digging threw contents. Soon afterwards, she unrolled one of her own posters. �Not quite.�

�*NSYNC?� Sadie gasped, as it were the most awful crime. �You�ve got to be kidding me.�

�Afraid not.� Melissa admitted. She dutifully began tacking the poster beside her bed.

�But they�re Backstreet Boys-wannabes!� Sadie whined. �They were gross pants that are too big for them, and they�re really ugly!�

�I was a HUGE fan of the Mickey Mouse Club. JC and Justin were on it�therefore I like anything they do,� Melissa explained as best she could.

�I never saw The Mickey Mouse Club. I didn�t have The Disney Channel growing up,� Sadie explained.

Melissa beamed at the mention of her favorite show. �Its such a great show. I have every episode on tape. I�ll let you watch it sometime. You�ll love it. You know, Nick Carter was going to be on MMC. He was offered a contract and everything. But he gave it up to join the Backstreet Boys.�

�Thank God. If he�d stuck with MMC, he might be a member of *NSYNC right now,� Sadie said it with a snarl in her voice. �Hey- how do you know so much about the Backstreet Boys if you�re an *NSYNC fan?�

�Um�,� Melissa hated lying. But she knew that that telling the truth would cause too much explanation, bring back too many painful memories. �My best friend, Jorge. He�s a HUGE Backstreet fan.�

�Cool. You�ll have to introduce me sometime.� Sadie smiled. Melissa nodded. �He goes to UCLA, but I�m sure he�ll come and visit me really soon.�

�Nice,� Sadie agreed. �And sorry if I hurt your feelings and all- making fun of *NSYNC. I really don�t mind them that much. I kinda even like their new song- what�s it called again?�

�Tearin� Up My Heart.� Melissa supplied. �Yeah, I like that one too.�

�You know what?� Sadie asked abruptly.

�What?� Melissa responded.

�I think we�re going to get along just great.� Sadie smiled warmly. Melissa couldn�t help but return the warm look. �I think we are too.�

�Hey- what time is it?�

Melissa had the feeling Sadie had a short attention span. She seemed to change subjects often. Glancing at her watch, Melissa said, �It�s not even six yet. Don�t worry- you still have two hours until the Awards are on.�

�Are you kidding?� Sadie exclaimed. She seemed shocked at the time. �Shit. We�re late. Let�s get a move on it.�

Sadie took Melissa by the hand and literally pulled her out of the room. She headed to the main staircase, most likely headed to the main TV room. �Ow, Sadie. That hurts. What�s the rush? The VMAs don�t start until eight.�

Sadie dropped Melissa�s arm, instead pushing her along from behind. �I forget that you�re new to the house. Haven�t you noticed that large satellite sitting on the roof?�

�I seem to recall it, yes.�

Sadie sighed. Melissa obviously wasn�t catching on. �I assume you�ve never had a satellite before. One of the big perks of having a dish is that you can watch any TV program you want on east coast time. So the awards are about to start! We can find out who wins video of the year before anyone else in Nevada!�

�Really? Cool.� Melissa started. She didn�t have time to finish her comment, as the high-pitched voices of her sorority sisters became predominately louder.

�Sadie! Melissa! They�re starting!� Called out Marty Tipson, a senior psychology major. Entering the TV room, Sadie and Melissa noticed most of their other sisters crowded around the TV. The girls were dressed in their pajamas, munching on junk food and playing with each other�s hair. It looked like the typical middle school sleepover, the kind Melissa had never had. The only true girlfriend Melissa had growing up was BJ, and they�d never had a sleepover without Nick or Brent around. Maybe that was the real reason she joined a sorority. To finally take part in forming the sort of sisterhood she�d been unable to develop with Nick, Brent and Jorge as best friends.

As some of the youngest members of the sorority, and latecomers to the event, Melissa and Sadie were forced to take their seats on the floor in front of the TV. They sat down just in the nick of time, as the opening credits appeared on the TV screen.

�Backstreet Boys!� Boomed a voice from the TV. The screen flashed a screaming audience. Intrigued, all the girls� eyes were glued to the television set, as they watched the Backstreet parody played out. Ben Stiller was a comical sight as the sixth member of BSB, with Kevin�s trademark eyebrows and AJ�s crazy goatee. All the girls were laughing, even the ones who hated pop music. All of them expect one.

Melissa looked on with a sad expression on her face. For her sorority sisters, watching the Backstreet Boys act silly and make fun of themselves was something new and funny. But to Melissa, it was something she�d seen a million times before. Something she�d kill to see in person again. This was the real Backstreet- behind all the glitz and glam. Just five good-looking guys in search of having a fun time- even if it meant looking like total dorks in the process.

Melissa bit her lip. I�m not going to cry�I�m not going to cry, she told herself. But it was hard. Nick looked so adorable, trying his best not to laugh in their faux-interviews. He was goofy and carefree. Like nothing that had happened to him in the past year-and-a-half mattered him. It�s like nothing that we�ve been through matters to him anymore. How can he be so happy when I�ve been completely miserable since May?

�Brian�s so adorable. I just love his little accent- the way he says �rehearsal� like �re-huur-sul.� � Sadie whispered to Melissa, once �Trent and Paul�s� music video had begun. �I know you�re an *NSYNC fan and all- but if you had to pick a favorite Backstreet Boy, which one would it be.�

�AJ,� Melissa said numbly.

�Really?� Sadie asked. �I thought you�d say Nick. It seemed like you were focusing all your attention on the blonde one during that sketch.�

Melissa shrugged. �Nah- AJ just seems like a cool guy. Like he�d be fun to go shopping and partying with.�

�And Nick doesn�t?�

�Not with me, at least.� Melissa noted sadly. Sadie noticed Melissa get a sort of far-off glassy-eyed look in her eyes, and decided to let the subject drop. Nick�s moved on with his life, and its time for me to do the same, Melissa decided right then and there. I�m in a new city, I have new friends. I�m away from my mother for the first time in my life. If Nick can carry on like we�ve never met, then so can I. I�ll show him. These next four years are going to be better for me then anytime I spent with Nick.

~want to be notified when this site is updated? email me (and send feedback!)~

� 2002 [email protected]