Sadie carelessly dropped her messenger bag on top a heap of dirty laundry, and opened a can of beer. Senior year was more stressful then Sadie had imagined. Every day, Sadie looked forward to coming home, drinking a beer, and watching some Total Request Live. Best possible way to relax.
That’s when Sadie recognized an all-too familiar sound. The click of a mouse button, the typing of computer keys, several sniffles and sobs. And Nick Carter’s crooning voice belting out “I Need You Tonight.”
It was a signal to Sadie that something was wrong with Melissa. The only time Melissa ever permitted herself to voluntarily listen to Backstreet Boys music was if something was terribly wrong. And by terribly wrong, that usually meant it concerned none other then Mr. Nick Carter himself.
Sadie rushed over to comfort Melissa, who was simultaneously crying while surfing the internet. Sadie threw her arms around Melissa’s neck and pressed her cheek into the mounds of auburn curls. “Sweetie, what’s the matter?”
“Its Nick,” Melissa sniffled. “He and Mandy broke up.”
All over the UNLV campus, Melissa was known for her unhealthy obsession with The Mickey Mouse Club. But only Sadie knew of Melissa’s deepest secret. Locked up in the girls’ sorority room, Melissa spent hours scouring the Internet for Backstreet news. It frustrated Sadie to no end how Melissa could miraculously find such amazingly accurate and prompt information. Worst yet, Melissa never admitted to where she uncovered such news. But without fail, everyday Melissa would have some new opinion on how Nick Carter was handling his life.
Sadie was confused. “Where’s the problem, sweetheart? That’s exactly the news me, you and every other Backstreet Boys fan have been waiting to hear for months now. Remember the ‘Ditch the Bitch’ campaign? How we were some of the first people to rally behind the cause?”
Melissa shook her head remorsefully. “As much as I hate that girl, for some screwy reason, Nick really loves her. Or did, at times.”
Melissa found herself shrugging. “Hell if I know. I doubt Nick and Mandy themselves don’t know how they feel about Nick and Mandy. But nevertheless, some cosmic force drew those two together, and now it’s tearing them apart.”
Sadie stroked Melissa’s loopy curls affectionately. “Sweetheart, you know you’re not making any sense.”
“I know Nick,” Melissa insisted. She turned her chair away from the computer. Sadie knelt on the floor in front of her friend, staring into those sad brown eyes. They held each other’s hands. “Sometimes I know Nick better then he knows himself. This break-up is going to tear Nick apart. Despite this rocker image he tells the teen magazines he has, deep down inside, Nick really is a boy band member. A sap at heart.”
“And Mandy?” Sadie prodded. Sometimes Melissa got so caught up in hearing her own voice a loud, she lost sight of her point. Sadie was there to keep her friend on track.
“Mandy was Nick’s first love,” Melissa noted quietly. “Despite how much I hate her, despite how much cheating and fighting went on between the two of them. Despite everything, Nick’s the type who believes true love lasts for always. Losing Mandy now for good is really going to affect him.”
Sadie was trying her best, but Melissa’s words were just a jumble of contradictions. For years, Melissa had been aching for Nick and Mandy to break up. And now that they had, she wanted them back together? What kind of screwy logic that?
“Well, this is Nick and Mandy.” Sadie offered. “Just because they’re broken up today, doesn’t mean they won’t be back together tomorrow. How many times have they separated now?”
“Let’s see,” Melissa racked her brain for the answer. “They broke up during the Millennium tour in Europe.”
“Then got back together sometime around Thanksgiving,” Sadie added in. She scrunched up her face in a disgusted look, “When they got those ugly arm band tattoos.”
“Right,” Melissa agreed. “Then they broke up when the Boys were in the Bahamas.”
“And got back together in September, I think.” Sadie responded. “So this makes the third time, that we know of.”
“That’s a lot,” Melissa noted, nodding her head. “And honestly, I think the reason why they broke up and got back together so often was because neither one wanted to let their first love disappear. But I don’t know. I think they’ve come to their senses: that as much as they may love one another, they’re not good for each other. Something inside me is telling me that this time, the break-up really is for good.”
“I still don’t see how this is a bad thing. A world without Mandy would be a better place,” Sadie was hoping to make her friend smile. It didn’t quite work.
“Brian and Nick, they used to be inseparable. They were really cute together. Best of friends.” Melissa smiled to herself as she remembered some of the boys’ silly antics. “Of course, there was a five year age difference. But Nick really looked up to Brian, like a big brother.
“But Brian’s a married man now,” Melissa pointed out. “He’s head over heels for Leighanne, and she’s got him wrapped around her little finger. He’s always been the hopeless romantic. He would have reacted the exact same way with Samantha, had he not been so busy with the group.
“But the group’s popular enough now that all the Boys can have a little bit more free time. No more sharing buses or hotel rooms. Brian has a lot more time to spend one-on-one with Leighanne. And that means less time to be spent on Nick.”
“So Brian’s out of the picture. And Mandy’s gone too. And we all know Nick hasn’t been on good terms with his family for months now. Even Brent’s busy with the band of his. The only person Nick really has that’s left is AJ.”
Now Sadie was really confused. “But I thought we like AJ.”
“We do,” Melissa agreed. “But too much of AJ, when paired together with Nick, can be a bad thing. Neither of those two boys have their heads on straight. Both of them have had a lot of shit go on in their lives, and when they get together, they like to outdo each other in trying to forget their problems.”
“So they do a little partying. Nick’s twenty years old, that’s what he’s supposed to do.” Sadie obviously didn’t see the problem. She reached for the beer she’d set down earlier, taking a swig. While she swallowed, Melissa glanced quickly at her wristwatch. It wasn’t even five PM. Maybe Sadie wasn’t the right person to discuss this issue with.
“Its not just drinking, Sadie.” Melissa sighed. “There’s drugs too. And girls. Lots of them.”
“Its not as if there weren’t other girls when he was with Mandy,” Sadie remarked. “He’s not exactly Mr. Faithful.”
“No, he’s not,” Melissa agreed. “But that’s just the thing. He was always tied down to Mandy when he was with those girls. Now he’s not.”
“I’m still not seeing your point here.”
Melissa got up and crossed the room. She threw herself onto her bed, face down. Head in her hands, her next words came out mumbled. “I told him I didn’t want to speak to him until Mandy was gone forever. Now that she is, why is he wasting his time with all those nameless groupies, instead of coming back to me?”
Sadie had always known Melissa was in love with Nick. But this was the first time she’d ever heard her best friend admit to it allowed. Sadie understood how hard that must be for Melissa.
Sadie perched her small body on the edge of Melissa’s bed. She ran her hand over her best friend’s back in slow, relaxing circles. “Sweetheart, he’s a dumb boy. He needs some time to figure things out. Give him a little while, and he’ll come to his senses.”
Melissa shook her head into the now tear-stained pillow. “I don’t know, Sadie. I just don’t know anymore. If Mandy was his true love, why would he ever come back to me? I said so many horrible, evil things to him. I’d never forgive me if I were in his position.”
Sadie didn’t want to say anything until she was absolutely certain. She didn’t want to risk getting Melissa’s hopes up for nothing. But Sadie had her own theories on Nick Carter. She agreed with what Melissa said earlier, about Nick being the type of guy who’d always keep coming back to his first love. But what Nick and Melissa had both seemed to have forgotten was that Mandy wasn’t Nick’s first love. Melissa was.
He’d come running back to Melissa. Sadie was fairly sure of that. He just needed a moment to forget about Mandy and remember the girl he’d driven away so many years beforehand. Sadie just hoped Nick would hurry up and come to his senses soon, because she wasn’t sure how much longer Melissa could wait.
“I fucking hate this,” Melissa said. She flipped over, and moved her head into Sadie’s lap. Her big brown eyes were now puffy and red, surrounded by runny eyeliner and mascara. “Why do I do this, Sadie?”
“Do what, sweetie?”
“Stalk him on the internet. Try and figure out what’s going on with his life at every second of every day.”
“You still love him, Mel.” It was the only explanation Sadie could offer. “You love him enough to want to take care of him and make things better.”
Sitting up, Melissa nodded her head in agreement. “I’ve always done this. Always tried to take care of him. And I need to stop. He’s a big boy, he can take care of himself. Because this obviously isn’t healthy for me to be monitoring his every move. Every time I find out something he’s done that I don’t approve of, I end up feeling like a worthless piece of shit. So I need to let go, once and for all.”
~want to be notified when this site is updated? email me (and send feedback!)~
© 2002 [email protected]
