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Her first tour had been opening for O Town, and she'd been stuck in a bus with five smelly, gross, dirty boys. Her second tour was with the Backstreet Boys, and she was stuck in a bus with five smelly, gross, dirty boys. Kendal Moone sighed. There were no perks to being an opening act.

The tour began in August, on a hot, sweaty day in the middle of the month. She parked her car- a 2001 Audi, the first thing she'd ever splurged on- in the parking lot, and kissed it good-bye for the next six months, triple checking that the doors were locked and there weren't any valuables in sight. She was loaded down with three huge suitcases and a duffle bag, and she staggered towards the huge silver busses looming at the other end of the lot.

"Let me give you a hand with that." A relativly pleasant voice said, and before she could reply, the bag and the biggest suitcase were taken from her hand. Kendal looked up. She knew already that it would be one of the band. It was the attitude that gave him away- that I'm-big-and-strong-and-this-helpless-lady-is-dying-for-me-to-help-her attitude that all males that age had. And once she got a glimpse of his face, she knew that even if she hadn't seen all their faces on the news a million times a day and listened to their videos replayed again and again on MTV, her suspicions about his identity would have been confirmed. His cocky smile announced to the world that he knew a million teenage girls wanted him, and he was damn proud of it, babe. His way-too-straight and way-too-white teeth taunted her, singing I know you want me too.

She forced a smile. "Thanks." She said dryly. "I'm Kendal Moone. Guess I'm opening for you guys."

The man nodded pleasantly. "I'm Nick Carter. You probably already knew that."

Her blood temperature rose a little. You probably already knew that. What a swollen head he seemed to have. She couldn't wait to spend the next six months with not only this arrogant popstar, but four others, presumably just like him. And it only made it worse that she had known who he was, and he was correct, and well as vain. "Yeah, well." She said, not prompting further conversation. But Nick didn't seem to be put off.

"Is this your first tour? You're probably pretty excited. If you wanna know a secret, I actually still get kind of nervous before tours start." He laughed. "I spend the better part of the tour wishing I was home, but after a week or so, I'm wishing I was back on tour."

Kendal forced a dry laugh. "Really."

They walked on in silence for a minute, quickly closing in on the bus. "How old are you?" Nick asked, that teen-idol smile still pasted across his face.

"Eighteen." She said, sighing loudly, hoping he'd take the hint and leave her alone.

They were at the door of the bus now, and Nick took another suitcase from her, and lugged all three up the stairs, leaving Kendal with only one. "Looks like we're the first ones here, I guess we can pick bunks!" He annouced. Kendal rolled her eyes behind his back. He was way to excited about that. Like a little kid at Christmas. But he did seem to know the ins and outs of touring, so she followed his lead, and chose one of the bottom bunks for herself.

The other members of Nick's band drizzled into the bus over the next hour, and the crew and dancers and managers began filing into the other busses. Kendal was holed up in her bunk, having retreated there after hasty introductions to the other Backstreet Boys, her eyes closed and her Walkman on, blasting her Lifehouse CD.

At quarter past four, she felt a little lurch, and the bus began to roll. She closed her eyes. And it was beginning. The next chapter of her life, starting right here and now. She clutched the tiny white teddy bear she'd brought with her close to her chest, and breathed in the scent of is fur. "Here we go, Erik." She said to him, hugging him as tight as she could. "Here goes another one."

The Backstreet Boys sat in the back room of the bus half-watching TV, and eating from open boxes of cold cereal. A few hours into the tour, and already they were lax enough not to care about things like bowls, and spoons, and the nutricianal content of their meals, Kendal noticed. She sat apart from them, a book open on her lap, eating a carton of yogurt. The first show was twelve hours away from where they'd started, and so far they'd been driving, she glanced down at her watch, for three hours. Her impression of the boys hadn't improved much.

"So, Kendal, do you still live with your parents?" She glanced up from her book only breifly, and offered a nod to Brian. Yet another attempt at polite conversation. These boys were not taking hints.

"Planning on moving out any time soon?" Kevin asked. Another nod.

There was silence for a moment, and Kendal thought maybe they'd given up. But, no, it couldn't be that easy. "Do you have boyfriend back home?" Nick asked.

Kendal's eyes clouded over, and she stood up suddenly. "No." She said, her voice cold and insensitive. "I do not have a boyfriend. I'm going to bed." And with that, she breezed out of the room, leaving a gust of frigid air behind her.