DROWNING

Thanks to erikdradon713 for this fiction

Part 1
"That Nicholas Gene Carter Jr. makes me sooo mad!"

Erik-Michael Estrada looked up from his newspaper as Rexy Estrada stormed into the living room, not in the least bit surprised at his daughter's outburst. Nick Carter's son, known as "Little Nicky" was constantly playing pranks on her.

"I take it school went well today?" Erik asked.

"Oh, school just went peachy!" Rexy fumed, tossing her backpack on the floor. She was much like her father in every way: black hair, brown eyes, dark skin, but she also gained a little something else: a hot temper like one couldn't believe.

"During lunch," Rexy continued, "Nicky switched my ice tea glass with one that had only his pet trantula in it! Then, he gets mad at me for nearly killing the thing when I dropped the glass! OOH! When I get ahold of him, I'm gonna rip all his blonde hairs out of his skull one by one!"

"You go, girl!" Michael Estrada cheered, walking into the room. Michael was Erik's eldest child, and at 18, Michael looked exactly like his father when Erik was his age. Well, except Erik was a little taller.

Erik rolled his eyes. "I can't believe that I am raising such violent children," he muttered returning to his newspaper.

"VIOLENT!" Rexy cried. "You have yet to see violent!"

"Well, I do see it in your mother whenever she gets mad at me, but that's besides the point," Erik commented.

"Speaking of Mom," Michael spoke up, "where is she?"

Part 2
Erik let out a deep sigh as he laid the newspaper down beside him. "She's out shopping with her buddies, and she won't take me with. She says it's a girl thang, but I doubt it."

"Well, your birthday is next week," Rexy pointed out.

"I know, but try telling that to your mother. She won't even mention it, and whenever it does come up, she just tells me to stop acting like a child and not expect anything out of it."

"How old will you be again?" Michael asked.

"26," Erik replied with a grin.

"39," Rexy corrected. "You're almost over the hill."

"SHHH!" Erik exclaimed. "Not so loud! I am not old!"

"Well, how else would you describe it?" Michael challanged.

"Let's just say that I'm in the highlight of my life," Erik answered with dignity.

"According to you, you'll be in the highlight of your life until you're 95," Rexy commented.

"What are you talking about?" Erik jumped up, saying in a loud voice, "Your father is immortal! I shall live forever!"

"Which is a scary thought considering," Rexy muttered.

Michael surpassed a snicker. "Sorry, Dad, but you're no longer 22."

Erik plopped back down on the couch. "Drat."

~

"I can't wait for your dad's surprise party on your boat," Jessica Underwood declared. It was the next day durning breakfast break at Orlando High. Jessica and Rexy were standing by Rexy's locker going over the details of Erik's party. "Does he suspect anything?"

Rexy laughed and shook her head. "Nope. It's funny, though. Daddy's tried everything in the book to pry it out of my mom, but she hasn't so much as given him a hint."

Jessica laughed. "Sounds like her lips are indefinatly sealed."

Suddenly, Jessica's eyes grew wide as she looked across the hall. "Oh, my God," she breathed, pressing a hand against her heart. "Oh, my God, it's him."

"Who?" Rexy asked looking around.

Jessica answered in a dreamy whisper. "Derek Dorough."

Part 3
"Oh, God," Rexy muttered, rolling her eyes.

Derek was walking in their direction at the other side of the hall, when he stopped at the water fountain. As he bent over to take a drink, Jessica sucked in her breath. "Oh, but he's so dreamy."

"Well, get over him," Rexy muttered, shooting an icy glare at Derek's backside.

Jessica managed to tear her eyes away from Derek to gape at Rexy. "What?"

"He's the son of a Backstreet Boy."

"So?"

"SO!? Forget him, Jessica! If there were to be romance between you two, his father wouldn't allow it and neither would yours."

Jessica looked away, her eyes brimming with tears. "God, why the hell did Daddy have to be in that stupid band?"

Rexy's jaw dropped in shock. "Our fathers' band is not stupid!" she snapped.

Jessica turned on her. "Well, it's the very thing that is keeping me apart from the one I love!" she cried. Then, she burst into tears and fled down the hall.

~

16-year-old Nicholas Carter Jr. sighed as he leaned his head on his elbows. His mind was not on the geometry homework in front of him. He was thinking about the girl of his dreams: Rexy Estrada.

"Okay, Nicky, I don't think playing practical jokes on Rexy is gonna win her heart," Derek Dorough pointed out from across the table. "And anyway, we're supposed to be studying."

"I can't help it," Nicky sighed dreamily. "That girl is so perfect. Rexy's so smart and pretty. She's all woman. She don't take anyone's crap."

"So, go write a song about it," Derek said sarcastically.

Nicky glared at his best friend. "What's your problem?"

"Rexy's an O-Town girl. She'll cause nothing but trouble for you."

Nicky snorted. "You should talk, Mr. I-wrote-'I-love-Jessica-Underwood'-all-over-my-math-notebook."

"WHAT!?!" Derek shreiked, his face turning blood red.

With an evil grin, Nicky held up Derek's notebook with the tell-tale writing engraved all over the front.

"Gimme that!" Derek cried, snatching the book out of Nicky's hands. He glared at the blonde. "At least I don't play practical jokes on her," the Hispanic boy spat.

"Well, how else am I gonna get her attention?" Nicky exclaimed. "She won't notice me otherwise."

Derek sighed. "Good point. Jessica probably doesn't even know I exist."

"You know what we should do?" Nicky wondered out loud.

"Throw a bachelor pity-party?" Derek suggested.

"No. We should go to Erik Estrada's birthday party."

Derek gawked at Nicky. "Are you serious?"

"It's a masquarade ball so no one will recognize us," Nicky continued.

Derek covered his face with his hands. "You are serious," he moaned.

"C'mon, Derek," Nicky urged. "It'll give us a chance to get close to the girls we love. Besides, we'll be in masks. What could go wrong?"

Part 4
The evening of Erik's birthday finally arrived, and Erik was not happy. "I look like a pigeon, Morgan," he complained into the mirror. "With this stupid bird mask and the fact that this tuxedo makes me look fat, I look like a big, black pigeon."

"You're not supposed to be a pigeon," his wife, Morgan Estrada replied sensibly. "You're supposed to be a raven."

"Can't I just wear a regular mask?"

"The theme is animals."

Erik began to pout. "Stupid theme. Well, if a bird hunter shoots me on accident, it's all your fault. Why are we going to this ball again?"

Morgan busied herself by straightening her husband's tie. "Because we were invited, and we can't turn it down."

Erik threw his arms up in exasperation. "Invited by whom!?! Who do we know that would do something this stupid!?!"

Ashley Parker Angel, Morgan thought. Out loud, she said, "Well, we do know the top people of society."

"BORING!" Erik drawled. "All they do is stand around and yak about money and other stuff no one cares about. The last time I went to one of their gatherings, I literally fell asleep."

"Yes, that was 16 years ago when I was pregnant with Rexy, and you drooled on my shoulder." Smiling, Morgan slipped her hand around Erik's elbow. "Come on, dear, the kids are waiting. It won't be such a drag."

"Some birthday," Erik muttered as he walked with his wife out the door.

Part 5
"This is not going to work," Derek moaned behind his cat mask.

"Hey, we got in, didn't we?" Nicky pointed out, straightening his mouse mask. "Don't be so pesimistic. I thought positivity ran in the Dorough blood."

"I'm sorry. My father didn't give me his optimistic trait," Derek snapped sarcastically. "That was left to my sister, Serena."

"Well, while you're complaining, there's your lover girl."

Derek looked over to where Nicky was pointing. His breath caught in his throat. Jessica entered on board with her parents. She looked gorgeous. The red dress and fox mask she wore went perfect with her flowing mahongony hair.

"Well, don't just stand there gaping like a love-sick idiot," Nicky spoke up. "Go talk to her."

Heart fluttering, Derek could only nod as he walked toward the girl he loved.

Rexy and her family were the last to arrive. While everyone screamed out, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ERIK-MICHAEL!" and poor Erik looked like he was about to faint, Nicky had his eyes and his heart on only Rexy.

She comes in a leopard print dress and cat mask, Nicky thought, and I come in this gay mouse mask. She's so gonna laugh at me!

Well, there was only one way to find out.

After everyone got settled into dancing, Morgan waltzing with a stunned Erik, Nicky approached Rexy like a timid fawn.

This was it. It was all or nothing now.

Part 6
Rexy was astonished when the tall, handsome stranger in the cute little mouse mask asked her to dance. Usually, guys didn't pay too much attention to her. Well, except maybe Philip Angel, but he was her best friend since kindergarten so he didn't count.

"Sure," she replied to the stranger, a shy smile on her face.

The stranger pulled her close to him as they slow danced to "All or Nothing". For some strange reason, Rexy felt safe and secure in his arms, even though she didn't know who he was.

So, this is what it's like to be in love, Nicky thought with wonder. Her soft body close to his, the scent of her perfume, her silky hair brushing his nose. Oh, God, this was too much!

Then, Nicky made up his mind. No more pranks. No more scaring Rexy to death just to get her attention. If was to make a fool of himself by playing Romeo to her and be the laughing stock of the school, then so be it.

Nicky didn't realize it, but they ended up dancing at a dark, secluded side of the ship. He couldn't take it anymore. What he was about to do would probably make her hate him for the rest of his life.

~

Rexy was shocked when the stranger pressed his warm lips against hers. But instead of being sensible and pulling away, she found herself sinking into his bittersweet kiss.

She felt her mask fall from her face and drop to the floor by her feet.

This was beyond anything Nicky had ever dreamed of, even in his wildest fantasies. "Rexy," he moaned against her lips, holding her closer. No way was he gonna let her go after this. No way was he gonna let anyone harm her.

He felt his own mask fall from his face. Nicky's first reaction was horror, then dread. She was not going to like this... When Rexy opened her eyes to see the strangers identity, she recieved a shock as painful as a slap in the face.

"NICKY!" she screamed.

"Rexy, please, let me explain-"

Rexy's eyes filled with tears. Up until now, she had never realized just how much she liked Nicky despite his pranks. But now-

"How could you?" she whispered.

"Rexy, I-"

"This is the cruelest joke you have ever pulled," she continued.

"Joke? What? NO! No, it's not-"

"I don't care!!" Rexy cried. "GO AWAY! Go away, or I'll tell my father that you're here!" Then, without another word, she turned and ran off.

And then, the most horrifying thing happened. Before Nicky could react, Rexy slipped and fell over the railing into the cold water below.

Part 7
"GIRL OVERBOARD!" Nicky took only enough time to scream those words at the top of his lungs before jumping into the water. The lights glowing from the ship provided just enough light for him to see underwater.

The first time he came up for air, he hadn't found her.

Desperate, he quickly scanned the surface for her body before diving under again.

Rexy, Rexy. Where are you?

This time he did find her, her lifeless body sinking to the bottom.

Please be alive. Please be alive, Nicky prayed over and over as he wrapped his arms around her waist and began pulling her to the surface.

Please be alive.

Please be alive.

"There they are!" someone shouted from the boat.

In just a matter of seconds, Nicky and Rexy were lifted on board. Everyone was so focused on Rexy that they didn't notice Nicky, the son of a Backstreet Boy, giving her CPR. As soon as she coughed up water, a sign that she was going to be all right again, he slipped away unnoticed, followed by Derek.

They didn't get far.

Somehow, Erik-Michael Estrada managed to get in front of them, blocking their path as he stared at them with a disapproving gaze.

"That's it. We're dead meat now," Derek moaned.

"Mr. Estrada, we can explain-" Nicky began.

But Erik held up his hand to silence the boy. "No need," he said in a voice that carried no emotion. "I saw everything. I saw you dance with my daughter, I saw you kiss my daughter, which by the way I do NOT approve of, and..."

Nicky closed his eyes for this one.

"...I saw you save my daughter."

Nicky opened his eyes in bewilderment. "Huh?"

"A lesser man would've left it up to someone else," Erik continued. "I thought I would never say this to the son of a Backstreet Boy but I am in your debt. As you know, Rexy means the world to me."

And then, Erik smiled at Nicky; a warm, welcoming smile. "You have earned my respect, Nick Carter Jr. I admit, that trantula joke was a good one. Too bad I didn't think of it myself when I was your age. I wouldn't mind if you two would stay, but the other O-Towners know you are here and ain't too happy about it, so I guess you boys better leave."

Nicky and Derek nodded in agreement and wasted no time getting off onto the dock. "Oh, and Nick!" Erik called from the railing causing Nicky to stop and look up at him.

"If you want you can go out with Rexy," Erik called down. "I won't stop you. As a matter of fact, I give you my blessing. You two are good for each other. But for God's sake, would you ease up on the kissing!?"

Nicky found himself smiling. "Sure, Erik!" he replied. Then, he jogged off to catch up with Derek, the memory of Rexy's kiss still fresh in his mind.

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