I’m so nervous", Dawn whispered to AJ as they walked through the building. "It’s been so long since I really sang anything".
"Don’t worry," AJ assured her. "You have a great voice and I know you’ll do fine. The guys will love you."
Dawn felt a little better, but still nervous.
AJ led her to a room where everyone was talking and goofing off. As soon as they walked in, everyone stopped talking and turned to look at them.
"You must be Dawn", a short light haired guy said to her as he walked over and extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, I’m Brian".
All five guys rushed over to shake her hand.
"Ok guys, calm down, you’ll scare her away," AJ joked. "Okay,” he started, "you met Brian, the rest of us call him B-Rok, amongst other things", he joked.
Brian looked up from the sheet he was reading.
"Hey, watch it," he joked as he threw a straw wrapper at AJ.
He proceeded to introduce the rest of the guys.
"Nick’s the one playing the Gameboy over there not paying attention".
Nick looked up, "Nice to meet you", he said quietly with a shy smile.
"This is Kevin," he said motioning to the tall dark haired guy standing in front of her.
He reached to shake her hand.
"Nice to meet you, we’ve heard a lot about you," he said genuinely. Dawn couldn’t help but notice his piercing green eyes.
"And the one over there on the cell phone is Howie D," AJ finished.
Howie looked over and waved at her, she waved back.
They all seemed pretty laid back, she thought, but she was still nervous.
"Do you want something to drink?" AJ asked her.
"A shot?" she said, half-joking.
"I take it you’re nervous?" Kevin asked with a slight smirk.
"Yeah", Dawn replied. "It’s just been awhile since I really sang".
"Well, we won’t bite," he joked.
"Unless you want us to," Nick added.
"So, do you need to do any warming up or anything?" Kevin asked.
"I probably should", Dawn started. "But let’s just do it".
Dawn followed them into a room that looked like it was used for recording.
"You’re gonna record me!???" She asked.
"Yep", AJ responded. "We have to. We have to listen to it and see what it sounds like on tape".
Dawn shot him a worried look.
"Don’t worry, just sing like I know you can".
All the guys piled into a room behind the glass and left her by herself in a room by herself. She looked around at her surroundings. There was a stool, a microphone hanging from the ceiling, and a lot of electrical stuff that she didn’t know what it was for.
"What song are you gonna sing?" Kevin asked over the intercom.
"I Still Believe, by Brends K. Starr", she answered.
AJ looked up at her and smiled, she smiled back. She knew he loved that song, she did, too.
She positioned herself on the stool and put the headphones on. She suddenly wasn’t nervous anymore. She felt like she had been doing this her whole life.
As soon as Howie gave her the sign, she began to sing. On the other side of the glass the guys listened and watched her. AJ couldn’t take his eyes off her.
"Wow," he said under his breath. "She still sounds as good as ever".
"She does sound great," Nick said.
They all sat there, speechless, listening to the song. When she was done she took off the headphones and looked over at the five guys just standing there.
"Did it sound that bad?" She asked, hoping someone would speak soon.
"Hell no," Kevin began.
"You sounded great," AJ finished.
Dawn sat there trying to figure out what they wanted her to do next. She watched as they conversed amongst themselves. Just then Kevin looked over at her and motioned for her to come join them. She walked into the room where they were and he held out his hand. "Welcome aboard," he said to her.
"Oh my god, are you serious? I got the job?? Just like that??" She exclaimed, unable to control her excitement.
"You sure did hon," AJ replied, walking over to her. “I told you they’d love you”.
"Thank you so much!" She grinned as she gave him a big hug.
"You definitely deserve it," he added as he hugged her back.
"Yeah," Brian added, "and welcome to the Backstreet madness".
"Are you hungry"? AJ asked her.
"Actually, yes I am", she replied.
"Do you wanna have lunch with us?" He asked.
She looked around at the rest of the guys waiting for her answer.
"Come on", Brian began. "You’re gonna have to learn how to put up with us, you better start now".
They laughed as they all walked in the other room to eat lunch.


Chapter 9
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