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| "Hey! Carter! You wanna hold onto that all day, or are you gonna pass?" Dani Claybourne clapped her hands, and waved her arms over her head. "No one's guarding me!" She shouted. "I'm right here!" Nick Carter glanced over at her, and rolled his eyes. "I've got it, Dani." He called back, dribbling back a few steps, and releasing the ball. It spun through the air, and landed in the basket. Twelve-year-old Nick Carter threw his hands up in the air. "Oh yeah! Nothing but that!" He looked over at Dani, whose arms were crossed over her chest in a defiany manner. "Lucky shot." She snapped, stomping over to the side of the court, and taking a drink from her water bottle. "You should have passed it, anyway." "Yeah, whatever. I made it, didn't I?" Dani shrugged. "Yeah, well, I would have made it, too." "Hey! Are you guys gonna play?" A short blond girl snapped, grabbing the ball, and getting ready to pass it in to her teammate. Dani dropped her drink, and hurried back onto the court. "Chill, Cate. C'mon, let's start." She held up her hands in front of her friend Catelyn, positioning herself to play defense. The group of four (which also included Mike, one of Nick's friends,) played for a few more minutes, during which no one managed to score, before a loud, clanging alarm sounded around the park. Nick stopped dribbling. The alarm showed that there were ten minutes before nine o' clock, which was curfew time for everyone under fifteen. "It's 20-16, we'll meet here tomorrow, okay?" He grabbed his sweat shirt and water bottle from the side lines, and started dribbling his ball towards his house. "Hey! Nick!" Dani ran up to him. "Is it okay if I stay at your house tonight? My parents are. . . out of town." Nick shrugged. "Sure." Dani stayed at his house a lot. Even though Nick's younger sister, BJ, was a few years younger than her, she and Dani got along pretty well, so BJ never minded sharing her room. And Nick's mom never minded when he brought Dani home. She was 'such a sweet girl' after all. It seemed to Nick like Dani's parents were always out of town, or using her room for company, or just not coming home all night. She stayed at his house atleast once a week. Not that he minded, he and Dani had been best friends since pretty much birth, after all. "Where'd they go this time?" Dani looked surprised. "Who?" "Your parents." Nick reminded her. "What?" She looked confused. "Oh! Right! Um, they're going to. . . my aunt's house. In. . . Orlando." She stumbled through her answer. Nick opened his mouth to say something, but Dani didn't let him speak. She grabbed the ball from his hands. "Steal!" She announced, and ran towards Nick's house dribbling the ball, trying to stay ahead of him, even though he was trying to take the ball back. |
| "Hey! Carter! I'm open over here!" Dani Claybourne called, holding her hands above her head, and waiting for Nick to pass the ball. Nick looked over Brian Littrell's head at Dani. He shook his head, and dribbled back a few paces. He shot the ball. It left his hands, spiraled through the air, and fell through the net. "Oh yeah!" He cried, bursting into a little victory dance. "Nothing but net!" "Yeah!" Dani held up a hand, which Nick slapped. "Nice one!" She said, smiling at Brian and Catelyn, who made up their opposing team. "And that gives us twenty one, which makes us the winners." She announced, tossing the ball at Catelyn. "And that would make you the. . ." "Oh, shut up." Catelyn tossed her long blond hair over her shoulder, and walked over to the set of bleachers lining the side of the gym. She sat down next to Allie Karmen, who was deeply engrossed in the book she was reading. "Who won?" She asked, with out even looking up. "They did." Catelyn said resentfully. "As usual." Brian sat down next to them. "I swear, they cheat." He said, taking a drink of his gatorade. He looked over at the two of them, who had now started their own mini-game. "They really do look good together." Catelyn laughed. "Just don't let them hear you say that. They'll both kill you." Brian laughed. "I know. I remember the first time I told Nick they made a nice couple, he pretty much murdered me." Allie looked up, and shook her head. "I don't care what they say. Those two are in major denial. There's something going on there." |
| May, 1991 |
| May, 2001 |