faith6

Chapter Six

   Kaelyn sat up in her bunk slowly the next morning, feeling disoriented. She could hear good-natured voices bantering, but it took her a moment to remember where she was. She pulled a dressing gown on over her pajamas and climbed down from her bunk.
   "Morning!" Howie said cheerfully as she walked into the front area of the bus.
   "Good morning." She replied, groggily.
   "Would you like some coffee?" Nick asked as she sat down on the bench and tucked her feet up beneath her.
   "That would be great, thanks." She smiled gratefully as he handed her a steaming mug.
   "How did you sleep?" Howie asked after she had taken a deep, fortifying sip.
   "Pretty well, thanks." She answered. "I was a bit confused when I woke up this morning, but I'll get used to it, I'm sure."
   "Yeah, it usually takes us a couple of days too, when we've been off for a while."

   "So what's the agenda for today?" Kaelyn asked after everybody had woken up and gotten dressed.
   "Well, we drive until about three or four this afternoon, then they set up for the concert while we rehearse and warm up, and..." Kevin started.
   "Okay, I get the picture!" Kaelyn laughingly interrupted. "But four o'clock is five hours away. What do you usually do until then?"
   AJ looked at her through sleep-blurred eyes. "I usually take a long nap."
   Brian laughed. "And Nick and I have a long-standing battle on the Nintendo that occupies our attention."
   "Oh yeah, baby!" Nick agreed enthusiastically. "And I'm kicking ass right now!"
   "Leading by two points is not kicking ass, Nick." Brian defended himself.
   "You're just bitter, B-Rok." Nick retorted.
   "Am not!"
   "Are too!"
   "Am not!"
   "Are too!"
   "Okay you guys, knock it off." Kevin said, hiding a grin. "Just get started already, would you?"
   The bickering duo headed to the back of the bus where, as Kaelyn had been shown the day before, there was a complex entertainment system set up with large comfy pillows on the benches. Kaelyn turned to Howie and Kevin. "So what do you two do?"
   "Just about anything that keeps up busy." Howie admitted.

   "Hello all you Backstreet fans out there! This is Kaelyn Montgomery signing in as the luckiest girl in the world. Yes, that's right, I?m the girl that gets to spend three straight months with the Boys while they're on tour! But don't worry; I'll give you a new entry from my travel journal every week! So far, I've been on tour for a week..." Kaelyn rolled her eyes at how cheesy she was sounding as she wrote her first 'journal entry'. She took a drink of her coke and started writing again. "This week was spent getting to know, intimately, the different habits of each Boy. For instance, I've learned that it's nearly impossible to wake AJ up before 11 a.m., and getting Brian and Nick away from their beloved Nintendo requires either a crowbar or a large amount of food. Of course, I shouldn't be telling you all these things, but... I can trust you, can't I?
   "So, this week, we've done 2 concerts, and a lot of traveling on the tour bus..." Kaelyn finished her entry and was just emailing it to the web-master when Brian emerged from the back and sat down across the table from her.
   "So what secrets of ours are you divulging to the entire world?" he asked jokingly.
   "Oh, nothing serious, just the love affair that you and Nick are having..."
   "What!?" he interrupted.
   "...With your Nintendo." She finished with a smile.
   He smiled back ruefully. "So, are you having fun yet?"
   "Oh, yeah!" she grinned. "Though I can't wait for a real bed at the hotel tonight."
   "Oh, I know." He commiserated.
   The two lapsed into companionable silence for a long moment, Kaelyn watching as Brian stared at his hands morosely. "Wanna talk about it?" she asked quietly.
   "What?" he looked up, startled.
   "Whatever it is that is making you so introspective. Do you want to talk about it?" she repeated.
   He sighed. "It's just... Well, Leighanne and Danielle are meeting us at the hotel tonight."
   "Isn't that a good thing?"
   "Yeah, I can't wait to see them, but..." he paused, then looked up at Kaelyn. "I shouldn't be telling you this."
   "If you're not completely comfortable, you don't have to tell me anything. But if and when you're ready, I'm more than willing to listen." She smiled at him as she stood up, gathering her laptop into her arm. "And you don't have to worry about me writing any of it down."
   "Thanks." Brian smiled wryly up at her as she gave his arm a friendly pat and moved toward the back of the bus.