Brian Littrell tumbled out of his top bunk when the tour bus came to a quick stop. Hitting the floor woke him up from the nice dream he was having about his mother's home cooking. He stood up, ran his hand through his blondish-brown waves, and surveyed the small place with his baby blue eyes. It took him a minute to figure out where he was.
He turned around to look out the window and almost tripped over the tall blond curled up in the middle of the aisle. Apparently, Nick Carter had not felt the stop for he was still fast asleep. Brian just grinned and stepped over him.
He rubbed his eyes and peered out the window. The view looked the same as every other morning. Another hotel in another city. He closed the curtain, stepped over Nick again, and made his way to the front of the bus. As he passed Howie Dorough and Kevin Richardson, he noticed that the quick stop hadn't disturbed them either.
He finally made to the kitchen and saw that AJ McLean had already beaten him to the Cap'n Crunch. "How do you do that?" he asked.
AJ looked up from his bowl and grinned. "My legs are faster than yours," he answered. "Did the stop wake you, too?"
"Yeah, when are they ever gonna learn to park this bus?"
AJ just laughed and returned to his bowl. Brian looked at his bandmate for a while and smiled. AJ certainly was one of the funniest things to see early in the morning. He wore his favorite pair of yellow pajama bottoms and his curly dark hair, of which the top was dyed bright crayon red, was sticking straight up.
Brian grabbed a bowl, a spoon, and the milk and sat down in the booth across from AJ. He then poured the cereal and the milk into his bowl.
"Where are we?" he asked.
AJ's deep brown eyes looked up at him. He swallowed his bite of cereal, wiped the milk from his goatee, and leaned back to look out the window. "It looks like the Hilton."
"AJ."
AJ smiled, "Kidding, B. I think we're in North Carolina."
Brian sighed. "Aren't we suppose to do this concert on Saturday? It's only Tuesday." Suddenly, his eyes brightened. "You think we'll get a day off?"
AJ arched his eyebrow. "C'mon, with the Dragonlady managing this tour? I think we're suppose to do the local news and the local morning show."
"Oh." Brian's shoulders slumped a little.
"What's wrong? You're usually up for these things?"
"I know, but it's all of this fame. I love singing on stage; I love what I'm doing, but sometimes I kinda wonder what it's like to be normal again. I kinda miss being anonymous. I miss being able to sleep an entire day away. By the way, what time is it?"
AJ, who had a view of the clock, answered, "It's ten. It might not be all day, but at least she let us sleep in. Don't worry. Just one more month and we get some time off."
"Boy, you guys sure are loud. Is there any cereal left?" Both guys looked up to see Howie stumbling into the kitchen rubbing his brown eyes. His long, curly, dark hair was all in knots, and he was sporting his favorite pair of purple pajamas. They were amazingly still ironed.
"Pull up a seat, D," AJ said as he finished off his cereal. Howie struggled over to the cabinet, grabbed a bowl and a spoon, and sat down next to AJ. He poured some cereal and some milk and dove in.
"Morning! Got any cereal left? When did we stop? Hey, Bri! How did I wind up in the floor?" The guys looked up to see Nick saunter into the kitchen. He did the same thing as the other two and sat down.
Brian looked at him and just laughed. "You mean to tell me that you didn't feel the quick stop when we parked?"
Nick looked up. "What stop?"
The other three just shook their heads at the youngest member of the group. Nick's baby blues just regarded them questioningly. "What?"
"Frack, sometimes you amaze me," Brian said.
"What time is it? Am I late? Have we checked in yet?" The four guys followed the worried bass voice to the door to find the fifth and oldest member of their group, Kevin. He was struggling into a t-shirt and looking around nervously as he entered the kitchen.
"Chill, Kev, for once you're on time," AJ stated.
Kevin just stopped and looked at them. As usual, he was the last to get up, but this time he wasn't late. That was a nice change of pace. He smoothed down his short dark hair and surveyed the kitchen with his green eyes to find some breakfast. No sooner had he sat down than the shrill, high-pitched voice of a woman floated through the doorway.
All five guys looked towards the entrance of the bus to see a gorgeous blonde woman dressed in a pastel pink skirt and white blouse enter. She looked to be about twenty-five with a stern face and piercing green eyes.
When she reached the booth, she stopped and glared at each guy. "Well, it's about time you got up. You know we have a busy schedule today," she said with an edge to her voice.
AJ looked up at her and flashed her a cheesy grin. "And good morning to you, too, Billie."
Billie Ross, their new tour manager, turned on AJ. "Don't start with me today, Dopey."
"What?" AJ asked with mock innocence. "All I did was say good morning." Then he noticed her outfit. "At least I didn't say that you're looking especially blindingly white today in that pink pastel."
The other four bit their bottom lips to keep from laughing. Billie just glared at AJ, who had a rather innocent look on his face.
Choosing to ignore his comment, she turned her attention to the other four members. "We have to check in, go to the stadium, soundcheck, then you've got several interviews to do," she said. The guys sighed and stood up.
"Wait!" AJ exclaimed as he stood and turned to face Billie. He was taller than she was by several inches. "Poor Kevin hasn't eaten yet. Look at the man! He's wasting away to nothingness."
Everyone turned to look at Kevin and grinned. The tall, handsome dark-haired man had a good-sized body and was definitely not wasting away. Billie shot AJ a nasty look.
As the guys began to file back to their bunks to grab their clothes, Billie stopped Brian. He winced as she draped her arms around his neck. "Where were you last night?" she asked softly.
Brian moved her arms and tried to walk past her. She blocked his path.
"I was really tired last night after the show."
She pouted. "But I had the wine all ready, and you promised you'd come."
"No," he corrected her. "No, I said maybe, but it was late and I was tired."
She smiled. "Well, what about tonight? You don't have a concert."
"I don't know. I think the guys and I might do something. Now, can I go change?" Billie moved and let Brian pass. Brian just shook his head as he walked towards his bunk.
"Amber!! Give me that!!" Tessa Connors said as she caught the small, five-year-old girl's arm. She took the pink balloons from her small hand and placed them on the counter behind her. "Now, you can go sit in the time-out box."
Amber James's smile faded as she walked to the blue chair sitting in the corner. She sat down in it and pouted.
Tessa walked around the counter and leaned against it, sighing. She swept back her shoulder-length red hair in frustration. It was going to be one of those days. Those days where nothing seems to go right. She looked up to see one of her roommates and fellow summer day camp counselor, Kristin Bernstein, coming her way.
"Are you worn out yet?" she asked, grinning.
"God, everyday it's the same with that girl. There's got to be some way to make her listen," Tessa said.
"I know. Well, you're doing your best." Kristin then started to do the cabbage patch and chant, "Go, Tessa! Go, Tessa!"
Tessa laughed. "You need serious help," she said.
Kristin was always doing that silly dance anytime anyone needed their spirits lifted. She was cute with long curly brown hair, shining brown eyes, and a constant smile. She was in charge of the older kids, and, since she was a music major, she was in charge of anything musical that the camp did.
She finally stopped doing the cabbage patch and leaned against the counter. "Look on the bright side. It's almost lunchtime, so you get an hour away from these guys."
"True," Tessa said.
"Tess! I'm so glad I caught you!" Trisha Michaels, a rather tiny, bubbly, 17-year-old cheerleader, exclaimed as she came bouncing over. She was a junior counselor with waist-length blonde hair and big blue eyes.
Tessa looked at her suspiciously. Trisha never spoke to her unless she wanted something. "Yes?" she asked slowly.
"Well, my boyfriend Kenny was only able to get 12:30 off for lunch, and it's really important that I talk to him. Can we please switch? PULEEEEEZE!" Trisha begged.
Tessa sighed and laid her head on the counter. She was planning on having lunch with her four roommates, but looking at Trisha's pleading face, she gave in. Kristin just shook her head.
"Thank you so much!" Trisha squealed, and noticing it was 12:30, took off. Tessa watched the girl bounce down the hall, out the door, and into a waiting pick-up truck. Apparently, she wouldn't have taken no for an answer.
Tessa looked back and saw Kristin's disapproving look. "Why did you do that?" she asked.
"I don't know. Today's been so bad; I just don't care
anymore."
"Well, we'll get together and do something tonight,
okay?"
"Yeah."
As if on cue, their three other roommates came strolling through the door. Everyone exchanged greetings, and Tessa explained why she couldn't go to lunch with them.
"Tess, you are too nice. You need to grow a backbone, you know," Zoey Bryant scolded. She was a tall girl with long dark hair and dark eyes. She had Puerto Rican ancestory, so her skin had a beautiful golden tan to it.
"I know, but nothing's gone right today anyway," Tessa answered.
"Well, we can have dinner together. The museum will be closing early tonight," Megan Thomas smiled. She was about Tessa's height, which was 5'5", with shoulder-length, stick-straight brown hair and brown eyes.
"I don't know. I really want to finish my painting tonight," Skylar Roberts stated. She was the same height as Tessa and had shoulder-length, curly, brown hair and hazel eyes.
"Well, we'll think of something. I'm sorry today has been so horrible," Megan apologized.
Tessa smiled. "It's not your fault. Maybe it'll get better."
"TESSA!!! He won't give me my bag!" a hysterical wail came from the play area.
Kristin looked at the redhead. "Don't worry, I'll be back as soon as I can. And remember, Sharon's here," she said.
Sharon Brooks was the other 17-year-old junior counselor and was more responsible than Trisha. She was tomboyish with dark hair and brown eyes.
"Thanks. Go on; we can handle this," Tessa said as she started off in the direction of the wail. She stopped and looked back at her friends. "It looks like Sarah and Jeremy are at it again. I'll see y'all tonight." With that, she headed towards Sarah and Jeremy while Kristin, Zoey, Skylar, and Megan left.