"Seventy-seven bottles of beer on the wall, seventy-seven bottles of beer. Take one down, pass it around. Seventy-six bottles of beer on the wall." Zoey and AJ were leaning against their respective walls singing to the top of their lungs. Both were bored out of their minds.
"Okay, let's stop now. I don't think I can sing anymore," Zoey said.
"Oh, come on. We've got seventy-six bottles to go," AJ smiled. He prepared to sing again when Zoey put up her hand.
"We need to see if we can find a way out of here." She checked her watch. "It's 2:15 am. I'm hot, I'm tired, and I'm ready to go home."
AJ leaned his head against the door. "Me, too."
They sat there in silence, trying to think of what to do next. Zoey leaned her head back against the wall and looked at the ceiling. Slowly, she traced her eyes along the wall looking for any kind of escape route. Surely, there had to be an air vent, something. She turned to look behind her and stopped. On top of the wall near the ceiling was a small window. Her eyes widened.
"Alex! Why didn't you tell me there was a window behind me?" she snapped.
AJ had closed his eyes and now he only opened one to look at her. "There's a window behind you?"
"Yes."
"I'm sorry; I didn't look that far up. You know, you could have seen it when you locked us in the bathroom," he accused.
"Oh, don't start that again!" Zoey said as she stood up. The bathroom had a rather high ceiling, so the window was out of reach for Zoey's 5'8" frame. She was going to need something to stand on. "Alright, instead of beating that dead horse, could you at least come over here and give me a lift?"
AJ stood up and smiled. "Well, you seemed to have found a way out. The least I could do is help." He walked over to her and bent down. He wrapped his arms around her legs.
Zoey looked at him. "You promise you're not going to drop me?"
AJ looked up at her. "You know, I could go back and sit down," he said.
Zoey sighed and looked back up at the window. AJ took a deep breath and lifted her. As she got closer to the window, she stretched to reach it. When she realized that she could get to it, she tried to squirm out of AJ's embrace. This caused AJ and her to wobble a little.
"Zoey, don't move so much," AJ warned.
"Just a little bit more, Alex," she said. She stretched as far as she could and began to lose her balance. The movement caused AJ to lose his balance. Their tower came crashing to the ground with Zoey scraping her elbow on the wall. AJ landed on his stomach, and Zoey landed on her back with her legs draped over him.
"Could you please get off me?" AJ asked. Zoey just groaned, grabbed her arm, and moved her legs. AJ sat up and looked at her. "Are you alright?"
With his help, Zoey sat up as well. "Yeah, it's just a scratch. It'll go away," she said with tears forming in her eyes. She was lying. It was a little more than a scratch, and it was hurting like crazy.
"Let me see it," AJ said, trying to move Zoey's hand.
She backed away. "No, it's fine."
"If it were fine, you wouldn't be crying."
"I'm not crying," she sniffled.
AJ gave her a pointed look. "Just let me look at it."
Zoey reluctantly moved her hand to reveal a large cut on her right elbow. Blood was flowing from it.
"A scratch, huh? That doesn't look good," AJ commented. "Stay right here." He stood up and grabbed some of the brown paper towels near the sink. He wet them, brought them back over to Zoey, and touched her wound. She took in a sharp breath. Gently, he cleaned up the wound and told her to hold the towels to it. He stood up again and walked over to his side of the bathroom. He picked up his shirt and walked back to Zoey. He then moved the wet towels and began to wrap the wound.
"No, don't! Your shirt will get bloody!" Zoey protested.
He gave her a stern look. "Your arm is more important right now." He tied his makeshift bandage tight. "There, that should stop the blood."
She looked at her arm, then looked up at him and smiled. "Thank you," she quietly said.
"You're welcome." AJ looked up at the window as he sat down beside her. "Well, we now know that we can't get out through there," he observed.
"Yeah. It was worth a shot, though," Zoey grinned through the stinging pain. Her arm still hurt, and it was hard not to show it.
"I just hope that the others are having better luck than we are," AJ said. He looked at Zoey and returned her grin. "You know, we still have seventy-six bottles to go."
She laughed and shook her head. "Why not?" she said, and they began to sing again.
"Nick, do you know where you're going?" Howie asked as he, Nick, and Kevin walked down the dimly-lit hallway.
"Sure I do. I'm almost positive the front entrance is just a couple of more feet down," Nick answered confidently.
Kevin leaned over to Howie. "Why are we letting him lead the way again?"
"Because I explored the venue before the sound check," Nick supplied. "I wanted to see where we are." He had apparently over heard Kevin. The oldest Backstreet Boy just shook his head.
"Okay, I believe we turn here," Nick announced when they reached a hallway to their right. It was a short distance, and there was a door at the end of it.
It had been a little while since they had started their search for a custodian or a night cleaning crew. They had already searched the entire backstage area and were now trying to get out to the lobby. They had decided to leave the actual coliseum area for last. Somehow along the way, Nick had decided to take the lead, and they had been walking for a good fifteen minutes. This particular hallway was the third one they had been down.
They reached the end of it, and Nick pushed open the door. They stepped through it to find themselves standing outside. Kevin and Howie glared at Nick.
"Uh, Nick, I think when decided to search the entrance, we meant on the inside of the coliseum," Howie pointed out.
"Shut up, Howie," Nick said. "I think we made a wrong turn somewhere."
"We'd better go back in and backtrack," Kevin suggested. He turned around to open the door, which had closed behind them. It wouldn't budge. Kevin pulled harder, and it still wouldn't budge.
"Come on, Kev. Open the door," Howie said.
"I can't. We're locked out."
"Locked out?" Howie tried his hand at opening the door. He didn't have any luck either.
"Here, let me try. After all, I am the tallest," Nick said, pushing his way towards the door. Kevin and Howie just rolled their eyes. Nick sometimes loved to bring up the fact that he was taller than Kevin by an inch even though he was the youngest.
Nick clutched the door handle and pulled. It wouldn't move. He twisted and turned it, but still to no avail. As he struggled with the door, Kevin and Howie burst into laughter.
"Come on, Mr. 'I'm-Taller-Than-You-Are,' open the door," Howie needled him.
"Shut up, Howie," Nick shot at him. He let go of the door and stepped back.
Kevin wiped a tear from his green eyes. "So, what do we do now?" he asked as he caught his breath.
"I guess we walk around until we find another entrance," Howie suggested as he tied his hair back into a ponytail. He then patted Nick on the back. "Don't worry, little man. We know you tried."
Nick sighed and prepared to answer when he stopped. "Did you guys hear that?" he asked.
Kevin and Howie both stood still. From a distance they could hear a group of female voices. As they came closer, the Boys could make out what they were saying.
"Kim, why are we still here? It's 2:40 am. I'm sure the Backstreet Boys aren't here anymore," one voice said.
"I saw their bus, Tracy. I know they're still here. It's just a matter of finding them, that's all," a second voice, apparently Kim, answered.
Nick, Kevin, and Howie exchanged looks. Uh, oh, fans!
"Guys, I have to get home. Remember, I'm taking summer classes? I failed this one before?" a third voice asked. As the last voice spoke, six girls came around the corner. They looked to be about college age, and they were all decked out in Backstreet Boys gear.
For a minute it seemed like they were going to walk right past the three guys, but the Boys weren't that lucky. The shortest girl looked up, and her green eyes grew wide. Nick, Kevin, and Howie felt like deer that were caught in someone's headlights.
"Oh, my God!" she screamed. "I told you! I told you! It's Kevin, Nick, and Howie!" The girls began to run towards them. When they reached them, the three guys smiled and began to sign autographs. Six girls weren't too bad. They would leave eventually, and them the Boys could concentrate on getting back into the building. But Murphy's Law wasn't through with them yet.
A scream caught Nick's attention. He looked up, and his blue eyes almost popped out of his head. A fairly large group of girls was headed straight for them.
"Oh, my God! It's the Backstreet Boys!" one of the members of the mob screamed.
Nick hit Howie in the arm and made him look up. Howie, in turn, did the same to Kevin. All three guys handed the six girls' stuff back to them and quickly said, "Thank you."
Kevin turned to the other two and yelled, "Run!" All three took off around the building with the mob following close behind.