Everything was blurry. I could feel the warmth of the covers, and I could hear people talking, but I couldn't see anything. I must have hit my head harder than I thought. Someone turned on a light and placed a cold washcloth on my forehead.
As my vision cleared, I saw an angel. She had smooth, tan skin, shoulder-length black hair, and chocolate brown eyes a man could get lost in. She also had a worried look on her face. Then, she started to speak.
"Heather, how are you doing? We've been waiting for you to wake up for hours."
My eyes widened. Heather!! Who's Heather? My name's AJ, not Heather. I voiced my question, then stopped. When did the pitch of my voice change?
The angel's eyes became more worried. "Do you remember anything?"
"Well," I began and winced at the high-pitched Southern sound. "I remember rehearsal. I remember the chair routine, and I remember tripping."
A puzzeled look came across the angel's face. I sat up and began to look around the room. I was lying in a rather comfortable bed with a dip in the mattress and flower-covered blankets. I looked to my right and saw tons of pictures of the guys and me. In fact, there were a lot of Nick and me. I looked to the left and saw a desk and another bed. On that wall was a ton of pictures of Howie. I smiled. I knew he was loved as much as the rest of us.
"Heath, I'm really worried about you. I'm calling a doctor," the angel said. And with that, she left the room, closing the door behind her. Why does she keep calling me Heather?
I looked down and saw strands of long, curly dark hair brush my face. This really began to worry me. I stood up and walked around the room. Discovering the bathroom, I switched on the light and looked in the mirror. My jaw dropped. Staring back at me was not my reflection, but the image of a very pretty girl with shoulder-length dark hair and hazel almond-shaped eyes. She had full, pouty lips, and somewhat of a good body underneath her sweatshirt and jeans. I raised my right hand and touched my hair. The image did the same.
What kind of a joke was this? This couldn't be happening! Stuff like this doesn't happen in real life. Who was I? Where did this girl go? Wait a minute. If I had her body, then......oh, no! We've got a concert tonight! This poor girl was in the clutches of the guys! God help her!
Heather
I sat up and examined the person standing in the doorway. He was a very familiar-looking tall blond with bright blue eyes and a sneaky grin. He looked like Nick Carter, but it couldn't be, could it? Judging by the grin, I figured that he must have been the one who hit me.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're finally awake. You've been out for almost two hours and a half now. The fellas and I have been worried about you. How're feeling, Bone?" he asked.
I leaned my head to the side and looked at him. "Bone?" I asked. "Are you sure you have the right room?" I stopped and put my hand to my throat. When did my voice get deeper?
The smile faded from the blond's face. He looks so much like Nick! "AJ, do you remember me?"
AJ? I regarded him. "I think I know you, but you can't be who I think you are," I answered. I must have been going hoarse or something. I then moved my hand and looked down at it. It was bigger and hairier than I last remembered, and there were several silver rings on it.
"Hey, guys! I think there's something really wrong with AJ! I think he's got amnesia!" the blond yelled as he ran out of the room. Amnesia? The last thing I remembered was standing on my chair and pushing in a tack. My stockinged feet slipped, and I hit my head on the chair.
My chin started to itch and I reached up to scratch it. I stopped. There was hair on my chin! Fear crept into my stomach as I jumped out of the bed and ran to the mirror over the dresser.
My jaw dropped open, and I rubbed my eyes. Staring back at me was the unmistakable image of AJ McLean! From his short curly dark hair (which had bright red tips) to his brown eyes to his perfectly shaped goatee. My eyes trailed down to his (my?) stomach. I lifted my red sweatshirt and watched the image do the same. I looked back down at my stomach. There it was-the sixpack! I was stunned, completely stunned. I could hardly breathe.
"AJ, are you alright?" I looked up to see a tall dark-haired man with soft green eyes approaching me. If I was AJ, then this had to be Kevin, and the blond guy really was Nick!
"I don't know," I answered, my voice a little shaky. I looked back at the image. AJ was still staring back at me. I turned back to Kevin. "What's going on?"
"Maybe, you'd better lie back down," Kevin said, a look of worry in his eyes.
I nodded, lifted my shirt, and looked at the sixpack again. I then lowered the shirt and looked at Kevin. "Yeah, maybe I'd better."
As I made my way back to the bed, I heard Kevin tell Brian to call a doctor.
"Open wide."
I opened my mouth and the doctor stuck in the wooden tongue depressor. He looked around with the help of a little light. He then moved the depressor, told me I could close my mouth, and turned to the angel, whose name I found out was Sandee.
"Everything seems normal, but she did get quite a gash on her head. Let her rest and she should be alright. If she does have amnesia, then give her a while. I believe it's only temporary," the doctor smiled.
"Thank you," Sandee said as she returned his smile. She really did have a beautiful smile.
As the doctor left the room, she helped me down off the examining table. We walked through the hospital to the waiting room.
Figuring out that it was Saturday and no doctor's office was open, Sandee decided to take me to the emergency room. We were originally going to take her friend Kasey's truck, but a bouncy redhead with bright blue-green eyes had come in at that moment. Sandee had filled her in on what had happened, and everyone decided to take her Cavalier.
"How's your head feeling? Do you need anything? What a way to spend your birthday, huh?" the redhead, whose name was Amy, said on the way to the hospital. She could have gotten on my nerves if it wasn't for her genuine spirit. She and Brian would get along beautifully.
We made it to the waiting room to find Amy and three other worried faces waiting patiently. I looked at each one of them and tried to remember the names they had told me.
Kasey was cute and short with curly dark hair and bright brown eyes. Her look of worry changed to a relieved grin when Sandee told her what the doctor had said. She had a funny sense of humor, and she was trying to get me to laugh all the way to the hospital.
Peggy was quieter and a little more serious. She had shoulder- length dark hair with bangs barely touching her eyebrows and green eyes. I discovered that she was my roommate and the Howie wall was hers. If I ever get my body back, I'm going to tell Sweet D about her.
The last face was that of a rather big man named Mark. He was Sandee's brother and had the same tan skin and dark eyes, but he had shaved all of his hair off. Apparently, he kept to himself a lot, but when he heard about me, he drove over to the hospital.
We walked out of the hospital and got into the car. We stopped by K-Mart and got my prescription filled ("something to help her head," the doctor had said), then we headed back to the apartment.
As soon as we were in the apartment, I turned to Peggy and asked, "Is it alright if I spend a little time by myself in the room?"
Her eyebrows shot up in surprise, and everyone stopped to look. Apparently, Heather doesn't ask if she can be alone in the room.
"Sure, it's your room, too. In fact, you need to go lie down anyway," Peggy answered. She proceeded to take off her coat, then led me into the bedroom. She tucked me in the bed, cut off the light and left. I smiled. Yes, Howie would definitely like her.
I lie there in the dark staring up at the glowing stars on the ceiling. Okay, it looked like I could be Heather for a while. From what I had gathered, she was an art major with a sweet disposition and a funny sense of humor. Also, judging from Amy's comment, she had the same exact birthday I did-January 9, 1978.
Well, I thought, I could pull this off. I'm going to be an anonymous college student for a while. Maybe I could shake Heather up a bit. Get her some clothes to show off her curves. I couldn't understand why she didn't show them off more; she had nice-sized C cups (those had really freaked me out; I had never had them before).
Ah, an anonymous college student with five very caring best friends. How hard could it be?
"Just let him rest, and I'm sure he should be fine. That was a nasty bump he received," the doctor explained to Kevin. The tall dark-haired man stood there and nodded as the doctor told him what medicines I needed and when to take them. Finally, both men shook hands.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice. We have a concert tonight, and I needed to know if AJ could perform."
"Well, he can't perform tonight, but tomorrow night he should be alright." The doctor then turned to me. "AJ, take care of yourself," he said and left the room.
All of the guys came and sat on the bed next to me. I sat up and looked at them. Believe me, pictures do not do them justice.
"Can you remember anything?" Howie asked worriedly. This probably affected him the most since AJ was his best friend. He was rather handsome with his long curly hair pulled back into its familiar ponytail and his deep brown eyes.
"Well, now that I've rested a little bit, I think I can remember some things. Let me try names. I'm Alexander James McLean, you're Howard Dwaine Dorough, and you three," I looked at Brian, Nick, and Kevin, "are Brian Thomas Littrell, Nickolas Gene Carter, and Kevin Scott Richardson." Thank God for Teen Beat!
Howie smiled. "Good," he said. "Anything else?"
"Hmm." I tried to remember everything I could from all the interviews that Sandee had read to us. "My mom's name is Denise. I was born on January 9, 1978. I-"
"Do you know what time?" Nick challenged, his face showing that he believed I could do it. "Oh, those blue eyes, that smile, that baby fine blond hair. If only he knew I was really a girl.
I closed my eyes. One of the one questions I didn't know! Thanks to Amy, I could tell them what time Brian was born, but I never could find out what time AJ was born.
"I can't remember," I answered.
"I guess that means it's only partial amnesia. Hey, Boner, can you still do the dance from 'Everybody'?" Brian asked, his blue eyes looking at me intently. Even though this was a rather serious situation, his voice had a light quality to it, and hearing its Southern accent made me a little homesick. He pushed his blondish-brown curly bangs out of his eyes as he waited for my answer. That move alone would've killed Amy.
I thought for a minute, trying to remember the "Everybody" dance. All I could remember were the hand movements. I told this to the guys and apologized.
Kevin stood up and patted me on the shoulder. "Don't worry, it should all come back soon. Come on, guys, we've got a show to do," he said. He then turned to me. "You get some rest," he ordered. I nodded.
One by one, the guys stood up and left. I sat up in the bed for a little while longer. How long was I going to be AJ? How was he doing with the girls and Mark? How was he going to do in my art classes? Can I make the world think I'm AJ McLean?
I lie down, stared up at the ceiling, and smiled. This might be fun. I finally get to see the dragon tattoo and check out the package. I get to perform and be famous. I get to drive the grey Expedition. How hard could it be?
As I began to drift off to sleep, I decided to try to call home and see if I could get in touch with AJ. Maybe we could help each other out?