I leaned against the table and closed my eyes. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t make the queasy feeling go away. I opened my eyes, looked in the mirror, and took a deep breath. It was a good thirty minutes before we were suppose to go onstage, and I was roughly hiding out in the dressing room.
I looked AJ’s body over. My sunglasses were sitting on top of my head, so I could see the deep brown eyes. I had on his white tank top, the black and red pants, and his navy blue, sleeveless coat. I could see his tattoos well, especially "Da Bone."
"AJ, you okay?" I looked behind me in the mirror to see Nick standing there. He was in his blue racing suit, and his blond hair was hanging in his eyes.
"Yeah, I’m just a little nervous," I explained.
A puzzled look crossed Nick’s handsome face. "That’s strange. You’ve never gotten nervous before a show. Actually, you jump up and down and sing to the top of your lungs," he said.
I turned to face him. "Well, I’m not quite myself today. I mean, you saw me in the rehearsal."
I could tell that Nick was trying to hold back his laughter. "Yeah, you were more out of step than the rest of us. I thought Fatima was just going to break down and cry." Finally, he couldn’t hold it back any longer and started howling.
I gave him a dark look. "Very funny. I can’t help it if I’ve lost my dancing ability. Is there any way you guys could dance around me or something?" I suggested.
"Well, I’m sure we could work out something. You know the words, right?" Nick asked after calming down some.
I nodded. I automatically knew all the words to every song on the American CD, but the rest of them I had to learn. I even had to make sure I knew all the words to "Lay Down Beside Me."
"Then there’s really nothing to worry about. We’ve already explained to the crowd that you got hurt and can’t remember some things. Don’t worry; whatever you do, they’ll scream," he smiled.
"Hey, guys, Aaron’s almost done. You ready?" Kevin asked as he poked his head in the doorway.
"As ready as we’ll ever be," Nick announced as he draped his arm around me and gave Kevin a cheesy grin.
Kevin walked into the room and looked at me. "Are you going to be alright tonight, Bone?" he asked.
"Yeah. I might not be able to remember all the dance steps, but I can sing, and I think I can improvise," I answered.
Kevin smiled, turned to the door, and left. Nick patted me on the back, told me to break a leg, and left also. I took one last look in the mirror and sighed. Here we go.
We gathered in the hallway and chanted, "It’s time to go to
work, y’all!"
"What kind of work?"
"Hard work, uh!"
Everyone around me was trying to get themselves pumped. Kevin was standing in the wing listening to the crowd. Brian was giving all the band members high-fives. Howie was smiling and laughing. Nick was jumping up and down and screaming. I was holding onto the wall, praying I wouldn’t throw up.
Nick walked over to me and, once again, patted me on the back. "You look pale, man. Are you sure you can do this?" he asked.
I wanted to run back into the dressing room and hide, but I couldn’t let the guys down. I couldn’t let AJ down.
When it was time, the backstage people rushed us to our places. We each stood on a platform that was suppose to shoot us out of the stage. I had seen it at the concert my friends and I went to, and it had looked cool. Right now, though, it wasn’t looking very cool.
"Howie, maybe I should go back to the dressing room," I said, a terrified look on my face. The opening strands of "That’s the Way I Like It" began to play.
"Too late now, AJ," Howie, who stood next to me, answered as he got ready.
Before I knew it, we were propelled out of the stage. When I hit the floor, I nearly lost my balance and fell into Howie. He caught me and shoved me back into my place.
"It’s your part," he hissed.
"Oh, yeah. Heeeey!!" I sang, then the music started up again. The guys threw themselves into the dance routine. I tried to keep up, but I was at least several beats off and hopelessly out of step.
Nick sang his part, we switched spots (at least I remembered that), and the spotlight hit me. I froze. I couldn’t move; I couldn’t sing. I just stood there.
Suddenly, I heard a deep voice covering AJ’s part. I looked over and saw Kevin singing his heart out. He looked over at me, and even though he had a smile on his face, his green eyes said, "We need to talk."
The rest of the guys bounced down to the front of the stage while I just stood on the platform. Come on, Heather, I thought, right now you are AJ. No one knows it’s you; you can do this.
I loosened myself up a bit and headed down to the front of the stage. I tapped Kevin on the shoulder to let him know that I was alright and took over.
The farther into the concert I got, the more I got into it. I started dancing around with my mouth hanging open, which I did normally.
I was doing good up until "Lay Down Beside Me." I tried, but I think I sucked every ounce of sex appeal out of that song. My vocals were rather good, but my moves left little to be desired.
I was down on the floor, getting ready to go into AJ’s famous floor, when I chickened out. I knew I wasn’t as flexible as AJ, so I wasn’t going to try it. I did get my pelvic thrusts right, though. Sandee would’ve been proud of me. I even took my shirt off at one point and listened to the crowd scream. That was fun!
The rest of the concert went alright. I tripped over Nick’s feet (they were big), but it was nice when he caught me. He had the best drummer’s arms! But he stood me up and bit his lip to try not to laugh.
Anytime I was next to Howie, we seemed to be doing a turn. I constantly kept running into him and accidentally hitting him in the face. At one point, he punched me in the arm...hard.
The hat routine was worse. I was able to keep up with the routine, but I missed a move here and there. When we placed the hats on our feet and lifted them to our hands, I lost my balance and fell into Brian. He regained his balance, then helped me regain mine. The fellas wouldn’t even let me try the chair routine.
Later on, I was having a good time dancing and singing, and I got a little too close to the edge of the stage. Kevin was able to pull me back before the sparks flew out of it. I had forgotten that part of the concert. I was alright, but I still singed the edge of AJ’s pants.
Finally, we reached "Everybody." I could do this one. All AJ did was bounce around and yell. I was all pumped and ready to go until I saw the coffins. I had forgotten about the coffins. I climbed into mine, and the stagehands pushed us onto the stage.
The music was pumping, and the crowd was screaming. The stagehands turned around the coffins, and I got hung. The sleeve of my red poet shirt caught on one of the loose splinters of wood. As Brian sang his opening lines, I pulled and pulled until I ripped the shirt and fell flat on my face out of the coffin. Everyone else was still in their coffins.
Oh, no! Please tell me that did not just happen, I prayed. The music grew faster, and the guys sang, "Backstreet’s Back! Alright!" I laid there for a minute, trying to collect my dignity. Finally, I stood up and, without missing a beat, I sang, "Oh, my God, we’re back again!"
After we had taken our bows and run offstage, Kevin caught my shoulder. "Bone, what was that out there? First the rehearsal and now this? I’ve never seen you be that clumsy," he said.
"Yeah, you were all over the stage," Nick laughed as he, Brian, and Howie approached us.
"Nick, this isn’t funny. I think there’s something seriously wrong with AJ. This really isn’t like you, and I’m really worried," Howie said as he patted me on the shoulder.
"Well, on the one hand, it is rather scary that AJ has turned into Frack here," Brian commented.
"Hey!" Nick interrupted.
"But, on the other hand, it was kind of funny to watch. Even if he did crash into me during ‘All I Have to Give.’"
"I’m not that clumsy," Nick protested. He wasn’t going to let Brian’s comment go.
"Yes, you are," the other three responded.
"Well, I think we need to get AJ checked out again. There may be something the doctor missed. And…" Kevin began.
"Excuse me," I interrupted. "I’m standing right here. I told you guys that I couldn’t remember the dance steps. There’s nothing else that’s wrong. I’m just having a really off day."
All five of us had started walking towards the dressing room. As we passed different stagehands and backstage people, they continuously asked me if I was alright. We finally made it into the room, and I sat down in a chair. I dropped my head into my hands and sighed. Kevin sat down next to me and patted me on the back.
"I still think we need to take you to another doctor, but then again, you could be right. Maybe all of this was caused by the bump on your head, and you need a little bit more time to heal," he said.
"Yeah. Hey, this was just one concert. I don’t think any of those girls really noticed and, since we’re off for a couple of days, we can rehearse with Fatima," Howie suggested, looking on the bright side. He really did live up to his nickname.
I smiled up at him. "Thanks, Sweet D."
Brian also grinned at me. "The next concert you’re going to be back to the same, old, Bone."
Maybe, I thought. Depended on if the same, old Bone would be back in his same, old body. I looked over at Nick to see what kind of words of encouragement he could offer, but he was still pouting.
He was sitting in a chair across from me, and I couldn’t help but laugh at how cute he looked. "Nick, you know you’re going to trip on that bottom lip," I commented.
He looked up at me and stuck his tongue out. "I’m not really clumsy, am I?" he asked seriously. The four of us burst out laughing.
Brian walked over and sat down next to him. "It was a joke, Nick. I didn’t mean for you to take it that hard. You’re a great performer; you know that," he smiled.
Nick smiled back at him. "I know you didn’t mean anything by it. It’s just that Missy said that to me earlier."
My ears perked up. "Missy?" I questioned.
Nick looked over at me. "You don’t remember Missy? My girlfriend? Do you remember Amber?" he asked.
I tensed. Amber! I had forgotten about AJ’s girlfriend. Oh, gross! Did this mean I was going to have to kiss her? Yuck! "I think it’s coming back to me now. Amber’s my girlfriend, right?" I asked cautiously.
"Right. Well, I guess I’d better go change. See ya later," Nick said as he stood up to retrieve his street clothes. The other three followed. Well, I thought as I sat there, I guess this meant I could find out about little miss Amber. If AJ had been looking at Sandee and forgotten to mention his girlfriend to me, then everything with Amber must not have been right. I smiled as I thought about it.