Mind Games Index
Michelle T's BSB Stories
CHAPTER SEVEN – THIS IS PRACTICE?
The Backstreet Boys completed a few more jumps to the satisfaction of the stage manager, then went back to the dressing rooms to change into their regular clothing. They met at the stage of the arena with the band and settled down to do some serious rehearsal. Unfortunately, the practice didn’t go as smoothly as the jumps. The sound system kept cutting off, lights came on and went off at the wrong time, the dancers and the boys kept colliding with each other. A break was called, and everyone sighed with relief. The crew left the stage, but the guys sat down on the stage floor, too tired to move.
They looked at each other in dismay, disgusted with the way things were going.
Kevin sat cross-legged on the floor, trying to massage a stiff neck. "Still no chairs," he commented dryly.
"Man, this sucks!" Nick lay back on the floor, covering his eyes with the palms of his hands. "We suck!"
"Speak for yourself, Frack," said Brian, irritated.
"Hey, I wasn’t the one who kept running into everyone!"
"Well, maybe if a certain idiot would move his butt when he’s suppose to, I wouldn’t have!"
"Guys...," warned Kevin, seeing where this was going, but was cut off by Nick.
"Me?" argued Nick, now propped up on his elbows. "Me? Hey, I seem to remember some other "idiots" not moving in sync!"
AJ and Howie turned to look at Nick, then at each other, and began to snicker at Nick’s unintentional reference. The rest caught on and the tension evaporated as they began to laugh, howling at the absurdity of it.
"Nick," gasped Kevin, "I don’t think I ever want to be in-SYNC. I’m not gay."
They all cracked up, laughing even harder at Kevin’s joke.
"Hey, NSYNC isn’t so bad. I’ve got one in my bathroom," Howie added, looking sideways at Nick, who had collapsed on the floor, the others also in assorted stages of deterioration. Various times they tried to stop the laughter, only to be taken up again in a sudden spasm of hilarity.
Finally the laughter died down, and AJ flopped onto back, wiping the tears away from his eyes. "Damn. I needed that."
Brian nodded, unable to speak. He watched as AJ, exhausted, struggled unsuccessfully to sit up, then fall. This set Brian off and he double over again in laughter, causing the rest to join in.
"Oh God," moaned Nick, trying desperately to stop his laughter. "Please, please, I can’t take..."
After what seemed like an eternity to them, they were able to quiet down, a few sighs and groans escaping occasionally. Nick seemed the worst for wear and began hiccuping. Howie took pity and managed to get up and walked over to the cooler, fishing out bottled waters for the guys. Passing them out, he sat down next to Kevin, then rolled the ice-cold bottle on his neck. Howie twisted the cap off and just as he was taking a sip, the electricity went out, leaving the arena in complete darkness. Each guy froze in surprise, hearing cursing and yelling from the crew as they shouted for everyone to be calm and that they would have the lights on in a minute.
They sat in the dark, unable to see, not sure what to do. The guys heard Kevin cleared his throat then speak in a mock-serious tone. "God, just imagine what Brian would have done if the lights had gone out when he was coming down the rope."
"He woulda shit in his pants," replied Nick with certainty.
"Ha, ha," came back Brian’s sour reply. Suddenly inspired, he took a huge sip of his water, then aimed at what he hoped was Nick’s head. A yell of shocked surprise announced his success but it was short lived as Nick returned the favor. Brian took another cold swig and sprayed again, but missed, and he heard Howie swear.
"Whoever that was, your are so dead," informed Howie and he shot a stream, hoping it hit its target. A roar came from AJ.
"D," growled AJ, and Howie felt AJ jump up, searching, hunting for his arm, trying to grab him so he could dump the rest of his bottle onto Howie’s head. In the darkness, AJ tripped and fell into Kevin. Kevin immediately doused AJ with his bottle water and AJ tried unsuccessfully to return the favor, attempting to dump his down Kevin’s waistband. An uproar followed, and whatever water was left began flying everywhere, yells of payback promised, as each Backstreet Boy did their best to soak each other.
The lights suddenly glared back to life, blinding them, and they stopped, blinking owlishly at each other. Gaining his eyesight first, Nick made a mad dash for the cooler, frantically grabbing any water bottles he could and ripping off the caps. AJ and Brian followed quickly behind, shoving each other in order to get to the cold bottles first. Laughing gleefully, Nick drenched them, and they endured it, each struggling to open their own caps. Coming up from behind, Kevin and Howie tackled Nick. Kevin held Nick in a tight armlock, screaming for Brian to nail him. Brian smiled wickedly as he came up to Nick, then lunged instead at Kevin, grabbing the back of Kevin’s shirt and dumping the cold water down his back. Kevin swore, "You little shit," and released Nick, chasing after his cousin.
Howie and AJ turned to watch Kevin pursue Brian around the stage, forgetting about Nick. Now released, Nick rushed over to the cooler searching for more bottles. Noticing none left, he picked up the cooler itself and came up behind the two unsuspecting backs, pouring the freezing slush of ice and water over their heads.
Howie was sure he had a heart attack. The coldness stunned him and he barely heard AJ screaming profanities of an extreme nature. He turned around to see Nick tossing the cooler away and he tried to lunge for Nick’s shirt, an arm, anything so he could beat the little asshole senseless. Instead, he slipped, and feeling himself fall, seized the nearest thing for support – which was AJ. As if in slow motion, they both wobbled, trying valiantly to stay upright, but failed miserably. They landed onto the ground in a spectacular crash of tangled arms and legs. Kevin and Brian stopped and rushed over to them, forgetting their chase. Both guys had their eyes closed and Brian bent down anxiously to examine them.
"D? Bone? You guys okay?"
"Brian?’’ asked AJ weakly, moaning.
"Yes?" Brian leaned in closer.
"Is Nick near you?"
"I’m right here AJ," Nick said nervously. "Are you all right?"
AJ’s eyes popped open. "I will be, after I kill you." AJ jumped up easily, surprising them. "Run," he warned Nick, and by the look on AJ’s face, Nick needed no further prodding. He vaulted easily off the stage, running up the aisles with AJ hot in pursuit.
"Paybacks a bitch!" hollered Howie as Kevin and Brian helped him up from the ground.
The yells of Nick and AJ echoed into the hallways of the arena as the stage manager looked up to where the other three Backstreet Boys stood. They were soaked from head to foot, completely disheveled, and grinning like mad. The manager walked over and hopped onto the stage to inspect the damage. Except for a lot of water, there didn’t seem to be any real harm and that was good, because he would have had to strangle them if there had been.
"Hey, Sam," the three acknowledged uncomfortably.
"Hey, yourself," he replied sourly. "All done?"
The three Backstreet Boys looked at each other.
"Yeah."
"Well, good. Cause I’m gonna make you guys clean up this mess, comprende?
" They nodded, indicating yes.
Sam turned to a stage crew who had appeared. "Go get as many towels as you can find. And, oh yeah. Find Nick and AJ too. I want them here right now."
CHAPTER EIGHT - CONTEMPLATION
Having just been given a thorough tour of the arena where the Backstreet Boys were scheduled to play in a few days, Xavier sat in the middle seats of the coliseum with the other bodyguards. Watching the antics of the boys on stage, Xavier grimaced, then turned to question another bodyguard sitting next to him.
"Are they like this all the time?"
Eric Anderson, one of the original bodyguards of the group, smiled. "Nah. You’ll find that they are pretty professional on the whole. But they’re young, under a lot of pressure. It’s tough on them and sometimes they need to let off a little steam."
Xavier nodding, looked down at the paperwork at hand, then sneaked a peak at Eric’s. He frowned inwardly. "Exactly whom do I guard?" he questioned Eric, trying to act unconcerned.
Eric leaned over to study Xavier’s paper, then pointed out the Backstreet Boy on the far left. "Him. Technically, we guard them all during the concerts and such, but if we’re needed to guard individually, we are assigned one on one."
Xavier gave an exaggerated sigh and Eric looked at him inquiringly.
"What?"
"Well, I know this sounds stupid, but would you mind switching guys with me?"
"Switch?"
"Yeah." Xavier gave an embarrassed laugh and leaned over to whisper. "Ah... it’s my 10-year-old niece. She has this major crush and I kinda promised…"
Eric grinned. "Sure, no problem. Got a few nieces myself. Besides, I wouldn’t mind guarding the other anyway. He can sure attract the type of broads I like." Eric nudged Xavier knowingly and gave him a leering grin.
Xavier nodded and thanked Eric, relieved that it was so easy to manipulate him. He turned his attention back to the stage, watching intently. Nick and AJ had returned to the stage and the stage manager, Sam, had decided to kill two birds with one stone. He made the guys practice their singing as the mopped up. Headsets on and hands full of towels, they got down on their knees, singing and wiping the floor. AJ tried to cheat by standing up and moving his towel half-heartedly with his foot, until the rest threatened to stop and make him do it all.
"Slave labor," he grumbled, getting back down on his knees.
Fascinated, Xavier listened closely for the first time to the harmonizing of the group, noticing the special bond they had with one another. Xavier watched, making sure to give each one special attention. As they began to sing individually Xavier tensed, looking closely at the Backstreet Boy who was singing just now. He didn’t look much different than his publicity shots. His mind went blank, taking in the wonderful voice. Xavier felt disorientated, confused by the strange feeling he had when he looked at him. He clenched his hands tightly, angered over the surprising reaction this man evoked from him. Xavier pushed these thoughts and feelings away, not wanting to dwell upon them. He knew what he was suppose to do, he had planned for it, and nothing was going to stop him from getting what he wanted. Xavier gazed at the singer before him. Yes, this was the one.
CHAPTER NINE – THE INTRODUCTION
"Oh, Sammy..." sing-songed the group. "We’re done." They smirked as their stage manager came to give the once over. "You could eat off this floor," commented Howie.
"I’m sure you have," Nick smart-mouthed.
Kevin, for one, was tired. "Are we done? I just want to leave and take a nice hot shower."
Brian seconded that. "Sounds good to me."
Sam shrugged and looked around for the publicity manager. "Richard! Richard!" he yelled and noticed him talking to the bodyguards. Richard craned his neck around and noticed Sam beckoning him to come over.
"What’s up, Sam?"
"You done with these guys for today?"
Richard nodded. "Yes, do you all have the scheduling notes for this week? Good. Remember, 10:00 a.m. tomorrow for the radio gig. Three of our bodyguards will pick you up and drive you there."
"All of us?" moaned Nick. He was hoping he didn’t have to go and could sleep in.
"Nick, what does the schedule say?" patronized Kevin. "All of us. This is the beginning of the new tour. In our hometown. It’s important."
"Yes, Dad."
Richard held up a hand as he saw the boys turn to leave. "Guys, before you pack up, I want you to meet the new bodyguard we just hired." He motioned for Xavier to come over.
"Holy shit, would you look at him?" whispered Howie to AJ as Xavier came down the aisle. "I pity the poor fan who meets up with him."
AJ elbowed his friend in the side, watching as the bodyguard came into better view, suddenly curious about the dark-haired man who walked confidently up onto the stage.
"Guys, I’d like you to meet Xavier Delgado. He hired on just recently, so don’t scare him off too quickly, okay?"
The boys smiled, knowing full well that Richard was serious. A lot of former guards had quit after experiencing the rigors of being a bodyguard for the Backstreet Boys. Kevin stuck his hand out toward the new recruit. "Hi, I’m Kevin. Glad to meet you." Xavier grabbed the tall man’s hand and sized him up. Even intensive studying was not as good as meeting face-to-face and Xavier noted several things. He was definitely the tallest, and Xavier sensed a calm surrounding him, a sureness that didn’t exude conceit. Xavier noticed the grip in his handshake, the strength of his body and made a mental note to remember it.
Xavier smiled, letting go of Kevin’s grip. "Xavier."
"Hey X, welcome aboard." Xavier stiffened at the hated nickname but looked straight into Howie’s brown eyes as he shook his hand. His hand was warm and friendly and Xavier felt true enthusiasm in the shake. It startled him to realize he was without guile, and what you saw was pretty much what you got. For being rich and famous, he seemed down-to-earth.
Xavier turned to greet the next one. "Xavier," he said softly, reaching to shake AJ’s extending hand.
"Xavier," repeated AJ. "Hi, I’m AJ." Xavier felt the hesitancy in AJ’s grasp and sensed that he was the one being sized up, not the other way around. Xavier gave him a warm smile that did not reach up to his eyes. Here was someone to be reckoned with and it interested Xavier that perhaps AJ could be so perceptive. He made another mental note to himself.
Brian and Nick were the only ones left to acknowledge and he turned in their direction. "Hi. I’m Nick, the most popular one." The guys groaned but Xavier grinned as he shook the young singer’s hand. The kid was large, strong, but untrained. Nevertheless, Xavier felt the confidence of this young man and realized that Nick had potential. Brian was the last to introduce himself.
"Hi, ya." Brian’s southern twang came through. "Nice to meet you." The blond man’s friendliness was contagious and Xavier relaxed for the first time as he felt the singer shake his hand with sincerity and ease. Brian turned to Nick who was searching for his duffel bag.
"Well, gotta go. Nick, are you riding with me or what?"
"Coming." Nick shoved Brian’s bag at him as he hoisted his own over his shoulder. Both waved at the others. "See you guys tomorrow."
"Later," came the reply.
They all began to walk off the stage but Brian stopped and turned around. "Hey Richard!"
Richard, deep in talk about the next day’s events with Sam, looked up. "What?"
"Who is Xavier going to be guarding?"
Richard looked at his clipboard and flipped a few pages.
"You."
Brian flashed the bodyguard a wave of his hand as he left the stage and Xavier stood rooted there, a strange feeling of exhilaration overcoming him, the same one he felt the first time he saw him on TV. His hands clenched and unclenched unconsciously in anticipation.