CHAPTER EIGHTEEN-“Fanatic”

 

It was one forty five in the morning, that Saturday, when we got to our room at the Cambridge hotel in Chicago.  Immediately Lina and I hit the bed.  We hadn’t slept for at least two nights straight.  It was Kristin.  Not that we minded, we loved sharing the bus with her, but we’d stay up and listen to her stories.  She had a story for everything; she’s traveled around the world, with the Backstreet Boys, and without.  She studied philanthropy, astronomy, and universal matter in college, which explains her good nature, and her open mindedness.  It was like a slumber party every night with her. 

 

That morning I awoke to a familiar sound, but not one that I had heard in a while.  Lina was in the bed across from me, and she was crying, in her sleep.  I sat up and was about to wake her from her nightmare, when the phone rang.

 

“Ugh,” I sighed, moving across my bed and reaching for the phone.  “Hello.” I said.

 

“Miss Isabelle Mayfield?”  Came the voice on the other end.

 

“Yes, this is Isabelle, but my last name is not Mayfield, it’s Wakeford.  Are you sure you don’t mean Angelina Mayfield?”

 

“No ma’am, the young lady here says she is looking for a Miss Isabelle Mayfield.  Should I permit her up?”  The receptionist asked.

 

“Let whom up?  Who exactly is asking for Isabelle Mayfield?”  I asked confused.

 

“She says you are expecting her.  Should I permit her up?”  She repeated, seemingly aggravated with the disorder of things.

 

I thought for a second.  I wasn’t expecting anyone.  “Miss, I have no idea what you are talking about…”

 

“I’m sorry for the inconvenience ma’am, but I really need to get back to work.  The young lady is here, and she will wait for you to come down to the reception area to pick her up.”  She said cutting me off, and hanging up afterwards.

 

“Who was that?”  Angelina asked.  Her eyes still closed.

 

“Reception.”  I told her getting up from my bed.

 

“Why, what’s wrong?”

 

“I’m not sure.” I shook my head.  “It’s ten to seven.”  I told her, when I noticed she was trying to read the clock on the tabletop across from her.

 

“I’m going back to sleep.”  She groaned as she plopped back down on the bed.  “I had a horrible night sleep.”

 

“Another nightmare?”  I asked.

 

She didn’t answer.  She wasn’t going to.  Instead she lowered her head and closed her eyes. 

 

I took a quick shower, and put on some baggy jeans and a dark green sweater.  I walked out the room, and headed towards the elevator.

 

“Pssst…where’re you going?”  Brian asked with a smile.  He was standing by his door, dressed in dark blue windbreakers and a baby blue basketball jersey with a white tee shirt underneath.

 

I smiled back, making a detour towards him.  “Good morning.”  I said wrapping my arms around his waist.  He did the same to mine.

 

“Good morning.”  He said, as I gave him a slight kiss on his lips.  His smile widened.  “So, where are you going?”  He reiterated.

 

“Just down to the lobby.”  I said without explaining why.

 

“Oh, well I’ll walk you down.  I’m going to the gym.”

 

We got on the elevator and made our way down.  When we got to the lobby, I got off, while Brian continued his way down to the basement, where the sports club was located.  I walked over to the front desk, where the receptionist was attending to some incoming guest.    I waited for her to finish, and then I told her,  “Hi, I’m Isabelle.”

 

She looked over at a scrap piece of paper laying on the counter, with the words Isabelle Mayfield scribbled over it.  “Miss Mayfield?”

 

“See…no, my name is not Isabelle Mayfield. That’s what I was trying to explain to you over the phone.  I’m Wakeford.  Angelina is Mayfield.”

 

She had no clue what I was talking about and it was understandable she didn’t care.  “Ma’am, this is the name that was given to me.”

 

“By who?”

 

“Your sister.”  She said pretentiously, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

 

“My WHAT?!?!”

 

“Sis!”  I heard a high pitch voice call from behind.  I turned around to see a young girl run up to me.

 

“Oh my god.”  I whispered to myself, as a very familiar face embraced me.

 

The young, girl hugged me and whispered.  “Please play along.  We won’t cause any trouble.”

 

“What?!?!  I said, and then smiled at the receptionist as I dragged the girl off to the side.  “What do you think you are doing?”  I asked her.  My voice strict, reminding me of Yvonne.

 

“We’ll be quick.”  Another girl said coming from behind.  “Just please don’t be mad, yours was the only name we knew, so we had to lie in order to get this letter to Nick.”

 

I was in disbelief, as I stared at two of the fans I had encountered the other night.  “Who else is here with you?”  I asked.

 

“No one, just us two.”   Said the one that held a powdered blue envelope, presumably for Nick.  “I’m Kris, remember.”

 

“And I’m Leigh.”  The one who had pretended to be my sister said.  Actually, she could pass as my sister.  She had brown mousy hair like mine, except hers was much shorter, only coming up to her shoulder.

 

I nodded.  “How did you guys get here?”

 

“We followed the tour bus.”  Leigh said, somewhat proud of their accomplishment.

 

“Who drove you guys here?  Your parents?”

 

They both laughed.  “No, we took a cab.” Kris said matter of factly.

 

“All the way from Michigan?”  I asked astounded, and then a thought came to me.  “Do your parents even know you are here?”

 

They gave each other a solemn look, giving me the answer. 

 

“Look, all we want is to give Nick this note, then we’ll go home.  We promise.”  Kris said.

 

I sighed.  This was too weird.  “Ok,” I said sticking my hand out for the letter.

 

She looked at me, and then said.  “Well, we were hoping on being able to give it to him personally.”

 

I sighed again.  “I really don’t know.  I don’t think that’s possible.  I could get in a lot of trouble for this.”

 

“We know Isabelle,” Leigh cut in.  “Our parents would kill us if they found out, but we just really, really need to do this.  Please we swear we won’t ask anything of you ever again.”

 

“Ever.” Kris pleaded.  “Please.” 

 

I shook my head, but said,  “Fine.  But you leave as soon as you see him.”

 

“We will.”  Kris said.

 

“We promise.”  Leigh added.

 

They followed me to the elevator, and up to Nick’s suite.

 

I made them wait a couple of doors away, while I knocked on his door.  No answer.  “Shit, he’s probably with Brian down at the gym.”  I said to myself.  “Wait here.” I told them, and I went into my room.

 

“Lina.”  I said walking over to the bed.  She was still curled up under the blanket.  “Lina!” I said, shaking her.

 

“What?!?”  She said, disgruntled.

 

“Wake up.”  I told her anxiously.

 

“Oh god!  What is it?”  She said flinging the covers off of her.

 

“Remember the other night, when you and the guys signed autographs for those girls backstage?”  I said, but I didn’t wait for her to answer.  “Well.  They are here.  All the way from Michigan.  They took a cab to come and personally hand deliver a letter to Nick.”

 

Lina smiled.  “That’s so sweet.  They probably have a huge crush on him.”

 

“Um, yeah, you think?”  I said sarcastically.

 

“Well, just tell Nick to sign some more autographs.  He’ll do it.”  She said getting back under the covers.  “Let me know when it’s lunch time.”

 

“Lina!” I yelled.  She removed the covers once again.  “Nick is not in his room.”  I whined.  A terrible habit I had that annoyed the heck out of everyone.

 

“Ugh!”  Lina grunted.

 

“Lina, you gotta help me find Nick, so they can go home.  Yvonne I’ll kill me if she finds out I brought them up here.”

 

“Yeah, then why did you bring them up?”

 

“I don’t know.  They were begging, and they came all the way from Michigan.  DAMMIT!!!  I’m too fucking nice.”

 

“Yeah you are.”  Lina said picking up the phone.  “Here, call Nick’s room.  I know he has to be in there.  He does not wake up this early.”  She dialed the number and the phone rang.  After about the seventh ring, Nick picked up.

 

“Hello?”  He groggily said into the phone.

 

“Nick, why didn’t you answer the door?”  I asked him.

 

“Good morning to you too.  I didn’t know you were knocking.”

 

“Well, I was.”  I explained the situation to him, and with a grunt, he agreed to see the girls.  He also didn’t fail to remind me, that if they got caught, it would be my fault.

 

“What did he say?”  Lina asked when I hung up the phone.

 

“He said ok.  To give him a few minutes to shower, and get dressed.”

 

“So where are the girls.”

 

I gasped.  “I left them in the hallway.”

 

“Smart.”

 

I opened the door, and then looked in both directions.  They were gone.

 

Lina laughed.  “I’m gonna go take a quick shower, then I’ll help you look for them.”  She said walking into the bathroom.

 

I sighed, closing the door behind me.  Where did they go! I thought to myself.  I knocked on Nick’s door.

 

“You are one impatient chick.  Didn’t I say I was gonna go shower.”  He said still in his jammies. 

 

“Um, you haven’t seen them, have you?” I asked wishfully.

 

“Seen who?”

 

“Ugh, the two girls, Kris and Leigh.  I left them out here while I called you.”

 

Nick laughed.  “You lost them.  Smart.”

 

“I didn’t lose them.”  I weakly cried.  “They have to be here somewhere.  C’mon.” I said grabbing his hand.  “You have to help me find them.”

 

“Why me!”  He snapped.

 

“Because it’s your fault.”

 

“How is it my fault?”  He asked walking down the hallway with me.  “YOU brought them up.”  We were going to knock on Howie’s door.

 

“Well, they wouldn’t be here if they didn’t want to see YOU.”  I told him.

 

“Well, YOU lost them.”

 

“Well, they’re in love with YOU!”  I said forming quotes around the word love.

 

“Well, that is true.  I am enticing.”  He joked.

 

I rolled my eyes.  “Hey, Howie.  By any chance have you seen two teenage girls walking around here?” 

 

“Huh?”  He said.  He too must have just woken up, cuz he was still in his jammies.

 

“That means no.”  Nick elucidated.  “Thanks D-man.  Go back to sleep.”

 

“What two teenage girls?” Howie asked curiously, and confused.

 

“Oh, just the two Isabelle lost.”  Nick told him.

 

“Ugh!”

 

“You lost two girls?”  Howie asked.

 

“No, I didn’t.”  I said looking at Nick.

 

“Then where are they?”  Nick said back.

 

“I don’t know.  But they couldn’t have gone far.  They were looking for you.”

 

“Maybe they left?”  Howie said trying to help.

 

“I doubt it.”  I said.  “They were really determined.”

 

“Yeah,” Nick agreed.  “They came all the way from Michigan.”

 

“Wow.  How old are they?”  Howie asked.

 

“I don’t know.”  I told him.

 

“Are they here with their parents?”  He continued.

 

“No, they came on their own.  They took a cab.”

 

“Are they cute?”  Nick asked.

 

I didn’t even answer.  I just looked at him, and then walked over to AJ’s door.

 

“Hi,” he said. He was already dressed.  Black jeans, tee shirt, and shades.  “No, I haven’t.”  He said.

 

“I didn’t even ask you!”  I said, my aggravation building.

 

“I just got off the phone with Lina.”  He said.  “She said you lost the two girls that came all the way from Michigan to see Nick.”

 

“See!”  Nick said.  “I told you, you lost them.”

 

“Ugh!” I said completely frustrated.

 

“Did you find them?”  Lina asked coming down the hall.

 

“Who?”  Nick purposely asked.  “The two girls Isabelle lost.”  He laughed.

 

“Dumbass.”  I said.

 

He stopped laughing, and smirked.

 

I went over to knock on Kevin’s door.

 

“NO!”  Nick, Howie, and AJ yelled.  “Telling him is just as bad as telling management.  Let’s just go downstairs, and look for them there.  I doubt they are on this floor.”  AJ suggested.

 

“Good idea.”  Lina said.  She was about to press the down button, when the elevator went DING!  And the doors opened, revealing Brian, with Leigh and Kris on either side of him.  The Leigh chick had her arm linked around Brian’s.

 

“Hey, lookie what Brian found.”  Nick said. 

 

“Isabelle,” Brian said.  “You never said you had a sister.  And a pretty one at that.”  Brian said mockingly.

 

“That’s because I don’t.”  I said harshly, looking at Leigh to confess.  Evidently she had lied to him as well. 

 

“Ok, ok.  I’m not Isabelle’s sister.”  She said.

 

“No,” Brian pretended to be shocked.  “Really?”

 

“Yes, really.  I made the entire thing up so we could meet you guys, and my friend Krissy, could give Nick her letter.” 

 

All eyes turned to Krissy.  The poor girl had not uttered a word since they had stepped off the elevator.  She was just staring in skepticism as Nick stood in front of her, in his pj’s.

 

“Hi,” Nick said sweetly.  Trying to get the girl to say something.

 

“Hi.”  She said.

 

“So, you have a letter for me?”

 

“Um…yeah…um…I wrote it for you…um…here.”  She said sharply thrusting out her hand and giving him the letter.

 

Nick smiled.  “Do you want me to read it now?”

 

“No!”  She cried.  “Um…read it when you are alone.  Ok?”

 

“Alright.”  Nick said.  “Do you, um, need anything?  Water, or maybe a paper bag?” He joked.

 

We all laughed.  Kris laughed too.  It seemed to calm her a bit. 

 

“No thanks.”  She said, though she did look as if she was about to hyperventilate.

 

“Ok.”  Nick said. Then added.  “Well, I have to go now.  Gotta go change, we have a busy day ahead.”  He lied, looking at the other guys.  They all agreed.

 

“Awwe.”  Kris and Leigh frowned, but said their goodbyes.  “It was so nice meeting you.”  They both said to the guys. 

 

“Thanks.”  Nick said giving them each a hug.  “It was nice meeting ya too.”

 

While they did this, Brian pulled me aside, and whispered in my ear, while handing me something.

 

“Bye Nick, Howie, AJ, and Brian.”  They said getting into an elevator.

 

“Bye.”  The guys said.

 

“I’ll walk them back down.”  I said.

 

“Don’t lose ‘em.”  Nick joked.

 

“Haha.” I retorted as the elevator doors closed.  Immediately, they both shrieked.

 

“AHHH!”  They yelled.  “Oh my god he hugged me.”

 

“He hugged me too!”  They yelled at the same time.

 

“You are so lucky you get to tour with them.”  Leigh said.

 

I smiled.

 

“Oh my god yes.  I would do anything if I could do that.”  Kris added.

 

When we finally got to the lobby, I asked the receptionist for a cab.  One was hailed down, and waited outside for us.

 

“Here ya go.”  I said handing Leigh the hundred-dollar bill Brian had given me for their cab.

 

“Oh my god. Thanks.  I had no idea how on earth we would get back home.”

 

I smiled.  “Thank the guys it was their idea.”

 

“Oh ok.  Thank them for us Isabelle.”  They both said getting into the cab.  “And thank you so much for making my dream come true.”  Kris yelled as the cab drove away.

 

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