Chapter 3

The next day, Nick woke up to find Dave’s room completely empty. Lying on Dave’s dresser was a note saying,

Nick glanced at the clock. 12:07 PM. He had about six hours to kill. He got up, still wearing his clothes from yesterday, and decided to go get himself some food, and then go to the mall until it came time to go shopping for the future teenybopper queen.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Nick came back to Dave’s house at 5:45. He had run into Rob McLeod, an old friend of AJ’s, and the two of them hung out at the mall for a while. It had been slightly boring; he wasn’t a big fan of shopping, and Rob insisted on trying on clothes in practically every store. Nick was tempted to ditch Rob, but he also didn’t feel like being alone. So for four and a half-hours, he browsed clothing stores, pretending to be interested in what Rob had to say.

All in all, this was not how he had pictured spending his first day of vacation. He had thought that he and Kirsten would spend the day in bed, just sleeping, comparing tour stories, and cuddling. But instead, he was at the mall with a shopaholic whom he barely knew.

While they were at the mall, Nick managed to tear Rob away from the clothing stores long enough to check out Sam Goody. Nick browsed through the CDs, checking out the new boy band competition and buying the new Blink 182 CD, Enema of the State. He personally thought that the video for "All the Small Things" was hilarious, even if it did make fun of the Boys. While he was looking for Enema of the State, he accidentally came across a Kirsten CD. A lazy customer or worker had stuck it in the B’s instead of the C’s. When Nick saw Kirsten’s smiling face on the cover of the CD, he had felt like crying. Instead, he just shoved it back onto the rack and stalked over to the counter to pay for his Blink CD.

When Nick got back to Dave’s house, he knocked on the door again. It soon swung open, and Dix answered the door. "Hey, Carter, where’ve ya been? Jay was getting nervous that you were going to cancel your date," he smirked as Nick stepped in.

"Funny," Nick said briefly, glancing around the house. It was once again stuffed with college students. "Have you seen him?"

"Who, Jay? Yeah, he’s upstairs in Dave’s room."

"Cool, thanks," Nick said as he pounded up the stairs to Dave’s room. He entered the room to find Jay and Dave sitting on Dave’s bed, talking. "Hey, guys."

"Oh, hey Nick," Dave said. "Where’d you go?"

"Mall," Nick replied, gesturing to the bag he held.

"What’d ya get?"

"Just a CD. Blink 182."

Jay smirked. "I would’ve thought that you Backdoor Boys would hate Blink 182 for that "All the Small Things" video."

Nick just shrugged. "Nah, we all thought it was damn funny. I loved the Britney Spears impression," he said as he sat down on the bed next to his friends.

Jay turned to him. "You ready go to?" he asked.

"Sure," Nick said.

Dave gave them a curious look. "What exactly is going on with you two? I mean, I know you’re doing something, but what?"

Jay and Nick exchanged a glance, and both shrugged. "Nothing," Nick said. "Jay’s just gonna introduce me to some girls, help me get over Kirsten."

Dave looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because I care about your friend!" Jay said.

"Hmm," Dave said, not buying it. "Just promise me something, okay? If you get arrested for trying to be peeping Toms or something, just give the police your own addresses. I don’t need the cops coming by here again," he said, shooting a glance at Nick. Nick smiled sheepishly.

"Sorry about that, man."

Jay turned to Nick and said, "Why’d you make the cops come to Dave’s house?"

Nick squirmed a little, embarrassed. "When we were kids, we played Hide and Go Seek once when his mom wasn’t here. I couldn’t find Dave at all, and I started freaking out. I kept yelling his name, but he wouldn’t answer me. Then I heard someone pounding at the front door. I looked through the peephole, and there was this huge guy standing there, beating on the door, and wearing a devil mask. I screamed and called 911, and told them that a man had kidnapped my friend and was after me . . . "

Dave smirked and picked up the story where Nick left off. "It was just my dad. He had gone Halloween shopping, so that’s why he was wearing the mask. He forgot his key, so he just started knocking at the door. And I was hiding in my backyard, so I couldn’t hear my dad or Nick . . . so the cops came. It was pretty damn funny."

Nick stood up and stuck his tongue out at Dave. "Now that we’ve humiliated me for the night, let’s get going, okay?"

Jay agreed. The two said good-bye to Dave and left go to look for the newest bubblegum pop sensation.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

They walked along the Orlando streets. The sun was going down, and the Saturday night was coming alive. Teenagers and people in their early 20s streamed out of houses and cars, all ready for a long night of clubbing and partying and hanging out. Jay and Nick walked briskly, their hands stuffed in their pockets. Nick had a baseball cap on, and he tucked his blonde strands into it so that his trademark hair wouldn’t be visible. He also pulled the brim down low, just above his eyes, and he walked with his head facing down, hoping to be inconspicuous. He wanted this night to be all about business, without any fans.

They walked quietly, without any conversation. Jay led the way. He seemed to have a place in mind, and Nick just followed him. He was beginning to have second doubts about this. The two had never exactly discussed the consequences of this bet, and Nick was becoming worried. After all, what did Jay have to lose? He was a college student, with a small group of friends, but he wasn’t well known. If he had to do anything embarrassing, not many people would know about it. Nick, on the other hand, was famous, and whatever he did would show up on TV and the Internet the next day.

Nick was about to tell Jay, "I don’t want to do this," when Jay suddenly turned right and entered a club. Nick just sighed and followed him in. The club was still fairly empty, since it wasn’t late yet. The first thing that Nick noticed was that it was not the kind of club that he or his friends frequented.

"What is this place?" he whispered to Jay. Jay grinned at him.

"The Back Alley," he replied, then snickered. "Hey, kinda like Backstreet!"

Nick rolled his eyes in response as he began looking around the club. The few people milling around all had piercings, dyed hair, and outrageous clothes on. He saw one girl with a mini-barbell stuck through her nose, and one guy had a branding on his shoulder. The music playing was hard-core punk, nothing Nick had ever heard before. "Jay," he gulped, "why are we here?"

Jay grinned in response. "I’ve got a girl in mind for you. She’s playing here in 5 minutes, at 6:15." He noticed the look of horror on Nick’s face. "Don’t worry, she’s not quite as off the wall as these people, she’s cool. But she’s not exactly a Kirsten Corsi or Britney Spears wannabe," he smirked. Nick closed his eyes briefly, as if in pain.

"How’d you meet her?" he asked.

"I don’t know her," Jay shrugged. "But my sixteen year old sister is a really big fan. She’s, like, a role model for angst-ridden teenage girls."

Nick’s eyes widened. "I don’t know about this . . . I mean, molding Kirsten was one thing. She had the bubblegum pop deep inside of her, where most people have a heart. But an angry chick rocker? I don’t think so."

"C’mon, man, we shook on it. You gotta do it," Jay insisted. Nick groaned inwardly. Why did he have to be an honest guy? Why couldn’t he just back out of it?

Just then, the music playing over the speakers died down. A girl with straight blond hair, streaked with blue and green, walked across the small stage of the cramped club and adjusted the microphone.

"Okay, welcome to the Back Alley," she said. "Just so y’all know, we’re thinkin’ of changing our name to distance ourselves from those wimpy Backstreet Boys." Nick began to rub his temples; he was getting a headache. "But anyway, my name’s Sara, I’m the emcee for tonight, and our first act is Steph Chalifour."

She stepped off of the stage as the people in the club began to clap and even whistle. Another girl walked onto the stage. Jay elbowed Nick sharply in the side and whispered, "That’s your girl. You’ve got 9 months, bud." Nick just ignored Jay and kept his eyes on the girl. She was slightly short, around 5’4. Her long, straight, brown hair hung down her back, and she wore tortoise shell glasses over her big brown eyes. As she walked onstage, she had a guitar hanging by a strap from her shoulder. She was wearing dark blue denim jeans with black Doc Martens and a ratty maroon T-shirt with the words "Conformist Non" scrawled in white across her chest.

She sat down on a stool in the center of the stage, and in the bright stage lights, Nick could tell that her clear, pale face was free of make-up. He sighed. He hadn’t even heard her sing and already he had a list of almost 50 things he was going to have to change with her. Brown unstyled hair, glasses, baggy clothes, bad posture, no smile, normalish eyes, height disadvantage . . . he was going to have a long 9 months.

"Hi," the girl said finally. She seemed slightly shy, even though this was only a small crowd and she obviously knew many of the audience members. "Um, like Sara said, I’m Steph Chalifour. Thanks for coming by tonight." Nick sighed yet again; her stage presence was definitely lacking. "Anyway, I’m not very good at this ‘talking’ thing," she said with a nervous laugh, "so let’s get down to the music. This first song is called "First Kiss." I wrote it about a guy who was my best friend, turned boyfriend, turned enemy, turned the best friend I could ever have." She glanced down at her guitar briefly, placing her fingers on it, and then began strumming a sweet melody. Then she began to sing. Nick smiled at last when he heard her voice – it rang true and clear. It had definite possibilities. The song, though . . .well, that he’d have to think about . . .

"I’m still the girl with the butterflies in my hair
And you’re still the boy with bright green eyes, without a care in the world
It’s funny how time flies when you’re having fun
But years have come and gone and you’re still the one.

And I can still see that glint in your eyes
And I can still taste your tears mixed with mine
And I still wonder how we ever made it through
You’re still my best friend, it’s just the love that we outgrew.

Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
And maybe it was youth that let us love so freely
If you give me one wish, I’d wish for this:
That everything could be as beautiful
As our first kiss.

I still remember you, smiling in the sun
You put your hand in mine, our love had just begun
You held me so close I thought you’d never let go
I felt your love so deeply, thought it might save my soul

And I can still see that glint in your eyes
And I can still taste your tears mixed with mine
And I still wonder how we ever made it through
You’re still my best friend, it’s just the love that we outgrew.

Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
And maybe it was youth that let us love so freely
If you give me one wish, I’d wish for this:
That everything could be as beautiful
As our first kiss.

I’m still the girl with the butterflies in my hair
And you’re still the boy with the bright green eyes, without a care in the world
It’s funny how time flies when you’re having fun
But years have come and gone and….

Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
And maybe it was youth that let us love so freely
If you give me one wish, I’d wish for this:

That everything could be that beautiful
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
And maybe it was youth that let us love so freely
If you give me one wish, I’d wish for this:

That everything could be that beautiful
Maybe it was you, maybe it was me
And maybe it was youth that let us love so freely
If you give me one wish, I’d wish for this:
That everything could be as beautiful
As our first kiss. " (This song was written and copyrighted by Mindi Abair and Matthew Hagar)

The song ended to loud applause from the audience. After a second, Nick clapped once or twice, to be polite, then continued thinking about what he had to work with. The song was definitely pretty, but it wasn’t quite right. Maybe if the producers added a bubblegum background and a faster beat, it could be a decent track, but right now it sounded more Lisa Loeb than Britney Spears.

Nick’s musings were interrupted when Steph began to speak again. "This next song is called ‘Free.’ It’s about going against what society wants girls to be like . . . my friend Lena calls it the anti-Abercrombie & Fitch song." Everyone chuckled slightly as she began to play the guitar again. This song had much more of an edge to it. Nick new that "First Kiss" could maybe be bubblegum material, but there was no way "Free" would be, by the looks of it. But he liked how Steph looked when she sang it. She was an intense singer, very focused on what she was doing. What she seemed to lack in actual stage presence, she made up in how concentrated she was. Her brown eyes flashed, and she tosses her hair defiantly from time to time. There was a thin film of sweat beading at her forehead, caused by a combination of nervousness, concentration on her music, and the hot lights pouring over the stage.

"I see the magazines and they tell me what I need.
They dictate wrong from right:
What do I lose and what do I tight
They keep me thin and tell me what to wear
How to get laid and how to wear my hair

And I watch the fashion shows
Gotta keep current ‘cause everybody knows
It’s not your personal flair, it’s how you look and what you wear
Got walk so sexy, gotta look my best
Just one more thing to keep me broke and obsessed

I don’t know and I don’t care
I don’t wanna be like you out there
I just wannabe, I just wannabe, I just wannabe free
To be me.

I listen to radio and it keeps me in the know
I want my MTV
Gotta get South Park and Ren and Stimpy
I feel I keep up just as much as the rest
You can’t expect much from Generation X.

And I love my mom and dad
But my lifestyle makes them sad
No husband, PTA
Just rock and roll all day
They send me letters, try to keep me on track
They hope I’m a good girl, not a maniac.

I don’t know and I don’t care
I don’t wanna be like you out there
I just wannabe, I just wannabe, I just wannabe free
To be me.

The net is all the rage
Probably been your cyber babe
14.4, a 28.8, I think I’ve met my mate
Tall dark and handsome and his name is Rex
No big commitment, just a lot of safe sex.

And it’s not the perfect life
I guess it’s freedom’s price
I’ve got my boyfriend Rex.
And mom, it’s not real sex.
I try to make the most of every day
If I was deep, I’d have something to say.

I don’t know and I don’t care
I don’t wanna be like you out there
I just wannabe, I just wannabe, I just wannabe free
To be me.

Free . . . I just wannabe
Wannabe free . . .I just wannabe . . .
Wannabe free . . .I just wannabe . . .
Wannabe free . . . I just wannabe

Free. "(This song was written and copyrighted by Mindi Abair and Matthew Hagar)

All of the girls in the audience sang along, all obviously agreeing with the intent of Steph’s song. Right after "Free," without any introduction, she launched into another song. This one was slow and sad, once again, Nick decided that it didn’t have much teenybopper potential.

"I feel older, but I still look the same
And I’ve lost all my hope within my innocent remains
I’ve been broken down, I’ve been through right and wrong
And I’ve carved my place out, guess this is where I belong.

If we’re bound for heaven, why do I feel like hell?
Can’t wash this dirt off my skin, I wear it so well
I’ll remember you if you’ll remember me
Maybe it’ll all be different if we take it less seriously.

Breaking down again, laughing ‘til the end, wondering when
I’ll ever have enough
Smiling through the pain
But still this heart remains
While everything changes.

And I have a new heart
And we are always and never the same.
And I have a new heart
And we are always and never the same.

Sometimes I wake up from a restless dream
Holding onto nothing just like it was everything.
Breaking down again, laughing ‘til the end, wondering when
I’ll ever have enough.
Smiling through the pain, but still this heart remains
While everything changes.
And I have a new heart
And we are always and never the same.
And I have a new heart
And we are always and never the same.
And I have a new heart
And we are always and never the same.
And I have a new heart
And we are always and never the same.
And never the same.
And we are always and never the same. " (This song was written and copyrighted by Mindi Abair and Matthew Hagar)

She played 3 more songs after that, all angry songs about being dumped and the horrors of men. When she finished her last song, the audience applauded vigorously. Steph smiled at them, gave a little bow, and then walked off of the sage.

Sara, the emcee, came back on and said, "In 20 minutes, Killer Vegetarians will be on, until then we’re just gonna stick to the canned music," she said before leaving the stage again.

Jay turned to Nick and said, "So, what do you think of the newest teenybopper queen?" He began laughing. Nick just scowled at him.

"That’s cruel. How can you do this to me?" Jay just shrugged in response.

"I’d suggest you get started right away if you’re gonna make her have a number one bubblegum hit in 9 months," Jay said, pointing to the bar where Steph was standing, talking to some people. Her guitar was still slung over her shoulder. Nick sighed deeply and began walking over to where Steph sat.