Today I'm nervous, I perform with Nick and the rest of them tonight and it's in less than an hour. I've been in the outfit Nick had chosen for over two hours, nothing short of comfortable in it-size 7 jean bellbottoms, a tank top that hangs off one shoulder and sneakers to appear normal, more like their fans to ensure they can relate to me better. There are local radio stations here, broadcasting live, various TV stations are taping my debut and it dawns on me that I'm in demand, this being my first performance and I'm even more nervous. Howie's brother, Jon, is taping this with help from a few friends and their sisters.
"You'll do great," Kevin tells me, coming out of thin air.
"Ohmigod! Don't do that!" I take a deep breath and try to swallow my nervousness before the group huddle. "How would you know?"
"Nick and Brian had been more nervous about our first live performance and it went perfectly." His eyes travel to my left hand, his hand reaching for mine. "JC found his soulmate, congratulations. Where is the fucker?"
"Sleeping," I say, pointing to my dressing room.
"He sleeps more when nervous." He goes into my dressing room, leaving the door open and yells out JC's name, scaring the guy awake. "Your fiancée is out here pacing and shaking from nervousness."
Josh gets up and comes to hold me, Nick standing behind me the whole time. "Engaged?"
I swear I jumped high enough to hit the ceiling. "Dammit, Nick!" I scream, turning around and punching him before turning to bury my face against Josh's chest, welcoming his comforting embrace.
"Yes, engaged. I asked a couple weeks ago, she said yes."
"Is that what Aaron and Angel wouldn't tell me?"
"Yes, Icky," I reply, slightly calmer.
He walks around us, placing a quick kiss on the top of my head in passing and greets Kevin with a quick hug. "Surprised you came."
"Couldn't miss her debut or shows in Tampa or anywhere near where we started out," Kevin reminds him.
"Daddy!" a little boy with dark hair and beautiful chestnut colored eyes comes running down the hall toward Kevin. "Uncle Nick!"
"Mason!" Nick calls back, crouching down to hug the child as the small boy runs full throttle at him and wraps their arms around each other as they fall back, Nick under the smaller body. "How ya been, kid?"
"Good, daddy says you have a bigger family acuz of four people." He looks about Aaliyah's age.
Nick smiles and glances at me, a finger indicating me to the small boy. "She's my cousin, her three kids are too." Kevin scoops Mason off his former bandmate and smiles. "I never caught your real name."
"Kevin, this is Sam." He faces me, taking me in his arms and chuckles. "Sam, this is Kevin and his son, Mason."
"Hi," I say with a wave and a small half smile.
"She's definitely a Carter, no way to deny it," Kevin comments, really taking note of my features.
"Not a chance. By the way, girl, you look great. You're maybe 160 now?"
"I'm 137, jackass," I reply, slugging his chest.
"Do a spin," he requests, holding one of my hands above my head in his.
I do a quick spin and see AJ coming up behind Nick, pushing him away and pushing Josh to the other wall. He has a can of silly string in each hand, spraying Nick once I cleared the area. He gets covered in green and purple silly string, attempts of blocking it fail. We all laugh at the 'prank king' as he's pranked. Aaron comes out of nowhere, silly string flying as he gets Nick and AJ and it throws me into a bigger fit of laughter. "Time for the huddle, guys," Aaron announces, his silly string canisters empty as he tosses them in the garbage and AJ takes care of his via jump shots.
Nick pulls it all off on the way to the huddle, prayer included. Fatima made it, probably for nostalgic purposes and she smiles at me. "Thank you, God, for this chance to be in good health and to do this. Thank you for allowing everyone to come together for Sam's big nationwide debut and NKOTBSB's successful tour, Aaron's availability to be here as well. Thank you for all you've given everyone. Amen."
Everyone's hands go into the middle, not counting mine and Josh's and Aaron grabs mine, adding it to the pile. "Backstreet & New Kid pride alive!" we shout. Aaron and Nick had told me what they do before heading to the stage. We go out and I have on a mask, remaining behind Nick; Aaron, Kevin and I barely hidden by the shadows. I take Nick's verse for 'Don't Turn The Lights', having blended my voice into the chorus and walk out into the lights. "You're gonna see it's empty without me here, you'll change your mind," Nick and I chorus, continuing through the chorus as I dance with them and smile throughout. "Don't turn out the lights noooooooooooooooooooowwwwwwwwww!" I belt out the final note on my own.
"My cousin, Lil B!" Nick introduces me, pulling the mask off and hugging me. "She would have brought my baby cousins, but she isn't ready for them to be in the spotlight yet." Their fans welcome me warmly with cheers and flipping signs around which bear my name on them.
I laugh, bringing the mic near my mouth. "Thank you for the warm welcome, Tampa! Between this big lug and my very supportive boyfriend, I would've never even tried to do this. They encouraged me to try and Usher snatched up my talents to manage me. My debut album is out on Halloween!"
"Speaking of debuts," AJ begins, "tonight is her live performance debut just for all of you to watch and those of you listening to your radio."
"She's busted her butt to be able to perform beside us tonight," Jordan adds.
"She's helped us get Nick back for some of his pranks over the years," Howie adds.
We laugh, my mic coming to my lips again. "Love ya, Icky."
"Yeah, love you too."
Brian smiles, putting the mic close to his mouth. "We have a couple other surprises in store for you as well."
"Danny, you're sure they are going to enjoy this?" Joey asks.
"Of course," he replies.
Mark and Donny playfully bicker over the next song, knowing it's an old song from the 'Black & Blue' album. Kevin speaks into his mic. "Just for the sake of old times, I thought I'd pop in," he interrupts, stepping from the shadows and joining us as NKOTB walk off.
The music for 'Time' begins to play. I sing a little bit with each of them, really singing from my heart with Nick and AJ and belting out 'I know we have changed, but change can be good' with Brian. "...Time goes on and on everyday, times is what it is, come what may, come what maaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy..." I finish with Brian, smiling and hardly short of breath.
"Talk about pipes," Kevin says, hugging me.
"I thought what she did during rehearsals was her best, but I suppose she was half assing it now," AJ comments.
About halfway through the show, the lights dim as I pretend not to know why I'm the only one left on the stage. "Guys? We've only done half of the show! What's going on? Nick, this isn't funny! Jordan? Come on guys!" I rattle off, knowing what I'm supposed to do. 'Not Too Young, Not Too Old' begins playing and I scrunch my face up in confusion and frustration. "That's the wrong one! That's not your song!"
Aaron comes out onto the stage, running at full speed and chuckles, doing a handspring to land on his feet in front of me, looking into my eyes. "Nope, it's mine! I'm taking over this show! Mwahahahahahahahahahaha!" he yells into the mic.
"Aaron! You can't!"
"Sure I can, watch me! Help me!" He tugs me by my hands, jumping into the dance routine for it as he sings.
"...Backseat, baby, Backstreet..." I jump in, joining during the chorus. "Callin me a punk?" We make faces at each other throughout, smiling. "He's stepping out with the older boys, cover up your ears cuz they're making mad noise... This how we roll, not too young, not too old."
The song ends and Aaron smiles at me, I back away slowly. "Where are you going? You should 'Dance With Me'."
I sing along for the chorus, dancing with him and going through it like a pro. We've been rehearsing for a couple weeks, the steps and words coming out of our bodies and mouths flawlessly and having a blast. "At least it's the 'Summer Time'," I retort, smiling like the Cheshire cat. We perform two more of his songs. We work the stage, side by side and kill it. "Aaron Carter, everybody!" Aaron darts off stage as Nick and the other four Boys come out for 'Everybody (Backstreet's Back)', the track starting up as they join me. We tear the stage up, having a blast and doing what we love. Three hours after we had begun, we finally finish and they intro everyone. Aaron comes out for an encore, 'I'm Gonna Miss You' and Nick joins us for 'She Wants Me' before I jump into 'Phantom' to complete the show.
"Aaron Carter!" Nick and I exclaim, having a surprise for the fans. We perform about three songs off each of his solo albums-'My Confession', 'Help Me', 'Forever Rebel', 'I'm Taking Off', 'The Great Divide', 'Remember' and a super exclusive special treat just for Florida shows, 'Funny Face' and 'Beautiful Lies'. We intro the band, ourselves, Aaron and his group mates to bow together for our final good-bye to the crowd.
We get backstage and I realize I had sweated gallons of fluids, making me stink. I don't care and I jump around, acting kind of like Nick and Aaron. "That was so much fun! Now we have Aaliyah's party tomorrow! Are we doing it again?"
Nick put his hands on my shoulders, holding me in place and our matching blue eyes meet. "I love you, Sam, but chill out." He gives me a minute to calm down a little. "You alright now?" I nod, holding my lips between my teeth. "What time and where is her party?" he slowly asks.
"Tomorrow, 1-6, Chris' house."
He nods once. "Thanks, I'll be there and it's a surprise, you can't tell her."
Author's Chapter Notes:
Sam's first live performance with NKOTBSB!
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