"So was she fine?"Howie inquired, peering up over his book for a moment
"Mariah...oohhhhh yeah" Nick stared dreamily at his controller, forgetting his game, thinking about the way her chocolate curls fell around her face. He was so lost in his thoughts that he was oblivious to the conversation that currently revolved around him.
"Yo Rok, looks like he got it baaaad" A.J. snickered
"I totally agree wit ya, Bone" Brian returned.
"Considering that I mentioned her once and he's no longer concerned with Cloud's welfare" Howie motioned at the video game where Cloud, the hero, had just gotten a substantial amount of HP's knocked off and as a result, croaked. Howie continued "I'm with you guys."
"Gotta give da girl some cred though" Kevin nonchalantly voiced without looking up.
"Why?" Brian asked.
"Cos she saw pip squeak here in da buff an' didn't turn ta stone" He stated then returned his full attention to his book signalling his disinterest in the subject.
"So Nicky boy, what did ya say her name was?" A.J. asked while poking his head in the mini fridge to assess it's contents.
"Kaos?" Howie tried to draw Nick's attention then looked from his book to glance quizzicaly Brian who was waving a frantic hand in front of Nick's face taking another approach to attempt to get his attention.
"Yo, Frack!" Brian threw his hands in the air in frustration.
"NICK!!!" They all, with the exception of Kevin, shouted.
Nick was abruptly pulled from his thoughts of the beautiful girl who'd seen him like very few people had. He fired a hateful look at his bandmates. "WHAT!" He yelled back.
"Woah..Chill man. We were just askin' her name dude." A.J. said cautiously. He never used to care about pissing Nick off but since he had gained 30 pounds and 6 inches A.J. thought better of it.
"Mariah. And did you really think it was necessary to bellow at me?" Nick replied obviously still seething.
"Yes!" Everyone including Kevin replied in unison then lost interest and returned to their former activities."
*****
"Riah" Jayne continued their conversation after they had moved it to her room. "I have to say I am even more impressed than I was when I found out he was a Metallica fan"
"ah Jayne...I do believe I may convert you to fandom yet. Damn it you know I never would've dreamed.." Mariah sighed dreamily. She had been reliving her encounter with the Backstreet Boy ever since it had occurred. With one difference. In her fantasy version Nick didn't leave until they were both nude
"Let's go Jay!". She declared out of no where.
"Where?" Jayne asked, intrigued by the sudden subject change.
"The mall." Mariah declared. Not one to argue with that Jayne grabbed her coat.
*****
"OK, Riah, Where have we not been yet?" Jayne inquired, her head darting around liike a small bird's
"Oi, the photo booth!" The girls looked at eachother and rushed to the nearby booth. They inserted the money and just after the first picture was taken two guys burst into the booth. The girls were about to scream when they had hands clapped over their mouths. Riah was shaking until she met the eyes of her 'captor'. The moment she saw the startling shade of crystalline blue she recognized him and it sent a shiver down her spine. He removed his hand from her mouth but continued to hold her gaze.
He didn't recognize her at first but the moment he locked eyes with her the memory of hours before came rushing back to him.
"M..Mariah?" He stuttered disbelievingly.
"So you're Mariah?" She turned to the other person that had burst into the booth with Nick and recognized him as Brian Littrell, one of his bandmates.
"Yes I am" She turned to Nick "You told him?"
"Yeah...it wasn't the type of thing I could keep to myself" Nick felt his face growing hot.
"Wow" Jayne interjected "you're right" She directed at Riah.
"I know" Riah said, addressing both of them at once
"Is it just me" Brian turned to Jayne "Or is watching these two stutterin' like idiots around each other very amusing?"
"Undenyably"Jayne snickered loudly