*Lara*

"Okay, let me get this straight....you know the Backstreet Boys and you didn't tell me??????" my best friend, Lynn, screamed in front of my gym locker. It was the fourth class of the day and the first time I'd seen Lynn. It was luckily Friday and I didn’t have to hear her scream all week long like she did when we got front row BSB concert tickets.

Mine and Lynn's absolute favorite band are the Backstreet Boys. Last night I had found out that Brian, a Boy, was coming to my house for a week. It was a surprise, strategically planned by my mother and Brian Littrell.

We had just changed into our silver and blue gym uniforms and were sitting by my locker. I told Lynn that Brian Littrell from the Backstreet Boys was coming to stay with my family for the week and Lynn almost had a nervous breakdown.

"I don't know HIM. My mom and Harold (B-Rok's brother) are friends. She used to baby-sit for him before we moved to Palm Beach from KY. Well, Harold and my mom were talking one day and Brian was at Harold's. Brian remembered my mom and they started talking. Then my mom invited Brian down for a week. His flight is supposed to land at 8:45 tomorrow morning," I lied all in one breath.

"LARA!!!!!!!!!!!! I HATE YOU!!!!!!!! YOU GET TO MEET A BACKSTREET BOY!!!!!!!" Lynn screamed in my ear. I winced and then giggled.

"Come on, we're going to be late. You can sleep over all this week if you want, so you can meet him too," I said, getting up off the cold concrete bench.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!" Lynn shouted, running after me.

"You're welcome," I replied, walking into the bright gym. I shielded my eyes from the fluorescent lights and walked to the bleachers. I sat on the first row, waiting for class to begin.

My gym teacher, Coach Shorts (Shorty), blew his whistle and we all stood against the wall for attendance. After we all made complete asses out of ourselves by shouting "here," we proceeded to the basketball courts for our daily lesson on how to dribble a basketball.

Lynn and I were a bit more advanced (we were on the basketball team), so we got to have a free period. We decided upon jogging. I ran into the gym to get Lynn and I water from the vending machine then I met up with Lynn at the track.

"Heads up!" I shouted to Lynn as I tossed the bottle of water at her.

"Thanks chica. Ready?" Lynn asked, tying up her chunky, blue Candies.

"You're actually going to run in those?" I asked a bit surprised.

"No, I was planning on skating in them! What do you think? Of course I'm going to run in them!" she laughed.

"Okay, just don't hurt yourself. I don’t want to spend this week in the hospital because you have a concussion."

Lynn took a swig of her water and then headed to the bright, white line. I joined her and counted our start.

"5...4...3...2...1..." I counted slowly, we then took off. Lynn was about a meter ahead of me the whole time.

"You're slow, what can I say?" Lynn laughed out of breath.

"Shut up and just breathe! You don't have to tease me at the moment or I won't let you spend the week at my house," I responded.

Lynn shut up and gulped her water. I sipped mine slowly so I wouldn't choke.

The piercing sound of Shorty’s whistle made me gag on the water that was cascading down my throat. The water bottle dropped from my grasp. I coughed and then breathed.

"You okay?" Lynn asked with a concerned look on her face. I nodded, picked up my water bottle, and then we headed back to the locker room.

I changed back into my normal clothes, dark blue, boot-cut jeans and a red halter top. The shirt was against the dress code, but all the administrators were friends with my mom so I could get away with practically anything. So could Lynn if she wanted to. All the administrators knew she was my best friend.

I walked to Lynn’s locker. She was staring at her picture of Nick Carter, another Backstreet Boy, inside her locker.

"Huh-low?" I asked while waving my hand in front of her face, disturbing whatever little thought she had in her head.

"Oh…sorry! You know how I get when I see my Nicky," she explained.

"Yeah, I know…unfortunately," I replied meekly, waiting for her to hit me for my comment.

Lynn grunted then smacked my shoulder. We laughed then headed to lunch.