Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2003 11:11:11 -0500 From: joey miller Subject: 'Learning How to Fly' Chapter 1 Well, here is the first Chapter. I hope you enjoy it. Please send praise, comments, or criticism to Pandora0071@lycos.com. Also, if I don't hear anything, I won't bother to continue posting. Disclaimer: This is fiction. I do not mean to imply anything about the sexuality of the celebrities mentioned in this story. If you do not want to read stories with homosexual contents, please leave. If you are underage, or accessing this story is illegal wherever you live, please leave or try not to get caught. LEARNING HOW TO FLY Chapter 1 ~Getting packed~ "I wonder if they know." Colin mused aloud. He was lying on his bed, staring at the ceiling. Dave, who shared the room with Colin, stopped stuffing T-shirts into his suitcase and sat down on the side of Colin's bed. "You mean if the Backstreet Boys and their management know that you're gay, don't you?" He asked. Colin nodded. "I think they know. It's not like you ever kept it a secret. And if they did some sort of research on us, they must've come across it." "But what if they don't know?" Colin insisted. "I know that you've had a rough time coming out of the closet, but not everyone is going to hate you for who you are. Have a little faith in people." Dave tried to reassure his friend. Colin let out a bitter laugh. "Having faith in people, huh? Like that has ever paid off. Yeah, I'm sure my mom was being real good to me when she sent me to half a million counselors, psychiatrists, and preachers. I'm sure my father was being good to me when he beat me up after he caught me kissing George." He shook his head sadly. It was no good bringing up his past. This was the present and things were looking up, weren't they? He gave Dave a weak smile. "Sorry. I'll try to be a little bit more positive." Dave smiled back. "That's what I wanted to hear." Jamie pressed down the lid of his suitcase, trying to pull the zipper shut. But the lid was about two inches above the bottom of the suitcase, and the zipper wouldn't budge. "Nicky!" Jamie yelled. "You have to sit on my suitcase. It won't shut." Nicky crossed the room, put the lid of his friend's suitcase back down, and peered in. Inside, clothing, CD's, and books were cramped in a disordered mess. "You don't know the first thing about packing, do you?" Nicky asked with a sigh. "I mean, first of all you're not gonna need the entire contents of your closet. About half of it will do." Nicky started to empty the suitcase again, but Jamie stopped him. "Of course I need all of this!" He exclaimed. "We're meeting the Backstreet Boys! I can't walk around in the same stuff the entire time." "You're just supposed to sing for them, not marry them. They won't care what you wear." Jamie shook his head sadly. "But we need to make a good impression on them! They're famous, they could open doors for us." "Fine, do what you must. But I won't sit on that suitcase for you. The zipper will break." A few states south, the five members of the Backstreet Boys were getting ready to board their tour bus for the drive from Orlando to Miami, where the rehearsals for the first concert would take place. It was still early in the day and Nick was sitting on a pile of spare tires before the bus, bathing in the weak sunrays. Howie carried his bags up to the bus and dropped them noisily next to Nick. Nick opened his eyes. "What is it?" He asked, pushing his sunglasses up on his head and stretching his arms. "Brian just found out that one of the kids from that band is gay. You better stay away from him for a while." Howie whispered, then picked up his bags again and carried them into the bus. Nick sighed. Usually, he was Brian's best friend. There was just one thing they didn't agree on, and that was homosexuality. Brian, being as strictly religious as he was, considered it one of the deathly sins and refused to have anything to do with gays. But lots of celebrities were gay and Brian was always confronted with it. Nick could still remember when Lance of NSYNC had come out. Brian had all but yelled at him in front of thousands of news reporters at an MTV awards show. Everyone in the band had grown used to Brian's temper tantrums and learned to ignore him when he started preaching about morals. Everyone but Nick. Nick yelled back at Brian and it usually ended in a full on fight and they would then not speak to each other for a few days. `So one of the Dragonflies is gay, huh? I wonder which one.' Nick mused as he climbed into the bus. He was planning on hiding out in the back of the bus and playing video games, thereby avoiding Brian who was not interested in video games. "Yo, Kaos, wait up!" AJ yelled, catching up with Nick on the stairs of the bus. "You might wanna stay away from Bri. He's having a bit of a problem with the fact that one of the guys in that opening act is gay." "Yeah, I heard. Did Kev just find out, or was he keeping it from Brian?" Nick asked, sitting down on a couch in the living room area of the bus. AJ joined him. "I think Kevin knew all along. Man, I wish Bri would lighten up." Nick nodded sadly. "Yeah, he really needs to get used to this." Slowly the bus filled up. Bodyguards packed away the luggage and stored soft drinks and food in the kitchen of the bus. Nick and AJ moved to the back of the bus and played Nintendo. Kevin and Brian entered just minutes later, discussing loudly whether or not playing with an opening act that had a gay member was bad for their reputation. Howie had already settled down in his bunk, ready to catch up on some sleep. Finally, the driver arrived and they started on their drive to Miami. Well, that's it for now. I'll try to make the next one just a bit longer. Much love joey