Chapter 13

And the award goes to...


Trista fiddled with her tanktop as Nick knocked on her dressing room door. Still looking at her shirt she yelled for him to come in and at the sight of her, he laughed. She looked up at him nervously.
"Hey, don't make fun. Just because you do this sorta of stuff all the time doesn't mean that you have to be mean," Trista said, pulling the shirt down and pulling up her hip hugger jeans.
"I know. It's just funny to see you this nervous. Come on, 'N Suck's almost done," Nick said as they both started walking out of the room.
"Be nice Nick," Trista said, eyeing him.
"Well, I can't help it," he said in a babyish voice. She laughed and he smiled. I'm glad I made her laugh. Maybe that'll help, he thought as they came up to the other guys. They were all fitted with their mics as 'N Sync and Blaque were finishing their song. They crowd cheered, but it wasn't the roar that Trista would have expected. The stage that they were on went black and 'N Sync and Blaque rushed backstage and the girls waved to the Boys and Trista, whereas only J.C. and Lance from 'N Sync waved and Justin winked at Trista. She smiled faintly and when he was gone, she made a face. The guys laughed and then all got into a circle as the host, Mandy Moore came by.
"Good luck Trista and you guys," Mandy said with a wave.
"Thanks Mandy," Trista said as the rest said their thanks. Trista took a breath as they all put their hands in.
"Okay guys let's go rock this place and win this," A.J. said and they all cheered.
"1,2,3 Backstreet!" They all yelled and then ran to their places on the dark stage. Alli looked over at Trista as she took Brian's hands for the start. Trista took a deep breath and took Nick's. He smiled.
"Don't worry. You'll be great," he whispered.
"Alright. Now this is our last battle performance for tonight. And what better way to end it than with these guys and their special guest. I'm sure you all know Howie, Kevin, A.J., Brian, and Nick, but their guest you may not. She is a very close friend with one of the guys and has had leading parts in her college plays and I think personally, can get a contract from any record company. So everyone put your hands together for The Backstreet Boys and Trista Lutgring," Mandy announced and the lights slowly came on as the music started. Screams and cheers came from everyone in the crowd as they realized what song it was.
They all separated into their places after the sequence was over and Brian began the singing, "Everybody.... Rock your body.... Everybody.... Rock your body right."

Trista stood backstage with the rest of the guys and took a deep breath. The performance had gone great and they got thousands of people to stand up at the end. Trista had guessed that they liked her and she felt great.
"Hey Trista, you were great!" Alli said as she hugged her. After the first dance sequence, the other dancers were to go backstage and Alli had watched the whole show from there.
"Thanks," Trista said with a smile. She was so excited and happy. With the standing ovation that they got, they were sure to win. Trista even saw the judges up front dancing, singing and standing with all the fans. All the guys came up and gave Trista their congratulations. Nick came up to her last. He smiled at her wearily.
"And you thought you couldn't dance?" he asked. She laughed and hugged him.
"You were great to you know," she whispered.
"Thanks," Nick replied as they were all called back on stage for the winner. Trista was allowed to stand with guys and jumped at the opportunity to bring Alli. The guys walked slowly out of the right side of the stage, Trista behind Nick and Alli behind Brian. 'N Sync came from the left and stood in a line, as did Backstreet and the girls.
"Before we announce the scores, let's give a hand to all of our performers," Mandy said clapping as everyone else did too, along with the occasional screams of 'Backstreet rocks!!' and '*N Sync rules!' from the crowd. All of the guys and the girls took hands. Trista gulped as she squeezed Brian and Nick's hand. The lights on the stage that were on them slowly dimmed and Trista lowered her head with the guys, saying a silent prayer as a drumroll began and Mandy started to open the envelope.
"Now the time has come to give the title of The Best Boy Band to the selected winner. On a scale of 1 to 10, winning with a 10 over a 9,.............the BACKSTREET BOYS!!!!!!!!!!!" Mandy yelled as the arena erupted into screams. Trista and all the guys jumped up hugging each other. 'N Sync slowly made their way over to the guys, shaking hands with everyone and giving their congrats. Trista was the most excited out of all the guys. She was the one that helped them get the last points, the highest possible! A billion thoughts ran through her mind as Nick took her hand and lead her up to except the award with the rest of the guys.
"What can we say but THANK YOU!!!!!!!!" A.J. yelled into the microphone, giving the girls yet another reason to scream. Brian stepped up to the platform and help the plaque high, everyone screaming at the highest possible level, he then laughed as he lowered it and cleared his throat.
"We would also like to thank VH1 and give our congrats to 'N Sync, you guys did good," Brian said looking over at the five 'N Syncers and clapped.
"We would like to say hi to all of our families and thank our mangement for allowing us to take off tour to do this," Howie continued and then stepped back for Kevin.
"We would also like to thank the fans in all the cities where the concerts were cancelled, we plan to make that up to you," Kevin said stepping back and as Nick came up to the mic, girls erupted in more screams.
"And last but certainly not least, we would like to thank you Trista. Without your help Blaque might have helped 'N Sync beat us," Nick said looking at her with a smile. She smiled back and he motioned her to come up to the mic. She shook her head no and Brian and Howie pulled her up. Trista stood by Nick and waved to everyone.
"Hello! I would like to thank the guys for letting me have this opportunity of a lifetime. And I would like to thank all of you in the audience who made me feel very special, and I would like to thank Fatima last but not least for putting up with me and teaching me how to dance, THANKS FATIMA!" she yelled and then laughed. "Thanks again everyone!" she ended her speech and stepped back. The guys all cheered as they walked backstage.


Chapter 14

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