I’ll Think of a Reason Later
© 8/14/02 Bereccaemarie
Disclaimer: No I don’t know Brian. And, no this is not how I feel about 
Leighanne. Maybe in the beginning but not now!

Right after church on a Sunday morning, my sister grabbed my arm as we 
were walking out the door. “Have you heard about Brian?” she asked of 
my old high school flame.

“No, what great thing has he done this week?” I wasn’t exactly jealous 
of Brian. I mean, he was the most famous person in our high school 
class, probably the city, county and state for that matter. To be 
honest, he was Brian Thomas Littrell of the Backstreet Boys. Then I 
remember that it was his birthday that day as well. “Oh wait, today’s 
his 25th birthday. He was just born.”

“Better than that,” my sister said. “He’s gonna get married!”

I snickered. “Yeah right. Brian Littrell, married. Uh huh. To who, 
Britney Spears?”

“No, some girl in Atlanta. It’s in the paper today. I’ll bring it 
over.”

We then went our separate ways to our respected cars and as she drove 
home to get the paper, I went back to my place and dug out a black 
Sharpie and a piece of paper and started doodling. I always did this 
when I was nervous, or upset.

My sis showed up about ten minutes later, toting the paper with her. We 
laid it out on the table and she opened it up to the social page where 
all the engagements and weddings were announced. And low and behold, 
there was Brian’s picture and right next to him was a cute blonde. I 
read the caption: “Lexington native Brian Thomas Littrell (25) plans to 
wed Atlanta girl, Leighanne Reena Wallace (31) on September 2, 2000. 
The two met in Los Angeles where Leighanne was an extra on a video 
shoot Brian was working on.”

I groaned and rolled my eyes. “What, you’re not jealous, are you?” my 
sister asked me.

“No way!” I retorted, as I absentmindedly twirled my marker in my 
fingers. I was lying to my sister and myself. I was jealous. And maybe 
it was that my family had raised me here and we were, no matter what 
anyone said, slightly redneck. But before I knew it I had drawn horns 
on the picture of Leighanne.

“Lori!” my sister remarked, when she saw what I was doing.

“What?” I exclaimed as I blacked out one of her teeth. “You can’t say 
she makes a very big target!”

My sister laughed at that. “Yeah, you are right about that. But what if 
she’s really a good person?”

“Did she discover the cure to cancer?” I asked, sarcastically. My 
sister laughed again. “What about baldness? Ya think she helps out the 
homeless in the winter?”

“You’re not being a good Christian. You know that, right?” I nodded. 
“And you don’t even have a reason to hate her.”

I shrugged as I added flames behind her picture. “So I’ll think of one 
later.”

My sister just stared at me. “You’re jealous and you know it!”

“Yeah, so I am. I always thought Brian and I would be together 
forever.”

“Come on, Lori. High school relationships rarely last. And I thought 
you were happy on your own?”

“I am, but come on, it’s not exactly easy when you keep seeing your 
high school flame in the paper and on TV.”

“You’ll live,” she replied, patting my hand.

“I know that. And I guess I am glad I didn’t date him when he was 
famous. I mean, her picture probably has a ton of people drawing on 
it.”

“Yeah, and they’re all sixteen!” My sister and I laughed, knowing that 
not all the fans were teens, but it was a nice joke between us.

I decided to hang the picture on my bulletin board, with my doodles on 
it and all. Just to remind me that Brian was happy with who he was with 
and yeah, I was jealous.