When I started to come to, the first thing I was aware of was the sand under my back, which meant I was lying on the beach. Wasn’t I underwater when I passed out? How’d I get here? I wondered. And why do I feel like I’m about to throw up?
“Is she gonna be OK?” I heard Michelle say. She sounded far away and really worried.
“She’s breathing. That’s a good sign,” said another voice, much closer to me. Like, next to me. It was a guy’s voice, a familiar, sweet-sounding voice with sort of a Southern accent. “I’m really sorry about this. I swear, I didn’t mean to run into her, and I really didn’t mean for this to happen.” I realized that the voice belonged to the guy who’d collided with me out there. Had he brought me in? And who was he? He sounded awfully familiar, and not just from here and now.
“Don’t apologize to me,” Michelle said. “Apologize to her when she wakes up.”
I opened my eyes, coughing. And I knew exactly who the guy was. I couldn’t believe it had taken so long for me to figure it out. What I could believe even less was who he was.
I was staring up into the gorgeous, amazing, clear blue eyes of Brian Littrell.
He was kneeling next to me on the sand, his face only about a foot away from mine. And he looked really relieved. I, on the other hand, felt really stupid. This was the guy who had collided with me out there? Brian Littrell, the Backstreet Boy? I felt faint all over again.
“Oh good, you’re awake,” he said. “I’m really, really sorry.”
If it were anybody else, I would have been too pissed off to speak. I still couldn’t speak now...but for a completely different reason.
“It’s OK,” I said a little distractedly, unable to pull my eyes away from his. “Can somebody tell me what happened?”
Brian opened his mouth to speak, but the tall blond guy behind him cut him off. I did a double-take as I realized it was Nick Carter. The girl at Local Motion had been right. The Backstreet Boys were here. This was too cool.
“Frick saved your life,” Nick told me.
I looked at Brian again. Oh, so now he had saved my life? This guy was redeeming himself more and more by the minute.
“After he ran into you, you must’ve passed out in the water or something,” Nick continued. “Frick picked you up and carried you in right after it happened.”
“If he’d waited any longer, you might’ve drowned,” Michelle added. “So you see, he saved your life. He’s a hero.”
I was shocked. “Did you really do all that?” I asked Brian as I slowly sat up. My head instantly started to hurt, and I almost fell back down. Brian put his hand on my back to support me, and I smiled at him. “Thank you for saving me.”
“You’re welcome...but I’m not a hero. I almost got you killed, and now I feel guilty.”
“Guilty?” I repeated. “You saved my life. That sure redeems you in my eyes. And anyway, all you did is make a little mistake. Happens all the time. I’m kinda to blame, too, because I wasn’t looking.” I knew I was babbling, so I shut up.
“I don’t think you’d better go back out,” Michelle told me. “You swallowed a lot of water, and we’re worried about you.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” I said. “No way am I going back out.”
“I’m gonna stay here too, because you’re my sister and I’m worried about you,” she added.
“Oh no, you’re not,” I said. “Go back out. I don’t need someone with me. I’m all right.”
“Yes you do, and no you’re not.”
I stood up on shaky legs and faced my stepsister. Good thing I was taller than her, or this wouldn’t work. “Michelle, I’m your best friend, but I’m also your big sister, right? So you have to listen to me. Now I know I usually don’t pull rank, but in this case, I’d be happy to.” I pointed toward the ocean. “Go surf.”
Michelle started to protest, but Brian spoke up. “It’s OK,” he told her. “I’ll stay with her till she feels better.”
I stared at Brian in shock. Was this guy some kind of an angel? And why did I suddenly trust him, when I usually never trusted guys I’d just met?
“You sure?” Michelle said incredulously.
“Yeah,” Brian said. I just nodded. What else could I do?
“Thanks,” Michelle said. She turned to me. “You gonna be OK with this guy?” I raised an eyebrow at her, giving her a what-do-you-think look, and she said in a stage whisper, “Stupid question. We’ll talk later.”
“You better believe we will!” I whispered back, grinning. She smiled, grabbed her surfboard, and headed back out. Nick, who’d been staring at her like she was a goddess, instantly grabbed his board and followed her.
“Hi,” he said to her. “I’m Nick.”
Michelle smiled up at him. Even though Nick wasn’t really her favorite, he was even cuter in person than he was in the videos. “I know. I’m a fan. My name’s Michelle.”
“Nice to meet you,” he said.
“That was kinda noble what Brian did. Saving Natalie’s life and all.”
“He’ll probably be like, ‘I only did what anyone else would have done’, but you were right. He’s a hero.”
“Yeah.” They fell silent, having nothing left to talk about at the moment. Then Michelle added, “Well, it was nice to meet you.”
“You too. See ya around.” And they paddled off in opposite directions.