Over the next five years, a lot changed for both Brian and I. The Backstreet Boys became a big pop act in Europe and eventually in the US. Brian was famous. He had thousands of adoring fans, gold albums, sold out concerts, everything. I followed his career, went to concerts, bought the albums. He was my best friend after all.

Me on the other hand, I had gone to the University of Kentucky, and became a teacher. I eventually moved to Orlando, Florida after I got my teaching credential. I was to be teaching PE at a junior high school. It was the summer before I started work and I was out on the basketball court just shooting around because there was no one to play with.

Just then a tall blond young man and Brian walked up. I knew it was Brian right away, but I knew he probably didn't recognize me. My long brown hair was up in a ponytail and I was dressed in shorts and a tank top. I continued to shoot, ignoring them.

"Hey, wanna play?" the blond man asked me.

I looked at him and then made a quick lay up. "That depends. How good are you?"

"Well, Rok, here is the best in the area," the blond one said.

"Is that so?" I asked, tucking the basketball under my arm. I walked over to them. "You're Nick, right?" I asked.

"Yeah."

I passed the ball to Brian and said, "So you're the best in the area. Let's see how good you are. First one to twenty-one buys the other lunch."

"You're on," Brian said, passing the ball back to me. I passed it back to him and he started heading towards the hoop. He managed to get passed me and make a lay up.

I collected the ball and said, "Lucky shot." We walked back to half court and passed the ball back and forth. When it was back in my hands, I took off dribbling towards the hoop. I made a little jumper shot that swished through. Brian and I went back and forth for a while scoring off each other. Even after fifteen points, Brian still didn't know who I was. Nick was on the sideline rooting for his friend. Finally, I got Brian in a position to use my move. It got him every time and I was hoping things hadn't changed much. I rocked back and forth and then once I had him rocking with me, I pivoted around him and made a shot off balance that went straight into the hoop. Brian stopped and looked at me.

"Bre?" he asked.

"No, I'm your cousin. Of course it's me, Bri. Who else do you know has that shot?" He laughed and then embraced me in a hug. I pulled away from him and held him at arms length. "You grew," I said.

He looked down at me. "You didn't."

Nick looked at us standing there in the middle of the basketball court. "You two know each other?"

Brian and I didn't say anything. We just stared at each other. All of a sudden, it hit us at the same instant. We started talking at the same time.

"Oh my God! It's so good to see you! How have you been?"

"What have you been up to? Why didn't you write?"

We laughed and then hugged once again.

Brian turned to Nick and said, "Yeah, Nick, this is my friend Briann Little. Briann, Nick Carter."

I waved a little wave and said, "You don't need to introduce me Bri. I've followed your career."

"Oh you have, have you?"

"Yep."

Just then the rest of the Backstreet Boys walked up. I looked at them and then recognized Kevin. "Is that Cousin Kevy?" I asked in a high pitched squeal.

Kevin looked at me and then it hit him. "Briann? Is that you? Oh my God, what are you doing here?" I ran over to him and leapt into his arms like I had done so many times when we were younger. He spun me around like we were children and then set me back on the ground. "How you doin' Short Stuff?" I glared it him. "Whoa. Touchy subject." He held up his hands in defeat.

I introduced myself to Howie and AJ. Brian walked up and tapped me on the shoulder. "Um, we're in the middle of a game," he said to me.

"Excuse me, fellas, while I go beat the pants off Bri."

"You just think you will." He passed me the ball.

I held it for a second and said, "I don't think. I know." I passed him the ball and once again he started heading towards the hoop. He tried a three point shot and missed. I got the rebound and easily put the ball through the hoop. "Come on Bri. You outta practice?" We checked the ball again, and Brian tried yet again to make it to the hoop, only this time I stole the ball from him.

As I was dribbling the ball, I heard Nick say to Kevin, "She's like a lil' B-Rok."

"Have you seen her move?" Kevin asked.

"What move's that?" AJ inquired.

"Just watch. She'll do it here in a minute. It always messed Brian up. He has no way to defend against it because no one else does it and it's a very simple move." Kevin pointed the guys' attention back to me. I knew the guys were watching, and I had Brian in position to do my move on him yet again. So I did. This time though, instead of going to the left, I went to right. It really confused him.

Nick spoke up after I made the point. "Yeah, she did that earlier. It's a B-Rok rock."

"Hey, I think we should just call her Lil B-Rok. I mean, look at her. She is killing Brian out there," Howie said.

"Hey, Nick, what's the score?" I called.

"Twenty to seventeen, Lil' B-Rok." I raised an eyebrow at him, but knew what he meant. Brian passed me the ball and I passed it back to him. He just stood there for a minute dribbling and then started moving towards me. I stole the ball from him easily and he immediately started covering me. He then did something I never expected. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. It caught me so off guard that I missed a beat and he had the ball and made a lay up.

I looked at him as he recovered the ball. "You cheat!"

"What?"

"You haven't changed, Bri." I said as I walked to center court.

"What do you mean by that?" he asked as I passed him the ball.

"You did that in junior high, too." When I got the ball back, I moved quickly to three-point range and shot at the hoop. The ball bounced on the rim three times before falling through. I raised my hands in victory. "You owe me lunch Rok!" I called.

Brian came rushing towards me, calling, "No, I owe you hang time!" He picked me up on his shoulders and carried me over to the basketball hoop. When I was underneath, he said, "Alley oop." I reached my hands above my head and grabbed onto the rim. Brian then let go of me and I hung there for a minute. I then let go and fell to the ground, landing on my feet.

I looked at Brian. "I can't believe you still remember that."

"Hey, I never forgot."

"Yeah, but you lost my address. And you owe me lunch. Come on, let's go."

"Yeah, Rok," AJ said. "You could buy us all lunch."

Bri just glared at AJ and started walking towards a nearby McDonalds.

To Chapter Four

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