how they came out, #2
Spencer and Ryan spend the first week of August 1998 engaged in an epic fight: Ryan says AJ is the coolest. He is so very wrong. Obviously it's Kevin. Kevin is tall and bitchy and understands what it's like to have to take care of your best friends all of the time. Sometimes when they watch videos on MTV Spencer's fingers twitch with the need to push Nick's blond hair off of his round face, but Kevin is still the bad-ass of the Backstreet Boys.
The concert is an early joint birthday present from their parents, not even the tickets so much as being allowed to go at all, being dropped off and picked up at the curb outside the Grand. It's taken a summer of negotiations to get that far, to convince everyone they didn't need somebody to come inside with them. They're 10 and 11 now, and they're almost 11 and 12, and they don't need a chaperone to see a band.
They're still bickering about who is cooler, waiting between the opening band and the real show, when this girl from their block sees them and comes over to talk. Mandy is wearing a t-shirt with I ♥ BRIAN written on it in Sharpie. "Brian's your favorite?" Spencer asks, and then has to listen to her 18 reasons why for a long time. Ryan is standing at his shoulder, bored and annoyed, and Spencer wishes he'd be just a little nicer. Mandy is sort of cute and it wouldn't suck for her to think Spencer has friends who aren't retards.
The lights flash and Mandy scrambles back to her seat. When the arena is dark and Backstreet is dancing, Spencer can feel Ryan bobbing around a little, not doing the dance moves or anything but excited despite himself. It's exciting, even if the sound of all the people screaming is worming its way into Spencer's head like a sharp, pointy stick. They're too far back to see any of the guys very well, but the screens are big and everyone sings along and it's kind of amazing, watching that many people in Vegas all do the same thing at the same time. After he feels sweaty and hoarse and tired and his ears are ringing. There are a million other kids waiting to be picked up too and he and Ryan whisper for hours after they turn off the lights, giggling about how lame the kid in front of them was, a girl a little younger than them who was there with her mom and the mom was doing the whole routine along with the guys.
At school the next day Mandy comes up to him during lunch. She bought one of tour shirts and in the picture AJ's wearing something ridiculous and sheer and there is no way he is cooler than Kevin. Spencer's glad now he didn't have enough cash with him to get one, even though the night before he was kind of bummed at having nothing to show for their night. They didn't even remember to take a picture or anything.
This kid Jason walks over to Mandy then. Spencer's pretty sure Jason's actually retarded, or maybe he's just been held back twice. He's sort of big and pretty fat and always looks surprised, like he's been punched, except he's usually the kid doing the punching. He's never tried to beat up Spencer but it's not like they're friends.
"Anyway," Spencer says, and Mandy says, "Yeah, I'm glad you came," and then Jason wants to know what they're talking about, where they were together, all stupid and suspicious. Spencer sighs when Mandy points to her shirt and says the concert was awesome, because it's not like he thinks he's getting any cool points for going to a concert with a million girls and their moms.
"So what," Jason says, squinting. "You like Backstreet? Are you gay or something?"
Spencer rolls his eyes. "Yeah, obviously," he says, and Jason's such a dumb fat fuck he just stares back in shock. "I'm totally gay," Spencer says, and Mandy giggles. Spencer gives her a little wave and goes back into the classroom. He can't wait to tell Ryan about his day.
*
thanks to deliberatehips for the quick canon assist. from an AOL chat with spencer, though clearly when he says "like 9" it's the "like" that's key, because backstreet never came to vegas until 1998:
ScottBinMusic: ok. what was the first show that you went to?
PaniqAtTheDiscko: backstreet boys
PaniqAtTheDiscko: I’m not joking
PaniqAtTheDiscko: with Ryan
ScottBinMusic: that so rules
PaniqAtTheDiscko: when i was like 9