Baby, I Believe in You [Jordan Knight • NKOTB]

Chapter 34: Meet Me in Providence

As Thursday afternoon rolled around, Anne and I woke up a little late than usual trying to adjust from the sudden three hour jump on the East Coast. Although, she had more trouble getting out of bed than I did. When I went into her room to help her wake up, she kept talking about Jonathan in her sleep and hugged one of the pillows pretending it was him. I stood there holding in my laughter as she rolled out of the bed with a loud thud. I wasn't worried though, she was okay and fully awake. There was still enough time to get everything ready before tonight, I was going to drive the two of us to Rhode Island where we'll meet the guys in Providence.

That afternoon Anne and I were in my bedroom preparing our overnight bags with the essentials: a set of clothes to wear for tomorrow's concert, a warm set of pajamas, and anything from hair products, makeup, and jewelry. Anne even hauled in her heavy suitcase from her bedroom  showing me each potential outfit to not only impress Jonathan, but the rest of the Knight family that were attending tomorrow's concert. Anne already knew about the Posse 30, which consisted of the parents and siblings of the New Kids, and also about how they attended mostly every concert. The last time, I've seen the whole group was at Sullivan Stadium those two nights back in July during the Magic Summer tour. Though Anne was really wanting to make a good impression on the matriarch of the Knight family, Marlene. Even with the talk we had, Anne was still nervous about meeting her, I had faith in her and knew everything will turn out fine.

As Anne pulled out each possible outfit, she over thought about each article of clothing and discarded it from her suitcase before I even had a chance to share my opinion. A small hurricane of clothes scattered my bedroom, mirroring the times my best friend had done this in the apartment at Berkeley. I hope Anne never changes. Eventually, she searched through her clothes and settled for her violet long sleeve blouse, her favorite pair of light blue Guess jeans, her red winter coat with a rose colored knit sweater to keep her warm from the cold, and her light brown laced boots because of the snow and slush. And I decided to pack my black long sleeve blouse with the red and pink floral pattern, a pair of black Levi's jeans, a purple knit sweater to wear under my favorite green winter jacket, and my pink colored Doc Martens perfect for this time of the season.

At around 2 o'clock, Jordan called me from my bedroom as I had a separate phone line that my parents gave me for my thirteenth birthday. He heard about Anne and I arriving last night from his mom, Jordan expressed his excitement at the thought of seeing me again as well as Jonathan who couldn't wait to see Anne. I wish I could hear Jordan's voice a while longer, but he explained how he couldn't stay on the phone to talk as he had to get to the venue where they'll be playing tonight for the soundcheck. Though before he left, Jordan told me the code names to get our room keys to his and Jonathan's hotel rooms and access the New Kids floor. After we exchanged a quick "I love you" to each other, Jordan and I both hanged up the phones as Anne thoughtfully wrote down the names on a small piece of paper she grabbed from my desk. The code names were "Popeye Putman" (Jordan) and "GQ Rashleigh" (Jon).

The day started to get dark as Anne and I needed to hit the road if we wanted to make it on time. My dad gave me his car keys once we placed our bags in the back seat. Anne and I embraced my parents, as they worried for our safety, but I promise to call them once we arrive at the hotel. As Anne and I entered the car, I started up the engine and she pulled out a mixtape filled with our favorite songs to listen to while we make the one hour drive to Rhode Island. I just pray there will be no traffic.

I instantly felt the wet cold air breeze against my skin the second I stepped out of the car in front of the Biltmore Hotel. From a glance at my wrist watch, we arrived around 9:35 tonight as there was some light traffic along the way, but most likely, the guys were inside the building since their concert ended about an hour ago. I let the Valet park my dad's car in the hotel's parking lot, giving me the ticket to hang on to in order to retrieve the car on Saturday morning. After stuffing the ticket in my coat pocket, I tugged the collar of my jacket close as I admired the brightly lit hotel. My heart began to beat uncontrollably again, knowing that somewhere in this hotel was my boyfriend waiting for me.