𝐓𝐎𝐍𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓 ─ new kids on the block

𝒊𝒊𝒊.

MAY 15, 1990
→ E M I L Y

✦

WE ENTERED A tall building that, supposedly, was where the recording studio was located. Me and Tinnie walked behind Jordan and Joey, who were pretty much leading the way for us. Danny, Donnie, Jon and Biscuit followed us.

I was expecting tons of paparazzis and news reporters all over the area as we made our way into the building but there were no people of these professions to be seen, which was quite surprising considering the fact that me and Tinnie were hanging out with the biggest stars in the world at that moment. Isn't the entire world dying to know their every move? I asked myself. I guess not.

We took an elevator up to the 12th floor. As we walked out, we took a turn to the left where there was a door with a golden star on it. The guys opened the door and lead us in. Me and Tinnie entered, and what I was exposed to seemed unreal. I froze at the door and couldn't move a single inch of my body. Jordan had to come back to me and grab my hand to lead me to the sofa where the rest of the guys had already seated themselves.

"I... Wow! This is unbelieveable," were the only words that I could come up with at this moment. My whole life I had dreamed of this moment, to be in a studio and record an album, which wasn't the case right now but I was so close, and now that moment had finally arrived. I was completely speechless.

"Oh, that's right... You've dreamed of coming to a recording studio like what, all your life? This must be so exciting for you," Jordan spoke to me, gently letting go of my hand.

I couldn't believe he remembered as I had only briefly mentioned it when we were talking half an hour ago. If he would have been one of the guys I'd gone out with in the past, he'd have forgotten all about it by now, but to my surprise, he hadn't. I looked at him and nodded. He slowly walked closer to me, grabbing my hand again and pulling me closer to him.

"You know, Emily... Maybe one day, I could produce an album for you," he whispered in my left ear, his soft voice causing a tingling sensation in my body. I shut my eyes and imagined what it would have been like to be in a recording booth, singing my heart out as someone on the other side of the glass would have been mixing my vocals with Jordan sitting next to them. I then opened my eyes again and smiled at Jordan as the rest of the New Kids got up from the sofa and got ready to record the last parts of vocals for their fourth album which was coming out in less than a month.

→ T I N N I E

✦

THE GUYS WERE doing their thing in the studio for about three hours but it definitely didn't feel that long. In between takes, Joey would wink, smile or make funny faces at me, and I would just laugh at him. He was so adorable.

After the three hours, the guys finally got out of the recording booth to take a break.

"Do you girls wanna hear something from the album?" Danny asked us, taking a sip from his water bottle.

"Sure we do!" I said, making eye-contact with Joey who was looking at me with that cute smile on his lips. I walked over to him and seated myself on the hand rest of the sofa.

Danny grabbed a cassette tape from a shelf over the mixing board and put it on. "This one's called Call It What You Want—it's one of my favorites. It's a really groovy track," Donnie announced proudly.

As the beat kicked in, the New Kids all quickly got up from their seats and started moving their bodies to the beat. The song had a really catchy beat, it was almost impossible to just sit down and not move a muscle. Joey danced his way to me and grabbed my hand, leading me to the so-called dance floor.

"Whoa, you're a great dancer!" he said, making me blush.

"Thanks, Joey. You know, you're not so bad yourself. Maybe you should try doing that for a living," I jokingly said. He laughed and shook his head because well, let's face it, it was a pretty bad joke... Joey then grabbed my hand and spinned me around a couple times as I just laughed.

"Break it down, Joe!" Donnie shouted from across the room, pointing at him.

"I can feel it, I can feel it, I can feel it—I can feel your love, girl," he lip-synced to the tape whilst making crazy body movements. It was hilarious. We all had a great laugh and the track started fading out.

"Donnie, you were right—it is a groovy track!" Emily said to Donnie, leaning against Jordan's shoulder to catch her breath. I could tell that Jordan was definitely enjoying himself in that moment.

"Word up!" Donnie said, walking over to Emily to give her a high five.

✦

Me, Emily and the New Kids hung out in the studio for the rest of the evening. We sat around listening to music, eating food and talking about everything. It was the most fun I'd had in a long time.

"Whoa! I didn't realize it was this late. Tinnie, we better start heading home or my mom's gonna lose it," Emily said, looking at the clock on the wall.

It was 9pm and we hadn't notified Emily's parents about staying out late. They must have been worried sick.

"No way! You sure you can't stay for a little longer?" Joey asked, looking at me with the cutest puppy eyes.

"I'm sorry Joe, but I can't. My parents are out of town so me and my brothers are staying at Emily's for the weekend. I've gotta tell you all though, today has been so much fun. Never in a million years did I think I'd be hanging out with you guys for a whole day and having this much fun! Really, thank you. I can't remember the last time I enjoyed myself this much," I said getting up from the sofa, patting Joey's shoulder.

"You know, I'd really hate to see the fun end now... How about we get you both a room in our hotel for tomorrow night and have a slumber party? Now doesn't that sound great—you two having a sleepover with the New Kids on a saturday night? That's pretty much every girl's dream," Donnie said, making both me and Emily laugh.

"That does sound pretty amazing..." I said looking at Emily.

"Oh, I am so in!" Emily answered without a doubt.

The guys then got up from their seats and gave us hugs.

"Call me tonight," Joey said to me, handing me a small piece of paper with his number on it. I looked at the paper in my hand and noticed how he had drawn a heart over the dot on the J. It was the sweetest thing.

"You bet," I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

He pulled me in for a big hug that lasted for a while. Eventually, I realized that he just wasn't going to let me go until I tried to break free.

"Joe, I really have to go! I already told you that I'm gonna call you tonight," I said laughingly, trying to pull away from his embrace.

"Fine..." he said, pretending he was about to cry.

"Cut it out!" I said, messing up his hair and continuing to laugh as me and Emily walked out of the recording studio.