"TARA!!!!! Tara wake up wake up wake up!" A short thirteen-year-old was jumping up and down on Tara's bed.
"What the fuck.." Tara opened her eyes very unhappily. "Shayna.." Shayna was her little sister. "How did you get here? .. WHY?"
"Hi! Hi! I get to see Howie! I get to see Aaron! I get to see Howie! I get to see Aaron! Egg picked me up at the airport."
"You're here.. why?" Tara was still tired.
"THE CONCERT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked. "Howie's group! And AARON!!! AARON! AARON! He's opening for them! Aaron!! He's so HOT! And when he does cartwheels.." She inhaled quickly. "OHmyGOD! Make me breakfast make me lunch make me dinner!" she chanted. Tara pushed her off the bed and sat up.
"OH my god.. ROSE!!!" she yelled. Rose appeared in her doorway, holding a cup of coffee.
"What?"
"Where's my shirt?"
"Umm.. that guy. Remember them? He has it," Rose said, not realizing Shayna was listening.
"I'm telling Mommy! I'm telling Daddy!" she squeaked.
"No. You're. NOT!" Tara grumbled. "You didn't hear that. Or I'm putting you in THE BASEMENT." Shayna gasped and was quiet. "I'm hungry."
"Breakfast's in the kitchen, Hippo," Rose informed her.
"Shayna, come on.." Tara ordered. She didn't want Shayna alone in her room. "Wait.. Get out. I need to get dressed." Shayna followed Rose to the kitchen, happily chattering about Howie and those other guys he sang with and Aaron who was so hot and did cartwheels, which was so totally cool. Tara hunted around her room for some clothes, she was exceedingly angry that her favorite shirt was now gone.
"I'm going to see Howie! I'm going to see Aaron!" Shayna informed Erin for the fifth time.
"Yes, I know." Erin cringed. Shayna's rather high-pitched voice was giving her a headache.
"You have to come too! You have to see Howie and Aaron!" Shayna liked Erin. Her name was ALMOST Aaron and that was always a good thing.
"Um.." Erin dumped some aspartame into her coffee. She didn't LIKE places with lots of people and loud noises.
"YOU HAVE TO!!!" Shayna squealed.
"Don't worry, Shayna, we're all going." Tara walked into the kitchen.
"WHAT?!" Rose nearly dropped her coffee mug. "NO!"
"YES! I have to go, so do you two." Tara glared at Rose and Erin.
"But.." Erin didn't like this idea.
"Too late. Already got the tickets and backstage passes. Oops, that WAS supposed to be a surprise.."
"OHMYGOD!! EEEEEEEEEEE!" Shayna shrieked then passed out.
"Oh no. Is she going to be okay?" Rose peered at Shayna amusedly.
"Yeah. She did this when I told her I got her concert tickets. Dunno what the group is called.. I don't remember." Tara shrugged.
"Hmm.." Erin still didn't want to go. She decided to wash her hands, but there wasn't any antibacterial soap. "Oh no! NO SOAP!!!"
"That's the FIFTH bottle we've gone through this week." Rose frowned. "Erin, this has got to stop."
"Oh shut up." Erin decided to use dish soap instead.
"Give me that shirt!!!" Nick commanded. They were STILL fighting over the 'hip hip' shirt.
"NO! She threw it at ME." Brian tripped Nick, who knocked over Kevin.
"Damn you!" Kevin kicked Nick.
"Damn you!" Nick mimicked girlishly.
"Be nice you guys." Howie commanded quietly, flipping his long hair out of his eyes.
"Shut up D." Kevin said gruffly.
"Whazza matter Kevy? Get dissed by a girl?" Nick crossed his eyes and stuck his tongue out.
"SHUT THE HELL UP!!!" Kevin tried to punch Nick but missed.
"Poor baby." Nick ran to the other side of the room. "NOBODY BOTHER KEVIN HE'S IN A BAD MOOD CAUSE SOME GIRL HE LIKES WAS MEAN TO HIM!"
"I'm gonna sing! I'm gonna sing! I'm gonna do cartwheels and SING!" Aaron was bouncing around the room happily wearing AJ's feather boa.
"Damnit! How many times have I told you NOT TO TOUCH MY STUFF!?" AJ threw a couch cushion at him. Aaron was knocked over by the tremendous weight of it and started crying.
"NOW look what you did!" Kevin snarled.
"I hate you!" Aaron threw himself at AJ, trying to knock him over and punching him.
"Oh no. Not that." AJ smiled and held him away at arm's length. Aaron screamed frustratedly.
"Time to go, folks!" Their manager opened a door. "Aaron, you messed your hair up again! Is it so hard to sit still for ten seconds?"
"SHUT UP!" Aaron was taking lessons from Kevin. He followed the manager out and slammed the door.
"Moody little thing, ain't he?" AJ took a drag from a cigarette.
"SHAYNA! Down! No! Bad Shayna!" Tara watched amusedly as Shayna tried to climb onto the stage as Aaron made his entrance, cartwheeling.
"AARON!! I LOVE YOU AARON!!!! I LOOOOOVVVEEEE YYYOOOOOUUUU!!!!!" Shayna shrieked at the top of her voice.
"This is really terrifying." Erin looked around nervously.
"This is so fun!" Rose was dancing around madly, laughing at all the teenyboppers giving her dirty looks. "I don't think the little kiddies like my outfit!"
"Maybe it's your MUSIC, Rosie!" Erin smiled. Rose had brought a very small radio and had it turned onto a Goth music station. One of the teenies grabbed the radio and threw it on the ground, stomping on it.
"Hmm.. maybe!" Rose grinned.
"Oh my god. Who is that?! THAT GUY! WHO IS THAT GUY?" Tara was staring at the stage.
"You love Howie too!! I KNEW IT!!!! EVERYONE LOVES HOWIE!!" Shayna yelled. "I WANT IT THAT WAY!!!" She sang along.
"No! Wait.. what are their names?" Tara grabbed her sister's arm.
"Who? The Backstreet Boys?" Shayna inquired innocently. Tara started laughing and so did Rose.
"What? No, those people on the stage." Tara wondered if that guy still had her shirt.
"Those are the Backstreet Boys, stupid." Shayna looked at her sister in horror. How could she not know that? How embarrassing. Rose and Tara stared at her, spellbound. "What is it?"
"THEIR NAMES, you bimbo!" Rose demanded.
"Nick Brian Kevin AJ! Want me to tell you about them? Okay! Nick's the blonde one. He's the youngest. Everybody loves Nick. AJ's the bad boy. He has about eighty tattoos! He's SO hot! Daddy doesn't like him. Kevin is the father figure of the band. He's tall and dark and handsome. I love Kevin! Mommy loves Kevin too. NO DIGGITY! Brian is the perfect Christian, only not really, because he has one tattoo. Mommy liked him till he got a tattoo." Shayna didn't notice that Rose and Tara looked terrified. "Howie is the Latin lover! He's the hottest one. He has the prettiest voice! I LOVE Howie! I LOVE YOU HOWIE!!!!!!!" she shrieked then started singing along again. "Tell me why I never wanna hear you say.."
"Ugh! Shayna, PLEASE!" Tara covered her eyes. This was too much.
"They're kind of your age, Tara! And all of them are single! OHMYGOD! Brian just looked at you! OHMYGOD!!!!! BRIAN!!! LOOK AT ME!!!!!!!!!!" she shrieked. Shayna started breathing a little too fast.
"What is it?" Rose asked unhappily.
"Kevin! He looked at you guys! And AJ and NICK!!!!!! Ohmygodohmygodohmygod.." She turned white then fell over.
"Damnit. The little kid passed out again." Tara stared at her for a few seconds then dragged her into a chair. "There must be a problem with her nervous system."
"You guys.. What in the hell is going on?" Erin demanded without uncovering her eyes.
"We know those guys!! He has my shirt.." Tara glared at the one that was Brian. "Perfect Christian. Like hell he is!! THIEF!"
"They're the guys who were at the bar last night.." Rose explained.
"Oh no they aren't. Those are guys who chase each other around and go in women's bathrooms," Erin said confidently. "There must be a mistake." Rose looked sadly at the battered corpse of her radio as the song ended.
"Is the concert over yet? Now I really want to leave."
"Hey!" a teenybopper hissed. Rose looked up disinterestedly. "You don't like N*Suck, DO you?!"
"N what? What is WRONG with you? Tara, I have to get out of here." Rose glared at the teenybopper.
"Me too! C'mon, Rose. Let's go.." Erin stood up and started dragging Rose away.
"It's those girls." Brian muttered. "My mike's messed up! Someone do something about this! YOU CAN'T HEAR ME AT ALL!" A tech ran over to him from backstage.
"That thing is trying to get onstage! Whoops, she passed out. That had to hurt." AJ watched the antics of a teenybopper amusedly.
"Did you ever find your hat?" Nick asked.
"No, damnit. That was my favorite hat!" Brian clenched his fists. "They're leaving! NO! They can't leave!" He watched Rose and Erin retreat through the mob. "Hey! Jobob! Get those girls and bring them backstage."
"Umm.. Bri?" Kevin was worried.
"Shut up!" Brian muttered.
"Someone has PMS." Nick squealed.
"I do NOT!"
"Those girls thought you two were FRIENDS." AJ grinned.
"What? Ew, no!" Brian made a face. "Me and NICK? Where did they get that idea?!"
"Jee, I wonder." AJ mumbled.
"Why don't you two not act gay in public? Is that so hard?" Kevin glared at them. That remark his last girlfriend had made about them all being pansies was really getting to him.
"Shut the hell up Kevy!" Brian squeaked purposefully.
"Be nice you guys! I hate it when you fight." Howie pleaded.
"If ANYONE is gay.." Nick muttered.
"Shut up Nick. NOBODY IS GAY!" Kevin stomped his foot.
"Hey!! MY MIKE WORKS!" Brian jumped up and down a few times. "YAY!"
"Hip hip!" Nick yelled, hoping the certain people in the front row would hear.
"Hip hip!" Brian echoed.
"Hooray!" Howie smiled. Everyone was happy again! They started singing again.
"Oh god." Tara cradled her head in her hands. Had they just said what she thought they said? 'hip hip.' As if it could get ANY worse now. She sank into a daze for a moment, then heard someone whine 'Am I sexual?' From the stage, Nick could see her cowering into her seat beside her passed out teenybopper friend. Jobob had already corralled Rose and Erin who had been trying to escape, they were now safely in his clutches.
"Wha?" Someone had tapped Tara on the shoulder. A scary dude in sunglasses and all black was standing next to her. The other teenies were looking at her interestedly.
"You have a camera." The guy grumbled. He'd decided this was the best way to get her out of the crowd without causing a riot.
"Umm.. what?" Tara was confused. Why would she have brought a camera, of all things?
"Come with me." The guy commanded. Tara shrugged and picked up Shayna, dragging her inert form along behind her. They got into the backstage kinda area and she was joined by Rose and Erin.
"What's going on?" Shayna had woken up. "Let go of me! STOP IT!" Tara looked at her for a moment, then noticed a closed door. She opened the door quickly, stuffed Shayna through the doorway, and then shut the door again. She heard Shayna's scream and another shriek that sounded strangely male, then forgot about it.
"Hip.." Erin was looking highly nervous. She really wanted to wash her hands.
"There has been a.. request that you wait here until after the concert." Jobob said, leading them to an empty room.
"umm.. what?" Rose was very suspicious.
"Good. Okay. Bye then." Jobob left and shut the door.