She reached her locker without too much trouble, which was a miracle in it’s self, and opened it without any problems. As soon as she opened the door she looked at the dry erase board.

“Meet at Stace’s house after school, she has something to tell us.” It was written with blue marker and in Autumn’s handwriting. Something told her that it was important.

She opened her bag and threw everything she didn’t need in the bottom of the locked before shutting the door and twisting the dial on the lock.

They still hadn’t thought of a name to call themselves, but apparently it didn’t matter. Stacey had called the meeting to tell them that their song, ‘Tender Word’ had been selected to go up on the net for the contest.

The girls had calmed down and were flipping through the channels on the TV in Stacey’s living room.

“So.. What do you think of Carson’s new look?” Autumn asked.

“What new look?” Evelynn laughed.

“Yeah, no kidding, he looked exactly like he’s looked for the past...”

“OH, I don’t know... two years.” Kya cut Stacey off.

“It looks like he got some new pants.” Autumn said.

“You need to get a life, or something.” Stacey laughed. “If you can tell when Carson gets new pants....”

“Don’t finish that sentence.” Autumn threw a pillow at the older girl.

“Hey look, it’s LFO.” Evelynn said, pointing to the television.. Kya promptly grabbed the remote and changed the channel. The other girls laughed.

“So, what should we do now?” She asked innocently.

“Do you and Fall have homework?” Stacey asked. Autumn rolled her eyes, but whether it was at the question or the use of her nickname none of the others knew.

“Yes, I have research paper on social sciences due next Wednesday, but I can work on that later. I did math in class and none of my other teachers handed out anything new.”

“All I have is Spanish and a little bit of chemistry. That wont take too long.” Kya answered.

“Well, then we can work on the song.” Evelynn suggested. The others agreed and stood up.

“Tender word....” Evelynn finished the song.

“That sounded great. I think we have it down.”

“I know we have it down.” Kya said, sitting down and grabbing the water bottle she had put there an hour before.

“We just need to work on the very beginning a little bit more. Then we’ll have it perfect.” Evelynn said.

“Well, I need to get home and do my homework.” Kya said, trying to save them all from having to sing the song again.

“OK, I’ll take you home.” Autumn offered. The other girl nodded and began gathering her things.

A few minutes later Kya and Autumn were on their way out the door. “Oh, and everyone try to some up with ideas for a group name.” Kya called back.

“OK, bye, Kya, Autumn.” Stacey called before shutting the door. When it was shut she turned and leaned against it. She looked up to see Evelynn watching her. “Don’t even think about it. I’m done for tonight. We can work on it all weekend, but please, not anymore tonight.”

Evelynn laughed and grabbed her things. “OK, I’ll see you later Stace.”

Stacey leaned against the door once Evelynn was gone and slid down to the floor. They had a lot of work to do, but they were going to do anything it took. That meant that she was going to have to hold everything together. She sighed and stood up before walking into the living room and turning on the TV.

“They’ve taken the world by storm... and it’s only a matter of time before they do it again. Yes, that’s right, I’m talking about the Backstreet Boys!” It was Brian on MTV news. “The latest news on the Orlando Five, besides that two of them are going to be married by the end of the year, is that they may be participating in something that dELiA's, a clothing catalog for teens, has put together. Depending on the outcome of the contest being held right now, the Boys may be helping some new comers to the music business. We’ll have more information on that as the story and contest evolve.”

She turned off the TV and sat, staring at the blank screen. “The Backstreet Boys? What have we gotten ourselves into?”