~Gabrielle~
My eyes burst open to streaks of light falling across my face from the venetian blinds on the nearby windows. It was a bright and sunny day, but inside I felt horrible. I had just relived my whole breakup with Jeremy in a dream, only this time he pulled Randi over and kissed her right in front of me. Then he turned and walked away, but not before turning and calling back, "So screw you!"
"Good morning! Morning has come!" Ellie's face appeared at the door and towered cheerily over my makeshift bed on the floor. Before I had time to respond, Ellie hit play and "Day Has Come" came pouring out of the speakers. I knew she was trying to keep me from feeling down, but the funny thing was that it seemed to be working. Or maybe it was those incredible sounds coming from the stereo. I gave a brief smile. "I just had the worst dream," I explained.
"Tell me about it," Ellie said, playing the part of therapist. I told her about the horrible scene.
"Hey, this is normal. You're showing all the signs of someone who's just gone through a tough ending to a relationship. The first recommended step for recovery is to head to the kitchen, because I think a remedy is on its way out of the breadmaker," Ellie said in the most serious manner. I couldn't help but smile as I threw on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt.
Ellie and I hurried downstairs to the kitchen, where our favorite, cinnamon bread, was already cut, waiting for us. Ellie's mother carried over a bowl of frosting.
"Mia, you know us too well," I exclaimed, speaking to the short, almost-blond haired woman who had entered the room with our special edition to the bread.
"Time has made it so," Mia answered in a very slight French accent. Mia had grown up in a small town in French-speaking Canada called Charlemange. Unlike Ellie and me, she had grown up speaking French.
I knew Ellie was speak a little French, but me, none. I had lived here in English-speaking Canada all my life, as had Ellie, so I never learned any.
After gobbling down our breakfasts, we hurried back into Ellie's room.
"So," I asked Ellie, "does Hanson ever go on tour?"
"Oh, yeah!" Ellie nodded. "They're going on tour this summer again. And guess what? I heard a rumor that they might come to Canada!"
"Really?" My interest perked up. "If they do, are you going?"
"I sure hope so," Ellie bubbled. "If they do come, do you want to come too?"
"Could I?" I felt myself starting to get excited. I was still hurting so much inside, but every time I heard Isaac sing, something felt a little better.
"Sure!" Ellie said, hopping up. She turned on her stereo and put in her two Hanson CDs and two Celine Dion ones and hit shuffle. Other than my newly found love of Hanson, I really liked Celine Dion. Of course, a lot of Canada did.
This was another reason I was jealous of Ellie. She had met Celine a few times! Celine had grown up in Charlamagne too, and even though Mia was a few years older than Celine, they had known each other pretty well and still got together occasionally.
I was blasted out of my dreaming of Celine and Isaac as "MMMBop" came on. Ellie grabbed my hands, and we jumped up to start dancing around the room. Ellie was lip-syncing and I was trying to pick up as many of the lyrics as possible.
With the final words, "You say you can but you don't know", Ellie swung her hair and jumped into the air. Then we both collapsed onto my bed, laughing. "So, it's just the three of them, Isaac, Taylor and Zac?" I asked. "Do they have any other family?"
"Do they!" Ellie exclaimed. "Come here. I'll show you some pictures on the Net." We raced to Ellie's parents' room and get onto AOL. Ellie brought up a site with lots of pictures.
"That's their mother, Diana, and their father, Walker," Ellie supplied. "And here," she scrolled down, "are their younger sisters Jessica, Avery and Zoë."
"Who's that?" I asked, pointing to another little boy.
"And that," Ellie said, "is Mackie, short for Mackenzie."
"Wow, these are great!" I said.
"Oh, just you wait. There's more!" Ellie laughed.
I hurried off the bus and ran inside to escape the chilly spring afternoon. I hung my coat in my closet and dumped my backpack on the kitchen floor. As I reached for a glass to get a drink, a familiar laugh drifted in from the living room. I pushed the cabinet door closed and raced down the hall.
Bursting into the room, I shouted, "Celine!" The young singer whirled around.
"Ellie!" she exclaimed. "It's so good to see you again!" Celine stepped over and gave me a huge hug. "What a nice lady you're growing into," she smiled laughingly. "I think I talked your mom over there into letting us go on a little shopping spree next weekend."
My eyes grew wide. "Really?" I grinned.
"You bet. I don't have a daughter of my own to spoil, so my friend Mia is letting me borrow hers."
I laughed. "I can't wait." Even as I spoke, ideas began to form in my head. Maybe, just maybe, Celine could help me out…
____________________________________
That night, I flopped down on my bed and hit the power button on my stereo. "Surely as The Sun", my favorite song on that album, filled my ears. I had found out that Celine wasn't performing up here. She had just come up to take a short break at her home in Montreal.
Other than her shopping, housecleaning and golf, maybe she would have some time to help me put my plan into action. My mind began to wander and I pictured myself sitting in the audience as Hanson performed. Quickly, I jumped up, realizing I hadn't checked to see if their tour dates had been updated.
I raced to the computer and got onto their website. I double-clicked on the box "Tour" and began to scroll down. I came to a halt on the date June 7th. "Yes!" I shouted as the words "Molson Center" flashed out at me. The Molson Center was a huge performance center in Montreal, only a couple hours away.
"Mom!" I yelled, running downstairs into the living room. "Hanson's coming to Montreal!"
"That's nice," Mom said, still talking with Celine.
"Mo-om!" I groaned, plopping down dramatically by her side. "I have to go!"
"Who are you talking about?" Celine asked me.
"Hanson," I answered.
"Oh, they're nice young guys. I've met them a few times. I think their River video is totally awesome."
I laughed. As you probably know, Celine sang the theme to Titanic, and later Hanson had used their single, "River", as a Titanic spoof. "You've met them?!"
"Oh, yes." Celine smiled mischievously. "Would you like to?"
"Would I…!" I trailed off as what Celine just said hit me. "Are you serious?!"
"Well, I was only offering…"
"Oh, no, I want to! Oh, Celine, could you really?"
"I'm sure gonna try," Celine said, gathering her purse. "Anything for you."
"Oh, wait." Celine looked back. "I can't go without Gabby. See, she just came off a really bad breakup and she's so depressed…"
"Eleanor," Mom warned.
"I'm sorry," I apologized, knowing I was pushing. "But it would mean so much to her."
"You get the tickets, I'll get you backstage," Celine said.
"Really?" Celine nodded. "Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you!" I hugged her hard. I couldn't believe it. Gabby was going to be so surprised.
