11 years about Jordan

Maria came out of the school building tired from her first day back. She pushed her short brown hair out of her eyes. She dropped her history book and when she bent over to pick it up she heard some girls laughing at her.

"Hey cow, learn how to hold things ok." Yelled one of the prettiest girls in school. Her name was Carrie and she was one of the cheerleaders and was dating the captain of the football team. "mooo, go back to Ohio fatty."

Maria could hear boys laughing now. She ran to her car, and got into her old pinto two door. She threw her books into the back seat and drove off, pushing her glasses back onto her face. They were getting steamed up by tears. She pulled into the mall parking lot. Her dad’s friend got her a job at the record store. Today would be her first day. She straightened her size 22 skirt and walked into the mall. She couldn’t help but notice how small the girls in Boston were. She had only lived here since the middle of the summer. She didn’t know anyone.

She walked into the store. She saw the manager and approached him "Hi, Mr. Smith, I’m Maria, my dad said you wanted me to start today?" she said shyly.

They kind looking man smiled at her. "Well, welcome aboard Maria, I just need you to fill out this paper work. You can use my office." Maria walked into his office and started writing. When she was finished she walked back out into the store.

"Ok that’s good," he paused to look at the paper work. "You turned 18 yesterday, well, happy belated birthday." He smiled at her.

"Thank you sir." She looked at her feet.

"Well, it is customary for the birthday girl to pick out a new CD to take home." He smiled and patted her on the back. This is Lisa, she will show you how things work.

"Thank you sir." She smiled at Lisa, she looked nice enough Maria thought. "Hi." she said to Lisa.

"Well, girl your gonna have to learn to speak up in here." said Lisa. "So your 18 huh?" she asked. Maria just nodded her head. "What I would give to be 18 again, I’m 23" Maria laughed. "So you into BSB, N’sync any of those guys?"

Maria’s face lit up she loved boybands "yes. I love N’Sync."

"Ha, in my day is was good old 3J, 2D." Lisa tucked her blonde hair under her hat.

"Who?" Maria asked.

"Aah, that’s right, you were only 8 at the peek of their career." she smiled "NKOTB sweety, you know the ‘five hardest working kids in showbiz’, the ‘bean town posse’." She looked at Maria’s confused face "you know the original boyband, New Kids on the Block, silly."

"Oh, yeah, step by step was the first song I ever heard on the radio, and my first tape too. I had the dolls." Maria smiled.

Lisa shook her head, "figures, you generation Y’ers don’t know a good boy band if it hits ya in the head. They were the kings." Maria laughed, she knew she would like Lisa.

"You have to ignore this old girl." Mr. Smith said "she is a New Kid a’holic." He put an arm around Lisa. "She’ll have you thinking you see them everywhere you go." he teased. "Lisa go on home, I know you are dying to see ‘All That’ cause Joe is on it." when Lisa left "She is a nut I’ll tell ya. She has been working here since she was 16, just to get their albums the minute they come out. Made me order that Danny fellas CD special for her." He showed Maria the ropes and let her go home early.

The next day school was a buzz about the N’Sync concert that weekend. Maria couldn’t get tickets but, seeing she had to work Saturday night, it didn’t make a difference. She walked into her Chemistry class, she sat down at the desk. Jason, a boy on the football team smiled at her. "Hey new girl, Maria, you wanna go have some fun after school?" he asked her

She ignored him she had been through the same torture since she was 12, it was the old ‘make her feel good, then say something mean’ bit.

"Sure, you’re gonna take me whale watching," she paused like they do "your gonna watch me." she snapped back.

"Wooow this one has a big mouth."

"Yep" she replied "a big mouth for a big Mac." She found out years ago that the best defense was to beat them to the punch line.

Jason turned around and rolled his eyes at his friends. "What a bore." he said trying to be cool.

When she had her fill of torture for the day she went to work. Lisa was there and of course had Jordan Knight’s CD on. "So girl how was school?" she asked.

"Horrible." she replied, "I hate school."

Lisa smiled, "yep I remember it, I got teased all the time."

"Why" Maria looked at Lisa, she was pretty, had a nice body and great hair.

"I was weird, I was a ‘freak’ so to speak." Lisa told her about how she always got picked on at school for being a New Kids fan, and she was a bit chunky too.

"Why are kids so mean?" Maria asked.

"Their own insignificance’s I guess." Lisa remarked. "You going to the N’Sync concert tomorrow night?" \

"No, I couldn’t get tickets, I’m broke." Maria laughed, her dad was just a truck driver and they had very little money. "Dad got transferred to Boston this summer."

"Do you like it here?" Lisa asked.

"Yeah, I guess, I miss my friends." she said quietly. "And my pets."

"Where do you live?" asked Lisa.

"Um Melview Ave, in Dorchester." she answered.

Lisa’s mouth dropped. "Oh that is the street that Jordan Knight grew up one. what number?" she asked.

"86 why?" Maria watched Lisa as she bounced up and down.

"Oh my that’s right next to the house that Jordan grew up in. he grew up in 84." Lisa was shrieking in excitement.

"Ok. So?" Maria didn’t see what the big deal was.

"So that’s like, like, my Graceland." Lisa clocked out and went home a few minutes later, leaving Maria alone in the store.

A few minutes later a handsome guy came in with dark hair and dark eyes. He was wearing black jeans and a tight white T-shirt. He was very cute and had a nice smile. He smiled at Maria when he came in. She was just reading a current issue of Rolling Stone. He walked around for a while and came up to her register with five CD’s. "You new here?" he asked in a strong Boston accent.

"Yes" she smiled he looked kind of familiar to her.

He smiled at her and she noticed he had cute dimples. "Well," he leaned in to read her nametag "Maria." the way he said her name in his accent just made her melt. "I’ll see you around." He paid her with a one hundred-dollar bill and left.

"Wow he is cute," she said to herself "I hope I see you around."

A few days later the same guy came in to get more CD’s.

Maria was stocking some stuff, the new N’Sync album, she

stopped and looked up when he came in. He just smiled at her

and walked by. She was wearing Jeans and a light blue

sweater that brought out her blue eyes. A few girls from her

Chemistry class came in. "Well, I didn’t no Ms. moo worked

here?" said one of the girls, the others laughed.

The guy just looked up at them with disgust in his eyes, he

hated it when people picked on other people. He thought that

Maria was a very nice young lady, and pretty too. He glanced

at Maria who continued working ignoring the girls.

"Did you get to go to the N’Sync concert, Maria Moo?"

another girl asked.

"Of course not, she lives on Melview and she can’t afford too."

replied the first girl. "Besides, Ms. Moo would rather sit on the

couch and eat ice cream than stand in line for the concert."

Maria just kept working ignoring them. The guy just glared at

them. He could tell Maria was going to cry when they left. A

few minutes after not getting a reaction from her the girls took

off towards some guys. He saw Maria wipe a tear from her

face. "Hey, don’t let them get to you." He said in his sexy

voice. She looked up. "You are very pretty, and sweet." she

smiled at him. "So you like N’Sync huh?"

"Yeah, I just love Justin." her eyes lit up she had never had an

older guy pay attention to her.

"Yeah they are good guys." he said

"You’ve met them?" she asked excited

"Sure have. I’m Jordan. I opened for them last summer." he

smiled at her. She just looked at him "you know Jordan

Knight."

"Oh. the New Kid on the Block guy." she knew she sounded

dumb.

"How old are you?" he asked, he thought she was innocently

attractive.

"Uh, 18. Why?" She wondered why he was asking her age.

"Oh, I just wondered, I mean you didn’t know who I was first

off and it kind of through me for a lop." he lied. "Too young."

he thought to himself. "11 years, hmm boy I would never live

that one down, nope, guess not."

"Oh, since your Jordan knight, my friend that works here, she

just loves you, can you sign this for her?" She handed him a

copy of his CD that Lisa always had behind the counter ‘just in

case’.

He signed it and talked to her for a few more minutes and then

left. She sighed as he left "wow he is great."

The next day Lisa was beating herself up for going home early. When Maria came in Lisa practically knocked her down. "That you girl, your the best." she said excited "well, I gotta get out of here have fun."

Maria started to unload some boxes of CD’s. She was singing N’Sync’s version of Just Got Paid to herself. She heard some people come in. When she stood up she saw herself face to face with Jordan "hi." she said to him embarrassed her hair was a mess.

"Well, hello Maria." he smiled at her "you working hard?" he asked

"Well, you wouldn’t know if I did Mr. Knight." she kidded.

He smiled he instantly liked her. "I got something for you." he pulled something out of his wallet. "Here, this is for their concert next weekend in New York." He handed her a backstage pass and a front row ticket.

"Wow!" she exclaimed, she hugged him "oh, but."

"No ride?" he asked. "Well, Evy and I are taking her nieces to it, so you and your friend can ride with us." he smiled as her face lit up. "If that’s ok with your dad." he looked at her.

"Oh, well, if your girlfriend is going with us I don’t think he’ll have a problem with it." she smiled, she couldn’t wait to tell Lisa.. "If it’s ok with Evy?"

"Sure I already talked to her." he smiled. "So I guess I’ll pick you up at your house around noon Saturday." she nodded her head. "Where do you live." She told him "yep I know where that is, I grew up in the house next door."

"That would explain all the tourist driving by kinds slow sometimes." she giggled, she couldn’t believe this. She was going to an N’Sync concert with Jordan Knight, and his girlfriend and their nieces of course.

Maria’s dad wasn’t a bit apprehensive. She had a good head on her shoulders and since he could trust her he wasn’t worried at all. "Have a good time honey." he said as Jordan and Evy pulled into the driveway.

She came out to the Yukon wearing a nice pair of black jeans and a dark blue velvet shirt. She used her first paycheck on that outfit. It was complete with a new pair of shoes, cute ankle boots with a slight heel. She was wearing her mother’s diamond necklace. "Hi." she said smiling from ear to ear.

"Well, you look nice Maria." he smiled at her as she crawled into the back seat. "This is Evelyn, her nieces Tracy and Carrie."

Maria smiled nervously at Carrie, the girl who had given her the name Ms. Moo. "Hi." she said nervously. Carrie and Evy gave each other a disgusted glance. "Thank you for letting me come along." she said politely.

"No problem Maria." Jordan smiled, he thought she was the cutest thing. The conversation from Boston to New York was dry, almost rehearsed. Jordan noticed the animosity between Carrie and Maria. Maria was having a good time in spite of it. He automatically liked her spunk and ability to not let things get her down. "Here we are." he said as they pulled up.

They got out of the Yukon and when Jordan was out of ear shot Carrie looked at her "well, Ms. Moo, you know this is just charity for a poor girl right?" she smirked at Maria. "He just feels sorry for you, you know that right?"

Maria just looked at her "well, if he is doing that for me, what about you? Why didn’t you bring your nice car?" Maria smirked back "isn’t this just a favor for you?"

Carrie just turned around and walked behind Evy and Jordan. They went into the venue and looked at all of the things for sale. Jordan bought all the girls something. Evy was watching every other guy that walked by and when Jordan wasn’t looking she was flirting. She even gave one man her phone number. Maria acted as if she didn’t see it. "How could she do that when she has him?" she asked herself.

The concert started and Jordan excused himself to go talk to an old friend of his. Maria was enjoying the concert but Carrie and Evy were talking amongst themselves. Evy was saying how she had gotten with a guy the month before when Jordan was in LA filming a video and how she thought she might be pregnant. "I think I’ll just convince Jordan that it is his, I’ll have to or he will know I cheat." Evy said kind of loud. Maria over heard this and looked at them.

"You really shouldn’t be that way towards him," she said.

"What are you talking about Fatty, you can’t get one guy let alone two or three, ignore her Evy, she is just jealous." Carrie spoke up.

"Don’t call me fatty one more time. Evelyn, don’t you think that if you can’t be faithful to him that you should just brake things off?" She couldn’t believe that someone would be so cruel to Jordan, he was so sweet.

"Shut up bitch. It ain’t my fault he goes away all the time and hell, if I can get it from him and someone else I will." Evy said very loudly not realizing Jordan was right behind her.

"Is that what you do while I’m gone?" he asked very upset. "Well, then Fuck you Evy!" He was screaming mad. "Thank you for trying to talk some since into her Maria." he said trying not to show his vulnerability. He walked out into the foyer of the venue.

Maria ran out after him "Jordan?" she touched his shoulder lightly.

He turned and looked at her, he looked in her eyes and saw the honesty and integrity that he wanted in a girl. She looked so innocent and sweet. "Hi Maria, aren’t you going to watch the show?"

"Do you want to be alone? If not I was going to see if you needed to talk, or a shoulder to cry on?" she smiled at him.

"That would be nice." He gave her a hug.

"Why don’t we get out of here?" She didn’t think it was a good idea for him to be seen like this in public.

"Yeah, lets go on home, I can introduce you to the guys later. Evy can find her own damn ride home." He couldn’t believe how unselfish she was being, Evy was always self-centered and selfish. He knew they would get to be good friends.

They walked to his care and got in "are you sure we should leave them here?" Maria asked concerned.

"Hell, ya." he said sure of himself. He smiled at her "you hungry? I am." She nodded her head yes and they pulled into Applebee’s. They got out and got seated. "Get whatever. I’m starved." They looked over the menu and started talking about anything and everything, except Evelyn. "Dude, have you seen the previews for Donnie’s new movie, uh the sixth sense?" he asked.

"Yeah looks good. Why?" she said interested.

"Well, I’ve got two tickets to the premiere and since I’m not with Evy you wanna go?" he asked, they had been talking about physiological thrillers since they left the concert. "If your dad don’t mind." He smiled and nodded his head in a pleading way.

"Sure I don’t think dad will mind, when is it?" she couldn’t believe he was asking her to go to such and important, big and possible televised (at least some of it) event.

"Um Next Friday, you will probably need to get out of school or something." He smiled he really liked her, kind of like the little sister he never had.

"Yeah that would be cool." She said kind of hesitantly. She had nothing to wear.

"Hmmm, I’ll tell you what. Since those things are kind of formal, I’ll by your dress and shoes and whatever girls need for those kind of things. Hell, we’ll even get your hair and nails done." he smiled, he loved to spoil girls. "Kim is going shopping for her dress Monday, you wanna go with her?" he asked, he knew Kim would like Maria.

"Yeah, Monday is a holiday and there is no school." she smiled, he was so sweet and generous. "Anyway, weren’t you disappointed in the new Star Wars?" she changed the subject.

They talked about all kinds of things. They had a lot in common, like that fact that they never missed and Andy Griffith rerun, or an Adam Sandler movie. Before they knew it there food was there, and gone. He smiled at her "you want some dessert?" he asked he had already told the waiter what he wanted.

She shook her head no. The waiter left and Jordan smiled at her. When the waiter brought his Hershey pie, she looked at it longingly "want a bite?" he asked noticing. She had ordered a salad for dinner and that was all. "You sure you had enough to eat." he said not meaning to get nosy.

"No, I’m on a diet." she said quietly.