The date was August 29. My alarm clock woke me up that morning blaring the song meant for human torture: Wannabe by the Spice Girls. So, of course, I thought that that day was going to turn out as 24 hours in hell. I got myself ready to meet my friends and my boyfriend at the mall. I knelt at my Altar to the Goddess and did my usual Daily Devotions. Right after I did that "Wannabe" finished playing and changed to "I'll Never Break Your Heart" by the Backstreet Boys. I smiled. The day might not be that bad after all.

I got myself cleaned and dressed and started to apply my make-up when suddenly I heard my good friend Leah's voice on the radio. "I wanted to dedicate 'I'll Never Break Your Heart' to my good friend Samantha who totally adores the Backstreet Boys! Happy Two Days Before Your Sweet 16!!!" Said Leah's voice over the radio. I smiled. Count on Leah to go all out for a birthday when it's not even the actual day yet.
I sighed, God she's perky. I checked off my calendar. Two days before my Sweet 16 on August 31, and two days before the BSB concert in Toronto. My smile faded. I couldn't go. I was broke, which really sucked! So I went downstairs for breakfast.

My mother was in the kitchen as usual, cooking Chinese food as usual, and smiling and whistling which wasn't usual. Ok, something was wrong with this picture here. My mom was never in a smiling mood in the mornings. What was even worse was that she was whistling "As Long As You Love Me," and she usually hates the music I like. Hmmm, I thought to myself, who the hell is this and what the hell has she done to my mom?

"Mom, what's up? Why are you so happy and why are you whistling one of the songs I blare on my radio?" I asked quizzically. "Well, honey, it's two days before your birthday and I had no idea how I was going to help you celebrate. Then I remembered you going on and on for the past week about that Backstreet Boys concert you so wanted to go to. Well, I called up my friend that works at Ticket Master and she called up her good friend Denise McLean. After a few strings were pulled I was able to get you these."
She held out five 6th row center tickets to the show. "And, with Denise's permission I was able to get you these as well. Happy birthday! I'm giving you these now so you can make arrangements with your friends to go." She held out 5 VIP backstage passes. When she first showed me the tickets, my eyes grew wide, when she showed me the backstage passes, my eyes grew wider and I went into slight shock. Everything else she said I couldn't comprehend. She pinched my arm.
"Oww! Mom!" I cried. "You are so funny. I knew you were thinking that this was just a dream, well it's not. You're going to meet the Backstreet Boys for your Sweet 16. Oh, and one more thing, Simon called. He couldn't stop to chat with you. He has to be in court today. But he wanted to wish you a happy early birthday and to make sure I'd give you the money he sent over." She stuck her hand in her pocket and handed over an unmarked white envelope to me. I looked inside. "$250?!!! Wow! Remind me to call up daddy to thank him for this. And thank you too, mom. You are the greatest! I love you so much!" I babbled and gave my mom a hug and kiss on the cheek.
"Usually I'd keep this money in your college account but since this is your Sweet 16 coming up, I know how important this birthday is." My mom said and kissed my cheek back. I think this is a good time to inform you of my family situation. I'm Chinese-Wiccan. I choose the Wiccan path around 2 years ago. It was a way of escape and spirituality from my personal depression. My mom was at first shaky with my choice but grew to be understanding. I live with my mom, Christiana. My parents had gotten divorced when I was 10. My dad, Simon whom was a lawyer, moved out to New York.
At first the divorce affected me a lot, but now I've grown to accept. My parents aren't battling at wit's end with each other which is a good thing. They're pretty good friends but they just realized that marriage wasn't the right way. And both my parents are cool with what I choose to be and who I live with. So my life's been pretty cool. "So, that money is for you to use however you like the day of your birthday. And I know you're responsible and you won't use it for the wrong reasons. And didn't you mention before that you were going to meet your friends at the mall? You're going to be late." She said, her hands on her hips, the all-knowing mother role falling into place. I checked my watch.
"Shoot! You're right! I've only got 15 minutes. Thank you again for the gift, mom. I know this will be the best present of my life. Love ya lots!!!" I quickly downed a black coffee and ate half a cherry danish, took the tickets, money and backstage passes into my bag and headed out the door. As I walked to the mall, I had this perpetual grin on my face. I considered myself the luckiest girl on the face of this good Earth. All I could think about was A) how my friends would react when they see my celebration plans B) what the hell I was going to wear and C) what I was going to buy each of the Boys as a greeting gift. I reached the mall entrance and was quickly greeted by my friends.
"Girl, where the HELL have you been? You're 10 minutes late. That's not like you. What's up? Why are you smiling like a little school girl in a candy shop? Did you hear my request on the radio this morning?" Leah was always quick to bombard people with questions without taking a single breath.
"I was at home having a chat session with my mom. I understand I'm late and I'm sorry about that. My mom gave me the BEST birthday gift early that's what's up and why I'm smiling. And I heard your request for me. Thanks a lot!"
See, Leah isn't the only one that can talk a mile a minute and not be short of breath. I had answered all her questions at once. "Hello? What big surprise? And thank you so much for not noticing the rest of us!" Replied my good friend Dianna. "Whoops! I'm sorry. Well, my mom had pulled a few strings with her 'connections' and was able to get me these for my birthday present. Isn't she the coolest? You're all coming with me!" I said as I displayed the tickets and backstage passes for all to see.
"Oh my God! You lucky little bitch! I thought the BSB tickets were sold out?! And you're meeting them, too? God I hate you!" That was Michelle, she was 15 and still a teenybopper if you compared her with the definition. "Mich, you're not listening to me! My mom has connections, there are 5 tickets which means I can invite 4 more people of my choice to go to the concert and backstage. And they would be you, Leah, Dianna and Tavlin. Speaking of which where the hell is that girl?" I said a little on the frustrated side. As if on cue, "Sorry, I'm late. I had to drop my brother off at soccer practice. Hey what's going on here? Don't tell me one of you has NOTCD!" That, of course, was Tavlin. NOTCD was, for her, Non Over The Counter Drugs. You know the stuff I'm talking about.
"No Tav, none of us are getting high. But we are getting an adrenaline rush looking forward to the 31st. Check these out. You're coming with me!" I said and showed her the goods. "Sam, girlie you are the GREATEST!!! I'm gonna meet Howie thanks to you!".
Tavlin gave a whoop of joy and gave me a hug. The five of us have been friends since high school started two years ago. We all had our similar interests but we bonded over our love and respect for the Backstreet Boys. We all even developed our own personal crushes: Leah can spend hours on end starring at a picture of Brian and not get a headache. Michelle had a bad case of Nick-acitis which has become infectious amongst most teenyboppers. Dianna always went for the older and sophisticated of them all and found a common bound with Kevin. Tavlin was always drawn to the guys with that Latin-lover flavor so Howie was right up her alley. That left AJ for me to dream about. We just had a ton of stuff in common.
He loved being outrageous without a care in the world as to what critics or media thought, and I could also care less if people were offended by the fact that I'm a Witch. I know my friends never had a problem with that. But that little crush had subsided a lot because I had found another interest. His name was Jason.
Suddenly I was swept off my feet and into the air, then spun around. "Happy Birthday Sweet 16, Baby!" Jason said with a laugh as he put me down. "Sweetheart, it's not my birthday yet! Why do people keep saying that?" I said and gave him a long, lingering kiss. A minute or so later we pulled away. "Sorry, forgot to check my calendar. Hiya Girls of Misstery, what's up?"
He said with a smile to my friends. There's another thing that my friends and I had in common. We all loved to sing, together we had put together a makeshift vocal group called Girls of Misstery or just Misstery. The rest of them were uptight and nervous about their singing ability. I knew they were all very good at it but had the hardest time at convincing them of it. Personally, I had written a lot of R&B songs for myself and one day planned on becoming a singer/actress. No, not one or the other, both. I knew I could hold down both, there were already so many other celebrities that have done so.
"Hi Jason. I'm just peachy keen, although I can't really speak for the rest of us, they're sill in shock over Sam's birthday fling." Said Tavlin. She admitted it before. She did have a crush on him. But she respected that we had a really strong relationship and would never come in between that.
"My mom gave me my present today. The 5 of us are going to meet the Backstreet Boys at the concert on my birthday. It sucks so much that you have to work on the 31st. I really wanted time to ourselves. Maybe the day after?" I told Jason.
"Awwww, my girlfriend's going to meet the great band of her dreams. Just remember that you already have a boyfriend and if Nick or AJ decides to make a move on you, you tell them that security guards or not, I could kick their butts! And yeah, the day after will be yours and mine." Jason said giving me that cute, goofy smile that had become his signature. One of the great things about Jason was that he wasn't turned off by the things other guys would be. Most guys would consider the BSB as the New Kids on the Block Generation II. But not Jason, he thought they had a great sound and the lyrics weren't complicated, ok but not the greatest. He didn't mind the fact that my bedroom walls were plastered with posters of the Boys and other celebs that I liked, respected and admired. He had pictures of Heather Locklear, Tyra Banks and Jennifer Love Hewitt on his walls too so we were even. He also loved to sing and would always find the time to serenade me with BSB songs. Ain't he the best?.
"Don't worry I know how to take care of myself, darling. I would never betray you. Let's get shopping. I'm getting restless." I said and headed inside. So we shopped around for hours. We all picked out a little something to add to the outfits we planned on wearing. I bought a black and silver pentagram that complimented my outfit. And I also bought presents for all the Boys, even Aaron. For the Boys, personally inscribed silver large band rings. I got each of their names inscribed on the outside and the words "BSB 4ever" inscribed on the inside. For Aaron, I bought the most intricately designed Ninja Turtle I could find. From what we had all discussed, we knew that August 31 was a day to remember always. This was going to be "da bomb."