~~~~~~~~~~» AJ «~~~~~~~~~~

"Is Mr. or Mrs. Holder there?" I asked, hoping that I’d dialed the right number, not knowing if they still lived in the same place or not since the one time we went to their house to visit.

"This is him," the man who answered replied in a deep voice.

"Hi Mr. Holder. This is AJ."

"Oh, hi AJ," he replied. "What can I do for you?"

"Actually, we’re playing Denver tonight and I was wondering if you and Mrs. Holder would like to come to the show," I said, half-expecting him to turn me down.

"We’d love to..." he said before he paused a little.

I held my breath, almost knowing what he would say.

"But we’ve got company in from out of town for a few days."

"Bring them along...I can get you as many seats as you need," I told him hopefully.

"Just a second. Let me ask if they’d like to go," he said before he covered the mouthpiece on his end of the line.

I could hear him talking, but I couldn’t tell what he was saying or what the other people were saying in the background. He came back on the line a few seconds later as a few people in the background continued talking. The voices sounded familiar, but I wasn’t sure who it was since I could barely hear them.

"We’d need six tickets," he said hesitantly.

"Consider it done," I replied, thankful that he’d accepted my invitation. "I’ll have a limo pick you up in about an hour. They’ll drop you off at the North entrance of the arena where the busses are parked...I’ll have my guard waiting with your tickets and all access passes, so if you want to come say ‘hi’ backstage before the show, you can."

"Great! Thank you!" he replied happily.

"It’s my pleasure," I said before we said goodbye and hung up.

After I put my phone on my belt-loop, I walked into the hallway of the venue and walked towards where make-up and wardrobe were. I passed a few of the roadies and didn’t even notice when my mom walked up beside me and started talking. I was too caught up in my ‘happy moment’ to notice.

"Alex...Are you even listening to me?"

"Huh...what?" I asked, finally seeing that she was talking to me and not someone else who happened to be walking down the hallway too.

"What’s up with you? You’re grinning like a madman," she said.

"I am?" I asked.

"Yes, you are," she replied with a laugh.

"Oh...well I need your help," I said. "I invited Liz’s parents and a few of their guests to come to the concert..."

"And you need me to round up the tickets..." she added, as if knowing what I was going to say.

"Would you?" I asked with a puppy-dog face. "Only because you LOVE me sooooo much?"

"Yeah...whatever!" she said between laughs as she walked away. "I’ll see what I can do."

"Thanks mom. I love you," I called to her before she walked around a corner so I could no longer see her.

~~~~~~~~~~» Liz «~~~~~~~~~~

"Go on ahead...I’ll be right there," I told Tina and Court before I stopped on the sidewalk and pulled my phone out of my small bag that was slung over my shoulder.

I watched the two of them walk into the next store on the street mall that we were shopping at before I pushed the ‘send’ button and held the phone up to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Did you know that the ‘boys’ are playing Denver tonight?" my dad asked.

"Oh my gosh...they are?"

I instantly ducked my head a little to try and hide my face while I talked, just in case.

"Yes. AJ just called and invited us to see the show," he replied.

"And what did you say?"

"The limo will be here in about an hour," he replied, deliberately not answering my question. "I know that you won’t want to go, but it’ll be good for you to have some fun."

"Dad..." I whined softly. "I...I can’t."

I could feel the tears in the back of my eyes and fought them from coming any further.

"Yes, you can," he replied firmly, but not in anger. "We’ll find a sitter for Madi and I want you and the girls to meet us at the Pepsi Center in two hours."

Before I could say anything, he hung up, leaving me standing on the sidewalk looking like I’d just heard the most horrible news of the century.

"Liz...you comin’?"

I looked up a little and saw Tina standing in the doorway of the shop they had gone into a few minutes earlier.

"Umm...yeah, just a second," I replied, putting my phone back into my bag and wiping my eyes for safe measure.

"Everything ok Miss?"

I looked up and saw Izzie standing next to me as he rubbed my back a little. He gave me a reassuring smile as he waited for my answer.

"Yeah. Looks like we’ll be going to a concert tonight," I replied as he walked me to the door of the shop and opened the door for me.

"Good! It’s about time you had some fun," he said as he walked in after me.

I turned a little and watched him with a curious glance.

"You’ve been talking to my dad too much," I informed him before I headed to the back of the store where the girls were looking at a rack of ‘specialty shirts’.

"You soooo need this shirt," Court told Tina as she held up the bright yellow shirt with ‘Psycho Chick’ written across the front. "It’s so you!"

"Funny," Tina replied, clearly not amused. "And this one’s for you..."

She held up a puke green shirt with ‘Color Blind’ written in big blotchy letters.

"You two can have those shirts, but this one’s mine," I told them as I picked up a shirt and held it for them to see.

It was a black baby tee with the words ‘Boys Suck!!!’ written in huge letters across the front. I smiled as I looked it up and down, deciding on whether to get it or not.

"Boys SUCK!" I read it aloud. "Yes, they do..."

"How would you know that?" Tina asked sarcastically.

"TINA!!!" I exclaimed with a gasp. "Get you’re mind out of the gutter!"

We all laughed before we went to the register and paid for the things that we were going to buy. For the next two hours, we shopped or at least looked in every single store on the street mall, making sure that we were done with enough time to get to the Pepsi Center. When I’d finished with my New York appearances and things two days ago, I’d arranged to have Tina, Court, Madi, and myself flown here, to Colorado, to visit my parents. They were anxious to meet Madi, and I needed a few days off before rehearsals started turning into sixteen to eighteen hour days. We flew in yesterday, and to let the proud grandparents have a day with their newest grandchild, I informed Tina and Court that we were going on a shopping trip to Denver (which is about 35 miles away from the house). Of course Tina and Court couldn’t complain, so here we were, shopping ‘til we couldn’t shop anymore. By the time we were ready to leave, it was time to head to the arena for the show. I took a few minutes before we piled into the car (Lincoln Limo) to change into a pair of black pleather pants and the ‘Boys Suck’ shirt, both of which I’d bought that day. Izzie rode in the front with the driver while the three of us rode in the backseat, singing to the songs on the radio like hyper teenagers. When we pulled into the north parking lot, I didn’t see a limo anywhere, so I pulled my cell phone out and called my dad’s cell. He told me that they were still on the freeway, but would be there in a few minutes.

"I’ll have Izzie pick up the tickets and passes," I told him. "We’ll wait for you before we go in."

"Ok. We’ll see you in a few," he said before we hung up.

~~~~~~~~~~» Nick «~~~~~~~~~~

"Look at those little girls down there," I said, pointing to a group of girls that didn’t look much older than six years old.

Bri and I were looking out the dark-tinted windows from the very top level of press boxes that looked over the entire area surrounding the building while the band and the opening act ran through their sound check with the piano.

"It looks cold out there," he said in return as we watched the crowd gather in small circles in search of some source of heat.

I nodded and continued watching the crowd grow larger and larger as the minutes went by until something caught my attention in the corner of my eye. I turned my head towards the north side of the building and saw one of those unusual extended Lincoln Town car/limo things pull into the parking lot. It sat in the back of the parking lot for a few minutes before it pulled up to the sidewalk near the band entrance and pulled to a stop.

"Yo Rok..." I said, grabbing his sleeve from where he was standing about a foot away, pointing to the car as a tall muscley man got out of the front passenger seat. "He looks familiar...doesn’t he?"

"I dunno man," he replied, looking out the window for a second before he glanced at his watch. "Come on. We’ve got to get down to the dressing room."

"But...I swear I’ve seen him somewhere," I said, trying to still look out the window as Bri took hold of my arm and pulled me with him.

~~~~~~~~~~» Arti «~~~~~~~~~~

"FIVE MINUTES!!!!!" I yelled to anyone from the crew that was still in the mostly-empty arena from where I was standing on the stage.

I watched a few of the sound people buzz around the equipment in the back of the arena floor before I turned and went towards the stairs at the back of the stage that led backstage. Five minutes was how long everyone had before they started letting people in the doors. I could hear someone talking excitedly backstage, so I quickly walked down the steps and into the hallway (that you couldn’t see from on or in front of the stage) to see what was going on.

"Meg!"

I turned the corner and saw someone hugging Meg fiercely, but all I could see was their back until they pulled away. When I realized who it was, I walked over and hugged her from behind.

"Hey kiddo...where’s the sis?"

Tina looked up at me with a smile.

"Hey Arti!" she replied while pointing down the hallway to where Denise was talking with a few people.

"Not that sis! The other one," I clarified when I saw that she was pointing to Court.

"Oh so you don’t love me? I see how you are," she said sarcastically as she playfully began to walk away.

"Where are you going?" I asked, playing along.

"I have a few friends that are outside waiting in the crowd to see the show. I was going to go wait for them to come inside so I can talk to them," she replied, turning halfway around as she continued walking away.

"How does four backstage passes sound?" I asked sweetly.

By that time Denise was no longer in the hallway and the people that she was talking to before were gone as well.

"Really?!" she exclaimed happily.

"One condition...tell me where she is," I said with a sly grin to Meg.

"You’re not supposed to know she’s here..." she replied a little hesitantly before she paused for a minute as she watched me watch her. "She’s still outside with Izzie...don’t tell anyone else!"

"Thanks. You can pick up the passes at the ticket office," I told her with a knowing smile before I started walking down the hall and around the corner towards the entrance.

~~~~~~~~~~» Brian «~~~~~~~~~~

"How are you doin’ tonight DENVER?!"

The crowd response was overwhelming, even with my ear monitors in (which normally blocked out most of the sound from the crowd). I started walking over to the left side of the stage until I saw Liz’s parents and Tina sitting a few rows back. I stopped and waved at them with a cheesy grin that caused all the little girls that were sitting around them to freak out, thinking I was waving at them. They smiled back as they laughed at the section’s reaction while I continued walking towards the side.

"How are all the people doin’ on this side?" I asked, pointing to the top levels on the left side.

I smiled as the crowd cheered and screamed.

"How are all the beautiful ladies on this side?" AJ asked where he was standing on the right side.

He got the same reaction as I did.

"And what about all my people down here?!" Nick asked, standing on the small walkway that went out into the crowd from the stage in the middle.

I laughed a little when the whole place erupted, only by the mere fact that Nick was talking to them. We all walked towards the middle of the stage before we broke apart again and went to different sections of the stage to wave at the crowd. I stayed in the middle and went out on the walkway where Nick was before. I waved at the crowd as the music started.

"This song is an oldie, so I hope you don’t mind," Kev said.

I waited for the intro to be over as I scanned the crowd until I saw a girl with blond hair that looked a little like Liz. She was sitting about twenty rows back, so I couldn’t really tell if it was. I watched her for a few seconds before I started to sing, followed by the other guys.

After we finished singing, the band continued playing while we went backstage for a costume change. The rest of the show was great, and we even had Mikaila, our opening act, come out onstage with us to do a song, which we never did. It was a nice change from the routine that we’d gotten into and the crowd seemed to like it too.

"Goodnight Denver," Kev said with a final wave before he left.

"Thanks for a great night!!!" Howie added, and left too.

"We love Denver!" AJ said, staying on the stage for a few more seconds while Nick and I said our goodbyes.

© Liz Holder 2001