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Chapter 2: Howard J. Fisher. |
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"Thanks," Alexis said, "I'll be sure to see her."
"Alright," He repiled, waving as he walked away,"See you around Alexis."
As soon as he was gone, Alexis pretend-fainted, laying her head on the table. Kara sighed.
"Come on Alexis, this meeting could answer all of our questions!" Kara exclaimed, "Hurry up and go!"
"Aw, can't I just sit in infatuation for one more minute?" Alexis whined.
"NO!" Kara yelled.
"Alright," Alexis grumbled, pushing in her chair, grabbing her half-eaten lunch and stuffing the Fourth Estate Magazine in the messanger bag draped around her shoulder.
"Tell me everything that goes on!" Kara yelled after her.
"I will." Alexis yelled back and walked outside of the cafeteria and into Mrs. D's room.
Mrs. D was sitting in her chair, facing away from Alexis as she walked in the room. Alexis felt like she was in a film noir movie, facing the mafia crime leader whom she had wronged. She swiveled around in her chair.
"Alexis, how nice to see you. Did Chris send you?" She asked. Alexis nodded. "Please sit down," she gestured to a chair infront of the desk. Alexis promptly took the chair.
"Did you have a nice lunch?" She asked. Alexis again nodded. God, what did Mrs. D want?! The suspense left by this small talk was killing her.
"Have you seen the newest issue of the Fourth Estate yet? With the way things get passed around in this town, I'd be surprised if you haven't." She asked.
"Yes, I have." Alexis replied.
"Then I suppose you have tons of questions. Each of which you have a right to know. Just hear me out first." She put a hand up as if to silence any questions Alexis would have. Mrs. Demeter sighed.
"I'm sure you heard about the Howard J. Fisher Art Contest for youth before you read that article."
"Of course, I have. I mean its the most revered contest in the country. As a high school art student, how could I not have heard of it?" Alexis gushed.
"Well, you know how the whole school system has been suffering severe budget cuts. The Arts here at North have been at risk for quite some time." Mrs. D pushed her glasses further up her nose, her penetrating blue eyes fixed on Alexis.
"That is usually what they cut first." Mrs. D added, sighing, "When you finished that painting was the exact week that I got the entrance forms sent to me. I thought that maybe if someone here at the school won, the arts program might be saved. I thought it was worth a try and sent in some of your work and other students work, but it was your painting that really set the judges off. I was there for the judging, by the way." She sighed, taking off her glasses.
"You really have talent Alexis. There's no denying it. You deserved to win that contest. You really did. Any way, after the winnings were announced, The Fourth Estate was all over it. Its the kind of human interest story that people clamor over. Small town rebel - do you mind if I call you a rebel?" Alexis shook her head, no.
"Anyway, Small town rebel submits her first piece ever contest piece and wins the Howard J. Fisher Art Contest. Its truly amazing. I didn't want to tell you, well, because I didn't think you'd understand. That you would get upset with me for submitting the piece without your permission and perhaps withdraw your piece from the contest." She explained.
"The school needed you to win that. I needed you to win that. The next generation of children needed you to win that." She sighed, "But I digress." She picked up an envelope from her desk.
"This is yours." She handed Alexis an envelope that was sitting on her desk. Alexis took it apprehensivly. The bell rang through out the classroom halls.
"Oh never mind that. I'll dismiss you from all your afternoon classes. It'll take that much time to get through all of this."
Alexis raised an eyebrow. How long WAS this going to take?
"Well don't just sit there. Open it." Mrs. D said, gesturing to the envelope. The envelope looked like something fancy, like the envelope someone would open up to announce the winner of an oscar. Like the person who SHOULD be opening it should be in long white gloves and a designer dress. Not some ratty-haired girl in ripped jeans and dirty converse. She carefully undid the golden sticker with the Howard J. Fisher symbol on it, a paint brush over the pallete shaped sticker with the words Howard J. Fisher in a loopy cursive-like script, meticulous enough to not rip the sticker. She drew out a folded letter on fancy textured paper. As she unfolded it she read the letter.
"Congradulations on Winning the Howard J. Fisher Young Adult Art Contest.
Included in this prize is a $2,500 cash prize, $2,500 scholarship money to the college of your choice and a full-ride scholarship to The Howard J. Fisher school of the arts.
You are cordially invited to the awards ceremony banquet and gala, a black tie event where many well-known artists and celebrities come to enjoy the art entered and eventually bid on the top 15 winning paintings, 50% of the earnings going to the school and its charity, and the rest going to the artist.
A table with 5 seats has been reserved for you and your family. You shall be seated at the highest seat of honor at this gala and there shall be an awards ceremony after the dinner where you shall be awarded your prize.
5:00-12:00 at The Ritz Carlton in New York City, Sunday, April 29th.
Your attendance is required and there shall be no reschduling."
"April 29th? Thats THIS sunday!" Alexis exclaimed at the letter," My parents didn't even know that I entered this contest!"
"Of course, the Howard J. Fisher contest committee has provided you and your family with airline tickets to New York and 3 nights at the Ritz Carlton, free of charge." Mrs. D said, handing Alexis another envelope.
"The-The-The Ritz Carlton?" Alexis stuttered, holding the envelope in her shaking hands.
"Yes." Mrs. Demeter replied, "You winnning this contest is absolutly HUGE. I mean, this is the biggest art contest in the nation." Alexis scanned the letter again.
"There are going to be celebrities bidding on my 'Infidelity'?!" Alexis exclaimed. Mrs. D sighed again.
"Thats also another reason I didn't tell you about the contest. After, celebrities and millionaires alike bid on the top 15 winning pieces. You tend to get VERY attached to your work and you not allowing them to bid on your piece would mean you not winning. Its a tradditton and the bids tend to get very high. Last years winning piece went for well over a million dollars."
"A million dollars!" Alexis exclaimed. With that much money, she didn't even NEED a full-ride scholarship to Equinna. HECK, she could even use all that money to pay for college. But she didn't even want to THINK about college right now.
Mrs.D laughed.
"Don't get your hopes up. The bidding might not go up that high." Alexis' spirits didn't falter. She didn't think they would for the next month.
"I also need you to give me this back by tomorrow." She handed Alexis a document which looked like a contract. Alexis looked up to Mrs. D in curiosity.
"Its not a contract. Its the slip where you agree to let people bid on it. Standard procedure. The Fisher committee hates legal battles." Alexis nodded, signing where her signature was required with a pen she took off Mrs. D's desk.
"Oh, and here's some of the Howard J. Fisher School for the arts information, she handed Alexis a couple brochures and pamphlets on the school. In her mind, Alexis had already decided who was coming to the Ritz with her.
The bell for dismissal rang through the halls. Mrs. D looked at Alexis, smiling.
"And another thing. Have fun at the Ritz."She said, waving as Alexis walked out the door. Kara hid on the other side of the door, jumping on Alexis as she walked our of the art room.
"GAH!" Alexis exclaimed, startled, "How'd you know I was still in the art room?"
"We're in the same 7th hour civics class, remember? You weren't there so I assumed that you were still with Mrs. Demeter. Guess I was right."
"Oh." Alexis replied.
"So what did she say?!" Kara asked in excitement.
"Can you come sleepover tonight? It's a long story..." Alexis asked her.
"Sure, but first TELL me what happened!" She exclaimed as they started walking back to their lockers. Alexis sighed.
"Alright." She lamented and explained the situation to Kara. Kara's eyes widened in shock as Alexis told the story. But the time she had finished they had already packed up all their stuff and were walking across the parking lot to get to Alexis' mom's car.
"My god." Kara said, "You are going to be at the biggest art gala of the year and you don't have to pay any money at all."
"Yeah." Alexis said absentmindedly.
"Alexis, this is the hugest art event of the year! Even I have heard about it before!" Kara exclaimed, "Last year Brittney Engleheart, Scott Harley, Josias Ricter, Ana Armstrong and all the members of Prise and Pose were at that gala!" She gushed, naming off some of the biggest celebrities and their favorite band.
"PRISE AND POSE WERE THERE?!" Alexis exclaimed. Kara nodded.
"Yup. They were there. They bought one of the art pieces for like, 3 million..."
"3 MILLION!?!?!?" Alexis screeched. Heads began to turn their way.
"Yeah. I've heard that the picture that they bought still hangs in their trailer," Kara continued, "Who knows? If they're there this year, you could get to meet them. Say hi to Ryan Titree for me," She said. Ryan was the guitarist and Kara's idol. She practically worshiped him.
"HEY! Maybe if some of my monkies"--Alexis called her parents and siblings monkies--"can't come, you can! You can meet him for yourself!"
"Hopefully your parents forbid the twins from going, robert is uninterested in going and eva has a sleepover the same night as the gala." Kara said as they found Alexis' mom's car and slid inside.
"Gala?" Alexis' mom asked, "What gala?" Kara and Alexis looked at each other in apprehension. Alexis sighed.
"Perhaps its better if you look at this." She handed her mom The Fourth Estate.
"OOOHHHHHHHH MMMMMMMMMYYYYYYYYYY GGGGGGGGGGOOOOOOOOODDDDDDDDD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" She exclaimed.
"Alexis!" She exclaimed," How could you not tell me that you entered in this contest?" Alexis thought quickly. If her mom knew that Mrs. D did it with out her permission, her mom would freak out.
"Guess I just uh, forgot?"Alexis said.
"And how could you not tell me you got an interview with The Fourth Estate?!" She asked.
"Well...uhh...OH I forgot to give you this." Alexis handed her mom the invitation to the Gala at the Ritz. She read it in shock.
"Girls, I think this calls for a celebratory dinner tonight. What do you think?" She asked. Alexis and Kara both eagerly nodded their heads.
"Is this going to be a black tie dinner tonight?" Kara joked, knowing that she was automatically invited.
"Hmm...I guess not that formal, but I guess something nice. Is 6 tonight good?" Alexis's mom asked.
"I think so," she said, stepping out of the car and onto her driveway, "I'll call if I can't make it. Thanks for the ride!" she said, and scurried inside.
"Mom, I'm going over to Alexis's for dinner at six tonight," she called once inside, searching for her mom.
"And what would the occasion be for that?" her mom asked, once Kara had found her vacuming her room, gesturing to the halter dress that Kara was taking out of her closet.
Kara took a deep breath, "Long story short, Lexie got entered into an art contest, was chosen as a finalist, and is going to to Ritz Carlton so famous people can bid on her art. She got the invitation today. Celebratory dinner at her house at six. Nothing too formal," she rattled off in one breath
"Wow," her mom said, "sounds fun. Do you need to bring anything? And wouldn't that dress be a little too formal for 'nothing too formal?' And are you going to be going to this auction with her? And if so, when is it?" she questioned.
"I'll call and see if I can bring cookies, no this dress isn't too formal--times are changing and 'formal' today is very different that 'formal' 10 years ago, and I don't know. I'll have to ask," she said, hoping her mom was satisfied.
As Alexis' mom pulled into the driveway, she sighed.
"I don't know who we're going to get to watch the twins." She said," You don't want them to come, do you?"
"No, but I was wondering,"Alexis mused as they got out of the car,"Since I did ya know, win the contest, could I chose who gets to come with us?" Alexis' mom thought a second.
"I suppose. But your father and I have to come."She added.
"Well duh I know that."Alexis replied, "But I really don't want to have Eva, Robert or the Twins come."She named off her siblings.
"I can understand that. They're not the easiest to take places, especially nice places." Her mom replied, "So who did you have in mind?"
"Well I wanted to take you, dad, grandma s. and Kara." She said, rolling the list she had in her head off her tounge.
"Kara?" She asked, furrowing her brow,"Why not one of your other grandparents?"
"Mom, I throughly dislike my fathers parents. And besides, remember you said I could choose?"
"AND if they don't come, then maybe we can persuade them to babysit for the weekend..."
"I guess you win," her mom gave in, "but there's still no gurentee that we can find a sitter for the 4 of them,"
"OR the alternitive would be that you or dad have to stay home. There's only 5 seats reserved for us, so they couldn't all come anyways. And if we had to pick and choose, the ones who didn't get to come would throw a fit," Alexis pointed out, "Or we could try and find friends for Robert and Eva who would be willing for them to sleep over, and the twins could stay with Grandma and Grandpa," Alexis suggested.
"Well, I suppose It would make more sense to have your fathers parents stay here to watch the kids." Alexis mom caved in.
"See? It makes more sense anyway." Alexis replied.
"So where did you want to got for dinner anywho? I was thinking the Pearl, but-"
"THE PEARL?!" Alexis exclaimed at the name of the fanciest, swankiest restaurant in all of Michigan, conviently located only about an hour away.
"Is that a yes?" Her mom laughed.
"Its a total 100% yes!" Alexis exclaimed.
"Thats means you'll have to dress up and finish your homework first." Her mom replied. Alexis ran down stairs to her room.
"What do you think I'm going to do?!" She yelled as she picked up the phone to call Kara.
Kara's mom answered the phone,
"Kara, it's for you!" she called over her shoulder. She handed the phone to Kara, who had been just about to slip on her dress.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Kara, it's Alexis. Scratch what I said about not-too-formal. My mom's taking us to the Pearl!"
"WHAT?!" Kara screamed into the phone.
"Yes, the Pearl. Wear the best that you've got. If you want, you can come over as soon as you're dressed and my mom and I can do your hair and makeup," Alexis offered, knowing that Kara's mom wouldn't let her out of the house with makeup on, even if it was a touch of blush. And Kara's mom also refused to buy her a curler, insisting that her hair was curly enough. It looked much better if it was curlier.
"I'd love you guys to death. I can be over in...15 minutes? I still have to raid my closet for a new dress and find shoes. And my hairbrush is buried somewhere. And I have no clue where," she told her friend.
"Perfect. Make sure you don't let your mom dress you," Kara's mom had a bad habit of trying to make her daughter look like 'formal' from 10 years ago, which was really out of style, "and bring money. We'll probably stop at the mall on the way back, since I need to find a new outfit for the weekend. Oh yes, and my mom said that you're welcome to come to the Ritz with us, if you like. All of the siblings are staying home. And bring a change of clothes to wear to the mall. I don't think we'll want to walk into stores wearing heels and halter dresses. We'd look like sluts..."
On the other end of the line, Kara giggled. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. See you in 15 minutes." As soon as they hung up, her mom asked why she had screamed earlier.
"Well...her mom's taking us to the Pearl for dinner, then we're going shopping," she ignored her mom's astonishment and began walking to her room to tear apart her closet, "Oh yes, and I'm invited to the Ritz with them. We're going shopping for new outfits for the weekend..." she added, turning around and sticking her hand out, "Advance allowence, please?" she asked. Her mom groaned and went to find her wallet. She pulled out $20, which was about 2 weeks worth of allowence, and another $100 after that.
"Knock yourself out," she said, putting the money into Kara's outstreached hand. She didn't know that Kara also had a secret stash of cash in her room. She was going to spend like crazy with about $220 at her disposal.
"Excellent!" she grinned and walked off to her room. Upon reaching her destination, she began tossing clothes out of her closet, trying to find something to wear. In the end, she decided on a so-long-that-it-touches-the-floor, purple, sleveless dress and a pair of black high heels. She gathered up her money, phone, and brush (which she found under a pile of clothes that were under her bed) into her purse, and got a ride to Lexie's.
Alexis scampered around after she had finished her home work.
"MOM I HAVE ABSOLUTLY NOTHING TO WEAR TO THE PEARL! I don't even own a dress!" She exclaimed. She had already done her make-up which clashed with her ripped up jeans and ratty converse.
"Oh yeah. I had been meaning to give this to you." She came down the stairs into Alexis' room and handed Alexis a crimson red dress that was floor lenght and slightly poofed out with corset detailing on the torso. Alexis gasped.
"MY GOD MOM! Where did you find this?!" Alexis asked.
"Some dress store at the mall. Try it on. I knew you'd like it." She smiled. Alexis gave her mom a hug and snatched the dress from her hands.
"Thank you mommy!" She said as she shut the door to try the dress on. It fit perfectly, enhancing her shape and just plain beautiful. She slipped her feet into black high-heeled shoes and walked up the stairs to greet Kara, who had just been let in by her mom.
"My gosh!" Kara exclaimed. "I love that dress! I've never seen it before. When did you get it?"
"My mom gave it to me two seconds ago. Apparently she forgot to give it to me before." Alexis replied.
"I'm so excited we're going to the Pearl!" Kara gushed.
"Me too. I have never been there before, only seen it in pictures. I'm so excited." Alexis gushed.
"Dur. I don't think anyone from school has been there..." Kara said, "We're so lucky!"
"Ok guys, let's hit the bathroom. We've got an hour before we have to leave, and it'll take about that long to get Kara finished," Alexis's mom interrupted. They trooped into the bathroom and began curling Kara's hair.
"So, anyone have anything they'd like to talk about?" Alexis asked after a few minutes of akward silence.
"Ohhh! Me!" Kara offered. If she didn't have to keep still, she would've been jumping up and down, "I can't wait until tomorrow! Prise and Pose's concert is gonna be SO FREAKIN AWESOME!" Kara screeched.
"I know! I can't wait!" Alexis chimed in, "we've got front row balcony seats! That's like, one of the best views of the stage!"
"Mhmm..." Kara said, holding her brush in her teeth while she was trying to fasten a bracelet around her wrist. When she had finally clasped it, she took the brush out of her mouth and continued their conversation, "Lexie..."
"Yes?" Lexie asked, emptying the bathroom cupboard of makeup.
"Did it ever occur to you that Prise and Pose might be there tonight? They said on their Myspace that they were going out to dinner tonight, for the last time before their tour begins. Bring your laptop in here, I want to see if they had the name of the resturant on there."
"Pfft. Fat chance. But I guess there's no hurt in checking," she told Kara, then grabbed her laptop from her room, turned it on, and pulled up the Myspace. She brought the computer into the bathroom. Kara clicked the link to their blog entry, and scanned the page. About halfway down the entry, she stopped and stared at the screen.
"Oh...my...god...Lexie...IT IS THE PEARL!"
"No way. You're kidding. No way," she pulled the computer away from her. Her face turned white, "Holy. Crap. I DON'T BELIEVE IT, THEY ARE!!!" she screamed.
"Told 'ya. Bring paper and a pen. If they're there, I'm getting an autograph."
"Ok, sit still now, Kara. Time for your makeup," Alexis's mom interrupted their moments of bliss and astonishment. They dusted on blush, eyeshadow, and took out a tube of lipstick and added that. As an afterthought, Alexis took out some silvery eyeliner and put some of that on her eyelids. She was about to put on mascara, but Kara stopped her.
"Wait until we get there for that. I'll probably end up rubbing it off by the time we get there," Kara said, grabbing the mascara tube and sticking it in her purse. She checked the time and said, "Ok. Ready. Let's go."
They all piled into Alexi's mom's car, Kara and Alexis both taking the backseat so they could gossip without their mom's prying ears.
"Kara, this has been the best day of my life, possibly the beginning of the best week." Alexis sighed,"I'm just afraid something totally horrible is going to happen. It always does. When you're on a high, something has to come to beat and drag it down."
"It sure seems that way, doesn't it?" Kara mused.
"I'm not so sure why Mrs. D wouldn't tell me she was entering me in the contest. I mean I would have had no objections to it at all. She should have known it." Alexis whispered. Her mom still didn't know Mrs. D entered Alexis in the contest without her permission, or even telling her for that matter.
"Maybe there's something that would benefit her that you wouldn't approve of or something else hidden." Kara mused in a whisper, "It is pretty strange."
"I'm supposed to go to take a tour of the school after the gala and meet the faculty and students."Alexis said, "We'll have to miss monday. You can come on the tour too. I read the brochure and this place is beyond swanky and expensive."
"That can mean bad things too." Kara warned, "Can you say rich snobs?"
"True, where ever there's classy people, there are a ton more snobs who overshadow it all."
“Yup,” Kara agreed.
After an hour of talking, they were there.
“Ok, girls. Hurry up or there won’t be any seats left!” Alexis’s mom told them. They climbed, with a much difficulty, out of the back seat. Kara stood up as tall as she could without tripping and scanned the parking lot.
“Lexie…oh, my, god. Is that their tour bus?!” she screeched, pointing to the large tour bus-like object a few rows over. Alexis looked over where Kara was pointing.
“I-I-I think so! I think I can see the top of their logo on the door…” she said, “Can you give me a boost?”
“Eww, no way. One, the bottoms of your shoes are filthy. Two, I’ll lose my balance if we’re both in heels. Three, we’ll know if that’s them when we get inside. People like them are hard to miss,” Kara explained, “C’mon, we’ve gotta see if it’s them!” with that, she jogged across the parking lot as fast as she could go.
“Hey, wait for me!” Alexis called after her and tried to catch up. Her mom sighed and quickly followed them.
Kara reached the bronze doors first and opened them. Alexis and her mom went inside, with Kara following. While they were waiting to be seated, Alexis searched the tables for the curly brown hair of Alex Rada, the lead singer of Prise and Pose.
“There they are!” Alexis whispered to Kara, who was also searching for the band, but looking for the straight girl-ish hair of Ryan. Sure enough, Ryan and Alex were sitting there with Nick Westly (bass) and Peter Lazinsky (drums). Kara looked happier than Alexis had ever seen her. She didn’t realize why she looked this happy until she looked again. P&P were sitting next to the last empty table. And they were next in line. A few seconds later, they were being led to that last table by the waitress.
“Ok Lexie, I’ve got a plan,” Kara said so that people sitting at the tables they passed couldn’t hear them, “we’ll casually start making arrangements for me to come over to your house to get ready for the concert. Which we’d have to do anyways. We can only hope that it goes uphill from there.”
“Deal,” Alexis agreed, sitting down. Kara opened her menu and began to speak.
“So, what time should I come over tomorrow to get ready for the Prise and Pose concert tomorrow?” she asked, trying to sound casual and trying to contain her happiness at the same time. She could sense Ryan’s and Nick’s heads turn slightly upon hearing the name of their band behind Alexis and her.
“I dunno, right after school? Or almost right after? We have to allow you some time to get dressed. So let’s see…it takes 5 minutes to get home from school, 10 for you to get dressed, and another 50 if we want to do your hair and makeup again. Plus allow an hour to get souvenirs, since the lines are probably going to be huge. So…” Alexis cut off, trying to do math in her head, “Erm…that puts us at…” she looked towards Kara, who could do the hardest of problems in her head in seconds.
“Around quarter to six. I think…” she sounded unsure of herself for the first time in a long time—trying to do math in her head AND contain her excitement was hard, “Perfect timing. So I’ll come over as soon as I get dressed. Good thing we have reserved front-row balcony seats. We don’t have to worry about struggling to the front on the ground floor. To think, if we had ordered our tickets a minute earlier, we could’ve gotten the last two front row tickets,” Kara continued while Alexis sighed, “But balcony is good, I guess. If we can’t get front row…balcony is the next best seat in the house.”
“Yeah. Kudos to you for getting us the great seats. It was your phone we called on,” she turned and high-fived her friend. This was the first time Ryan had seen their faces (he was in the middle of a very in-depth debate with Peter when they walked in), and he was in awe. They were hot, AND the one that he liked more was a mathematical genius. Good deal. Now if only he could gather the courage to say something…
A pain shot up his leg. Alex had kicked him. He cursed under his breath, quiet enough so that he girls couldn’t hear him, and turned around.
“What in the world was that for?” he complained.
“It’s obvious that you like one of them. You look troubled,” Alex told him. Ryan sighed—Alex was too good at picking up emotions from facial expressions. And he was
“You know how much I hate it when you do that, right?” he asked.
“Yup,” Alex told him, “but I had to ask you. I call dibs on the one that you don’t want,” he grinned. He was obviously expecting Ryan to ask one of them out, and he had an idea on which one it would be. The one with the long, curly hair and purple dress, and was good at math (Ryan was a sucker for curly hair…and geniuses) looked almost exactly like the girl that he had just dumped upon finding that she had cheated on him.
“Fine, if you must know, I like the one with the purple dress. You knew that,” Ryan admitted. Alex seemed to know everything. He continued their whispered conversation, “So, what am I supposed to say? You’re the one with the genius brain for talking to girls,” he pointed out.
“You’ll figure it out…” Alex said in a mystical voice. Ryan knew he wouldn’t be able to worm an answer out of him now. It was time to face the music.
Kara and Alexis sat in silence, gazing at their menus. They had both thought the plan had failed. They were shocked when they heard Ryan’s voice.
“Erm...you guys are going to our concert tomorrow?” he asked, his voice shaking. Kara, who had been the one anticipating this, smiled. She knew he was nervous, she could sense it in his voice. The best she could do was try and make him feel more confidant.
“Yeah,” Alexis said, turning around in her seat. She quickly glanced over at Kara. Her face looked white, and she seemed scared behind the screen of her smile. Ryan was staring at her teeth, perfect after 4 long years of braces. So she’s hot, good at math, and had perfect teeth? How much better could I get? Ryan was thinking. His confidence began returning. This was his chance to get the girl of his dreams. If only he knew her name…
“So…uh…you guys lost your front row seats by a minute?” he questioned, feeling guilty. He had been the one who reserved those seats, meant for his and Alex’s girlfriends. But now those seats were going to be empty, since they had both dumped their dates during the past week. They both nodded, “I can get those seats for you. It was I who reserved them in the first place, intended for mine and Alex’s girlfriends, but…well basically we dumped them over the last week. Do you guys want the seats back?” Alex had been right. He was figuring out what to say. It was easier than expected.
Kara and Alexis looked at each other. They couldn’t believe their luck! “Yes!” the shouted at the same time, grinning.
“Great,” he said, “come to the bus after dinner and we’ll give you the tickets.” He smiled and turned back to his friends, who were smiling at him—this was the happiest he had ever been, and it was pretty obvious.
When the waitress came and took their orders, Kara and Lexie couldn’t help but try and hear what the band was ordering—Alex got a Hamburger meal with a Coke; Ryan got fries, a Greek salad, and a Sprite; Nick ordered some sort of soup, curly fries, and an iced tea, and Peter chose Macaroni and Cheese, a side order of rice, and a coffee. The waitress wrote it all down and moved over a step to take their orders. Kara wanted a Caesar salad and a Dr. Pepper, Alexis got chicken and a Coke, and Alexis’s mom ordered some foreign-named thing that no one could understand. While waiting for their food to be prepared, each table was engrossed in their own whispered conversation.
“So are we just giving them the tickets?” Ryan asked the band, “Or are we going to offer them backstage passes too?”
“I dunno. This is your’s and Alex’s choice. You two are the ones in love.” Nick joked.
“He’s right. It’s for you and Alex to decide…” Peter agreed. Ryan turned to Alex.
“Passes it is, then?” he asked.
“Yeah. I guess. We haven’t given any out at all for this concert. What’s the point of going offstage just to be greeted by the technical people?” Alex agreed.
“Good point. We’ll surprise them, then. I can’t wait to see the expression on their faces,” Nick said, “Oh crap. You didn’t get their names, did you?” Ryan smacked his forehead.
“That’s what I forgot. I knew I was forgetting something…I guess we can eavesdrop and try and figure it out…” Ryan mused.
“No, that wouldn’t work. They’d remember us not asking their names, and would probably be mad if they found out that we eavesdropped on them. No, I say we ask when we give them the tickets,” Peter, who seemed to know what any girl would think of any comment, injected.
“Fine. We’ll ask them later,” Ryan agreed. At this point they had to stop the conversation, as the food had arrived.
“Food!” they shouted in unison, attracting stares from around the restaurant.
While the band was discussing the backstage passes and the name problem, Kara and Alexis had been making new plans, after being offered the new tickets.
“I can’t believe our luck. I’m not sure what could happen to ruin this day!” Kara exclaimed. She looked happier than she did before.
“I have some ideas…” Alexis replied, “But I’m not going to say them. Not now, at least. You look too happy,” She didn’t want to ruin her friend’s good mood. She took out her camera and took a picture of Kara.
“And that was for…what?” Kara questioned, startled by the sudden flash, “It wasn’t light enough in here? What was the flash on for?”
“Oops,” Alexis said, looking guilty, “I forgot to turn the flash off before we came in…” she explained. She adjusted the camera so that the flash was off, “Want me to take it again?” she asked, showing Kara the other picture.
“It’s good enough. Is that going to the yearbook?” she said. They were both on the yearbook committee, and were in charge of taking pictures from outside of school.
“I dunno. Depends on if we can get a picture of you and Ryan or not. If we can, THAT will be what I’m sending in. But only a picture of you two after the concert. I want a picture with him and his sexy eye makeup.” She said.
“Yeah. I LURB his makeup. And his stage outfits.” Kara added, “I’m so excited!”
Then the food came. And was it delicious!
After Prise and Pose had finished eating, Ryan scribbled a note on his napkin and passed it over the seat to the girls.
“We’re going now. Wait a minute or so after we leave to come out, so we don’t attract attention for you two. Plus we still have to find the tickets. Oh yes, password to the bus is ‘sexy makeup.’ We had to make a password after fans from the last tour impersonated us and got onto the bus somehow, without permission” he had written. The girls looked up at his face and nodded, saying that they understood. After paying the bill, the band left for the bus. Kara, going by her watch, waited two minutes, then they got up and left for the bus. Alexis’s mom told them that she’d wait in the car until they were done. So Kara and Alexis walked quickly over to the bus, knocked, gave the password, and were let in by Nick.
“They’ll be out in a minute,” he said, gesturing to the closed bedroom door across from them, “have a seat. It could take Alex a few minutes to find the tickets—his room is a PIT.” Kara giggled. Sounded a lot like her room at home. After a few minutes—which seemed like decades to them—Ryan and Alex emerged from behind the door. Alex held the tickets and some unidentifiable papers. Ryan carried what looked suspiciously like pictures for them to sign.
“So, here are your tickets…” Alex said, handing them the tickets, which, sure enough, were reserved front row seats, “and we’re giving you signed photos. So we need your names,” he continued. They told them their names, then he asked them if they wanted the entire band to sign it, which they both wanted. Oh, how jealous the people at school would be when they showed off their photos!
“And we have a special surprise for you, too,” Ryan told them after the hubbub of the signing was finished. He held out the papers that he was carrying, “Backstage passes!” he announced. Kara and Alexis screamed and hugged each other.
“I can’t believe this is happening!” Kara screeched. Neither could Alexis. They grabbed the passes and read them over. It said that they were entitled to the entire backstage area and dressing rooms before and after the concert. Kara, in her excitement, hugged Ryan.
“Wow,” he said, glancing down at Kara, “I haven’t been hugged like this for a long time. Keep it up!” Kara looked thrilled. While all this was happening, Alex was creeping towards his room. Alexis was obviously not interested in him. He was almost at the door when he felt something collide with his back.
“Oh no you don’t!” Alexis said, hugging him as tight as Kara was hugging Ryan. It was Alex’s turn to look thrilled. He smiled and shook her off.
“Your hurting my back! Hug me from the front, if you will,” he told her. Nick and Peter, who felt as if they didn’t have any part in this scene at all, quietly strode off to Peter’s room and started laughing. They’d never seen their friends act this silly around girls before. Except for the time that they accidentally got drunk after their first ever concert, but they weren’t going to count that.
Back out in the main room of the bus, everyone was saying their goodbyes.
“You know, girls, if you’d want to come over almost right after you get out of school, you could get your makeup and hair done in our dressing rooms. I suppose I could even show you how I create that ‘sexy eye makeup,’ was that how you two put it?” Ryan offered. Kara and Alexis nodded.
“With pleasure!” Kara told him. Everyone hugged again, and even Nick and Peter came out to say good night.
When the got to the car, they were greeted with a “Finally!” from Alexis’s mom. They apologized excitedly and told her that they got backstage passes, and they were invited to the band’s dressing rooms to get ready.
“Congrats. I’m thrilled, but I’m not so sure how Kara’s mom will react to this. It’s sounding, to me, like they’re going to ask you guys out after the concert. Alexis, I know you’ll fine with handling it, but Kara’s mom…” she trailed off. They all knew what she was thinking. Kara’s mom was a little…well you could say that she was a little overprotective. She probably wouldn’t approve of them going backstage alone, either. “Kara, I know you’re not that dumb, you’ll be fine. But I think the best bet with your mom is just to tell her right before you come over. If you say ‘Oh yeah, and we’ve got backstage passes’ just as you’re closing the door, then run over here as fast as you can, she can’t stop you. You’re a fast runner, it’ll work,”
“I like that idea. So I’ll go home, grab my clothes, and run?” Kara asked.
“Yeah. While I’m waiting for you, I can get dressed super-ultra-fast and cram everything that we’ll need, like the curling iron and stuffs, into a bag. We can leave it backstage during the concert, I guess.” Alexis said.
After a few more minutes of driving, each occupant of the car consumed in her own thoughts, they arrived at Kara’s house. She fished her key out of her purse, said a hurried goodbye, and ran inside. A note on the kitchen table told her that her mom was out shopping with her brother for new pants. Kara cheered—she could go on the computer and search for some of Ryan’s favorite stuffs. If he was indeed going to ask her out, she wanted to make sure she enjoyed it. She opened the Prise and Pose homepage and clicked on the link to Ryan’s journal. To her surprise, there was a new entry—from 10 minutes ago. “So I met this girl today at the Pearl…” she read. She scanned the rest of the entry; it was all sappy stuff about how pretty she was, blah blah blah. She hated this kind of stuff. So she skipped to the next entry, and continued skipping entries until she found the link to his personal webpage. She knew she could find better info on his Myspace, but her mom had blocked it. She, like everyone at school, knew how to un-block it, but it took 5 minutes to un-block it, then another few to re-block it. She decided against it, since she had no clue on when her mom would be home. Personal webpage it is, then… she thought. She looked at the url, making sure that it wouldn’t look suspicious to her mom. RyanTiltree.com. Duh. Not very suspicious. She clicked on the link and began looking randomly around the site. Pictures, journal, P&P homepage, links to the sites of the other band members…nothing that looked like it could tell her what his favorites were. Kara moaned. She’d have to check his Gaia and hope for the best. Hesitantly closing out of the site, she opened a new window and logged on to Gaia. She knew his username, PrisedPose, having visited his profile a gazillion times to comment him. So she went to his profile, again, and began reading. Amazingly enough, she had never read anything besides the comments on his profile. After a few lines, she had found his list of likes and dislikes:
“Favorite…
Color—Purple surprised
Band—What do you think? P&P, duh
Song—Pft. Real fans would know this. It’s ‘Time to Disco’
Food—Interesting questions. Salad. Any salad will do.
Hair type—Dark and curly. Durr.
Book—I don’t read a whole lot. I guess it’s ‘Freak Accident’
School subject—I’m not in school anymore, duh. But it was Math and English.”
Interesting, she thought. She moved on to his least favorites:
“Color—Hmmm…Red. Or orange.
Band—I don’t think I really hate any band in particular…
Song—Any rap. Why listen to something that you can’t understand the words to?
Food—Most meat. I hate the taste. *shudder, twitch* End of story.
Hair type—Blond and curly. That just looks weird…
Book—Hard choice. I hate so many of them. I’ll have to say ‘Fuzzy Slippers of Doom’
School subject—History. *snore*”
Kara was astonished. He liked and disliked most of the same stuff that she did. Awesome! Having found the desired information, she shut down the computer and went to her room to lay out what she was going to wear to the concert the next day. Remembering that Ryan’s favorite color was purple, she pulled out all of her purple shirts and set the stack on her bed. The pile was huge; she looked good in purple, so her wardrobe was mostly purple. She began her search, eventually deciding on her purple and silver P&P shirt that she had gotten from the last concert. She paired the shirt with a pair of distressed jeans and a silvery belt. She decided to wait until right before she left to take care of jewelry. She was lying out her clothes over the back of her chair so that they wouldn’t wrinkle, then she heard the garage door open and car doors slam. She quickly folded up her new ticket and pass and shoved them into the pocket of the pants. After doing so, she ran out to the kitchen to greet her mom.
“Kara, are you home?” her mom called from the doorway.
“Yeah, over here,” Kara called back from the couch, where she was pretending to be reading, “Did you get anything for me?” she asked, forgetting that they were supposed to have gone shopping after dinner. In their excitement, they had all forgotten.
“I thought you guys went shopping after dinner?” Kara’s mom questioned.
“We decided against it. We’re going to the concert tomorrow after the concert, instead.” Kara lied. She made a mental note to call Alexis and tell her. Maybe they could get Ryan and Alex to go with them.
“Whatever. Just be home by 11,” her mom said, looking at the clock. It was 10pm. “C’mon, bed. It’s still a school night…”
 Lexiegirl · Thu Jan 11, 2007 @ 01:26am · 1 Comments |
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