Chapter One

17 year old Kelli Dawson stepped out of her Jeep and looked at the big building that loomed in front of her. Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore. Or, in her case, Pennsylvania. She was a small town girl with big dreams. Which is how she found herself outside a recording studio in New York City. She had just signed a record deal and was about to begin recording. Kelli looked down at her Silvertab watch. 8:58 AM. "Crap, I'm almost late!" she said to nobody. She bolted inside the building and took the elevator up to the twelfth floor. When she got off, she found Sheila, her manager, pacing.

"You're late," she accused Kelli.

"I know. I'm really sorry. Traffic sucked." Kelli put her long brown hair in a ponytail as she followed Sheila down a hallway. Sheila opened a door and they walked inside. Kelli's eyes widened. She was actually in a real, professional studio!

"Well, I'll be back in a few hours to see how things are going," Sheila said. "Oh, by the way, Kelli, this is Max, your producer."

"Nice to meet you," Kelli said.

"Same here," Max replied.

"Well, I'll see y'all later." Sheila left.

"A little stand-offish, is she?" Max questioned.

Kelli shrugged and smiled. "Yeah, but she's a good manager. I wouldn't have gotten this far without her."

"Well, you're going to get a lot further. Your voice sounds like Mariah Carey's and you're a fantastic songwriter."

Kelli's face turned red. "Thanks."

"It's true. Ok, you ready?"

"Yup," Kelli stepped into the booth, and when she got the 'ok' sign, she started started to sing.

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3 Hours Later

"That was great, Kelli."

"Thanks. I've got a question for you."

"Shoot," Max said as he stopped the playbacks.

"Don't you usually work in Sweden?"

"Yeah, but since I was in New York, and you'll be on the road soon, they wanted me to work with you a little bit."

"Oh, I get it..........wait a second.........the road? What road?"

"You mean they didn't tell you yet?"

"Tell me what? This totally figures. I'm always the last one to find out everything. All right. Tell me what's going on."

"My lips are sealed. Now go on, get outta here. Go hang with your posse, or do whatever it is that you teenagers do."

Kelli laughed. "I don't have a posse. But I do have a phone call to make."

"Oh," Max nodded knowingly. "Tell Sheila I said hi!" he called out as Kelli left.

"All right!!" Kelli left the studio and retrieved her car. Her brand new Jeep Wrangler had been a prize that she won in a random drawing at a radio station back home. It took her about 45 minutes to get back to her cousin's apartment, which she was borrowing while her cousin was on vacation.

"I'm never going to get used to this city traffic," she grumbled as she parked her car. Once she was inside the 3rd floor apartment building, she made a beeline for the phone.

"Hello, Sheila here."

"What's this about me going on the road?"

"Oh, hi, Kelli. How did recording go?"

"Fine, wonderful, fantastic. What's this about me going on the road?"

"Who told you about going on the road?"

"Max. How come he knew before I did? What's going on?"

"All right. Are you sitting down?"

"Yeah," Kelli said as she dropped into a big pink blow-up chair.

"Well, as of next month, you will be the opening act for, drumroll please, the Backstreet Boys!!"

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Chapter Two
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