Chapter 3
"You should have seen your face!" Said Nick. "It was
priceless!"
"But why did they want my autograph?" I was very confused
by that behaviour on the part of their fans. Who wants a nobody's
autograph?
Kevin responded to the question "I didn't see that. They did
that to you? I guess that I should have warned you."
"You knew it was going to happen?"
"Sometimes." Interposed Howie. "Some think that you are
hanging with us therefore you are famous, and others can be so
obsessed that they want to find everything about the people that we
are associating with. In a week's time look through our fan sites and I
guarantee that at least one will either have a pic of you or will
mention you."
"How do you cope with scrutiny like that?" I had had an idea
of what fame was like but I hadn't thought that it was that bad.
"You get used to it after a while. You learn to keep more to
yourself and let less of your 'real' self be known to the public. Oh! I
haven't introduced you to our driver. C'mon." They hadn't even gotten
the missing clothes back on them yet, but they showed no reservations
towards each other.
Nick brought me over to their driver and the others
disappeared into the back. "Jim, this is Fiachra, he's coming with us
to Washington."
Jim quickly glanced at me and then looked back towards the
road. "Yeah, I was told by management. They weren't happy. Nice to
meet you Fiachra. Is that it?" He had mispronounced my name.
"No, but close, every one has trouble with it. It's pronounced
Fee-ah-cra."
Nick waited until I had corrected Jim and then said. "Screw
Management. They are gonna have to learn that they work for us.
We'll talk to you later. I want to show Fiachra the rest of the bus."
"It was great to meet you Jim. I guess I'll see you later." Jim
nodded and then Nick pulled me toward the back of the bus. My right
arm was starting to ache because of the bag that I was carrying. Nick
pushed aside a curtain and there was a kind of living room in front of
us. It had a sofa, beanbags on the floor, a fridge, table (with benches)
and a big TV and stereo system.
"Cool!" I said. I was really impressed by the layout. They
seemed to have all the comforts that one could want there. But I
guessed that it could get fairly boring all the same. Brian, who was
sitting on the sofa, threw Nick a sweater and he thanked Brian and
pulled it on. Kevin looked up from the paperwork that he had spread
over the table.
"I put your stuff on the spare bunk. I'm sure that Nick will
show you the way if you want to put that - he gestured towards the
bag that was weighing me down - away. It's a long journey."
"I hope you were careful, it has my Black & Blue album in it,
and I don't know what I'd do if it broke." I hoped that I sounded
sincere.
"I'm sure that it's fine. Besides, after what happened in the
lobby, I don't think it would make a difference."
I grinned and then Nick brought me further back into the bus
and showed me the bunk area. It was a pretty tight space. I said as
much to Nick.
"I guess, but we only sleep here. It's not like we have parties
back here or anything." He pointed out a bunk. "That's the spare one.
Put your bag on it and let's go back to the front. Oh, and if you need it,
the toilet is further back again."
"I'll be up in a minute. I just want to change my clothes.
These ones got torn by *someone's* fans."
Nick looked me up and down. I just wish that he were doing
that for other reasons, I thought. "Ok, hurry. We have loads that we
want to ask you about." With that Nick turned around and walked
back up front, closing the partition behind him. Because I didn't want
to waste a minute of the time that I had with this group I changed
quickly, threw the torn clothes into my bags and walked up to the
front.
"Ok, hurry. We have loads that we want to ask you about."
With that Nick turned around and walked back up front, closing the
partition behind him. Because I didn't want to waste a minute of the
time that I had with this group I changed quickly, threw the torn
clothes into my bags and walked up to the front.
Kevin and A.J. were both on their phones and while Kevin
was speaking in hushed tones A.J. was quite loud.
"Yeah, ok Mom, I'll be home tomorrow, you know that. Yes,
I've get two weeks off. Ok, ok. See you tomorrow, bye." He pressed
the call end button and slipped the phone back into his pocket. Kevin
looked like he was finishing up his call as well. I went over to the sofa
and sat down beside Nick. Nick nodded, acknowledging my presence,
but he didn't say a word. They were all trying to listen in on Kevin.
With a sigh, Kevin hung up and placed his phone down on the table in
front of him. He rubbed his eyes and then looked up, and seeing me
for the first time since I came in he grinned.
"Well, the good news is that we now know that you are have
not been convicted for anything in any of the countries that you have
been in."
"And the bad news?" I questioned.
"Management is *not* happy with the 'stunt' that we have
pulled here." Howie snorted.
"What stunt? They are the ones who pull the stunts" Howie
mimicked someone who I supposed was one of their managers. "Oh,
by the way guys, don't make any plans for tonight - you're all having
dinner a competition winner!"
"True. But you know that they don't see it like that, its' the
price that we pay for fame. Anyway, change of subject. What do you
think of the bus Fiachra?"
"It's cool Kevin, I didn't think that it would be like this!"
Nick laughed. "What did you think that it would be like?"
"I guess that I had not thought about it really, but it's bigger
then I thought that it could be, except for the bunks, they're tiny."
"We spend most nights in hotels so we don't mind the nights
that we have to spend on the bus." A.J. paused and then asked. "What
are you doing in Washington, I mean, we're taking you there but I
don't think that you told us yet."
"I told Nick, didn't he tell you?" I looked at Nick, who just
shook his head, so I proceeded to tell them all about the courses that I
did in DCU and how Ryan had invited me to stay with him.
"What are you going to be doing?" This came from Brian.
"I dunno, I think that I am going to get to see the sights of
Washington and then we are going to just sit around for the rest of the
time."
"What age are you?"
"17." I braced myself for the response. I was right to.
"*What?!* You're 17?! When were you born?" They all
looked genuinely shocked. I laughed at the looks on their faces.
"March '84"
"How?" This comment originated from Kevin, who seemed
really flabbergasted. Maybe it was because he was the oldest.
"What are you doing married if you don't know that?" He
turned red and ducked his head back down to his paperwork while the
others laughed.
"You look way older, but I guess you must get that a lot."
"Some." I agreed with Nick. It went like this for the next
half-hour or so. They would ask me questions and I would reply and
ask questions of my own. I learnt a lot about them, the pressures that
were on them to produce and to perform. The stress of being in the
spotlight and, ironically, having all the questions asked of them. Like
the fan who asked them what they would do for a fan that took a bullet
for one of them! I mean, how can you expect them to answer that? I
told them all about my life, school and the life that I lead in Ireland. It
was really great to get to know them. They were so much more then
the people that they were portrayed to be.
When we had settled into each other's company and I was
relaxed Brian went over to the stereo and started looking through the
rack of CD's to its side. He looked pissed off.
"Ok, who took my Moby album?" From the guilty look on
A.J.'s face I could tell that he was the culprit.
"Sorry man, but I think I left it in the hotel."
"God, you do this to me every time. Why, why can't you lose
someone else's CD's?" Brian was definitely pissed off.
"'Cos I like the same music as you?" A.J. said, hoping to
break the tension. It didn't work. It was time for me to intervene.
"If it helps, I've got it in one of my bags."
"What, my album?"
"No dumbass! It's my album, but if you want to go get it you
can." I was way too comfortable to move.
"Thanks, but this doesn't let you off the hook Bone. You
gotta start being careful with my stuff." With that Brian started to
walk towards the bunk area.
"It's in the green bag." I called after him. "Just look under
the presents, all my CD's should be there, take any you want."
"Ok." He said, talking over his shoulder.
"Thanks, I thought that he was going to kill me that time."
"Maybe you should me more careful with his CD's then. It's
called pattern recognition. Look it up A.J."
"I guess." We sat in a comfortable silence for a moment or
two. I was starting to wonder that Brian was doing when he came back
in, not with a CD, but with a notepad that I recognised as my own. I
frowned; I didn't like people looking at that. It was really private. It
was where I wrote down all my ideas, stuff like that. Nobody had seen
it ever, and here he was, just reading through it. He looked up and saw
my expression.
"I'm sorry, when I was looking through the bag it fell out,
open. I was going to put it back in but I saw this and was really
impressed." He extended the pad towards me and I saw what page it
was open on - one of the songs that I had written. It was something
that I liked to do when I was bored.
"Thanks." I took the pad and closed it. Brian looked like he
was disappointed with my actions.
"Can't I see it?"
"They're kind of private."
"*They?!* There is more then one? Are they all that good?
Can I see them?" All the attention was focused on me. When I
couldn't bear it anymore I gave in, and thrust it at him. He took it
gently from me; he must have known how much I valued it. He started
flipping through the pages. Then he went back through them more
slowly, reading each one. My eyes were on him the whole time, but as
I became used to the idea of someone else reading it, I relaxed once
again.
"Good to see that you're calming down." Nick joked. He
must have been able to sense the tension in my body. I guess that the
sofa wasn't that big after all. We were sitting quite close to one
another. Not that I was complaining! "How many are in there?"
"20 or so. I have more at home." Then Brian starting singing
softly to himself.
"No. That's not the tune to it!" I protested, a bit too
zealously. I quickly apologised for my outburst.
"That's ok, I know what it's like to want to protect your
songs. What does it go like?" He expected me to sing? I don't think
so! Nick must have felt me tensing up again.
"Go on, we're all singers here, and there are only 5 of us.
Even if you can't sing well, just give us the tune and Brian'll take
over." I still didn't want to do it, *because* they were singers, and
some of the most famous ones at that!
"If it helps, when I was starting, the advice that I got was to
forget the audience and concentrate on singing. It really helped me,
just try it." Nick said softly to me. After he finished speaking Brian
extended the pad towards me but I shook my head, I knew the words.
What the hell, I thought, closed my eyes, and started to sing. I thought
only about the words and the music and by the middle of the song I
realised that I was singing quite loudly and was really enjoying it. I
finished, and reopened my eyes.
"Think that you've got enough to go on now Brian?" I
inquired, looking at the open-mouthed Pop-Star.
"Y-Y-Yeah." He stammered. "That was amazing, when you
didn't want to sing I thought that it was because you were no good,
but. you-you-you" Brian said, searching for a suitable word, before
he could finish his sentence Nick jumped in.
"You're almost as good as me! Do ya reckon that there's
space for some more singers?"
Chapter 4
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