"Yeah, the first show was great. I can't wait till you see it," I said into my cell phone.
I was backstage, getting ready for the second Tampa concert.
"I can't wait either! I still can't believe it when I hear your and Eric's voice on the radio!" my best friend, Mary Beth replied.
I blushed, still unable to comprehend our success.
"Where's Justin?" Mary Beth asked.
"He's with the rest of the guys, getting ready."
"Cool. God, I can't wait to meet them. How the hell are you and Eric so lucky? You tour with them, and just to rub it in my face, you decide to date 2 of the 5!" she laughed.
"Shut up! How many times do I have to tell you that JC is gonna jump you once the two of you meet?! All I did was let y'all talk over the phone, and already the boy's cell phone bill is through the roof!" I laughed as I pulled on my stage outfit.
"I know, I know. I just can't wait! I'm gonna kill somebody if I don't see you soon!"
"Tell me about it," I said.
We had known each other since kindergarten, and we were better than best friends. College came, and she went to North Carolina, while I left for New York. We kept in touch almost everyday, emailing and calling, but we hadn't seen each other since the previous summer when she visited Eric and I in New York.
Luckily, our next on the tour was North Carolina, just a few minutes away from her, so I immediately called and told Mary Beth that, not only was she coming to the concert, but she was spending every waking hour we spent there with me and everyone else. Let's just say that as much as I loved all the guys, I missed my best friend.
"5 minutes!" Eric peeked his head into my dressing room and informed me.
"OK, I'm ready."
Eric shut the door.
"Who was that?" MB asked.
"Eric. I gotta go, the show's about to go up," I said, dabbing on some gaudy glitter.
"Oh, OK. Call me as soon as you can tomorrow! Good luck!"
"Thanks! I will. Bye!"
"Bye!"
We hung up, and I did one final check in the mirror before leaving the dressing room.
I stepped out and made my way to the stage entrance. Eric and the dancers were there, stretching. We took hands as I said a quick prayer for everyone. We all hugged, and the lights went down.
"Shelly!" I heard Justin's voice over the crowd's growing roar.
"Yeah," I turned around, where Justin waited, open armed.
"Good luck, baby girl," he said, wrapping his arms around me, just as he had done the night before.
"Thanks, baby."
We pulled back, and he looked me up and down, smiling.
"You look amazing. You'll BE amazing."
I laughed, "You DO know I'm gonna be wearing this same outfit every night, right, Justin?"
"Yeah, but you're gonna look more and more amazing every night, so get used to it, babe. I love you," Justin softly kissed me.
"Love you too," I said, running my fingers through his curls for good luck.
I moved one of my hands down to my waist, where Justin's hand lay, and linked his fingers with mine. The lights went completely out, and the band gave us our cue to go on. I walked from Justin, letting our hands melt away from one another's. I followed Eric and the other dancers/singers as we took our place in front of another sold out arena.
