PART TWO
The guys had finished their concert and we were in the bus leaving the theater. I was looking out the window at all the girls we were driving past. Some were up really close to the bus trying hard to see in the tinted windows, some were in the background holding signs and crying, some were running after the bus, but they all were totally in love with my brothers. Eeew now there’s a gross thought. I thought back to the conversation Jessica and I had earlier. Wouldn’t it be great if all those fans were mine? I wish I was a star! I left the couch by the window and laid down in my bunk.I reached for my CD player at the foot of the bed and sorted through my CD’s. “Beauty and the Beast” “Mr. Bunny sing-along” “Middle of Nowhere” “Mmmbop” “Bommerang” “Jack Frost Soundtrack”
“No, no, no, no, no, no...” I thought as I reached for the perfect CD. “The Nutcracker” Aghhhhh..Music by Tchicaivosky. I popped it in and closed my eyes while visions of sugar plum fairies danced in my mind. They were beautiful. They had blond hair pulled back tight into buns and had Pointe shoes laced up their legs. They could arabesque and stand on one toe for hours. My thoughts became dreams as I peacefully fell asleep.
My eyes slowly opened sometime early in the morning. I’m usually the first one up and I just sit out in the living room section of the bus and wait for the rest of my family to wake up. I glanced at the clock on the table it flashed 5:07 is big red numbers.
“Well, they should be up pretty soon,” I thought until 7:00 came around and there was no sign of any other life form on the bus. I walked back to the bunks and whisked open Mom’s curtain.
“Mom! Why aren’t we all up yet?” I demanded.
“Oh, hunny, you were already asleep last night before I could tell you. The guys’ show was cancelled. We’re heading home. Please, let mommy rest.” she moaned. Her voice sounded strained. I crawled back into my bunk below hers and curled up under my “Winnie the Pooh” comforter.
“What to do...what to do?” I thought as I looked through my collection of junk at the end of my bed. I grabbed my some-what new/ some-what used “Winnie the Pooh” coloring book at the end of my bed and a brand new box of crayons. I started coloring and must’ve lost track of the time because when I finally “came to” I had colored every page in the book. I hopped out of the bunk and walked back into the living room/kitchen area of the bus. Zac, Tay, and Ike were all sitting around the table. They all had “bed head” and looked dead tired.
“Hi Aves!” they all said sporadically before I even sat down. I grabbed the box of Lucky Charms in front of Zac and the carton of milk in front of Tay and made myself a bowl of cereal.
“So Avie, what did’ya think of the show last night?”
“Well,” I said matter-of-factly, “I only got to ‘see’ Mmmbop. That was pretty good, but Zac, your ponytail looked weird. And I heard the rest over the loudspeakers backstage. All in all, you guys sounded good with only a few technical errors.”
“That’s good,” Taylor said, “As long as you think it sounded good, we KNOW it couldn’t have been half-bad. You lay out the facts. Jessie is too critical.” Just as he finished, Jess appeared in the doorway.
“Speaking of the devil!” Taylor grinned as all the guys said their “good-mornings” to Jess.
“Are we there yet?” she whined as she rubbed her eyes and grabbed for a seat next to Ike.
“Well Jess,” he answered, “We should be there in less than an hour!”
“Good!” she said, “I wanna take a bath! I’m sick of the tiny shower here on the bus!”
“Don’t worry Jess,” Zac comforted, “We all agree.....we think you need to take a bath too!”
“Heeeeeeeeeey!” Jessie screeched as she threw a handful of Coca Puffs in his direction.
“Chill Chill...I’m just messin with your head!” Zac explained in fear of getting another bombardment of chocolate balls. We all pitched in to clean up and sat down for a
little Playstation tournament. Just as Jessie and I were up against each other, Mom poked her head in the room.
“Hey guys...we’re here!” We all excitedly rushed out of the bus into the small garage where we kept the tour bus while we were in town. We saw Jon, our house-sitter, outside standing next to the white van. He pulled the bus into the garage for us and locked up as we all piled into the van. It was a short drive to our house, but we were all disappointed when we arrived because standing around outside the house were about 15 or so Hansonites who had heard of our un-announced arrival. I think I was the only one excited about it. Ike, Tay, n Zac are too used to it to care anymore, Mom and Dad think it’s invading our privacy, and Jessica is too concerned with protecting Mac, Zoë, and I from the public eye. Once again, we filed out of the van and darted for the garage door. Once inside, I ran to the kitchen where there was a perfect view of the scene on the street. I couldn’t figure out if they were chanting or singing, but I definitely decided that they wanted to see my brothers. Again, I imagined what it would be like to be swamped with love mail, bombarded by raging fans, or just adored by millions upon millions of fans. I watched as Isaac, Taylor, and Zac headed outside with Dad. I guess they decided to go on out anyways to sign autographs or whatever.
I walked back to the room Jess and I shared. It was small and the wall paper had little pink ballet slippers. On one wall, there was a big, padded, ballet shoe hanging up, (my side of the room) and on the other side were a numerous amount of pictures of various bands- including Hanson- (Jess’ side.) I flopped down on the bed just as Mom burst through the door.
“Avie!” She exclaimed as she sat down on the bed, “I’ve got good news and I’ve got bad news, which would you like to hear first?”
“Umm...the bad news.” I decided
“Well, we’re going to be out of town next week for your ballet recital.”
“What?!?” I asked in horror, “Well then what’s the good news?”
“Your recital has been rescheduled for tomorrow so we CAN go!”
“Oh GOOOOD!” I was so excited. My very first solo. You see, with being on the road and all, Jess and I can’t take regular classes with other girls, so when we’re home, we cram in as many private lessons as possible. And since Jess and I are at two different levels, we each have a solo in this year’s recital.
The next morning everybody was rushing here and there getting ready for the recital we were almost late for. Mom and Zoë had on matching dresses and Dad, Mac, Ike, Tay, n Zac all had on suits. Jess was wearing a purple leotard with a long, flowy, purple and teal skirt and I was in a pink leotard and matching tu-tu.
When we arrived at the theater the recital was held in, it was almost ready to begin. Mom and Dad took the rest of the family to find seats and me n Jessie rushed back stage. Some older girls came over to us and caked make-up on our faces. They kept saying “trust me, trust me,” every time either of us fussed about what they were doing. We sat as class after class performed. Then, towards the end, Ms. Minchin, our instructor walked up on stage and grabbed the microphone. She began to give a spial about Jess and I and our family and why we took private lessons. We just rolled our eyes, but the audience seemed pretty impressed. I think I may even have heard one girl in the audience shout, “ohmigosh! HANSON???” Then, as Ms. Minchin was finishing, Jessie walked up on stage and gracefully assumed her position. The music began and I watched her tendu and plie her little heart out. She was great. As she finished the audience applauded loudly. Wow! That was a tough act to follow. Jess sasched across the stage until she exited and I exclaimed,
“Wow! That was terrific! I’ve never seen you perform with such grace and style!”
“Hey,” she replied, a bit out of breath, “Grace is my middle name!”
“Wow! I realized as I began to walk on stage...she’s right! The spotlight was really bright on my face and it was kind of hot. I already was sweating. It seemed like there were 50,000 people in attendance. The music began and I froze. Staring blankly I wondered how my brothers could do this. I wasn’t cut out to be a star. The music stopped and I snapped out of it. I glanced to where I saw my family sitting in the back of the room and I noticed the confused looks on their faces. My music started once again, this time though, I started with it. I completed my routine the best I’d ever done it. I courtsied. I looked back at my family. Mom was standing up holding a smiling Zoë and clapping, Dad, Ike, Tay, n Zac were all standing and clapping wildly, and Mackie was jumping up and down on his seat wildly screaming, “Bravo Avie Bravo!”
“Wow!” I thought, “Jess was right! Who cares about the rest of the fans, it was my family who REALLY loved me. I didn’t have to be the biggest music group, or the best ballerina, my family loved me no matter what. But then, I slowly scanned the audience one more time realizing, I had received a standing ovation! Then I said to myself,
“Avery Laurel Hanson, you truly are a shining star!”
