Time: Late May through September, 2001
Characters:Bailey Walker, 18; summer before freshman year of college
Lana Hadley, 18; summer before sophomore year of college
Isaac Hanson, 20; going into 3rd year of college
Taylor Hanson, 18; going into1st year of college
Zac Hanson, 15; going into junior year in high school
Plot: Bailey and Lana get music industry internships, and go on tour with Hanson. Major problem: internal character conflicts and September 11 happens.
Descriptions: Bailey Walker is 18 years old, graduated from Portsmouth High School in Portsmouth, NH. She intends to major in photography and music at Boston University. She has blonde hair, mid back length with the front layered, brown eyes, tan skin, and is 5’ 3” tall. She is an only child.
Lana Hadley is 18 years old, she graduated from Cambridge High School in Cambridge, MA. She is majoring in psychology and human relations at Boston College. She has blonde hair with light blonde highlights, mid back length, blue eyes, fair skin, and is 5’ 7” tall. She has two older brothers.
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“Mail!” a voice called across the room. The girl at the desk didn’t hear her, and was still engrossed in the text book that was in front of her. “Lana? Mail.”
“What? Oh.” Lana finally looked, seeing her roommate standing in the doorway, sifting through the letters in her hands. “Anything good?”
“I don’t know…” the girl trailed off, her eyes resting on the top letter. She smiled over at Lana, holding the envelope up. “What’s this? A letter from Island Def Jam Records?”
Lana stood up quickly, crossing the room and taking the letter in her hands. “It’s the reply about the summer internship,” she said quietly, her voice awed. She turned the letter over in her hands a few times, then handed it back to her roommate.
“What?”
“I can’t open it,” Lana stated, backing away.
“Are you kidding me?! You’ve been waiting to here from these people ever since you sent the application in November,” her roommate reminded her. Lana shrugged.
“I’m too nervous. I can’t look. You open it,” she insisted. Her roommate shrugged also.
“Hey, you don’t have to tell me twice,” she stated. Lana watched her face as she tore open the envelope and began reading the letter. Her faced showed no emotion at all. Finally, Lana couldn’t stand it anymore.
“Well?” she asked. Her roommate just looked at her.
“Well… I’d say you’re gonna have a pretty interesting summer, because you got it!” She ended her sentence with a little shriek. Lana was shocked at first, but a smile spread across her face. Her roommate grinned back and grabbed her hands, and they started jumping up and down in excitement.
“All finished packing?” Bailey’s mother asked, walking past her room and pausing in the doorway. Bailey nodded.
“Yeah, I’m packed. I just wanna check once more and make sure that I have everything, then I’m going to go say goodbye to my friends,” she explained. Her mother nodded.
“Just don’t stay out too late. Your flight leaves at 7:00, so we have to be out of the house by 4:30 at the latest,” she stated. Bailey assured her that she’d be home by 10 pm, then went about going over her checklist one more time.
The next morning, Bailey and her parents were at the airport with 40 minutes to spare. As they approached the terminal where her plane would be taking off, Bailey noticed a girl about her own age sitting down, waiting for the plane to start boarding. The other girl noticed her too, and stood up.
“Hi, are you the other Island Def Jam intern?” she asked with a friendly smile. Bailey nodded.
“Yeah, I’m Bailey Walker,” she replied.
“Lana Hadley, nice to meet you,” the other girl said, shaking her hand. Bailey stepped aside a little.
“These are my parents,” she said, motioning to them. Lana smiled and nodded.
“Is your family here?” Mrs. Walker asked, looking around a little.
“Yeah, my older brother, Scott, is here. He just ran off somewhere to get some coffee,” Lana explained. The four of them sat down and chatted a little as they waited. Scott returned with coffee and sat with them until the plane began boarding.
“Have fun and be safe,” Scott said, giving his sister a hug goodbye. “Don’t forget to call me when you guys come to Boston.”
“I won’t forget,” Lana promised. Bailey said goodbye to her parents and then boarded the plane with Lana, finding their seats together. During the 45 minute plane ride, they talked a lot and got to know each other, realizing that they had a lot in common. When they landed in NYC, there was a chauffer and limo waiting for them. They got their suitcases from the baggage claim and put them in the trunk, then got in the limo and headed towards the hotel.
“Are you excited?” Bailey asked, looking out the window at the NYC atmosphere.
“Eehh, a little. I’m nervous though. What about you?” Lana replied. Bailey just shrugged a little. They finally reached the hotel, and it was about 9 am.
“I’ll pick you up back here at noon,” the limo driver told them. Lana and Bailey brought their bags inside to check in and found out that they were rooming together. The other 3 interns, who were all guys, were sharing a room together also. The girls headed up to their room.
“536… 538… 540…” Bailey mumbled the door numbers as they walked down the hallway. “Ah, here we go. 562.”
“Finally. This bag weighs a ton,” Lana complained about her suitcase. Bailey swiped the key card and let them into the room. It was a fairly small place, with a lounge/living room area and a bedroom and a bathroom. The girls brought their things into the bedroom and each claimed a bed, then decided to take a little 2 hour power nap.
“This view is amazing,” Lana stated, lying on her side on her bed and looking out the sliding glass door that led to a small balcony. “We can see right into Manhattan.”
“View later, sleep now!” Bailey insisted, closing her eyes. Lana giggled and also laid down to take a nap. Around 11 am, there was a knock in the door. Seeing as Lana was still asleep, Bailey got up and went out into the lounge room to answer the door. She found three guys, a little older than herself, standing in the hall.
“Hey, we’re interns at Island Def Jam. Are you… Lana Hadley or Bailey Walker?” one of them asked, reading the names off of a piece of paper in his hands. Bailey nodded.
“Yes, I’m Bailey,” she replied. The guys smiled.
“Great. I’m Max,” the blonde one introduced himself. Bailey couldn’t help but think he was a little cute.
“I’m Seth,” another one said. He was kinda short, and had curly, short brown hair.
“Connor,” the third guy waved a little and nodded. He also had brown hair, but it was long and was pulled back into a pony tail. Bailey stepped aside and invited them into the room.
“Let me go get Lana and we can all talk,” she said. She went in and woke Lana up, and they went into the lounge to get to know the other interns. They found out that Seth and Connor were both 19 and Max was 20, and that Seth was from Denver, CO, Connor from Detroit, MI, and Max from San Francisco, CA. At noon, the five of them went down to meet the limo and head to a restaurant to get lunch and meet the record company executives.
Lunch went really well. The record company people were really nice and friendly. They handed out schedules for both the next week and the summer tour, some papers on which each intern had to do, and other important “need-to-know” information.
“And last but not least, we have a few rules for the summer,” one of the executives announced. “Number One: Our drug and alcohol policy is ‘don’t ask, don’t tell’. We’re trusting you guys to be responsible, okay? Number Two: Check in at each venue before taking off to explore the city or whatever. We need to know that you’re still with us and not worry about having left you anywhere. Number Three: Don’t let your personal life interfere with your work. That’s pretty self-explanatory. And Number Four: No relationships with band members or road or tour crew. Friendships are okay, romantic relations are bad.”
“And that’s it for today. You guys have the rest of the day to do whatever you please, so have fun,” another person, the tour manager, Jeff, said. The 5 interns piled back into the limo.
“Great, we have the rest of the day off. What do we want to do?” Lana asked. Everyone thought for a moment.
“Well, maybe we could go walk around a little and check out some shops,” Bailey suggested. “I mean, I’m always up for a new outfit.”
“Yeah, then we could all go back to the hotel and swim or something. Just relax a bit before we start working,” Max said as the group began walking down a street filled with many stores. After about half an hour of shopping, the boys began to get a bit antsy. Lana and Bailey decided they would stop shopping and head back to the hotel. When they got back, the five of them decided to meet at the pool in 30 minutes, giving everyone a sufficient amount of time to get changed and do whatever they may need to do before going to the pool.
“Check out this beyond-cute bathing suit I just got!” Bailey exclaimed, walking out of the bathroom. It was black with red cherries all over it. The top looked like a little cropped tank top, but the back just had 2 strings that tied together. The bikini bottoms looked regular and they tied on the sides.
“Wow, that’s cute. Looking to pick up some hotel boys at the pool?” Lana teased.
“Yeah, or maybe some intern boys!” Bailey joked. Lana laughed, then stepped into the bathroom to change. When she came back out, she hesitated for a moment.
“Is this ok?” she asked, motioning to her suit.
“What’s wrong with it?” Bailey asked.
“Is it too plain?” Lana asked. Bailey looked at the suit. It was plain, but cute. It was a shimmery blue one piece, but it was the kind that only connected at the sides, leaving the stomach part and back open.
“No, I think it’s cute!” Bailey said happily. “Now, let’s go show off for some boys.”
She led Lana towards the elevator. The five interns swam in the pool for a little while, but Lana and Bailey decided to go up to their room to wind down after that. One of the music executives had called to inform them of an early meeting scheduled for the next day. First everyone would find out what job they would be doing as an intern, then they would go and meet the person or people who they would be shadowing to learn from. Lana decided that, even though it was only around 7 pm, she was going to read for a little bit, then turn in early. Bailey decided to take a quick bath and do the same. Neither girl wanted to make a bad impression the next day.
“Lana!” Bailey slightly shouted as she shook her roommate awake. “Wake up!”
She shook Lana a little harder, which proved successful as Lana’s eyes opened. “What?” she questioned.
“Meeting, early, 30 minutes from now!” Bailey said, stepping away from Lana’s bed and wringing out her hair from the shower she had just taken.
“Oh my god.” Lana jumped out of bed and bolted to the bathroom. Bailey smiled to herself as she heard the shower water begin to run. 20 minutes later, both girls were ready and downstairs, waiting for the boys to arrive. Lana wanted to make the best impression by wearing a knee length black skirt and a three-quarter-sleeve blue button up shirt and some casual strappy sandals. Bailey had on some red pants and some black Mary Janes and a black tank top. The limo pulled up right as the boys stepped out of the elevator.
“Wow, looking nice,” Seth commented on Lana’s outfit. She smiled.
“Thanks.”
The five of them got into the limo and sat silently until they got to the executive’s office. As it turned out, Seth got the sound/light technician internship, Max got video media internship, and Connor would be the assistant tour manager. Lana got the music media PR internship, and she was totally happy about helping with the promotions and things. Bailey was going to be interning for the stylist. It really was the only thing she could do, because she was the youngest. She wasn’t totally bummed, but she wished she could have gotten something more interesting.
After the brief, 30 minute meeting, the five interns split up and went to meet the people they were shadowing for the internships.
“Hey Bailey, wait up,” Lana called, hurrying to catch up with her on her way out the door. “Where are you headed?”
“Back to the hotel to meet the stylist,” Bailey answered, making a little face. Lana laughed.
“Oh, I’m sure it won’t be that bad. You get the task of making everyone look good,” she stated as she walked back to the limo with Bailey. “Just a tip: keep them away from the leather, okay?”
“Hey, no problem there,” Bailey agreed. “Where are you going?”
“Back to the hotel to meet up with my intern person too,” Lana answered. They settled themselves into the limo, and then were on their way back to the hotel. “I wonder exactly what a PR person does.”
“I don’t know. They probably handle the press and media and reporters and such, maybe?” Bailey suggested. Lana nodded.
“That sounds reasonable,” she agreed. They arrived at the hotel a few minutes later and went their separate ways. They didn’t meet up again until that evening at dinner, and were busting with stories to tell each other. After dinner they met up with Max, Seth, and Connor again and they all went swimming again. After a while, Lana pulled herself up and out of the pool, sitting on the edge and dangling her legs into the water. Connor swam over and put his arms on the edge of the pool and started to talk to her. Across the pool, Bailey was stuck in a game of “monkey in the middle” with Max and Seth as they tossed a beach ball back and forth over her head. She started to pout a little.
“Okay, this really isn’t fun anymore,” she complained. Max playfully bounced the beach ball off of her head, then laughed, and Bailey glared at him. “Ooh, you are so gonna regret that.”
She dashed after him as quickly as she could, given that she was waist deep in water. She eventually caught up with Max and jumped on top of him, pushing him under the water. About 10 minutes later, everyone was tired of swimming and decided to retire to their rooms. Lana had a 6 am wake up call the next morning so she went to bed right away, but Bailey stayed up and listened to her head phones as Lana fell asleep.
The rest of the week was very similar to that, with Lana getting up between 6 and 7 every morning and not seeing everyone else until lunch time. After lunch, everyone would gather together at a giant studio a few blocks away, where the stage for the upcoming tour was being worked on and the set put together. Max, who had gotten the video media internship, always had a video camera with him and filmed everything. Seth spent most of his time in either the sound booth or the catwalk, fixing the lights. Connor was a little busier than they were, seeing as he was assistant tour manager and he had to oversee everything that was going on.
“Wow, this stage is amazing,” Bailey commented as she and Lana walked across the glossy black stage in awe. The girls spent the rest of that afternoon just hanging around, helping out where they could. At 5:00, everyone went back to the hotel to clean up before dinner.
“Wow, this week has really flown by. I can’t believe that tomorrow is Friday already,” Lana commented as she brushed her hair in front of the mirror.
“Yeah, I know. Are you anxious about tomorrow, I mean, meeting Hanson and all?” Bailey asked, stepping up beside her and double-checking her reflection. Lana shrugged a little.
“I don’t know. Maybe a little, but I know they’re just regular guys,” she answered.
“Yeah, right. Is there even such a thing as a ‘regular guy’?” Bailey asked with a laugh. The two of them headed down to the hotel restaurant to meet the others for dinner. The internship program coordinator was there as well.
“As you all know, we will be meeting the stars of the tour tomorrow. I just want to go over a few rules and regulations with you guys…” she trailed off, pulling a list out of her briefcase. Lana and Bailey exchanged a look over their water glasses. By the 20th “rule”, nobody was really listening to the program coordinator anymore. After dinner, everyone spilt up. Bailey realized that she forgot her booking the stage studio and asked Lana to go with her to retrieve it. They jumped in a taxi and headed over to the studio. Once there, they showed their tour passes to a security guard and were let into the building.
“Do you remember where you left it?” Lana asked, looking around on the stage. Bailey thought for a moment.
“Umm, I might have had it back in the dressing room,” she answered, referring to the room where she and Lorraine, the tour stylist, had spent most of their week. So she and Lana headed back in the direction of the dressing room. Bailey flipped on the light and searched the counters for her book. She found it and grabbed it.
“Okay, got it. Let’s go, this place gives me the creeps at night,” she said, turning to face Lana. Just at that moment, the lights in the room went off and pitch blackness surrounded them. Both girls screamed, surprised. Then they heard laugher and the lights came back on. Bailey and Lana twirled around to face the doorway, and saw a young boy leaning against the doorframe with a smug smirk on his face. He looked oddly familiar…
“I’m sorry, but you totally set yourself up for that,” he stated. Bailey narrowed her eyes at him.
“Oh, and I bet you felt so obligated to put us in our places,” she retorted.
“As a matter of fact, I did,” he shot back, straightening up in the doorway. “You should have seen the looks on your faces. Classic…”
“Yeah, well, if you’re done sneaking around in the dark and harassing defenseless girls, you’ll have to excuse us. We are more civilized people to focus our energy on,” Bailey stated, pushing past him and out into the hallway. Lana looked at the boy quickly, trying to place a name to his face, before hurrying to follow Bailey.
“Man, I almost peed myself, that was so scary,” Bailey said, clutching her book to her chest as she and Lana were riding back to the hotel in a taxi.
“Yeah, that guy looked oddly familiar, but since he scared the crap out of me I didn’t get a chance to put a name to the face,” Lana said, still pondering who the boy was.
“Probably an extra stage techie looking for some kicks or something,” Bailey said, stepping out of the taxi when it arrived at the hotel.
“So, what are you going to wear tomorrow when we meet Hanson?” Lana asked Bailey when they were back upstairs in their room.
“I’m not sure, I’ll decide later. I have to meet with Lorraine in the morning to make sure everything is all set for the start of the tour, since I have the weekend off,” Bailey said, and flashed a smile at Lana.
“No fair! I so have to do stuff both days this weekend,” Lana complained.
“That’s the benefits of getting the shaft,” Bailey said. A few minutes lather, both girls decided it would be best to go to bed early since they both had to work in the morning.