Katie rested her hand on the mouse and stared at the monitor of her computer. Four good friends of hers, Amanda, Theresa, Rebekah, and Erin stood and sat around the computer. The five girls were surfing the Internet for information about the Hanson concert they were going to the next day.
“It’s too quiet in here,” complained the grumpy Rebekah.
Katie and Theresa ignored her. Rebekah had been complaining all day, and they were all getting sick of her. Even quiet, agreeable Erin was about ready to slap her friend. “Then turn on the radio,” Amanda snapped.
All five girls were relieved when Rebekah walked away from their cluster. Kneeling in front of Katie’s stereo system, she turned on the local Milwaukee station. A song she didn’t really like blasted out of the two speakers. Rebekah hit a different button. “Hey!” screamed Katie, Amanda, and Theresa in unison. Rolling her eyes, Rebekah returned to the previous station.
When the intolerable song ended, the DJ came on. “Alright all you Hanson fans.” Five pairs of eyes widened, and five heads snapped to attention. “Caller ten wins a giant Hanson prize pack!” Although no one had a clue what the prize was, Rebekah dove at the phone.
Katie’s younger sisters, Kristen and Sarah, sprinted into the room. “What did he say?” Kristen shouted. Amanda updated the younger girls while Theresa and Erin ran over to Rebekah.
Furiously, Rebekah kept hanging up and redialing. “Hello, KISS FM,” said someone on the other side of the phone.
“Hello?” responded Rebekah slowly.
Theresa and Erin pressed closer. At the sound of Rebekah’s greeting, the rest of her eager friends surrounded her.
“You’re caller ten,” declared the DJ.
Rebekah shrieked, “We won!” The remaining six girls joined her in screaming and jumping up and down. Returning her ear to the phone, Rebekah tried to quiet them.
The DJ went on to describe their giant prize pack--seven front row tickets and backstage passes to the Hanson concert. After thanking the DJ for the millionth time, Rebekah tried to keep a straight face as she hung up the phone.
“We’re gonna meet Hanson,” she announced in a low, controlled voice. The room erupted in squeals.
The next day came (and it went--haha, Theresa). The seven girls had to get to the concert early. Since Hanson had to leave right after the concert, they were going to meet their fans backstage before the show.
When the Hadler’s van parked in the parking lot, the seven girls burst out of it. Mrs. Hadler yelled some last minute reminders as they ran toward the amphitheater.
“This is gonna kick!” squealed Rebekah.
“I get to see Zaccy!” Theresa spazzed.
Kristen turned to Theresa. “Zac is mine.” The two began arguing about who got Zac.
“Guys!” Katie yelled. “Why don’t we just see who Zac wants?”
“And who Taylor wants,” Amanda added, glancing at Erin and Katie.
“You’re lucky, Bek,” said Erin, “you don’t have any competition.”
Rebekah grinned, showing off her yellow and orange braces. “I know. Except for the thousands of other fans who think they get Ike.”
“I don’t have any competition either,” Sarah reminded them. Sarah had her eye on Aaron Carter.
Kristen made a hacking sound. “Aaron Carter is a little punk!” Rebekah laughed while Erin, Theresa, and Amanda gushed about how cute Aaron Carter was.
It seemed to take forever to get to the backstage area, but when they did, seven hearts beat a little faster. The sight that met their eyes overwhelmed them. Busy-looking people scurried in all directions. There was a long, open hallway and a comfortable lounge. Sitting on one couch in the lounge were three handsome, blond guys. Erin and Theresa held onto each other as they approached the couch.
Rebekah led the way through the hallway, pawing at her backstage pass. Growing shy, she pulled Kristen up next to her to keep her company in the front.
Hanson didn’t notice their fans enter, so Amanda cleared her throat. The three guys looked up with a start. Politely, they rose and stuck their hands out. Theresa broke away from Erin and dove at Zac, who was farthest to the left. Sarah, being the least obsessed fan there, happily followed.
While Sarah and Theresa shook Hanson’s hands, Erin gazed at Taylor. He was even cuter in person. His long blond hair was neatly pulled back into a low ponytail, and he wore a tight black T-shirt. From where she was standing, Erin could see a red WWJD bracelet around his right wrist. The one thing she didn’t notice was Taylor’s aloofness to the girls. The way his blue eyes looked past their hungry eyes was how he looked at all his fans these days. Unknowing. Uncaring. He couldn’t get attached to a fan.
A young girl came down the hall behind them. “Zac!” she called.
Katie turned around in annoyance to see who the ditzy fan was. The girl looked about Zac’s age if not younger. She had a bounce in her step as if someone had fed her too much caffeine. Her long blond hair swung behind her as she galloped down the hall. Smiling from ear to ear, her brown eyes shone with joy.
Zac excused himself from the group. Theresa watched him go. He walked past the girls toward the young girl. Taking her hand, they hurried into an ajoining room. Taylor shot Isaac a nervous glance. Amanda noticed the glance. “Who was that?” she demanded.
Isaac carefully returned his brother’s look. “Can you keep a secret?”
Taylor looked like he wanted to slap Isaac. “Ike!” he whispered.
“Yeah, of course,” promised the girls.
“Zac has a girlfriend,” said Isaac slowly. “That’s her. Her name is Hope, and she’s from Tennessee.”
“She wanted to meet Zac in Milwaukee, so they could talk before and after the concert. We didn’t know any fans would be back here,” continued Taylor.
Amanda and Katie turned to Theresa to spot her reaction. She felt insulted and furious. Her face grew red with anger. Hot tears sprung to her blue eyes.
Isaac noticed and went to Theresa to comfort her. He encircled her shoulders with his arm. “Sorry, Theresa. We told Zac it wasn’t a good idea.”
Theresa leaned her head on Isaac’s shoulder and wept Her friends gathered around her. “Zac is mine,” she choked.
Rebekah spoke up, “Theresa, you knew you couldn’t have Zac.”
“Yeah, cause I get him,” whispered Kristen.
Sarah frowned. “Hope gets him,” she said.
Theresa spun around. She grabbed Sarah by the shoulders and began shaking her violently. Sarah tried to push her away. When Theresa wouldn’t let go, Katie came to help her little sister. Taylor sprang in to help, too.
Erin and Rebekah fell back in shock while Taylor wrestled Theresa, and Katie pulled Sarah away. “What the heck!” Rebekah exclaimed.
“Theresa wouldn’t do that. She’s so nice,” expressed Erin.
“You’re next, Erin!” Theresa screamed, releasing the sobbing Sarah. Sarah fell back on Katie, and Erin’s eyes widened. Hoping Theresa was kidding, Erin laughed nervously.
Zac came back into the lounge. When he noticed the rabid look in Theresa’s eyes, he pulled his hand from Hope’s. “This is Hope.”
“We know,” Katie told him. In a way, Katie was excited for Hope and wanted to get to know her better. She was mad that neither her sister or friend got Zac, though.
“Hey, Hope,” Theresa greeted, forcing herself to sound cheery. “Could I talk to you over there, please?” As Theresa and Hope went away from the group, evil thoughts bounced around in Theresa’s head. “How long have you and Zac been going out?” she demanded.
“A couple weeks.” Hope got a dreamy look in her eyes that disguted Theresa.
Growing furious, Theresa whipped a bobby pin from her hair. “I’ll use this on anyone who makes a move on Zac. Anyone,” she threatened.
Hope laughed. Theresa jabbed the bobby pin into the younger girl’s neck. “I’m serious,” she growled.
Hope’s laughing ceased. Her face paled. “It’s a bobby pin,” she told Theresa.
The absent-minded Theresa glanced at it. Sheepishly, she stuck it back in her hair. Digging around in her backback, she located a scissors. When she brought them out and pointed them at Hope, Hope gasped. She was about to run to Zac but then remembered what Theresa said.
The others watched Theresa and Hope. When Theresa took out her scissors, Zac’s eyes widened. “Holy crap. Theresa’s gonna hurt Hope with scissors!” He was about to break them up, but Katie stopped him.
“But Theresa wouldn’t do that,” Katie reassured him.
“Katie,” Taylor said, “then why would she have the scissors out?”
“Yeah,” agreed Amanda. She was proud of herself for taking Taylor’s side.
Kristen noticed Theresa started snapping the scissors in front of Hope’s face. Silently, she hoped that Theresa would chop off that brat’s nose.
Zac ran at Thersa, ignoring his brothers’ cries. He grabbed at the scissors and tried to pull them away from Thersa. Theresa pulled harder and accidentally cut Zac’s index finger. In shock Zac let go and stared at the bleeding tip of his finger.
“Tay,” Ike said firmly, “go get the first aid kit and get dad in here.” He paused in thought. “I think we’re gonna have to cancel our show.”
“It’s just a cut, Ike,” Taylor argued.
“Just go!”
“Can I go, too?” Amanda asked.
“Me too,” Erin and Katie piped up.
Taylor nodded, and the four of them ran off to find Mr. Hanson.
