She walked into a darkened arena. Row after row of seats were empty, adding an eerie quality to the place. She walked slowly down the main aisle. The center stage was illuminated, band equipment scattered around in various spots on the stage. Lilia wandered to the deserted front row and stood, watching.

Five guys, clad similarly, microphones in hand, were going through the motions of a sound check. After debating for a few minutes, they seemed to settle on a song and began to sing it, accappela. She gazed up in amazement. Paul didn't mention they were fabulous, she thought, startled by the quality of their rich harmonies and smooth-sounding texture. Drawing out the last note, Lilia sighed at the sound, so full of emotion.

Then their musicians kicked in and they jumped into action. They danced and they sang, the quality of neither being tarnished by both acts being preformed simultaneously. They kept a fast past, in time with the up-tempo beat. She watched in wonderment as they were playing it up for the absentee audience.

After the last strains of music had echoed through out the empty arena, the lights came back up. Lilia blinked, readjusting her eyes to the sudden harsh, white light. Looking up at the stage again, she locked eyes for an intense moment with a pair of blue eyes. She gazed back at them, until a familiar voice calling her name snapped her attention away from them.

"Paul!" she cried joyously. She ran to her life long friend, nearly knocking him over with her eager embrace.

"Good lord, Lilia. It's been forever, Baby!" he exclaimed. She hugged him again, and ignored his usage of her least favorite nickname.

"So where is everybody else?" she asked, looking around for them.

"They're backstage babying their equipment. You know Damon can be about his drums," he said, making Lilia laugh as she remembered Damon's over-protectiveness.

Paul led her to a seat and they sat down, to talk and catch up on over a year's worth of time.

"So Premiere has hit it big, eh? I heard your single on the radio yesterday," she said, brimming with excitement for her friends.

"Not big time. Not yet. But our first single, the one you heard, hit number one this week, which is fabulous," he said.

"And you're on your first tour. As an opening act, but soon you'll be having the opening act," she said confidently.

"You're just saying that!" he said, looking away, feigning modesty.

"Paul, I've watched this band since you guys got together. I spent all of my pre-teenage years and my teenage years with you guys, you've practically raised me! So if I say you're going to be successful, then you are going to be successful," she said determinedly.

After talking non-stop for another few minutes, Paul pulled her up and dragged her backstage to see the rest of the band, Premiere.

"Baby!" Sandy shrieked when she saw her and the next thing Lilia knew she was being bombarded by hugs, until she was in the middle of a massive group hug. After finally untangling herself, she quickly looked over each person.

Damon's hair had undergone a personality change. It was purple with blue tips and it was short and spiky. Lilia remembered the long, messy way he used to wear it, and decided that it was a change for the better. Sandy had changed completely from the plain girl-next-door to the glamour girl. She had apparently abandoned her t-shirt/jean routine and opted for run-of-the-mill fashion. She looked fabulous and nearly blew Lilia away with her appearance change. Jacki...Well, Jacki was Jacki. Lilia didn't really know her that well, so she couldn't really see any difference. And Paul...he was the same as ever, their sudden taste of fame not changing him at all.

They were yelling things out and attempting to tell the story of over a year's worth of news in a few seconds. Paul finally managed to calm them down.

"Okay, okay! Let the poor girl breath! So, Baby, why don't you tell them about your year?" Paul suggested.

"Well, that old bitty, affectionately known as my aunt, finally retired. Genuine is finally mine! But my ever ambivalent auntie was more than happy to take over for awhile, while I came to see my favorite band. But if I'm not careful and stay too long, my night club might have been magically transformed into her ideal family restaurant," she said. They all knew of Lilia's constant struggle, when she was younger, for her aunt to turn the successful restaurant into a night club. The location was perfect. At her urging, Lilia's aunt had allowed local bands to play, causing the restaurant to gain a following after the regular restaurant hours. But now the place was Lilia's, and after a year of hard work, she had transformed the place into the hottest all-ages night club in town.

"She actually gave up Genuine? Wow, I honestly thought that you would have to bury her there!" Paul kept repeating, clearly shocked. Premiere had been the first band to play there, at Lilia's insistance, five years prior.

"Well, after the crowd you guys drew in started to take over, she could hardly stand the thought of her restaurant flooded with teenagers, after hours. So she handed over the keys. We have a BOTB every month," Lilia stated, referring to the Battle Of The Bands with the shorthand they had developed for it. It was during Genuine's first one that Premiere had been discovered.

"How was your flight, Baby?" Sandy asked, as considerate as ever.

"Horrible! The person next to me tortured me with horrible stories about planes crashing and stuff once he found out that I was terrified of planes, and he dumped a bottle of juice in my lap," she said, her green eyes flashing with sudden aggravation.

"Shit! I forgot you're terrified of flying. Sorry Baby, you could have come here a different way, you know," Paul exclaimed apologetically.

"It was the fastest way to get here. Don't worry, Paul. The shit head bugged me so much, it kept my mind off the fact that I was three thousand feet above the ground."

"For two and a half hours?" Sandy asked incredulously.

"What can I say, he was a really big shit head," she said, causing Sandy to laugh.

"So, Lilia, want to meet the main act?" Damon asked.

"That was who was just out there?"

"Yeah, that was them. You have heard of the Backstreet Boys, right?" Sandy asked.

"Um...can't say that I have. I live under a rock you know," Lilia said with a straight face.

"You'd have to live under a rock not to know them. You own a night club, Lilia, and you don't know them?" Jacki asked her, her voice dripping with mockery. Lilia gritted her teeth while she remembered exactly why she and Jacki had never gotten to know one another.

"She was kidding, Jacki. She knows who they are, she's just attempting sarcasm. Baby, you're to...blunt to try sarcasm. You're just not suited for it," Paul said. Lilia smacked his arm playfully.

"So, let's meet these guys," she said. Paul led her over to where they were standing, a few yards away. They were standing in a semi-circle, water bottles in hand. She took a nervous breath (as she was about to meet a very prominent band) and followed confidently. The rest of the members of Premiere followed, en masse.

"Hey! How was your rehearsal?" Paul asked, when they came up to them. Lilia nervously looked at them, but kept darting her gaze away, unwilling to make eye contact.

"It was great. Who's this, new recruit?" one of them asked.

"Hell no! I'm their first recruit. Their first fan! I knew them way back when they played in my garage!" Lilia exclaimed.

"Yeah, she's been our number one fan since day one," Paul explained.

"Oh, you're the best friend! We've heard a lot about you. In fact, you're all we've heard about in the past few days. Nice to meet you, Lilia is it? I thought you would have been taller," another one of them said. Lilia felt her face burn as she turned bright read and glared at Paul in her embarrassment.

"So you've heard things about me, have you?" she asked weakly, glaring once again in Paul's direction.

"You could say that we were a little...a lot...excited to have you come," Paul exclaimed.

"Some of us more than others," Jacki's voice said, low enough so that only Lilia could hear. She really doesn't like me, Lilia thought.

"So anyway, Baby, this is Brian, we got Howie over there, that's Kevin and then AJ at the end," Paul said, pointing to each in turn.

"Hi, I'm Lilia, the best friend whom you've heard ever so much about," she said smiling, with a hint of sarcasm in her voice.

"Hello Lilia. Why do they call you Baby?" Kevin asked.

"I'm the youngest. They called me that to bug me when I was seven and I wouldn't leave them alone and it just stuck," she said, exasperated.

"Ah. So did you have any problems getting through security?" AJ asked.

"Uh, no. Should I have?" she asked, concerned.

"No. It's just that I had a deal with them, that any beautiful ladies that were to come in had to come through me first," he responded smoothly, causing Lilia's cheeks to flame once again. She looked at the ground and mumbled an embarrassed thank you.

"So, where's Blondie? There's only four of you," he asked.

"The curse of being known by a specific number. Makes you susceptible to head counts. He's with the choreographer. She's pissed because he missed a step. Better not let him call you Blondie, he's not having the best day," Brain warned.

"Yeah, I think she's just mad because he missed rehearsal, even though it wasn't his fault, his flight was delayed," Kevin added.

"The airport was a mess today. I was late getting in, too. I would have been here sooner, only I stopped by the hotel for a few minutes first," Lilia said, turning to Paul.

"Hey guys!" a voice said, coming up to them. Lilia looked to the new-comer and her eyes widened with surprise as she realized she recognized him.

"This is Nick," Paul said to Lilia.

"And don't think I didn't hear you calling me Blondie, Paul. Name's Nick, not Blondie, 'kay?" he said smiling. He looked to Lilia and his eyes widened with shock.

"Oh my god, you're..." he trailed off.

"And you're the jackass that was sitting beside me during the flight! The one who terrorized me the entire time and dumped juice on my lap!" she exclaimed. The members of both bands were blown away by their acquaintance.