Chapter Seven
Part 1
I opened the door (Shanda and I are like sisters; we can just walk into each others houses) and stepped inside. I set my bags down on the floor. It was really dark.
"Hey!! Anyone home??" I shouted.
"SURPRISE!!" All my friends shouted and turned on the lights. I saw Jason and ran over and hugged him.
"Happy Birthday Amber!" Danielle shouted.
"I'm right here, you don't have to shout!" I shouted back, smiling.
Shanda walked over. "Like it? Lauren, Brandy, and Amanda are here too. Oh, and I invited one of my friends, if it's ok."
"Sure! Who is it?" I asked.
"Diane Jhonston. The cheerleader," Shanda said happily.
I looked at Jason with scared eyes. "Oh. Great!"
"Is there a problem?" Shanda asked (she didn't know that Diane was Jason's ex).
"No. No problem!" Jason said quickly.
Shanda walked away. "Jay, I'm gonna go see Brandy. I'll be right back, ok?" I said to him.
"Ok. I'll just sit here and wait," he smiled. I kissed him and went to go find Brandy, my only friend that understood my obsession with the Backstreet Boys. I found her in the kitchen, talking to Lauren.
"Hey, don't I get a greeting?" I asked.
"Happy Birthday! How old are you now, 13?" Lauren asked.
"Very funny. For your information, I am 18 years old!!" I declared. "And shouldn't you be at the ritard retard?" I teased Lauren. Brandy strated laughing (it's an old joke between us 3 band people who had been together since 7th grade; ritard is a musical term, and Lauren always called it retard, so she got stuck with the expression "retard at the ritard").
Lauren just looked at me with a grin."I'm gonna go get a drink. You guys want one?" she asked.
"No. That's all right," Brandy told her. When she was gone, Brandy turned to me. "Well, what's new with you?"
"Oh, nothing much. Joey came into town, and it turns out that he is really good friends with the Backstreet Boys, and he gives me a gift from them, which is two front row tickets and a backstage pass. Wanna go to the concert?" I grinned.
Brandy just stood there, her mouth hanging open. "Are you serious???"
"As a heart attack!" I answered, using the same phrase Joey had.
"Then hell yeah I wanna go! You think I wouldn't?" she asked.
I pretended to think. "Yeah. I think you wouldn't!" I grinned again.
She playfully hit me. "You are so mean!!"
"But, there is only one backstage pass. It's because they want to meet me in person. ME!!" I said, pretending to be amazed.
"Why you?" she asked.
"Because Joey hasn't stopped talking about me I guess, and they want to see if I'm really what Joey described, I guess."
"I don't care about the pass anyway. As long as I go to the concert!" She smiled. I smiled back.
"So, you want to be at my house Monday at 2 pm ok?" I asked.
"2 pm?! A little early, dontcha think??" she teased.
"Nah. Maybe we'll both catch the Boys before I go to meet them. Kay?" I asked her.
"Kay. At least none of them specifically are interested in you! 'Cause I own Nick!" she joked.
"Well, uh," I blushed. "Joey said that, uh, Nick was showing some interest in me even though we haven't met yet," I said nervously.
She gaped at me. "I am going to have a talk with that boy! Why couldn't he talk about me?" she said, faking sadness.
I put my arm around her. "It's okay Bran. We're all deprived in one way or another, and it just so happens that you're deprived of good looks!" I teased her.
"What?! I may be deprived of looks, but you're deprived of brains!" she retorted.
"I sure am!!! But seriously. That's what Joey said. But I've got Jason too, remember that!" I said.
"True," she replied. "Speaking of Jason, let's go annoy him!"
"Okay!" I was in the mood to do anything. We pushed our way through the people (there were people I didn't even know at my birthday party!) to where Jason was sitting. With Diane.
