Tina looked up at the moon from the roof of her house. It was the only place she could find complete solitude in her chaotic life. At thirteen years old, she felt worlds apart from everyone else. She had a million reasons to feel like an alien among her peers and there was nothing she could do about it. Now, more than ever, she felt lost and confused. Her big brother, Alex (or better known as A.J.), was leaving in a month for tour. He had just been signed into a group called the Backstreet Boys. Even though she was happy to know that he was following his dream, she couldn’t help but feel sad that he would be leaving her behind. A single tear fell down her cheek as she continued to count the stars, hoping one of them would grant her a wish and make it come true. She was lost in a daze when she heard the sound of someone climbing up the ladder. Tina quickly wiped the tear away from her cheek and brought her knees up to her chest. A.J. appeared at the top of the ladder and smiled at her.

“I thought I’d find you up here,” he said as he took a seat next to her.

“Yeah,” she said, not looking at him.

A.J. gently bumped himself against her and put his hand under her chin. “What’s up?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not,” she said as she turned away from him.

“Tina.”

She sighed and laid her head on her knees. “Don’t worry about it, Alex.”

“I think you know that doesn’t fly with me,” he said as he poked her side. “Talk.”

“No.”

“I know what it is,” he said while putting his arm around her.

“You do?” she said as she looked up.

“It’s about a boy. Am I right?”

Tina felt herself grow angrier. “No, it’s not a boy,” she said in a short tone.

“Really? Not even Corey Anderson?” he teased.

Tina glared at him. She hated it when he teased her about Corey. He was the most popular boy in school and she’d been in love with him since the third grade. Of course, being the nerd that she was, he’d never give her a second glance.

“No,” she said in a huff.

“Then what is it?”

Tina sighed and stood up. “Nothing, don’t worry about it,” she said as she headed toward the ladder.

A.J. grabbed her arm before she could step away from him. “Why can’t you tell me? Is it a girl thing?”

“Alex, let go of my arm.”

“You’ve always been able to talk to me,” he said softly. “What is so different this time?”

Tina looked at him and sighed. She started to open her mouth to tell him what was on her mind, but she was interrupted by the sound of their mother.

“You two have until the count of three to get your butts back into the house and into bed,” she called from the porch.

“Come on, hurry up, before she grounds us,” A.J. said as he climbed down the ladder.

Tina climbed down the ladder and pushed passed A.J. as she went into the house. She kissed her mother on the cheek and went to her room. She picked up her discman and pressed play as she put her headphones on. The soothing sounds of Boyz II Men blared in her ears as she laid on her bed. Her English book was sitting beside her. Tina scrunched up her nose and tossed it onto the floor. She’d finish her homework in study hall. She wasn’t in the mood to decipher all the thous and thees of Shakespeare. Tina was switching tracks on her CD when she heard a soft knocking at her door. She rolled her eyes and took off her headphones.

“Yes?” she said.

The door slowly opened and A.J. stepped into her room. He looked around at the mess in her room and chuckled.

“Are you ever going to clean in here?”

“No,” she stated bluntly.

He glanced at her Journey poster on the wall and smiled. “You still have the poster I gave you.”

“Of course,” she said as she sat up. “Did you come in here for a reason?”

“Yes,” he said as he sat on her bed. “Why won’t you talk to me?”

Tina rolled her eyes. “Do I have to tell you everything?”

“Yes,” he said with a grin.

“Be serious, Alex.”

“I am being serious. You’ve always came to me when something was on your mind. What’s wrong? Did I do something?”

Tina blinked back her tears. She wanted to tell him how angry she was at him for leaving. She secretly wished it was all a dream and she’d wake up with everything back to normal. Tina glanced at A.J. as he wiped the tear from off her cheek.

“I did do something,” he said softly.

Tina shook her head. “No, you didn’t, Alex. I swear.”

A.J. looked at her as if he didn’t believe her. Tina looked away from him and reached for her teddy bear.

“Tina, are you mad at me?”

“No,” she lied.

“Why do I get the feeling that you are?”

“I don’t know,” she replied with a shrug.

A.J. sighed and stood up. “Well, I’m going to bed. Good night, Sis,” he said then kissed the top of her head.

“Night,” she mumbled.

A.J. left the room and quietly shut the door. Tina felt horrible about lying to him. Tina turned off her lamp and laid on her bed. She let the tears spill down her cheeks as she buried her head in her pillow and sobbed. She was crying so hard that she didn’t hear A.J. come back into the room. The next thing she knew, she felt him rubbing her back. Tina didn’t fight him. She just sat up and cried on his shoulder. A.J. hugged her tight and ran his fingers through her hair. He didn’t question why she was crying and she was glad. All she wanted to do was cry until she fell asleep. It wasn’t fair that he was leaving. Everything good always happened for him. She was always the one who was left with the bad stuff. For the first time in her life, she wished she’d never been born.

On a normal day, Tina would’ve waited for A.J. before walking to school. She really didn’t feel like talking to him, so she took her Pop Tarts with her and walked out of the house before he even came down for breakfast. She stopped by Lizzie’s house before going to school. Lizzie’s mother answered the door and smiled.

“Good morning, hon!”

“Hi, Mary.”

“Come on in. I think Lizzie’s almost ready. Have a seat.”

“Thanks,” Tina said as she stepped inside.

“You’re early this morning.”

“Yeah, I actually had a head start.”

“Well, that’s always a good way to start the day,” she said with a smile. “Would you like some juice?”

“Sure,” she said as she followed her into the kitchen.

“So, I hear Alex is going away for the month,” she said as she poured Tina a glass of grape juice.

Tina frowned as she took the glass from her. “Yeah.”

“That sounds exciting. Tell him he needs to stop by before he leaves.”

“I will,” she said as she took a sip of her juice.

“Mom, is that Tina?” Lizzie called from upstairs.

“Yes, she’s in the kitchen.”

“Get your butt up here!” Lizzie shouted from her room.

Tina laughed. “I better go see what she wants. She must be in crisis.”

Lizzie’s mother laughed. “Probably some boy,” she said in a sarcastic tone. “Go help her.”

Tina smiled and went upstairs to Lizzie’s room. She grinned at the poster on her door that said “Beware of the Diva” with a picture of a kitten wearing a crown. Tina didn’t bother to knock. They had been barging into each other’s room since preschool. She heard the familiar sounds of Joey Lawrence coming from Lizzie’s boom box. She couldn’t help but laugh. Lizzie was the definition of a teeny bopper. She was into anything that was considered “cool.” Lizzie turned down the volume on her boom box and grinned at Tina.

“You’re early,” she said as she combed out her hair.

“Yeah, I got a head start this morning,” she said as she plopped down on Lizzie’s bed.

She glanced at Lizzie and frowned. Lizzie had always been the pretty one. Her long blonde hair was pulled back into a pony tail and she pranced around in a short, denim skirt and still in her B-cup bra.

“I can’t decide on which shirt to wear,” she said as she pulled out two tank tops from her closet. “Blue or pink?” she said as she held them both up.

“This is your crisis?” Tina said with a snicker.

“Shut up and choose,” she said with a playful glare.

“Blue,” she said as she picked up Lizzie’s puppy, Misty. “She’s getting fat,” she said with a laugh.

“Oh, I know. It’s ridiculous,” Lizzie said as she put on the blue tank top. “Perfect,” she continued as she applied her make up.

“You’re lucky,” Tina said as she scratched Misty behind the ears.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you get to wear make up.”

Lizzie turned around and grinned at Tina. “What your mom doesn’t know, won’t hurt her,” she said as handed Tina a tube of lip gloss.

“I don’t know,” Tina said as she timidly took the tube from her.

“Oh, stop being such a goody goody. It’s only lip gloss. Besides, you can take it off before you go home anyway.”

“Okay, fine,” she said as she put it on. “How does it look?”

“Hot,” Lizzie said with a grin.

“I could never look hot,” she said while rolling her eyes.

“Not with that dorky shirt you have on,” Lizzie said as she tossed her the pink tank top she had been holding. “Put this on.”

“Liz--”

“Just put it on. Trust me, you’re mother will never find out. Just put your other shirt in your bag and change before you go home.”

Tina sighed and changed her shirt. Lizzie yanked her off the bed and forced her to sit in the chair in front of her vanity table. She pulled her back into pig tails that draped over her shoulders and continued to put foundation on Tina’s face. She gave her a pair of pink dangly earrings with a matching necklace and some jelly bracelets to match. Lizzie smiled at her work and turned Tina toward the mirror. Tina stared at herself in shock. She almost looked…grown up.

“See? You can look hot. Now, let’s go before we’re late,” she said as she grabbed her bag.

Tina followed Lizzie out of the house and they walked down the street to school. They were waiting at the crosswalk when she heard A.J. calling her name. Tina pursed her lips and turned around to see him jogging up toward her.

“Why didn’t wait for me?” he asked.

Tina shrugged. “I didn’t think about it.”

“I hope you plan on washing your face before you go home. Mom will kill you if she sees you wearing that make up.”

“You’re not going to squeal, are you?”

“No, I don’t suppose,” he said as he playfully yanked on her pig tails then looked at Lizzie. “What did you do to my baby sister?”

“You’re blaming me for this?” she said with an innocent smile.

“Yes, I know you too well. Besides, she looks like you.”

“You make that sound like a bad thing?” Lizzie said with a flirtatious grin.

A.J. raised his eyebrows and offered his arm to Lizzie. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

Tina rolled her eyes and followed behind them. If there was one thing she hated about Lizzie, it was the fact that she was in love with her brother. Of course, A.J. flirting back didn’t make things any easier.

A.J. turned around and motioned for her to walk next to him. She let out a frustrated groan and walked beside him. A.J. smiled and put his arm around her shoulders as they walked up the pathway to the school. They got to the main entrance and A.J. waved then went the opposite direction. He was a freshman and attended classes on the other wing of the school. Tina and Lizzie walked to their lockers and Tina caught a glimpse of Corey Anderson in the mirror of her locker door. She sighed as the butterflies formed in her stomach. She saw him coming in their direction and she quickly shut her locker. She watched him walk over to Lizzie and smile at her. Her heart sunk as she watched him lean against her locker and stared at Lizzie.

“What do you want, Anderson?” Lizzie said in a snooty tone.

“Got any plans for Saturday night?”

“Not with you,” she said as she pushed him aside to get into her locker.

“Oh, come on. A bunch of us are going to the beach Saturday afternoon. You should come with us. My dad’s letting my brother take the boat.”

“Oh, how thrilling,” she said as she sarcastically.

“Oh, it’s a thrill alright.”

Lizzie snorted and shook her head in disbelief. “Get lost, Anderson.”

“One day you’re going to get tired of hanging with the dweebs and hang out with a real man.”

“I do hang out with a real man,” Lizzie said in an icy tone.

“Who? McLean? Yeah, he’s a real winner.’

“Hey!” Tina defended.

“Oh, and look it’s the other one,” he said with a laugh. “Hey, Tina, I heard your brother is joining some gay boy band.”

“It’s not a gay boy band!”

He laughed and walked away from us. “Whatever you say.”

Tina groaned in disgust. “Damn him!”

Lizzie rolled her eyes and took Tina by the arm. “I don’t know why you like him. He’s a jerk.”

“A cute jerk,” she mumbled.

“Don’t waste your time with him. Come on, the bell is about to ring.” Lizzie said as they went into homeroom.

School was over and Tina was relieved. Friday had finally ended and the weekend had arrived. She met up with Lizzie by their lockers and gathered her books for the weekend. Lizzie handed Tina a note and grinned.

“What is this?”

“It’s a note.”

“Duh,” Tina said with a laugh. “But what is it?”

“It’s for Alex. Give it to him for me.”

Tina rolled her eyes. “Lizzie, why can’t you be a normal best friend and not like my brother?”

“Oh, come on. It’s not so bad. Wouldn’t it be great if me and Alex got married? We’d be sisters.”

“Wait, let me jump for joy,” Tina said in sarcasm.

“Shut up and go change before we leave.”

“Right,” Tina said as she followed Lizzie into the bathroom.

Lizzie went over to the mirror and freshened her make up while Tina went into a stall.

“I hope you brought some face wash because this stuff won’t come off with that crappy soap the school has,” she said as she pulled the tank top off.

“There’s some in my bag.”

“Good.”

Tina quickly changed back into her own shirt and came out of the stall. She handed Lizzie back her shirt, along with the jewelry and Lizzie handed her the face wash.

“I don’t know why my mother won’t let me wear make up. This is so stupid.”

“She will eventually,” Lizzie said as she zipped up her bag.

“Yeah, when I’m sixteen. I think my mother has her mind set on keeping me a little girl forever.”

“All moms do that.”

“Yours doesn’t,” Tina said as she wiped the water off her face with a paper towel.

“That’s because she got tired of my whining.”

“That wouldn’t work with my mother. She’s too damn stubborn.”

Lizzie smiled and helped Tina take out her pig tails. “So, who are you wanting to ask you to the dance next week?”

Tina threw away the paper towel and turned to face her. “You know who.”

Lizzie rolled her eyes and shook her head. “You’re wasting your time on Anderson. Besides, you’re too good for him.”

“More like he’s too good for me,” she said softly.

Lizzie handed Tina her backpack. “Stop sulking. Come on, Alex is probably waiting on us.”

“Oh, what a tragedy, Mr. Cool had to wait on us.”

Lizzie grinned and took Tina by the arm. “Come on.”

They walked out to the main entrance and A.J. was waiting by the flag pole. He was talking to a brown haired guy that Tina had never seen before.

“Ooh, who’s the hottie?”

“I don’t know,” Tina said as she walked over to him.

A.J. saw them and smiled. “Hey, there’s my girls!”

“Hey,” Lizzie said as she hugged him.

“Are we ready to go?” he asked.

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Guys, this is Brian. He’s going to be with me in the group.”

“Hi,” he said with a smile.

“Well, hello,” Lizzie said with a grin.

Tina rolled her eyes and looked back at Brian. “Nice to meet you.”

“Same to you. You must be Alex’s sister, Tina.”

“Yup, that would be me.”

“He’s told me a lot about you.”

“Has he?” Tina said as she looked at A.J. “Well, I guess we should get going.”

The whole walk home, Tina trailed behind. She was already sensing the changes that would be happening once A.J. got more involved with the group. Normally, he would’ve noticed that she was behind him, but not this time. He was too busy joking around with Brian and putting his arm around Lizzie. Tina snarled her lip at them. She wanted to just disappear at that moment. They stopped in front of Lizzie’s house and Tina watched her hug A.J. and walked to her porch. She waved at Tina and blew a dramatic kiss in the air.

“Call me!”

“Okay,” she muttered and kept on walking.

For a few minutes, A.J. kept talking to Brian as they walked. He finally turned around and looked at Tina.

“You can walk with us, you know.”

“I know,” she said as she kicked a few rocks down the street.

“Get your butt up here.”

Tina let out a huffy sigh and walked between him and Brian. A.J. put his arm around her shoulder and playfully sang a random song as they walked. She couldn’t help but feel nauseous when Brian started harmonizing with him. This wasn’t a good start to her weekend.

After dinner, Tina was sitting in her room watching a taped episode of Beverly Hills 90210 when she heard a knock at her door. She paused the show and sighed.

“Come in.”

A.J. poked his head into the room. “Hey, you.”

“Hi,” she said half heartedly.

“You wanna come with us?”

“Where are you going?”

“Rehearsal.”

“You want me come with you to rehearsal?” she said with her eyebrow raised.

“Yeah, why not. Mom’s coming too.”

Tina laid back on her bed. “No, thanks.”

A.J. sat on the edge of the bed and looked at her. “Are you ever going to tell me what’s wrong?”

“I thought we went over this yesterday.”

“We did, but you never answered.”

“That’s because there’s nothing to say.”

A.J. grabbed her by the arms and drug her off the bed. “Come on, please come with us.”

“Why?” she whined.

He sighed and looked at her. “Because I’m leaving in three weeks. I want to spend time with you as much as I can.”

“Coming with you to rehearsal doesn’t count as quality time!” she said, close to tears.

“Tina, Sis, why are you so snippy with me? Please tell me what’s wrong.”

She wanted to tell him so badly, but her heart kept telling her no. She wished that she could shove him out of the room and pretend like none of this was happening.

“You don’t want me to leave, do you?” he said softly.

“What, that’s stupid,” she said in a quivering voice.

“No, that’s it. You’re upset at me for leaving.”

“No, I’m not!” she shouted as tears fell down her cheeks.

“Tina, why didn’t tell me?”

“Because it’s not true!”

“Yes, it is. Look at you, you’re all upset,” he said as he touched her arm.

Tina slapped his hand away. “Get out of my room.”

“Tina--”

“Go!”

A.J. sighed and walked to her door. “We leave in thirty minutes if you change your mind,” he said softly then shut the door.

Tina picked up her pillow and threw it at the door. She collapsed onto the bed and cried until she couldn’t cry anymore.

Tina tossed and turned on her bed. Her head hurt with thoughts of everything that was going on. She listened closely and she could hear A.J. walking around in his room. The muffled sound of him singing along with his CD player was heard. She clenched her jaw and stared up at the ceiling. Tina closed her eyes and tried to force herself to go to sleep. The faster she drifted off into dreamland, the faster the day would end. Her near slumber was quickly interrupted by the sound of her someone knocking on her door. Tina rolled her eyes and threw her pillow.

“Alex, go away!”

The door opened and she saw her mother come into the room. Her glasses shimmered in the moonlight that was peeking through the window. Tina rolled over on her side, her back facing her mother. She felt the other side of the bed sink down a little. Her mother had sat down on the bed.

“Tina, Alex told me you’re not coming with us to his rehearsal.”

“So.”

“So, don’t you think your brother would like to see you there?”

“What difference does it make?” Tina said while gripping onto her pillow.

“You’re being a little selfish,” her mother commented calmly.

“I’m being selfish?” Tina said as she sat. “He’s the one who’s running off to be in some stupid boy band.”

“So, you’d rather see him give up his dream than be happy?”

“No,” Tina replied with a sigh.

“Then why are you fighting with him on this?”

“I’m not,” Tina denied.

“Don’t think I haven’t noticed your behavior lately. You’ve been moody and distant to everyone in this house.”

“Whatever,” Tina mumbled.

“Tina Marie McLean,” her mother said in a stern voice. “I am losing my patience with you. You will come with us to his rehearsal and you will be supportive.”

“Fine,” Tina said with a sigh.

Her mother didn’t say another word. She stood up and left the room. Tina grunted to herself as she stood up and turned on her light. She looked around at her room. It was strolled with all kinds of clothes. She was a little surprised that her mother didn’t say anything about it. Tina looked around for her shoes then settled for a pair of flip flops that were sitting by her bed. She slowly walked out of the room and down the narrow stairway. Her mother was already headed out the door while A.J. was tying on his sneakers. He looked up at her and smiled. Tina stared from behind the recliner and folded her arms together. A.J. stood up and walked over to him. She watched him as he slowly moved closer to her and pulled her into a tight hug. Tina buried her head in his chest and sighed. She couldn’t help but return his embrace.

“Let’s go,” he said softly.

“Okay,” Tina said as she followed him outside.

Tina stood on the porch as he locked the door behind them. She looked over by the car and saw Lizzie hanging out from the backseat window. She waved wildly at Tina and grinned.

“Lizzie’s coming with us?” Tina questioned.

A.J. whirled around and grinned when he saw her sitting in the car. ‘Yeah, I called her earlier.”

“Fun,” Tina muttered.

“Hey, none of that,” A.J. said as he urged her toward the car.

Tina remained pretty quiet for the rest of the night. She watched her brother rehearse with the other members of the group. It wasn’t exactly her idea of a fun time. She couldn’t help but roll her eyes at Lizzie, who was practically drooling over her brother. Tina continued to ignore Lizzie and stopped her glance on the young, blonde guy dancing to the right of her brother. She found herself a little curious about him. He looked to be about her age. His blonde hair was shiny and neatly styled. Tina admired his skinny figure, he wasn’t athletic, not like the others. He was somewhat awkward in his appearance, but there was something about him that made her want to keep watching. She didn’t even know his name, but he was definitely attractive. Tina realized how hard she was staring and turned to her left. Lizzie looked at her and grinned widely and poked her side.

“You’re pathetic,” Tina muttered.

“Hey, I can’t help it. He’s just so…yeah,” she said with a sigh.

Tina slouched back in her seat and shook her head. “You’re hopeless.”

“Oh, whatever, I saw you staring at the cute blonde.”

Tina shot her a look from the corner of her eye. “I was not.”

“Yes, you were,” Lizzie said with a laugh.

“Stop being annoying.”

“Oh, come on. It’s not like I’m gonna go telling on you or anything. You know better than that.”

“Lizzie, just shut up about it, okay!” Tina demanded.

“Fine, I will, sheesh!” Lizzie said with a laugh.

The music stopped and the boys stopped dancing. A.J. grinned as he walked over to them. Tina watched Lizzie jump up and hug her brother. She glared and shook her head as she stood up and walked outside. Tina had just opened the door when she felt herself bump against someone. She fell onto the floor with a soft grunt.

“Damn, I’m sorry,” said a male voice. “I didn’t see you.”

“I’m fine,” Tina muttered as she dusted off her shirt.

“Let me help you up,” he said as he offered her his hand.

Tina looked up and took his hand. She stood up and realized it was the blonde one. Her heart skipped a beat as she stared into his bright blue eyes that shone under the street light.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he asked softly. “You fell pretty hard.”

“I’m fine,” she repeated, not sure of what else to say.

“I’m a little clumsy like that that,” he admitted. “I’m always knocking over something.”

“It’s okay,” she said as she shifted on her feet.

“You’re Alex’s sister, right?” he asked as he leaned against the building.

“Yeah…I’m Tina,” she said as she held her hand out to him.

“I'm Nick. Nice to meet you,” he said as he shook her hand.

“You too,” she said while her cheeks began to flush, feeling relieved that it was too dark for him notice.

“So, um, do you go to school at Central?”

“Yeah,” Tina replied casually.

“My sister goes there. Maybe you know her, Leslie Carter.”

Tina shook her head, not really attempting to remember the name. “I don’t really know a lot of people.”

“Oh,” Nick said softly. “Well, I better get back in there.”

“Yeah,” Tina with a nod.

“Nice talking to you,” he said then went back inside.

Tina let out a loud sigh of relief and looked up at the sky. The air was cool with the obvious season change…winter was definitely close. She continued to stare up at the stars, off in her own world when she heard the door open again. Tina quickly looked to her left to see A.J. coming toward her. She looked down at the sidewalk and chewed on her bottom lip.

“There you are,” he said as he stood to her right. “Why are you out here by yourself?”

“I don’t know,” she shrugged then looked at him.

A.J. cautiously looked around and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. Tina watched him as lit the cigarette and slowly exhaled the smoke.

“Watch the door,” he said. “Mom will kick my ass if she sees me.”

Tina snickered and looked at the door. “I don’t like it when you do that either.”

“Yeah, well, you’re not Mom,” he said then took another puff. “That’s enough for now,” he said as he put his cigarette out on the sidewalk. I gotta get back inside. Are you coming?”

“Yeah,” she replied.

A.J. squeezed her shoulder and looked her in the eyes. “It’s all going to be okay. You know that, right?”

“I know,” she replied.

“Good,” he said with a smile. “Come on, you can watch me sing my solo.”

“I’m jumping for joy,” she joked.

A.J. glared at her then ginned. “Get inside,” he said then pushed her through the door.

It was almost a week before A.J. had to go on tour. Tina was sitting at the dining room table with Lizzie. They were studying for their algebra test. Tina felt like her eyes were going to cross with the confusion of algebraic equations. She heard the front door open and her mom came into the house.

“Hi, Mom,” Tina said with a smile.

“Hey, sweetie. Where‘s Alex?” Denise askedd as she put her briefcase down.

“Upstairs packing, I think. We saved you some dinner.”

“Thank you, I appreciate that. I’m starving to death,” she said as she slipped off her heels. “I had to do double the work today. Three people called in sick. There’s some nasty bug going around.”

“Yeah, it’s going around all over school too,” Lizzie said.

“It sounds miserable,” Denise commented. “Well, I’m going to take my dinner upstairs and relax to a little L.A. Law,” she said with a smile.

“Night, Mom,” Tina said then went back to her studying.

Tina stared blankly at her algebra book and sighed. She crinkled her nose and looked over at Lizzie who was watching A.J. walk around the house, packing for the tour. Tina rolled her eyes and furiously erased her answer to the math problem.

“Lizzie, did you get seven for the last question?”

“I don’t know,” Lizzie said as she chewed on the end of her pencil as she watched A.J.

“Lizzie, come on. I wanna get this done so I can watch TV.”

“Why, it’s Thursday. We don’t have algebra again until Monday.”

“Because my mom will kill me if I blow this off. Look, if you’re not going to help me then I’ll just do this on my own later,” she said as she threw her pencil down.

“We’ll get it finished,” Lizzie said as she stood up. “I need another soda.”

Tina snatched the can from her and scraped her chair across the dining room floor.

“I’ll get it,” she said then went into the kitchen.

Tina opened the refrigerator and pulled out two cans of grape soda. She turned around and saw A.J. coming into the kitchen with Lizzie following closely behind. Tina pursed her lips and opened up her can.

“So, are you excited?” Lizzie asked as she took the unopened can of soda.

“Yeah, I can’t wait!” A.J. said with a big grin. “It’s going to be a blast.”

“You’re going to get out there and forget all about little old me,” Lizzie said with a grin.

“Honey, I could never forget about you,” he said then ticked her chin with his finger.

Tina couldn’t help but snort at his comment. Both Lizzie and A.J. looked at her as she took a sip of her drink.

“What?”

“Nothing,” A.J. said while eyeballing her. “I’m going to finish packing.”

“I don’t even know why you’re packing so early anyway. You don’t leave until next Saturday.”

“I also have one more week of school before I leave. There’s not a whole lot of time to fit in packing in between studying and rehearsal,” he pointed out.

“Apparently,” Tina said as she raised her eyebrows.

“Well, I think I better get home,” Lizzie said then hugged A.J.

“Are you still coming by tomorrow night to hang out?”

“Of course!”

“What’s tomorrow night?” Tina asked.

“I invited the guys to come over and hang out for the night. I mentioned it to Lizzie and she wanted to join us.”

“Oh, how nice of you to tell me,” Tina hissed.

“Tina, shut up,” Lizzie said with a smirk. “Besides, maybe you’ll get to talk Blondie.”

Tina felt her cheeks burn as A.J. grinned widely at her. “Damn you, Lizzie.”

“Blondie, eh?” A.J. said while laughing. “You mean Nick?”

“That would be him,” Lizzie said with a twinkle in her eye.

“Aw, my sister’s got a crush,” A.J. teased. “I guess that means no more Corey Anderson.”

“God, I hope so,” Lizzie said while laughing.

Tina locked her jaw and glared at them. “You’re both a couple of jerks,” she said then stomped away to her room.

“Hey!” A.J. said as he tried to catch her. “Aw, Tina, come on. We were just playing.”

Tina flipped A.J. the bird then made her way upstairs before the tears could spill down her cheeks. She slammed the door and locked it behind her. Tina sat on her bed and pushed the play button to her CD player. She felt angry at A.J. for showing off in front of Lizzie. Had she not been around, he wouldn’t have teased her the way he did. She heard the sound of A.J. knocking on her door, but she turned up the volume louder and laid down on her bed. He continued to knock, but she ignored him and turned off her light. After thirty minutes, he’d stopped knocking and she turned her stereo off then went to sleep.

Some time in the middle of the night, Tina woke up with her head pounding. She opened her eyes and looked around her room. The house was quiet as she sat up. She suddenly felt queasy and quickly went into the bathroom. After ten minutes of heaving into the toilet, the bathroom light was flicked on. Tina shut her eyes at the sudden brightness of the room.

“Are you okay, Sis?” A.J. asked as he held her hair back.

“No,” she said with tears in her eyes.

“What’s going on?” said Denise as she appeared into the bathroom.

“Tina’s sick,” A.J. said as he placed a cool cloth on her neck.

“Somehow I knew this was going to happen,” she said with a sigh. “Alex, you can go back to bed. I’ll take care of her.”

“Mom, you’ve gotta be up in two hours,” A.J. protested.

“And you have school in three hours.”

“You know you can’t miss any work. You’re already taking a leave of absence to come with me.”

“Are you trying to tell me what to do?” Denise said as she entered the bathroom. “Go back to bed.”

“Mom, I’m not letting you lose your job over this.”

“You’re not skipping school.”

A.J. stood up and looked at his mother. “What difference does it make? I’m leaving next week and I’ll be working through a tutor. We need the money and you know it.”

“Would you two please stop yelling,” Tina said as rested her head against the toilet seat.

“Alright, fine, but just this one time,” Denise gave in. “You’re going back to school on Monday. Wake me up if she needs anything,” she said then kissed A.J. on the cheek.

Tina looked up at A.J. and groaned as her stomach gurgled. A.J. sat on the floor and rubbed her back.

“I hate this,” she whined as she hovered back over the toilet.

“It’ll be okay,” he said as he held her hair back.

Two hours later, Tina was awoken by her mother checking her forehead for a fever. She opened her eyes and realized she was lying on the couch in the living room. Her mind was hazy and she couldn’t remember how she got there. Her mother turned off the television then draped a blanket over her.

“Alex is staying with you today. I’ll be home after five, okay?”

“Okay,” Tina said softly.

“Feel better, Sweetie,” she said then left the house.

Tina sat up and looked around the living room. She saw A.J. come in from the kitchen. He smiled then sat next to her.

“You wanna go back upstairs?”

“I think so,” Tina said as she took the blanket off herself. “Ugh, my stomach,” she whined.

“You’ll be okay,” A.J. said as he guided her up the stairs. “Just stay in bed today.”

Tina went to her room and laid on her bed. A.J. handed her, her teddy bear and the remote to her TV.

“Holler if you need anything,” he said.

“You’re leaving me?” she said while looking up at him.

“Do you want me to stay? I thought you were mad at me.”

“No,” Tina mumbled. “I’m not mad.”

“Seriously?”

“Yeah,” Tina said as she shifted to one side of the bed. “Alex?”

“Hmm?” he said as he sat on the bed.

“If I ask you to do something for me, do you have promise not to laugh?”

“I promise.”

“Will you sing that song to me? The one you used to sing when we were kids.”

A.J. smiled and leaned against the headboard. “Let me think of how it goes,” he said as he looked at up at the ceiling. “Okay, I’ve got it,” he said then cleared his throat. “Sunshine on my shoulders make me happy,” he began to sing.

Tina smiled at the familiar John Denver tune. It was the song he always sang to her when she was sick or scared. She couldn’t help but snuggle up to him and continue to listen. He finished the first verse then kissed the top of her head. They sat in silence for a moment then Tina decided to speak.

“Alex?”

“Hmm?” he said as he turned off the lamp beside her bed.

“I’m sorry I’ve not been very nice to you lately.”

A.J. chuckled. “It’s okay. I knew you were going to be a pain in the ass.”

“I’m just scared that you’re going to forget all about me.”

“Hey,” A.J. said as he playfully tugged on her hair. “How could you even think that? You’re my baby sister. No one in the world can replace you.”

“I know. It was just a thought I had.”

“Well, get it out of your head because that is far from true,” he said as he stood up. “Get some sleep, Sis.”

“Okay,” Tina replied with a yawn.

She watched as A.J. left the room. He quietly closed the door behind him and Tina continued to stare at the door. A smile came across her face as she pulled the blankets over her. She decided she was going to make the best of the time he had. Her bond with A.J. was definitely strong enough to handle a tour. She just hoped that nothing would change while he was gone.