Chapter 1
“I just got my ticket in the mail!” Jess exclaimed over the phone to her best friend Heather.
“I just got mine too! You’re VIP came with it right?” Heather asked as she admired her VIP pass.
“Yes it did! I can’t believe we finally got VIP tickets!”
“I know! It only took what 17 years of being loyal fans and god knows how many jobs between the three of us.”
“I still can’t believe we finally have them though. I wonder if the other half of Heather Squared got her ticket too.”
“I haven’t talked to her yet but if we both got ours I’m pretty sure she got hers too.”
“Well I have to go but I can’t wait for the next two weeks!”
“Neither can I Jess! It’s going to be awesome!”
“Just like all the other concerts!” Jess laughed.
Heather chuckled, “Yeah but this time we get to go to the sound check party and actually meet the Backstreet Boys!”
“AHHH! This is so exciting! Oh yeah before I forget thanks so much for buying the tickets. I promise I will give you the money the moment I see you.”
“Jess chill. I trust you. And you always gave me the money for every other concert so whenever I get the money I get it.”
“Ok Heather. I’ll talk to you later and if not I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“Bye Jess.”
Once she hung up the phone she dialed her other best friend Heather, yes there are in fact two Heathers.
“Hey Hermie!” the other Heather said.
“Hey Kelshie!”
The Heathers created those nicknames for each other a long time ago. The nicknames were simple to create too; all they did was add “ie” to their last names. They started calling themselves “Hermie” and “Kelshie” and the names stuck. Soon their friends were calling them that too. Even Jess called them that but she invented the nickname “Heather Squared” back in the 7th grade when all three of the best friends were in the same math class. The Heathers were both shocked when Jess said “Hermie” and “Kelshie” for the first time. They never thought she would use the new nicknames because she always said “Heather Squared”.
“What’s up?” Kelshie asked.
“The sky.”
“Hey that’s my generic answer!” Kelshie joked.
“Yeah I know I’ve heard you say that every time I ask you that question. Did you get your ticket yet?”
“I just walked in the door from work but let me check the mail now.”
The line went silent for a moment then Kelshie came back exclaiming, “It’s here! And my VIP is here too!”
“Awesome! Jess and I both got ours too!”
“This is too exciting!”
“I know I can’t wait!”
“What time will you be at my house do you think?”
“Well,” Hermie started, “I have to go to work for a few hours, then the Puppies have a vet appointment, then I have to pick up Melina from the airport. It’s a Thursday night so the traffic shouldn’t be too bad right?”
“No it shouldn’t be bad at all. It really gets bad on Friday and Saturday.”
“Ok then I’ll leave around 8 and should be there by 9:30 or 10. Oh can I bring the Puppies with me? I kind of forgot to find a puppy sitter.”
“Duh!” Kelshie replied, “I love the Puppies and they are always welcome!”
“Ok then I better pack their stuff too. Speaking of the Puppies they are staring me down so it must be dinner time. I’ll see you tomorrow!”
“See ya tomorrow Hermie! I can’t wait!”
“Me neither! Later Kelshie.”
“Later.”
Heather hung up the phone and looked down at her German shepherd Shep, huskey Lacey, and beagle Hunter.
“I know, I know you guys are hungry.”
Heather fixed the dogs dinners and they wagged their tails happily as they ate. She always fed her dogs before she fed herself and once her dogs were fed she started her own dinner.
After she finished eating Heather sat down and packed her bags for her 1 week mini vacation. Heather and her two best friends had this ongoing tradition that evolved around the numerous concerts they went too. They all lived and grew up in the same small town in northern New Jersey but Kelshie’s and Jess’s families owned vacation houses down the shore which they occupied all summer. Hermie was the only one who never owned a shore house. She didn’t care too much for the shore. She thought it was a fun place to visit but she couldn’t see herself living down there even for a summer.
Almost every year the three best friends went to a concert together and spent a good week or two together before and after the concert. This tradition was perfect for when they were in school because the concerts would always be during the summer so Hermie would go down the shore for a week or so then depending on where the concert was, the three friends would go back up North to their hometown. The only changes in this year’s plan were Kelshie and Jess finally bought their own shore houses that became their year round residencies and Hermie’s friend Melina, from Germany, was becoming the fourth member of the Backstreet Buds. This year’s concert was in New York City so the plan was to stay down the shore for one week then one week in Northern Jersey finishing off the week with the concert.
After Heather finished packing her bags and getting her work clothes ready for the morning she took a relaxing shower and changed into her comfy pajamas. She crawled into bed and flipped on VH1 just in time to watch the last hour of 100 Greatest Songs of the ‘90’s. As always the Puppies jumped up on the bed and nestled into their normal sleeping spots. Hunter, the beagle, nestled down on her pillow above Heather’s head. Lacey, the husky, curled up against Heather’s back resting her head on her owner’s ribs while Shep, the German shepherd, laid across the foot of the bed. All three dogs had big bean bags of their own but why should they sleep on a plush bean bag when they could crowd their owner in her queen sized bed? Heather didn’t mind the Puppies sleeping with her but they always hogged the bed.
Heather found herself singing along with a lot of the songs in the count down. She also smiled at the memories that came back to her from middle and high school. Then she became ecstatic when the number three song started to play.
“No it can’t be,” she thought out loud to herself. “That can’t be number three?!”
The show’s announcer said answering Heather’s question, “And at number three, I Want It That Way.”
“Ah! That’s so cool! I have to text Jess and Kelshie!”
Heather grabbed her cell phone and was about to start a text but Jess called her, “Awesome victory for BSB and us fans watching VH1 right now! Number three baby! Haha we beat out Britney Spears and NSYNC!”
Heather replied, “I’m so ecstatic right now! You should have seen the Puppies jump up when I screamed! Is Kelshie watching the show?”
“We’re watching it together and we both screamed! If we’re this excited about them getting number three on Greatest Songs of the 90’s, can you imagine how excited we’ll be while we’re waiting on line to meet them?”
“No I can’t actually. We’re going to look like crazy people though!”
“We are crazy people!” Jess laughed out.
Heather laughed too, “You got that right! Maybe this concert will be the one where they have to call security on us!”
“Haha! Yeah there’s a more likely chance of that happening now that we’re going to finally meet them!”
“Oh this is going to be something else. I think Kelshie is going to be the only semi sane one with us.”
“That’s a scary thought,” Kelshie spoke into the speaker, “Me semi sane!”
The three best friends cracked up. That’s what Heather loved most about her two best friends; they knew how to make her laugh and they were both crazy!
“We’ll have to celebrate BSB’s victory tomorrow over ice cream and other junk foods but now I’m going to watch the rest of the show then I’m heading off to bed.”
“Good night Hermie! See ya tomorrow!” Kelshie and Jess said in unison.
“Good night Backstreet Buds.”
After the show ended Heather slipped her diary and pen out from underneath her pillow. She always wrote in her purple diary, which she named Violet or Vi for short, right before she went to sleep. This was her own little ritual she started on the first day of summer vacation before starting her freshman year of high school. She wrote religiously every day since then, even throughout college and when she had nothing to report.
“Dear Vi,
VICTORY FOR BSB AND THEIR FANS ONCE AGAIN! I Want It That Way just got number three on VH1’s 100 Greatest Songs of the 90’s! Number three! I’m so excited right now! And my day went really well! First at work I had adoption after adoption which was awesome because a lot of the older ones found forever homes today. Then when I got home and checked the mail Melina and my tickets were waiting for me! Now it seems real and it’s finally hitting me that my Backstreet Buds and I are actually going to meet the Boys! I don’t have a lot of time to write tonight because I have a busy day tomorrow and nothing else to report. I’ll most likely be writing pages during the next couple of weeks especially spending the much needed time with Kelshie, Jess and Melina. Hopefully I’ll have more adoptions at work in the morning and I won’t have to wait long for the vet either. I’m also keeping my fingers crossed that Melina’s plane will be on time. I don’t know how I’m going to fall sleep tonight because I’m so excited. Oh wait I know how I’m going to fall asleep tonight; with a big smile on my face! It’ll be awesome if I have a kiss ass dream tonight too!
Anyways I’ll write more later. HMH.”
Heather slipped the purple diary back under her pillow then turned off the lights and TV. She snuggled under her blankets and did in fact fall asleep with a huge smile on her face.
