Chapter 10

            It was 12 o’clock when Kevin Richardson’s voice called out from Heather’s phone, “Are you ready to party?!” then Larger Than Life started playing.

            Heather let the music continue to play as she exclaimed, “It’s finally August 26th! The concert is today!”

            “Yay!” the other three girls exclaimed.

            “What time is it?” Jess asked rubbing her eyes.

            “12,” Heather answered.

            “I’m hungry,” Kelshie commented.

            “So am I,” Heather agreed. “Let’s all get up so we can start to get ready. I don’t wanna be late.”

            Melina listened closely to the song playing from Heather’s phone, “Is this a live version of Larger Than Life?”

            “Yes it is blood sis,” Heather answered.

            “How did you get it?”

            “I recorded it when Kelshie, Jess and I went to the Into the Millennium tour and I put it onto my phone. I thought it was a good song to wake up to today.”

            “Why Hermie?” Kelshie asked.

            “Because we are going to party today!”

            Jess was still waking up, “I’m not getting the connection to partying and a live version of Larger Than Life.”

            “Remember the Millennium show started off with Kevin asking, ‘Are you ready to party?’ We are going to the After Party and Hermie is clearly ready to party today because she’s bouncing off the walls!” Kelshie explained.

            Jess started laughing, “I get it now! I feel so slow.”

            Heather shrugged, “Eh it’s ok you’re still waking up.”

            “So what’s the plan for today sis?” Melina asked as she stretched.

            “Well I have bagels, cream cheese and fruit and some juice for breakfast in the mini fridge so we can eat here, I say we all take showers now before we leave, and then go from there.”

            “That will probably be around 3:30 by the time everyone gets ready,” Kelshie commented.

            Heather got up and walked over to the mini fridge, “So who wants what?”

            The time pasted quickly for the girls as they ate their breakfast and took turns taking showers.

            As Melina and Heather Squared waited for Jess to finish getting ready, Kelshie peaked out the window across the street.

            “My God there are so many people on line already!”

            “Really?” Heather looked at where her friend was looking, “My God look at them all! But wait the little line is usually the VIP line so we can still get a good spot in line if we get out of here in a few minutes.”

            Just as Heather finished what she was saying Jess stepped out of the bathroom, “Ok let’s go. I want to get a good spot in line.”

            “Look out the window,” Kelshie pointed.

            Jess’s jaw dropped, “Please tell me the long line is for the non-VIPs.”

            “It most likely is,” Heather replied. “But we better get down there soon so we can be second in line after those girls.”

            The Backstreet Buds grabbed the popcorn buckets they wanted to get signed and their VIP passes and tickets then excitedly rushed out the door.

            They joined the other group of four girls that were in the VIP line first and started talking with them just to kill the time. A few minutes passed and some other fans started showing up and the line became longer as the fans were getting more anxious for the VIP experience to start.

            “I think it’s finally starting to hit me that I am actually going to meet the Backstreet Boys face to face today,” Heather said almost breathlessly. “It doesn’t seem real yet.”        

            “Oh it will seem real when you get arrested for rape!” Kelshie laughed out.

            “Hermie’s going to be arrested for rape?! What?!” Melina’s eyes went wide with utter shock!

            The other three girls laughed then Jess answered, “We have this ongoing joke that Hermie would jump up on stage and rape Nick Carter if she got the chance to because she loves him so much.”

            Melina laughed, “Uh oh! We’re going to have to keep an eye on her aren’t we?”

            Kelshie blurted out, “We’re going to have to hold her down before she gets the chance to jump on Nick!”

            Heather started to blush and her best friends jokingly pointed at her and continued laughing.    

            Once their giggle fit subsided the Backstreet Buds played “I Have a Basket” a few times until the game got tiring. Out of nowhere the girls started smelling cigarette smoke.

            “Do they have to be smoking while they’re standing this close to other people?” Kelshie asked sharply and quietly looking at the loud mouthed women standing behind them.

            “Kelshie calm down,” Heather warned.

            “They are so annoying!” Kelshie hissed.

            “I know they’re annoying just take deep breaths,” Heather said.

            The three women standing next in line were talking obnoxiously on top of smoking. Heather could see the steam starting to come out of Kelshie’s ears so she motioned with her hands for her best friend to chill out. She also shot Kelshie a look that said, “Don’t lose your head!”

            The smell of cigarette smoke became unbearable quickly and one of the girls in front of the Backstreet Buds started coughing.

            “This is just great,” one of the girls in the front of the line commented, “The smoke is giving her an asthma attack.”

            “See it’s not only us who are being bothered by it,” Kelshie said sharply.

            “Ok,” Heather said calmly, “Let Jess and me handle this so you don’t get in trouble.”

            “Yeah,” Jess agreed, “We don’t need you unleashing the Kelshie wrath!”

            “Excuse me,” Heather said politely to the three women behind them who were now singing I Want It That Way loudly and terribly, “Could you please put out your cigarettes? The girl in front of us is having trouble breathing because of the smoke.”

            “And we would prefer our clothes to not smell like smoke,” Jess added with a hint of annoyance in her voice.

            The ring leader of the three smokers took another puff of her cigarette and practically blew the disgusting smoke back in Jess’s face, “Who the fuck are you two the smoking police? It’s a free city block and you two don’t own it so we can smoke wherever we want to.”

            Now Kelshie snapped back at the rude, Brooklyn accented smoker, “That poor girl is now using an inhaler you insensitive jerk!”

            The heavy set smoker looked down at Kelshie and snidely replied, “What are you going to do about it Shorty?”

            “Shorty?!” Kelshie’s face turned a slight hint of red.

            “Oh shit here we go,” Heather whispered to Jess.

            “Shorty?! You did not just call me Shorty?!” Kelshie’s voice raised a few decibels.

            “Yes I did,” the smoker was now getting into Kelshie’s face. She took another puff from her cigarette, “What you gunna do about it small fry?”

            Kelshie screamed and lunged for the smoker’s throat. Hermie and Jess grabbed her and held her back.  Melina stood frozen not knowing how to react to the fight starting in front of her.

            “How dare you call me Shorty!”

            “Melina, help us hold her back!” Hermie pleaded.

            Melina reached for one of Kelshie’s belt loops and tried her hardest to hold back the little bundle of fire.

            “We need some help over here!” some other fan waiting in line called out.

            “Ok break it up! Break it up!” one of the concert hall’s security guards got in between the screaming girls, “What’s going on here?”

            “We only asked them to put out their cigarettes because the girl in front of us is having an asthma attack sir,” Jess explained.

            Another security guard rushed to the girl using her inhaler, “Are you ok ma’m?”

            “She’ll be ok once they put out their cigarettes,” her friend answered.

            “Ladies please put out the cigarettes,” the guard said sternly.

            The three smokers threw their cigarettes on the ground and stomped them out.

            The big guard that was standing between Kelshie and the inconsiderate smoker boomed, “Were the fists flying between you girls? Because if they were I’m going to have to take your tickets and I won’t let you in.”

            “We got between them before they had the chance to sir,” Heather answered.

            “OK then. I’m glad you got in the middle of them because that would have been a shame to take away your VIP tickets,” the guard said.

            “Wait,” a blonde smoker spoke up, “this is the VIP line?”

            “Yes,” the guard replied rather confused, “Don’t you have VIP passes?”

            “Girls, we’re in the wrong line!” she half laughed. Her friends rolled their eyes as the security guard pointed them to the back of the long line for non-VIP fans.

            The Backstreet Buds looked at each other and said at the same time, “Wow.”

            “So did you girls know each other or are you just wearing the same shirt by coincidence?” the big guard asked the Backstreet Buds.

            “You were correct the first time,” Kelshie answered. It was pretty obvious that the four girls knew each other because they wore the same purple shirt with the words, “Backstreet Buds August 26th, 2010 NYC” in bold white letters written on the front. On the backs the girls had written their names.

            The guard’s walkie talkie went off and he excused himself from the girls.

            “Well that was a little awkward,” Kelshie rolled her eyes.

            “I agree Kelshie,” Heather nodded her head.

            “Excuse me,” they heard a voice say from behind them.

            They turned around to see the woman they were defending.

            “I just wanted to thank you for standing up for me like that.”

            “Oh you’re welcome,” Kelshie smiled. “I felt really bad and I had to do or say something.”

            “And at least we don’t have to put up with them for the VIP package,” the girl grinned.

            Heather nodded her head, “That’s a plus.”

            In a few minutes the doors opened to the VIP pass holders and the Backstreet Buds got even more excited with each step they took.

            “Thanks again girls. I greatly appreciate it,” the woman flashed a kind smile to the Backstreet Buds then returned to her group of friends.

            The first stop in the backstage tour was at the merchandise stand then when everyone purchased what they wanted the tour headed further backstage closer to the Boys.

            “I can’t wait to meet the Boys!” Melina squealed.

            Heather started shaking excitedly, “Me neither!”

            Kelshie chuckled, “If you’re this excited already Hermie I’m kind of scared to see how you are going to react when you actually meet them!”

            Jess added, “You better not pass out on us! I may not be as quick as I was to catch you like I caught Kelshie. I might be to star struck to move!”

            “Ok ladies,” the tour guide said, “This is the end of the tour. I will show you into the stage area where the meet and greet, question and answer and finally the sound check will take place. After that it won’t be long until the show starts.”

            All of the girls screamed and clapped their hands excitedly. Someone called out, “Finally!”         

            Out of nowhere Kelshie started giggling.

            “What’s so funny Kelshie?” Jess asked as she started laughing with her friend.

            “I can’t believe I just screamed like a girly girl!”

            Heather was a little shocked, “You screamed like a girly girl?! You must be excited because you are the farthest thing from a girly girl.”

            “I know,” Kelshie answered. “That was a little scary. I didn’t know I could do that.”

            The girls formed a single file line as the guide instructed them to. This was the last line they would be waiting in until the meet and greet.