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**September 25 2002**

“Meet the parents or American Pie?” Nick asked, holding up two movie boxes. Him and Aaron were just going to kick back and relax that evening. They were in Aaron’s room, and there was junk food everywhere. Talk about male bonding.

“Hmmm…” Aaron though for a second. “American Pie.” He decided, switching on the TV, which was on channel 36, MTV.

Nick nodded and put the tape in the VCR, but before he could push play, Aaron stopped him. “They’re talking about the girls.” He explained, when Nick looked at him quizzically.

“So, you’re putting the tour on hold starting October First?” Ashley, and MTV VJ asked them. They were doing what looked like a quick interview.

Sophie nodded. “Yes, it’s fact.” She stated. Steph and Joce quickly nodded. Charline, however, was not in attendance. The record company representatives decided it would be better; make more of an impact if she wasn’t there.

“Is the rumor true that the reason for this is because Charline’s is pregnant?” Ashley asked bluntly. The girls were taken back for a second, but soon regained their composure. They knew exactly what they respond with.

Aaron nearly choked on his Pepsi when he heard that. If that was true…no, it couldn’t be! After all, he was only fourteen, he was just a kid! Still, it was possible…

Nick glared at Aaron. Honestly, he had no idea how this was going to affect his life. Beside that – he was just a kid, and there was no way him and Charline could raise a child.

Joce shook her head and Aaron and Nick both breathed a sigh of relief. “No.” She chuckled. “That’s untrue. Unfortunately, Char has a form of cancer and will be going for treatment over the next few months.”

Steph cringed. That was one of the worst lies she had ever told in her life. It was going to upset the fans, and it was definitely going to cause a huge stir with the tabloids. She knew the others felt the same way, but as always, it was for the good of the band.

Aaron gulped, Charline, cancer? No, that was impossible! She was fine a month ago! He looked over at Nick, who looked to be in complete shock.

Wanting to change the subject before it started, Aaron quickly switched the TV to channel three and pressed play on the VCR. He wanted nothing to do with Charline anymore, and he was sure she wanted nothing to do with him. Besides, she had much bigger problems at the moment. Yes, Aaron just wanted to get on with his life, so the last thing he wanted to see was that she had a deadly disease. Key word: deadly. What if she – Aaron shook off the thought. It wasn’t like he was ever going to see her again anyway.

*

“Looks like your ‘master plan’ backfired.” Andy scoffed, glaring at Chris. That evening, Chris and The Rockers were sitting in their Montreal hotel room, watching MTV news.

“Yeah.” Rishi laughed. “The girls had a backup plan.”

Chris, despite the annoyance and taunts of his friends, refused to be defeated. His lips curled up into an evil grin, as he pulled a revolver out of his backpack.

Dave gasped. “What are you doing with that?!” Scared half to death. Chris, with the possession of a gun was not a safe thing.

Chris looked up innocently after admiring his weapon. This was it; surely, the death of Charline would cause the girls’ spotlight to fade. The media would fine out that it was not just Charline who had been killed, but her baby as well. There goes Aaron Carter’s sickeningly sweet image. “Let’s just say, we’re on out way to number one.” He replied slyly. It was too risky for anyone to find out the details of his plan.

Devon was baffled. He always knew that Chris tended to go a little overboard at times, but to kill someone? Was Steph really worth all that trouble? Not to mention the risk of getting caught.

Chris seemed to read it mind, because after making sure the gun was on safety and sticking it back in his bag, he assured them. “Don’t worry. I’m not after Steph anymore. She can fuck Nick Carter all she wants for now, but when she’s no where,” He paused to laugh a little, at what was to come for The 4 Gurlz and their little buddies. “And neither is she, I won’t be there anymore for her to run to.” He started cackling uncontrollably.

Andy shook his head. Sure, Chris had done some really stupid things in his time, but nothing to this extent. “When?” He asked cautiously, looking around the room at his band mates, he could see that they were also wondering the same thing.

*

“You guys, I’ve been thinking.” Joce started, as she came into Sophie’s hotel room that evening, holding a grocery bag from 7-11.

“No time for thinking!” Steph giggled, running over to her at grabbing the bag. After rummaging through it for a few seconds she pulled out a bag of Oreos and started going mad trying to pry it open.

Sophie rolled her eyes and ignored Steph’s bout with the Oreo bag. “About what?” She asked, glancing at Charline; who was watching 2gether, as if to ask if it was about her.

Joce gave a small nod and sat on the bed. This had been bugging her since they flew down to MTV to clear up the Charline rumor a couple days ago. “I don’t think we should have told the fans that kind of lie.”

Sophie sighed. She agreed with Joce, it was horrible thing to let their fans believe, but what else were they to say? If they let out the truth, they’d be seen as bad role models and wouldn’t have any more fans.

As much as Charline tried to concentrate on Mickey Parke trying to convince the world he wasn’t gay, she couldn’t. She was listening to Sophie and Joce’s conversation about what to do with their problem. She felt so guilty, causing so many problems that needed to be solved with such cruelty. Well, maybe cruelty wasn’t the best word, but she still felt pretty rotten.

Many times, they had suggested she call Aaron and tell him, but she refused. Their breakup still hurt her too much to speak to him. She also didn’t want to put him though the agony she was going through. As much as she denied it, she knew that she still loved him. Still, she had a shard of hope that maybe; somehow, someday they might meet up again.

But, she rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. He had dumped her like yesterday’s trash, and didn’t even utter so much as a simple ‘goodbye’ the day that they left. Sure, she was one of the most adored people in the world; anything she wanted was instantly at her fingertips. Except for what, to her, mattered most. And right now, in Charline’s point of view, the world was a much lonelier place than she ever thought it could, or would be.

“Uh, guys?” Charline’s voice was soft, yet there was a slight tremble in her tone. Almost immediately, the other three dropped into silence to look at her.

“Yeah Char?” Joce asked, wondering what she was about to say. This was the calmest that she had ever approached them, so it had to have been important.

“Could we just drop it?” She sounded almost pleading, as if she’d had enough. “I know it was a bad thing to say, and I feel just as awful as you guys, but for once could we please just talk about something other than my problems?”

When her statement was finished, the other girls were, well, stunned. They had never heard Charline speak with such maturity.

Sophie nodded her head slowly. “Sure, Char.”

Steph smiled and stuck her hand into the (now open) Oreo bag. “Here, have a cookie.” She offered, handing one to Charline.

Charline frowned and scrunched up her nose. “No fudgeeo’s?” She questioned, eyeing the 7-11 bag at the front of the room.

Joce laughed, but she still had discomfort sitting in the back of her mind. If the press found out that Charline was pregnant, they would get ridiculed for that; and then also lying about it. But for the time being, everything was okay and the tour seemed to be going well. Or so she thought.

*

“Well?” Andy asked again when Chris didn’t answer him. “When are you going to do it?”

Chris stood up and walked to the back of the room, near the window. Leaning with his wrists on the windowpane, he overlooked the bright lights of the city. It was a very pretty sight; the dark night sky illuminated by thousands of little balls of light. He sighed; perhaps his plan was a bit farfetched. Maybe he was trying to hard to get where he wanted to be. Or maybe, it was that he wasn’t trying hard enough.

Spinning around to face the others, he grinned evilly. Should I tell them? He wondered, eyeing each and every one of them suspiciously. Finally, he made his decision. After all, they were going to make it to the top with him – sort of. And they would find out eventually. Better now than on that day.

“The September 30th show, in Halifax.”