A Whole New Life by elsabeth99
Chapter 1 by elsabeth99

* * * Chapter 1 * * *

I stepped out of the cab and paid the driver after he pulled my two bags out of the trunk. After I adjusted my sunglasses, I picked up my bags and walked up the sidewalk to the front doors of the large building. The Florida sun was warm and its rays warmed everything in sight. ‘Good thing I brought summer clothes’ I thought to myself as a nice man that was coming out of the building held the door for me.

"Thanks," I said to him before I walked in to the air-conditioned building.

It had been a little over a week since they had left, but it had only been a day since I’d talked to Jane. She was the one who had arranged the plane ticket for me to get here once I told her that I had made up my mind about the tour. It took so long because I had to explain everything to my boss at work...and to my landlord...and of course to tell friends and family that I wouldn’t be around for a few months. Then I had to go to the administration office at school and explain my situation to the dean. He told me that he understood and I could enroll in classes again when I came back. Jane told me that she was going to keep this a secret so I could surprise the guys myself.

Once I was in the building, I took my sunglasses off and held them in my hand and set off to find where I was supposed to go. Music could be heard coming from down the hall so I followed it and ended up at the door of a dance room. I looked in the small glass window of the door and giggled at the sight of the guys goofing off while Fatima was trying to get them to pay attention. ‘Larger Than Life’ was blaring from the stereo that was sitting on the floor in a corner of the room. The dancers were standing in front of the door in little groups while Fatima refreshed the guys’ memories of how the dance went. I opened the door quietly and put a finger up to my lips when I saw Meg, Arti, and Jane looking at me with surprised faces from their sitting position by the stereo so they would keep quiet. The door clicked shut behind me because I forgot to hold onto it and I immediately walked up to a group of four of the dancers and pretended to mingle. Nick and AJ turned around to see who had come in, but turned back around when they didn’t see anyone. When I quietly explained who I was and what I was doing there, one of the dancers gave me a smile and introduced herself.

"My name’s Stephanie, but everyone calls me Gilli," she whispered with a smile.

"Hi," I replied with a smile. "Guess we’ll be seeing a lot of each other for the next few months."

"That’s what makes it fun," she said with a little laugh.

"I guess I’ll see ya around," I said before I quietly backed up a few steps and set my bags down up against the wall.

Fatima started the music again and the guys were doing their dance so I knew they wouldn’t exactly see me right away. I shot Arti and Meg a sly grin before I tiptoed up behind AJ. He was concentrating on the dance and didn’t notice that I was there until I came up behind him and gave him a huge hug.

"Did ya miss me?" I whispered in his ear.

He turned around and I giggled when his eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store.

"Liz!!!!" he exclaimed happily before he wrapped his arms around me and swung me around a few times.

"I’m taking that as a yes," I teased him when he put me back down.

"That was a definite YES!" he replied with a grin. "I tried to call you, but you changed your number...how come?"

"Ja..." I almost told him before I caught myself.

He must have known what I was going to say because he gave me a questioning look before he said something.

"Jane told you to?" he asked with a knowing smile.

"Yeah...she said that I should so I did," I replied timidly.

"So she knew you were coming and she didn’t tell me?" he asked with a fake pout.

"Hey...it was her idea not mine."

He smiled at me again before he pulled me into another warm hug.

"GROUP HUG!" Nick yelled out before he crashed into us and wrapped his arms around AJ and I.

Curly, Bri and Kev did the same thing.

"Aaaaaahhh! Help me! I’m suffocating!" I hollered from the middle of the ‘huddle’.

When everyone finally let go, I let them get back to their rehearsal while I went over and said hi to Arti, Meg, and Jane. They all stood up and gave me hugs after I walked up to them all smiles.

"So, how long do we have to rehearse the show?" I asked after we all sat back down.

"You’ve got a week to learn all the routines, costume changes, and all that jazz," Jane explained with a smile. "Then we’re on the road again."

"Coolios!" I replied happily.

We chatted for a few more minutes while the dancers joined the guys in their practicing.

"I love the dance to this song! It fits the mood of the song perfectly," I said as we watched.

Before I could finish talking, Meg hopped up, walked over to the back of the room by the door and started doing the dance along with them. I laughed at her ‘cause she knew every single step as if she were one of the dancers too. The song finished and as we heard AJ sing the last note, she ran towards us and fell to her knees so she slid across the polished wooden floor until she stopped at our feet.

"Nice moves Slick," I teased her while I stood up.

She jumped from her knees to her feet and then stood up with ease.

"Thank you...thank you very much," she tried to say like Elvis.

"Five minutes! Be back here and ready to go in FIVE!" Fatima yelled after she stopped the music.

A redheaded dancer turned the radio on and a few of the other dancers got up and started grooving to the music that was playing.

"Come join us girls!" Gilli hollered to us from the middle of the room.

Meg looked at me and I looked back at her with a sly smile. The guys had gone out to get a drink so we shrugged our shoulders at each other and joined in on the fun. Arti followed and Jane sat there and watched us having fun.

"Hahaha," Arti laughed as we danced crazily with the dance-crew. "This is sooooo much fun!"

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Meanwhile... ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"She’s great! Don’tcha think?" I asked Howie as we both reached into a cooler in the hall that was filled with ice-cold drinks. "I mean...coming with us and all..."

"Yeah. I’m sure it was a hard decision for her to make," he replied while he opened the water bottle that he had picked up.

"Look at her," I said as I pointed through the glass window on the door. "She’s gonna love it...being on the road with everyone."

"She looks like she’s having a pretty good time with the dancers..." Kev said with a laugh before he opened the door and walked in the rehearsal room to join the ‘party’.

"Yeah man...just think, she’s gonna be here with you 24/7 for the next three months," Bri said with a sly smile as he patted my shoulder and followed Kev inside.

I smiled dreamily at the thought of us being together for the next three months. Of course she’d be riding on Meg’s bus most of the time, but I still knew that things would work out just fine.

"Bone...just don’t do anything stupid or else I’ll have to hurtcha...ok?" Nick said with a smile.

"Yes mother," I replied with a laugh.

"I’m serious AJ. If you hurt her, I’ll be here to give you crap and you know it," Nick said in a totally serious tone that freaked me out.

"Ok. I got it. Geez."

I walked around Nick and opened the door to the studio. Liz was dancing around and being silly with Gilli so I stood by the back and watched with a smile on my face. She always had a way of making me feel happy whenever she was. And when she’s hurt I just want to put my arms around her and make everything right again.

"AJ...AJ!!!!!!"

I looked up to see Liz waving me over to her.

"Come on! It’s fun!"

She beamed a smile that melted my heart in an instant. I walked over to where she was and smiled happily as she took my hand in hers and pulled me over to a where a group of the dancers had formed a circle. Kristin (the redhead) and Dylan were in the middle ‘copy-catting’ each other with funky dance moves. (author’s note ~ think Britney Spears’ music video to Drive Me Crazy-stop remix during the dancer’s ‘war’) Dylan is one of the more free-lance dancers of the male crew and Kristin was known for her ballet expertise, but when those two paired up, they were absolutely astounding to watch. I put my arms around Liz’s waist and watched her watching the dancers having fun during their own turns in the circle. Her entire face lit up every time she saw a move that she liked or when someone did something funny. Her cheerfulness was so infectious that I couldn’t help but smile because she was smiling too.

"I wish I could dance like that..." she whispered softly in my ear as she watched two new dancers in the middle.

This time it was Gilli and Ricky. Ricky’s real name is Frederick, but he insisted that we called him Ricky instead. He’s the only Latino dancer on our crew for this leg of the tour, but man could he dance! Gilli was one of the best dancers that I’d seen in a long time and I personally requested her after I saw her in one of the videos that Fatima had used her in.

"All it takes is a little practice," I whispered back.

"Is that an offer?" she said as she turned her head and gave me a sly smile.

"Only if you want it to be."

She turned back to watch the dancers until Fatima walked in the room and broke the circle up.

"Sorry guys...time’s up. Back to work...we’ve got a lot of rehearsing to do," she said as she walked over to the stereo and turned it off. "Anyone in Meg’s crew is to go with her to the other room to run through your songs a few times before you come back to learn a few new steps."

"That’s me," Liz said as she led me over by where her bags were sitting up against the wall. "Have a good practice. I’ll see you in a little bit."

She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek and then leaned over to get something from one of her bags. I walked back to where the guys were lining up and waiting while Fatima cued up the music again.

"Here we go...and 5...6...7...8," she yelled with the intro. "Show some attitude guys...AJ, you can do better than that!"

I couldn’t help it! My thoughts were on other things...namely a girl...with long blond hair...and a beautiful smile...

"Aaaaahhh! AJ WATCH WHERE YOU’RE GOING!!!!!" Kev hollered angrily as I ran into him, causing both him and myself to tumble to the ground.



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