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* Chapter 16 *

"Wow!" the techie exclaimed after the song was over. "You two can really harmonize," he complimented us with two thumbs up.

Meg and I exchanged smiles as the techie played the song back for us. He was right. We did sound great together. We were singing a rather poppy song, but it had a cool bass beat to it. Even though it was a pop song, it was nothing like the bubble-gum stuff that you heard on the radio. It had more of a blues feel to it then the teenybopper music that was released within the last year. As we listened to the demo for the next song, I couldn’t help but think of how it would sound when we were done with it. Meg was the one who picked this song out from the piles of songs to choose from, so I knew that it had real potential. It was kind of slow and it talked about two people being in love. It reminded me of a few of the good oldies songs. We quickly finished that song, knowing that it was the best one that we had done so far.

"Let’s go ahead and take a quick break," the guy in the tech room said as Meg and I removed our headphones and made our way to a table where our water bottles were sitting.

"So," Meg said. "You like?" she asked with a smile.

"Do I like?" I repeated with a laugh and leaned against the wall. "I love! This is so much fun."

"I have to admit to that one," she said. "It can get pretty fun."

"Yeah," I agreed. "I never thought that I’d ever get to record anything, let alone be on a CD."

"That’s what I thought too," Meg said.

We went back to work after a few more minutes of gabbing. By the end of the day, we had recorded a total of 8 different songs. The techie decided that it was time to call it quits for the day, so we thanked him and headed for the door.

"That went great," Meg exclaimed after we got into her car.

"Yeah," I responded. "It was awesome!"

"So, what now?" Meg asked.

"I don’t know. I still need to figure out what to wear to my little rendezvous tonight," I said sluggishly as she started the car and drove off.

"Let’s go shopping," Meg said excitedly. "We can go to this really cool mall that I know of."

"Ok," I said. "I need some new clothes anyway," I said looking down at my old comfortable faded jeans that were obviously worn from time and a dark green T-shirt from Alaska that my parents bought for me a few years back.

"We’ll just have to find you some really cute stuff then," Meg said with enthusiasm as we drove into the mall parking lot.

"Ok," I replied happily.

We found a parking spot near an entrance and hopped out of the car. Meg practically dragged me into the mall and headed for the first store with delight.

We went into the store and looked through racks and racks of clothes.

"Try these on," Meg said holding up a pair of Pipes with a black stripe down each side on the seam. "This too," she insisted, handing me a short sleeved light green baby tee with a picture of a cute little frog on the front.

"Eeewww!" Meg screamed with delight. "I like those...no, I love those! This shirt totally brings out your eyes."

We found a few more shirts to go with the pants and paid at the counter. After leaving that store, we walked slowly down the hallway of the mall, looking at stores as we passed. We just passed a FootLocker when my phone rang.

"Hang on Meg," I said while pulling out my purple metallic phone. "Duty calls," I said pointing to my phone.

We stopped and sat on a bench in the middle of the hallway.

"Make it quick," Meg said.

I nodded to her and pushed the send button.

"Speak to me," I said into the phone.

"Do you always answer that way?" the voice asked.

"Yeah," I replied. "Why?"

"No reason. I see you," the raspy voice said.

"Really?" I asked while looking around, but didn’t see anyone talking on a phone anywhere. "I don’t see you. Who is this anyway and where are you?"

Meg gave me a questioning look. ‘Don’t know’ I mouthed to her with a shrug.

"I can’t tell you that," the voice said. "Think shoes."

"Shoes...shoes...shoes," I said out loud to myself as I looked around at the surrounding stores.

There were two shoe stores in this section of the mall, one being a dressy type store and the other was the FootLocker that we passed earlier.

"Ok," I said standing up and waving for Meg to follow. "I’ve got the shoe part down."

"Good," the voice said with an evil laugh. "Now, think of a hobby that almost every male has."

"A hobby that almost every male has," I whispered to Meg, hoping she could help me out.

"Beer, football, girls, soccer, punching each other for no reason, golf, TV, cars," Meg started listing. "Hockey, WWF, Roller Jam, Monster truck rallies," Meg rambled on.

"Well, considering every other thing that you just mentioned has to do with sports, we’re looking in here," I said grabbing Meg’s hand and made our way to the Foot Locker across the hall, still talking on my cell.

"I still see you," the voice said evilly.

"That’s nice," I replied, getting rather annoyed. "I still don’t see you."

"Really?" he asked. "Then your not looking hard enough," I heard the voice say from around the corner and on the phone at the same time.

It was like I was hearing it in surround sound as I turned the corner to find a guy standing over a pair of brightly colored shoes that he was trying on. He had his back to me so he couldn’t see that I was behind him now. I handed the phone to Meg and motioned for her to walk the other way while still talking to the guy on the phone.

"You still can’t find me?" he asked happily, not knowing that I was standing there. "I can see you."

"I can see you too," I bent over and whispered in his ear.

You could totally tell that he was scared stiff when he jumped up and screamed at me as Meg came walking up.

"Oh my gosh!" AJ screamed as we laughed at him. "You scared the crap out of me!"

"Serves you right for trying to pull a stunt like that," I snickered. "By the way, this is Megan," I said pointing to her.

"Nice to meet you Megan," he said while putting his shoes back on.

"So, AJ," I started. "How did you get my cell number and how in the heck did you know that I was here?"

"Well, I asked your sister for your number before she left and she gladly gave it to me," he explained. "I’ve been trying to call for the last day, but it’s been busy, or I got your voice mail, or it’s out of range."

"Oh," I said as we walked to the counter so he could pay for the stuff he was getting. "How did you know I was here?"

"That was by accident," he said pointing a pen that he was signing the credit card slip with at me with a smile. "I saw you and Megan walk by the store while I was looking at those funky hats over there and I decided to give you a call."

"By the way," Meg started. "It’s Meg."

"Ok, Meg," he replied. "So, where did you go after yesterday?" he asked me while we walked out the store.

"I had to get away from things for a little bit," I replied.

"You were gone in like two seconds. I didn’t even have a chance to say good-bye," he said fake pouting. "Where are you staying now?"

"That is highly confidential," I said while giving Meg a quick glance that told her not to tell him.

AJ turned to Meg to ask her if she knew, but before he could ask, she answered.

"Don’t ask me," she said with a shrug.

"Fine then. Do you two want some food? My treat," he asked as we walked down the hallway. "I’m in the mood for food," he said in a weird voice that made both Meg and me laugh.

"You are probably always in the mood for food," I teased as we walked into the food court.

"That Subway looks way good," Meg said.

"Eeewww! It does look good," I agreed.

"Then that’s where we’ll eat," AJ said as we walked up to order our food.

When we had our food in hand, we went off and found a booth in the back of the food court so we could eat in privacy. AJ sat by the wall in a corner with Meg sitting next to him and me on the other side of the table. Fortunately not many people recognized AJ, so we ate in peace.

"AJ?" I asked.

"Yeah," he replied between bites.

"When you get home, will you call Kev and tell him that I’m fine?" I asked while I watched him finish his sandwich.

"Sure," he responded when he was done.

"Thanks," I said with a smile. "I think I kinda got him worried."

"Just a little," he said sarcastically with a little laugh. "So, what are you two doing here anyway? I thought you were recording today?" he asked with a confused look on his face.

"We were recording today," Meg replied.

"They kicked us out a little early cause we’re so good," I teased. "Meg’s helping me pick out some new clothes to replace the worn out ones that I own."

"Sounds like a chore," AJ said with a laugh.

"Whatever," I replied pretending like I was offended as I reached across the table and lightly smacked his arm.

"Anyway," Meg said looking at her watch. "We have to get going."

She was giving me the look that meant we needed to leave because of my little get-together in a few hours.

"Yeah," I agreed. "Call me later," I said to AJ before grabbing my bags that sat next to me on the bench.

"Bye," he said before we walked away quietly.

After we got into the car, Meg noticed that it was running low on gas, so we stopped at a gas station to fill up. I rolled down my window to talk to Meg as she walked around to the passenger side where the tank was located.

"So," I said. "What do you think of AJ?"

"He’s cool," she replied while starting the pump. "You two would make a cute couple."

"Yeah right," I sighed as she pulled the pump from the tank and went in to pay.

"Naw, I’m serious," she said as she started the car again. "You two look cute together."

We drove most of the way back to her apartment in silence. I thought about what Meg had said about AJ and me, but I still didn’t think anything would happen other than us being friends. That was the way it always was with guys when it came to me. Besides, he was a rich worldwide pop star. Why would he want someone like me? Plain, not very interesting, little old me. My thoughts were disturbed when Meg shut her door and knocked on the window.

"Hello..." she said. "We’re here."

"Huh?" I replied.

I was still off in la-la land as I got out of the car with my bags.

"Sorry about that," I said sheepishly as we walked up to her door. "I was buried deep in my thoughts again."

"I figured as much," she replied as she pushed the door open and walked in.