- Text Size +

* Chapter 29 *

Most of the show went by like a flash of lightning before I realized that it was almost time for me to go backstage and find Meg to get ready. I looked around and noticed quite few well-known musical artists sitting in the chairs surrounding ours. *Nsync was sitting in the chairs directly in front of us. ‘I never really liked them much’ I said to myself as I looked at the back of theirs heads. I scanned down the row that we were sitting in and saw a few other singers that I knew of. Just when I was about to turn my head back to the screen where they were playing the commercials during the breaks, I saw a certain blond guy slowly heading our way. He was still a ways away and I doubt he saw me, but I still wanted to be on the safe side.

"Crap!" I said quietly as I started to stand up. "I’ve got to get back stage girls. Enjoy the show."

"Hey Liz...Break a leg," Mel said with a smile.

"I probably will now that you said that," I said sarcastically.

"You’ll do great!" Cynth said as I was walking off.

I turned and gave them a little wave before I walked out the door to the backstage area. Instead of continuing on, I turned around and watched them for a few seconds. They were chatting happily until Nick walked up to them. I could barley hear what they were saying.

"Hi. I’m Nick," he said while he stuck out his hand for Mel to shake.

"Hi Nick," she said while shaking his hand.

While her hand was still in his, she gave Cynth a questioning look and then Cynth shrugged her shoulders a little.

"Is anyone sitting here?" he asked as he pointed to my empty chair.

"Um...yeah, but she’s...uh...using the restroom right now," Mel replied with a worried smile.

"Do you mind if I sit here and talk to you during the break?" he asked with one of his famous smiles.

"No, no. Go ahead," Cynth said with a smile in return.

He sat down in my chair and kept on talking to them as if they were the only ones in the place.

"So where are you two ladies from?" he asked of the blue.

"Uh...we’re from Utah," Mel said sheepishly.

"Oh. That’s cool," Nick replied. "What were your names again?" he asked as he stood up to leave.

"I’m Cynthia and this is my sister Melanie," Cynth said with a smile.

"It was nice talking to you Cynthia and Melanie," he said while he shook their hands again.

I watched him saunter off to his own seat as Mel and Cynth gave each other worried looks.

"Ellz! There you are. I was looking all over for you," I heard Meg call after me from down the hall.

"Yeah, I’m right here," I replied after I turned around and walked in her direction.

"Come on...we have about 10 minutes to get changed and ready," Meg explained as we headed off towards the backstage dressing rooms.

When we found the room that had Meg’s name posted on a paper that was stuck to the door, we went in and changed into our other dresses.

"I loved your black gown," Meg said as she slipped her dress on.

"Thanks," I replied happily as I checked to make sure my hair was still looking ok.

I was already changed when Meg came over to check her make-up and hair.

"Here’s your mic," Meg said while handing me a cordless mic when we were walking down the hall towards the stage. "Let’s just do some A Cappella warm ups right here in the hall."

"Ok."

We sang a few simple little songs before breaking into the chorus of our song.

"You ready?" Meg exclaimed excitedly.

"I’m as ready as I’ll ever be," I replied with a nervous smile.

"You’re on in 2 minutes," one of the stagehands said as we switched on our mics. "Come with me and we’ll get you into position."

We followed the man onto the black stage. I stopped on the left side stage and stood where we decided I would stand. Meg continued walking until she got the middle of the main stage.

"And here performing for us is Meggie D with her first hit song," we heard the announcer say as the spotlight came up on Meg.

The audience clapped loudly when the slow music started playing. The noise died down as Meg’s part grew closer. She sang her first verse flawlessly and waited with a smile as the lights came up when I started singing my verse. When the chorus came, we sang it perfectly and continued on together as the third verse played. The audience clapped for what seemed like 5 minutes when we were done and the stage went black again.

"Do you hear that? They love you!" said the same stagehand from before.

"That was great!" I exclaimed while giving Meg a huge hug as we walked to our dressing room.

We went in and as I changed back into my black dress, Meg walked over and found a bouquet of roses sitting by her stuff.

"How sweet! Howie brought me roses!" she gushed.

"Yeah...just peachy..." I said like I was annoyed.

"Aaaawww come on! Lighten up," she said while she smacked my arm playfully.

"I’m not going to lighten up when it comes to THEM, but I’ll put on a smile just for you," I said with a fake cheesy smile as I headed for the door. "I’ll guess I’ll see you at the hotel later."

"You’re not going to the party?" she asked in a whiny voice.

"What party?"

"The hotel is throwing this huge party tonight after the show."

"I don’t know. I’ll have to talk to my Siamese twins," I joked while I pulled the clips out of my hair.

I let my hair down out of the French twist and let it hang heavily down my back as I shoved the pins and barrette in the garment bag with my dress.

"See ya," Meg said when I opened the door. "I hope you win the award!"

"Thanks," I said before walking out the door.

I told one of the guards that they could have my garment bag sent back to my hotel before walking around to the door of the arena that I came out of.

"And the nominees for ‘best new radio personality’ are..." I heard one of the announcers say as I slipped into my seat next to Mel.

"You were great!" Mel said as the announcers went through the nominees. "That’s you!" she exclaimed softly when she heard my name.

"I know...smile for the camera," I whispered to her as a cameraman came and sat down in the aisle beside me.

I pretended like the camera wasn’t there and just stared at the stage. I pretty much knew that they wouldn’t choose me...I mean, I’ve only been on the air for what...3 months?

"And the winner is..." I heard the female voice say as she tore open the envelope. "The winner is...Ellz H from KBEE 98.7 Salt Lake City."

"Aaaaaaahhhhh! You won!" Cynth said enthusiastically.

"I won? I won!?! I won!" I said to myself as I stood up slowly, still shocked that they chose me.

Mel and Cynth both gave me quick hugs before lightly pushing me out of the aisle. ‘What am I going to say?’ I asked myself as I carefully climbed the steps to the stage. The announcers gave me quick hugs and handed me the ‘moon man’ award before I stepped up to the mic.

"Wow! This was a complete surprise to me! I want to thank everyone who has helped and supported me in everything that I have done...my family and friends...Cynthia and Melanie Honomichl and their family, Megan Watson, and many, many more," I said with a smile.

"We love you Ellz!" I heard Arti scream out from one of the balconies.

"I love you too Arti!" I said into the mic with a wave and a little laugh. "And last, I want to thank all of my listeners...this one’s for you!"

I was ushered off the stage as the show went on. I answered a few questions for some of the reporters and then went to go back to my seat. I could feel bunches of eyes on me as I made my way to my seat. I even caught a few of the *Nsyncer’s staring at me.

"Geez! I feel like a piece of meat now," I joked after sitting next to Cynth.

Mel and Cynth must have traded places while I was gone because Mel was now on the other side of Cynth.

"Don’t worry about it," Cynth replied with a smile. "They’re just guys...and you know what guys are like..." she said while she rolled her eyes.

"Yeah...I do," I whispered with a small smile. "Especially famous ones..." I joked.

Cynth let out a little laugh as I pulled my hair so it was draped down my chest and fingered the ends playfully.

"Nervous?" Cynth asked.

"Nope...bored," I whispered back. "Hey...there’s a party being thrown at the hotel after the show...do you wanna go?"

"Hang on. I’ll ask Mel if she wants to go."

I watched her turn and whisper to Mel before she turned back to me. Mel was giving me a huge smile so I knew that they would more than likely want to go.

"Yeah, we’ll go with ya," Cynth said happily.

"Ok...I’m not sure if I’m going to stay that long, but you two can stay as long as you like," I replied just as the show was ending.

We got up and stretched for a few seconds before I saw Nick making his way over to us.

"Let’s go before it gets to crowded to move," I suggested as I headed for the door.

"Ok...hold up...we’re coming," Mel said as they struggled to catch up with me. "You wanna ride in the limo with Meg?"

"In a limo with Meg?" I asked confused.

"Yeah. We rode over here with her remember?"

"Oh yeah...I’m not so sure that’s a good idea," I answered as we reached the sidewalk.

The street was filled with limo after limo so there was NO way that we could get a cab.

"Let’s walk for a few blocks and then we’ll hail a cab," I said as we broke away from the crowd.

We walked for about 3 minutes when a limo pulled up to alongside us. I watched as the back window rolled down and waited for someone to show their face, hoping it wasn’t the guys.

"You gals want a ride?" Meg asked.

"Yes," Mel and Cynth moaned.

"Sure," I answered with a sigh as we walked up to the door that Meg opened for us.

Right as I got in the limo I saw who else was in it.

"Dang it Meg! Why didn’t you tell me who else was in here?" I asked angrily. "I would’ve kept on walking."

Howie looked at me with a confused expression.

"That’s exactly why I didn’t," she answered honestly. "Look...it’s only Howie, so calm down."

I was silent for the rest of the ride to the hotel while the other four made light conversation. As soon as we pulled up to the curb at the hotel, I opened the door and quickly got out.

"I’ll be in my room if the three of you need anything," I said angrily before I quickly walked to the doors of the lobby.

I instantly headed for the elevator, not even waiting for the others to catch up. When the elevator doors opened, I walked in and waited impatiently for the doors to close after I pushed the ‘9’ button. Just before the doors shut, someone walked onto the elevator. When I saw who it was I turned around towards the corner angrily.

"Hey," he said sheepishly.

"Please don’t talk to me," I replied, still facing the corner with my arms folded tightly across my chest.

"But," he started.

"I said...please...don’t...talk...to...me..." I said slowly with the anger building.

I cringed when I felt his hand on my shoulder.

"Brian, don’t touch me," I hissed as I pushed his hand off.

I reached out and pushed the ‘open doors’ button so the elevator would stop on the next floor it came to. The next thing I knew, Brian grabbed my arm and whirled me around. He kissed me forcefully when I was facing him. I instantly pushed him away and slapped him across the face.

"Sick! You...you...stuck up prick! You’re just like THEM!" I yelled angrily before I walked out the elevator doors.

I was only on the fifth floor so I hurriedly ran up the rest of the stairs. When I reached the ninth floor, I ran to my room and opened the door.

"Arti?!?" I called out before I got the door open all the way.

"Yeah..." she called back.

"Ugh! I hate men!" I burst out as I collapsed on my bed.

"What happened?"

"Brian...he...he...he..." I struggled while the tears came to my eyes.

"He kissed you?!?" she asked as if she knew already. "Doesn’t he have a girlfriend?"

"I don’t know. I hate THEM! I HATE THEM ALL!" I yelled loudly at the ceiling as if it would calm me down as the tears fell down my cheeks. "It’s almost as if they think no one has feelings or something...how dare they think that I’d just follow them around like some little devoted follower...I have a life too!"

"Oh hun...I know you do," she said as she rubbed my back to calm me down. "It’s ok. We’ll just sit here for a while until you are feeling better."

It was silent for a few minutes.

"Arti?"

"Hmmm."

"Thank you for being such a good friend. I almost died laughing when you burst out at the show earlier," I said with a little smile.

"Well, someone had to do it!" she said sarcastically.

"Oh gee thanks," I joked back.

"You’re welcome," she said as I heard the door open in Mel and Cynth’s room.

I closed my eyes and just laid there for a few minutes while Arti went to talk to them.

"Poor thing. Is she ok?" I heard Cynth ask from the open door between our rooms.

"She’s a strong person...I think she’ll be fine," Arti answered.

"I wish I was strong...look at these flabby arms," I joked as I sat up a little.

They all laughed with me and came into our room.

"Hey let’s order up again. That was fun when we ordered up while Meg was here," I suggested.

"Ok...I’ll call and order," Mel said happily while I flipped the TV on to MTV and turned the volume up a little.

I just about died when a BSB song came on. It was ‘Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)’. I instantly hopped up and began jumping on my bed again, despite the fact that I was still wearing my dress. I sang loudly along with the music, but I changed the words slightly.

"Oh my gosh I HATE THIS SONG!" I sang along with AJ as I pounded on the ceiling intentionally.

"What in the heck are you doing?" Arti asked while I pounded even harder to get the full effect.

"Nothing...it’s a daily ritual," I joked as Mel and Cynth laughed at me. "Are you sexual?" I sang along with Nick’s voice when I heard someone knocking on the door. "NOOOOOO!"

The music continued playing and I sang along loudly with angry words as Arti answered the door.

"Uh hi. Can you like stop pounding on the ceiling please?" Brian asked.

When I heard Brian’s voice at the door, I hopped off the bed and walked over to the door where Arti was standing.

"No, I cannot stop pounding on the ceiling. In fact, I was just going to do it some more...have a problem with that?" I asked angrily with a glare that could wilt a tree a hundred feet away.

He stood there dumbfounded.

"I didn’t think so...by the way, GO SCREW YOURSELF!" I yelled as I slammed the door shut and started singing again.

"ARE YOU SEXUAL?" I sang to the door. "HECK NO!" I screamed.

Mel, Cynth, and Arti just stared at me as I continued jumping and dancing around the room until the song was done playing.

"Ok...I’m finished. When will the food be up?" I asked innocently.

"Woah!" Arti exclaimed, still surprised at my reaction.

"Uh...the food should be up any time now," Mel answered.

"Cool. So, anyone up to catching some honeys tonight at this party?" I asked with a devilish smile.

"Heck yeah!" Arti replied.

"Good! We’ll knock ‘em dead!" I said when there was a knock at the door.

"I’ll get it," Cynth said as she hopped off Arti’s bed. "Who is it?"

"Room service," a voice called back.

I watched them wheel a cart in before I went into the bathroom to change out of my dress.

"What are you going to where to the party?" I called out through the door.

"Khakis and a tee," Mel said.

"Carpenter jeans and a tee," Cynth said.

"Skirt and a baby tee," Arti said.

"What are you wearing?" Mel asked back.

"How ‘bout this?" I asked as I stepped out of the bathroom wearing a long black fitted skirt with a light blue sleeveless shirt that was topped by a black short sleeved button up shirt.

"I like it!" Arti replied.

"Anyone know when this little party starts?" I asked while I dug through the platters on the cart to find something to eat.

"Ummm...I think it’s already going," Mel answered.

"We’ll go change quick while you eat Els," Cynth said as her and Mel went back into their room to change.

I munched on a few grapes as Arti changed. When we were all ready, we called to have room service pick up the cart and then we were on our way. We took the elevator to the basement level where the party was being held. We walked out of the elevator and were instantly greeted by people that we didn’t even know.

"Groovy!" I said as we walked down a few stairs and headed for the massive dance floor.

I saw Meg and Howie sitting with the other guys at one of the tables so I decided now was the time to make my presence known.

"Meg!" I said in the sweetest voice I could conjure up.

"Hey Ellz! I’m glad you decided to come!" she said as she stood up and gave me a little hug.

"Yeah well, I can’t be stuck in my room doing nothing now can I?" I asked with the same sickly sweet voice.

"Nope," she answered as I glared at Brian again.

"Hi Howie," I said with a fake smile before turning to go back to the dance floor.

"What was that about?" I heard Kevin ask.

"I dunno," Meg answered.

I found Arti on the dance floor and pulled her aside.

"Wanna have some fun?" I asked her with a mischievous smile.

"Sure," she replied slyly.

"Cool...I bet you 50 bucks that I can get more digits than you can," I challenged.

"You’re on," she replied before we headed back to the dance floor.

For the next 30 minutes I worked my magic and got 13 guys to give me their numbers. ‘Boy is Arti in for it!’ I thought to myself as I eyed another guy to get digits from.

"Hey Ellz...how many do you have?" I heard Arti ask as she came up beside me.

"How many do you have?" I asked with a sly smile.

"I asked you first."

"Fine...I have 13 so far," I replied with a smile.

"Dang girl! I think I’ll be owin’ you some money later...I only have 8," Arti replied sadly.

"Better get moving then," I said with a smile before walking off.

I danced my way over to where a small group of guys were standing around checking out the girls in the room.

"Hey boys. How’s it goin’?" I asked as I strolled up to them and put my arm around the cute one with brown hair that was standing in the middle.

"Good now that you’re here," he replied with a huge grin.

"That’s good," I said while I played with his hair flirtatiously. "I have a favor to ask."

"It’s yours...you name it," a short blond guy said.

"Ok...Can I have all of your digits so I can call you sometime?" I asked.

"Sure! Anything for you," one of the others with brown hair said.

I waited patiently as they all wrote down their names and numbers on small scraps of paper. When I had them all in my hand, I made my move.

"Thanks guys...I guess I’ll talk to you all later," I said as I ran my hand across each of their cheeks before walking off.

"Wow! Now that is a woman!" I heard one of them say as I headed to another group of guys that were standing not too far from the table where Meg, Howie and the others were still sitting.

I congratulated myself as I shoved the numbers into my shirt pocket and flashed my smile at the group of guys that I was heading for.

"Hey there QT," I said to a cute guy in the small group that was a few inches taller than I was.

I walked up to him and put one arm around his shoulder while I pinched his cheek lightly. The rest of the guys in the small group laughed when they saw the guy blush a little from me flirting with him.

"Enjoying the party?" I said to make light conversation.

"Oh yeah," the guy that was standing next to me said enthusiastically.

"Hey...why don’t you all give me your digits and I’ll call you sometime," I said with a cute smile.

"Ok," one of the other guys said as he pulled a pen out of his jacket pocket.

I watched them while they wrote down their numbers and then handed them to me.

"Thanks," I said as I playfully hugged the guy that my arm was around.

"LIZ! WHAT do you think you are doing?!?" I heard an angry voice say loudly.

I looked away from the face of the guy that was next to me only to see Nick standing right in front of me.

"LEAVE ME ALONE," I yelled at him as I let go of the guy, gave the group a small flirtatious wave as I pushed past Nick, and walked away.

I wove my way back into the crowd to find Arti. After a few minutes of looking, I found her trying to talk to the group of guys that I had just gotten numbers from a few minutes before. I waited for a few seconds until she was done talking to them before I called out for her.

"Hey Arti!" I hollered loudly over the music.

I motioned for her to come over to where I was standing next to a table.

"How many do you have now?" I asked happily.

"Only 14..." she replied. "How many do you have?"

"Hang on...let me count them," I said as I pulled out the pile that I had shoved into my pocket and started counting. "19...20...21...22...23...24...25...26. 26 in all so far."

"Geez! I don’t think there are any other guys in here that we could even ask!" she said sarcastically.

"So you wanna call it quits then?"

"Sure why not...I owe you $50," she replied as we shook on it.

"Sweet! I can always use an extra 50 bucks every now and then," I said with a smile.

We both turned and headed for the dance floor to dance for a while. I followed Arti to the packed dance floor and started dancing when a guy came up beside me and joined us.

"Can I buy you a drink?" he asked in-between dances.

"Sure," I said as he led me to the counter where they were serving up drinks.

"What’ll it be?" he asked when we were at the counter.

"Bottled water," I replied with a smile as he put an arm on my shoulder.

We waited for the guy behind the counter to serve us our drinks while we made light conversation.

"Here ya go," he said as he handed me the bottle of water that I had asked for.

We turned to face the dance floor and leaned up against the counter while we drank our drinks. I put an arm around his waste in a friendly hug as we continued talking.

"So, where are you from?" he asked.

"I live in Utah right now," I replied with a smile. "How about you?"

"Well, I live here in LA...My parents own a huge resort a few miles out of town," he replied. "You should stop by sometime."

"I’d love to!" I replied almost overly enthusiastic with a smile as I stood up straight.

"Where do you think you’re going?" Nick said as he walked up in front of me.

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"Where are you going?" he asked again.

"Why does that matter to you? I can go anywhere I want to," I said with a glare.

"No, you’re not. You’re drunk," he said as he grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the guy that I was talking to.

"What?!?" I asked with the anger flowing in my blood stream.

"I said...You’re drunk."

"I AM NOT DRUNK!" I screamed as I yanked my arm out of his grip. "And if you knew ME, you’d know that I DON’T even drink alcohol, but you wouldn’t know that because you DON’T know me," I yelled at him coldly before I stomped off angrily towards the elevator.

He ran after me and grabbed my arm again.

"GET AWAY FROM ME! YOU MAKE ME SICK!" I yelled at him before continuing on my way.

I stepped onto the elevator and waited for the doors to close without turning to look back. When the doors were shut, I turned around and pulled the little red knob out that was for emergency stops. ‘This elevator isn’t going anywhere’ I thought to myself as I backed up to the opposite wall and slid down until I was sitting on the ground with my arms folded on top of my knees. I pulled my knees close to my chest and then rested my head on my arms. The sounds of ‘That Don’t Impress Me Much’ came through the door from the dance floor while I sat there listening to the faint music.

"What in the heck just happened?" I asked myself out loud. "Why did he have to ruin my night!?! Ugh! I hate them...I hate them all! I hate ‘em I hate ‘em I hate ‘em!!!!! At least the show went well with no interruptions...we did great! I loved being on stage...and singing with Meg. I wonder how Meg’s doing...Crap! I forgot to tell Arti where I was going...maybe I should go tell her...I guess I will go tell her," I told myself as I stood up and pushed the red knob back in.

When the doors opened after I pushed the ‘doors open’ button, I put on a smile and walked out to the dance floor. I walked a few steps before the music that was playing got into my head. When I saw the people having fun dancing along with the beat, I gave into the temptation and joined in on the fun. After quite a few minutes of dancing nonstop, I walked over to a table where Arti was sitting. I looked around before sitting down.

"Hey Arti," I said with a smile while I sat down next to her. "You picked a conveniently placed table to sit at..." I joked as I motioned to the table next to us.

I watched her avert her eyes to the neighboring table and saw her face go pale.

"Hey! Don’t worry about it...I’m over THEM," I said reassuringly. "So, are you having fun already?"

"Oh totally! Are you?"

"Yeah...just peachy," I said as sweetly as possible. "Let’s go get some honeys!" I said rather loudly as we stood up at the same time.

I could tell that the guys and Meg were watching me so I pulled Arti along past the table where they were sitting. We began dancing with a small group of people in front of the tables as the music played loudly over the speakers.

"Gee aren’t we flirtatious tonight?" I heard Kev ask the other guys as they watched me dance away.

I heard what he said and got a little mad at his stupid comment. I decided to give him a piece of my mind. After leaving the dance floor, I walked straight up to him and watched as he shifted uncomfortably in his seat.

"Have a problem with that?" I asked in a snotty voice.

"Uh...I...uh...," he said in a scared type of voice.

"You’re not jealous are you?" I asked in the same snotty voice.

"No...Don’t you think you’re just leading them on?" he asked sheepishly.

"Oh...look who’s talking ‘Mr. King-of-pop-who-makes-girls-think-that-they-have-a-chance-with-me-just-because-I’m-famous-and-have-lots-of-money...’Mr. I’ll-never-break-your-heart-as-long-as-I-get-what-I-want-before-you’re-out-the-door’. Yeah...whatever!" I said angrily before turning to Meg. "Can I talk you to Meg...like somewhere besides the presence of everyone’s quote on quote ‘favorite pop group’..."

"Uh...sure," she replied as she stood up.

I saw her shrug to the group before I turned and walked off without checking to make sure she was following.

"What’s up?" Meg asked as we walked up to the makeshift bar.

"I just wanted to know how long you will be in town..." I said.

"Well, I was planning on leaving in a few days cause Howie asked if I would stay an extra day or two," she replied.

"Oh...that’s all I wanted to know."

"Ok. Hey...why are you mad at the guys anyway?"

"I’m not really in the mood to talk about THEM right now, so I’d rather not talk about it. Let’s just say is involves 50 fully functional fingers that can’t even pick up a phone to call a friend back...Nuff explanation?"

"Yeah...I see what you mean," she said.

"I’m going to go walk around and see who’s still here. I’ll contact you to say good-bye before we leave town ok?"

"Sure thing."

After I gave her a little hug, I walked off in the direction of the dance floor. I walked around for a few minutes looking for Mel, Cynth, and Arti until I saw them dancing happily to the slow song that was playing. ‘Ugh!’ I thought to myself while I walked around a little more. I leaned up against one of the walls on the far side of the huge room and watched all the couples on the dance floor. I was pretty much standing by myself cause everyone was either dancing or talking with the other people in the room. I continued standing there as another slow song came on. I leaned my head back and closed my eyes while I listened to the words of the song.

"Wanna talk about it?" Nick asked as I opened my eyes to see him standing beside me leaning up against the wall sideways.

"Talk about what?" I asked before I turned so that my back was facing him.

"Look...I might be blond but I’m not stupid," he said.

He grabbed my arm and whirled me around so that I was facing him.

"Get your hands off me," I said coldly.

He let go of my arm instantly.

"You might claim not to be that stupid, but you’re sure fooling me," I said angrily. "Oh...and you know this?" I said while pulling the ring off my right index finger. "You can have it back."

I shoved it into his hand before I turned to go.

"Why?" he called out as I walked away.

I made my way to where the elevator was, but instead of getting on the elevator, I took the stairs. When I finally got to the ninth floor about 10 minutes later, I went to our room and wrote out a note for Arti.

‘Arti, Cynth, and Mel: The party was fun, but I’m going out for a while...Don’t wait up for me cause I’ll probably be pretty late. If you need anything, I’ll be at the club down the street. Toodles, Liz’

Just as I was about to head for the door, something sitting on the bedspread of my bed caught my eye. It was a large manila folder that had my name on it.

"What is this?" I asked out loud as I picked it up and studied it for a few minutes before opening it.

When I saw what was inside, my heart dropped to the floor. I looked at the pile of pictures for a few seconds before picking up an envelope that was on the bed next to the folder. I opened it and found a paper folded in half and a hundred dollar bill. I opened the note to see what it said.

‘Liz ~ Here’s the pictures that we had taken...sorry it took so long to get them to you. Also, here’s the hundred bucks that I owe you. Hope to see you soon. AJ’

"Oh that’s nice timing," I said as I put everything back into the manila folder and tossed it carelessly onto the small table by the bed. "Now of all times..."

I pulled out some money from my planner and headed out the door.