* * * Chapter 2 * * *

When I looked up and saw AJ run right into Kev, I couldn’t help but laugh. It looked soooo funny to see him run into someone ‘cause he usually never had a problem with his dance moves.

"Ready to go girlie?" I heard Meg call to me from where she was standing by the door.

"Yeah...I’m comin’," I replied as I stood up and put my hair into a sloppy bun.

I followed Meg out the door, down the hallway, and into a room that had a piano and some stools set up around it. A girl and a guy were sitting on two of the stools so there were two empty ones for Meg and I. She led me over to the stools and said hello to the two on the other stools before she turned and said hi to the man at the piano.

"This is Liz. She’ll be doing back-ups and leads with me," Meg explained to everyone.

"Hi," I said with a smile as I sat down next to Meg.

After the introductions were over, we got down to business. We went through a bunch of the songs that were on the CD and then moved on to some cover tunes.

"I’m not exactly sure which songs we’ll be doing yet so we thought we’d be safe and practice them all," Meg explained before we sang the last song...our duet.

While we were singing the first chorus of the song, the door opened and none of us noticed when people walked in and listened.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ AJ ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

When I heard the music coming from the room down the hall, I instantly wanted to know what it was so I followed the faint sounds.

"Yo Bone...where ya goin’?" Nick asked as I started to walk away.

"SSssshhhhh!"

He followed me quietly down the hall until we came to the door where the music was coming from. I turned the handle and pushed the door open to find Liz and Meg standing and singing their duet while a man played the music on the keys of the grand piano in front of them. No one noticed when I quietly slipped in the room so I motioned for Nick to follow. He walked in and stood by me. Kev, Arti, and Jane soon followed us. They both sang effortlessly while we stood there and listened.

"And that’s why..." Meg sang.

"That’s why..." Liz joined in.

"I love you still," they both sang the last line together, just like on the album.

When the guy at the piano finished playing the song, we all clapped for the two girls. When everyone around the piano turned around to find us there, they doubled over laughing.

"Hey...what’s so funny?" I asked with a fake pout.

"Nothing," Meg said as she tried to keep a straight face.

"Fine...be that way..." I said in return. "We were sent to tell ya that Fatima’s ready for ya now."

"Ok...thanks," Liz said with a smile.

I gave her a smile back as she headed over to where I was standing, or so I thought.

"Sorry...gotta go..." she said with an apologetic look that made me smile at her innocence.

"I’ll see ya later," I called out to her before she and Meg walked out the door.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Meg ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

‘Things are going soooo well’ I thought to myself as Liz and I walked back down the hall to the studio so Fatima could teach us a few dance steps to some of our songs.

"This is going to be a great three months!" I said happily before we walked in the door to find Fatima standing by the stereo waiting patiently for us.

"Yeah, it is!" Liz said in agreement as we walked to where Fatima was waiting.

We practiced and learned dances for about four hours until we thought we’d pass out. Fatima finally thought that we knew the dances ok for now so she told us that practice was over for the day.

"We’ll polish things up tomorrow and run them through with the music. Then on Wednesday we’ll do the dances with the vocals," explained as she fiddled with the stereo.

"Sounds like a plan," I said as Liz and I walked to the back of the room and sat down against the wall by her bags.

"I’m sure gonna sleep soundly tonight," Liz said with a silly smile as she pulled the scrunchy out of her hair and ran her fingers through it a few times.

Before I could say anything in return, the door flew open and AJ, Nick, Kev, Arti, and Curly ran in. They were all chasing Arti around the room as she dodged behind chairs and dancers to get away from them. Liz stood up so I followed her lead and stood up too. Arti ran over to us and ‘hid’ behind us.

"Save me!" she exclaimed as she ducked her head down.

"What’d you do?" Liz asked like she was confused.

"Nothin’...oki, somethin’...I told ‘em that they sounded like a bunch of prepubescent boys high on helium," she said with a laugh. "They were goofing around singing like the chipmunks...I couldn’t help it!"

I burst out laughing when Nick and Kev walked up to where we were standing.

"Can we help you boys?" I asked sweetly.

"Yeah...could you like move for a second?" Nick asked, mocking my sweet tone.

AJ walked up and stood next to Nick.

"Sorry...no can do," Liz said with a laugh. "We’ve been sworn to protect the outnumbered female population in situations like this...one for all and all for one..."

"Well in that case..." AJ said as he reached out and picked Liz up in his arms.

"Aaaahhhh! Put me down!" she yelled playfully.

"Sorry...no can do," AJ replied.

‘They look so cute together’ I thought to myself as I stood there watching their little ‘encounter’. Nick tried to walk around me to get to Arti so I turned a little and laughed when Arti safely slipped out the door. I backed up to the door and held it shut so Kev and Nick wouldn’t be able to get out.

"A promise is a promise," I said while I shrugged my shoulders.

I knew that she would probably head to the nearest ladies room so I stood there for a few minutes so she at least got a good head start. When I stepped away from the door and sat back down on a chair, both Kev and Nick made a mad dash to get out. AJ and Liz were sitting against the wall on the other side of the room as they talked quietly. I smiled to myself knowing that Liz was finally getting some happiness into her life.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ AJ ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

"How was your flight?" I asked Liz softly.

She looked me in the eyes and gave me a smile before she said anything.

"It was good. I couldn’t help but think of how things were going to be...ya know...on the road and all," she replied as she played with her hair.

I reached out and brushed back a piece of her long blond hair that had fallen into her eyes.

"Everything’s going to be just fine..." I told her in a reassuring voice. "We’re going to be just fine."

"Yeah, I know," she said with a smile.

I watched her as she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and glanced in Meg’s direction. I almost couldn’t believe that she was sitting here next to me getting ready to go with us on tour.

"So, what made you change your mind about coming?"

She turned and gave me a warm smile as she looked into my eyes.

"You know when I called my dad?" she asked.

"Yeah...how could I forget?"

She let out a little laugh when she saw me roll my eyes.

"Well, he has always told me that he thought music was NOT what I should be doing in life to make money ‘cause he says it wouldn’t get me anywhere. I mean, my dad loves music as much as I do, but he knows that unless you’re a big star, it’s a given that you’re not going to make much money," she explained. "He always used to tell me that computers were the way to go whenever I told him that I wanted to be singer. It was almost like he wasn’t taking me seriously or something...but when I told him what you told me about going on tour, he said something that really surprised me."

"What’s that?"

"He told me that he would support me in whatever I chose to do. That was a big surprise in itself, but what surprised me even more was when he told me that he thought I should go. I never in a million years expected him to say that."

"It sounds like he trusts and loves you a lot," I told her as I took her hand in mine.

"Yeah, I guess so," she said with a smile like she was slightly embarrassed.

She looked down at her hand in mine and watched as she took her other hand and lightly rubbed the skin on the back of my hand with her manicured finger. Her nails were a little longer than they were in LA, but she still had the French manicured tips that made them look nice.

"So...I was wondering..." I said softly as I leaned closer to her. "Would you like to go out to dinner with my mom and me tonight?"

She looked up at me for a second and then laid her head on my shoulder with her eyes closed. I didn’t know whether to be scared that she’d say no or what so I just sat there and waited for an answer. She was silent for a few seconds before she spoke again.

"I’d love to," she whispered softly.

"Great!" I whispered back.

I smiled to myself when she wrapped her arms around me and I did the same to her. We sat there for a little while until we heard someone calling Liz’s name.

"Liz...do you know where you’re staying until we leave next week?" Meg called out.

Liz opened her eyes and stood up before she took my hand in hers and helped me up too. We walked over to where Meg and Howie were sitting next to each other.

"Actually, I have absolutely no idea where I’m staying...I’ll go talk to Jane and see if she arranged anything," she said before she let me go and headed towards the door.

I watched her happily walking towards the door to go in the hallway to find Jane and I smiled to myself knowing that she was going to meet my mom in a few hours. ‘Mom’s going to love her!’ I thought to myself before I sat down on an empty chair.