* * * Chapter 9 * * *

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Nick ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The sound of Meg’s voice rang out over the sound system in the huge arena as I sat there about fifty rows up in the chairs of the stands. The football field was still covered in grass without chairs, so I wandered around and found a seat in the stands on the opposite end of the stadium. I knew that they didn’t know I was watching, though I doubt they cared at all. A bunch of the crew people were gathered on the lawn in front of the stage relaxing and watching the girls having fun singing and dancing with Gilli, Cher, BoBo, and Pickles.

"Keep it crisp! Do it again," Fatima yelled from where she was standing at the fifty yard line watching them do their songs.

"Yes Drill Sergeant Ma’am!" Meg replied playfully into the mic as the music was rewound and started over.

They did again, making it flawless and at the end when they threw their hands up in the air on the last beat, pyrotechnics went off and fireworks shot into the sky. That was the signal that their act was over. Everyone that had gathered on the field clapped and hollered their approval and I watched as Meg and Liz did silly bows and then made a few funny comments into the mics. Their back-up singers left to get some drinks while Meg sat down at the edge of the stage so her feet dangled off the side and I watched with intrigue as Liz walked to the back of the stage and walked out one of the doors. ‘Wonder where she’s going...’ I thought to myself as my attention turned back to AJ and D walking over to Meg on the stage. AJ took the mic that Liz had given Meg and started singing weird little songs with Meg joining in with him every so often. Meg made a comment to D about getting to swim with the dolphins a week ago and that led AJ to start singing a song from ‘The Little Mermaid’ in a funny Jamaican accent like the crab did when he sang it in the movie.

"He’s always gotta be the center of attention..." I said to myself with a sigh.

"Does that bother you?"

I turned around a little and saw Liz walking down the steps towards me. She gave me a warm smile that matched the soft voice that she spoke with.

"Uh...no..." I said as I turned back to look at the stage, not knowing how to respond.

She piled her hair up on top of her head in a bun, wrapping the ends tightly under the rest hoping it would stay, and then walked down the row where I was sitting and sat down in the seat next to me. She slumped in the chair and leaned her head back on the hard plastic with her eyes closed behind her dark purple tinted sunglasses. She looked drained, both physically and emotionally, from the rehearsal that lasted all afternoon. It was about four times longer than their act really was, so it was understandable that she would be tired afterwards. Her cheeks were a little pink, along with her shoulders and arms.

"Tired?"

"Yeah...I feel like I could fall asleep right here even if these chairs are the most uncomfortable things on earth," she replied with a half-hearted smile as she put her feet on the chair in front of her.

"You want me to get you something to drink?"

"That would be nice," she said as she turned her head to look at me.

"I’ll be right back," I told her as I stood up and walked away.

I didn’t have to go far when I got to the hallways of the large building before I found a pop machine, a vending machine, and a machine that sold bottled water. After I had a bottle of water in hand, I went back out the ramp to the stands. I saw her sitting in the same spot that I had left her, with her head back on the seat and her feet propped up onto the chair in front of her. She looked a little more relaxed and she seemed to be sitting there soaking in the sun.

"Here ya go," I said as I walked up to her and sat down in the chair next to hers.

She didn’t say anything and I got worried when she didn’t move either. I put my hand on her arm and gently nudged it, but she still didn’t move. ‘Crap!’ my mind screamed.

"Liz? Wake up...it’s not funny anymore...wake up. Liz...LIZ!" I started to panic a little. "LIZ!!!!!"

I picked her up and hurriedly ran up to the hallway as carefully as I could, knowing that someone had to have heard me yelling. Her hair came out of the bun and limply fell down around my arm that cradled her head. My other arm was underneath her knees as I carried her into the hallway and then set her down on the floor as gently as possible. Her head limply rolled to one side when I pulled my arm out from underneath it. I checked for a pulse and found it beating normally.

"Good...now wake up...Please!" I pleaded as I looked at her lifeless face.

I could hear people running down the hall towards where we were so I knew that they knew something wasn’t quite right. When she moved her head a little, I instantly became alert and kneeled over her to see if she was awake.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~ Liz ~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

My body was really warm and I knew that I should have asked for a break from the rehearsing, but I didn’t nonetheless. I moved my head a little and then forced my eyes open. There, staring down at me with worried eyes, was Nick.

"I’m fine..." I told him before he could say anything.

He reached out and touched my arm.

"Ow!" I said with a moan at the touch of his skin to my burnt arm. "Look’s like the sun got me."

"Yeah...next time you should drink LOTS of water too," he replied.

I was kind of surprised at how red my arms were. They weren’t burnt that bad, but they were going to be a little sensitive for at least a couple of hours. My skin would be back to normal, a little tanner kind of normal, in a few days. I slowly sat up and when I heard people coming towards us down the hall, I quickly stood up.

"Oh...um...tell Arti and Meg that I...uh...went back to our bus..." I told Nick in a rush before I turned the other way and ran down the hall.

I knew that as soon as he told them that, they would know where to find me. I’d be waiting for them by the gates of the parking lot, ready to go. I ran all the way there and waited behind the trunk of a large tree in the shade. After about five minutes passed, they walked up, right on time.

"Oh geez...let’s get some lotion on that burn," Meg said as she squirted some cold white stuff onto my arms. "By the way, nice job! Nick was seriously about to have a heart attack when you ‘passed out’ back there."

"Yeah! I couldn’t have done it better myself," Arti said with an elusive face.

"Thanks," I replied with a smile as they smeared the gunk into my skin. "Ooooooo...that feels a LOT better already."

They both giggled. Our little plan had worked just exactly like I knew it would. We all looked up when we saw the cab pull up outside the gate.

"You ladies the ones that called for the cab?" the driver asked through the passenger window.

"Yes...thank you," Meg answered as we walked through the gate, propping it open with a rock so we could get back in.

Once we were all in the cab, we told the driver the address of one of Meg’s friends houses and off we were. Her friend worked at one of the local zoos and we were going to talk to her and make arrangements for our next ‘battle’ in the bus war. Even if it wasn’t going to be done for a few days, we still needed to talk to her and confirm that she could get us what we needed. When we pulled up to the small house, we jumped out, paid the cabbie, and headed for the door. Her friend welcomed us in and told us that she would definitely help out.

"What are you going to use it for?" she asked curiously.

"Oh...uh...we...uh...we’ll be playing a practical joke on...uh...a few of our...uh...friends," Meg tried to come up with an excuse without giving away too much information.

"Yeah," I chimed in.

"Ok. I’ll give your names to some of the people at the zoo and they’ll let you into the sheep stalls while they’re feeding," she replied with a confused look. "But you’ll have to tell me what it’s for."

"Ok. We’ll tell you later...and we’ll even send you some pictures," Meg bargained.

"Deal," her friend said with a smile.

We thanked her and left before everyone at the arena figured out that we weren’t there.

~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 got to M. E.’s bus, I read the note that was posted on the door in Meg’s sloppy handwriting.