Later that night, once the family’s personal items had been removed from the house, Lena sat on the bus by herself. This was to be her home away from home, as it usually ended up being when they did the show. Sure, they all had hotel rooms, but Lena never liked to be too far from the site – well, really, she didn’t like to be too far from Ty. He made her feel safe, though she hated to admit that.

                She glanced around the bus, trying to find something to occupy herself with. The rest of the design team had gone back to the hotel, and everyone else had gone home for the night.

                “I could do my schoolwork…” She thought aloud. “But what fun is that? It’s been a long day, and this week is only going to get more tiring. I need something fun to do, and I already got some designs down for the room I’m doing.”

                She sighed heavily, then suddenly remembered she’d conned Ty into letting her bring along her X-box 360. “Ooh! I can play Nintendo!”

                She hurried into the very back of the bus and began pulling her Nintendo out. She set it up quickly, and was soon caught up in the land of Ninja Turtles.

                “C’mon! Ninja kick that dude!” She shouted at the television screen. “Stupid turtle! Do as yer told!”

                She growled a few minutes later, tossing her controller down in frustration. “Stupid piece of crap! Why won’t you jump when I tell you to jump?”

                She stood, stomping into the kitchen are of the bus to get a drink from the mini fridge. It was while she was getting a drink that she heard a noise that sounded like someone was trying to get onto the bus. She cautiously moved to peek out the door and saw nothing. She peeked out every window next, feeling very nervous now. Sure she’d lived on the streets before, but since moving in with Ty had lived a rather safe and sheltered life.

                She gulped some, as she realized it was just the wind. She’d forgotten what it sounded like when the wind beat up against the bus door. She grabbed her cell phone and hurried on back to where her Nintendo was, curling up on the couch as she eyed the entranceway warily.

                “There’s nothing to be scared of,” she reminded herself quietly, as she subconsciously dialed a number and stuck the phone to her ear. She listened to it ring for a bit, and was just about to hang up, when she finally heard the voice she desperately needed to hear.

                “Hello?”

                “Ty, hi!” Lena chirped, feeling extremely glad and relieved to hear his voice.

                “Hey Kiddo,” Ty replied, smiling on his end. “How’s it going?”

                “Pretty good,” Lena answered. “We surprised the Matherson’s and sent them on their trip. They were mighty surprised to see us standing on their front lawn. They didn’t even know it was us, until Carla poked her head out the door.”

                “Ah, I see you’ve remembered their names well already,” Ty teased. “Is there any reason for that?”

                “She just may be, a Backstreet Boys fan,” Lena admitted. “And the rest of them just may be as well.”

                Ty chuckled. “I knew you’d like that fact.”

                “You knew?”

                “Of course I did,” Ty stated. “I know everything, remember?”

                Lena rolled her eyes slightly at that, silently thinking of all the things he didn’t know about, yet probably should.

                “I know you just rolled your eyes,” Ty teased some more.

                “That was pretty much a given,” Lena told him. “Anyone who knows me would’ve been able to guess that.”

                “So what are you up to at this hour? Other than not sleeping, which is what you ought to be doing,” Ty said after a moment of silence had passed.

                “I was playing Nintendo,” Lena replied. “But then my turtle got frustrating, so I went to get a drink… And then I decided to call you.”

                “For no particular reason at all?” Ty questioned, knowing her better than that. He knew she liked to appear tough and put on a brave façade, but really she wasn’t at all.

                “Do I need to have reason to call you up now?” Lena challenged, knowing he was trying to get her to admit she’d been scared. “Besides, I thought you might have a good idea for the demo tomorrow. Someone suggested burning it down, but I made it perfectly clear we’re not using fire to get rid of the house. To me it’s disrespectful, since they lost a family member due to a fire.”

                “I hope you weren’t disrespectful when stating that,” Ty commented.

                “Why is it, everyone always assumes the worst with me?” Lena demanded. “I know how to use tact and be polite when I need to be, if I feel I ought to be. I’m not as stupid and reckless as everyone seems to think!”

                “Hey, no need to take that tone with me,” Ty warned. “I’m sorry I asked. I’m just looking out for you.”

                “Well, I know how to look out for myself quite well, thanks,” Lena remarked dryly. “I don’t always need you to do so.”

                “If this is how this phone call is going to go, I’m going to hang up,” Ty told her. “I’m not in the mood to argue with you.”

                Lena took a moment to control her sudden anger, curling into a tighter ball upon hearing the wind beat against the bus door again.

                 “So…do you have any ideas?” She managed to squeak finally. Her fear was slowly getting the best of her.

                “I’d have to think about that one for a bit and get back to you on it,” Ty answered. “What’s really up, Kiddo?”

                “I forgot what it was like to stay on the bus at night,” Lena admitted after a moment. “And what it was like to hear the wind hitting the door.”

                “Don’t worry, I know for a fact that door is always locked,” Ty assured her. “No one’s getting in there but the driver or the design team. No one else has a key.”

                “It’s still kinda…creepy,” Lena whispered softly, hugging a pillow to her chest. “I’m just…used to you…being here, is all.”

                “If you get too creeped out, just ask Paulie to stay with you,” Ty suggest3ed. “You know he would if you asked.”

                “You know I’m not one for asking,” Lena reminded him softly. “I didn’t even want to admit defeat just yet.”

                Ty gave a soft laugh. “Yeah, I know. But it’s me, Kiddo. You don’t have to be tough for me. I’ve seen you at your worst, and at your best. I know every side there is to know.”

                “Maybe…” Lena trailed off quietly. “Will you talk to me until I fall asleep?”

                “Sure thing, Kiddo,” Ty replied. “I’ve nothing else to do this evening, so we can talk as long as we need to. Just promise me you’ll get some sleep tonight, alright?”

                “I promise I’ll try,” Lena answered, pulling the blanket off the back of the couch down over her. “But no promises.”

                “Good enough,” Ty relented.

                The two of them began to chat about everything and anything then, until Lena finally fell asleep two hours later. And though she never knew it, Ty stayed on the phone until he heard Paul on the bus the next morning.

                ~~~~~

                The next morning, Lena awoke to the sound of the design team on the bus. She yawned, stretching some, still a bit sleepy. She had been up later than planned, after all.

             “Hey Kiddo, sleep well?” Paul asked, once he noticed her awake.

             Lena shrugged sleepily, rubbing her eyes once more. “What time is it?”

             “Six o’clock,” Paul replied. “We wanted to be sure everything was ready for the demo.”

             Lena groaned, flopping back down on the couch dramatically. “Can’t you wake me in a half hour or so? You know, at a more decent hour?”

             Paul raised his eyebrows. “You’re team leader, not me. So you’re kind of needed for the demolition planning and such.”

             Lena grumbled a few choice words under her breath, giving Paul an innocent smile when she saw him looking at her none too pleased.

             “I’m up Paulie, don’t get your panties all in a wad,” she told him, standing and stretching.

             “It won’t be my panties in a wad, if this is how today is going to be,” Paul warned.

             Lena scowled. This was not a good way to start a day, and definitely not a good way to start a new project. “No need to be threatening,” she commented, as she brushed past him on her way to the bathroom. “I know how to behave.”

             “Then please do so,” Paul told her. “I really don’t want to have to use that attitude adjuster of yours, Kiddo.”

             “Nor do I want you to have to use it,” Lena agreed. “No worries, Paulie. I just need some food and I’ll be good to go.”

             “Then let’s get a move on, so we can begin planning,” Paul told her. “You do what you have to do in there, and I’ll scrounge up some breakfast.”

             Lena flashed him a smile, as she closed the bathroom door behind her. She hoped the rest of the day would be better than her wake up call had been. It wasn’t all her fault – they knew she wasn’t a morning person.

             A few minutes later, she joined the design team at the table, smiling when she spotted a bowl of cereal and glass of chocolate milk awaiting her.

             “Morning y’all!” She chirped, as she dug her spoon into her Kellogg’s Frosted Flakes. “Y’all ready to get to work?”

             “Just waiting on you, so we can plan the demo,” Ed replied, smiling at her. “You’ve any ideas, love?”

             “Yes, yes I do,” Lena grinned. “I thought of something while talking to Ty last night. What if, the house was to fall down because of extremely loud music? I could, like, play an electric guitar or something, and the house falls down because of the noise. It could even be a Backstreet Boys song, since they like them so much!”

             “I don’t think they even use an electric guitar, do they?” Michael commented. “I’ve never heard them sound edgy or anything.”

             “They can be edgy, when I play with my guitar enough,” Lena smirked. “Trust me, I’ve changed the sound to a few of their songs, just because I was bored.”

             “Well, obviously the whole house won’t come down from it, probably just the windows,” John stated. “How is the rest of the house going to come down?”

             “We just keep blaring the music and the machines can knock the rest of it down, while the music plays,” Lena went on. “I mean, how hard can it be? And it’d be pretty cool, if you ask me.”

             “So, like, you want a whole band?” Paige checked, watching Lena nod. “Where are we going to get one on such short notice?”

             “Well, I can play the guitar, like I said,” Lena stated. “And Paulie knows how to play piano, and could easily play the keyboards.”

             “That could work,” Paul nodded. “Just so long as we’ve time to see how you changed the music up and to rehearse a little bit first.”

             “Way ahead of you,” Lena exclaimed, jumping up from her seat after gulping down the last of her cereal. “I just so happen to have the sheet music in my bag. I brought it along in case I needed something to do instead of sleep.”

              The team all shook their heads in amusement – she was always rather entertaining when excited. They waited and listened to her rummage around in her bags, smiling as she returned a few moments later, looking a little frazzled.

             “Sorry, forgot which pocket I’d stuck it in,” Lena giggled, as she lie the sheet music down upon the table. “See, this is where I’ve changed it up some. Same old lyrics, but to a slightly edgier tune.”

             “Do we have permission to use their music and such?” Paige asked curiously.

             “Yup, we do!” Lena chirped. “Ty said he’d already talked it over with their management ahead of time, as he’d a feeling I’d want to somehow incorporate them into the build.”

             “He knows you well,” Michael commented, smirking some. “Good thing.”

             “He knows what he needs to know,” Lena replied. “Now, here’s how it’s going to go…”

             She went on explaining everything, the smile never once leaving her face. She was thrilled beyond belief to be able to incorporate her version of the Backstreet Boys songs into the demo. She’d always thought it’d be a cool thing to do, but never had enough reason to even suggest it – until now.

             Eventually everything was planned out and ready to go – all they had to do was turn the cameras on, so that they could film it, and send the video to the family. Yes, this was how it was done, though it never seemed that way, but it was the easiest thing to do. Make the video, send it along, and while the family watched it, they could already be moving the old house debris out of the way, in order to start building the new one.

             Lena stood before the camera, her guitar strapped on. “Hello Matherson family!” She cheered, waving. “Today we’re going to demolish your house. And after speaking with you all, I figured, what better way to do that, than to use my edged up versions of Backstreet Boys songs in order to bring down the house – literally!”

             Music began to play then, Lena on the guitar and Paul on the keyboards – random people they had found on the other instruments needed.

             “Everybody! Rock your body! Everybody! Rock your body, right!” Lena screeched into the microphone. “Backstreet’s back, alright!”

             After singing that little bit all that could be heard was the extremely loud music. The house began to shake, the windows began to shatter, and neighbours flocked the streets to watch what was going on. They played until the last piece of the house had fallen down, having had played not only Backstreet’s Back, but Climbing The Walls as well.

             “Well, now that your house is gone, we can get on with the build!” Lena exclaimed, once the music had stopped, and loud cheering could be heard. “We’ve asked Timbers Construction to help us out this week.”

             “Hi, I’m Jim Timbers,” one man spoke into the camera.

             “And I’m his brother, Sean Timbers,” the man next to the first one added.

             “And we’re going to work extra hard all week, to build you guys the house you deserve. We know we can’t replace George, but we can at least take care of his family for him,” Jim stated.

             “And by the time you all come home, you’ll have the house of your dreams awaiting you,” Sean continued. “So have fun on your vacation and don’t worry about a thing.”

             “Well, you heard them,” Lena smiled into the camera. “Have fun at Disneyland and before you know it, you’ll have a wonderful house awaiting you. Now, let’s get to work people!”

Lena turned her camera off, after that and headed for the bus, so she could burn the video onto a disc and send it to the family. Then she could get back to work on designing the room she’d staked claim upon.

             Paul watched Lena head for the bus to copy the video, and was glad that despite her surliness that morning, everything seemed to be going smoothly. Who knew the kid would do such a fine job? He’d thought for sure that by now she’d have driven someone crazy – like she usually had done by day two any other time and place. But maybe, just maybe, being team leader was as important to her as she’d led them to believe. Maybe she truly did want to do a good job and not let anyone down. Only time would tell though – after all, it was only day two.

             He shrugged and went about doing what had to be done, in order for them to get the foundation poured and such.

             Lena, meanwhile, was making sure the video was perfected, before burning it onto a disc to send to the family. She was feeling quite pleased with herself thus far, as her demo had gone perfectly – no mishaps whatsoever. You really only get one shot for demo, so the fact it went smoothly was fantastic, because things didn’t always go as smoothly as it seemed on demo day. She finished up what she was doing, and stuck the disc into an envelope, then headed on out to find someone who’d get it to the family for her.

After finding that person, she grabbed up her hard hat, stuck her goggles in her tool belt, and headed over to where Paul was to see if she could be of any assistance.

                “Hey Paulie,” she smiled. “What’re we doin’ now?”

Paul returned her smile. “We’re getting everything ready so we can pour the foundation,” he informed her. “Basically, they’re going to use the back-ho to dig the hole for it, and if we want we can go work on our designs and get them started. We have to do something while this is going on – there’s not much else we can do right now.”

                “Oh,” Lena nodded. “So I can go finish planning what I’m going to do for my secret room.”

                “If you’d like,” Paul replied. “We’ll keep you informed, and let you know when you need to be on camera.”

                “Well… if you’re sure you can get along without me for a little while…” Lena trailed off. “Then I’m going to go work on my design. I have to finish figuring some things out.”

                “Go for it, Kiddo,” Paul told her. “Just stay out of trouble, alright?”

                Lena flashed him a grin as she saluted him. “Yes, Sir!”

                Paul chuckled as he watched her run off to the area that had been designated hers for the build. He just hoped she didn’t go overboard with her Backstreet room, otherwise they could run into a few problems.  

                The rest of the day was spent with everyone going about their business and helping out when help was needed. The only one who wasn’t seen much of was Lena, as she’d holed herself away in her little area and had begun bringing her ideas to life – well, the smaller ideas anyway. Every once in awhile, they could hear the power tools going, and wondered just what the heck the kid was up to – but, they let her be as there’d been other work they’d had to get done before night fell upon them.

                “I hope this all works out like I’ve got planned,” Lena thought to herself, as she began to plain a piece of wood she was going to use for one of the night tables she was building.

 The table legs were going to be made to look like music notes; and she planned on putting a photo of each girls’ favourite Backstreet Boy upon their table as the table top – she’d put garnish and such over the photo to protect it, of course. She just hoped she didn’t accidentally screw up the photo part of it, as then she’d have to start all over on them. And she knew she couldn’t spend forever on one aspect of the room, if she wanted to be done in the allotted seven days.   

She hummed softly while she worked, as she loved to sing. Music was her greatest passion. Well, one of her greatest passions. She could never choose between music and construction. She loved building as much as she loved singing. Though, no one knew just how much she loved music – they knew she loved the Backstreet Boys, but that was about it. She didn’t usually sing for anyone, as she usually became a little shy. Yes, she was a camera hog and craved attention, but when it came to singing, it was just different. It was more personal.

“Hey, Kiddo, what’re you building?” Paul asked, as he came into the tent that had been set up for her to work under.

“Hey! You’re not s’pose to be in here!” Lena exclaimed, quickly trying to hide what she was working on. “That’s why it’s called a secret Paulie!” 

“Yes, well, if I remember correctly, someone promised to show me her plans before she started building,” Paul rejoined. “So really, it’s not going to be a surprise to me anyway.”

Lena glared at him somewhat. “The final results will be,” she countered. “Now, get!”

Paul crossed his arms over his chest, giving her a Look. “Am I going to see these plans before you start building anything else Lena? Or do you intend to break that promise you made me.”

“Did someone pee in your cornflakes this morning or something?” Lena snapped slightly, shoving her plans in his direction. “I mean, yeesh! From the moment I got up this morning, you’ve been a force to be reckoned with.”

“Because you’ve been a little smart-mouthed today,” Paul answered, looking over her plans. He decided not to comment on how she’d handed them over. He really was trying to give the kid a bit of a break and all, since she’d never had this much responsibility on the show before. “These look pretty good, Kiddo. Just don’t make them too wild and far-fetched, okay? Otherwise we might run into problems when things get down to the wire.”

“Have a little faith, will you?” Lena snapped slightly. “I know what I’m doing. I can handle it.”

“Don’t be afraid to ask for help if you need it,” Paul stated. “You know even Ty asks for help when he needs it.”

“And he kicks all those unnecessary out of his room, now git!” Lena exclaimed, shoving him slightly, but not forcefully. “I’m trying to accomplish something here.”

Paul shook his head. “I’ll come let you know when it’s time to get some rest.”

“I’m old enough to tell myself when to go to bed!” Lena argued.

“You’ll get some rest when told, or you won’t be very happy with the end result,” Paul said firmly. “I know you well enough, that you’d stay out here all night and day if you could – just like Ty.”

“If Ty can do it, why can’t I?” She countered.

“Because Ty isn’t eleven-years-old,” Paul retorted. “Ty’s a grown man, who knows well enough to not use tools when he’s beyond tired.”

“And I repeat, have a little faith, Paulie,” Lena answered, shoving him once more. “Now, go! Please! This is very important to me.”

 “Fine,” Paul agreed. “Just keep safe Kiddo. And for the love of all things, put your goggles on when using power tools!”

“Yes, Sir!” Lena grinned. “Now, be sure to let me know when the food’s here. I might emerge from under this here tent then.”