Post by Goodnight and Goodbye on Dec 26, 2007 17:01:36 GMT -5
Part I
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5 o’clock. That’s the time we had agreed on. And Callie still wasn’t here.
I fidgeted with the keychain hanging off my purse…I played with the compact in my makeup bag. I put lip gloss on…I put more lip gloss on. I paced for what seemed like days. My stomach churned with a mixture of excitement and dread. Did I look okay? Would the boys notice me?
Finally, at 5:30, she showed up at my front door.
“Callie! You’re half an hour late!” I exclaimed.
“I know,” she started, “I just really couldn’t decide what to wear!” Her sparkling blue eyes told me she was telling the truth.
Callie had been my best friend since birth, practically. And to tell the truth, I had been jealous of her for the better part of that time. She was the girl everyone wanted to be. Blonde hair, blue eyes, cheerleader – that type. But she wasn’t like any other girls on the squad. She was…well, she was genuinely nice. Otherwise we definitely wouldn’t have gotten along. We had so much in common. We both loved teriyaki chicken. Our favorite color was purple. And the most recently found common interest – we were both HUGE Jonas Brothers fans.
That was the reason we were meeting tonight. Despite my usual curse, we had gotten extremely lucky and scored two front row tickets and backstage passes. A friend of a friend…you know how it goes. When you live in Vegas, everyone has connections.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just go let my dad know we’re ready.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m just glad you’re not mad. This is such an important night. Think about it,” she said in her most captivating voice, making motions with her hands, “we could be the girls to change their lives! Well, two of them. I get Nick and you get Joe, right?” Her eyes were locked on something behind me. Something I believed was only in both of our dreams.
“Callie,” I warned, “you know that dozens of crazy obsessed fans have gotten backstage passes to see the Jonas Brothers before us, and they’re still single, correct?”
“According to my sources,” she breathed, coming back down to earth. “Anyway,” she added, “I knew that.”
“Good.” I took a last look at myself in the hall mirror and ran back into the home office to grab my dad.
As usual, the smiling, 40-year-old balding man with glasses I called Daddy was sitting behind a large oak desk feverishly writing and typing on his laptop.
“Knock, knock.” I said.
“Yes, pumpkin?” came the cool, gravelly voice that had calmed me ever since I could remember. My mother had died when I was 3, so my father was the only parent I had ever really known.
“Callie’s here, and we’re ready to go.” I couldn’t believe it. We were going to see the Jonas Brothers!
Part II
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“We’re ready to go, Daddy”. I used my sweetest, most convincing voice – the one Callie was a pro at.
He broke the usually unshakable bond between man and computer, and pressed a button on the wall-mounted intercom system.
“Jack,” he said coolly into the microphone, “the girls are ready. You can bring the car around.”
Yes, we had an intercom system, and yes, we had a chauffer. However, it was something I wasn’t entirely proud of. Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of all that my father had achieved. He was, after all, a self-made man. No, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I was highly embarrassed of anything to do with our wealth. Call it modesty – I didn’t like to talk about it. Fortunately, in my area it was commonplace. Callie’s house must have been one and a half the size of mine.
“Right away sir,” Jack replied. Jack and I had a good relationship. He had been with us for at least a decade, he someone I grew up with. The 35-year-old man had taught me how to drive three years previously, and still gave me secret lessons. The following year would bring my driver’s license and I wanted to be prepared.
My father turned in his office chair to face me. “Have a good time Gia. Be safe.” He smiled, then turned back to his computer. It must have been a busy night.
I sighed and made my way back to the front room, where Callie waited for me, primping herself as she usually did before an event such as this one.
As I came into her view she squealed with excitement. We both viewed ourselves briefly in the hall mirror one last time.
Her blonde, silky, easy-to-manage and oh-so-healthy hair looked like solid gold straw compared to my copper-colored, split end-infested jungle of a head. While her eyes showed emotion as easily as she felt it, mine sat squarely in the same place, never giving away my true feelings. I thanked them for that.
“Well,” she said, as if expecting me to put on a show, “let’s go! I can’t wait another minute!” And with that she grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door.
Jack sat waiting for us in the pearl-colored limousine. It had started sprinkling, and every house on the street was lit up with Christmas decorations. I suddenly found myself inexplicably excited.
“Where to, ladies?” Jack’s reflection asked from the rear-view mirror.
Callie piped up, “We are going to see the Jonas Brothers, silly!” As if he didn’t know.
And what else do you listen to in the car on the way to a Jonas Brothers concert but the Jonas Brothers CD? We jammed to S.O.S. and belted Inseparable (my personal favorite) until we had to stop to spare our voices.
Just as the intro to Hollywood came on, we hit a red light and an angry honk came from just behind us. It was emitted from a limo behind us. We ignored it until an angry limo driver knocked on Jack’s window!
The driver had a heavy New York accent and turned red as he yelled, “Hey, man you coulda’ damaged my limo! Watch where you’re goin’, I’m driving important people in this car!”
Jack, always the picture of meekness and politeness, answered as calmly as he could.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir, I thought we could have made it through the light.”
It was the longest red light of my life. Suddenly the sounds of Jack and this infuriated man arguing over a would-be accident blended with the raindrops on the roof of the car as I saw God’s greatest gift to teenage girls everywhere come out of that same limousine.
Part III
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“Oh. My. Jonas.” Callie whispered, her jaw dropped wide open, and I cringed when I realized she had seen too.
He stepped up to his limo driver and put a hand on his arm.
“Joe, it’s okay, really, we’re fine and this light is gonna turn green soon.”
Joe. I just happened to know he had a brother by that same name.
His voice sounded like those chimes on your back porch, the ones that let you know when the wind is picking up and the rain is coming. You run outside, anticipating the fat, wet drops to quench the undying thirst your skin has, and as it falls, you smile. The kind of smile you save only for something truly miraculous. And you know all is right with the world, because you’re in that place at that time.
Yeah, it’s that gorgeous.
I wanted to bang on the window and scream, “It’s me, I’m here, I’m the one you want!” But so often are we inclined to do things, and so often we ignore the prompt.
Obviously I restrained myself, but Callie sure didn’t. She rapped so hard on that window I thought it would shatter.
“Nick!” she shrieked, “Hey!”
He looked quickly at her, smiled and waved, and then he glanced over at me. Our eyes locked for one moment. He didn’t wave or smile at me. Just stared. I looked away. His beautiful eyes were electric, and I was afraid if I looked too long it could be dangerous for my health.
“Joe” seemed to come to his senses, and they both ran back to their limo as quickly as they had come from it. I was speechless.
Callie, as I have previously stated, was quite the opposite of me, and never failed to produce words.
“Gia, did you see that? It was amazing – that’s my future husband, I just know it!”
Her million-dollar-smile (literally, Callie had done some modeling) lit up the entire limo, but I was silent the rest of the way to the concert hall.
We arrived, and the place was a madhouse! Girls with painted T-shirts and fathers looking about ready to kill themselves lined up all the way down the side of the building, waiting to get in. An official looking lady with a red windbreaker on announced, “The Jonas Brothers are going to be a bit late, due to traffic, but we’re going to go ahead and let everyone in, and Hannah Montana will start the show.”
Groans emitted from the crowd, but just as many cheers came, too. I got the feeling some of these people would wait for weeks just to get a glimpse of Joe Jonas’ face. It seemed as though no one was there for Miley or Hannah.
Because of our VIP status, Callie and I got to cut in front of everyone in line and go straight to our seats.
As we entered the theatre, all the anxiety and nerves worked their way out of my system and a calm, cool feeling took their place. Tonight was going to be amazing.
We headed to the elevator to go to the bathrooms on the top level – the best ones, we were assured.
Now, I usually prayed for every elevator I called for to be empty. I hated the awkwardness of being in an enclosed space with total strangers, forced to look pleased to be with them. Hated it.
But for once on this night, when the elevator doors opened to three stunningly handsome guys, and one in particular, the one that was supposed to be Callie’s, I was more than happy to share the space with anyone who wanted to step into it.
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5 o’clock. That’s the time we had agreed on. And Callie still wasn’t here.
I fidgeted with the keychain hanging off my purse…I played with the compact in my makeup bag. I put lip gloss on…I put more lip gloss on. I paced for what seemed like days. My stomach churned with a mixture of excitement and dread. Did I look okay? Would the boys notice me?
Finally, at 5:30, she showed up at my front door.
“Callie! You’re half an hour late!” I exclaimed.
“I know,” she started, “I just really couldn’t decide what to wear!” Her sparkling blue eyes told me she was telling the truth.
Callie had been my best friend since birth, practically. And to tell the truth, I had been jealous of her for the better part of that time. She was the girl everyone wanted to be. Blonde hair, blue eyes, cheerleader – that type. But she wasn’t like any other girls on the squad. She was…well, she was genuinely nice. Otherwise we definitely wouldn’t have gotten along. We had so much in common. We both loved teriyaki chicken. Our favorite color was purple. And the most recently found common interest – we were both HUGE Jonas Brothers fans.
That was the reason we were meeting tonight. Despite my usual curse, we had gotten extremely lucky and scored two front row tickets and backstage passes. A friend of a friend…you know how it goes. When you live in Vegas, everyone has connections.
“It’s fine, it’s fine. I’ll just go let my dad know we’re ready.”
She breathed a sigh of relief. “I’m just glad you’re not mad. This is such an important night. Think about it,” she said in her most captivating voice, making motions with her hands, “we could be the girls to change their lives! Well, two of them. I get Nick and you get Joe, right?” Her eyes were locked on something behind me. Something I believed was only in both of our dreams.
“Callie,” I warned, “you know that dozens of crazy obsessed fans have gotten backstage passes to see the Jonas Brothers before us, and they’re still single, correct?”
“According to my sources,” she breathed, coming back down to earth. “Anyway,” she added, “I knew that.”
“Good.” I took a last look at myself in the hall mirror and ran back into the home office to grab my dad.
As usual, the smiling, 40-year-old balding man with glasses I called Daddy was sitting behind a large oak desk feverishly writing and typing on his laptop.
“Knock, knock.” I said.
“Yes, pumpkin?” came the cool, gravelly voice that had calmed me ever since I could remember. My mother had died when I was 3, so my father was the only parent I had ever really known.
“Callie’s here, and we’re ready to go.” I couldn’t believe it. We were going to see the Jonas Brothers!
Part II
--------
“We’re ready to go, Daddy”. I used my sweetest, most convincing voice – the one Callie was a pro at.
He broke the usually unshakable bond between man and computer, and pressed a button on the wall-mounted intercom system.
“Jack,” he said coolly into the microphone, “the girls are ready. You can bring the car around.”
Yes, we had an intercom system, and yes, we had a chauffer. However, it was something I wasn’t entirely proud of. Don’t get me wrong, I was proud of all that my father had achieved. He was, after all, a self-made man. No, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was that I was highly embarrassed of anything to do with our wealth. Call it modesty – I didn’t like to talk about it. Fortunately, in my area it was commonplace. Callie’s house must have been one and a half the size of mine.
“Right away sir,” Jack replied. Jack and I had a good relationship. He had been with us for at least a decade, he someone I grew up with. The 35-year-old man had taught me how to drive three years previously, and still gave me secret lessons. The following year would bring my driver’s license and I wanted to be prepared.
My father turned in his office chair to face me. “Have a good time Gia. Be safe.” He smiled, then turned back to his computer. It must have been a busy night.
I sighed and made my way back to the front room, where Callie waited for me, primping herself as she usually did before an event such as this one.
As I came into her view she squealed with excitement. We both viewed ourselves briefly in the hall mirror one last time.
Her blonde, silky, easy-to-manage and oh-so-healthy hair looked like solid gold straw compared to my copper-colored, split end-infested jungle of a head. While her eyes showed emotion as easily as she felt it, mine sat squarely in the same place, never giving away my true feelings. I thanked them for that.
“Well,” she said, as if expecting me to put on a show, “let’s go! I can’t wait another minute!” And with that she grabbed my arm and pulled me out the door.
Jack sat waiting for us in the pearl-colored limousine. It had started sprinkling, and every house on the street was lit up with Christmas decorations. I suddenly found myself inexplicably excited.
“Where to, ladies?” Jack’s reflection asked from the rear-view mirror.
Callie piped up, “We are going to see the Jonas Brothers, silly!” As if he didn’t know.
And what else do you listen to in the car on the way to a Jonas Brothers concert but the Jonas Brothers CD? We jammed to S.O.S. and belted Inseparable (my personal favorite) until we had to stop to spare our voices.
Just as the intro to Hollywood came on, we hit a red light and an angry honk came from just behind us. It was emitted from a limo behind us. We ignored it until an angry limo driver knocked on Jack’s window!
The driver had a heavy New York accent and turned red as he yelled, “Hey, man you coulda’ damaged my limo! Watch where you’re goin’, I’m driving important people in this car!”
Jack, always the picture of meekness and politeness, answered as calmly as he could.
“I’m terribly sorry, sir, I thought we could have made it through the light.”
It was the longest red light of my life. Suddenly the sounds of Jack and this infuriated man arguing over a would-be accident blended with the raindrops on the roof of the car as I saw God’s greatest gift to teenage girls everywhere come out of that same limousine.
Part III
---------
“Oh. My. Jonas.” Callie whispered, her jaw dropped wide open, and I cringed when I realized she had seen too.
He stepped up to his limo driver and put a hand on his arm.
“Joe, it’s okay, really, we’re fine and this light is gonna turn green soon.”
Joe. I just happened to know he had a brother by that same name.
His voice sounded like those chimes on your back porch, the ones that let you know when the wind is picking up and the rain is coming. You run outside, anticipating the fat, wet drops to quench the undying thirst your skin has, and as it falls, you smile. The kind of smile you save only for something truly miraculous. And you know all is right with the world, because you’re in that place at that time.
Yeah, it’s that gorgeous.
I wanted to bang on the window and scream, “It’s me, I’m here, I’m the one you want!” But so often are we inclined to do things, and so often we ignore the prompt.
Obviously I restrained myself, but Callie sure didn’t. She rapped so hard on that window I thought it would shatter.
“Nick!” she shrieked, “Hey!”
He looked quickly at her, smiled and waved, and then he glanced over at me. Our eyes locked for one moment. He didn’t wave or smile at me. Just stared. I looked away. His beautiful eyes were electric, and I was afraid if I looked too long it could be dangerous for my health.
“Joe” seemed to come to his senses, and they both ran back to their limo as quickly as they had come from it. I was speechless.
Callie, as I have previously stated, was quite the opposite of me, and never failed to produce words.
“Gia, did you see that? It was amazing – that’s my future husband, I just know it!”
Her million-dollar-smile (literally, Callie had done some modeling) lit up the entire limo, but I was silent the rest of the way to the concert hall.
We arrived, and the place was a madhouse! Girls with painted T-shirts and fathers looking about ready to kill themselves lined up all the way down the side of the building, waiting to get in. An official looking lady with a red windbreaker on announced, “The Jonas Brothers are going to be a bit late, due to traffic, but we’re going to go ahead and let everyone in, and Hannah Montana will start the show.”
Groans emitted from the crowd, but just as many cheers came, too. I got the feeling some of these people would wait for weeks just to get a glimpse of Joe Jonas’ face. It seemed as though no one was there for Miley or Hannah.
Because of our VIP status, Callie and I got to cut in front of everyone in line and go straight to our seats.
As we entered the theatre, all the anxiety and nerves worked their way out of my system and a calm, cool feeling took their place. Tonight was going to be amazing.
We headed to the elevator to go to the bathrooms on the top level – the best ones, we were assured.
Now, I usually prayed for every elevator I called for to be empty. I hated the awkwardness of being in an enclosed space with total strangers, forced to look pleased to be with them. Hated it.
But for once on this night, when the elevator doors opened to three stunningly handsome guys, and one in particular, the one that was supposed to be Callie’s, I was more than happy to share the space with anyone who wanted to step into it.
