56Chapter One
"Oh my GOD!" I exclaimed, as I looked at the single backstage pass I received for my birthday, a week early. Even a word with such strong quality as 'beautiful' felt far short of describing it… Never before had I held anything so amazing in my hands, let alone owned something so magnificent. I existed in an aura of complete amazement as I admired the small, rectangular piece of plastic I held in my hands. Blu Shooz, my favorite band of all time, would soon be playing a concert in Orlando on my birthday and, as if by magic, my mom managed to get three tickets for my two best friends, Jessi and Dani, and of course, me. The three of us boasted a long friendship, together as the best of friends since elementary school, since that fateful day when I got pushed into the bar on the swing set and given a bloody nose by Robert Johnson. They walked me to the nurse and we have since then been inseparable, and kept torturing Robert constantly. We even plan on continuing this act for years to come. My mom was only able to get one backstage pass, however, and that... belonged to me. No matter how much I loved my friends, I could not pass up the chance to meet the rest of the band. Lucas and I used to live in the same housing development; he lived next door to me, actually, and for this reason I was privileged enough to know him, and we grew to be pretty good friends, but I still needed to meet the rest of the guys, and trust me; I remained dying to do so. Now, on my eighteenth birthday, I would finally get the chance to live out my life-long dream.
"Jamie," I said, talking to myself, "you have no idea how lucky you are. Well… yes you do… but let's not admit that." After I did a small dance across my room, I picked up my phone to call my friends and give them the good news. After three seconds of thinking to myself, I decided to keep the big news a secret. I would plan my own surprise party, but the surprise was for the guests. I got Dani and Jessi on three way and slowly led the conversation to the topic of my birthday; "You guys know my birthday is next Friday, right?" I asked, and they reassured me that they knew, "How does skipping school and going out to oh say... Orlando sound?" I suggested slyly.
"How are we gonna do that?" Jessi asked doubtfully.
"My mom can come get you guys," I said.
"And our parents will agree? I honestly don't think it's gonna happen Jamie," Dani doubted my plans, I knew it would work. It just had to; I would not let it happen any other way. This would be my birthday, and that means everything goes my way… or else. Or else what, I did not know, but I knew something would happen if my genius plan went horribly wrong. Even if it only went a little wrong, who ever messed it up would be in some serious trouble, I could swear to it.
"Lemme talk to your parents," they put their moms on the phone and I explained to them what my plan consisted of, "Okay, my mom got three tickets to go see Blu Shooz on my birthday and I want to make the concert a surprise to them. What's going to happen is my mom will come and pick them up the morning of March second, and bring them to my house where we will load into my car and make our way up to Orlando. We're going to shop, get lunch and wander around before my mom meets us around 4:30 for an early dinner. After the concert, they will then ride home with my mom while I hang back and talk to the guys because I have a backstage pass," I told them.
"No problem, Jamie. It sounds like you've got this all planned out," Jessi's mom congratulated me.
"Yea, I try to have plans established before I ask about them. It makes me come across as more responsible than I really am," I informed them, making them chuckle lightly at my small attempt at some humor,
"Well, it sounds good to me. What do you think Sylvia?" Jessi's mom, Cindy, inquired.
"It sounds great to me too. So this plan is all a secret to the girls? We aren't supposed to tell Jessi or Dani anything?" Sylvia asked. Sylvia and Cindy prominently reminded me of Jessi and Dani. The girls took after their mothers to a large extent, and it showed in obvious amounts to me, a teen who refuses to accept the fact we only exist as replicas of our parents. The personalities matched, and even the choice of slang seemed identical. Appearance wise, it was not too noticeable because both Cindy and Sylvia dye their hair, not to cover up grays, but for the change. They were both still eighteen at heart.
"Nope, not a word, just make sure they bring a lot of money. I don't want them not to be able to buy merchandise at the show because they spent it all on clothes earlier in the day, I'm going to purchase their food because it wouldn't be right if I made them buy everything themselves at my party, so they don't need to worry about food," I informed them, knowing it would not make a difference either way.
"No problem Jamie. Thanks for letting us know about this; it sounds like the three of you will have a wonderful time," Cindy said.
"I agree, it all sounds spectacular. Nice talking to you Jamie!" Sylvia closed. Each handed the telephone back to their daughters, who sat in amazement,
"How'd you do it?" Jessi asked astonished.
"I have my ways," I casually remarked.
"I honestly don't believe it! My mom agreed! I haven't been allowed to miss school when I wasn't deathly ill since… well, ever!" Dani exclaimed. I could easily tell both my friends were doing victory dances across their rooms, I could even picture them. Jessi with her blonde hair, pulled into a ponytail swishing around, her blue eyes glowing with anticipation; Dani, looking graceful, despite her tall figure with her neatly styled hair flipping around her face. Her brown eyes would be calm and yet excited at the same time. Her face never showed emotion, but her body language did, and a dance would work for me. I'm sure they both began to ponder what types of events I planned for the day that held enough value to make their parents agree to let them skip a day of school. They would never guess it would be something this massive; I typically could not keep secrets from them, especially big and exciting ones like this. We continued our conversation for another two hours or so, about things with no relevance at all to my birthday,
"Oh, Jamie, did you hear about Nick and Amanda?" Dani asked. From the tone of her voice I could tell they split up again, and this time it could not have happened in a good way.
"Aww, again?" I said regretfully. Nick really liked Amanda, and they had been stayed together for over a year, and now, they became an unfortunate victim of high school romance, "What happened? Do you know?"
"They won't say. Amanda is just in a really bitchy mood, and I saw Nick sitting on the sidewalk bouncing a ball this afternoon. He looked really down," Jessi stated. We knew somehow, it came to be my place to make Nick feel better, and I planned on doing it, at least… I would try to.
"I'll be sure to call him later and make sure everything is going okay with him. If I find anything out, you guys will be the first to know, all right? Thanks for telling me about it though, I never would have found out because Amanda still hates me, and Nick won't call and tell me because he thinks I'll see him as desperate, or something silly like that. He'll never learn, will he?" I laughed, "Why do guys think if they tell us they like us and things don't work out they can't talk to us anymore without being seen as desperate. Men are one thing I will never understand in this world. No matter what, they will never cease to confuse me." I stated, and it will continually hold true. Men subsist as the most confusing and complex creatures on the planet, but yet… I love them.
"You mean they'll never cease to amaze you, right Jamie?" Jessi kidded, they knew how I could be really boy crazy. Nothing would ever change that either.
"Well, that too, I guess," I joked. Soon we ended our phone conversation, and I looked around my room. It was not too special, just a room. But, it belonged to me, and I loved it. The walls were painted a pastel yellow and all that belonged in the room matched them, including the posters that hung, in a scattered, unorganized way, across the walls. My bed was decent sized, comfortable, and headed with three pillows. Across the room sat a desk on which my computer resided. No one else in the house used it, so we moved it into my room and I adopted it like a stray kitten that happened to wander into my room one afternoon. My brother decided to buy himself a laptop after that, using money he carefully stored away from past birthdays and other holidays where giving money seemed appropriate. The carpet was white, and I planned on keeping it that color. I would not allow anyone with shoes on, or food in their hands, in my room. I recently purchased, and put down, new carpet myself and I became unwillingly forced to choose white to match my room; Therefore, I did not want it dirtied. Thankfully, everyone respected me, and followed the singular rule I had for coming in my room. Underneath my window sat my window sofa. It consisted of a giant drawer with a comfortable cushion on the top of it, making it into a sofa. It easily achieved the award for my favorite piece of furniture in my room, and the best place in the house to read, do homework, or watch the rain. I kept various things full of meaning in the drawer below the cushion. Things such as poems, stories, scrapbooks, photo albums, journals, and even letters lived in a strewn about state inside the drawer, and every time I opened it a memory relived itself. Everything inside the drawer remained a cherished part of my past, and I hoped never to lose it, or anything inside.
I soon realized my mom remained completely in the dark about the plans for my birthday so I left my room in search of her. I found her outside in the yard with my brother, his friend Mark Raymond, and Mark's mother, Sarah. I accused Mark of turning my brother opposite of everything I worked so hard to make him. Michael and I used to be the same, almost like pictures from an Abercrombie and Fitch catalog. That was until Mikey met Mark. Mark was punk from the second he was born, and his mother could not stop his rebellious nature. He was smart though, and never got in trouble in school, but when at home he could not be controlled. I also believe he learned to skateboard and roller blade before he learned to walk, the kid proved to be a natural, and never failed to teach my brother all he needed to know, including the ins and outs of fashion. My brother upheld the perfect prep image I taught him, but Mark wanted that changed as quickly as possible. Mark stood at about 5'4" at age thirteen, by looking at his family, he would not grow to be much taller later in his teenage years. His hair was naturally brown, but he bleached the tips a semi-blonde color. Clothing wise, baggy and mismatched are the words I would use to describe the style he claimed as his own. The two of them kept whispering back and forth about Mark giving Mike one of his old boards because he bought a new one the day before, and no longer needed the old board. Mike glowed with excitement. I decided not to tell my mother, but let her find out herself, a surprise sort of thing. Mike was leaving for the night and would be back the next morning, which explained why Mrs. Raymond and my mother stood talking.
After they left, I told my mom what Jessi, Dani, and I planned to do for my birthday party, made sure she agreed, and began to count the seconds until March second would be here...