*The Next Day*
"Hi mom," Shayla said glad to hear a familiar voice. Her mom and sister lived a few hours away in Ft. Lauderdale. After satisfying all her mom's questions of how she was doing and how the neighborhood was and how her life was, she finally asked to talk to McKenzie.
"Hi Kenz," Shayla said. "How's it goin?"
"Oh it's ok. Busy you know with getting ready for exams and graduation," McKenzie said.
"Hey the big 18 in a few weeks huh? Got any big party plans?" Shayla asked.
"No not really. Gonna hang with the girls, that's about it. We might have a party, I don't know," McKenzie told her.
"Hey I wanted to thank you for that CD you gave me. Uh, The Backstreet Boys," Shayla said having to look at the CD for the name. She kept forgetting. "It's really great, I like it."
"Oh aren't they great? And they're so hot! I just love that Nick Carter. He's so cute. I really wanted to see them in concert for my birthday, cuz they'll be in Florida, but it was sold out." She rambled on and on forever about the Backstreet Boys. She gave Shayla all the gossip, everything they do, say, she knew everything. Shayla almost laughed at how much she knew about them. McKenzie told her about Brian's heart problem which made Shayla think he was even more special. She decided not to tell McKenzie yet about meeting them and living next door to Brian. She didn't know if McKenzie could keep it a secret.
"Well Kenz, I better go. I still have some unpacking to do and be ready to start work tomorrow. I'll talk to you soon ok. Tell mom bye for me."
"Ok Shay, talk to ya later," McKenzie said and they hung up.
After unpacking the last of the boxes Shayla decided to take Taco and Belle for a walk through the neighborhood to check things out and then maybe down to the beach for a bit. Halfway down the street she stopped to look at what had to be the most beautiful house on the street. While she stood admiring the lucious landscape, Taco and Belle began barking like crazy, then she heard more dogs barking. She looked up to see Brian and Leighanne with their dogs also out for a walk.
"Hi Shayla," Brian said as they stopped to talk.
"Hi you two. Aww, aren't they all cute together?" Shayla said about all four of the dogs.
"I know, look at them. This is so funny to see four of them together," Leighanne said.
"Are you guys all ready to go on the road?" Shayla asked Brian.
"Yep, we were just taking a walk before we leave," Brian said.
"I see you're admiring the Harrison house," Leighanne said.
"It's absolutely breathtaking. I love it," Shayla said.
"Well, you're going to have to fight Leigh for it," Brian interjected. "She's just waiting for this house to go up for sale."
"Oh you can have it. It's way to much for me. I prefer the smaller, more cozy type like mine. But you guys will probably eventually need a bigger home," Shayla said laughing.
"I'm the same way, I like a cozy house," said Brian.
"It'll probably never go up for sale though. They've lived there forever from what I've heard," Leighanne pouted.
"Well, we're off to the beach for a while," Shayla said beginning to walk away.
"Oh hey wait a minute. We wanted to ask you something," Brian said stopping her.
"Yeah?"
"We were wondering if you would mind keeping an eye on the house while we're gone. You know just kinda watch out, make sure nothing's wrong at the house. Sometimes we have problems because of the fans and stuff. They try to steal the mail or the grass, the paper...." Brian ran down the list.
"You're kidding me, they steal your mail and grass?" Shayla asked in disbelief.
"Oh yeah, it's crazy," Leighanne said.
"Anyway, would you mind? If you could just bring the mailover to your place and since you can just look out the window and see the place that would be great. Then we wouldn't have to have someone drive by all the time," Brian said.
"Sure, that's no problem. I don't mind. Actually, I did hear a little about the stir you guys are causing from my sister this morning. Don't worry, I didn't tell her you live next door. But she's 17 almost 18, and she was going on and on about you all morning and how she couldn't get tickets to your sold out show here in Florida on her birthday," Shayla said.
"It's ok you can tell your family," Brian said. "Hey how about I get you some tickets and backstage passes for her birthday to the show here, for helping keep an eye on the house," he asked.
"Oh no, I didn't mean for it to sound like I wanted you to give me tickets. That came out wrong. And you certainly don't owe me anything for watching your house. What are neighbors for?"
"Really it's not a problem. Actually, we had already thought about giving you some since you'd never heard of us and probably haven't been to a concert in a while. Consider it a house warming gift and welcome back to the music world gift," Brian said laughing at that last comment.
"Well, since you put it that way, thanks. That would be so sweet of you guys. McKenzie would go nuts," Shayla said.
"Ok great, I'll have our manager send you some. And here's my card with my cell phone number on it and this is Leighanne's cell number on the back. You call us if anything comes up with the house and if you see someone trying to steal the mail, try to holler at them, and then call the police cuz if they steal a bill, it's hard to explain why the payment is late, unless it's documented that our mail was stolen," Brian explained.
"Ok no problem, have a good time," Shayla told them.
"And I'll call you about coming to the set one day. Or if ya ever just wanna girl talk you can call my cell. I'm usually free in the evenings," Leighanne offered.
"Ok that'd be great."
"Ok, well, I'll see you when we come back for the show and I guess you'll see Leigh soon, when you two get together," Brian said as they waved goodbye.
"Great see ya later," Shayla said and started walking towards the bach. "People steal their mail and grass? Good Lord!" she muttered to herself.
"She's so sweet," Leighanne said to Brian. "I think we should set her up with AJ."
"I think she's too sweet for AJ. Don't go start playing matchmaker. I don't think she could handle AJ and then we have to live next to her," Brian said.
"We'll see. I think she looks like she has a wild side to her. She and AJ might hit it off. And he was definitely interested in her," said Leighanne.
"Oh no," Brian groaned at Leighanne's scheming.
Over the next few weeks Shayla got settled into her new house and her new job. She'd met a few of the neighbors and they were all very nice. Her job was going great and she was getting lots of assignments. She'd called McKenzie and told her she had a special surprise for her birthday. McKenzie was ecstatic to find out she was goin to the BSB concert. Shayla didn't tell her they had front row seats and backstage passes, or that Brian was her neighbor. She decided to save that for a surprise. Shayla had been quite surprised when the tickets arrived. She had figured they would be fairly decent seats, but front row!? McKenzie was going to freak. There had been a note with them from Brian saying he made sure the seats were on his and Nick's side of the stage since Shayla mentioned McKenzie liked Nick, and that way Brian could find them. He also said he looked forward to seeing her and meeting her sister. And a small P.S. was added that AJ says hello. Shayla had laughed at that. AJ was quite the character. Shayla was actually looking forward to the concert. It was less than a week away now. Leighanne had been right. Whenever Shayla turned on the radio or the tv, the BSB were on it. She'd seen a couple things with them on tv and they performed great. She was amazed at how the girls reacted to them and she felt priviledged to know how they really are. So nice, down to earth and funny guys.
She kept a close eye on Brian and Leighanne's house. So far there were no problems. Either Brian or Leighanne called at least every two days to check on things. Mostly Leighanne would call since Brian was so busy and didn't get much down time, or she just wanted to chat. She would mostly talk to Shayla about AJ being interested in seeing her and trying to set them up. Shayla learned all about each of the guys and their girlfriends and such. They had scheduled for Shayla to come to the set of her movie two days after the concert in Florida, that way they could ride together, and McKenzie would still be in town and she could come too. Shayla and Leighanne were becoming fast friends.