*The Day Of The Concert*
McKenzie arrived early in the morning and was all hyper about going to the concert. Shayla took her out shopping and to lunch then they spent the rest of the afternoon getting ready. Leighanne had offered to have them over for lunch since she and Brian were home, but Shayla explained she was keeping it a surprise that McKenzie was going to meet the boys at the concert and declined. Leighanne then insisted they join them after the concert for a party they were having because it was Brian's birthday the next day. Shayla thought that would be great.
McKenzie could hardly sit still in the car on the way to the concert. Shayla couldn't believe how worked up McKenzie was. To her they were just normal guys. They found their way to the floor of the arena. Shayla wanted to find their seats before going backstage. McKenzie was getting more and more excited seeing they had floor seats. Shayla was amazed when she saw the stage and she herself was getting excited. Shayla gave the tickets to the usher so he could lead them to their seats. She saw McKenzie's jaw drop more and more the closer they came to the stage. When the usher pointed to the front row McKenzie went nuts. Shayla saw how close the stage was and couldn't wait to see the guys up there performing.
"Oh Shay, I can't believe this!" McKenzie exclaimed. "This is too cool. How on earth did you do this?" McKenzie gave her a huge tight hug.
"You'll see," Shayla said. "Come on I have another surprise for you," she said taking her sisters hand and leading her to the tunnel to the backstage area. "Let's try and get backstage," Shayla said acting like they would just try it.
"Shayla they'll never let us back there. You have to have a reason or invite to get backstage or have passes," McKenzie said.
"Well let's just try at least," Shayla said trying not to laugh. "Ya never know, maybe we'll get lucky."
"It'll never work," McKenzie grumbled.
As they neared the doorway that was surrounded with large security guards Shayla reached into her purse and pulled out the passes. "Here these should get us back there," she said handing a pass to McKenzie.
"What!?! Oh my god are these for real? Where, how, where did you get these?" McKenzie asked.
"A friend gave them to me with the tickets," Shayla told her. "Surprise! Happy Birthday Kenz," she said hugging her sister.
"I don't believe this," McKenzie was jumping up and down.
They showed their passes to the guard at the door and he let them through. It was fairly crowded backstage. Shayla looked around for the guys, finally spotting them in a group towards the middle of the room.
"Hey Shayla over here," AJ shouted waving them over. "Come on over here girl," he said walking towards them.
"You know AJ McLean?" McKenzie asked stunned.
"A little bit," Shayla replied as the made their way through the crowd. AJ met them halfway greeting Shayla with a big hug and kiss on the cheek. McKenzie watched the exchange in shock, unsure if this was really happening. It seemed more like a dream.
"It's great to see you again," AJ said. "And this must be the little sis?" he said looking at McKenzie.
"It's nice to see you again too AJ. What on earth are you wearing?" Shayla said looking at his costume that resembeled a super hero. "This is my sister McKenzie. Today is her 18th birthday," she said introducing them.
"18 huh?" AJ said grinning. "That makes her legal then huh?" he said rubbing his hands together jokingly. "Has she had her birthday spankings yet?"
"AJ," Shayla warned him. McKenzie giggled.
"Aww, Shay you know you're the one that drives me wild," he said kissing her cheek again. "It's nice to meet you," he said to McKenzie. "Come give me a hug birthday girl," he said latching on to McKenzie. Shayla thought McKenzie might pass out, but she was keeping her cool surprisingly well.
"Shayla come on over here," Brian called to her. AJ walked them over with his arm around Shayla.
Brian greeted her with a hug as well as the other guys. "Happy Birthday Brian. Guys I'd like you to meet my sister, McKenzie Starks. Kenz, I believe you know all their names," Shayla laughed.
"Hi, it's nice to meet all of you. I'm such a big fan. I can't believe this." McKenzie said. "This is such a surprise. How did you do this? How do you know them?" she asked Shayla.
"It just so happens that Brian is my next door neighbor," Shayla said. Now McKenzie really went into shock. Brian and Shayla laughed at her.
"She's been keeping it a secret to surprise you," Brian said. He took notice of AJ's arm around Shayla. Her face was beaming having pulled off such a surprise.
"She succeeded, I'm surprised," McKenzie said. "Oh this is the best birthday ever. Happy birthday to you too Brian."
"Thank you," Brian said.
"Oh yeah, it's your birthday," Nick said to McKenzie. He looked like he had a trick up his sleeve. "Are we ready guys?" he asked them. McKenzie loved the way he talked. His accent was so cute.
"Ready," they all said. They all hummed to find their note and began to sing Happy Birthday to McKenzie. McKenzie looked like she was going to cry. One of the guys crew members was video taping it. Even Shayla didn't know they were going to do this. She was very touched at their sweetness and generosity. The guys each gave McKenzie a hug and the man with the video camera handed McKenzie the tape and said happy birthday. Shayla took her camera out and took some pictures of McKenzie with the guys as a group and individually, then had someone else take a few with her and McKenzie and the guys.
"Shayla hi," Leighanne said coming over to join them.
"Hi Leighanne, how are ya? This is my sister McKenzie," she said introducing them.
"Well were you surprised?" Leighanne asked. "Your sister has been really excited about pulling this off."
"I was so surprised," beamed McKenzie. "This is unbelievable."
Shayla noticed Nick kept looking at McKenzie in a certain way and acting goofy. McKenzie noticed AJ looking at Shayla. "Well we won't take up anymore of your time. I know you have things to do. We'd better get to our seats," Shayla said.
"Ok we'll see you in a while," Brian said.
Shayla saw the loss of expression on McKenzie's face. "Don't worry Kenz, you'll see them later. We're going over to Brian and Leighanne's after the concert for a party."
"Awesome," McKenzie said her face lighting up again, as did Nick's. "I'll see you all later then," she said waving goodbye.
"See you guys," Shayla said as they left.
"See ya," they all said.
Once they were outside the door McKenzie let out a squeal and hugged Shayla jumping up and down, "thank you, thank you, thank you," she said.
"You're welcome. Come on let's find our seats again," Shayla said.
The concert was magnificent. McKenzie screamed her head off the entire time and Shayla was very impressed. She hadn't imagined they would be so good. Their singing was unbelievable and they were excellent dancers. She thought her ears might burst from all the screaming though. But it was so much fun and they had a wonderful time. Brian would wave or point to them and make the funniest faces whenever he was near them. Nick seemed to be looking at McKenzie a lot and would sing to her or do something funny and laugh at her like hanging upside down off the stage or his ladder during "Don't Want You Back". Then there was AJ of course. Shayla couldn't believe what a wild man he was on stage. He obviously loved the spotlight and the crowd loved him. He was an awesome dancer and quite a few times ran over by them, doing some funky moves or thrusting in their direction and flinging water at them from his water bottle. He shocked Shayla at the end of the concert, when he jumped off stage to walk around touching people's hands. When he came to Shayla he jumped up against the barricade and kissed her cheek real fast then just kept on going. It happened so fast she didn't see it coming. Nick threw his shirt at McKenzie and AJ threw Shayla one of his cowboy hats. By the time the show ended Shayla and McKenzie were exhausted from the excitement and dancing and jumping up and down.
As they were leaving the floor area to go home Shayla heard her name being called. "Shayla!" Leighanne called waving them over to the backstage area.
"Hey whats up?" Shayla asked walking over.
"Can I ride home with you? The guys still have to shower and they'll be a while getting out of here and I wanna get home and set up for the party," she said.
"Oh sure, that's no problem," Shayla told her.
"Great thanks. Come back here and we'll go out this way. I can't go out through the fans," Leighanne said. She told Brian she was riding home with Shayla and a guard walked them to Shayla's car.
"So what did you think of the show?" Leighanne asked once they were on their way home.
"Oh my god! I don't even know how to describe it," Shayla exclaimed. Leighanne laughed. "It was incredible. I'd have to say it's the best show I've ever seen. Thank you so much for the tickets," Shayla said.
"Yes, thank you so much. It was the best birthday present ever," McKenzie said still all excited.
"Anytime. I'm glad you enjoyed it," Leighanne said.
"Do you think Nick would sign this shirt he gave me?" McKenzie asked. "I don't wanna sound like some idiot teenybopper or a pest asking him if he's gonna think I'm stupid."
"Oh I'm sure he won't mind. Besides, I think he kinda likes you. He was acting all goofy around you," Leighanne said.
"Nuh-uh, ya think so?" McKenzie asked blushing. Leighanne grinned at her.
"And AJ really likes you Shay," Leighanne said.
"Now we've talked about that," Shayla said.
"He kissed her at the end of the show," McKenzie tattled.
"Oh just give him a chance. I think you two would be cute," Leighanne told Shayla.
"I just can't believe how good they are. I mean, I guess cuz I hadn't heard of them and knew them before seeing this, I just see them as regular people. They're just so different when they're on stage," Shayla said changing the subject. She pulled into her driveway and parked the car.
"This is your house?" McKenzie asked. "Dang Shay, it's gorgeous."
"Thanks. Just wait till ya see Brian and Leighanne's. It's bigger," Shayla said.
"Oh please, they're about the same size, but you have all those windows. We don't have all those big windows across the back," Leighanne said.
"I'm gonna get McKenzie settled and show her around since the guys will be a while still. Then we'll be over," Shayla said as they all jumped out of her jeep Cherokee.
"Ok, see ya in a bit," Leighanne said.