Chapter
4
Monday
morning, Ashalyn was up at the crack of dawn.
She couldn’t sleep well the night before, she was so excited. She had been packed for two days, so she was
pretty much ready.
Right
at 8:30, Elyssa was dropped off at Ashalyn’s house. The girls had decided to be picked up at the
same place so that Brian would not have to drive all over Atlanta to pick them
up, and Ashalyn’s place was the easiest to find, so they had agreed to meet
there at 8:30.
Serena
arrived soon after Elyssa did. Ashalyn
knew Jenna would be at least a few minutes late. She took much longer to get ready than the
rest of them, not to mention she was not a morning person.
Sure
enough, Jenna didn’t get to Ashalyn’s house until nearly ten minutes after
Elyssa did. It was 8:40 by then. Only a few more minutes until Brian was due
there to pick them up.
Right
at 8:50, a long, black limo pulled up in the driveway. Serena gasped. “Look!” she squealed, staring out the window
with wide, excited eyes.
“Wow,
I didn’t know he was bringing a limo,” Ashalyn breathed, her eyes wide as
well.
“What
are we waiting for?” Elyssa asked.
“Let’s go!” They headed out the
front door, just as Brian was climbing out of the backseat to come get
them.
“Hey!”
he exclaimed as they came outside. “Good
morning!”
“Morning,”
Ashalyn replied, smiling. The driver of
the limo opened the back doors for them and helped them all in, the girls first,
and then Brian.
“Wow,
there’s even a refrigerator in here,” Serena gushed, looking around in
awe.
“Yup,”
Brian replied, grinning. “There’s a TV,
VCR, Nintendo, all kinds of cool stuff.”
“Awesome,”
Elyssa said.
“I
rode in a limo once, at my cousin’s wedding,” Jenna said. “I was a bridesmaid.”
“Cool,”
Ashalyn replied absently. No one else
even paid attention. Elyssa and Serena
were busy checking out all the devices in the fancy car. The whole time, Ashalyn was wondering, Could
we be ever be rich and famous like this?
It would not be long before she would find out.
***
The
next morning, Ashalyn, Jenna, Serena, and Elyssa were in a recording booth in
Orlando, ready to show off some of their work.
They were all nervous, for the five Backstreet Boys stood right outside
the recording booth, ready to hear them sing.
They were going to do “Why Don’t You See?” and a new one that Ashalyn
had written only a few weeks before, a ballad called “So Hard to Say Goodbye.”
“Are
you ready in there, girls?” Kevin asked.
“All
ready,” Elyssa announced into her microphone.
“Ok,
I’m starting the tape then. 3… 2…
1.” Kevin started the tape on which they
had recorded their band playing the music for the two songs. As the music started for “Why Don’t You
See?”, Ashalyn took a deep breath and prepared to sing her verse.
The
song went wonderfully, and when it was over, the guys all cheered, grinning in
at the four girls. They smiled and
blushed, but they were pleased with themselves.
They thought they had sung the song perfectly.
Next
came “So Hard to Say Goodbye”, which would be more difficult, since they hadn’t
rehearsed it as much. Plus, the song was
musically more challenging anyway.
The
music began, and Serena leaned close to her mic to sing the first verse.
When we were together, my life felt like a dream,
And things seemed so perfect all around.
We were so in love, I never thought we’d drift apart,
But then my dream world came crumblin’ down.
Then
they all sang together for the chorus.
It’s so hard to say goodbye,
That it makes me want me cry.
But I know,
That I have to let go.
It’s so hard to say goodbye,
That I feel like I could die.
But you’re gone,
And I have to more on.
Jenna
took the second verse.
We had so much in common, shared such great times,
And I’ll never let go of those memories.
We were not just lovers, we also were the best of friends.
But then why, did let go of me?
They
repeated the chorus again, and then Ashalyn belted out the bridge.
You said that you were sorry,
That we could still be friends,
But I still love you more than that,
So why did it have to end?
“So
Hard to Say Goodbye” Ó 2000 by Julie Lewis
Then
they repeated the chorus once more, then changed keys, and sang it twice more
to end the song.
“Wow,
girls, that was great!” Howie gushed.
“We’re going to take this tape to our managers at The Firm and see if
they’ll take you all on as well as us.
“Great!”
Elyssa said, grinning.
“Thanks,”
Serena said, smiling as well.
“Yeah,
thank you guys so much,” Ashalyn agreed.
Jenna nodded.
“We
couldn’t have done this without you,” she said, eyeing AJ, who seemed to be
gazing at Elyssa. Ashalyn’s eyes
widened. Could AJ be into Elyssa?
she wondered. She knew that Jenna was
definitely into him, but she didn’t know if Elyssa really was. She seemed oblivious to that fact that he
was staring at her like that. Ashalyn
hoped Jenna didn’t notice the looks AJ was giving Elyssa. She would be heartbroken. Ashalyn sighed. These next few weeks were going to be some of
the most exciting of their lives, but they could be tough too.
***
