Zac sighed heavily. He glanced at his watch. 7:15. The sold-out show was supposed to start in 15 minutes, but the meet-n-greet was still going on. The second to last batch of girls (one guy and two mothers as well) had just been ushered out. It always amused him to hear their conversations and excited chatter as they left.
"Isaac had his arm around you? Wow, it must've been the dress you're wearing. I knew you would blow his socks off." One girl said enviously to another.
"Taylor noticed my shirt guys! He said, 'Wow, that must've taken you a long time to make. Thanks for the effort.' I can't believe it! I'm going to die!" Another girl yelled over the crowd. A little smile made it's way onto Zac's lips. While it was amusing to hear them talk about their experiences, at the same time, it made Zac depressed. For those girls that he just met, they would probably be stoked for the next year, talking to their friends about it, emailing relatives, and maybe even putting their 'Hanson Experience' up on a website. For Zac and his brothers, it was just another line of girls with whom they would converse, shake hands, give out autographs, and promptly forget.
That's not to say he didn't try. He did. He usually put forth a passive effort to say something different to each girl and look them in their eyes, and occasionally, he'd remember her name for a day or two, but after 100 girls at 50 different concerts, it's almost impossible to remember more than a handful. He knew his brothers felt sorry too. They'd talked about it. How on one end of the encounter, a life would be changed, while on the other end, it was an annoyance at best. They'd all three decided to do their best to pay attention to one girl at a time (regardless of how she looked/acted) and then politely move on. Zac glanced at the door. Sheryl, the publicist for this arena, poked her head in.
"Just ten more, guys. Then we can start the show." The guys nodded and she stepped out of the doorway and into the other room where the children were held. Zac chuckled to himself. The children were held. Like cattle...hahaha.
The girls walked in. This one was actually all girls. Usually there was a guy or two and at least one parent, but not this time. He got an eyefull of pleather, feathers, platforms, and glitter. He never understood why girls dressed up for their concerts. I mean, they're gonna end up sweaty anyway, and EVERY girl dressed like that, so the guys were pretty much numb to tank-tops without bras and mini mini-skirts. In fact, Zac welcomed the occasional girl who actually had a shirt on, not a tank-top. It held more mystery for him.
"Zac! Zac, over here!" I girl yelled. She was wearing tight-pink pants and a black halter top. Zac plastered on a smile and walked over.
"Hello, nice to meet you. Thanks for coming." He said, shaking her hand.
"I've been waiting for you for a long time..." she said coyly, placing her finger to her bright pink lips. Zac resisted the urge to barf.
"I'm sorry to say that I never knew you existed, so I haven't been waiting, but now that I've met you I know what I was missing out on my whole life." He said, giving her a grin.
"Hehe...yeah." She said, taking a step back. He knew he shouldn't do stuff like that, but some girls were so dumb! He'd just messed with her and he shouldn't have. The next thing he knew, they were getting married in a few years. That's how things happened to him. He said something not quite innocent to someone and it was over. He shouldn't have said that!
He met quite a few other girls, shaking their hands, giving autographs, and talking about dumb stuff. In the corner of his eye, he saw a girl standing back and just taking everything in. Hm...that seemed a little odd. Usually even the shyest of girls would freak out when they saw him and his brothers. He'd have to talk to her next.
"Zac...did you hear what I was saying?" The girl with whom he'd been speaking asked.
"Um...yeah. They're a really good band." He agreed. The girl nodded and walked over to Taylor. Zac had met everyone except for the girl in the corner, so he decided to approach her. He turned in her direction and started walking towards her. She was leaning against the wall and looking up at the ceilieng. She didn't look like anyone he'd seen in a meet-n-greet for a long time. For one, she had clothes on. She was wearing blueish-gray pants that were a little loose (yes, loose, at a Hanson concert) and a red t-shirt. The shirt was a little on the tight side, but no one would ever describe it as tight if they saw it. It had a huge blue police badge on the front that said ALL PRO SECURITY, INC. on it. He smiled to himself.
"Hi, my name is Zac," He said, sticking his hand out to her. She jumped a bit when he started talking. He kicked himself for walking up to her and surprising her like that. What if she screamed? She didn't look like the kind to scream, but to quote himself, you never know. She glanced down at his hand in front of hers and then back into his eyes.
"You want me to shake it?" She asked. Zac wrinkled his brows.
"Uh...you don't have to if you don't want..." he trailed off. She gave a small smile and shook his hand. "What's your name?" He asked, regaining his confidence.
"You'll laugh," She told him, "but I don't really care."
"Ok..."
"My name is Chester." She said, watching his reaction closely.
"Chester, eh?" Zac said. He'd tried to come up with a funny joke, but couldn't think of anything to say. She sighed and pushed some hair out of her eyes.
"Can I tell you something Zac?" She asked. He nodded. "I'm guessing that you don't really care about the people you meet in here." She said.
"Yes I do!" He said defensively. "They're the ones who buy our records and allow us to live out our dream."
"Do you have any idea how many times I've heard either you or one of your brothers say that? You care as a whole, but not individually. A lot of these people just piss you off." She said. Zac's mouth dropped open a little. The nerve!
"Actually, Chester," he said, overpronouncing her name, "I do care about the people I meet. I may not be able to remember them after a few days, or even a few minutes, but while I'm talking to them, they're the ones I want to be talking to, ok? You don't understand what my life is like, so you really shouldn't be talking about it." He finished cooly, practically sticking his tongue out at her. Man, he felt like a child. What was with him tonight? But this girl, this Chester, he figured she could take it. She obviously had spunk. He was right.
"Oh, I'm SO sorry for hitting a sensitive nerve," she said, rolling her eyes and leaning back against the wall. "But you know what, if what you said is true, if you do really care for every girl you meet, maybe you should stop."
"What are you talking about?" He asked incredulously, "You just changed what you were saying. You're not making any sense!" He said in frustration. She softened visibly when she realized that she'd pissed him off.
"Ok, here's the deal. I didn't come to this concert to meet you. I came for the music. I was given the chance, so I decided I'd come back here and meet you guys. I didn't mean to piss you off or get you all huffy before your show, but just hear me out before you leave all mad." She said, holding up her hands in defense.
"Ok, go ahead. We have thirty seconds until we all take a picture." Zac said with a glance to his watch.
"Alright. You think, and your brothers think, that being nice to every fan, trying to make them feel special for just a few minutes, and pretending to really care, is the thing to do. It's what you do so you can go to bed at night and count on less that one collective hand how many people you pissed off in a day. And good job for that. No one wants to make people angry. But look at it from our perspective. We, as a whole, have these little fantasies that we'll meet you, sweep you off your feet, and have your babies in 10 years. When you meet one of us and act like a frickin' angel, these girls are leaving thinking that they actually have a chance. It's false hope. If you were rude and didn't care what your fans thought about you as people, they'd get over it, continue to buy the record, and might leave that stupid idea of being your wife behind. Maybe half of them will actually start listening to the music instead of hearing it play in the backround of their fantasies at night. I'm not asking you to VOMIT on your fans or anything, just don't let them feel like you care when you really don't give a crap about them or their well-being. Don't DO that to us! It makes us go crazy!" She finished, throwing her hands into the air.
"Picture guys! Come over here and crowd around!" Isaac yelled to the people in the room. There was a mad dash of girls to stand next to Taylor and Isaac, while Zac walked into the middle of the room slowly, Chester at his side. She stood awkwardly, deciding whether or not she should stand next to Zac.
"Do you want in this picture or not?" He asked, scooting over so she could fit in. He glanced over and looked at her, her words from earlier sinking in. "Actually, you know what?" he asked, stepping closer to her and leaning over so only she could hear what he said. "Piss off." He growled into her ear. She took a step back, as if his words had physically pushed her, a blank look on her face. Zac felt a pang in his heart when he saw his reaction, but he didn't back down. She backed up, still facing him, and shaking her head in disbelief. A slow smile spread across her face. She reached into the pocket of her pants and pulled out a mini-recorder. It was recording, and had been for quite some time.
"At least I know you won't forget me..." she said, tossing the tape recording into a nearby cooler full of Sprite. She turned on her heal and walked quickly out of the backstage area.
[index]