"Squawk!!!! Squawk!!!!" went PJ.
"Shut up, you stupid bird!" I yelled back at my parrot!
The music coming from the speakers in our family room could barely even be heard over the bird's loud and uncalled for noise. How in the world was I supposed to listen to MMMBop in this jungle?
"Squawk! Squawk!!" PJ insisted.
I sighed and switched off the album. After taking Middle Of Nowhere CD out of the machine, I spun around and shot my bird a glare. The little green ball of feathers and fluff froze in place to turn one evil eye down on me from its perch.
"Bye PJ," I said. "Hanson and I are going down to my room!"
Birds! Sometimes they can get quite annoying. Believe me, I have to live with one in my house... three birds actually if you include my brother and sister. Down in my room it was nice and quiet. I took in the silence before slipping in my CD once more and causing the silence to be interupted by blasting loud Hanson music. After making sure that the volume was up as loud as it could go, I wandered out to the family computer to check my email.
"MMMBop!" went the CD. "Beeeepppp. Shhhhhhhhh. Fizzzzzzzz," went the computer as I logged onto the internet.
There were three new messages waiting for me. One of them was from my very good online friend, Alex. Now, let me quickly tell you a small bit of interesting info about this particular online friend of mine. Alex, surprisingly, knows Hanson. Yes, you heard me. She is a very close friend of Isaac, Taylor, and Zac Hanson. I would give anything just to meet them.
Excitment filling within me, I clicked on her message and read over it carefully.
"Hey Jen," she began. "Well, I told the guys about you. Basically, I just slipped you in during the middle of one of our simple conversations. They want to pass on the usual 'thank you for being a fan' crap. Oh, and I also added in a little begging. I almost totally convinced them to take there little butts over in your direction. Yea, you know, I got them thinking about visiting Blacksburg. They'll see what they can do, but, hey, you never know! Oh yeah, Taylor checked out your Hanson page and he says it's cool. Well, gotta run. Check ya later buddy!"
A spark went on inside me as I read the last word. It certainly isn't every day that you find out there's a small possibility that Hanson could come to your town. It was also extremely unusual for them to travel to a tiny town like mine. You see, I live in a place called Blacksburg, Virginia. Basically, it's the middle of nowhere. A small town with almost no means of having fun on a regular day. That's why I turn to the computer.
"Jennifer!" A faint voice called from upstairs. I recognized it as the voice of my mother. "Could you turn down your music? I can hear it from all the way up here!"
I put on a nasty face and spun in the computer chair. "Alright, whatever. I will."
I switched off the computer and dashed into my bedroom where I quickly hit the power button on my stereo. With my mission accomplished, I ran up the steps in a flash, still very excited. My little sister, Samantha was sitting comfortably on the living room couch in front of the television. I climbed up beside her and tried to focus on the screen which was currently playing re-runs off of Nickelodeon.
"Oh, Jennifer," my mom said, coming into the room. "You got a phone call earlier."
"From who?" I asked with faint curiosity.
"A boy who claims he knows you. He told me his name, but I forgot it. He did say he would try again later."
I nodded and my mind began to wonder. The caller would have to remain a mystery to me at the moment. There aren't any boys I know of who would actually care to call me. Most of them were jerks anyway.
I eventually lost interest in the TV and crept back downstairs to the corner of the room where I spend most of the day. I was once again in front of the faithfull computer and soon after, I found myself chatting away with my good friend Jessica.
She greeted me happily. "Hi Jennifer! What's up?"
"Not much," I typed up. "Except for the simple fact that Hanson knows of my existance."
"And how is that?" I could just barely sense jealousy.
"Alex. Remember her?"
"Wow! How could I forget?"
"It's not that big of a deal. They probably think I'm just another obsessed fan anyway!"
"Well, at least they know that there is an obsessed fan named Jennifer. I can't say that about one named Jessica."
I smiled. "Well..."
"I'll call you, okay?" Jessica insisted suddenly.
I shrugged and excepted the offer. "Okay. Bye!"
"Buh-bye!"
I quickly logged off once again and sat quietly for a few seconds anticipating the expected call from my friend. Not long after, the sound of ringing filled the house along with the sound of a 'hello' coming from the answerer back upstairs.
"Jennifer!" The yelling came from my dad this time. "There is someone on the phone for you!"
I ran into my room and picked up the extension. I couldn't wait to spill the latest news out to Jess.
"Why, hello there Taylor Hanson. How are you coming along today?" I asked in a sarcastic tone.
I laughed quietly at my little wishful thinking act which I often performed for my friends when I knew who was calling. Laughter on the other line was almost always expected.
However, this time, the reaction was very unusual.
"Huh? How did you know it was me?"