Chapter 4

"You... you saw them?" Vanessa asks, zipping in closer to Marissa and me.

"Well we-" Marissa catches herself and looks at me all wide-eyed, like, Oh no! What do I say now?

Everyone's staring at us. The Boyz, their parents, even the record execs. Toby comes forward, saying, "Those knockouts you were talking about? They're for real"

Jackson looks at Ace. "I thought you were jivin' us, man."

"Who are they?" Marissa asks.

Vanessa's eyebrows knit together, and for the first time since we entered the room she looks worried. She take a deep breath and rasps, "They must be professional stalkers."

"Professional stalkers?" I ask. "Your saying they get paid?"

Her head snaps to face me. "No! I am most definitely not saying that. I'm saying they're apparently very good at what they do, that's all."

"And what they do is stalk Ace?" I ask. "Or will any old celebrity do?"

"Who are you people?" Vanessa says, checking her watch. "Of course I mean Ace! Where have you been? Girls are crazy for him!"

Jackson glowers and cuts a look at Toby, who shrugs, shakes his head and looks down.

Then Ace shoots Marissa a quicker pucker-up, which makes me want to deck the pun. He may think he's the hottest thing since jalapenos, but there's no way I'm going to let him mess with my friend.

"So?" Ace's dad asks, getting things back on track. "Where did you say you saw them?" Then he turns to Ponytail and says, "Remember those love-sick fans I told you were after Ace?"

The Ponytail nods, then asks, "Did you call them the Amazons?"

I glance at Marissa, then say, "Uh... we actually only, you know, heard about them."

"From?" Ponytail asks.

I shrug. "You know- people outside."

"Ah," He says.

"It's true!" Ace says to the Ponytail. "They're Amazons, and they follow me everywhere I go! They're crazy!"

"Crazy for Ace," Vanessa says with a laugh. "I'm not sure what would happen if they ever got a hold of a him. Apparently these are big, big fans!"

A man pops his head inside the conference room. "They're ready for you." he calls, and all of a sudden everyone is collecting things and hustling for the door.

Marissa and I follow behind the others, but as we approach the doorway, I stop dead in my tracks.

"What?" Marissa asks.

I sniff the air. "Do you smell that?" I whisper. "Sulfur?" Rotten Eggs?"

She sniffs, too and her whole face pinches up. "Oooh, gross! Who farted?"

"Who farted...?" I blink, then charge out the door, looking up and down the corridor.

"What are you doing?" Marissa asks.

"Is that guard boss around here anywhere?"

She looks, too. "No..."

I hurry up the corridor, following after The Boyz and their entourage.

"Sammy!" Marissa whispers, chasing after me. "Why are you spun up all of a sudden?"

"Because," I whisper back, "that sulfur-egg smell? I also smelled it in the supply closet." Marissa didn't say anything so I added, "Where we found the Guard Boss?"

Finally she whispers, "So your saying..."

"So I'm singing that one of the people we were just in that conference room with was also in the supply closet tying up the Guard Boss!"

Her face scrunches up, "Because you recognize the smell of their farts?"

I shrug. "Eau de Pee-yew?"

"Oh, please! And besides," she says, nodding her nose at the group in front of us, "the Guard Boss said he was tied up by Amazons and non of them is what I'd call an Amazon."

"But I know what I smelled. It's a very dis-stink-tive odor."

She laughs. "So what are you going to do? Sniff 'em out?"

I laugh, too. "I think I'll leave that up to the Guard Boss."

Anyway, we followed the others through the a corridor door and into a curtained off area inside the rotunda. We could hear that there was a big, crowd out in the mall, and when Marissa and I peeked through the curtains, we both said, " Holy smokes!" From store to store, from the barricades in front of the stage to as far as we could see, the mall was packed with teenybopper girls.

Marissa whispered, "I can't believe this is the mall," and she was right-the stage looked like a real stage with big speakers, lights, and mic stands wrapped in tons of scarves, the guards keeping kids back looked like real concert security, and the kids in the crowd had signs reading THE BOYZ RULZ and WE LOVE THE BOYZ and HE'S MY ACE OF HEARTS.

All of a sudden Vanessa pulls us back, saying , I don't really know why you girls are here, but do me a favor-stay out of the way and clear of this aisle."

"Where can we watch from?" Marissa asks.

"Over here," she says, then leads us around back to the other side of the stage where we can't see diddly-squat.

The minute she's gone, Marissa says, "I'm not staying here!" and moves so she can see The Boyz fighting in the wings, getting ready to go onstage.

Now, Marissa may be into watching The Boyz, but personally, I find everything else that's going on much more interesting. And even though I told Marissa that I'd leave the "sniffing" out to the Guard Boss, I can't help wondering which of the people in the conference room might be in cahoots with Amazons. Who had wanted the Guard Boss out of the way? And why? Had he seen something? Heard something?

Smelled something?

Well, okay. Forget that. But somebody had gagged him and tied him and tossed him in a closet. If it was someone who already had access to The Boyz, what was the point?

So while Marissa was watching Ace, Toby, and Jackson, I focused on the people backstage. Evan had his headphones on, and was mouthing words as he danced, And I was actually amazed-Toby's little brother had moves!

The Ponytail had his eyes Vanessa as she checked her watch and then ducked out into the corridor. Ace's was trying to use his cell phone, but apparently couldn't get through because he looked very irritated, then finally snapped it close and put it away. Toby's and Jackson's moms were acting like total gossip girls, their heads together, their eyes shifting around.

The someone onstage announced, "Hellllllloooooo, Santa Martina!" and suddenly Vanessa was back, all over The Boyz, giving them last minute instructions, shooing Ace's dad away.

The announcer went on, "As you all know, this is a video shoot, so The Boyz will be performing one of their songs sev-er-al times. We need you stay energized! Create a vibe! Sing along! And just because this is a video shoot, it doesn't mean the boys will be lip-synching. As a matter of fact we're gonna mix it up a little for you! You will have the bonus treat of hearing each of the boys get two turns at singing lead, so help 'em out! Show them you love 'em Keep it pumpin' out there!"

The crowd cheered and whooped while the announcer got some instruction from a man at the mixboard. Then the announcer said into the microphone, "And now ladies and gentlemen . . . They've been called 'Wickedly talented.' 'Smooth.' And just plain 'Hot!' Pleasewelcome Ace, Toby, and Jackson—The Boyz!"

The mall went wild as music started pumping through the sound system. Girls were screaming. Shouting. Wailing.

Marissa grabbed my arm and jumped up and down, saying, "Isn't this exciting? Isn't this so exciting?"

We couldn't see that much bigger excitement was lurking in the wings.