I'm sorry

I'm sorry. This is the first time I've had to update. I've been busy and was in trouble for a bit. Hope you enjoy it, please send me a review (and so help me if you just say, "UPDATE!" as I've gone through the reasons for slow updates or a lack thereof numerous times. I update as soon as possible).

By the way, I want you all to know what I went through to get this chapter up. First, the laptop and main computer in my house were broken. Then, the shop that we took them into was broken into (thankfully, nothing of ours was stolen). After that, I finally found time to write this chapter and when I'd finished that, the internet wouldn't work. I tried my grandparent's computer, my mum's computer, my mum's school's computers and every other computer that is in my house (and there are a lot of them, my dad plays around with the parts). Not one of them would work. Then, when I finally found a computer that the internet worked on, I couldn't log on to fanfiction. I cried. Literally. It was pathetic. Then, my dad got a new modem, as he thought that might have been the problem. Well, I don't know what he wound up doing after that, but it finally started working and I'm so happy now I could burst!

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"Mitchie, wake up!" Mitchie woke up to Jessie tugging on her shirt and yanking her upright. She blinked and winced at the bright sunset.

"Are we almost to the concert now?"

"Uh, yeah, you were asleep for five hours."

"Five hours?! Where are we? Did we sleep through our stop? Oh my gosh! Mom's gonna kill us!"

"Relax, Mitch. We had run into some traffic and we just made it into Denver ten minutes ago. It's only seven o'clock and the concert is at eight thirty. We're only fifteen minutes away from the concert hall so you need to take a chill pill." Mitchie's breathing finally started going back to normal as her heart rate slowed. She looked out the bus window and sighed.

"Jessie, what have we gotten ourselves into? I suck at this whole, sneaking around, lying to mom and dad, and going to a concert without parental consent thing. You know me; why are we doing this?!" Her eyes widened and she started to hyperventilate as the bus continued winding down the highway. Jessie rolled her eyes, wrapped her arms around Mitchie's shoulders, and spoke directly to her face.

"Mitchie, I love you dearly and don't want to slap you, but if you don't stop this madness, I very well will do just that and you know it. First of all, breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Good. Now, you know why you are doing this. We need to get your phone back first of all. Second of all, you're music was noticed by a famous agent whom we're going to meet. And lastly, we've got to see Connect 3 because you owe me that much for being a complete fool in front of them at the signing."

Mitchie looked at Jessie and started breathing slower. "But what happens if none of them like me anyways? I mean, the whole, 'We love your music!' thing could've been a big scam just to get me there and-"

SMACK!! Mitchie's cheek stung and she blinked back the tears in her watery eyes. "What the..?" she wondered aloud.

"Pull yourself together and listen to me!!" Jessie glowered at her older sister, "We're doing this because you've been a loser your whole life, dear sister, and I love you, and desperately want your dreams to come true!!" Mitchie was surprised but Jessie looked even more surprised at the words she was saying, "Now we're here. So you've got to get it together and then we'll go get you something nice to wear."

"You're right. I don't know what happened. It was like I just had a panic attack and then I couldn't think straight and…whoa, don't ever let me get that way again." She smiled as her stupidity dawned on her.

Jessie grinned back, "It's ok. And don't worry, if you ever get that way again, I'll definitely slap you. That was pretty fun, actually." The sisters laughed and stood up as the driver said, "We've now arrived at the Denver Concert Hall. Please gather all of your belongings, place any garbage in the trash bin at the front of the bus, and watch your step on the way out. Thank you for choosing Coach Bus Company to ride with you. Have a nice day!"

The girls grabbed their jackets, purses, food wrappers, and duffel bag and headed out the door. Jessie stumbled on her way out and caught herself on Mitchie's shoulder. "Ha, that's the first time it's been you and not me falling!" Mitchie giggled and stuck her tongue out childishly.

The girls walked down the busy streets of Denver and stopped at the abundant thrift shops, looking for an outfit to wear for the concert and one for the next day, when they'd likely meet Connect 3's band manager. Mitchie found a maroon knee-length halter dress and a black half-sweater to wear for the concert. Jessie grabbed some vintage skinny jeans, a Beatles t-shirt, and tons of funky jewelry. Both girls decided to buy some black heels for their spy-like sneakiness. About an hour later they walked out of the final store, eleven bags between the two of them, and hopped in a cab. They were finally on their way to the concert!

"So, Mitch, I was just wondering…why don't you ever want to share your music with people you know? The only people you ever open up to are the online friends you've made off of your blog!" She stopped before her question turned into a full-on accusation and just looked at Mitchie.

Mitchie ducked her head, her hair hiding her face, and got very quiet, almost thoughtful. When she finally turned back to Jessie, there were tears on her face. "Jess," she sighed loudly, "I've never been very confident. My friends in school aren't real. I made them up. No one really likes me because I can't open up to them. I'm afraid. What would happen if they didn't like me or my music and then it wouldn't be just me that people hated? My music would take the fall too. I can't do that to my music. It's my life, the way I really feel, and if someone took that away from me…I don't even know what I'd do!" she threw her hands up in the air and gave a little laugh, "We're going to have to do my make-up again. It's smearing," the girls smiled and Jessie wiped away Mitchie's tears.

"Don't worry, Mitch. I'll do your make-up. You know that you aren't great at doing it on your own anyways."

"Gee, thanks sis!" Mitchie rolled her eyes as Jessie got to work cleaning off the smeared mascara and eye-liner.

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"That'll be 32.59." the cab driver smiled, showing off his toothless gums. Mitchie winced as she handed him a few bills. The girls ran quickly into the entrance of the Concert Hall and handed their tickets to the guards. "Section 322 is up the left stairs, walk to the right until you find the number on the ceiling. Then go in and there will be someone in the doorway to show you to your seats. Enjoy the show."

"Thanks!" both girls said at the same time. While they were walking up the stairs, Jessie fixed her hair and grabbed a five out of her purse. "You want a water?" she asked Mitchie.

"No, that's ok. We'd just better hurry up and get in there before it starts." Mitchie looked at her watch which read 8:26 and glanced anxiously at the doors. "So, how exactly do we go about finding backstage passes this late and get to the band to let them see my face?"

"Oh, that's easy! My boyfriend works here; he's got connections," she spoke simply and tried to brush it off, but Mitchie looked at her, horrified.

"You have a boyfriend?!" Jessie nodded slowly, "Do I ever feel lame now…my little sister has a boyfriend before I do? You haven't kissed him yet have you?" she looked frantically into her eyes which Jessie quickly averted.

"Uh…no?" but the answer came out more as a question than an answer. Mitchie scowled at her sister. Two years made a world of difference in the two girls. Mitchie's inexperience of 17 years compared to Jessie's knowledge of all things boys over the past 15 years made them polar opposites. It stung Mitchie a little though to think that she had missed Jessie's first kiss. Possibly more…

"Mitch, I'm sorry I never told you. It just seemed like something that you'd be uncomfortable talking about." Mitchie forced a smile for her sister.

"It's ok. I was just a bit surprised there. You still seem like the 5 year old sister that threw up on me in McDonald's and stole all of my Barbie's from me. I guess that I just have to realize you've grown up a bit. Anyways, where is this boyfriend of yours? And, could you try to explain to me why we're sitting back here in the nosebleed seats when you've got 'connections'?"

Jessie chuckled and said, "Well, let's go find my boyfriend then. You can meet him and we can get front row seats!"

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Ok, was that too short? Too long? Too sappy? I think it was a little on the short side and definitely on the sappy side. But I didn't want this to be all about Shane and Mitchie. There had to be other character development for this story to work out. Now, I've fully recovered from my headache, am much less grumpy, and can guarantee you a new chapter by Friday because I've already started writing it (in my head, again). Please review as that's the only thing that keeps me going lately (I'm not going to say that we have to get there, but, 125 reviews sure sounds nice…).

Also, I've just set up my forums and created my own profile as a betareader. Talk to me por favor! S'il vous ples? Please, I'm begging you!! Another thing, if you want that is, you can check out my alter-ego (I guess it's just really me, not my alter-ego, but alter-ego sounds much cooler) in puppy.pout.princess's story, Rivals in Love. Leave her a review and tell her how amazing she is :D Love and hugs from your desperate author, BethyBoo.