Basically, the introduction down there makes no sense because I wrote it before I left for a wedding, hoping to put this chapter up sooner. Now, it is very late at night and I have millions of other things I need to be doing, but I am finishing this up for you because you awesome people have earned it being so patient with me. I cannot tell you how sorry I am! I really can't. See, the wedding was down in San Diego for a week, and I really did want to put up the chapter before I left or at least an author's note but I ran out of time. I am so so so so so so so sorry! I really am. Thanks for being so nice and understanding. And, while I was away, I am happy to report that we got over ten reviews for a chapter! This is the first chapter where that's ever happened!! (I should leave more often… just kidding!) Now you can read the introduction and stuff that I wrote a week ago, ha ha.

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Hey guys. So, oh my gosh, I am so glad you liked the last chapter so much. I thought some people would be like "Why are they at an effing zoo?" and then they'd burn down my computer and throw tomatoes. So I am so glad you guys enjoyed it, because it definitely was fun to write. And thanks for the reviews! Now, the most reviews I have ever gotten for a chapter is eight. I have gotten these eight reviews for six chapters! So we are going to break the streak this time right? We will see if we can reach ten reviews for the tenth chapter. Very fitting, huh? Thanks you guys! Enjoy the story… (P.S. Yeah, that last part was the part that doesn't make sense. I guess it would have been easier just to delete it, huh?)

Mitchie slowly opened her sleepy eyes. She lifted her head up to see that everyone was laying on the floor. She thought back to the previous night, when it was four o'clock in the morning, and everyone was so tired that they could not even make it to their beds, so they all crashed on the floor. Mitchie then felt a pair of arms pulling her back down to the carpet. Shane drew Mitchie into him and wrapped his arms around her. She was about to her close her eyes again when the door suddenly slammed open.

"What part of gentlemen in one room, ladies in another, don't you understand?" Mr. Carlton asked, entering the room. "Everybody up. Now. We have some serious discussion to do. And why on earth are you still in those ridiculous costumes?"

Mitchie and Shane were the first on their feet, so they slowly shook the other three awake. Soon, all five teenagers were up and sitting on the bed watching their manager pace the floor. Mr. Carlton took a deep breath and commanded, "Look at this." He handed them the newspaper, which had a picture of all five at the zoo.

"Nice," Shane laughed. "We made front page!"

"Oh, yeah, and in our stylish costumes," Mitchie added in, grabbing the paper from him.

"Great," Caitlyn mumbled. "My first front pager, and I look like a total whore. Just great."

Mr. Carlton's anger rose when he saw the relaxed reactions of his clients. "You all are in serious trouble. Inside the article, they claim that you're all either insane or that you don't want to see your fans so much that you'd go through all that trouble to hide from them. I don't know why I even let you go out that day. And word is starting to get out about your new bodyguard, so you'll have to address that. By the way, I have a new bodyguard lined up for you all. His name is Robert Feggans. He used to be the body guard for Britney Spears, and I've heard only the best about him."

"Okay, great, let's go meet him," Jason suggested, trying to get out of the room before their manager yelled at them more.

"Not so fast," Mr. Carlton stopped them. "To address some of these claims—you have a ten o'clock press meeting. Now, Jason, it was your birthday a month ago, was it not? We will say that you all decided to throw him a surprise costume birthday party. Any questions? No? Good. The stylists and make-up artists will be here at eight, and we will leave at 9:15. After the interview, you will be at the concert hall at three o'clock this afternoon for sound check. Then you will get ready for the concert which is at five, and after that you are free to do whatever you want. But let me warn you, the press is watching you closely. This means you will not cuss, wear anything provocative, and you will not drink, smoke, or be rebellious until the press eases up on you all a bit. Oh, another thing, you will sleep in your own rooms from now on. We don't want people thinking you are constantly having orgies or something. Do I make myself clear?"

"I prefer to call them fuck fests," Shane muttered under his breath.

"Yeah, it has a nice ring to it," Caitlyn agreed, trying not to laugh.

"I'm so glad to be touring with such mature young adults," their manager spat. "But you already lost many fans due to your past diva melt downs, Shane, so I'd watch it if I were you. You hurt your band because of your selfish behavior, which you must make up to them. Do I make myself clear?"

Mitchie, Shane, Caitlyn, Jason, and Nate all nodded. "Good. The stylists will be here soon," Carlton said, then closed the door behind him.

"Oooh, Shane got busted," Caitlyn teased. Shane just sat and stared at his feet.

"Hey, she was just kidding man," Nate offered, punching Shane playfully. "No worries. You know we've forgiven you and all that."

"We have lost a lot of fans. And you know it's my fault," Shane commented quietly, still avoiding eye contact.

"Then we don't need them. Look, you've changed, everyone knows it. People have done worse things than acting like ass holes for a little while," Jason comforted.

"Yeah, sometimes they dress up in crazy costumes and get called insane," Caitlyn offered. Nate glared at her, so she added in: "Yeah, not helping. Sorry."

"Let's go shower before the stylists get here. And let's try not to look like we've only gotten three hours of sleep," Mitchie suggested, getting up.

Once they arrived at the press room, things went by fairly quickly. Thirty minutes had soon passed and Mitchie was starting to get bored. They sat in a large room filled with around fifteen reporters. The journalists from various magazines and newspapers stood talking amongst themselves quietly, while Nate, Jason, Shane, Mitchie, and Caitlyn sat at a long table with one microphone in front of each person. The members of Connect Three were all very relaxed and comfortable, while Caitlyn and Mitchie were a bit quieter and more reserved during the interview.

"So, when did you three meet Miss Torres and Miss Gellar?"

"Well," Shane began. "I was one of the counselors at Camp Rock this past summer, which is where I met Mitchie and Caitlyn. Mitchie and I became friends pretty quickly, and then I introduced her to the guys and we all realized how talented she was. Then we decided to have her open concerts for us, but she insisted that Caitlyn come too. It worked out perfectly because Caitlyn is amazing, as well. She does some of our background tracks, and she's like our mini-manager. She's a total computer whiz, so she also does like our lights and sound and all that technical stuff."

"Yeah," Jason agreed. "We're all a pretty good team." The two girls nodded, like they had been doing constantly during the interview, mostly because they were afraid to answer questions themselves. Nodding along was much easier.

The newspaper and magazine writers started to talk amongst themselves again when one said, "You all are some of the hardest working teens in Hollywood right now. How do you do keep from going insane?"

Nate smiled and explained, "Well, it definitely can be tough some times, but we always remember that we get to live our dream. Getting to be on the road, and do what we love to do every single day is just so rewarding, so even if we go a few days without sleep, it will always be worth it."

"What do you all miss most while you're touring?" A reporter asked.

"Our families," Jason answered.

Nate nodded. "And friends."

"Sleep," Shane added in, causing the room to laugh.

"This is a question for just the females," a reporter began. Mitchie started to get nervous and twiddle with her thumbs. "What is it like behind the scenes with Connect Three? What are they like on the bus? Or in hotels?"

Both girls were silent and looked at each other, when Mitchie finally said, "They are always acting like perfect gentlemen around us. It definitely is different living with guys, though."

"Definitely," Caitlyn agreed. "I mean, there are things that guys only do around each other, which is kind of strange. Like, they always are so rough with each other, and they spit and throw things. And then, suddenly, a girl walks in and the three of them just sit there, trying to look innocent."

A reporter then asked, "Is there any time for love on the road?"

Jason saw Shane shift uncomfortably, so he quickly answered, "Well, we are all pretty busy with our music. It's what we are trying to concentrate on right now. So sure, we go on dates sometimes, but as for girlfriends, it's a little difficult to keep a girl. I mean, it's hard enough to find time to even eat and sleep, much less talk to your girlfriend."

"So none of you have girlfriends?" A reporter pressed.

Shane, Nate, and Jason were silent, so Caitlyn quickly said, "Well, I don't."

As the room laughed, one reporter pulled out a newspaper article clipping about their day at the zoo. "So what was this all about?" He asked, holding it up.

"Well," Nate began, relived that the previous question was over with. "It was Jason's birthday not too long ago. So we finally had a free day, which we decided to use by throwing a costume party and wandering around the zoo."

"It was definitely the best birthday I've had," Jason commented, patting Nate on the back.

"So you admit that these people are you five in costumes?" A reporter asked, holding up a picture of them in their outfits.

"Yes," Jason sighed, hoping to move on to another question.

"It's very interesting that you all claim to be single," another reporter commented. He pulled a picture out of his jacket and held it up. Mitchie squinted to see it and immediately froze, after recognizing what was in the picture. "What do you have to say about this?" The reporter asked, holding up a picture of Shane holding Mitchie up and kissing her neck at the zoo.

"We aren't here to talk about our social life. We're here to talk about our music. Let's try to stay on topic," Nate covered for them.

Shane's anger started to rise. "And it's none of your business," he muttered into the microphone.

Mitchie did not even hear the rest of the questions asked by reporters. She simply sat there, thinking about everything. Was this what her life was going to be like from now on? People constantly prying about her personal business? She was extremely embarrassed and slightly angry, as well. Finally, the interview finished, and everyone met up in the back room.

Nate locked the door, and Shane threw his arms around Mitchie.

"So, that was an exciting interview, huh?" Caitlyn asked, trying to lighten the mood.

Mitchie tried to hold back tears. "They normally aren't that bad," Shane soothed.

"Yeah," Nate said, patting her on the back. "These things pass over in a week or so anyway. No one will remember the picture soon. I promise."

At that moment, they heard several knocks. Mitchie quickly wiped her tears away as Nate opened the door. Their manager stood there with a big African American man at his side.

Mr. Carlton stepped in and introduced the man standing behind him: "I would like you to meet Mr. Robert Feggans, your new bodyguard. The limo will be here in five minutes and will take you to the backstage hall where you will get ready for your concert."

After he left, everyone just stood there staring at the extraordinarily tall man in front of them.

"Call me Big Rob," the deep voice said.

Caitlyn finally got up the nerve to go closer to him. She stood directly in front of him; he was over a foot taller than her.

"Damn," she said, looking up at his bald head.

"You're our new body guard?" Jason asked in a rhetorical manner. "So, what are you going to do if someone psycho comes running toward us?"

Big Rob smiled. "Want me to show you? Go stand over there. Everyone else stand behind me."

Jason went to the corner and paused for a second, unsure of what he had just gotten himself into. Big Rob nodded, so Jason came running toward everyone. Jason suddenly felt himself being lifted up into the air and turned over. In an instant, he was on the ground.

"Just like that," Big Rob said, adding in: "I'll be outside."

Mitchie, Caitlyn, Shane, and Nate all ran over to Jason, who was lying on his back.

"Are you alive, man?" Shane asked. Jason just stared at the ceiling and let out a little groan.

"You've gotta love the irony. The guy getting paid to protect us just kicked Jason's ass," Caitlyn pointed out, laughing.

Everyone started to leave the room when Shane pulled Mitchie over to him. "So, you are going to meet Brian tonight. He is going to be backstage with you. I just know you two will hit it off. Brian and I used to be best friends, so I know you two will like each other. I can't wait," Shane said, pulling her into his chest.

Mitchie wrapped her arms around his neck and whispered into his ear: "Can't wait."

Okay, the next chapter will be up super soon, because I started writing it and realized that if I put it in with this chapter, the chapter would be wayyyyy too long. So please be patient, again. This next chapter will not take as long to put up. I promise!! I'm not planning on going out of town any time soon!

Oh, by the way, some people have been asking about Caitlyn, and who I am going to steer her towards. Well, you don't get to know. Maybe she will go for Jason, or Nate, or maybe she will just be a lonely, crazy cat lady who knits and sews. Isn't it more fun this way? ;D

Thanks again you guys! I've said how sorry I am like nine times, but I will say it again. I'm sorry! I know this chapter SO wasn't worth the week long wait, but I know the next one will be worth it. You'll like it. I promise. Thanks again for all your reviews!