AN: Woah, you guys are unbelievable! Thank you all so much for your reviews! I know I'm posting this really late, but I just couldn't get it the way I wanted. Oh well, it happens.
Anyway, thanks to epobbp, ersy, LuckyBubbles, isabel4724, Arya, Andy The Christmas Tree, Nikkieee02, and AlexaJ for reviewing. I love reading your reviews and seeing what you think of the story (and reading your great suggestions). I never imagined I'd get this far when I started writing this fanfic, so I just want to say, I'm soooo touched (starts tearing up). Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU!! You all are the best readers/reviewers any aspiring author could wish for. I can't thank you enough, but I can say that you guys are awesome, and you are seriously the best. And thanks to everyone…You really are the ones who inspire me to keep writing. This chapter's for you.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except my own ideas. And maybe an OC or 2.
Chapter 14: 20 Questions
Just then, Tess glided up to Shane. Ignoring Mitchie and Caitlyn, she got straight to the point. "So, Shane, are you going to help me with my songs or what?"
"Sorry, Tess, the guys and I have interviews," Shane declined. "Ella might want to go with you though. Mitchie, Caitlyn, wanna come and listen to us answer questions?"
"Yeah!" Mitchie and Caitlyn were excited. Tess pouted, and left to shop with Ella. They were going to meet up with Peggy later.
At the interview…
"So, guys, what's it like being on tour?" the interviewer asked them, as the cameras rolled.
"It's a blast!" Jason said. "There's nothing like it in the world…it's exciting, it's fun, it's awesome!"
"Yeah, we get to inspire others with our music, and do what we love," Nate added.
"We're living the dream," Shane said. "We're having fun, we're rockin' out every night, and it's great."
"So is it difficult being on tour, away from your family and friends?" The interviewer asked pointedly.
"Sometimes," Shane admitted, thinking of Mitchie. "Some days, it's hard, others, not so much."
"But we get to bring them out every once in a while," Nate added. "Like on this tour, Shane's uncle's coming with us."
"Yeah," Shane added, "It's cool having someone you know who's been through it all right there with you, helping you and making sure you're doing what you're supposed to be doing, for all the right reasons."
"I guess you got back on track this summer, didn't you, Shane?" The interviewer asked. "What was it that changed you?"
"I had a couple of people around me who helped me get back to my music, and helped me find my way back," Shane said, knowing this question was going to come up.
"Back? To what?" the interviewer prompted.
"To what was important to me, like my music, the way I was before I became famous, to my roots," Shane explained.
"Well, whoever they are, they did a great job," The interviewer said. "It's nice having the old Shane Gray back."
"Thanks, it's nice to be back," Shane agreed.
"Now, I hear you're working on new material for your upcoming album," The interviewer said to the group. "When will that be released?"
"When we've finished writing all the songs we want to put on the album, and when we think it's good enough for the public to hear," Nate said. "It'll take a little bit longer to finish recording and mixing, but it's going to be just as good as our previous albums, if not better."
"A lot of fans want to know, what inspires you to write songs? Especially since this one is going to be different from your previous albums."
"We usually write about our experiences, things we've gone through, things we've seen and done. Right now, we're trying to change up our sound and try out new things," Nate said. "We hope our fans like it."
"Yeah, it's gonna be awesome!" Jason said, excited.
"I'm sure it will," the interviewer laughed. "Now, guys, I'm sure you get asked this a lot. We all know you get lots of attention from teenage girls, but do you ever get tired of hearing girls screaming your name and asking you to marry them?"
"Not at all," Shane said. "It's great knowing our fans love our music, and it feels good getting recognized by people when we're walking down the street."
"Yeah, it feels good!" Jason said. "I love seeing girls run up to me and tell me they love me!"
"What guy wouldn't?" The interviewer smiled. "Speaking of girls, who were those 3 girls who came out today? Are they friends? Or are they your girlfriends?"
"They're our friends," Jason said, just as Shane and Nate had instructed him to say earlier. Mitchie and Caitlyn were also in on their little secret, because they knew fans would never want to see their idols involved in a relationship. But they were planning to let the public know, eventually.
"Are you sure? Because to me, it looked like they weren't just your friends."
"They're good friends of ours," Shane said. "We've known them awhile, and we like to hang out with them whenever we can. Like on this tour."
"Yeah, just good friends. We don't get to spend that much time hanging out, so we thought we'd bring them out on tour with us," Nate added.
"OK," The interviewer said doubtfully. "I'll accept that…for now. But you'll let us know, right? If you ever do get girlfriends?"
"For sure!" Jason lied.
"We'd love to date a fan, definitely," Nate said. "But right now, it's really hard for us to be dating anyone. Girls don't like it when we're gone 365 days of the year."
"Yeah," Shane added. "Especially when we're in a different state every day. It's not as lonely on the road as you might think, because every concert we do is like a date, since we get to see girls all the time."
"I'm sure your fans will love what you just said," The interviewer laughed. "What I want to know is, can you see yourself doing anything else, besides writing music and performing in concerts?"
"No way!" Jason said.
"Jason's right. We love performing, and we love making music. We wouldn't trade doing this for anything else in the world," Shane said.
"It's our dream, but our fans have made it a reality," Nate added. "And we love them for that."
"A few more questions, and we'll be done," The interviewer said. "Where do you see yourself in 5 years? Would you still want to write music and perform every night in front of thousands of fans?"
"If we still have the chance, yeah, of course we would," Jason said. "We love it!"
"Unless something else came up, like a chance to be in a movie, or on TV," Shane added.
"We're always looking to broaden our horizons," Nate added. "Not that we don't love seeing our fans every night, we do. But we wouldn't turn down an opportunity to act if it came up."
"OK, one last question. Are there any other things you'd like to say before we end this interview?" The interviewer said.
"We'd like to thank our fans for helping us get where we are. If it weren't for them, we wouldn't have the chance to live our dream, and to do what we love the most, writing songs and inspiring all of them. We love our fans, they're the best!" Shane said.
"Keep dreaming big, and reach for the stars!" Nate added.
"YEAH!" Jason yelled. "KEEP ON ROCKIN', YOU GUYS!"
Everyone laughed at Jason's enthusiasm.
"OK, I guess that's it, then," the interviewer said. "Thank you for your time, and if it's all right with you, we'd like to do a mini-photo shoot, you know, take a few group photos outside."
"Sure," Shane said. "Guys?"
"I'm in!" Nate said.
"Me 3," Jason said. "Get it? 3? As in, Connect 3? Man, that never gets old!"
"Yeah, it does," Nate said. Jason glared at him, and Shane and the interviewer laughed.
After the photo shoot
"Did you see us?" Jason said, going up to Mitchie and Caitlyn.
"Yeah, you were great, Jason," Mitchie encouraged him. Jason beamed. "You too, Shane." Shane smiled at her.
"Nate, you were amazing," Caitlyn added. "If I were you, I wouldn't have known how to answer all those questions."
"I had a lot of practice," Nate said humbly. "Speaking of which, I want to practice some of our songs, but our guitars are back at the hotel."
"To the hotel!" Shane said, in a deep, superhero-kind-of-sounding voice. Everyone laughed.
Back at the hotel…
"Ms. Tyler! It's a pleasure to see you! Is there anything I can do for you?" the hotel manager said, as soon as he saw Tess and Ella coming in with lots of shopping bags. He signaled to the bellhops, who immediately began loading Tess's purchases to take them to her room.
"I'd like your best suite in this hotel, one with lots of sun and a gorgeous view," Tess said.
The hotel manager looked on his computer. "All right, Ms. Tyler, here are your room keys. Will you be needing anything else?"
"Yes, we need 2 more rooms," Mitchie said, coming in. She was followed by Caitlyn, Shane, Nate, and Jason.
"Make that 4," Brown said, coming in. "One for the guys, one for you girls, and 2 more rooms, just for Tess's things."
"4 it is," The manager said. He paused, then asked Shane, "Mr. Gray, boys, could I please get an autograph? My daughter's a huge fan of yours. And you too, Ms. Tyler. May I get your autograph too?"
"No problem," the guys grinned. "How should we sign it?"
"To Sarah, my #1 fan, keep on living the dream, and keep on rockin'! Love, Connect 3," The manager instructed, as Shane wrote. "And if you could sign each of your names under Connect 3, that'd be really great."
"Sure," Nate said, taking the pen from Shane. "Here, Jason."
"What's this for?" Jason looked at the pen, then back at Nate.
"Just sign your name," Nate hissed. "It's for our #1 fan, Sarah. His daughter."
"OK, cool!" Jason said, signing his name. Then Tess signed her name.
"Here are your room keys," the manager said. "Who's staying with whom?"
"I'll take care of those," Tess grabbed them. "Shane, Nate, Brown, can you help me bring my bags up? You too, Mitchie and Ella. I'll be up in a second, so just meet me by the penthouse, OK?"
"OK," they all said. They went up, as Tess stayed a moment longer.
"Jason, Peggy, here are your room keys. Jason, give this key to Caitlyn, and this is your key. Peggy, you'll be sharing a room with Ella, so here are your keys, and give this one to Brown. I'll give these keys to Shane and Mitchie." Tess said very quickly, as she secretly switched room keys. She handed them out so that she and Shane would stay in the penthouse together, Mitchie and Nate would be rooming together, Caitlyn and Jason would share a room, and Brown would get his own. Then Tess sat back, smiling as she waited for her plan to unfold before her very eyes.
AN: So, what'd you think? Did you like it? Hate it? Let me know by reviewing. And if you have any ideas, please let me know. I love all the ones I've heard so far, so please keep them coming!
Next up, Connect 3 rehearses, and they go out for an after-party. Things happen, and chaos ensues. Will relationships survive? Will the couples be OK? You tell me…