Chapter 2 ("Fateful Occurrence" as a temporary title)
Naomi's POV
Phoenix and I stood together, surrounded by screaming fans but entirely isolated. Hearing Bill singing to us and us alone, we were in our own little world.
"Und wenn Ich nicht mehr kann, denk Ich daran!"
He turned to face me, his green eyes sparkling. "How is it possible for one guy to be this amazing? There would have to be a lot of people walking around with absolutely nothing amazing about them whatsoever," he shouted over the loud beat of the bass and drums. I merely shrugged and continued to sing along.
"Weil uns einfach nichts mehr halten kann!"
When we had heard that Tokio Hotel would be coming to our city in four months, we knew we had to get tickets. After two weeks of begging, our parents gave in, his more willing than mine. Four months of chores and I.O.U.s later, here we were.
I owed my obsession to Phoenix, who was at least five times more obsessed than me. They were my favorite band, of course, and I owned a good deal of their merchandise, but I had long ago admitted I wasn't as intent on marrying any of them as my best friend was. I knew the likelihood of that was closer to the negative numbers, so I didn't waste my time fantasizing over it.
Phoenix, on the other hand, had already planned every detail of his wedding to Bill, right down to the napkins, and picked out names for the three children they would adopt from-where else?-Tokyo, Japan.
I had been sitting in math class one day, and since our teacher let us have our iPods out, Phoenix was, in his words, "rocking out" to Scream. The volume was loud enough that I could hear the basic tune of the songs from where I was sitting behind him, and after about the third one I tapped him on the shoulder. Turning around, he pulled the headphones out and tossed a casual "Hey," my way.
Slightly caught off guard by how his eyes seem to glow, all I could say was, "Umm…"
"Yes?" He asked, a slightly confused smile crossing his face.
"Oh," I said brightly. "I, uh, just wondered what song that was. It sounded really good."
He grinned. "Sorry, did I have it that loud? It's called 'Love Is Dead' by Tokio Hotel. Have you heard of them?
"No," I replied, writing down what he had said.
"Tokio with an 'I', not a 'y,'" he told me, pointing to the page. "They use the German spelling of it. No one ever spells it right the first time."
"Oh," I said again. Trying to sound a little smarter (hey, this guy was cute!), I asked,"So are they from Germany then?"
"Yeah," Phoenix said, reaching for his iPod. "Do you want to borrow it for the rest of class?"
"Sure," I said. "Do you just loan your iPod out to anyone who compliments your music?" I asked him, raising my eyebrow. Finally, an intelligent sentence!
"Well, yeah, but only if it's Tokio Hotel specifically that they compliment. I guess you could call me a fan recruiter. The way I see it, the more fans they have, the more concerts and tours and such they'll do," he explained, handing me the orange Nano. It looked like a fourth generation.
"Ah. So you're something of a Tokio Hotel missionary?" I said, smirking and toying with the headphones.
"Well, you could say that. I love them. But if you end up converting, you should know that I've got dibs on Bill, and you'll have to fight me for him. Unless of course he really is straight, in which case you'll only have to compete with all the other fangirls."
"Oh," I said, caught off guard. "Are you…?" I trailed off.
"Gay?" he asked, finishing my sentence. "Yeah. Isn't it obvious? Everyone else seems to think it is." He gestured to his eyes, which were rimmed thickly in eyeliner, and his platinum blonde hair, which had a streak of blue in it and, now that he pointed it out, appeared to require a lot of styling. Glittering in his earlobes were silver stud earrings, and the whole affect was topped off with another stud in his nose.
"NAOMI!"
"Huh? What?" I asked, coming out of my reverie and noticing that the music had stopped. Phoenix was standing in front of me, waving a hand in front of my face.
"There you are! Where were you? You totally zoned out. Anyway," he plowed on, not waiting for an answer, "they finished the concert, and-you totally missed it-they threw a bunch of mini posters into the crowd, and I scored us one! You must've been really out of it, huh?" he added.
"Yeah," I admitted. "Just remembering how you converted me to Tokio Hotel-ism."
"Well, remember later! Let's go get in line for the signing session!" He tugged impatiently at my hand and we jostled our way through the crowd to where security guards were lining people up.
Third Person POV
The boys of Tokio Hotel sat at the signing table, Toby and Saki on either side of them, with the line of excited, screaming fans stretching out in front of them. They had been signing autographs for a little over half an hour. Experience had taught them a few things, but mostly it had taught them to stick to a strict time limit with each fan, or they would be here all night.
"Hey," the boys greeted the girl standing in front of them. Tom nudged Bill under the table. "Crier, five bucks," he muttered in German. Sure enough, amidst her near-hyperventilating squees of excitement, she burst into tears. Bill sighed and passed his wallet to his brother, trading it for the poster Georg, Gustav, and Tom had already signed. Scrawling his name hastily he handed it back to the girl, who was now gasping "I love you!" repeatedly and choking out each of their names in turn. Despite being one of the non-level-headed fans, she stepped away from the table after the autographed picture had been returned to her. Some fans (three already this night), unfortunately, had to be asked by the TH security to "keep it moving" because they lost all sense of mind and just stood there gawking.
Tom glanced swiftly at the line of still eagerly awaiting fans to see how many were left, then looked at the table again, but quickly jerked his head up again. There had been a pair of amazingly green eyes amongst the crowd; where were they…?
Naomi's POV
"Did you see that?" Phoenix shrieked, flapping his arms animatedly as he danced in placed. "Tom just made eye contact with me! Oh mein Gott!"
"So?" I asked. "I thought you liked Bill. Calm down, you're going to take someone's eye out like that."
"I do, but I made eye contact with one of the Tokio Hotel guys!" He continued dancing, but eased the arm flailing. "Heilig Sheiβe!"
"Well, what were you expecting? You had to look them in the eye at some point. Or were you just going to get up there and stare at your feet the entire time?" I asked rhetorically.
"No!" He looked aghast at the very idea. "But since Tom noticed me before we even got up there, that could monumentally lift my chances of them remembering me."
I raised my eyebrow. "If you say so," I shrugged, then looked back over to the table again. Tom was squinting, scanning the line. "Ooh, look, he's looking for you!" I teased.
Phoenix spun around, but too late; Tom had just shook his head and returned to signing autographs.
Third Person POV
Sighing in defeat, Tom turned to Bill and whispered, "Keep a lookout for a green-eyed hottie," before quickly scribbling his name onto the cover of a Scream CD someone had handed him.
"Guy or girl?" Bill whispered back, taking the CD and adding his name.
"What do you think?" Tom said sarcastically. "I gave up on trying to set you up with a date. I'll know him when I see his eyes, but keep watch. I looked again and he was gone."
Bill nodded his agreement, wondering to himself why his brother was bothering. It wasn't like he could pursue a real relationship right now-not without giving himself away.
Naomi's POV
"Heilig Sheiβe!" Phoenix practically shouted in my ear. "We're next! Oh mein Gott! Does my hair look okay? Do I have anything in my teeth? On my face? On my shirt? Is my fly zipped? How's my breath? Is my makeup smudged? Oh mein Gott, we're next!"
I looked him over. "I don't see anything wrong, except…" I hesitated.
"What?" he shrieked, looking frantic.
I winced and rubbed my ears. "Well, there's the fact that you keep shouting, you're about to hyperventilate, and you look like you're going to pee your pants. But other than that, you're fine!"
"Oh, very clever," he retorted, but he settled down. The security guard motioned us forward, and I grabbed his hand and pulled him with me. It was our turn!
Third Person POV
"Well, there's the fact that you keep shouting, you're about to hyperventilate, and you look like you're going to pee your pants. But other than that, you're fine!" said the tall girl standing with the green-eyed hottie Bill was supposed to be keeping an eye out for. They were next in line. Bill nudged Tom under the table.
"I know," he said under his breath, captivated.
The boy stood still again, and the girl grabbed his hand and walked toward the table. Bill's heart stopped, then began to beat double time. She had an adorable heart-shaped face, largely taken up by her eyes. They were dark, and yet light at the same time, and absolutely mesmerizing. One was almost hidden by her long bangs, which were streak-highlighted a color only a bit darker than the rest of her hair, an unusual shade of auburn. A few stray freckles were splattered across her tiny up-turned nose. She was…breathtaking, that seemed to be a good description.
Bill stopped himself from staring, having to give himself a little mental slap to do so. She was standing in front of him now, and without even pausing to think about it, he stuck out his hand to shake hers. Generally, the boys avoided skin contact with fans, as it was a sure way to spread germs to themselves and other fans, but Bill had to feel her hand in his.
She took his hand, and he noticed that her skin was incredibly soft, pale, and complemented perfectly with a shade of orange nail polish brought out a rosy glow in her hands.
"Hi," he gasped out. "I'm Bill," he said, before mentally slapping himself again. Way to state the obvious! he thought.
She laughed. "Thank you, Captain Obvious!" she said, voicing his thoughts. "I'm Naomi," she added, "but that probably doesn't matter, since there are a lot of girls here and you're not likely to remember me." She glanced at her friend, who Tom was introducing himself to, and said, "Phoenix is definitely the more memorable one between the two of us."
"Oh, I don't know about that," Bill said, taking her by surprise. "I would remember you." He seemed to realize what he had just said, and ducked his head, blushing deeply. Looking at the poster that Georg, Gustav, and Tom had already signed, he noticed that his older brother had added his number under his name. Laughing internally, he scrawled his own name, and without a second's hesitation, added his number underneath it. Looking back up at Naomi, he saw that she had moved to the side, letting Phoenix meet Bill.
"Oh, hello," Bill said pleasantly. Phoenix seemed to be struggling not to squeal in excitement.
"Hi!" he managed. "You-your music-the way you sing-your hair-squeeeeeeee!" Unable to restrain himself any longer, he let out a shriek and, throwing himself at Bill, attempted to hug the startled singer. Fortunately, Naomi launched herself at Phoenix simultaneously and prevented it.
"Sorry about him!" she said, her cheeks darkening in embarrassment. She held Phoenix's arms down at his sides.
Bill laughed lightly. "Don't worry about it," he said. "It wouldn't be the first time I've been hugged by someone who gets a little overexcited."
Tom elbowed him; there were more fans to get to. He handed the signed poster to her, grabbing her hand again as she extended it, and planted a soft kiss on the back of her hand. He heard her gasp, and looking up again, he murmured, "It was very nice to meet you, Naomi."
"You too, Bill," she said in a voice that clearly reflected her shock at having a world-famous rockstar kiss her hand. The security guard was reminding Phoenix to "keep it moving," and he pulled her along with him. Bill watched her go, his heart beat finally returning to normal.
Gustav coughed loudly, getting Bill's attention. "What?" he asked innocently. Tom raised his eyebrows, bouncing them up and down suggestively. "Bow chicka wow wow! Bill's got a girlfriend!" he teased in a sing-song voice.
"Oh, shut up," Bill retorted half-heartedly. Turning to where Naomi had walked away, he found she had disappeared. Well, at least she has my number, he thought hopefully.
"She seemed to like you," Gustav remarked, already signing a CD for the next fan.
"Seemed like her friend liked you," Bill muttered to Tom quietly. He had absently noticed Tom and Phoenix talking. "You two were…what's the phrase? 'Chatting it up.'" He used air quotes.
"Nah, Tom said. "He didn't react nearly as well to me as he did to you." His voice didn't sound sad, or bitter, or disappointed. On the contrary, it had a strength to it, as if he looked forward to the challenge of winning over Phoenix's attentions.
"Yeah, well," Bill said with a roll of his eyes. "People always assume I'm the gay one."
"I jotted down my number. He should realize it's not for his friend, since I didn't even talk to her. Maybe I'll just keep dropping hints…" he mused.
Third Person POV
"Did you see this?" Phoenix pointed to the poster. "Tom and Bill have us their numbers!"
"Really?" I asked, tugging the poster towards me and examining their autographs under the next streetlight. We were walking to where we had parked.
A sudden thought hit me. "Why Tom?" I wondered. "Bill, I could see, because he talked to both of us and he seemed straight to me, but Tom only talked to you and he didn't seem gay…" I looked over to my best friend. He was entering the numbers into his Droid, which had been a "Happy 17th!" present from his parents. He hadn't been paying attention to me at all.
"Don't tell me you're going to call them right now! They're still signing! At least until tomorrow, sheesh," I said exasperatedly.
"I know, Mom," Phoenix tossed back. "How long d'you think I should wait? They always say they sleep late in interviews, and I don't want to wake them up…"
"Hmm," I said. I pulled my Blackjack out of my pocket. "On second thought, let's just send them a text now, and that way they'll have our numbers, and they can call us." I typed the numbers into my phone, fired off a quick text saying, "Hey, it's Naomi," then turned to Phoenix. "Should I send it to Bill only, or both of them? I didn't even talk to Tom."
Phoenix contemplated for a second, then shrugged and said, "Both, I guess."
"Are you texting both of them, then?" I asked. I selected both Kaulitzes in my contacts list and hit send.
"Yeah," he said, carefully pressing the touch screen letters.
"I don't know how you can stand those damn touch screens. They make typing impossible," I grumbled.
He grinned cheekily at me. "You're just jealous. But if it makes you feel better, you just keep telling yourself that."
We had reached our car now. Phoenix's car, really; I just borrowed it occasionally. Since I pitched in for gas, Phoenix had made a copy of the key for me. I was a much safer driver than him anyway, not that he would admit it.
Climbing in the passenger side, I snorted a laugh. "Uh, yeah, 'cause I text twice as fast as you. Keyboards beat touch screens any day."
"Whatever," he said, sliding in the driver's seat and starting the car. I turned on the radio, turning it to a station that played alternative, and after buckling up, Phoenix glided easily out of our parking space and sped down the street.