Iliana heard a knock on her door the next morning.
"Stella?" She asked.
"Yeah?"
"Oh, great!" Iliana unlocked the door and Stella walked inside, freshly showered after her morning run. Iliana gestured for Stella to go to her bedroom where there were now two swivel chairs. Stella sat in one and crossed her legs "Indian-style."
"So ..."
"Everyone who has done anything famous has a fandom. There is always going to be a cluster of people who genuinely appreciate the work someone did, right?"
"Sure." Stella replied.
"Right. So Allstar Weekend has a fandom."
"For doing what?" Stella asked. Iliana rolled her eyes.
"Music! Being a band!" She said, exasperated. She pressed a few keys and the three boys' pictues flashed on the topmost screens once again. "The one on the left is-"
"Michael." Stella finished.
"Good memory." Iliana quipped. "The middle boy is Zach. Lead singer. The best way to describe him is ..." Iliana thought for a moment. "Awkwardly and humbly adorable." She nodded to herself. "Sounds about right. Then, this guy over here," Iliana motioned to the third screen. "is Cameron Quiseng."
"The guy you wanted to give your list to?"
"Right." Iliana nodded. "We had a coffee date because I donated money to their kickstarter-"
"Like a prostitute?" Stella asked.
"Why would you say something like that?" Iliana asked.
"Because that's what it sounds like."
"I'm giving him money and he is providing me a service! That's not prostitution, that's commerce!"
"That's why prostitution is the oldest profession." Stella replied. Iliana fumed.
"It was a perfectly logical transaction. It was a nice way to get to know Cam a little bit on a personal level. And I helped fund their next album. I am an investor. I do good business, Stella, don't you think for a second I don't!"
"You seem awfully defensive of him." Stella hinted.
"What? Oh! Oh, no. He's like ... he's like a friend. I just care about him; I want him to be safe, you know?"
"I understand." Stella nodded.
"I used to have a huge thing for Michael, actually, but no one knows that." Iliana admitted. "It's the dimples. They're just ..." Iliana shrugged. "Anyway! Cameron. He's the baby of the band-only twenty-two."
"Okay."
"He plays bass."
"Are these the only three?" Stella asked.
"Ah! You've caught on!" Iliana smiled. "Now, they've undergone a few lineup changes. At first they had one friend playing guitar, but that was before my time. They had their friend, Nathan, on lead guitar for awhile. He left about a year-and-a-half ago. So here we have the current lineup." The two outside pictures were replaced. "The left is Dillon Anderson. He plays keyboard. I don't really think he wants to be in the band. He's their tour manager who also happens to play keyboard."
"Multi-talented."
"And they don't have to pay for another member." Iliana added.
"Cost-effective."
"Indeed. Now, Brent, here, is a bit of a conundrum. Total sweetheart, I don't care what anyone says. He and Cam have a bad habit of not thinking before they speak."
"No filter?"
"Pretty much." Iliana nodded. "Brent plays lead guitar, technically. Brent and Dillon, however, are kind of like back-up members. They're part of the fandom, but not integral, you know?"
"No."
"Well, they're sort of integral. I'm not sure how to describe them, you know? We love 'em to pieces. They're just not the 'big three.'"
"Understood."
"They have two full albums, and their newest EP. The first was 'Suddenly Yours.' The second was 'All The Way.' Their EP is 'The American Dream.'"
"What's an EP?"
"Extended play. Like a mini-album." Iliana explained. Stella nodded.
"Okay." Iliana stopped typing. She looked up from her screens and said,
"Wait a minute." She sighed heavily. "I can show you all of this, but, I have a better idea. It's Friday." Iliana smiled. "Let's go make you some friends!"
"Wait-what?"
"Well, I can teach you about the fandom, or you can just ... Dive in!" She giggled.