The rest of the summer passed quickly for all the members of the band. Stacy was busy with her cheerleading, Kenny had tried out for the soccer team, Devyn had her dance classes, Connie and Richie had their music lessons, and Ryan was back in his college classes. All that aside, they still held to their commitment to rehearsing albeit a little later now than they were used to.

When Ryan walked in to meet with Riley about potential entertainment for Fridays and Sundays, Kenny and Richie were setting up the sound and stage equipment. Devyn and the dancers were warming up on the floor and reviewing some new moves for this week's songs.

Stacy was fixing Connie's costume, fussing over every detail and design. Next to her was a rack of all their costumes, he was fascinated with their more modern look, more black and denim with a splash of color here and there as opposed to the flashy, sparkly outfits they used to wear. Sometimes to the embarrassment of the entire band.

"Have I thanked you yet for helping out?" Riley asked the young man next to him as they watched the rehearsal. In just a few weeks, Ryan's hard work was paying off. They had filled in numerous dates on the calendar with entertainment for both teens and adults.

"Three times at least." Ryan remarked wryly, though appreciative of the praise. The gratitude went both ways. He owed Riley a lot and Kids Inc. too, they had helped him through some difficult times in his childhood. The P*lace was always someplace he could call a sanctuary, where he could be himself.

Not to mention, meeting some great friends, he thought as he glanced up and saw his best friend and wished they were more than that.

First Day of School

Ever since Ryan returned home to the P*lace for his internship he had spent more time there and had reconnected with Stacy. The more time he spent with her made him want to spend even more time with her. Most of the time though they were surrounded by Kids Inc.,Riley, and large audiences.

He had jumped back in wholeheartedly to his classes, enjoying the challenges they brought and got his creative juices flowing. He found himself turning down more invitations to hang out socially, though he still had a few close friends. Two who happened to drag him out to lunch before he could protest or offer up an excuse.

"Must be a girl." Todd teased as he and Amy sat down next to Ryan at their favorite burger joint across from the Lincoln Center. The trio had just left Music Theory class at Juilliard, having met the previous year in another music class.

"What?" Ryan asked, confused. His friends' matching grins proved that they were teasing. He had admittedly tuned out to their conversation as he sat down to eat lunch before heading back to Brooklyn to The P*lace and Stacy for their last rehearsal before the first Saturday concert of the year. Plus he had plenty of work for his first Friday night concert in less than 24 hours.

"How come you've never invited us out to see your other band?" Amy inquired, intrigued from the scant details he had let slip about his time in Kids Inc. He must have mentioned Stacy enough to garner their focus without even realizing it.

"Am i that obvious?" he mockingly complained, curious as to what his friends thought. Amy and Todd had been dating since high school and he had met them in Freshmen Orientation two summers ago.

"Well for one, you don't notice the girls here who are practically begging for your attention." Amy's comment really got Ryan's attention, his face turning pale at her revelation. "I've tried to set you up with my roommate but that didn't seem to work." She explained further, continuing Ryan's embarrassment.

Luckily, Todd intervened. "It's mostly that you talk about this girl and you have this look on your face that I used to have from before Amy and I started dating." He paused to let the information sink in as he took a bite of his burger.

"You're right, you guys should come out to one of the shows." He agreed affably, inviting them to the show next weekend. He didn't want to put any undue pressure on the kids if they knew people from Julliard were attending, and especially not on such short notice. He was also slightly nervous himself, wanting Todd and Amy to like Kids Inc., and Stacy in particular.

It still felt like summer that Tuesday morning in September. But the alarm clock ringing at 5:45 in the morning reminded her that summer was officially over. She had stayed up way too late last night picking out her outfit, but she figured it might be the most important one yet.

Stacy was up early for her first day of senior year. As student body president and cheerleader she felt some pressure to look her best, especially today. She had been working on a very special outfit all summer long, one that she knew no one else would have.

She had spent the first half of summer enrolled in a fashion summer course at NYU working on this project. She had dreamed of attending NYU since she was a little girl, falling in love with the college as much as she loved the city. Attending there would be a dream come true. 'If I can get in.' she worried, her thoughts turning dark.

She wore a long blush colored skirt that grazed her ankles with soft tulle and a long sleeve white button down blouse tucked in with simple gold accessories on her wrists and ears with a white pearl headband in her soft curls.

Watching Renee apply and get accepted into every college had been hard for Stacy. For one, she would miss her sister incredibly, and second everything came so easy to Renee, she never once worried about what school she was going to go to. Her older sister had dreamt of going to the University College of London since she was in 6th grade and was even given a great scholarship to attend when she graduated high school.

'When I was in sixth grade, all I dreamt about were boys.' Stacy admitted to herself as she finished putting on some makeup to complete her look. She had to concede though that most sixth grade girls were more like her than Renee. And as much as she missed her sister, it was nice to have her parent's attention focused on her, and without the worry of competition with Renee.

It was her first year of driving to school too and she was eager to park in her parking spot for the first time that year. It was a year of firsts for her and she smiled as she remembered it was a year of firsts for her bandmates as well. This year Kenny and Devyn would be joining her and Richie at the high school, and she remembered well the fears and anxiety she had on her first day.

Luckily she had Ryan to help ease her way into the high school mania, he helped her find her locker and classes and how to navigate the lunch room. She hoped she could be as kind to Devyn and Kenny as Ryan had been to her.

'And was still helping her.' She thought fondly, remembering their conversation a few weeks ago about college. She always felt free to express herself to Ryan without any fear of judgment or him looking down at her just because she was younger. But now that she was finishing high school, she felt like they were finally on the same level.

5th period lunch was the best lunch schedule of the whole school, not too early like 3rd period lunch at only 9:30 in the morning, but not too late like 7th period when all the food had been picked over or a little bit stale. Seniors had the first pick of their lunch period and this one filled up the fastest. Stacy dropped off her books in her locker and headed to the cafeteria, hoping that somehow the lunch had improved since last year.

She could make her own lunches she supposed, but that would mean less time rehearsing at night or getting dressed in the morning. Neither of those options could convince her not to just buy the school lunch and hope for the best. Noticing the dark clump of "mystery" meat on her friend Megan's tray, she was highly doubtful, opting for a less suspicious salad and bottle of water and a bag of chips. She followed three other friends from the cheerleading squad to their table between the football players and the basketball players.

"There's little Miss perfect." A voice huffed to her table of teenagers huddled in a darkened corner of the lunchroom, hidden away from the view of the high and mighty. The cheerleaders had just passed by, claiming their table in the middle of the entire cafeteria, the center of attention just the way they liked it.

"It's not fair." whined another unhappy kid. Stacy was popular, a cheerleader, student body president, and in a band, not to mention she could have any guy she wanted. And while all of that was true, she had worked hard for all of it.

But jealousy was not a rational emotion, and they chose the path of bitterness rather than working hard to achieve their own dreams and goals.

"She's always been nice to me." A timid voice finally piped up uncomfortably. The underclassmen didn't understand their resentment of the beautiful senior. Katie was in class with Stacy in Glee club and while she was a leader she always gave everyone equal opportunity to voice their opinions. And she had never treated anyone with an attitude of superiority.

"Justin!" called the first voice. "Over here." They waved their hands to get the senior's attention. The handsome debate club member and president of the Drama Club made his way over to the table in the corner, enjoying the attention of the underclassmen around him.

"I don't know what he ever saw in her." A third voice chimed in snottily, before pasting a fake smile on her face as the aforementioned boy joined their group. While Justin had spent much of his junior year chasing after Stacy, many girls had been chasing after him with many of them rejoicing when they finally split last year after the Junior Prom.

'Two more classes and I'm out of here.' Stacy thought happily, enjoying the privilege of having study hall last period and getting to leave school early. She had grabbed her next period's books for photography and English class from her still uncluttered locker when a piece of paper fluttered onto the floor.

Intrigued, she picked it up and started to read it as she headed up to the photography studio. 'You don't deserve to be president' was scratched in dark pen.

She sighed heavily, she never expected everyone to like her, she had learned that lesson sophomore year when she had gotten caught up in the social games more so than her actual schoolwork, but did they have to be nasty about it?

Stacy resolved to put the note out of her mind. She was really excited for her photography class, her advisor had mentioned that since she loved fashion she might enjoy learning about photography and how it tied in to advertising and marketing. Her parents had even bought her a new camera for the class and she had been practicing all summer, much to her bandmates' chagrin as they had been in more than their fair share of photos or had been exceedingly patient as she took photos at rehearsals.

"Ice cream on the house for the first day of school." Riley announced as the group gathered around the counter to share stories of their first days. Stacy chose to stay in the background while the rest recounted stories of their first day happily, enjoying the shakes and snacks as Ryan watched her thoughtfully as he listened to the hum of voices around them.

He was going to ask her about her day, seeing as she had been more reserved than usual, but she chose to jump right into rehearsal once they were done eating. Ryan determined to keep an eye on her. But she had been the first one to leave as soon as rehearsal was over, he noticed regretfully.

Stacy settled into her new schedule, enjoying the challenges of new courses and the familiarity of performing multiple times a week. The only thing troubling her was the note from the first day of school still lingering in the back of her mind. As much as she tried to push it down deeper, it would crop up uninvited, sometimes at the most inconvenient times.

She knew she should have just thrown it away, but part of her kept it in the small pocket in her backpack, confused as to why it had even been sent. If she could figure out why someone was upset with her, maybe she could convince them that whatever their reason was, was just a misunderstanding.

She was always the peacekeeper, either in the band or her family, or even on the cheerleading squad. Part of the reason she was so popular was that she was very kind and considerate of other people's feelings, a lesson she had learned long ago from Billy and Ethan when she was still in middle school. Stacy was thankful she had matured a lot since then. 'If only other people would too…' she thought with a tense smile.

It was two weeks into the new school year when they had their first Saturday night concert. There was the usual nerves and excitement backstage as the group waited to be called on stage. They were all understandably nervous, with new songs, new dance moves, even new costumes to display to their audience.

Stacy had spent hours picking out coordinating outfits for each of them. Richie wore black jeans and a white polo shirt, Kenny had black jeans with a black shirt and red and black flannel on top, Connie wore jean shorts with a pink top, and Devyn had on jeans with a blue shirt and a white denim jacket. Stacy had realized that everyone had different styles, and that they all performed better when they were comfortable, yet stylish.

For herself, she finally settled on a denim mini skirt, white tshirt, and blue and pink flannel shirt tied around her waist with black Doc Martens secured on her feet. It was a bit more "grunge" she supposed than what she used to wear, but she felt too old to wear mainly pink and purple with ruffles and trim anymore.

Ryan had been shocked when he saw her new look but only because it accentuated her curves and body more than her old outfits ever did. She no longer was the cute kid with a big voice, now she was a teenager ready to grow up and go to college, her voice no longer the only thing that brought her attention.

"Break a leg guys." Ryan encouraged them as he took in the chaos around him. He missed those times the most with the band, right before performing. Devyn and Connie were fixing their hair, Kenny was fussing with his keyboard, Richie was excitedly twirling his drum sticks, and Stacy was applying a final coat of lip gloss to her lips. His eyes met hers in the vanity mirror as they shared a secret smile, both of them remembering all the times they had spent backstage together.

He laughed at their first song, "Don't you (Forget About Me)" as a reintroduction after a summer that had only had a handful of concerts sprinkled throughout. He thought it was a great opening number with everyone singing and it got the crowd moving. He was perched at the sound board and lights, giving him a great view of the show, plus he was getting paid to be there now.

The high energy continued with a song picked by Ryan, "All Night Long" by Lionel Richie. The dancers had choreographed a brilliant sequence of steps as the group soulfully sang on the front riser closest to the audience who had savored the opportunity to be close to the band.

'Some too close.' he muttered to himself, noting the boys who were pushing to be closer to Stacy. Not that he could blame them.

The tempo slowed down as Stacy's strong, sultry voice carried the next song, drawing Ryan in with the rest of the crowd. The words seemed like Stacy had written them herself; they were so perfect for the spot she found herself in life right now as she sang one of Madonna's newest songs.

"This used to be my playground

This used to be my childhood dream

This used to be the place I ran to

Whenever I was in need of a friend

Why did it have to end?

And why do they always say?

Don't look back

Keep your head held high

Don't ask them why because life is short

And before you know you're feeling old

And your heart is breaking

Don't hold on to the past

Well that's too much to ask…"

Ryan hadn't noticed when the song voice drifted off as the music behind her faded away and the group prepared for the next song. Was it just him, or did she look haunted while singing that song? The lyrics seemed so real and so did the emotion as she was singing.

When the applause died down, Richie came down from his drum kit to take the lead. Ryan was more than impressed with his rendition of "Against All Odds" by Phil Collins. His voice had deepened and he sang with an emotion that he didn't have years ago. Not to mention he now had his own legion of adoring fans swooning over his good looks and musical talent.

Ryan glanced over to the ice cream counter and saw Riley was just as thrilled with their performance as he was, not to mention the lines of customers waiting for ice cream and food.

"Great first set guys." Devyn cheered as they went into their dressing room between sets. There were matching grins all around as everyone was pleased with their efforts so far. Kenny went around high fiving the band with his usual flair.

"Practice pays off." Stacy reminded them gently, praising them for their hard work in rehearsals, even when they had rather been at the beach or the park or with their friends. The five had committed to working hard in the summer so that they wouldn't be so overwhelmed when fall came around and all the school work and other activities would eventually invade their schedules.

"Sure does." Ryan added in agreement. "You guys have never sounded better." His praise pleased the group. They had always valued his opinion when he was in the band, and even more so now that he was a college student at Julliard. While they were all looking at him, he was looking at her.

He was relieved to see her acting more like herself, assuming the nerves of her first day was all that bothered her at rehearsal. And her first solo had quite literally brought the house down.

Richie and Kenny asked Ryan for any pointers for the second set as Stacy went to fix her makeup at her vanity. Surprised, she saw a vase of flowers sitting there. She had no idea who they were from, if they had been from her parents they would have been red roses, the kind they always gave her on her birthday. In the vase were blooms of different flowers in all different shades of yellow. Stacy breathed in the sweet fragrance as she removed the note.

'I'm watching you…' three simple words, a second note and she felt goose bumps up and down her arms. It had the same penmanship as the last note, proving it was no coincidence to Stacy's dismay. Luckily she didn't have the chance for the others to notice as Riley called them back to stage and she shoved the note in her pocket.

The second set flowed nicely from song to song, Ryan impressed with the fluidity of the concert and how rehearsed everything was. Stacy opened up with "I'll be there" by Mariah Carey and backed by the Glee Club, their harmonies filling the P*lace beautifully drawing the attention of the audience wholly on her.

Kenny and Richie once more took center stage and brought the energy back up singing Elton John's "Don't Let The Sun Go Down on Me" with the girls adding their harmonies and the dancers moving around gracefully and impressively. It was an impressive show for their first concert of the year.

Devyn led the next song by Paula Abdul, "Forever Your Girl" with enthusiasm and a group of young boys staring adoringly at her.

Connie brought the mood down with her song as Ryan dimmed the lights singing "Wind Beneath My Wings" by Bette Middler. Some of the young kids swayed back and forth in the audience, while some of the older kids slow danced with one another. The audience was really eating up their performance tonight, every song hitting just the right note and emotion.

As the crowd focused on her, he helped Riley set up stools for their last song of the night, another song by New Kids on the Block "I'll be Loving You Forever", their harmonies and emotions bringing the song to life and a rousing end to their concert. They took their bows and left before the applause ended.

"Cool flowers Stacy, " Devyn complimented the girl she had looked up to for so long, envious that someone had sent her flowers. She couldn't wait to grow up and receive flowers of her own, she sighed wistfully.

Her comment got Ryan's attention as his dark eyes locked on the pretty vase on her vanity, yellow flowers that reminded him of her sunny personality.

"Who are they from?" Connie pried hopefully, just as excited as Devyn was about Stacy receiving flowers. Neither Kenny or Richie seemed interested in her answer, but Ryan sure was.

Instead of a quick, happy response, he was surprised when she replied with a shrug and a "I don't know." She didn't seem thrilled to receive the gift, making him even more curious. When the girls left to change out of the costumes, he dared to take a peek but was surprised when there was no card attached to the flowers. He was more surprised that she didn't take the flowers home that night. He would have been downright shocked that they ended up in the dumpster on her way home.

Riley had been pleased so far with his ability to bring in new entertainment and revenue. Ryan had been able to fill in most Friday and Sunday nights on the calendar, enjoying the role he had taken on at the P*lace. The band had just finished their rehearsal for the week and the kids eagerly scattered quickly after a long week of school, activities, and rehearsals.

Only one person remained though, the one person Ryan needed to talk to. She was sitting at the counter, lost in her thoughts. She seemed to be in a more pensive mood lately by his own she was spinning her straw in an empty cup, gazing intently at nothing, almost through the wall. He hoped he could convince her to help him out and also get her spirits up.

She spent so much time cheering up the band during the week and the school (literally) as president and a cheerleader, it seemed like she was in need of some cheering up herself. He made his presence known as he dropped onto the stool next to her.

He broke the silence. "Can I ask you a favor?" Ryan begged, his dark eyes gleaming with hope. It was sort of selfish of him to ask her to give up a rare off night, but it would give him a chance to hang out with her and it would be fun. She looked up from her notebook at the sound of his voice.

Stacy knew she would say yes before he even told what the favor was, she wanted to get her mind off her own troubles and at least she wouldn't be sitting around at home alone lost in her own thoughts. Navigating senior year, the band, family problems and whoever was sending her notes was completely overwhelming at times.

"Well," he continued since she hadn't turned him down yet. "I need someone to run the merchandise table for the concert on Sunday night?" He requested with a grin.

"I could do that." She agreed with a grin of her own. "It sounds like fun. What time?" He could sense her coming out of her funk, she was selfless like that, one of the traits he admired about her most.

"The band is coming to set up at 6 o'clock." He informed her of the details. "Maybe we could get pizza before the concert?" He suggested hopefully. As much as they loved eating at the P*lace, and mostly because they got good discounts, it could get tiring eating there so many times a week.

"I guess you would owe me a favor then?" Stacy teased, thinking about ways he could repay her. Ryan nodded in agreement, knowing he would do anything if only she asked him to.

The band's manager helped Stacy set up the table to sell tshirts, hats, and tapes and explained how to take inventory of what they sold that night. He even offered her a free band t-shirt for advertising. When Ryan stopped by later to get a shirt of his own, he had been surprised to see her in something so casual. "Although,Stacy could look good in a paper bag," he decided amused.

It was late when the band had finished packing up with Ryan and Riley helping them load their equipment into their van as they headed off to their next destination. Stacy had been busy behind the merchandise table, having fun listening to great music and super pumped to have gotten to meet an actual band.

"Thanks for asking me to help, I needed the distraction." She commented as Ryan walked her to her car. Neither of them made any effort to move though when they reached it though.

"Well I did need the help, and I enjoyed the company too." He grinned at her, happy to see that she had enjoyed herself. "I don't like seeing you so upset." He admitted, hoping she would open up to him at some point about whatever was bothering her. It wasn't like her to stay upset for long. But he realized that she was older now, and life would only be getting more complicated. It was unfair to expect her not to struggle or find things difficult just because she was younger than him.