"Ginger, you need to realize that you can’t go on living your life like this, alright?" a very concerned Amanda told me. I put out my cigarette and took a final drink from my Bud Light before throwing it away. "You’re a mess, all you do all day long is drink and smoke, you don’t even eat anymore."
"I don’t need to fucking eat, alright? I’m fat enough as it is. And thanks for your concern but I happen to like my life," I said. "It may not be the most ideal life of a normal thirteen year old girl, but I don’t give a damn. I live my life the way I want to live my life, and I don’t need anyone interfering," I yelled, and then ran out the door.
We were still at the hotel, going to leave the next day. I had no idea how I was gonna go on with my life. My mother smoked a lot, so I didn’t have to worry about that, it’s just she didn’t like alcohol. Oh well, that shouldn’t be a big problem. I can stop anytime I want to.
I hope.
I ran out of the hotel, after the elevator had taken me down to the main level, and into the rain. It had been raining all week. Talk about your wonderful vacation. I didn’t mind, I love rain.
The wonderful television in the room told us that Hanson were gonna be there all week, so maybe I had a chance of running into one of them. Just keep your head down. Don’t look at anyone, forget about your chances of meeting anyone. Knowing your luck, they’re all happily asleep right now.
Well, it was midnight. I kept my head down, letting the rain soak my whole body, until I heard someone yell "Freeze!" I stopped, and blinked a few times, wondering what was happening.
"Turn around," the voice said. I slowly turned around and there was a gun aimed right at me. I stiffened, scared to death. "Take a step towards me," the voice said, sounding deep and masculine so I figured it was a guy.
I put my hands in the air, and he searched my pockets for any possible money or anything. I had forty dollars, in which he took, and he took my smokes too. I almost said something but I knew it wouldn’t be a very good idea, with the gun and all.
"Good girl, now lay on the ground and count backwards from a hundred." I grumbled, and then turned around and laid on the ground. "Out loud, so I can hear you."
"99…98…97…" That’s as far as I got, cause I heard a loud bang, and suddenly everything went black. But I could still hear the rain pouring down, I could still feel the pain in my back spreading through out my whole entire body, turning off every other emotion but pain.
I heard him run off, and someone else run up to me. "Ginger? Ginger?" I remembered the voice from a few nights ago when I met this guy, and he wouldn’t tell me his name.
"Ginger, wake up! Oh God, no…come on wake up, move, do something!" I tried my hardest, but all I could think about was the pain, and finally it came too overwhelming and his voice droned out.
I woke up, and there was a huddle of people by the door. Amanda, Kristina, and some people I didn’t recognize. From the white uniforms, and clipboards, I figured they were doctors.
They were talking to Amanda and Kristina, most likely about me. Well, duh, I’m the one in the hospital bed here. Amanda was biting her nails, and Kristina was impatiently tapping them on the table.
A doctor looked over, and saw that I was awake. "Good, she’s awake, now we can put her back to sleep and operate." My eyes opened wide.
"Operate!!" I whispered loudly, cause I couldn’t talk any higher. Two doctors, a male with black hair, and a female with red hair similar to mine walked over. The female readied a huge needle, and I moved over in the bed, well, I tried to.
"You’re not gonna stick me with that, are you?" I asked. They didn’t answer, the female just stuck it in me, and I almost instantly fell asleep.
It didn’t last long, though.
I woke up, and the pain was unbearable. I couldn’t move, I couldn’t think, I could only hear what was going on around me. Doctors talking about something, and I felt something like a needle going in my back, and then out. In and out, in and out, until finally I fell back asleep, forgetting about the pain.
This time, when I woke up, my mother was beside the bed. I recognized the room I was in. I was back in good ol’ Tampa General Hospital. Dammit, I’ve been there a million times for surgeries, broken bones, stitches, everything you can think of, I’ve been in this very room for.
"Honey, good, you’re awake. We flew you back down here while you were still out. Someone got you these," the 31 year old brunette said, directing to the bouquet of flowers on a table next to the bed.
I sat up. "Mother do you have any idea whatsoever at how much pain I have been through the past…however long I’ve been in the hospital? First of all, I woke up during the surgery, the after-pain is excruciating, and before, well, before the stuck me with a foot-long needle!"
"Oh dear that must be horrid for you! I’m so sorry dear, I’ll leave you alone for a while. Cool down, honey," she said, and left. I rolled my eyes. I really hated when my mother did that, so I looked over to the flowers.
Roses and tulips, my personal favorite. There was a small note attached. Strange, flowers and a note twice in one week. I’m doing pretty good.
I saw you getting mugged but I couldn’t get there in time. I hope you feel better soon. And I hope this doesn’t change your view on New York, cause it’s really a nice city, when you’re not alone in a rainstorm at midnight. You remember me? I’m the guy who rain into you before. I’m still really sorry about that. I should’ve been looking at where I was going, but I just had to meet you. You’re really a beautiful girl.
The note was left unsigned.
It’s been two weeks since I came back from New York, and I still hadn’t forgotten that night. I remember being in the rain and meeting up with this guy, who proceeded to mug me, and then decided to shoot me after he took all my money.
I had been bedridden ever since I got out of the hospital, with the pain in my back now a dull ache. I really don’t like being stuck in one spot, cause really I’m an outdoor type of person. I like to run around, ride my bike or go blading.
I went to school, glad that I could move around for six or seven hours out of the day. Usually when I got home my mom immediately commanded I lay down, thinking I would be worn out, but I never was.
Hanson was gonna be on Rosie today, so the minute I got home from school, I turned on the TV and announced to my mom that the TV was mine and I was not going to move until Hanson was off Rosie.
My mom announced that she was gonna go grocery shopping, so she could really care less about the TV. "So that leaves me here, alone to watch Rosie all by myself," I told her. "Cool."
She gave me a strange look and left. I watched the rest of Ricki Lake, then Rosie came on. The phone rang, and I picked up the one next to the TV, not taking my eyes off it.
"Hello?" I said.
"Your peoples are on Rosie," Kristina reminded me. She wasn’t a fan of Hanson, but she could deal with them, and often called me when they would be on TV or something.
"I know. I’m watching it right now. And you should be doing something else and leaving me alone to watch it in peace. Goodbye." I hung up before she could say anything else.
The phone rang again, but I just unplugged it from the wall. "I can’t have any disturbances. I haven’t even heard from these people in a while, and I didn’t wanna miss them.
After a half an hour of watching people I didn’t really care about, Rosie announced Hanson. They sung a song from their new album, and it cut to commercial.
"Well at least I know they’re still around, and they still got their screaming fans," I mumbled. "Hurry up, you damn commercials. I wanna see Hanson, and then I got to flip to MTV cause Backstreet Boys are doing something at five." I stopped and looked around.
"Sheesh, I’m an obsessed fan over two bands!" Rosie came back on, and the interview started. It was really mindless chit-chat until this one part where Zac started talking.
"Like two weeks ago we were here in NYC doing some small concert for like fifteen people, and shooting something for MTV. I was walking down the street and I met up with this girl. I don’t think she knew who I am. She was too mean to me to know who I am."
"What’d you do that she was mean to you?" Rosie asked.
"I ran into her and like knocked her off her feet. She was a little grumpy that day, and she wanted to hit me, I could tell. She told me her name, I just didn’t tell her mine."
"Say hi to her, and surprise her," Rosie said, and pointed to a camera. "I’m sure now she’ll regret being mean to you." He smiled, and turned to the camera.
"Hi Ginger."
My mouth dropped through the floor. "THAT BASTARD DIDN’T TELL ME HE’S ZAC HANSON!!!" I yelled, suddenly getting really upset. I was really glad my mother wasn’t home.
I hated Zac, all of a sudden. He had a million opportunities to tell me, and of course, he didn’t. He even sent me flowers twice! Once as Zac Hanson, the other time as the mysterious boy I ran into on the street.
I couldn’t believe it, I just couldn’t believe it. A guy I had admired for the longest time, I had always envied but mostly adored met me and didn’t tell me who he was. And then goes and tells me on national TV.
"Asshole!" I said, while dialing Kristina’s number. I was shaking my head and rubbing my lower back which was hurting from a long day at school. It rang three times before someone picked up.
"Hello?" Kristina’s anxious voice said. Apparently she had seen Rosie.
"Dammit Kristina, he sent me flowers, he met up with me twice, we went to his private concert, and he didn’t bother talking to me. When he first bumped into me, he said I was pretty, I mean at least he could tell me he was fucking Zac Hanson!"
"Slow down, Ginger. Don’t go stressing out on me here, I’ll call up Amanda on 3-way and the three of us can talk all about it, alright?" she asked, trying her best to calm me down.
"Fine."
"Good, hold on a second." Quickly she did the whole 3-way procedure thing, and soon Amanda was on the line too. "Amanda, it seems Ginger is having a spaz so we’re gonna calm her down, alright?"
"I’m not having a fucking spaz, alright?" I yelled into the phone. I ran my fingers through my hair. "You people know what this means, don’t you? People are gonna assume me and him are like going out or something, and if they find out it’s me, I’m gonna be so hated."
"No one will assume the two of you are dating," Amanda said.
"People are dumb, they are fucking dumb, alright? Damn, I need a cigarette," I said, and walked into the kitchen, and grabbed one out of my mom’s many open pack. She leaves almost full packs open everywhere, she never expects me to actually take one.
I lit one up and took a drag. "Girl, what are you gonna do when you get a craving during school?" Kristina asked, who had quit a little before we went back to school.
"That’s what bathrooms are for. Anyway, I only smoke because of stress. Well, and when I’m angry, like right now. I’ve been smoking for almost a year and not yet have I gotten a craving during school."
"One of these days you’re gonna get caught and I’m gonna laugh," Amanda said.
"No!! You jinxed it, Amanda!" I yelled into the phone. "Dammit."
"Is your mother home?" Kristina asked.
"No, she went to the store." Kristina laughed. "What?"
"I figured as much, I mean your mother would not let you smoke, wouldn’t let you swear, and with her you can’t even get up. Poor you."
"Hey, it is not my fucking fault some asshole decided to shoot me in the back. It’s not my fault the bullet got infected and they had to operate on me. It wasn’t my fault that stupid Zac Hanson never bothered telling me who he is!" I yelled, still upset over the Zac thing.
"Would you shut up about the Zac thing?" Kristina asked. "I mean you’re lucky enough to have him adore you and send you flowers twice. I wish a guy would do that for me!"
"I never told you much about what he did when I first met him, did I?"
"No, not really," Amanda clued in.
"That little pervert was staring at my chest! And he bumped into me, making me nearly break my back on purpose because he said I’m pretty and he wanted to talk to me."
"Jeez," Amanda said, and I heard laughing. I figured it was Kristina, but then she asked who was laughing.
"Hi," Kevin Rodriguez, Amanda’s boyfriend said. I recognized his voice and nearly died. "I think I should have told all you that I was here, right?"
"Exactly," I said. "I know where you live, Kevin. I can hunt you down. So as of right now, I do not smoke, I never bumped into Zachary Hanson, and he is not a pervert, you got that?"
"Run that by me again," he stated.
"Kevin Scott Rodriguez, do you got that?" I yelled.
"Yes ma’am." I sighed, and sat down on the couch, mumbling curses under my breath. I looked over to the TV, and Hanson were still on. I stared at Zac, and he was fiddling with some sunglasses.
"So you’re gonna be going to Florida next, to do what?" Rosie asked. Zac decided to answer.
"We’re going to Tampa the 9th of December to sing at a charity concert with the Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, Bryan Adams, and Savage Garden."
"Talk about a screamfest! There’s gonna be nothing but teenage girls there," Rosie said, and Zac let out a contented laugh.
"I realize a lot that private concerts are a lot of fun, but normal concerts are a lot better. I enjoy them because there’s like so many people screaming there. Private concerts are more content and the people stay calm. A person is good, but people are nervous, panicky and crazy," Taylor said.
"GINGER!" Kristina yelled.
"What?" I asked.
"We lost ya here, what the hell happened?" Amanda asked, and I almost spaced out again.
"They’re coming here," I said.
"Who?" Kristina asked.
"Hanson you nitwit, they’re coming here for a charity concert the 9th," I said.
"That’s next week."
"I have tickets. I remember, my uncle sent me tickets. Backstage passes, I thought it was gonna be just Backstreet Boys, ‘N Sync, Bryan Adams, and Savage Garden, not them too."
"Oh my God, that’s like heaven!" Amanda squealed. "That’s like sixteen hot guys gonna be there!" Kevin cleared his throat. "Sorry Kev. How come you never told us about this?"
"Cause I only have two tickets and I’m taking my niece, Brittany Rose. She’s only seven, and my sister’s coming down the eighth."
"Oh, cool. How come you’re taking her and not one of us?" Kristina asked, almost slyly.
"Because I wouldn’t know which one of you to take. Anyway Brittany really wants to go. I just hope I don’t have to carry her the whole time," I said. "Last time I took her to a concert was January and she made me carry the whole time. It’s not that she’s heavy, it’s just it gets annoying."
"Since when have you had a niece?" Kevin asked.
"Since she was born, alright? And I have a nephew older than me, so I’ve always been an aunt. I have nine nieces and nephews."
"Damn," Kevin whistled.
"Well, the conversation is shot, and my mother is home, so bye peoples," I said. After a choruses of good-byes, I hung up and laid down just in time for my mother to walk in the door.