August 1991
“Class, today we have a new student joining us all
the way from...” Mrs. Blue looked down at the paper in
front of her. “Houston, Texas. I know you’ll all
welcome her with open arms.”
Lorelai Bradford looked up from her notes to see a
skinny blonde girl standing in front of the class with
her books covering her chest.
“You can have a seat next to Lorelai. Lorelai, raise
your hand please, dear.” Mrs. Blue looked at her
expectantly.
Lorelai did as she was told.
The girl, Shoshana Lowenstein, sat next to Lorelai
and sat quietly for the rest of the class.
“Hey. Shoshana, right?” Jessica Bowen said after the
bell rang.
“Yeah?” Shoshana said timidly.
“I was just wondering, did you dress in the dark this
morning?” Jessica asked sarcastically.
Shoshana looked at her outfit. She had on a jean
skirt and cowboy boots with a plaid shirt. Real
Texas-y.
“Did you get dressed in a trash can, Jessica?”
Lorelai asked from behind Shoshana.
Jessica shot her an evil glare and walked away.
“Hey, thanks,” Shoshana said, turning around to
Lorelai.
“No problem, I hate her so much. She’s always like
that, to everyone.” Lorelai started to walk towards
the cafeteria and Shoshana followed her.
“So she has no friends?”
“No, she’s one of the most popular girls in school.”
“I don’t see how...She’s so mean.”
The girls sat down at a table, and the rest is
history.
After graduation, the girls both went to University of Central Florida where they both studied some sort of education. For Shoshana it was early elementary and for Lorelai it was music education. Despite having a class together, they both got extremely busy and lost touch. Now, 2 years after graduating with Bachelors degrees, they were living in separate cities and doing their own thing. Lorelai ended up in Orlando and Shoshana in Ft. Lauderdale.
November 2001
Ft. Lauderdale, FL
Shoshana was standing in a crowded room. She’d never seen this many people in this small of a space before. She waited anxiously for her name to be called so she could get out of this claustrophobic situation.
“Amy Flowers, Heather James, Shoshana Lowenstein, and Melanie Newman. You girls are up!” the choreographer said.
The girls followed him into the dance room and got into a line in alpha order. The day before they had learned their dance to a medley of songs from all three ‘NSYNC cds. When the music started, they waited for their musical cues then started with all the energy they had. Shoshana put her heart into it. When they were done, they all walked out of the room gasping for air exhausted. Hours passed while auditions finished up and the judges made their decision. Shoshana’s stomach was in knots the whole time.Finally decisions were ready to be announced. Only 5 girls out of the hundreds could make it. They ran down to the front door where the list was posted. She read the list in a hurry just looking for her last name. “Davis, Lewis, Lowenstein, Matthews, Williams” is what the list read. Shoshana started jumping for joy. She ran off and immediately called everyone she knew! When she tried Lorelai, she got no answer....
Lorelai could hear her phone ringing but decided to ignore it. She was really nervous about what she was about to find out. Lorelai was pacing around her living room in the heart of Orlando, Florida. She had just been through a grueling audtion to be a Backstreet Boys backup dancer for the new Black and Blue tour.
“Ugh! Stupid phone!!” Lorelai threw her cell phone on her couch and sat next to it. She stared at it intently, willing it to ring.
10 minutes later, Lorelai was wathching “10 Things I Hate About You” on USA. It was helping to take her mind off of the freaking out she had been doing all afternoon.
**RING!!!** Lorelai jumped out of her skin at the sound of the phone. She looked on the caller ID, which said, “Orlando Dance Studio.”
“Oh My Gosh!! What do I do?! Answer it stupid!!” Lorelai smacked herself in the head. “Hello?” she asked when she got herself together.
“Lorelai, this is Fatima. I’d just like to say congratulations! You’ll be joining us on the Black and Blue tour!!”
“Oh My Gosh, are you serious?!” Lorelai started jumping around her apartment. “Thank you so much!! Thank you Thank you Thank you!!!”
“You’re welcome, I’ll see you next week for rehearsal!” Fatima said.