Picture of Marco on the side :) --------------------->

Almost four hours later, Marissa threw her arms around Keely's neck laughing. "I love your voice," she giggled.

"I love this song," Keely returned, smiling. The recording had taken about four hours because Keely and Marissa couldn't stop laughing throughout the entire recording. Plus, both Marissa and she were perfectionists, which meant that the vocals on this song had to be absolutely perfect. "What are you going to do with it?"

Pulling off the headphones, Marissa looked her straight in the eye. "Well, I was going to ask you if I could record this song for my new album, since you practically wrote it yourself."

"But," she over rode Keely as she opened her mouth for the blessing. "I really liked the way we did it as a duet. I mean, our voices are so different. I have a pure sounding voice, I could be a country singer because it almost has a sweet sound to it. But, you, you could sing anything, you've got the pipes I never had. And I like the contrasts of our voices in the song."

"So do I," Keely agreed.

"So I would like to know if you would put a duet out with me. My record or yours, it doesn't matter."

"Put it on yours," she said immediately. If you would have told Keely two weeks ago that she would be standing here deciding where to put a duet with Marissa James, Keely would have called you crazy. But, for now, it just felt right.

"Great!" she giggled, throwing her arms around Keely's neck yet again. “But we're going to have to record it again, because, let's face it, we could do better, plus we need to switch all the music around to get rid of the new icky pop feel and go back to the old school that you had in mind and-” her cellphone cut her off.

Pulling out the same phone as Keely's, Marissa furrowed her brow. "It's Marco," said she for Keely's benefit not being able to see the screen. "That's weird, we were going to go past the guys' house with the limo, I thought that was set. Why is he calling me now?"

But the rest of her words were cut off by Keely's cell ringing, the song What I Like About You, The Ramones signifying Haley.

"Great phone," Marissa smirked good-naturedly while answering her identical phone. "Plus I really like that song, hey," she said over the phone. "Oh, What I Like About You by The Ramones is one of Keely's ringtones," obviously, Marissa was answering Marco's question about what song it was. "Yeah, I know, right?" in Keely's opinion, this was them agreeing that that was a very good song.

Now Keely was grinning as well as she answered Haley's phone call. "Oh, tell Marco I said hi," she nodded to Marissa while bringing the phone to her ear. "Hey Hales," she smiled into the phone.

"Who's Marco?" she asked immediately.

"I love you too," Keely joked.

Keely could almost hear Haley rolling her eyes through the phone. "I love you Keels, I miss you, school isn't the same without you here, I'm sorry that you didn't hear from me about Joe and I getting back together, and I really do want to hit Tracey for you. But moving onto more important things."

"More important than you making me feel so special," it was Keely's turn to roll her eyes as she sat down on one of the two stools in the studio.

"Yeah," she said hastily, "Of course. How come I'm seeing pictures of you and Miss Marissa James all over the internet? You guys look like you're good friends, hooked arms, smiles almost matching clothes," it sounded as if Haley was listing things off from a picture she was looking at. "And this coming from the girl who thought going to her concert was going to be the death of her, but she would be able to stand it, because she'd never have to meet the singer."

"Ha ha," Keely said sarcastically. "Actually, I'm going on tour with her and N.S.R-"

Keely would have kept talking except for the gasp that sounded from across the room. "What's up M James?" she called. Haley got excited in her ear, "Marissa James is with you right now?" but Keely ignored her.

"We've been in the studio for about four hours," she murmured looking down at her watch.

"Yeah," Keely said slowly confused. "We've been recording a song if you don't remember." Once again, Haley started in her ear, "You're recording a song with her?!"

"And we were only supposed to be here for about two hours," Marissa pointed out. "And then we were supposed to go out shopping for the concert tonight, but now we only have about two hours to get ready for the concert before the limo is picking us up. So we can't go shopping."

"Oh," realization dawned upon Keely.

It looked as if Marissa was thinking quickly, and it was proven because she grabbed the laptop where the song was saved and Keely's arm dragging them out of the room.

"You're just going to have to borrow my clothes and take a shower at my house tonight and the limo is coming to my house first, are you okay with that?" she said in a rush as she pulled Keely into the car waiting for them outside.

Looking down at the two of them, Keely nodded, "We should be like the exact size anyways, maybe you're a bit taller."

"What are you talking about?" Haley sounded in her ear.

"Oh, Hales," Keely jolted remembering not only that she was holding a cellphone but there was a person on the other the line. "Hey, I'll call you back tomorrow okay? I'm just heading over to Marissa's house to get ready for the U2 concert, we're going to see U2!" her voice got excited. "Can you believe it?! Remember for how long I tried to get tickets to their show in Seattle?"

But Haley ignored almost everything Keely said. "And you're sharing clothes?" her voice going oddly quiet over the line.

"Yeah, talk to you later," Keely said absently.

"Oh, okay," murmured Hales.

Minutes later they were shoved into Marissa's car, and soon rushing down the busy streets to her apartment building.

"Hey dad," Marissa called rushing in the enormous penthouse that she and her father lived in.

"Hey, hun," he said walking down the stairs.

"This is Keely Staub," she rushed, pulling Keely forward by a tug of the hand. "She's going to be the opening act of the upcoming tour, remember? You arranged it with Maureen Jones. Anyways, this is my dad Keels," she gave Keely a moment to shake her father's hand before she rushed on.

"She's taking the extra ticket to the U2 concert tonight," she informed him. "Oh, and here," Marissa passed him the laptop. "This is the one song I'm requiring to be on my next album, it's a duet between the two of us."

While Marissa was filling her dad in with the events of the day and the events yet to come, Keely was observing Mr. James. He was already making Keely nervous. He looked like a politician to her, all slick on the top, but you knew there was scum beneath the slickness. He had his pure black - and obviously dyed - hair slicked back and a blindingly white smile, though it didn't look that he used it often unless it was a requirement.

"C'mon Keel," Marissa grabbed her hand, "Let's go choose an outfit."

"It was nice to meet you Mr. James," Keely lied smiling at him as she was dragged up the stairs.

*

About an hour later, Keely was sitting cross legged in front of Marissa's bed while Marissa put the finishing touches to her hair.

Seeing as her hair had been soaking wet, Keely didn't want to get any of Marissa's clothes wet, especially if she was going to have to wear them to a concert, so she was sitting in her lilac bra and a pair of skinny distressed dark grey jeans. Marissa had just finished blow drying Keely's hair, and was now just working her thick dark hair curly hair so that it was a pristine straight, with the bangs cut straight across her forehead as well for the punk rock look.

The rest of Keely's outfit was laid out upon the bed, waiting until her hair was done. Her shirt was one from a Van Halen tour, it wasn't quite tight to her body as Keely hated the shirts that were so tight it made you feel as if you were getting squeezed inside of it, and that was handy because she was going to put it over top of Marissa's long sleeved white shirt.

Marissa was either following Keely's example or leading by example, it was a mystery. But she was also sitting in her bra to keep her clothes dry from her also long hair with acid washed grey jeans.

"This would look good," Keely decided after they did their makeup in front of the mirror and were fully dressed. They were now deciding on the best accessories to match their outfits. Keely handed Marissa a long black beaded chain with a cross at the very bottom, it looked great and fell down below her breasts. 

Keely wore no accessories, but pulled on a pair of bright red converse high tops as they went rushing towards the elevator, thankfully avoiding her father.

"Who are we picking up first?" Keely asked as she and Marissa climbed into the limo.

"Well, we only have one other girl going," Marissa informed her. "Her name is Jennifer Cooper, we call her Jenny or Coop. Have you heard of her?" she asked suddenly, "She's been in a lot of movies so far. And she can also sing, but not enough to make a career out of it, her voice isn't quite as strong as mine and doesn't have that sweetness. And she definitely doesn't have yours," Marissa giggled. "But she's and amazing actor."

"Yeah, I've heard of her," Keely nodded, remembering a certain best friend calling her hot once upon at time. It felt odd that she was suddenly thrust into this world that had always been a mystery to her. "And after picking up Jenny or Coop, we're going to pick up Colton, Marco and Seth right, they'll all be meeting as at one place?"

"Right," Marissa nodded. "This is like our last big night for a long time, because every one is always so busy and we rarely get time to get to do things like this. And at least now we have an even ratio of girls to boys," she grinned.

"Oh, what's happening with every one?"

"Coop is going to film a movie," she said thinking back. "I'm doing a small radio tour before the real tour starts, but you and the guys are always going to be together even when the tour is happening. I have my own tour bus," Marissa admitted. "It's just me and my daddy in there, and I do almost everything separately from you guys, but we'll find time to hang out," she assured.

“So your dad goes on tour with you?” Keely asked, she could already see how this was playing out. Marissa's father seemed very protective, so it would really just be Keely and the guys together for the rest of the tour.

She nodded, "Oh, we're here!" she exclaimed.

Keely watched as the door was pulled open. The girl inside was just as beautiful as she looked in the movies. Her pure black hair was styled so there was just a wave but still so much volume that girls would lust just over her hair, the same could be said for the long stunning mouth that was just the perfect balance of thin and wide. She must have been an inch or so taller than Keely.

"I hate limos," the girl smiled sitting across from Keely on the opposite couch. "Hi, I'm Jennifer Cooper, Jenny or Coop is fine, actually I prefer it. And I have a feeling you're Keely Staub."

"Got it in one," grinned Keely leaning across to shake her hand. "And I hate limos too, they're totally eighties pimp, right?"

"Someone else with some sense," laughed Jenny.

In the half an hour that it took to get to Colton, Todd and Seth's house, Keely was already feeling a comradeship towards the two girls. Marissa was bubbly and bright, while Jenny was a bit sarcastic and cynical, but still funny and had that glint in her eye that made Keely automatically think mischievous. And she was feeling as close to them as she'd ever felt to anyone besides Joe.

When the four guys climbed into their limousine, Keely was once again struck by the fact that they looked undeniably fashionable even though they were just wearing jeans and shirts.

Both Colton and Marco were wearing black jeans. But Marco was wearing what Keely considered a concert jersey, the chest was white with a Steppen Wolf design while the sleeves to his shirt were a navy blue. Colton was wearing a plain v-neck black shirt. Seth had on a pair of dark blue jeans, and his shirt mimicked the one Colt was wearing except for the fact his was white.

"Where do we want to go for dinner before the concert?" Marissa asked, she was looking through restaurants on her phone.

"Let's get some pizza," Jenny voted rubbing her stomach. "I mean, when was the last time you ate a piece of thin crust pepperoni pizza? Oops," she wiped her mouth jokingly, "Just thinking about it made me drool."

"Nice Coop," Marco called.

"Deep crust should be like illegal, right?" Keely laughed. It was odd, Jenny was like the actor version of Keely.

In between laughing, joking and singing along with the radio - though with all of them being able to sing they sounded like a perfect choir - Keely couldn't help but notice there was one person in the limo that was refusing to talk to her. But it wasn't as if she was talking to him either, Keely reasoned. With everyone else in the car, Keely felt an odd connection to them, but when it came to Seth, all she could think was about all the tension between them.

And she couldn't help but ponder the moment their hands had touched at the restaurant, what had caused that jolt sent through their bodies? Was that why he refused to speak to her or even let their knees brush by accident?

"I loved this song when I was younger," Keely laughed hysterically.

Laughing delightedly, Jenny fell onto the seat beside Keely as the song If You Wanna Be My Lover played. "I know, right? The Spice Girls totally rocked back then."

Marissa found her way over to them as well, sitting on the other side of Keely. "This song was the best, I've only ever known the dance to this song and Michael Jackson's Thriller."

"Same here," laughed Keely and Jenny at the same moment.

Dancing from the waist up, the sang the chorus together.

But Keely cut off early as her cellphone vibrated in her pocket, there was still laughter in her voice as she answered the phone. "Hey," her voice shook.

"Hey."

"Joe!" Keely exclaimed surprised. Just the sound of his voice took all the laughter out of Keely's voice.

Oddly, only Seth seemed to notice the change in her voice, because he gave her a strange look. What was Joe going to say? That he never wanted to see her again? She was happy for the moment, with none of the wariness and fear that usually followed her around, and now Joe was going to bring it back.

"Keely," Colt called as they piled out of the door. "We're at the pizza place," with that he practically crawled out.

"Oh, okay," Keely responded. She almost felt terrible about it, but she wanted to hang up on her best friend, because she was liking the confident person she was becoming, and not the scared person she'd been.

"Keely-" he started.

"Sorry," Keely interrupted him quickly as the last person got out of the limo and Keely started to follow Seth's example. "I've go to go."

"C'mon-"

"See-" she started to say 'See you later' but changed her mind.

"Bye," Keely blurted hastily hanging up.

"Madame," Marco said in a snooty French accent. He did a fancy movement with his hand before bowing in front of her, and then in the perfect attitude of a French butler, offered her the crook of his arm.

Trying to forget about Joe, Keely giggled, sliding her arm through Marco's.

- Okay, new chapter, yay!

Well, I'm not a paticular fan of the Spice Girls, but I did like them when I was younger, so sad, but I defend myself by saying I was a little kid!

So, advice again. Don't let your sexy neighbour get you drunk... My head is literally throbbing, still! I think after I post this I'm going to go and punch him in the face a bit... Well, maybe not, because that'll make my head hurt more. I'll punch him later when the headache has finally gone away.

Well, that's about it?

How do you feel about Keely ignoring Joe?

Uh...

I can't think of any other questions - once again, I'm blaming the major hangover - but COMMENT! It makes my day, seriously!!!!!

And the song on this side is there because, well... I just happened to be listening to it.

By the way has any person every understood a Killers video? I mean, seriously! In Read My Mind, what's with the giant green blob?!?!?! It just doesn't make sense. And then the apples in Mr Brightside, what the hell?